Author Archives
In short, I review clinical research on an almost daily basis. What I post tends to be articles that are relevant to the readers in addition to some curiosities that have intriguing potential.
As a hobby, I truly enjoy the puzzle-solving play that statistics and programming as in the python language bring to the table. I just do not enjoy problem-solving, I love problem-solving and the childlike inspiration and exploration of that innocent exhilaration of discovering something new.
Enjoy ;-)
-
UNH research finds shrinking population in more than a third of rural counties
Nearly 35 percent of rural counties in the United States are experiencing protracted and significant population loss, according to new research released by the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Those counties are now home… Read More ›
-
Study reveals unsettling multidrug antibiotic resistance in remote Arctic soil microbes
Analysis of soil samples the University of Kansas’ Jennifer Roberts collected in the Kongsfjorden region of Svalbard, Norway, shows antibiotic-resistant genes have transferred into soil-microbe populations in one of Earth’s most remote locations. Source: Study reveals unsettling multidrug antibiotic resistance… Read More ›
-
More die after surgery than from HIV, TB, and malaria combined — study
Around the world 4.2 million people die every year within 30 days after surgery — with half of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a new study reveals. Source: More die after surgery than from HIV, TB,… Read More ›
-
Atari master: New AI smashes Google DeepMind in video game challenge
A new breed of algorithms has mastered Atari video games 10 times faster than state-of-the-art AI, with a breakthrough approach to problem solving. Source: Atari master: New AI smashes Google DeepMind in video game challenge
-
Mean streets: Self-driving cars will ‘cruise’ to avoid paying to park
If you think traffic in city centers is bad now, just wait until self-driving cars emerge on the scene, cruising around to avoid paying hefty downtown parking fees. Source: Mean streets: Self-driving cars will ‘cruise’ to avoid paying to park
-
Study reveals wildlife is abundant in Chernobyl
A scavenger study that used fish carcasses as bait provides additional evidence that wildlife is abundant in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Source: Study reveals wildlife is abundant in Chernobyl
-
Why are you and I and everything else here?
We’re here because there’s more matter than antimatter in the universe. An article in Physical Review Letters explores the puzzle of the baryon asymmetry, one of the biggest unsolved problems in physics. Source: Why are you and I and everything… Read More ›
-
OxyContin reformulation to curb opioid abuse led to hepatitis C surge, study finds
Public health officials have blamed the shift from prescription opioids to injectable heroin as a cause of the rise in hepatitis C cases. A new study provides the best evidence to date that reformulation of the pain medicine OxyContin in… Read More ›
-
New wisdom about high cholesterol treatment for adults aged 80 and older
A team of researchers in China decided to learn more about whether current triglyceride-level guidelines make sense for people aged 80 and older. Their study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Source: New wisdom about high… Read More ›
-
Zinc deficiency and high blood pressure?
Zinc deficiency and high blood pressure? Zinc deficiency and high blood pressure? Lower-than-normal zinc levels may contribute to high blood pressure (hypertension) by altering the way the kidneys handle sodium. The study is published ahead of print in the American… Read More ›
-
A step closer to self-aware machines
Columbia Engineers have created a robot that learns what it is, with zero prior knowledge of physics, geometry, or motor dynamics. Initially the robot has no clue what its shape is. After a brief period of ‘babbling,’ and within about… Read More ›
-
Industrial chemicals pass from mother to fetus throughout pregnancy
In a study published in Environment International researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show how PFAS industrial chemicals, which are used in many consumer products, pass through the placenta throughout pregnancy to accumulate in fetal tissue. Further research is now… Read More ›
-
Emerging evidence of an impending Parkinson’s disease pandemic identified
For most of human history Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been a rare disorder. However, demography and the by-products of industrialization a now contributing to an impending a Parkinson’s pandemic, according to experts writing in a supplement to the Journal of… Read More ›
-
New technology uses lasers to transmit audible messages to specific people
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory report using two different laser-based methods to transmit various tones, music and recorded speech at a conversational volume Source: New technology uses lasers to transmit audible messages to specific people
-
Computer analysis shows that popular music lyrics become angrier and sadder over time
A scientific analysis of the sentiment of popular music lyrics from the 1950s to 2016 showed that the expression of anger and sadness in popular music has increased gradually over time, while the expression of joy has declined. Source: Computer… Read More ›
-
How to escape a black hole: simulations provide new clues about powerful plasma jets
New simulations led by researchers working at the Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have combined decades-old theories to provide new insight about the driving mechanisms in plasma jets that allows them to steal energy from black holes’ powerful gravitational fields… Read More ›
-
Hens that lay human proteins in eggs offer future therapy hope
Chickens that are genetically modified to produce human proteins in their eggs can offer a cost-effective method of producing certain types of drugs, research from the University of Edinburgh suggests. Researchers say the findings provide sound evidence for using chickens… Read More ›
-
Converting Wi-Fi signals to electricity with new 2D materials
Imagine a world where smartphones, laptops, wearables, and other electronics are powered without batteries. Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have taken a step in that direction, with the first fully flexible device that can convert energy from Wi-Fi signals into… Read More ›
-
Artificial skin could give superhuman perception
A new type of sensor could lead to artificial skin that someday helps burn victims ‘feel’ and safeguards the rest of us. UConn researchers wanted to create a sensor that can mimic the sensing properties of skin. Such a sensor would need… Read More ›
-
Is it possible to restore memory function in Alzheimer’s?
