Posts

June 18, 2013

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9:55 PM | Psychology At the Movies: Essentialist Musings in Man of Steel

www.imdb.com Yesterday, my spouse and I dropped our newborn daughter off with Grandma and then popped over to the local theater to see this summer's much anticipated comic-book blockbuster Man of Steel. By any standard, Man of Steel is exceptionally light when it comes to philosophical musings: The plot is predictably linear--good guys fight bad guys who are trying to kill them. At first glance, it may seem like a stretch to write an entire blog entry (for a psychology blog) about the […]

Kraus MW & Keltner D (2013). Social Class Rank, Essentialism, and Punitive Judgment., Journal of personality and social psychology, PMID: 23713698

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8:26 PM | Quantum-Dot Microscopy Method Allows to Improve Solar Cells

Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new microscopy technique that uses a process similar to how an old tube television produces a picture—cathodoluminescence—to image nanoscale features. Combining the best features of optical and scanning electron microscopy, the fast, versatile, and high-resolution technique allows scientists to view surface and subsurface features potentially as small as 10 nanometers in size. This technique […]

Yoon, H., Lee, Y., Bohn, C., Ko, S., Gianfrancesco, A., Steckel, J., Coe-Sullivan, S., Talin, A. & Zhitenev, N. (2013). High-resolution photocurrent microscopy using near-field cathodoluminescence of quantum dots, AIP Advances, 3 (6) 62112. DOI: 10.1063/1.4811275

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7:05 PM | Nanog protein promotes the growth of cancer stem cells in head and neck cancer

A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) has identified a biochemical pathway in cancer stem cells that is essential for promoting head and neck cancer.The study shows that a protein called Nanog, which is normally active in embryonic stem cells, promotes the growth of cancer stem cells in head and neck cancer. The findings provide information essential for […]

Xie, X., Piao, L., Cavey, G., Old, M., Teknos, T., Mapp, A. & Pan, Q. (2013). Phosphorylation of Nanog is essential to regulate Bmi1 and promote tumorigenesis, Oncogene, DOI: 10.1038/onc.2013.173

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11:51 AM | Bombs and Brains

Great minds met to conceive the first atomic bomb. Now the atomic bomb has helped researchers confirm some long-held suspicions about the human brain. Up until the 1960s, it was a widely accepted belief that we are born with a finite number of neurons that last our entire life. In 1965, researchers presented the first […]

Spalding K., Bergmann O., Alkass K., Bernard S., Salehpour M., Huttner H., Boström E., Westerlund I., Vial C. & Buchholz B. & (2013). Dynamics of Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Adult Humans, Cell, 153 (6) 1219-1227. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.002

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10:09 AM | Peter Suber’s Open Access book is now available under an open-access license

If you never got around to buying Peter Suber’s book about Open Access (OA) publishing [1] “for busy people”, you might be pleased to learn that it’s now available under an open-access license. Open Access is open access I'm happy to announce that my book on OA (Open Access, MIT Press… goo.gl/fb/CaInj— Peter Suber (@petersuber) June 18, […]

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

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8:42 AM | "Undruggable" cancers may by druggable

Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers have identified in the most aggressive forms of cancer a gene known to regulate embryonic stem cell self-renewal, beginning a creative search for a drug that can block its activity.The gene, SALL4, gives stem cells their ability to continue dividing as stem cells rather than becoming mature cells. Typically, cells only express SALL4 during embryonic development, but the gene is re-expressed in nearly all cases of acute myeloid leukemia and 10 to 30 […]

Yong, K., Gao, C., Lim, J., Yan, B., Yang, H., Dimitrov, T., Kawasaki, A., Ong, C., Wong, K., Lee, S. & Ravikumar, S. (2013). Oncofetal Gene in Aggressive Hepatocellular Carcinoma , New England Journal of Medicine, 368 (24) 2266-2276. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1300297

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8:14 AM | NYSCF researchers generate beta cells from MODY patients

A team from the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute and the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Centre of Columbia University has generated patient-specific beta cells, or insulin-producing cells, that accurately reflect the features of maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY).The researchers used skin cells of MODY patients to produce induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, from which they then made beta cells. Transplanted into a mouse, the stem cell-derived beta cells secreted […]

Hua, H., Shang, L., Martinez, H., Freeby, M., Gallagher, M., Ludwig, T., Deng, L., Greenberg, E., LeDuc, C., Chung, W. & Goland, R. (2013). iPSC-derived β cells model diabetes due to glucokinase deficiency, Journal of Clinical Investigation, DOI: 10.1172/JCI67638

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5:01 AM | The Hazards of Debating Race and Inequality

Imagine there is a certain advantaged group of people that supports a policy that harms a disadvantaged group, and you believe there are hints of racial or ethnic bias underlying their position. Even if the advantaged group doesn’t literally believe that the disadvantaged group is less deserving, it’s impossible to view their insensitivity to the [...]

