Fall Semester

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/46878/title/Caloric-Restriction-Turns-White-Fat-Brown/ A report in the New Scientist about research done in mice at the U of Geneva to be published in Cell Metabolism which showed that restricting dietary calorie intake turned white fat into energy-burning brown fat. Calorie restriction by 40% in animal models has been shown to lead to longer lifespans and improved health outcomes. Finding a way to make the transition could help with diabetes and other diseases.





http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/graduate-students-the-laborers-of-academia  Article in the NYer about (adjuncts and) grad students, the laborers of academia.



http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/353/6302/872.full.pdf This is a link to a commentary in Science by David Baltimore's group about new strategies for understanding neurodegenerative diseases. For those of us who still bear onus against Baltimore for his claiming credit for his student's work, this commentary is a step towards forgiveness. He suggests that, just as we undertook new strategies from a cellular perspective to figure cancer out, he suggests we similarly "rethink the path to progress" in the case of Alzheimers and other diseases.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-review-finds-nondrug-approaches-effective-treatment-common-pain-conditions  This is a report of an NIH-funded study about non-drug treatment for pain.It was reported in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings that yoga, tai chi and acupuncture are effective treatments for back pain, osteoarthritis, neck pain, fibromyalgia, and severe headaches and migraine.



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/science/oldest-fossils-on-earth.html?_r=0 An article from the NYT about a fossil discovery in Greenland which may be the oldest fossils ever found. This publication will appear in Nature. These fossils are thought to be stromatolites, layers of sediment packed together by microbial communities living in shallow water. They may antedate the oldest previously known fossils by 220 million years. The U of Wollongong  discovered the fossils.




http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/science/fda-bans-sale-of-many-antibacterial-soaps-saying-risks-outweigh-benefits.html  From the NYT an article about the banning the sale of most antibacterial soaps by the FDA. Most of the banned products contain triclosan or triclocarban. In 2013 the FDA said the companies that marketed these products would have to prove they did more good than harm and this week the decision was made that they did not. Studies in animals have shown that these two chemicals disrupt normal reproductive development and metabolism and they may behave similarly in animals.

Below Ninety Degrees

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/08/woman-may-know-secret-saving-brain-s-synapses?utm_campaign=news_weekly_2016-08-19&et_rid=167369815&et_cid=731076
This is an article from Science about a neuroscientist at BostonChildren's Hospital working on gene knockout mice looking at the gene C1q, which is necessary for synaptic refinement, which is important in development for organization of the neurvous system, called "pruning". Later in life, C1q can cause nervous system damage. This may lead to therapies for glaucoma and other neurodegenerative diseases.


http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/20/sunday-review/climate-change-hot-future.html?_r=0 This is a graphic in the Sunday Review section of NYT, with a projection forward to 2100, of the days over one hundred degrees in the US. In 1991-2100 Phoenix had 92, 2060 projection is 132, 2100, projection is 163. This work was done by an environmental research group called Climate Central. A publication in Nature last year  said that 3 out of 4 daily heat extremes can be linked to global warming. Invest in sunscreen.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/donald-trump-s-lack-of-respect-for-science-is-alarming/ From Scientific American, a column devoted to Donald Trump's lack of respect for science. For the September 1 issue.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/us/dr-donald-a-henderson-who-helped-end-smallpox-dies-at-87.html?_r=0  This is an obit in the NYT for Don Henderson, one of my heros, who was significant in the worldwide eradication of smallpox.




http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2543281 This is an article from JAMA Pediatrics about a data-mining study about the association of acetaminophen use during pregnancy and behavioral difficulties in children. Confounding variables do not invalidate the association.




http://www.nytimes.com/by/gina-kolata This is an article in the Science Times by Gina Kolata about anew report that perhaps nodules on the thyroid do not necessitate surgery. This was a report in NEJM about the lifelong consequences of thyroid removal on patients with thyroid cancer, many of whose cancers never progress beyond the nodular stage.





http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/the-underused-hpv-vaccine/ Article in Science Times by Jane Brody about the underutilization of the HPV vaccine. Parents don't get their pre-teens vaccinated due to their wish to believe they are not sexually active. The CDC reports that about 14 million Americans become infected with HPV annually, most teens or young adults. HPV is a cause of cervical cancer.


https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2016/aug/23/scientists-losing-science-communication-skeptic-cox  Article from The Guardian about scientists inability to communicate science to the public.


http://www.sciencealert.com/thousands-of-strange-blue-lakes-are-appearing-in-antarctica-and-it-s-very-bad-news Article in Science News, Durham University, UK, glaciologists, as reported by Chris Mooney in the Washington Post, note the appearance of lakes in Antarctica. This does not bode well for the stability of the entire ice shelf. This was published in Geophysical Research Letters.




http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/health/zika-a-formidable-enemy-attacks-and-destroys-parts-of-babies-brains.html?_r=0  This is a NYT article reporting from the journal Radiology about possible other effects on the brains of babies whose mothers were infected with the Zika virus that may continue after birth or throughout their development.Zika's brain targets are the corpus callosum, the basal ganglia and the cerebellum.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/science/gene-tests-identify-breast-cancer-patients-who-can-skip-chemotherapy-study-says.html?_r=0  This is an article from the Times about an important  recent study published in NEJM of early stage breast cancer patients who were able to avoid chemotherapy and its consequences, which would not have been effective due to their genes. Their DNA showed they were at low risk for recurrence.



http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/46600/title/New-Lyme-Disease-Test-Developed-by-Summer-Student/ This is an article from The Scientist about a new test for Lyme Disease that was developed by a summer student at George Mason U. It's a urine test that tests for the shedding of proteins by the causative agent, Borrelia Burgdorferi. The test will enableearlier stage detection. The work was published in Biomaterials.

