Research / Scholarship posts
- June 19, 2013
- 02:58 PM
- 15 views
Thanks Dad!
by Miss Behavior in The Scorpion and the Frog
Daddy's girl. Photo from freedigitalphotos.net.Let’s take a moment to appreciate just how special dads are. Across the animal kingdom, fathers caring for their young is the exception, not the rule. Paternal care is most often seen in species in which males can be pretty sure that they are indeed the father (for example, in species that fertilize eggs outside of the mothers’ bodies or in socially monogamous species). Mammals rarely act fatherly - Only 10% of mammalian species show pate........ Read more »
Curley, J., Mashoodh, R., & Champagne, F. (2011) Epigenetics and the origins of paternal effects. Hormones and Behavior, 59(3), 306-314. DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.06.018
Wilkins, J., & Haig, D. (2003) What good is genomic imprinting: the function of parent-specific gene expression. Nature Reviews Genetics, 4(5), 359-368. DOI: 10.1038/nrg1062
- June 18, 2013
- 06:16 AM
- 56 views
Peter Suber’s Open Access book is now available under an #OpenAccess license
by Duncan Hull in O'Really?
If you never got around to buying Peter Suber‘s book “for busy people” about Open Access (OA) publishing [1], you might be pleased to learn that it’s now available under an Open Access license.... Read more »
Clair, K. (2013) Kevin Michael Clair reviews Open Access, by Peter Suber. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39(1), 94. DOI: 10.1016/j.acalib.2012.11.017
- June 14, 2013
- 11:08 AM
- 93 views
Getting Science Right: Social Psychology Credibility
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
s social psychology in a crisis? Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman sparked an online (and laboratory) dustup last fall when he accused certain social psychologists of undermining the credibility of their field. At issue is whether certain experiments can be replicated. Kahneman says they should be. Other scientists have reported that certain popular results can’t. And that’s a problem.... Read more »
Elms, A. (1975) The crisis of confidence in social psychology. American Psychologist, 30(10), 967-976. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.30.10.967
Shanks DR, Newell BR, Lee EH, Balakrishnan D, Ekelund L, Cenac Z, Kavvadia F, & Moore C. (2013) Priming intelligent behavior: an elusive phenomenon. PloS one, 8(4). PMID: 23637732
- June 12, 2013
- 09:17 AM
- 40 views
The Challenges of Pain Management in Primary Care
by Kim Kristiansen in Picture of Pain
A new study reveals that European primary care physicians find dealing with chronic pain patients to be challenging, but at the same time rate it as a low priority area. Across Europe 84% of the 1308 primary care physicians who participated in the study found, that their initial training in chronic pain management was not comprehensive.... Read more »
Kim Kristiansen, M.D. (2013) The Challenges of Pain Management in Primary Care. Picture of Pain Blog. info:/
- June 10, 2013
- 04:00 PM
- 42 views
Back room science
by Zen Faulkes in NeuroDojo
We now return to our regular features, “Let’s impugn all the bloggers.” Let’s start with Geoffrey North, using a pulpit of Current Biology.
But there is also, I think, a danger here, which lies in the very speed of response, and the way that blogs are essentially “vanity publications” which lack the constraints of more conventional publishing — they are not reviewed, and do not even have to pass the critical eye of any editor.
North is not alone. Fred Schram, the Journal of Cru........ Read more »
North Geoffrey. (2013) Social Media Likes and Dislikes. Current Biology, 23(11). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.04.073
- June 10, 2013
- 03:57 AM
- 287 views
The SAT-ACT Score Map
by nooffensebut in The Unsilenced Science
Using multiple regression, I animate state college entrance exam scores controlled for state participation levels and test preference. Then, I review a study on “noncognitive predictors” of college outcomes, which might eventually replace the SAT and ACT.... Read more »
Schmitt N, Keeney J, Oswald FL, Pleskac TJ, Billington AQ, Sinha R, & Zorzie M. (2009) Prediction of 4-year college student performance using cognitive and noncognitive predictors and the impact on demographic status of admitted students. The Journal of applied psychology, 94(6), 1479-97. PMID: 19916657
- June 9, 2013
- 01:32 AM
- 82 views
The touching things about dogs
by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?