Saguy, T., Chernyak-Hai, L., Andrighetto, L. & Bryson, J. (2013). When the powerful feels wronged: The legitimization effects of advantaged group members' sense of being accused for harboring racial or ethnic biases, European Journal of Social Psychology, DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.1948

Rasinski, H., Geers, A. & Czopp, A. (2013). "I Guess What He Said Wasn't That Bad": Dissonance in Nonconfronting Targets of Prejudice, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, DOI: 10.1177/0146167213484769

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June 17, 2013

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8:18 PM | Supreme Court rules natural genes not patentable

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday, June 13th, that Myriad Genomics Inc. may not retain exclusive rights to the use of DNA sequence information for breast cancer associated genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, stating that Myriad had not created anything new in identifying the genes. Continue reading →

Hall, J., Lee, M., Newman, B., Morrow, J., Anderson, L., Huey, B. & King, M. (1990). Linkage of early-onset familial breast cancer to chromosome 17q21, Science, 250 (4988) 1684-1689. DOI: 10.1126/science.2270482

Miki, Y., Swensen, J., Shattuck-Eidens, D., Futreal, P., Harshman, K., Tavtigian, S., Liu, Q., Cochran, C., Bennett, L., Ding, W. & et, A. (1994). A strong candidate for the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1, Science, 266 (5182) 66-71. DOI: 10.1126/science.7545954

Wooster, R., Neuhausen, S., Mangion, J., Quirk, Y., Ford, D., Collins, N., Nguyen, K., Seal, S., Tran, T., Averill, D. & et, A. (1994). Localization of a breast cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA2, to chromosome 13q12-13, Science, 265 (5181) 2088-2090. DOI: 10.1126/science.8091231

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6:52 PM | Hey boy, you really activate my ventral midbrain.

By Brooke Napier Scientists at CalTech simultaneously found a way to stimulate your midbrain without invasive methods (ie: opening up your skull) and make you find them attractive. Chib, et al. reported in Translational Psychiatry that by using their newly designed noninvasive method called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the prefrontal cortex they were able to activate the interconnected midbrain. Why would you want to activate the midbrain? The ventral midbrain (also known […]

Chib VS, Yun K, Takahashi H & Shimojo S (2013). Noninvasive remote activation of the ventral midbrain by transcranial direct current stimulation of prefrontal cortex., Translational psychiatry, 3 PMID: 23756377

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2:35 PM | Autoimmune disease as a risk factor for mood disorder?

Autoimmunity, the process by which the immune system fails to recognise self as self and subsequently targets those self tissues and cells, is something talked about quite a lot on this blog with autism specifically in mind. Part of the very wide and diverse immune-related features which have been discussed with at least some of the autisms in mind, it's not yet altogether clear exactly how and why autoimmunity is linked to behaviour but the association is an interesting one.Sally? @ […]

Benros ME, Waltoft BL, Nordentoft M, Ostergaard SD, Eaton WW, Krogh J & Mortensen PB (2013). Autoimmune Diseases and Severe Infections as Risk Factors for Mood Disorders: A Nationwide Study., JAMA psychiatry (Chicago, Ill.), 1-9. PMID: 23760347

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1:52 PM | New Silicon Wafer Production Method to Make Solar Cells Cheaper

A team of researchers from the Nanoengineering Research Centre (CRNE) and the Department of Electronic Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTech (UPC) has found a way to manufacture crystalline silicon materials cheaper and faster. The results of their research have recently been published online in Applied Physics Letters. This thin crystalline silicon wafer production method can be used to fabricate the latest generation of solar cells. Read more »

Hernández, D., Trifonov, T., Garín, M. & Alcubilla, R. (2013). “Silicon millefeuille”: From a silicon wafer to multiple thin crystalline films in a single step, Applied Physics Letters, 102 (17) 172102. DOI: 10.1063/1.4803009

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12:00 PM | After the Devastation: Is There Hope For Large Wildlife Conservation Following Mountaintop Removal?

