November 6, 2009
Category: Friday Weird Science
Who would have thought Sci would be running a normal pub-med search, for something COMPLETELY not weird science material, and come across...this? Truly, it was meant to be!
This case report is probably one of the weirdest things I've seen all week, and kept Sci scratching her head as to the possible mechanism. Also, it is, without a doubt, one of the most incredibly embarrassing thing to ever happen to a 15-year-old. And you thought YOUR teenage stories were bad...
Scwartz and Rushton. "Stuttering priapism associated with withdrawal from sustained-release methylphenidate" Journal of Pediatrics, 2004.
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Posted by Scicurious at 12:15 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 3, 2009
Category: Academia • Natural Sciences
Often, Sci gets books, and even though she's totally excited about them, has to move them to the bottom of the pile, in a vain effort to go through things in the order she receives them, and try to stay on top of it all (there's a pile of books next to Sci's bed a good two feet tall. Really). But when I got this one...it moved right to the front. I mean, how could it NOT!?
The Manga Guide to Molecular Biology by Masaharu Takemura.
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Posted by Scicurious at 12:58 AM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 2, 2009
Category: Academia
Dearest High and Mighty Journal to Whom I Wish to Submit My Manuscript and Thereby Become Famous:
Greetings, from your most humble supplicant.
Verily, I have polished my manuscript. It is a thing of beauty. It is within your rather arbitrary and extremely paltry word limits, for truly, this humble scientist understands that succinctness and clarity are essential in scientific writing. My figures have been lovingly crafted to convey my totally awesome data, and my standard errors are indeed a thing of beauty. And so, O Great Journal, I offer this paper up unto you, in hopes that you and your reviewers shall think kindly upon my work and thereby make my name great amongst the scientists.
But I have a bit of a bone to pick...
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Posted by Scicurious at 12:06 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 30, 2009
Category: Friday Weird Science
Sci always has all these PLANS for weird science, all these THINGS she's going to blog about. Seriously, a post on Ritalin-induced stuttering priapism (heh...heh...) awaits! But then, Mo posts something like this on Twitter, and Sci just HAS to cover it. It's too weird! Though it's not ACTUAL science, it still qualifies. How many people freakin' die from sneezes?!
"Man died after sneeze, inquest told"
Ah, sneezes. You think they're totally safe...
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Posted by Scicurious at 12:37 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 28, 2009
Category: Academia • Physiology/Pharmacology
Sci will admit that blogging SFN has been harder than she thought it would be. This is partially due to the lack of wireless on the poster floor (which would be REALLY hard to remedy), and partially due to...exhaustion. By the end of the second or third day, the posters all begin to blur before your eyes, and you bless anyone who is willing to send you a copy of their poster. This is because your notes, however extensive, become steadily less and less legible (Sci's netbook is not optimal for this kind of note-taking). So as Sci tries to write about all the cool stuff she's seen, she ends up squinting curiously at her notes and saying things like "task indecent via 02??? That doesn't make any sense!!!"
If they keep up this neuroblogging for next year (please do!!!) and if Sci is picked again (Same Sci-time...midnightish...and same Sci url!), Sci wants to start setting up interviews with people who have awesome abstracts, so I can take better notes. Or possibly I could start begging poster copies ahead of time. Many presenters aren't so good about sending them, and who can blame them? Sci has forgotten many a time. (As to why all poster-presenters don't hand out copies of their posters, or allow pictures of posters to be taken, well, Sci will save that for another post).
Anyway, I shall forge on, and attempt to decipher my own handwriting! Especially because I recall being very excited about this particular poster and the implications.
K. M. TYE, L. D. TYE, J. J. CONE, E. F. HEKKELMAN, P. H. JANAK, A. BONCI; "Methylphenidate (Ritalin) enhances task performance and learning-induced amygdala plasticity via distinct D1 and D2 receptor mechanisms "
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Posted by Scicurious at 12:49 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 27, 2009
Category: Synaptic Misfires
Once Upon a Time, there was a little girl.
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This little girl became Scicurious. Her dad had a large role in getting her there. My Mom gave me charm, sparkle, and confidence. My dad gave me his sense of humor. And my dad gave me running.
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Posted by Scicurious at 12:10 AM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 26, 2009
Category: Academia
Dearest Pubmed,
You know how I generally feel about you. You are like a faithful science butler, forever serving up my lovely citations with a cheerful, dry wit, which sometimes causes you to return things like "priapism" when I searched for "[drug] withdrawal". It was cute, and I appreciated that bit of sass in response to what was probably a rather silly series of keywords.
