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 ;-)
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Super-sizing the soldier: Is obesity going to pose a huge recruiting problem?: At present, 62 percent of active duty military members over the age of 20 have a body mass index that falls into either the overweight or obese category
Posted By Thomas E. RicksTuesday, October 9, 2012 – 10:22 AM By Jim Gourley Best Defense department of physical fitness and national security Obesity and weight-related health conditions have become a prevalent concern to American policy in the last decade…. Read More ›
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Japan may ‘acknowledge’ China’s claim to islets to calm tension
*Engineering Evil: Would like 2nd Confirmation on this claim, before validating it. .This article has now been updated…Please refer to the link https://engineeringevil.com/2012/10/10/official-chided-for-senkaku-remarks/ . Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 Kyodo Japan is considering plans to calm tensions with China by acknowledging that… Read More ›
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Herpesvirus: To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate Scientists Weigh Risks and Benefits: Herpesvirus gives resistance to infection with bacterial pathogens
2009 report posted for filing Saranac Lake, N.Y., -Dr. Marcia Blackman and her research team at the Trudeau Institute have followed up on an intriguing report(1)published in the journal Nature in May 2007 by Dr. Herbert Virgin, et al.,… Read More ›
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BGU researchers identify vitamin B12 as an effective canker sore therapy
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, February 10, 2009 – A team of physicians at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has discovered that a nightly dose of vitamin B12 is a simple, effective and low risk therapy to prevent Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis… Read More ›
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50th Health Research Report 17 FEB 2009 – Reconstruction
Editors Top Five: 1. US researchers find traces of toxic mercury in high-fructose corn syrup 2. Arginine discovery could help fight human obesity 3. Even natural perfumes may cause allergies 4. Vigorous Exercise May Help Prevent Vision… Read More ›
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Could CAPTCHAs get any more annoying? New PC test asks web users to take the ‘correct’ moral stance on civil rights issues
Examples drawn from breaches of United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Users must choose the one answer out of three that shows compassion and empathy By Damien Gayle PUBLISHED:09:06 EST, 9 October 2012| UPDATED:09:06 EST, 9 October 2012 A… Read More ›
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We do not need an internet overlord: ITU is holding a meeting in December to decide whether it – and by implication, the United Nations – should take over the internet.
9 October 2012 Chris Berg The internet should be kept free, not turned into a geopolitical plaything controlled by the United Nations, says Chris Berg. At first glance, the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU) seems benign. The agency helps… Read More ›
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Research on enhanced transmissibility in H5N1 influenza: Should the moratorium end?
Public Release: 9-Oct-2012 Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology How can scientists safely conduct avian flu research if the results could potentially threaten, as well as save, millions of lives? In a series of commentaries appearing on… Read More ›
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Powerful magnets that cause cancer cells to ‘self-destruct’ could offer targeted treatment for tumours
By Anna Hodgekiss PUBLISHED:06:40 EST, 8 October 2012| UPDATED:10:02 EST, 8 October 2012 Magnets that cause tumours to ‘self-destruct’ could be a revolutionary new weapon in the fight against cancer. Scientists in South Korea have developed the method, which uses… Read More ›
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Molotov cocktail for kids: Tunisian children’s magazine publishes deadly recipe
Published: 9 October, 2012, 03:21 Edited: 9 October, 2012, 03:23 A Tunisian children’s magazine “Kaws Kouzah” has recently published a detailed step-by-step instruction of how to make a Molotov cocktail. Now the periodical is facing a lawsuit for endangering kids… Read More ›
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Halloween Spending Hikes Reveal Our Fascination With the Macabre
ScienceDaily (Oct. 8, 2012) — In the gloom of the economy, with scary unemployment figures, you might expect consumers to be hiding from Halloween in their darkened homes with the porch lights off. But a recent National Retail Federation survey… Read More ›
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Africa can easily grow wheat to ease hunger, price shocks: study
By Alister DoylePosted 2012/10/08 at 8:11 pm EDT OSLO, Oct. 8, 2012 (Reuters) — Wheat production in sub-Saharan Africa is at only 10 to 25 percent of its potential and nations can easily grow more to limit hunger, price shocks… Read More ›
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Afghanistan ‘sliding towards collapse’
Afghan forces are far from ready to secure a country riddled with violence and corruption, Red Cross and thinktank warn Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 October 2012 13.39 EDT Afghan security forces at the site of a suicide attack… Read More ›
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700,000 travellers ‘at risk of typhoid due to dud jab’
More than 700,000 people who thought they were protected against typhoid may be vulnerable to the disease, because of a dud batches of a vaccine. 16 batches of the Typhim Vi vaccine for typhoid have been found to contain doses… Read More ›
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Team builds most complex synthetic biology circuit yet
Mon, 10/08/2012 – 7:39am Using genes as interchangeable parts, synthetic biologists design cellular circuits that can perform new functions, such as sensing environmental conditions. However, the complexity that can be achieved in such circuits has been limited by a critical… Read More ›
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Technology for the body on the road to cyborgs?