Is it possible to restore memory function in Alzheimer’s? Is it possible to restore memory function in Alzheimer’s? “When we gave the AD animals this enzyme inhibitor, we saw the rescue of cognitive function confirmed through evaluations of recognition memory,… Read More ›
-
WSU sociologist sees environmental support slip under Democratic presidents
Erik Johnson has what looks like a surefire way to hurt support for spending to protect the environment: Elect a Democratic president. Source: WSU sociologist sees environmental support slip under Democratic presidents
-
Frequent use of aspirin can lead to increased bleeding
The results showed that: Aspirin use was associated with an 11% lower risk of cardiovascular events. Approximately 250 patients needed to be treated with aspirin for 5 years to prevent a single heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death. Aspirin use… Read More ›
-
The feminization of men leads to a rise in homophobia
Before the feminist revolution, men built their masculinity on traits that opposed those assigned to women. Since then, men can no longer rely on this anti-feminine norm. What are the effects of this shift on masculinity affirmation? Researchers (UNIGE) have… Read More ›
-
Tap or bottled? Water impacts health benefits Green tea
Tap or bottled? Water impacts health benefits Green tea Tap or bottled? Water impacts health benefits Green tea In tests conducted at Cornell’s Sensory Evaluation Center, consumers liked green tea brewed using tap water more than using bottled water, because… Read More ›
-
High pesticide exposure among farmers linked to poor sense of smell later
EAST LANSING, Mich. – A Michigan State University study is the first to show an association between unusually high pesticide exposure and poor sense of smell among aging farmers. The research examined more than 11,200 farmers over a 20-year period…. Read More ›
-
Relying on karma: Research explains why outrage doesn’t usually result in revolution
New research from Professors Rosalind Chow and Jeffrey Galak examines how people respond to two types of injustices: when bad things happen to good people, and when good things happen to bad people. Source: Relying on karma: Research explains why… Read More ›
-
Giant pattern discovered in the clouds of planet Venus
A Japanese research group has identified a giant streak structure among the clouds covering planet Venus based on observation from the spacecraft Akatsuki. The team also revealed the origins of this structure using large-scale climate simulations. The group was led… Read More ›
-
Millions on prescription sleeping pills would sleep through a fire alarm
Widely prescribed ‘benzodiazepine’ sleeping pills suppress the sleeping brain’s ability to wake us when it senses a threat. But an alternative class of hypnotics currently under development could allow users to rouse in the event of an earthquake, fire alarm… Read More ›
-
COLITIS, Intestinal Bowel Disease greatly helped by Urolithin A
COLITIS, Intestinal Bowel Disease greatly helped by Urolithin A Administration of these agents after mice have developed full colitis has reversed the phenotype significantly by reducing shortening of colons, gut permeability, and inflammation. When animals were fed with UroA or… Read More ›
-
Are your Facebook friends making you feel sick?
As social networking activity has become pervasive, researchers have been taking a closer look at its impact on our psychological and physical health. Source: Are your Facebook friends making you feel sick?
-
Who shared fake news on Facebook during the 2016 US presidential election?
