Monthly Archives: March 2011

"How to Conquer Your Fear of Doctors"

The term “content farm” describes a company that employs large numbers of often freelance writers to generate large amounts of textual and/or video content which is specifically designed to satisfy algorithms for maximal retrieval by search engines. Their main goal … Continue reading →

Posted in Neurology | Comments Off

Towards the automated discovery of useful solubility applications

Last week, I came across (via David Bradley) a paper by an MIT group regarding the desalination of water using a very clever application of solubility behavior: Anurag Bajpayee, Tengfei Luo, Andrew Muto and Gang Chen, Energy Environ. Sci., 2011 … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemistry | Comments Off

Naming the Animals Exhibition Opening, Curious Matter, Jersey City, Sunday April 3

I have a photograph–sneak preview above–included in the upcoming Naming the Animals exhibition at Curious Matter gallery in Jersey City, New Jersey. The opening–which us free and open to the public–will take place this Sunday, April 3rd, from 3-6. Full … Continue reading →

Posted in Anatomy | Comments Off

Anatomical Obscura Day Events, 2011

As many of you already know, my upcoming exhibition–The Great Coney Island Spectacularium–will be launching with an Obscura Day event on Saturday April 9th (more on that here.) If you are not in New York for Obscura Day, or are … Continue reading →

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Cortisol May Help Reduce Some Phobias

An extra dose of the stress hormone cortisol may help reduce stress-inducing phobias like the fear of heights, a study shows.

Posted in Integrative Medicine | Comments Off

Medical Marijuana May Impair Thinking of MS Patients

MS patients in a small study who smoked or ingested marijuana regularly for many years were twice as likely as non-users to show significant evidence of cognitive impairment when subjected to a battery of tests that measure thinking skills.

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Study: Treatment-Resistant Hypertension Overdiagnosed

Up to one-third of people who were thought to have treatment-resistant high blood pressure may actually have “white coat hypertension” — blood pressure that spikes in the doctor’s office.

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Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery May Ease Migraines

In addition to helping severely obese patients lose weight, bariatric surgery may provide the additional benefit of improving migraines in patients who suffer from the debilitating headaches, according to a new study.

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Walnut May Be Top Nut for Heart Health

Walnuts are the number one nut for heart health, says a researcher who presented his findings Sunday at the American Chemical Society annual meeting.

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Pain, Social Rejection Have Similar Effect on Brain

ction really does hurt. That’s the message of a new study that suggests physical pain and the pain of rejection may “hurt” in the same way.

Posted in Integrative Medicine | Comments Off

Procedure May Lower Hard-to-Treat Hypertension

An experimental procedure that uses radiofrequency energy to lower blood pressure may help millions of people with uncontrolled hypertension, a study suggests.

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Social Networking May Affect Kids’ Health

Cyberbullying, sexting, and so-called Facebook depression are a few of the reasons parents should tune in to what their teens and tweens are doing on social networking sites, pediatricians say.

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California Whooping Cough Epidemic: Vaccination Urged

WebMD investigates the whooping cough outbreak in California and other states.

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Worry About Breast Cancer Return Is Common

The odds of survival for a woman treated for early-stage breast cancer are good, but many survivors worry about recurrence and communication difficulties appear to be a major contributor to this concern, a study shows.

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Team Identifies Genetic Link To Attempted Suicide

Johns Hopkins scientists, reporting in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, have identified a small region on chromosome 2 that is associated with increased risk for attempted suicide. This small region contains four genes, including the ACP1 gene, and the researchers found … Continue reading →

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Structure Of DNA Repair Complex Reveals Workings Of Powerful Cell Motor

Over the last years, two teams of researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have steadily built a model of how a powerful DNA repair complex works. Now, their latest discovery provides revolutionary insights into the way the molecular motor inside … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetic Medicine | Comments Off

Trade-Offs Between Growth Rate And Efficiency Can Lead To Stable Diversity

Darwin’s notion that only the fittest survive has been called into question by new research published in Nature. A collaboration between the Universities of Exeter and Bath in the UK, with a group from San Diego State University in the … Continue reading →

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Targeted Gene Disruption Reveals How Acute Myeloid Leukaemia Develops In Mice

Researchers have described how the most common gene mutation found in acute myeloid leukaemia starts the process of cancer development and how it can cooperate with a well-defined group of other mutations to cause full-blown leukaemia. The researchers suggest that … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetic Medicine | Comments Off

Viral Replicase Points To Potential Cancer Therapy

Alpha viruses, such as Sindbis virus, carry their genetic information on a single strand of RNA. On infection they use a protein, replicase, to produce double stranded RNA (dsRNA) which is used as genetic material to make more viruses. However … Continue reading →

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Do you own your genetic identity?

( GolinHarris NY ) Experts are gathering at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics to begin laying the foundation for nationwide consensus on genetic testing at its annual Pediatric Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine Conference in Kansas City.

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Genetic link to attempted suicide identified

A study of thousands of people with bipolar disorder suggests that genetic risk factors may influence the decision to attempt suicide. Researchers have identified a small region on chromosome 2 that is associated with increased risk for attempted suicide. This … Continue reading →

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Johns Hopkins team identifies genetic link to attempted suicide

( Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions ) A study of thousands of people with bipolar disorder suggests that genetic risk factors may influence the decision to attempt suicide.

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Genetic link to attempted suicide discovered – Findings could lead to new avenues of treatment

Johns Hopkins scientists, reporting in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, have identified a small region on chromosome 2 that is associated with increased risk for attempted suicide. This small region contains four genes, including the ACP1 gene, and the researchers found … Continue reading →

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New guidelines issued for reporting of genetic risk research

(PhysOrg.com) — Apples to Apples is more than just a popular card game. It’s an important concept when comparing the results of published scientific studies. It’s impossible to draw accurate conclusions, for example, without an adequate description of a study’s … Continue reading →

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A possible new target for treatment of multiple sclerosis …

One of the most common examples is multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a serious condition in which nerve-cell projections, or axons, in the brain and the spinal cord are destroyed as a result of misdirected inflammatory reactions. Go here to … Continue reading →

Posted in Longevity Medicine | Comments Off