And then, you underwent some reformatting. The new look is very snazzy, very modern, vaguely Google-like. Not bad. It would be icing on the cake, however, if Pubmed actually...worked. Right now. Sci has no time for these shenanigans, Pubmed. Sci is under a deadline, and wants her citations. It's one of the lovely, reliable things she has come to expect out of her Pubmed service.
And no use with the whole "bad gateway". Nice try passing the blame, Pubmed. I'm ashamed of you.
And now, pubmed, see what you did?! Sci was feeling productive! She was looking forward to getting stuff done this day, and, with a cold beer in the evening, looking back at her afternoon and going "BOOM, BABY!" But now it will not happen. No. Without pubmed, Sci is reduced to playing around with twitter and is considering digging into her long-neglected Google Reader. SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!
What I'm saying, Pubmed honey, my adorable butler of science, is that you need to drink some coffee and get your little tuxedoed butt off the floor. Shake it off. I suppose it might have been a rough weekend, and we've all been there, but I need those citations on a silver platter, and I need them yesterday.
Much love,
Sci and her Reference Mananger
Posted by Scicurious at 2:46 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia • CNS Diseases and Disorders • Neuroscience
As some of my readers from WAY back (all two of you, hi guys!) may know, diabetes is one of Sci's favorite things. It's one of those things that, if she could start her entire little sciency life over, would be something she would heavily consider as a focus. Heck, there's always another post-doc, right?
Anyway, you might think that diabetes would not be one of the things generally discussed at Society for Neuroscience meetings. But you would be wrong. The symptoms of diabetes, type I or II, stem from not enough insulin, whether that is because you don't produce any (type I) or you don't have enough and aren't sensitive enough to what you have (type II). Insulin isn't just limited to the gut, pancreas, and muscles, however. It's also important in the brain. Normally, your brain is pretty responsive to blood levels of glucose, no matter what, because you want your brain to be the last thing to go when your blood sugar levels drop. But insulin still plays an important role, and insensitivity to insulin, like that seen with type II diabetes extends to the brain as well.
This study taught Sci a lot of things that she didn't necessarily know. First, it taught her that insulin sensitivity is affected by free fatty acid levels. And it taught her that both of these together could have major effects on cognitive impairment. Suddenly the major increases in type II diabetes are looking a little more scary.
V. E. COTERO, E. C. MCNAY "Effect of intrahippocampal FAs with varied saturations on spatial memory in adult Sprague-Dawley rats"
Doesn't sound like anything to do with type II diabetes, does it? You would be surprised. :)
Read on »
Posted by Scicurious at 12:10 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 23, 2009
Category: Academia
Sci is still in SFN recovery. This usually involves attempting to make up for a SERIOUS lack of sleep, and a total lack of healthful eating. I have spent the last four days with a heartfelt salad craving.
*lust*
Seriously, McCormick Place. We need to talk. About your prices. $12 for a ratty little vegetarian sandwich that is soggy and gross?! NOT COOL. For the next conference in Chicago, Sci personally recommends stopping by your local whatever (this year, Sci used Starbucks, Walgreens, and the Corner Bakery) and picking up a prepackaged sandwich or fruit and cheese on your way to the conference. Sci did this the instant she realized what McCormick Place was up to, and lo, her per diems were met! Save money, save your tummy some pain.
Anyway, Sci often has ideas while at conferences, and these usually occur whilst I am on my way to the conference on the shuttle, or even more often, while I'm trudging dazedly across the poster floor, completely at a loss to contemplate WHY two closely related topic fields are at poster row C and poster row EE, respectively. Not fair.
So Sci was trudging, and dodging and weaving around all the SFN n00bs, who somehow feel it is totally ok to stop in the middle of the walkway and gape at your booklet, causing people who KNOW where they are going to have to make emergency detours. Seriously, kids, you are stopping in the middle of what is essentially a crowded busy street in a temporary neuroscience town of 30,000 people. You get THREE poster sessions to figure out the difference between row A, G, and DD, and if you cannot seem to keep moving by then, Sci's bowling you over, and throwing some elbows in her wake. If you really are lost, for the love of neurons, pull over!!
And as I dodged and wove, and contemplated how much my feet hurt and whether Starbucks in McCormick Place charges more than their national prices for a latte, I had the solution.
Segways.
Read on »
Posted by Scicurious at 12:49 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Evil Monkey has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from a southeastern U.S. university. After a postdoctoral nightmare of Inquisitorial proportions, he is currently working in a laboratory and an adjunct assistant professor at a nearby state university.
Scicurious is a graduate student wrestling with a PhD in Physiology at a southern institution. She is a nerd, a geek, and also a dork. And yes, that really is her brain.
NotoriousLTP is an MD-PhD student in New York City. After finishing (hopefully soon) his PhD in behavioral neuroscience, he will re-enter the fun vortex that is medical education.