2000 page views

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160812073647.htm
Report of a study in Science News about childrens' food preferences from the Journal of Pediatrics and that they are highly influenced by the commercials they watch on TV. This is an fMRI study of their brains.



https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160811190751.htm  Another study reported in Science News from the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research to be published in the Astrophysical Journal about the origins of the radiation that causes our suntans. The research was a collaboration between Arizona State and Cardiff Universities and was able to determine by measuring the photons that ten trillionth of the particles that hit your skin are from outside of our galaxy. We can subtitle this "Not In Our Backyard."




http://www.futurity.org/fungi-bananas-1225422-2/  From Futurity, a report in PLOS about the possibility of fungi wiping out bananas as fungal infections have worsened. This has been done by UC Davis researchers who are sequencing the two fungal genomes. The Cavendish bananas are the variety we use.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/researchers-examine-how-parkinsons-disease-alters-brain-activity-over-time This is a press release from the NIH about research on Parkinson's Disease biomarkers.  University of Florida’s Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology was responsible for the study which was published in the Journal of Neurology.  It uses fMRI imaging to track changes in the brains of PD sufferers and may be used to evaluate new treatment methods.


http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/love-the-fig A NYer article about the fig. Figs and fig wasps coevolve together. Figs are a keystone species and can bring deforested lands back to life according to the author.




http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/health/osteoporosis-a-disease-with-few-treatment-options-may-soon-have-one-more.html?_r=0 Article in the NYT about osteoporosis and its treatment options. There is one drug, Forteo, manufactured by Lilly, which adds bone.  As published in JAMA clinical trials conducted by Radius showed that another Lilly drug, abaloparitide, will compete in the market with Forteo. The bisphosphonates, like Fossamax, do not build bone.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/science/from-fins-into-hands-scientists-discover-a-deep-evolutionary-link.html A Carl Zimmer article in the NYT about a research report from a U of Chicago team (Neil Shubin's lab) that discovered an evolutionary connection between fins and hands.They used CRISPR to manipulate zebrafish embryos and found that when the fish had 2 defective Hox genes (Homeobox genes important in development) they failed to grow proper fins and also fin rays. The idea is that digits and fin rays are somewhat equivalent. This is very important work from a key investigator.




http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/science/genetic-tests-for-a-heart-disorder-mistakenly-find-blacks-at-risk.html?_r=0 Article from NYT about the misdiagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in black people published in the NEJM. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic disorder that results in the thickening of the wall of the heart that can cause abnormal heart rhythms and sudden death. Black people are told more frequently than whites that they have this disorder based on a generic test. Sometimes, devices to counteract abnormal rhythms are implanted. The study was done at Harvard Medical School.

Soireeing Dogs of Summer

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/business/lung-cancer-drug-opdivo-fails-clinical-trial-to-expand-use.html?_r=0  So many front page articles about immunotherapy but here is one about the failure of a new BMS drug in clinical trials compared with traditional chemotherapy for lung cancer. Optivo and Keytruda are checkpoint inhibitors which "release a brake on" the immune system. This trail was only for the use of the drug on patients who had not had prior treatment.


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160808115447.htm  From Science Daily a report of a new treatment for kidney stones. Calcium oxalate crystals are the most common cause of kidney stones and this study done by the U of Houston and published in Nature reports that hydroxycitrate (HCA) a compound found in fruit inhibits calcium oxalate growth.


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160808115445.htm  In an article from Science Daily, a report of research from Mass General to be published in Nature, the mutations by which malignant melanoma resistant to BRAF inhibitors has been found.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160809095303.htm  From Science Daily, a report of research done at the U of Salford which identified an enzyme, PP2A^Cdc55 involved in human sperm and egg production which may be linked to Down Syndrome, Edward's Syndrome and other genetic abnormalities. This work will be published in the journal, Scientific Reports.




http://www.nature.com/articles/npjscilearn201611  Article from Nature about the implications of stress in the classroom. This is a review article and talks about the body's response to stress and release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex and its effects on learning and memory.




http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/science/dog-sperm-fertility.html?_r=0 Speaking of dogs, this article is about some findings of declining sperm  quality and undescended testes in dogs. Possibly, environmental chemicals, like PCB and DEHP (diethylhexylphthalate) are to blame. Dogs are described as a sentinel animal for human exposure. Done at the U of Nottingham Veterinary School.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/us/how-race-plays-a-role-in-patients-pain-treatment.html From NYT a report of unequal palliative care (pain treatment) in African Americans' treatment in hospitals. The research was done at the U of Pennsylvania. Studies of pharmacies in poor white neighborhoods showed that they were 54 times more likely to stock opioids than poor white neighborhoods.



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/science/how-did-people-migrate-to-the-americas-bison-dna-helps-chart-the-way.html?_r=0 Article in NYT about two studies using bison DNA to trace the migration of people to the Americas. One group is from UC Santa Cruz and their work is published in PNAS. They say that the corridor by which human populations could have migrated to the Americas was traversable 13,000 years ago. They use bison bones and mitochondrial DNA to make these conclusions.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/upshot/were-so-confused-the-problems-with-food-and-exercise-studies.html  From NYT article by Gina Kolata about the conclusions drawn from food and exercise studies. Barnett Kramer at the National Cancer Institute is critical of the way results of disease and dietary studies are interpreted for the public.



http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/08/greenland-shark-may-live-400-years-smashing-longevity-record  Article in Science about a study of Greenland sharks at the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus U using the various types of carbon in the shark's lenses to determine their ages. The oldest shark they found was 392 years old plus or minus 120 years. These are the longest loved vertebrates on record.