Hi Julie,(source: The Blue Dog)WOW! May was a seriously jam-packed month for dogs! I'm just as amazed as you are that it's already June. I think I'm in denial, although June means lots of fun things happening, like the SPARCS conference, so maybe it's actually OK that it's here.I loved your last post. So much great information - thank you for sharing! You mentioned how you avoid touching dogs if they don't want to interact and that got me thinking about a sense I haven't written about yet. ........ Read more »
McGreevy Paul D., Righetti Joanne, & Thomson Peter C. (2005) The reinforcing value of physical contact and the effect on canine heart rate of grooming in different anatomical areas. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 18(3), 236-244. DOI: 10.2752/089279305785594045
Coppola Crista L., Grandin Temple, & Enns R. Mark. (2006) Human interaction and cortisol: Can human contact reduce stress for shelter dogs?. Physiology , 87(3), 537-541. DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2005.12.001
Hennessy Michael B., Voith Victoria L., Hawke Jesse L., Young Travis L., Centrone Jason, McDowell Angela L., Linden Fran, & Davenport Gary M. (2002) Effects of a program of human interaction and alterations in diet composition on activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in dogs housed in a public animal shelter. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 221(1), 65-91. DOI: 10.2460/javma.2002.221.65
Bergamasco Luciana, Osella Maria Cristina, Savarino Paolo, Larosa Giuseppe, Ozella Laura, Manassero Monica, Badino Paola, Odore Rosangela, Barbero Raffaella, & Re Giovanni. (2010) Heart rate variability and saliva cortisol assessment in shelter dog: Human–animal interaction effects. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 125(1-2), 56-68. DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2010.03.002
O'Haire Marguerite. (2010) Companion animals and human health: Benefits, challenges, and the road ahead. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 5(5), 226-234. DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2010.02.002
- June 8, 2013
- 12:45 PM
- 52 views
Get Science Right: Covering Fraud
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
In the search for truth and answers, scientists often get it wrong. That’s the way science works; you test a hypothesis, compare your results, tweak your ideas, and maybe create a new hypothesis. Error is a big part of this process—but what if those errors are, instead, deliberate fraud? ... Read more »
Ioannidis, J. (2005) Why Most Published Research Findings Are False. PLoS Medicine, 2(8). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124
Fanelli, D. (2009) How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data. PLoS ONE, 4(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005738
- June 6, 2013
- 02:26 PM
- 7 views
Gullibility and pseudoscience, bridged by headlines
by Kausik Datta in In Scientio Veritas
Much have been made in the media recently, of a February 2013 paper, published by a German group in the Annals of Internal Medicine, claiming that acupuncture may help relieve seasonal allergies. Always interested in examining the bold claims of efficacy by various forms of pseudoscientific, wannabe-medicine modalities (such as homeopathy, naturopathy, and so forth), I elected to go to the source; the paper was behind an annoying paywall, but thankfully, I had institutional access, and dove in. ........ Read more »
Brinkhaus, B. (2013) Acupuncture in Patients With Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: A Randomized Trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 158(4), 225. DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-158-4-201302190-00002
- June 6, 2013
- 04:24 AM
- 67 views
More Money makes you Bad at Work: The Myth of Performance-Related Pay.
by Stuart Farrimond in Dr Stu's Science Blog
Motivated by money? I confess I am. Well ok, not always: there are plenty of things that will trump a stack of greenbacks. However, few of us would object to a kindly benefactor plopping a million quid into our current account. Even for the least materially-minded, it would be difficult to ignore such an offer: … Continue reading »... Read more »
ARIELY, D., GNEEZY, U., LOEWENSTEIN, G., & MAZAR, N. (2009) Large Stakes and Big Mistakes. Review of Economic Studies, 76(2), 451-469. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-937X.2009.00534.x
- May 31, 2013
- 10:40 AM
- 86 views
How Science Education Changes Your Drawing Style
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Take a look at these neurons. Ignore the fact that several of the brain cells look like snowflakes and at least one looks like an avocado. Can you pick out the drawings done by experienced, professional neuroscientists? What about the ones made by undergraduate science students?
