terrasig | July 28, 2006Welcome to our 2nd installment of The Friday Fermentable, Terra Sigillata's Friday fun-blogging feature. You can read our mission statement at the original post last week, but the goal, briefly, is to celebrate the particular class of natural products that result from the yeast-based fermentation of sugars from grapes, malted barley, and any plant-based sugar source. Our target audience is the graduate student or postdoc who, in my day, was usually pretty poor but starving for culture and knowledge (Shelley Batts' $25K graduate stipend at Michigan notwithstanding).
So, I spoke last week of…
terrasig | July 26, 2006This week's 'Ask A ScienceBlogger' focuses on reports such as those in National Geographic and DailyKos that global warming is having, and will progressively have great influence, on wine grape-growing. The idea is that grapes grown for premium wine production are much more sensitive to climate than table grapes or many other agricultural products, making them an excellent living laboratory 'canary in a coalmine." A very appropriate question this week as we launched our feature, The Friday Fermentable, last week.
This issue has been bandied the wine industry over the last several years but…
terrasig | July 25, 2006If you read any sort of science blogs, you may remember when Pharma Bawd at Moment of Science burst on the scene in Feb 2006 at with her pathway of metabolism of evolution information. Reading about enzymes like Respectful Insolence Discreditase and PZ Myers' Professional Smackdownase literally had me peeing my pants (full jpg file here...of the pathway, not me peeing my pants).
So, you can imagine that her prolonged silence after her 28 Feb 2006 post on epigenetics and cancer led many of us to feel that we lost a true voice of reason in the anti-science wilderness.
Well, much to my happy…
terrasig | July 24, 2006There was really nothing more I could add last week regarding all of the turmoil at/about the US Food and Drug Administration in the aftermath of the much-debated survey results, as covered by my SiBlings and elsewhere last week. A good many of us have colleagues and former classmates who work at FDA and are busting their humps to serve the public good despite the lack of scientific support and the abundance of political pressure.
As evidence in defense of the folks at the front line at FDA, here is a very nice public-service education and drug safety program developed by FDA for kids…
terrasig | July 23, 2006Reading the paper this morning reaction to murder charges being brought against a New Orleans doctor and two nurses post-Katrina makes me want to read a little more into the facts of the cases. However, my SiBling, Prof Shelley Batts at Retrospectacle, points out correctly that the circumstances surrounding the delivery of health care in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina may have led to the deaths of the patients involved.
Most certainly, those levying the charges had likely gotten out of town and were enjoying drinks, air-conditioning, and putting their feet up on a soft bed…
terrasig | July 21, 2006Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Friday Fermentable, the end-of-week fun feature of Terra Sigillata. As I was on vacation and sick last week, I did not accomplish my goals of wine and beer tasting to share with you specific recommendations this week. So, let us take this week to explain our philosophy:
The mission statement for The Friday Fermentable is:
1. To celebrate the convergence of agriculture, biology, botany, chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, neuroscience, pharmaceutics, and the pharmacology of natural products and herbal medicines in the production of historically-…
terrasig | July 20, 2006Being part of a family with a high penetrance for both depression/anxiety and migraines, I can't tell you how many times I've asked docs and pharmacists whether it is safe to take a "triptan" class migraine drug (e.g. Imitrex, Zomig) while taking maintenance doses of a SSRI or SNRI class antidepressant (e.g. Prozac, Lexapro, Effexor).
Well, the US Food and Drug Administration today released a warning on the potential for interaction between these two classes of agents. This risks are real, although very, very low for a condition called "serotonin syndrome."
The FDA statement would scare the…
terrasig | July 20, 2006Is it me or does anyone else feel like Terra Sigillata is becoming ScienceBlogs.com-version of the obituaries section of your local newspaper?
This just in from the NCI Cancer Bulletin:
Dr. Robert B. Dickson Dies at 54
Former NCI investigator Dr. Robert B. Dickson died on June 24, in Kensington, Md., at the age of 54. He was considered one of the world's leading researchers in breast cancer.
Dr. Dickson began his career in 1980 in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of NCI's Center for Cancer Research (CCR), where he was the first scientist to discover the link between estrogen and breast…
terrasig | July 19, 2006While we're on the topic of death and acknowledging that 70-ish is a life well-lived, I'd note that experimental pharmacologist and legendary gonzo journalist, Dr Hunter S Thompson, would have been 69 yesterday.
His widow, Anita, keeps a blog at their fortified Owl Farm estate and posted this loving tribute to The Good Doctor yesterday.
Although we were live-blogging from Aspen last week, we're certainly not the kind of folks to go poking around in Mrs Thompson's business up Woody Creek Road - plus, I really do fear the remaining explosives, especially with a 4-year-old running wild and…
terrasig | July 19, 2006This is growing tiresome and painful.
I have a wonderful physician-scientist research collaborator who, God bless her (or your own personal God-equivalent), takes care of little people with cancer. You'd think that a person who chooses this line of work would get a frickin' karmic break, right?