Although most Facebook users did not share any fake news articles during the 2016 US presidential campaign, a new study reveals that the small number who did were mostly Americans over the age of 65. The findings suggest the need… Read More ›
-
Space microbes aren’t so alien after all
A new Northwestern University study has found that — despite its seemingly harsh conditions — the ISS is not causing bacteria to mutate into dangerous, antibiotic-resistant superbugs. The bacteria are instead simply responding, and perhaps evolving, to survive in a… Read More ›
-
Dental flossing and other behaviors linked with higher levels of PFAS in the body
A new study suggests certain types of consumer behaviors, including flossing with Oral-B Glide dental floss, contribute to elevated levels in the body of toxic PFAS chemicals. The findings provide new insight into how these chemicals end up in people’s… Read More ›
-
Obesity surgery leads to emergence of new microbial strains in the human fecal community
Using a unique bioinformatics technique developed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, UAB researchers have detected the emergence of new strains of microbes in the human fecal microbiota after obesity surgery. These new strains emerged after surgical disruption of… Read More ›
-
Could this widely used food additive cause celiac disease?
A bacterial enzyme that is used to improve food texture and shelf-life has been linked in several studies to celiac disease — but it is unlabeled and hidden from public knowledge, according to a review published in Frontiers in Pediatrics…. Read More ›
-
Would you vote for a Democrat who behaves like a Republican?
The Bright Line Watch team tested how committed the American public really is to its democracy. Are there universal democratic principles that, if violated by politicians, would generate resistance from the public, and would citizens of all political stripes be… Read More ›
-
Antidepressant foods: An evidence-based nutrient profiling system for depression
Antidepressant foods: An evidence-based nutrient profiling system for depression Antidepressant foods: An evidence-based nutrient profiling system for depression The objective of this study is to determine which foods are the most nutrient dense sources of nutrients demonstrated by human studies… Read More ›
-
Human mortality ‘plateau’ may be statistical error, not hint of immortality
Human error, not human biology, largely accounts for the apparent decline of mortality among the very old, according to a new report publishing on Dec. 20, 2018, in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Saul Newman of Australia National University… Read More ›
-
Is the US a tinderbox ready to ignite?
What is the tipping point at which tolerance for hardship and injustice turns into civic discontent in the form of street demonstrations, and how it might be closer than it seems. Source: Is the US a tinderbox ready to ignite?
-
Cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce brown adipose tissue
ETH Zurich scientists have shown that statins, one of the most commonly prescribed classes of pharmaceuticals, reduce beneficial brown adipose tissue. But this is no reason to demonize these drugs, the researchers insist. Source: Cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce brown adipose tissue
-
Bees can count with just four nerve cells in their brains
Bees can solve seemingly clever counting tasks with very small numbers of nerve cells in their brains, according to researchers at Queen Mary University of London. Source: Bees can count with just four nerve cells in their brains
-
Nitrate Rich foods may prevent Fatty Liver Disease
Nitrate Rich foods may prevent Fatty Liver Disease “When we supplemented with dietary nitrate to mice fed with a high-fat and sugar Western diet, we noticed a significantly lower proportion of fat in the liver,” says Mattias Carlström, Associate Professor… Read More ›
-
Research finds rings of Saturn are dying
New research shows Saturn’s rings are dying at a worst-case-scenario rate. Source: Research finds rings of Saturn are dying
-
Groups of pilot whales have their own dialects
A new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has found that short-finned pilot whales living off the coast of Hawai’i have their own sorts of vocal dialects, a discovery that may help researchers understand the whales’ complex social… Read More ›
-
Mortality rates rising for Gens X and Y too
Declining life expectancies in the US include Gen X and Y Americans, in addition to the older Baby Boomers. But the causes of premature mortality vary by race, gender and ethnicity, according to a new study from Duke University. The… Read More ›
-
New study: Average outpatient visit in US approaching $500
The average outpatient visit in the United States costs nearly $500, according to a new scientific study. In addition, the average inpatient stay had a price tag in 2016 of more than $22,000. Both of these dollar amounts underscore a… Read More ›
-
Statins overprescribed for primary prevention
Taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, or statins, as a preventive measure can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. A study by the University of Zurich now shows that this measure is recommended too often, as current guidelines fail to take into account… Read More ›
-
How catnip makes the chemical that causes cats to go crazy
Researchers at John Innes Centre have shed light on how catnip — also known as catmint — produces the chemical that sends cats into a state of wanton abandon. Source: How catnip makes the chemical that causes cats to go… Read More ›
Engineering Evil 