MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'meta'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:50:02 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158863&cid=t_100075_86_f&fid=38272&url=http%3A%2F%2Flaikaspoetnik.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F21%2Fpubmeds-higher-sensitivity-than-ovid-medline-other-published-cliches%2F Is it just me, or are biomedical papers about searching for a systematic review often of low quality or just too damn obvious? I’m seldom excited about papers dealing with optimal search strategies or peculiarities of PubMed, even though it is my specialty. It is my impression, that many of the lower quality and/or less relevant papers are [...] (Source: Laika's MedLibLog) Laika's MedLibLog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158863 Sun, 21 Aug 2011 19:21:49 +0100 5158863 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028220&cid=t_100075_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmeta-analyses-and-a-capricious-drug-approval-process-the-actos-and-avandia-stories%2F2011.07.13 Both Germany and France have now suspended the marketing of Actos (pioglitazone) due to concerns of a link between Actos and bladder cancer. Though we have known about bladder cancer concerns for some time, these recent concerns about the bladder cancer link stem from a recent report analyzing the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS), which found that 93 cases of cancer were recorded between 2004 and 2009 in patients treated with antidiabetic drugs, of which 31 patients were treated with pioglitazone, representing a statistically significant increased risk of bladder cancer (ROR 4.30, 95% confidence interval, 2.82-6.52; P less than 0.0001). Interestingly, the FDA announced that it was going to look into the link between Actos and bladder cancer only a few days before it made i... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028220 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:00:00 +0100 5028220 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4794816&cid=t_100075_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F06%2Fjournal-of-the-american-medical-association-2011%2F This article reports on a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled clinical trials (RCTs) assessing associations of structured exercise training regimens (aerobic, resistance, or both) and physical activity advice with or without dietary cointervention on change in haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in type 2 diabetes patients. The article concludes that structured exercise training that consists of aerobic exercise, resistance training, or both combined is associated with HbA1c reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes. Structured exercise training of more than 150 minutes per week is associated with greater HbA1c declines than that of 150 minutes or less per week. Physical activity advice is associated with lower HbA1c, but only when combined with dietary advice. Filed under: A... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4794816 Fri, 06 May 2011 12:53:30 +0100 4794816 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4566339&cid=t_100075_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FP09cTmu9FyE%2F In recent years, the meta-analysis has taken on new prominence. These are, of course, not new studies, but detailed reviews combining results of several studies in order to address a hypothesis. Perhaps one of the most high-profile examples was published in 2007 in The New England Journal of Medicine and determined the Avandia diabetes pill led to a greater chance of cardiovascular risk. However, the meta-analysis has also been criticized as an imperfect beast, since sources of bias are not controlled by method, which is considered a weakness. A new study, though, has found another reason to take issue - most meta-analysis authors are not examining whether the authors of the underlying randomized, controlled clinical trials have disclosed conflicts of interest. Specifically, of 29 meta-ana... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4566339 Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:59:53 +0100 4566339 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4512429&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F02%2F23%2Fcellphone-use-may-increase-brain-activity%2F Brain studies get more interest in the media, because the brain is truly one of the last great unknowns of the human body. While our understanding of the brain has made great strides in the past few decades, we still have only very basic and rudimentary knowledge of this important organ. Honestly, researchers still aren’t quite sure how the brain even works. When you consider where we are with our understanding of the brain’s basic functions, you have to take studies that use brain imagery with a healthy grain of salt. The consumption of sugar by the brain is thought to indicate important brain activity, but it’s a correlational association that researchers have documented. The latest “gee whiz!” brain study showed that when you put a muted cell phone next to ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4512429 Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:28:44 +0100 4512429 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477763&cid=t_100075_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-physical-and-metaphorical-heart%2F2011.02.14 Listening to NPR on Saturday morning I caught part of Scott Simon’s interview with brothers Stephen Amidon and Thomas Amidon, M.D. discussing their book “The Sublime Engine: A Biography of the Human Heart.” The interview touched on the story of the human heart in science and medicine, history, and culture:  It turns out that the classic red heart symbol we see almost everywhere around Valentine’s Day doesn’t look much like a real human heart at all. “Of all the theories about where that symbol comes from, my favorite is that it is a representation of a sixth century B.C. aphrodisiac from northern Africa,” says Stephen Amidon…”And I kind of like that history because it sort of suggests that early on, people sort of understood the conne... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477763 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 19:00:00 +0100 4477763 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4355895&cid=t_100075_140_f&fid=35772&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshutah.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F16%2Fefficacy-of-antidepressants-in-adults%2F Paper written by Joanna Moncrieff, Irving Kirsch and published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) 16/07/2005 Summary points Recent meta-analyses show selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have no clinically meaningful advantage over placebo. Claims that antidepressants are more effective in more severe conditions have little evidence to support them. Methodological artefacts may account for the small degree [...] (Source: SEROXAT WEBLOG) SEROXAT WEBLOG blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4355895 Sun, 16 Jan 2011 14:08:33 +0100 4355895 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4294831&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iqscorner.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fgerman-gc-crystallized-iq-res-synthesis.html Copy of open access article can be found by clicking here. Double click on image to enlarge.- iPost using BlogPress from my Kevin McGrew's iPadintelligence intelligence testing Atkins cases ICDP blog psychology school psychology neuropsychology Forensic psychology criminal psychology criminal justice death penalty capital punishment ABA IQ tests IQ scores adaptive behavior AAIDD mental retardation intellectual disability Flynn effect (Source: Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner)) Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4294831 Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:58:00 +0100 4294831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4238013&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iqscorner.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fresearch-byte-what-works-for-improving.html Berkeley, S., Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M. A. (2010). Reading Comprehension Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities, 1995-2006: A Meta-Analysis. Remedial and Special Education, 31(6), 423-436.AbstractMeta-analysis procedures were employed to synthesize findings of research for improving reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities published in the decade following previous meta-analytic investigations. Forty studies, published between 1995 and 2006, were identified and coded. Nearly 2,000 students served as participants. Interventions were classified as fundamental reading skills instruction, text enhancements, and questioning/strategy instruction—including those that incorporated peer-mediated instruction and self-regulation. Mean weighted effect sizes w... Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4238013 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:31:00 +0100 4238013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4190097&cid=t_100075_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F22%2Finternational-journal-of-epidemiology-2010-vol-39-no-5%2F This article looks at statistical approaches adopted in the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, in which primary data has been collated to enable analyses of various risk markers in relation to incident cardiovascular disease outcomes Print subscription held at Fade Library Filed under: Journals Tagged: Analysis, Epidemiological Studies, Epidemiology, Meta-Analysis, Statistical Data (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4190097 Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:35:37 +0100 4190097 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4152014&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FN3OunENy05o%2F This study clearly demonstrates that there is only little support for a specific Mozart effect in published as well as in unpublished work. Although results indicate a positive, significant effect of exposure to the Mozart sonata (KV 448) compared to no stimulus at all on spatial task performance, observed effects were only small in size. Moreover, exposure to other musical stimuli compared to exposure to no stimulus at all yielded a significant overall effect of about the same size…On the whole, there is little left that would support the notion of a specific enhancement of spatial task performance through exposure to the Mozart sonata KV 448.” I think the jury is in on this one: The Mozart effect is weak, at best. Maybe the question can finally be put to rest. Does this mean that m... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4152014 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:49:09 +0100 4152014 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3965702&cid=t_100075_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FxylflFXqUYo%2F For the past three years, the reliability of the meta-analysis has been widely debated thanks to such a review that was published in The New England Journal of Medicine about the cardiovascular risks of GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia diabetes pill (back story). At issue, of course, is whether a meta-analysis can sufficiently capture the sort of specific information needed to make a solid judgment about risks. Although such concerns have cropped up concerning other drugs, the FDA has largely avoided taking a position. The other day, however, three FDA staffers - one from the Division of Pulmonary, Allergey and Rheumatology Products in the Office of New Drugs, and two from the Division of Epidemiology in the Office of Surveillance - offered a cautionary word about the utility of the meta-an... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3965702 Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:05:25 +0100 3965702 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3632422&cid=t_100075_147_f&fid=39202&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnicolaziady.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F04%2Fsearch-engine-optimization-techniques%2F Website Analysis Content Optimization Sitemaps and Submission Reporting and Ongoing Maintenance Defining META Tags (Source: Nicola Ziady) Nicola Ziady blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3632422 Sat, 05 Jun 2010 03:53:59 +0100 3632422 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3560307&cid=t_100075_111_f&fid=34834&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FMentalNurse%2F%7E3%2Fq6LAf9gi4J0%2F The recent political happenings have left me feeling upset and depressed enough to actually get round to writing this. As a quick warning this post is a request for comment and discussion on Mental Nurse site moderation. If this topic is of no interest to you feel free to wait until the next edition of TWIM which is certain to be better. This post was in part inspired by the recent banning of a well known contributor to Mental Nurse, but is not specifically about that. I