I just learned that her brother died last week of brain cancer; I believe it was glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), not a good one, if there is such a thing. He is survived by his wife and 4-year-old daughter. I learned from her of his diagnosis at a cancer research meeting last November - what's that…
terrasig | July 18, 2006Monday's contest to win $50 decoding the chemical and historical nature of the Terra Sigillata banner masthead got such a response that I didn't even expect it. Amazingly, one entrant answered 4 of the 5 questions correctly, with the 5th being closest of anyone.
I'll be contacting the lucky feller forthwith regarding delivery of his fifty American dollars. The answers will follow in subsequent posts, but here are the questions once again of you care to exercise your mind:
1. What is the complete name of the dude on the righthand side of the banner and why do you think I picked him to as the…
terrasig | July 17, 2006Get ready to be barraged by news of a proprietary pine bark extract exhibiting efficacy against attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Today's report by the French company that manufactures a maritime pine bark extract seems to be associated (see press release below fold) with Dr Steven Lamm, a clinical assistant professor at NYU Medical School, and based on results published in the journal, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
I don't believe this is actually "news" as stories such as this one appeared about a month ago. Hence, I fear that today's press release and satellite hook…
terrasig | July 16, 2006I've never properly acknowledged the commercial artist, Mr Brien O'Reilly of SaBOR Design, who designed the content-rich, scientific eye-candy banner in the masthead above for the Sb version of Terra Sigillata.
So, I'd like to kick off the week raising awareness of the banner and advertising Mr O'Reilly's talents and services by asking some questions of you about the design elements of the banner. And, since I know that many readers of Terra Sig are poor graduate students or postdoctoral fellows, I'm well-aware that nothing gets your attention like cash-for-knowledge. (Well, yes, free…
terrasig | July 16, 2006Dear Mom,
I was still sick all day on our first day back from vacation. However, I just wanted you to know that we are all thinking of you for your birthday today hoping, especially, that the celebration included healthy doses of Chimayo Cocktails!
Love,
The Black Sheep of Your Family
terrasig | July 15, 2006I've gotten a few raised eyebrows this week as to why a modestly-compensated, mid-career cancer researcher would choose to (or could afford) to vacation in Aspen, Colorado. I'll have more to say about this, but just one example of why this is such a worthwhile place to visit comes from my 2 hours yesterday at a free Aspen Institute lecture listening to financier, venture philanthropist, and prostate cancer survivor, Michael Milken, talk about how to revolutionize the pace of scientific discovery and implementation of medical innovations.
Many people remember Mr Milken incorrectly, or at…
terrasig | July 14, 2006As alluded to on ScienceBlogs.com editors' Page 3.14 blog, many of us are formalizing our more light-hearted posts on Fridays to coincide with the inevitable dropoff in internet traffic and reality-based work.
I had intended to launch today "The Friday Fermentable," my views on the joys of partaking in the diversity of products resulting from biochemical conversion of glucose to ethyl alcohol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other yeasts, and the alchemy of other long chain alcohols, organic acids, and esters.
I was particularly excited because I am on vacation and am currently holding court…
terrasig | July 13, 2006As PharmMom is a retired nurse and some of my favorite health sciences students have been nurses, it is always my pleasure to promote Kim at Emergiblog. It's always worth a trip over if for nothing other than her vintage nursing and pharmaceutical advertisements.
The second issue of her newly-established nursing blog carnival, Change of Shift, is now live. Check it out for some fresh bloggy goodness of the nursing profession.
Navelgazing Midwife puts up a nice but somewhat chilling narrative on the continued shortage of labor and delivery services in New Orleans. Thanks for being there.
terrasig | July 11, 2006For several years, various media outlets have asked my opinion about herbal medicine and dietary supplement issues. I've generally written several pages of responses only to find a few key quotes mined from my paragraphs of wisdom (in my mind). No problem at all; I just have trouble with churning out sound bites. So, I'd like to share with you stuff that never makes it to the so-called mainstream media. This is a repost of classic Terra Sigillata that first appeared on the old site on 8 May 2006.
Recently, I was asked by a US television network to comment on the value of the release of…
terrasig | July 11, 2006Sorry, gang, but this is just more journal than blog - and yet another emphatic and blathering reason of why I love this town.
Had a lovely hike yesterday with PharmGirl and PharmPreSchooler to the Grottos just outside of Aspen proper, an amazing series of igneous rocks and ice caves at the base of Independence Pass. PharmMom now forbids posting pictures of her beautiful granddaughter on these here internets, so here's an inanimate shot that still doesn't do justice to the view:
Then, had a lovely lunch with a dear friend in Explorer Bookstore and Bistro, an idyllic setting in an old…
terrasig | July 11, 2006Do you live near Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, or Southern Denmark/Rostock, Germany and have at least two relatives (or yourself) over the age of 80? The US National Institutes of Health has funded researchers interested in recruiting you and family members to find out the secrets of longevity. (see full press release below the fold)
We're a little too late in the Pharmboy family, but I am certain that 84-year-old PharmGranny would say that it was the constant stream of good Polish vodka that allowed her to live with a BMI over 40 and an average blood pressure of 190/140. The late 96-year-…