By David Jachowski Photo by biotour13 via Flicker and a Creative Commons License  What if the future of biodiversity conservation isn't in National Parks and protected areas, but in abandoned places? The played-out farm fields or remains after mountaintop removal for a seam of coal. Those overused and now typically overlooked parcels of land that saw a brief boom in

Wood, P. & Williams, J. (2013). Impact of Valley Fills on Streamside Salamanders in Southern West Virginia, Journal of Herpetology, 47 (1) 119-125. DOI: 10.1670/11-187

Larkin, J., Maehr, D., Cox, J., Bolin, D. & Wichrowski, M. (2003). Demographic Characteristics of a Reintroduced Elk Population in Kentucky, The Journal of Wildlife Management, 67 (3) 467. DOI: 10.2307/3802704

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11:31 AM | Calling into question the accuracy of the ‘Standard Otter Survey’

We are required to survey otters across Europe as the species has been designated as being of conservation concern, under the EC Habitats and Species Directive. This means that under European Law, we are obliged to monitor their presence to … Continue reading →

Reid, N., Lundy, M., Hayden, B., Lynn, D., Marnell, F., McDonald, R. & Montgomery, W. (2013). Detecting detectability: identifying and correcting bias in binary wildlife surveys demonstrates their potential impact on conservation assessments, European Journal of Wildlife Research, DOI: 10.1007/s10344-013-0741-8

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9:40 AM | El dibujo infantil como técnica de regulación emocional

Una de las actividades que más “enganchan” a los niños es el dibujo. Basta con darles una hoja en blanco y unos lápices de colores para que automáticamente empiecen a […]

Drake JE & Winner E (2013). How children use drawing to regulate their emotions., Cognition & emotion, 27 (3) 512-20. PMID: 22963448

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9:35 AM | How did sauropods get blood up their necks?

Sauropods are the largest animals to have ever lived, surpassing whales even though they lived on land. Their unique anatomy, including their extremely long neck, has long been the subject of speculation and study, as their physiology must have stretched the limits of regular vertebrate capabilities. The topic of circulation is one central issue: how […]

Seymour, R. (2009). Raising the sauropod neck: it costs more to get less, Biology Letters, 5 (3) 317-319. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0096

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6:42 AM | What stereotypes do Europeans of today hold about men and women's intuition?

"She works by intuition and feeling;" wrote the US psychologist G. Stanley Hall of the typical woman, "fear, anger, pity, love, and most of the emotions have a wider range and greater intensity [than in men]." That was in 1904. Fast forward a hundred years, what beliefs do modern-day Europeans still hold about the intuition of men and women? Gerd Gigerenzer and his colleagues surveyed 1016 men and women in Germany and 1002 in Spain to find out. Overall, the participants didn't see either […]

Gigerenzer, G., Galesic, M. & Garcia-Retamero, R. (2013). Stereotypes About Men's and Women's Intuitions: A Study of Two Nations, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, DOI: 10.1177/0022022113487074

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5:44 AM | JUST PUBLISHED: Early Life Determinants of Reproductive Success

Infertility is a rising problem around the world. Coupled with a current tendency to delay childbearing, the growth in the population of many countries has come to halt. Bacterial infections are an often overlooked cause for infertility. This is particularly relevant to the recent increase in Chlamydia infections among young people. When untreated, Chlamydia in pregnant women can be transmitted to the newborn. As a result, up to 15% of newly born babies are currently known to be infected with […]

Sominsky, L., Sobinoff, A., Jobling, M., Pye, V., McLaughlin, E. & Hodgson, D. (2013). Immune regulation of ovarian development: programming by neonatal immune challenge, Frontiers in Neuroscience, 7 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2013.00100

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June 16, 2013

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7:11 PM | Outreach in Unusual Places

I was lucky enough to be part of a series of sessions at ScienceOnline this January that discussed Science Outreach. It should tell you a little about how hectic my life has been lately that I’m just now writing up something that happened in January! Finally I found time to sit down and put together […]