feel that some discussion on the topic will probably be useful in guiding how we go about dealing with similar issues in the future. Incredibly Brief Site History Mental Nurse was originally set up as a personal blog hosting experiment that was expected to last for about 2 months. Over time as personal life intervened the... Mental Nurse blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3560307 Wed, 12 May 2010 22:26:48 +0100 3560307 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3454229&cid=t_100075_165_f&fid=36770&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmetaot.com%2Fblog%2Fi-love-meta-ot i love metaot cagri merkezi seperator seperasyon etiler moduler bolme workstation ofis bolme mobilya o bir kadin (Source: meta-ot blogs) meta-ot blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3454229 Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:04:08 +0100 3454229 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3443990&cid=t_100075_154_f&fid=35773&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.openmedicine.ca%2Fnode%2F257 See also PubMed - MEDLINE and SumSearch The TRIP database (Clinical Search Engine) - http://www.tripdatabase.com is a freely-available metasearch tool used to find medical evidence. Although international, it presents considerable content and information originating in the United Kingdom. TRIP began in 1997 as a result of founders Jon Brassey (see blog Liberating the literature) and Dr. Chris Price who wanted to design a tool to find and present information to answer clinical questions. One of its goals was to return answers in a quick time frame and to locate the best evidence. To identify the best evidence, relevant materials were culled from various databases and a mix of relevant websites. Similar to other tools, TRIP is an indispensable way to find evidence quickly. According to its p... Open Medicine Blog - blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3443990 Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:30:07 +0100 3443990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3197823&cid=t_100075_132_f&fid=35021&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FYourBonesGotALittleMachine%2F%7E3%2FlJP_RGSJQF0%2F Normally I stick to posts about science and technology on this blog. Like most Australians, I vote in elections, try to remain informed, but otherwise stay away from getting involved in politics. However, occasionally certain things become important enough issues that they need to be advertised more widely. As you may know, the Australian Federal Government is attempting to censor the Internet within Australia by forcing ISPs to block a list of websites. This proposed internet filter will not be optional; it will effect all Australians, and the blocklist will compiled by a small group of people. The list of blocked sites will remain secret, so the Australian public will find it difficult to determine if this power is being abused. It will not prevent the spread of illegal material, which i... Your bones got a little machine. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3197823 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:28:49 +0100 3197823 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3136678&cid=t_100075_132_f&fid=35021&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FYourBonesGotALittleMachine%2F%7E3%2F-N23Iq0GDP4%2F So, people tell me 2009 ended recently. Apparently there were fireworks and stuff. This blog as seen very little action during 2009, despite my various good intentions for a blog ‘reboot’ (ala Pawel). Like many of my online friends, I blame FriendFeed. I find commenting on a FriendFeed post a much more productive way of having a conversation around some new development sweeping the web than writing a dedicated blog post. Still, despite this being my “year of FriendFeed”, I started writing a few blog posts / articles / essays this year which never made it out of the Drafts folder. There is a positive side to unpublished drafts – they serve to nicely organize some thoughts, even if they are ultimately never shared. Anyhow, it’s time to clean them out and m... Your bones got a little machine. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3136678 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:57:23 +0100 3136678 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3048159&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2FZGfgv6VODYY%2Fsharon_astyk.php will be joining Scienceblogs soon.  Everyone is encourage to read the post about her upcoming transition.  I would especially encourage my sciblings/colleagues here to read what her commenters have to say about us.  Really.  This is what the world thinks of us. Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3048159 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:17:03 +0100 3048159 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2824168&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F09%2F23%2Fthe-complexity-of-psychology-research%2F A lot of times, I write about the results of some new psychology research study or scientific analysis. I boil the results down to digestible findings and try and wrap the whole thing up in simple, common-sense terms. But sometimes what I don’t write about is often more fascinating than what I do. The science of psychological research is, in itself, a complex and regularly contested issue. For every new study published, another study will come out that will directly refute or at the very least, call into question, the findings of the study. One of the journals I subscribe to from the Association for Psychological Science is called Perspectives on Psychological Science. This journal publishes scholarly debates about the merits of certain aspects of the science of psychology. Every i... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2824168 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:45:44 +0100 2824168 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2796616&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iqscorner.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fchc-cognitive-achievement-relations.html [Double click on image to enlarge]I'm pleased to announce the completion of the Cattell - Horn - Carroll (CHC) Cognitive Abilities-Achievement Research Synthesis project, a project first described in a prior post. The purpose of this project is to systematically synthesize the key Cattell-Horn- Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities designed research studies that have investigated the relations between broad and narrow CHC abilities and school achievement.The project can be accessed via a clickable MindMap visual-graphic navigational tool (similar to the image above...but "active" and "dyanamic") or via the more traditional web page outline navigational method. You can toggle back and forth between the different navigation methods via the options in the upper right hand corner of the ... Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2796616 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:02:00 +0100 2796616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2716088&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fintelligencetesting.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fcan-cognitive-tests-differentiate.html Can cognitive ability tests differentially diagnosis Alzheimer's from Vascular-Dementia?  A recent meta-analysis  (see reference below) suggests that the answer is "no"---cognitive measures need to be augmented by other diagnostic techniques when trying to differentiate Alzheimer's from Vascular Dementia.Mathias, J. L. & Burke, J.  (2009).  Cognitive Functioning in Alzheimer’s and Vascular Dementia:A Meta-Analysis.  Neuropsychology, 23(4), 411–423Abstract (underlining is emphasis added by blogmaster)Differentiating between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) remains difficult but important if existing pharmacological treatments are to provide symptomatic relief in the case of AD or to alter disease progression in the case of VaD. Cognitive assessments play a... Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2716088 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:06:00 +0100 2716088 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2667723&cid=t_100075_149_f&fid=35784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FTheChemBlog%2F%7E3%2FKlAp1JzjVJw%2F This weekend I was approached by Delmar Larsen of UC Davis who has established his own ChemWiki project about the prospect of integrating our current project, The Chem Wiki, with his. Seeing as how they are similar projects with identical names, I figured it was a good opportunity to both legitimize the project by placing it in the hands of a bonafide academic and transfer most of the responsibilities away from moi, who has his hands full with other matters more pressing. Therefore, all articles henceforth will be ported to Delmar Larsen’s ChemWiki into some sort of “Chemistry Techniques” section of his blog (or something… the details haven’t been worked out.)  Point being – as things progress, I’ll be sure to keep you posted.  All your hardwork ... The Chem Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2667723 Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:14:58 +0100 2667723 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2458505&cid=t_100075_149_f&fid=35784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FTheChemBlog%2F%7E3%2F8UoyoD14wrk%2F I will choose from the top candidates on the basis of URL avaliablity (or, if it comes down to it, preference).  You choose your two favorites and I’ll sort out the rest. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. (Source: The Chem Blog) The Chem Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2458505 Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:03:33 +0100 2458505 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2452641&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F06%2Fwhat_use_are_research_patents.php DrugMonkey has a conversation going about the ongoing kerfluffle over (micro)blogging of conference presentations (see also the FriendFeed discussion). I want to go off on a tangent from something that came up in his comment thread, so rather than derail it I thought I'd post here. In his first comment in the thread, David Crotty made the following claim: Lots of researchers support their families and labs through money generated by patents, and most universities are heavily dependent upon their patent portfolios for funding. That doesn't accord with my (limited!) experience -- I know a few researchers who hold multiple patents, and none of them ever made any money that way -- and my general impression is that the return on investment for tech transfer offices and the like is fairly dism... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2452641 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:29:50 +0100 2452641 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2452642&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F06%2Fwhat_happened_to_serials_price.php This could be nothing but an artifact (e.g. of the way the data were collected), but if you look at Fig 1 from this post, there's a clear break in the serials expenses (EXPSER) curve that's not evident in any of the others. Here's the same plot reworked to emphasize what I'm talking about: If you squint just right you can imagine a similar but much weaker effect, beginning a year or two later, in the total expenditures (TOTEXP) curve; and the salaries (TOTSAL) curve seems to start a similar upward trend at about the same time but then levels off after 1991 or so. I wouldn't put any weight on either of those observations though -- I'd never have noticed either if I hadn't been comparing carefully with the EXPSER curve. I've added linear regression lines for the 1976-1986 and 1987-2003 s... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2452642 Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:21:46 +0100 2452642 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2453177&cid=t_100075_149_f&fid=35784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FTheChemBlog%2F%7E3%2FUzbZdHZkUX0%2F F.s sake there are a lot of people in my new group.  I can’t count them all - over 30, I’m sure.  I think most of them are Post-Docs… When I started teaching as a graduate student I took the time to learn all my students names - the first semester.  By the last semester I taught, I knew about exactly zero names in my lecture.  I’m not so good with names and I’m not so good with getting to know people.  It’s a huge pain in the ass but everyone seems to be friendly enough so far.  Haven’t gotten the “new guy from a shitty lab” feeling yet. I’ll get to the wiki in a bit.  It’s doing much better than I had thought it would.  I may move it to this server sooner than I had thought, since the amount of data I can store on t... The Chem Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2453177 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:06:58 +0100 2453177 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2523758&cid=t_100075_149_f&fid=35784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FTheChemBlog%2F%7E3%2FUzbZdHZkUX0%2F F.s sake there are a lot of people in my new group.  