October 8, 2012 Sarah Bakewell Speakers at a symposium on body-enhancement technology raised the idea that we may converge with our technology to the point that a superhuman entity emerges. The Terminator … an infamous cyborg. On September 2, 2010,… Read More ›
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Recession pushes US birth rates to an all-time low
18:25 08 October 2012 by Sara Reardon It’s looking like a bad time to invest in the diaper industry. Birth rates in the US reached an all-time low in 2011. US fertility has been declining steadily since 2008, according… Read More ›
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Russian beacon to track menacing asteroid Apophis
Monday, 08 October 2012 Russia’s space agency wants to send a mission to Apophis, the notorious asteroid which may change its course and eventually collide with Earth. It will plant a radio beacon, which will help track… Read More ›
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Zinc supplements during pregnancy may counteract damage from early alcohol exposure
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Peter Coyle, Ph.D. 61-8-8222-3028 peter.coyle@imvs.sa.gov.au Hanson Institute Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research Animal research has shown that binge drinking – even just once – during early pregnancy can cause numerous problems for the fetus,… Read More ›
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Blue light destroys antibiotic-resistant staph infection
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2156 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News Results reported in Photomedicine and Laser Surgery Journal New Rochelle, NY, January 29, 2009—Two common strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA,… Read More ›
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Exposure to perfluorinated chemicals may reduce women’s fertility
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Emma Mason (media enquiries only) wordmason@mac.com 44-077-112-96986 Oxford University Press Researchers have found the first evidence that perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) – chemicals that are widely used in everyday items such as food packaging, pesticides,… Read More ›
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Fast-food diet cancels out benefits of breastfeeding in preventing asthma: Just eating fast food once or twice a week
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Lindsay Elleker lindsay.elleker@ualberta.ca 780-492-0647 University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Many studies have shown that breastfeeding appears to reduce the chance of children developing asthma. But a newly published study led by… Read More ›
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First comprehensive paper on statins’ adverse effects released: Benefits have not been found to exceed their risks in those over 70 or 75 years old, even those with heart disease
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Debra Kain ddkain@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California – San Diego Provides evidence for reported side effects including muscle and cognitive problems A paper co-authored by Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at… Read More ›
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Stream in India has record high levels of drugs
2009 study posted for filing By Margie Mason THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PATANCHERU, India — When researchers analyzed vials of treated wastewater taken from a plant where about 90 Indian drug factories dump their residues, they were shocked. Enough of a… Read More ›
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Hypertension and cholesterol medications present in water released into the St. Lawrence River
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Julie Gazaille j.cordeau-gazaille@umontreal.ca 514-343-6796 University of Montreal Universite de Montreal research team on the water upstream and downstream from the Montreal wastewater This press release is available in French. Montreal, January 26, 2009 –… Read More ›
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49th Health Research Report 04 FEB 2009 – Reconstruction
Editors Top Five: 1. Stream in India has record high levels of drugs 2. First comprehensive paper on statins’ adverse effects released 3. Hypertension and cholesterol medications present in water released into the St. Lawrence River 4. Rochester study… Read More ›
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U.S. military aims to prevent suicides by taking soldiers’ private guns away from them
Pentagon and Congress to back policies encouraging the separation of at-risk soldiers from their private weapons Suicide rate among U.S. military staff rising again in 2012, almost half of those committed with personal firearm Likely to spark opposition from gun… Read More ›
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Exclusive: Libya Cable Detailed Threats
Eli Lake Oct 8, 2012 12:00 AM EDT In a dispatch sent the day he was killed, Ambassador Christopher Stevens described how the militias keeping the peace in Benghazi threatened to quit over a political feud. Eli Lake reports…. Read More ›
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Debt crisis: ECB board member shuts door on Greek pleas for leniency: it would be illegal and “illogical”