Fisher M.L., Kruger D.J. & Garcia J.R. (2011). Understanding and Enhancing the Role of the Mass Media in Evolutionary Psychology Education, Evolution: Education and Outreach, 4 (1) 75-82. DOI: 10.1007/s12052-010-0302-5

Artz K. & Wormer H. (2011). What recipients ask for: An analysis of 'user question generated' science coverage, Journalism, 12 (7) 871-888. DOI: 10.1177/1464884911412826

Pergams O.R.W. & Zaradic P.A. (2008). Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive shift away from nature-based recreation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105 (7) 2295-2300. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0709893105

Khalil K. & Ardoin N. (2011). Programmatic Evaluation in Association of Zoos and Aquariums–Accredited Zoos and Aquariums: A Literature Review, Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 10 (3) 168-177. DOI: 10.1080/1533015X.2011.614813

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4:15 PM | People Think Secret Information Is Better Information

The recent disclosures about the extent of the NSA’s domestic spying program add to a long history of incidents in which the American public has gained access to information that was once secret. And that’s great. People should have information about what their government is doing. But it’s worth considering whether people are able to [...]

Travers, M., Van Boven, L. & Judd, C. (2013). The Secrecy Heuristic: Inferring Quality from Secrecy in Foreign Policy Contexts, Political Psychology, DOI: 10.1111/pops.12042

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10:29 AM | Harvard researchers isolate stem cells from patients with Pearson Marrow Pancreatic Syndrome

Using a difficult laboratory technique, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) physician-researchers have isolated genetically healthy stem cells from patients with Pearson Marrow Pancreas Syndrome (PS), a generally fatal infant blood disorder with less than a hundred reported cases worldwide. Children with PS experience a range of symptoms, most notably: anaemia, decreased organ function, and difficulty absorbing nutrients and gaining weight. Blood transfusions can prolong life, but once […]

Cherry, A., Gagne, K., McLoughlin, E., Baccei, A., Gorman, B., Hartung, O., Miller, J., Zhang, J., Zon, R., Ince, T. & Neufeld, E. (2013). Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells with a Pathological Mitochondrial DNA Deletion, STEM CELLS, DOI: 10.1002/stem.1354

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9:51 AM | Alzheimer's, Schizophrenia, and Autism can now be studied with neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells

Difficult to study diseases such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and autism can now be probed more safely and effectively thanks to an innovative new method for obtaining mature brain cells called neurons from reprogrammed skin cells.According to Gong Chen, the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences and professor of biology at Penn State University and the leader of the research team, "the most exciting part of this research is that it offers the promise of direct disease modelling, […]

Tang, X., Zhou, L., Wagner, A., Marchetto, M., Muotri, A., Gage, F. & Chen, G. (2013). Astroglial cells regulate the developmental timeline of human neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells, Stem Cell Research, 11 (2) 743-757. DOI: 10.1016/j.scr.2013.05.002

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9:19 AM | Fingernail stem cells may be the key to regrowing limbs

Mammals possess the remarkable ability to regenerate a lost fingertip, including the nail, nerves and even bone. In humans, an amputated fingertip can sprout back in as little as two months, a phenomenon that has remained poorly understood until now. In a recently published paper in the Nature journal, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center shed light on this rare regenerative power in mammals, using genetically engineered mice to document for the first time the biochemical chain of events […]

Takeo, M., Chou, W., Sun, Q., Lee, W., Rabbani, P., Loomis, C., Taketo, M. & Ito, M. (2013). Wnt activation in nail epithelium couples nail growth to digit regeneration, Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature12214

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7:32 AM | Overhyped genetic findings: the case of dyslexia

A press release by Yale University Press Office was recently recycled on the Research Blogging website*, announcing that their researchers had made a major breakthrough. Specifically they said "A new study of the genetic origins of dyslexia and other learning disabilities could allow for earlier diagnoses and more successful interventions, according to researchers at Yale School of Medicine. Many students now are not diagnosed until high school, at which point treatments are less effective." […]

Powers, N., Eicher, J., Butter, F., Kong, Y., Miller, L., Ring, S., Mann, M. & Gruen, J. (2013). Alleles of a Polymorphic ETV6 Binding Site in DCDC2 Confer Risk of Reading and Language Impairment, The American Journal of Human Genetics, DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.05.008

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June 15, 2013

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6:30 PM | Cliodynamics: A Future for History?

