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January 7, 2007
Perhaps it is a mere coincidence, but I could not help but notice this. As soon as Democrats take control of the House and Senate, we see these headlines: Return trip for electric vehicles: automakers unveil plans for electric cars; no need to put pressure on the auto industry! Medicare Drug…
January 6, 2007
(This is a public health announcement for women and men.) News agencies are, appropriately, reporting on the finding that the average levels of folate in American women are falling.  (e.g. href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-01-04-folates_x.htm?csp=34">Folate levels in young…
January 6, 2007
The big Pharma news of the day is that Pzifer is marketing  (Slentrol®), a drug to help obese dogs lose weight.   href="http://www.pfizerah.com/slentrol/sl_pi.pdf"> Dirlotapide, also known as N-{(1S)-2-[benzyl(methyl)amino]- 2-oxo-1-phenylethyl}-1-methyl-5-[4'-(trifluoromethyl)biphenyl- 2-…
January 6, 2007
The Richat Structure is not a structure in the usual sense.  It is a natural feature located in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania.  It is unusual because it is nearly circular.  It was href="http://www.eorc.nasda.go.jp/en/imgdata/topics/2003/tp031015.html">first observed from space, in 1965, by…
January 5, 2007
(I know Shelly has href="http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/01/post.php">already posted about this on Retrospectacle.  Hopefully, you'll see there is a different slant to this.)   Significant controversy arose over the idea of using pharmaceutical and surgical methods to permanently…
January 4, 2007
...from a psychological standpoint, that is.  This is the topic of an article in the current edition of style="font-style: italic;">Foreign Policy.  In it, the authors examine the effect of common systematic cognitive errors, or biases, on the process of evaluating the prospects for war.  They…
January 3, 2007
From National Geographic "Top Ten Photos of 2006" style="font-weight: bold;">Photo in the News: Cat Chases Bear Up Tree style="border: 0px solid ; width: 461px; height: 615px;" src="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/images/060613-cat-bear_big.jpg" alt="Cat chases bear up a…
January 3, 2007
According to the CDC, there is a risk of pet hamsters harboring some darn serious pathogens.   class="inset" style="border: 0px solid ; width: 460px; height: 345px;" alt="CC license: share alike, attribution" title="by Yukari*, some rights reserved." src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/…
January 2, 2007
There have been stories and novels about the end of privacy.  1984, by George Orwell, comes to mind.  I also remember reading a science fiction short story once, about how technology had made privacy so difficult to maintain, and so accepted by society, that it was considered rude to want privacy…
January 1, 2007
What could be a better advertisement than this?
December 29, 2006
This is my sister's bulldog, doing what it loves the most.  You've got to be careful when doing this, though. It took a while to get this shot, to get one that was not blurry.  The dog kept jerking his head back and forth.
December 28, 2006
CNN has a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/12/27/brazil.anorexia.ap/index.html">report about a cluster of deaths from Anorexia, in Brazil.   The subject has become a morbid fascination for Brazilians, and is even the theme of a popular TV soap opera. It has also touched off a…
December 28, 2006
This adds to my respect for Gerald Ford.   Ford: Bush made 'big mistake' on Iraq justifications 11:07 p.m. EST, December 27, 2006 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In an interview never before published, former President Gerald Ford said President Bush and his chief advisers "made a big mistake" with their…
December 27, 2006
I have a confession to make.  I once voted for a Republican Presidential candidate.  That candidate was Gerald Ford.   Why?  Several reasons.  For one, it was my first time voting, so I was not very good at it yet.  Two, even though I was upset about the pardon of Nixon, and unimpressed by his…
December 27, 2006
NEJM  has a very interesting article about the use of PET scans to differentiate between persons with normal cognitive function, those with mild cognitive dysfunction, and those with Alzheimer Disease (AD).  Unfortunately, you need a subscription to view the full article, but you can read the…
December 26, 2006
It's kind of technical, but interesting if you care about the inner workings of the machine you are using to read this post.  Microsoft Vista has built in an elaborate system to prevent copying of protected digital content.  In so doing, Microsoft has imposted stringent requirements on hardware…
December 26, 2006
Several bloggers have already commented on Johnson & Johnson's new schizophrenia drug, rel="tag">Invega®.  The official FDA announcement is href="http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01534.html">here.  The first blog post I saw was at href="http://garrettsparks.blogspot.com/…
December 25, 2006
And what could be better than this? href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6189793.stm">End of the neo-con dream By Paul Reynolds World Affairs correspondent The neo-conservative dream faded in 2006. The ambitions proclaimed when the neo-cons' mission statement "The Project…
December 23, 2006
You'd think we'd be done with this.  Actually, maybe we are, because now the controversy has moved to the UK: href="http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,,1978595,00.html">Row over cancer jab plan for all schoolgirls Mass vaccination 'will save lives' Parents fear rise in…
December 23, 2006
I've been following the fish oil story for a while, ever since a href="http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/56/5/407">small study in 1999 showed potential benefit in patients with bipolar disorder.  The theoretical basis for the study was that omega-3 fatty acids alter…
December 22, 2006
The  reason it is interesting, is that it is unexpected, to me at least.  I'm always curious when it turns out that something known to affect one bodily system turns out to have an effect somewhere else. Enalapril is a drug used to treat high blood pressure.  It works by slowing the action of an…
December 21, 2006
This was one of those snap quizzes, where you read an article, answer a couple questions, and get 0.25 CME credits. It had to do with biomarkers for cardiac risk.  After plowing through a ton of obscure information about CRP, urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio, and things like that, I get to the…
December 21, 2006
So, here I go into Border's last night. Spend $95. Everyone is happy. Then this morning, I get up and they've sent me an email, with a coupon: $20 off a $100 purchase, before 12/24. It came in at 1:27 AM, about six hours too late.
December 20, 2006
PZ's post on Crichton reminded me to point this out.  For those of you who don't know, Michael Crichton got kind of nasty, paying back a critic by making up a character in a book.  The made-up character had just enough similarity to let us know who he was getting back at.  Details are href="http…
December 19, 2006
A hospital in the UK has reported an outbreak of nasty MRSA infections.  This time, the organisms are the PVL-producing MRSA. MRSA stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.  PVL stands for Panton-Valentine leukocidin.  PVL is a toxin produced by the bacteria.  As the name suggests,…
December 18, 2006
Psychiatrists sometimes try to get people to take omega-3 fatty acids, in order to reduce symptoms of mood disorders.   Although the evidence is not rock-solid, it is fairly good.  There is no evidence that it can hurt, and some evidence that it can help with cardiovascular health.  I've mentioned…
December 18, 2006
Ever hear the phrase, "well, it's not brain surgery!"  It seems to imply that brain surgery is a tricky business, requiring a high level of knowledge and skill.  Perhaps it does.  If you have ever been curious about exactly what brain surgery entails, now you can find out.  What's more, you can…
December 17, 2006
Our system, who art on raised tile, Hallowed be thy OS. Thy portage come, thy emerge be done, On servers, as it is on workstations. Give us this day, our daily sync, And forgive us our broken ebuilds, As we forgive those who break ebuilds against us. Lead us not into dependency frustration, But…
December 17, 2006
We were asked to describe the most notable instance of harsh criticism experienced in our professional careers, and to say whether it was helpful or harmful. Naturally, most of us are our own harshest critics, so my harshest criticism came from myself. What is odd, is the way this came about and…