Greece cannot have more time to repay its debt to the European Central Bank because it would be illegal and “illogical”, board member Joerg Asmussen has said, as he shut the door on pleas for leniency from the bank. Last… Read More ›
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Greek crisis is ‘like the Weimar Republic’
Greece is plunging into an economic and social crisis as desperate as Germany under the Weimar Republic, the Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, has warned in an emotional appeal for leniency. Greece is plunging into an economic crisis as desperate… Read More ›
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If Germany were to leave the euro, it would be better off
Another week, another conference about the euro. This time it was in Singapore. Nevertheless, it was Germany that was uppermost in my mind, not least because several Singaporeans asked me why Germany doesn’t leave the euro. A worker walks by… Read More ›
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Japan’s top 3 carmakers to halve Chinese output
Business Oct. 08, 2012 – 02:14PM JST( 2 ) TOKYO — Japan’s top three carmakers will halve production in China following a sales slump there sparked by a backlash over a territorial row between Tokyo and Beijing, a report said… Read More ›
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Monument to eighth-century Japanese envoy to Tang Dynasty vandalized in Xian amid Senkaku Islands flareup
Monday, Oct. 8, 2012 Kyodo XIAN, China — A stone monument dedicated to an eight-century Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty in the ancient Chinese city of Xian has been vandalized with paint, a Kyodo News reporter confirmed Sunday. The… Read More ›
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Enter Detroit at your own risk: Police issue shocking warning to baseball fans
By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:19:11 EST, 7 October 2012| UPDATED:19:54 EST, 7 October 2012 Police officers in Detroit greeted football fans attending Saturday night’s Tigers game with a shock warning: ‘Enter Detroit at Your Own Risk.’ To protest against plans … Read More ›
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Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE pose a security threat to the United States …
China telecom giants threaten US: Congress panel ZTE Executive Vice President, He Shiyou, pictured in February. Chinese telecom giants … By Rob Lever | AFP News – 11 minutes ago Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE pose a security… Read More ›
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Sleeping Brain Behaves as If It’s Remembering Something
In the background is an entorhinal cortex neuron that was studied. The blue-green trace shows neocortical slow oscillation while the yellow trace shows the persistent activity of entorhinal cortical neuron, even when the inputs from neocortex were silent. (Credit: Mayank… Read More ›
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Reprogramming of Pericyte-Derived Cells of the Adult Human Brain into Induced Neuronal Cells
Reprogramming of somatic cells into neurons provides a new approach toward cell-based therapy of neurodegenerative diseases (Vierbuchen and Wernig, 2011). Previous studies have shown that postnatal astroglia from the mouse cerebral cortex can be directly converted into functional neuronal cells… Read More ›
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America’s top export in 2011 was . . . fuel?
Re-Posted for filing By Brad Plumer, Published: December 31, 2011 Fuel is now the top U.S. export. The Associated Press reports that America is on pace to ship out more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel than anything else in… Read More ›
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California gas prices reach all-time high following drop in supply: They claim because of a power outage Monday at a Southern California refinery
State moves above Hawaii as most expensive place to buy gas, with some drivers paying $5 a gallon, as prices drop elsewhere Associated Press in California guardian.co.uk, Sunday 7 October 2012 10.08 EDT Californians are paying 24 cents… Read More ›
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Debt crisis: Spain’s jobless flee to Argentina
Desperate Spaniards are fleeing in their thousands to set up new lives in Argentina, preferring rampant inflation to the prospect of searching for a job in a country with the highest unemployment rate in the industrialised world. Thousands in Spain… Read More ›
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Did Iran spy on French Alps murder victim’s satellite firm?
Saad Al-Hilli’s firm may have been under surveillance by Iranian intelligence Mr Al-Hilli was murdered in September alongside his wife and mother-in-law By Robert Verkaik PUBLISHED:18:18 EST, 6 October 2012| UPDATED:19:26 EST, 6 October 2012 Possible target: Saad Al-Hilli’s… Read More ›
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‘No food, no drugs’: Libyan troops siege ex-Gaddafi stronghold: Libya is still plagued with violence between pro-Gaddafi loyalists and supporters of the country’s new government
Published: 7 October, 2012, 20:24 Edited: 7 October, 2012, 20:36 Armed Libyan forces continue to surround the city of Bani Walid, Libya. As tension between government troops and opposition supporters continues to mount, residents have been left without food… Read More ›