What is history? And what, if any, are its practical uses? These are the questions I’ve been pondering since being introduced to Cliodynamics – which claims to make history into “an analytical, predictive science.” To that end, I wish to address two questions: is it possible to make history into “an analytical, predictive science?” And is […]

Turchin P. (2008). Arise 'cliodynamics', Nature, 454 (7200) 34-35. DOI: 10.1038/454034a

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1:10 PM | Autism, fetal alcohol syndrome and thyroid hormone?

Alcohol is the drug of choice for many people these days. For most, it's a case of the odd glass of wine here or there or a beer whilst sat outside in the garden during the summer we're supposed to be basking in at the moment.The grape @ Wikipedia But there is no getting away from the fact that alcohol is a drug, and by all accounts, a drug which very readily impacts on the lives of many, many people. Outside of all the social ills associated with excessive alcohol consumption, there […]

Tunc-Ozcan E, Ullmann TM, Shukla PK & Redei EE (2013). Low-Dose Thyroxine Attenuates Autism-Associated Adverse Effects of Fetal Alcohol in Male Offspring's Social Behavior and Hippocampal Gene Expression., Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, PMID: 23763370

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11:44 AM | Deciphering climate messages via the heart of the atom

Through a lifelong involvement in nuclear science, Hans Suess developed radiocarbon dating, and provided evidence that burning coal puts carbon into the atmosphere and the activity of the Sun can change, affecting Earth’s climate.

Suess, H. (1954). U. S. Geological Survey Radiocarbon Dates I, Science, 120 (3117) 467-473. DOI: 10.1126/science.120.3117.467

Suess, H. (1955). Radiocarbon Concentration in Modern Wood, Science, 122 (3166) 415-417. DOI: 10.1126/science.122.3166.415-a

Stuiver, M; Suess, H. E. (1966). On The Relationship Between Radiocarbon Dates And True Sample Ages, Radiocarbon, 534-540. Other: Link

Suess, H. E. (1980). The Radiocarbon Record in Tree Rings of the Last 8000 Years, R, 22 202-209. Other: Link

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June 14, 2013

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11:13 PM | Yet Another Reason to Thank Dad This Father’s Day! Evidence for Paternally-Inherited Epigenetic Modifications

Maternal health during gestation and prenatal conditions are well documented as having profound effects on health and development of a baby after birth. The mechanisms behind many of these effects are attributed to epigenetic changes that take place in utero. More recently, pre-fertilization maternal health has been also been implicated in affecting development of babies ...The post Yet Another Reason to Thank Dad This Father’s Day! Evidence for Paternally-Inherited Epigenetic Modifications […]

Mychasiuk R, Harker A, Ilnytskyy S & Gibb R (2013). Paternal stress prior to conception alters DNA methylation and behaviour of developing rat offspring., Neuroscience, 241 100-5. PMID: 23531434

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7:02 PM | “…we’re all quite sane. Ane. Ane.” In...

“…we’re all quite sane. Ane. Ane.” In 1988, C. A. Moser reminded researchers in Die Psychologie des Sadomasochismus of Havelock Ellis’s work some 80 years prior, “The relationship of love to pain is one of the most difficult and yet most fundamental problems in the entire field of sexual psychology. How is it that love inflicts pain, seeks to inflict? … Should we be able to answer that question, then we are approaching one of the greatest mysteries of love. (Ellis, […]

Wismeijer, A. & van Assen, M. (2013). Psychological Characteristics of BDSM Practitioners, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12192

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1:32 PM | Not Dead Yet: Medieval Versus Modern Leprosy

The study of the DNA of vira is becoming increasingly popular to understand how it affected people in the past, how the disease evolved, and whether its modern equivalents are similar. Genomic studies of different variations of the plague have been in the news over the past few years. A recent study of the Justinian … Continue reading »

Schuenemann, V., Singh, P., Mendum, T., Krause-Kyora, B., Jager, G., Bos, K., Herbig, A., Economou, C., Benjak, A., Busso, P. & Nebel, A. (2013). Genome-Wide Comparison of Medieval and Modern Mycobacterium leprae, Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1238286

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