Researchers at King's College London gave a simple task to 232 people: "Draw a neuron." (Actually, being British, they said "Please draw a neuron.") Some of the subjects were undergraduates in a neurobiology lecture......... Read more »
HAY, D., WILLIAMS, D., STAHL, D., & WINGATE, R. (2013) Using Drawings of the Brain Cell to Exhibit Expertise in Neuroscience: Exploring the Boundaries of Experimental Culture. Science Education, 97(3), 468-491. DOI: 10.1002/sce.21055
- May 27, 2013
- 09:56 AM
- 86 views
Fixing Science, Not Just Psychology
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
Neuroskeptic readers will know that there’s been a lot of concern lately over unreproducible results and false positives in psychology and neuroscience. In response to these worries, there have been growing calls for reform of the way psychology is researched and published. We’ve seen several initiatives promoting replication and, to my mind even more importantly, [...]... Read more »
Mobley, A., Linder, S., Braeuer, R., Ellis, L., & Zwelling, L. (2013) A Survey on Data Reproducibility in Cancer Research Provides Insights into Our Limited Ability to Translate Findings from the Laboratory to the Clinic. PLoS ONE, 8(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063221
- May 26, 2013
- 06:09 PM
- 62 views
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Untrue
by Grace Lindsay in Neurdiness
This is a piece about the present state, and potential future, of fraud in scientific research which I wrote for a Responsible Conduct in Research course taught at Columbia. There seems to be a trend as of late of prominent scientific researchers been outed for fabrications or falsifications in their data. Diederik Stapel’s extravagant web of […]... Read more »
Van Noorden, R. (2011) Science publishing: The trouble with retractions. Nature, 478(7367), 26-28. DOI: 10.1038/478026a
- May 24, 2013
- 09:11 PM
- 147 views
What music do dogs prefer? Bach vs. Snoop Dogg
by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?
Hey Julie,I hope you've had a fun week. I saw a new in-press publication with your name on it - "Smelling more or less: Investigating the olfactory experience of the domestic dog" - looks like a really great study, and so timely after my last post about dogs and olfactory enrichment! Looking forward to reading it (and all those other cool Learning and Motivation articles) over the weekend. So did you do your homework? Did you watch this clip from the Sydney Opera H........ Read more »
Kogan Lori R., Schoenfeld-Tacher Regina, & Simon Allen A. (2012) Behavioral effects of auditory stimulation on kenneled dogs. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 7(5), 268-275. DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2011.11.002
Wells D, Graham L, & Hepper P. (2002) The influence of auditory stimulation on the behaviour of dogs housed in a rescue shelter. Animal Welfare, 11(4), 385-393. http://www.ufaw.org.uk/v11main.php
- May 23, 2013
- 07:15 PM
- 58 views
Molecular visualization tools - Survey and practical tips
by Ragothamanyennamalli in Getting to know Structural Bioinformatics
What would be like to teach a class or describe someone about a protein, without visualizing its structure? Boring is one word that pops in my mind. I vividly remember the professor drawing two blobs touching each other, to describe protein-protein interaction, while explaining it either on the blackboard or on the transparencies of a over-head projector. Those were the days! Tracing back nearly 60 years back, when John Kendrew showed everyone a coiled mess, it has fueled every scientist's ........ Read more »
Craig, P., Michel, L., & Bateman, R. (2013) A survey of educational uses of molecular visualization freeware. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 41(3), 193-205. DOI: 10.1002/bmb.20693
- May 23, 2013
- 03:58 PM
- 5 views
Cryptococcus gattii Gone Wild on World Tour
by Kausik Datta in In Scientio Veritas
By now you know, dear readers, that Cryptococcus gattii (CG), the deadly fungal pathogen and a native of tropical and subtropical regions of the world, has stealthily charted itself a course of world domination, starting with the Pacific Northwest of North America. I have also alerted you to the possibilities about its transmission - (a) that CG may have spread as a result of human activity, human and avian migration, and other natural means of dispersal; and (b) that slow,... Read more... Read more »
Springer, D., & Chaturvedi, V. (2010) Projecting Global Occurrence of Cryptococcus gattii . Emerging Infectious Diseases, 16(1), 14-20. DOI: 10.3201/eid1601.090369
Cogliati, M. (2013) Global Molecular Epidemiology of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii: An Atlas of the Molecular Types. Scientifica, 1-23. DOI: 10.1155/2013/675213
- May 21, 2013
- 05:51 PM
- 55 views
A Machine to Weigh the Soul
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
Newly discovered papers have shed light on a fascinating episode in the history of neuroscience: Weighing brain activity with the balance The story of the early Italian neuroscientist Dr Angelo Mosso and his ‘human circulation balance’ is an old one – I remember reading about it as a student, in the introductory bit of a [...]... Read more »
Sandrone S, Bacigaluppi M, Galloni MR, Cappa SF, Moro A, Catani M, Filippi M, Monti MM, Perani D, & Martino G. (2013) Weighing brain activity with the balance: Angelo Mosso's original manuscripts come to light. Brain : a journal of neurology. PMID: 23687118
- May 19, 2013
- 06:33 PM
- 38 views
Reflecting on Applied Animal Behavior
by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?
Time for reflection (By Wieselblitz)Hi Mia! Love the lavender research! Learning that dogs show different behaviors when exposed to different scents could help us prime environments to be associated with particular dog behaviors and moods (you noted that exposure to peppermint and rosemary are associated with activity and barking while exposure to lavender and chamomile bring out resting). At the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab, we have a new paper coming out soon in Learning and Motivation -- the s........ Read more »
Mason G., Clubb R., Latham N., & Vickery S. (2007) Why and how should we use environmental enrichment to tackle stereotypic behaviour?. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 102(3-4), 163-188. DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2006.05.041
- May 18, 2013
- 02:10 PM
- 67 views
‘Is ‘cloning’ mad, bad and dangerous?’ – an argument revisited
by Lee Turnpenny in The Mawk Moth Profligacies
Is 'cloning' appropriate terminology for somatic cell nuclear transfer derivation of human embryonic stem cells?... Read more »
Tachibana, M., Amato, P., Sparman, M., Gutierrez, N., Tippner-Hedges, R., Ma, H., Kang, E., Fulati, A., Lee, H., Sritanaudomchai, H.... (2013) Human Embryonic Stem Cells Derived by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.006
- May 16, 2013
- 05:17 PM
- 6 views
Stealthy emergence of Cryptococcus gattii in North America
by Kausik Datta in In Scientio Veritas
What can the members of multiple animal species (cat, dog, bird, ferret, llama, alpaca, elk, goat, sheep, horse, porpoise) have in common with humans? Deeper philosophical questions aside, all of them have fallen prey to a deadly fungus spreading gradually, but steadily, in western North America (southwest Canada; US states of the Pacific Northwest, PNW) for over a decade.1 Well, what-ho, what-ho Cryptococcus gattii (CG), I believe we have been introduced. The disease, cryptococcosis, generally,........ Read more »
Datta K, Bartlett KH, Baer R, Byrnes E, Galanis E, Heitman J, Hoang L, Leslie MJ, MacDougall L, Magill SS.... (2009) Spread of Cryptococcus gattii into Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Emerging infectious diseases, 15(8), 1185-91. PMID: 19757550
Marr KA, Datta K, Pirofski LA, & Barnes R. (2012) Cryptococcus gattii infection in healthy hosts: a sentinel for subclinical immunodeficiency?. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 54(1), 153-4. PMID: 22075791
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2010) Emergence of Cryptococcus gattii-- Pacific Northwest, 2004-2010. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 59(28), 865-8. PMID: 20651641
Datta K, Bartlett KH, & Marr KA. (2009) Cryptococcus gattii: Emergence in Western North America: Exploitation of a Novel Ecological Niche. Interdisciplinary perspectives on infectious diseases, 176532. PMID: 19266091
Kidd SE, Bach PJ, Hingston AO, Mak S, Chow Y, MacDougall L, Kronstad JW, & Bartlett KH. (2007) Cryptococcus gattii dispersal mechanisms, British Columbia, Canada. Emerging infectious diseases, 13(1), 51-7. PMID: 17370515
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