I can’t count them all – over 30, I’m sure.  I think most of them are Post-Docs… When I started teaching as a graduate student I took the time to learn all my students names – the first semester.  By the last semester I taught, I knew about exactly zero names in my lecture.  I’m not so good with names and I’m not so good with getting to know people.  It’s a huge pain in the ass but everyone seems to be friendly enough so far.  Haven’t gotten the “new guy from a shitty lab” feeling yet. I’ll get to the wiki in a bit.  It’s doing much better than I had thought it would.  I may move it to this server sooner than I had thought, since the amount of data I ca... The Chem Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2523758 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:00:58 +0100 2523758 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2415542&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fintelligencetesting.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fchc-cognitive-achievement-relations_18.html This is another post in a continued series of posts re: research synthesis of the CHC cognitve-achievement research literature. Click here for other posts in this series.The sheer number of key, review, and individual studies populating the published Flanagan et al. (2006) CHC CB COG-ACH correlates summary tables is impressive. However, the available CHC COG-ACH relations summaries suffer from a number of limitations. First is a lack of descriptive and operational rigor in the CHC COG-ACH syntheses. The Flanagan research group’s efforts appear to fit the definition of a purposeful research synthesis which “focus on empirical studies and seek to summarize past research by drawing overall conclusions from many separate investigations that address related or identical hypotheses” (Coope... Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2415542 Mon, 18 May 2009 19:47:00 +0100 2415542 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405841&cid=t_100075_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F2vem5X-Covs%2F We know type 1 diabetes is as much affected by genes as it is by lifestyle and environment. But a huge international study found that there could be as many as 41 genetic loci that affect the risk of type 1 diabetes! Research on Type 1 Diabetes. Image: Newscom Touted as the largest genetic study into type 1 diabetes, and published in Nature Genetics online this week, the study combined results from two previous studies and found 41 genomic locations were significantly associated with diabetes. The DNA of more than 10,000 people with diabetes from all over the world were studied, including more than 2,300 families with at least two diabetic kids. Another 11,000 people without diabetes were also studied. Of the 41 genes located, the study also found that 18 chromosomal regions that were asso... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405841 Wed, 13 May 2009 23:49:00 +0100 2405841 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348364&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2Fscholarly_journals_vs_total_se.php Following on from this post, I manually extracted historical data for average scholarly journal prices in a dozen broad disciplines from the Library Journal Annual Periodicals Price Surveys by Lee Van Orsdel and Kathleen Born, and compared these with three datasets from the earlier post: ARL libraries' median total serials expenditures (ARL all serials), Abridged Index Medicus average journal price (AIM) and the consumer price index (CPI): My concern with the AIM dataset was that it was too small and specialized to support broad conclusions, but it turns out that the AIM data sit somewhere in the middle of the disciplines analysed. Astronomy is closest to the ARL all serials median, with math and computer science not much worse; general science is the worst offender, with engineering an... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348364 Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:53:20 +0100 2348364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348366&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2Fcareful_what_you_wish_for.php A while back, I posted about my discovery (new to me, though not new to many others) that the serials crisis should probably be called something like the "scholarly journals crisis". The term "serials" includes a wide range of publications, most of which are not peer-reviewed scholarly journals -- newspapers, goverment reports issued in series, yearbooks, magazines and more. Only about 1/10 of the serials in Ulrich's directory are peer-reviewed. The average scholarly journal costs around 10 times as much as the average serial, and while the cost of the scholarly literature continues to climb, median serial unit costs at ARL libraries have actually been falling for the last seven or eight years (Fig 1 below). It therefore appears that scholarly journals are the driving force behind the seri... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348366 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:26:18 +0100 2348366 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348372&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2Fpicking_on_j_vis.php Via Peter Suber, I came across this editorial in the Journal of Vision: Measuring the impact of scientific articles is of interest to authors and readers, as well as to tenure and promotion committees, grant proposal review committees, and officials involved in the funding of science. The number of citations by other articles is at present the gold standard for evaluation of the impact of an individual scientific article. Online journals offer another measure of impact: the number of unique downloads of an article (by unique downloads we mean the first download of the PDF of an article by a particular individual). Since May 2007, Journal of Vision has published download counts for each individual article. The author goes on to compare download vs citation (counts and rates, and downloads o... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348372 Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:57:58 +0100 2348372 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2286187&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Fserials_crisis_is_probably_a_b.php I stumbled upon something new-to-me, and possibly even useful-to-others, in my fooling around with numbers (table 2 and discussion thereof here), but it's somewhat buried under all the "how I made this figure" and "where I got these data" details. For that reason, and because I didn't trust my idea until I had some external reinforcement, I thought I'd give it a separate post all its own. Here's the thing: what is widely known as the serials crisis in library costs is probably driven largely by the pricing of scholarly journals. In library parlance, "serials" includes, inter no doubt many alia, newspapers, goverment reports issued in series, yearbooks and magazines (periodicals), in addition to the scholarly literature. Of the 225, 000 or so periodicals in Ulrich's, only about 25,000 are ... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2286187 Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:44:14 +0100 2286187 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2286188&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Ffooling_around_with_numbers_pa_2.php As promised, here is the distribution of journal prices for the subsets of the Elsevier life sciences dataset which either have or don't have impact factors, and for the entire UCOSC dataset (in which all journals have IFs): Each interval is $499: $0 to $499, $500 to $999, etc, and datapoints are plotted at the midpoint of each interval. The conclusion is the same as in part 1, just a bit clearer now. Elsevier journals without an impact factor are priced lower than those which have an IF, and the price distributions are somewhat different between journals with and without an IF. Note, though, that if I'd used a $1000 interval instead of $500, the initial rise in the +IF curves would not appear; if these are power-law distributions the main difference is probably the scaling exponent. I... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2286188 Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:44:37 +0100 2286188 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2271683&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Ffawn_part_4_or_those_data_you.php At the end of part 3, having looked at some of the ways in which prices and price/use were distributed, I said I'd try to say something about what constituted a fair price. I hadn't thought that through at all, and it turns out that I really can't get much leverage against that question from the UCOSC dataset alone. In addition to the graphs in parts 1-3, here's yet another way to look at the UCOSC data (again, this is a png from a screenshot because MT ate my balls perfectly good table1): Table 1 Perhaps Elsevier doesn't stand out quite so much as I might have expected -- they still dominate by virtue of market share, but in terms of cost/use or use/title, Springer looks the worst of the bunch. Mean ($0.76) and median ($1.89) cost per use doesn't mean much without context. I could a... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2271683 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:25:48 +0100 2271683 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2271684&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Fupdates_to_science_and_selfish.php Update the first: now I feel bad for not waiting (though I did put "read AFTER honeymoon!!!" in the subject line), but John Wilbanks wrote back right away to say that it will take him a while to get to it, but he will ferret out specific answers regarding the Science Commons work and interoperability. Update the second: Peter Sefton has more here, including specific recommendations for working with Microsoft while avoiding "a new kind of format lock-in; a kind of monopolistic wolf in open-standards lambskin":The product (eg a document) of the code must be interoperable with open software. In our case this means Word must produce stuff that can be used in and round tripped with OpenOffice.org and with earlier versions, and Mac versions of Microsoft's products. (This is not as simple as it ... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2271684 Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:27:14 +0100 2271684 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2266303&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Ffooling_around_with_numbers_pa_1.php Following on from part 2, I thought I'd ask a couple more questions about price-per-use, based on the online usage stats in the UCOSC dataset. I started on this because I noticed that in Fig 2 of part 2, I'd missed a point: there is an even-further-out outlier above the Elsevier set I pointed out: It's another Elsevier journal, Nuclear Physics B. In 2003, only 1001 online uses were reported to UC by the publisher, but the 2004 list price was $15,360. The companion journal Nuc Phys A is not much better, $10,121 for 1198 uses. Compare that with Nature, 286125 uses at just $1,280! It gets worse, too, because I'm led to believe that anything that appears in a physics journal these days is available ahead of time from the arXiv. I tried to confirm that for Nuc Phys B, but either I'm missin... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2266303 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:16:21 +0100 2266303 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2257938&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Fpeters_mr_and_s_on_science_and.php Peter Murray-Rust (welcome back to blogging!) has replied to Glyn Moody's post about semantic plugins being developed by Science Commons in collaboration with the Evil Empire, which I discussed in my last post. Peter MR takes the view, with which I concur, that it's more important to get scientists using semantic markup than to take an ideological stand against Microsoft: Microsoft is "evil". I can understand this view - especially during the Hallowee'n document era. There are many "evil" companies - they can be found in publishing (?PRISM), pharmaceuticals (where I used to work) Constant Gardener) , petrotechnical, scientific software, etc. Large companies often/always? adopt questionable practices. [I differentiate complete commercial sectors - such as tobacco, defence and betting where... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2257938 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:54:42 +0100 2257938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2257940&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Fon_science_and_selfishness.php Glyn Moody has a nice post up about fraternizing with the enemy in Open Science; you should read the whole thing, but here's the gist: One of the things that disappoints me is the lack of understanding of what's at stake with open source among some of the other open communities. For example, some in the world of open science seem to think it's OK to work with Microsoft, provided it furthers their own specific agenda. Here's a case in point: John Wilbanks, VP of Science for Creative Commons, gave O'Reilly Media an exclusive sneak preview of a joint announcement that they will be making with Microsoft later today at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference. [...] Microsoft will be releasing, under an open source license, Word plugins that will allow scientists to mark up their papers wi... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2257940 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:28:22 +0100 2257940 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2257942&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Ffooling_around_with_numbers_pa.php Following on from this post, and in the spirit of eating my own dogfood1, herewith the first part of my analysis of the U Cali OSC dataset. The dataset includes some 3137 titles with accompanying information about publisher, list price, ISI impact factor, UC online uses and average annual price increase; these measures are defined here. The spreadsheet and powerpoint files I used to make the figures below are available here: spreadsheet, ppt. As a first pass, I've simply made pairwise comparisons between impact factor, price and online use. There's no apparent correlation between impact factor and price, for either the full set or a subset defined by IF and price cutoffs designed to remove "extremes", as shown in the inset figure: One other thing that stands out is the cluster of El... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2257942 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:43:20 +0100 2257942 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2257945&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Ffooling_around_with_numbers.php A while back, there was some buzz about a paper showing that, for a particular subset of journals, there was essentially no correlation between Impact Factor and journal subscription price. I think, though my google-fu has failed me, that the paper was Is this journal worth $US 1118? (pdf!) by Nick Blomley, and the journals in question were geography titles. Blomley found "no direct or straightforward relationship" between price and either Impact Factor or citation counts. He also looked at Relative Price Index, a finer-grained measure of journal value developed by McAfee and Bergstrom. He didn't plot that one out, so I will: There is some circularity here, since RPI is calculated using price, but once again I'd call that no direct or straightforward relationship. All this got me wonde... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2257945 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:56:55 +0100 2257945 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2249117&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2009%2F03%2F07%2Fnd-is-science-20%2F Science 2.0: You Say You Want a Revolution? [HHMI Bulletin] I’ve been remiss in posting this article that was featured in the HHMI Bulletin a few months ago, but Neurodudes was mentioned in an article about blogs and science, along with our friend Andrew Hires’s excellent Brain Windows blog. (Source: neurodudes) neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2249117 Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:16:57 +0100 2249117 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2144533&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F01%2F29%2Flancet-study-ignores-significance-of-side-effects%2F A new meta-analysis study was published today in the journal Lancet which showed that two antidepressant drugs — Lexapro (escitalopram) and Zoloft (sertraline) — were more effective than their psychiatric peers. Remeron and Effexor fared better, too, than the other drugs included in the analysis, such as Prozac, Cymbalta, Luvox and Paxil. The study looked at two components important to treatment — efficacy (how much does this drug actually help reduce depressive symptoms) and toleration of the drug (how many people stop taking the drug because it simply can’t be tolerated by their body), as measured by drop-out rates. However, the study did not look at a drug’s side effects, which is a major component of finding a psychiatric drug that’s appropriate a... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2144533 Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:53:14 +0100 2144533 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2097936&cid=t_100075_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FiwQPMH6okcI%2F There is no doubt that obesity is primarily caused by poor eating habits and inactive lifestyle. But a meta-analysis of several obesity studies found that six new obesity genes are expressed in the brain. Scientists from the international GIANT (Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Parameters) consortium analyzed data from 15 genome-wide association studies and identified six new candidate genes that were related to regulation of body weight. Several of these new genes are highly expressed or known to act in the brain, emphasizing the role of the central nervous system in predisposition to obesity. UPDATE: Endurance Geek made me rethink my title with obesity being “all in the mind”. Instead of changing the post title (or maybe I should? I DID) I thought I would add to my p... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2097936 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:53:04 +0100 2097936 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1964100&cid=t_100075_132_f&fid=35021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.pansapiens.com%2F2008%2F11%2F17%2Fthat-science-blog-meme-thing-going-around%2F Something broke out of the picket-fence surrounding Nature Networks Blogs. I’ve never participated in a blog meme … but this one appealed to me simply because I liked the questions. I haven’t read anyone else’s answers yet, to avoid biasing my own. 1. What is your blog about? I often ask myself this question. Being a scientist, I always feel like it should be about science, and the various biological systems I work with. I reality, it is about programming, bioinformatics, the web with the tiniest bit of structural biology thrown in. I used to blog about Linux related things occasionally, but I split that off into another blog (which gets 10 times more traffic :)). 2. What will you never write about? I’d rather not rule anything out. I’ve avoided politic... Your bones got a little machine. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1964100 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:15:42 +0100 1964100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1870626&cid=t_100075_107_f&fid=35029&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sennoma.net%2Fmain%2Farchives%2F2008%2F10%2Fno_one_goes_into_science_to_ge.php A while back, Heather posted an entry about salaries in France, and just came right out and said what she makes: The beginning junior professor (maitre de conférences, or MdC) fresh out of the Ph.D. (which never happens anymore) gets approximately 1700 euros in their pocket after benefits withholding each month, and this measure will bring it up to about 1800 euros. [...] A MdC with 15 years' seniority on the Le Monde comment thread earns 2600 euros a month; I earn 2300. (Unlike the French, I have an American indifference to revealing my salary to all; what with the fluctuating exchange rate it's approximately equivalent to that of a tight-belted American high school teacher.) I don't know that it's particularly American, but I've never minded telling everyone my income either. I un... Open Reading Frame blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1870626 Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:50:37 +0100 1870626 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1713934&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2008%2F08%2F18%2Fan-apology%2F It has just been brought to my attention that for the last few months (!) neurodudes has had some serious problems with allowing users to comment, ie. commenting was completely closed. I am very sorry for that. The problem should be fixed and now commenting should again be easy for anyone to use. As always, feel free to contact us at contactus^neurodudes^com (replacing ^ as appropriate) if you have any questions or concerns. - Neville (Source: neurodudes) neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1713934 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:31:04 +0100 1713934 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1709055&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F08%2F15%2Fapa-report-examines-abortions-effect-on-mental-health%2F After evaluating over 150 studies which examine a potential link between abortion and mental health problems, the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion concluded in a draft report released Tuesday that “…there is no credible evidence that a single elective abortion of an unwanted pregnancy in and of itself causes mental health problems for adult women.” Although, according to their press release, the APA researchers did find that “some studies indicate that some women do experience sadness, grief and feelings of loss following an abortion, and some may experience clinically significant disorders, including depression and anxiety”, they found “no evidence sufficient to support the claim that an observed association between abortion hi... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1709055 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:40:06 +0100 1709055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1715315&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fintelligencetesting.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fsome-chc-specific-abilities-are.html [Double click on image to enlarge]Back in 1997, I, together with Dawn Flanagan, Tim Keith and Mike Vanderwood, published our first g+specific--->achievement article in School Psychology Review. I recently searched high and low for a pdf copy of this article via the usual library sources but came up blank. I finally scanned a copy into a pdf file. A copy of this article can be viewed by clicking here.Included in that article was the figure to the right (double click to enlarge the figure). I've always liked this figure as it laid out the reasoning why the "just say no" (to intelligence test subtest analysis) research needed to be revisited in light of advances in: (a) theories of intelligence (CHC theory), (b) measurement of intelligence constructs (Gf-Gc or CHC-grounded batteries), and (c)... Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1715315 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:51:00 +0100 1715315 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1466845&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F05%2F25%2Flet-the-data-speak-no-not-always%2F Frank L. Schmidt, a respected professor and researcher at the University of Iowa, gave a talk at the Association for Psychological Science’s 20th convention on Saturday about how scientific data can lie. Yes, that’s right, empirical data — even that published in respected, peer-reviewed journals — regularly do not tell the truth. Schmidt’s talk was well-attended in one of the largest ballrooms at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Chicago where the convention is being held. Although an uneven presentation, Schmidt’s main points came across. One of which is that the naive interpretation of multiple datasets is often likely to be the most correct — Occam’s razor (”the simplest solution is usually the best answer”). Schmidt claims t... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1466845 Sun, 25 May 2008 11:00:19 +0100 1466845 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1392572&cid=t_100075_93_f&fid=35707&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhemodynamics.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fmeta-analyses-and-pollstercom.html The race for Minnesota's US Senate seat, US data on hypothetical McCain-Obama matchup for the general presidential election, and Pennsylvania Democratic primary polling, as shown by Pollster.comI have a new addiction.Pollster.com is the website political junkies have been jonesing for even before we knew what it was. It clusters the results of polls that ask the same question--like, Who are you going to vote for? or, Do you think the country is on the right track? Then it puts them together into a single graph with a unifying trend line. It's imperfect--I can't satisfy myself that the trend line weights for sample size--but it's a lot better than reading the polls one by one.The medicine parallel is in what we call meta-analyses--when we try to figure out a medical question by combining a ... hemodynamics blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1392572 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:15:00 +0100 1392572 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1329996&cid=t_100075_132_f&fid=35021&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FYourBonesGotALittleMachine%2F%7E3%2F258759680%2F Blogger has served me well for the last two years or so. When I started with Blogger, I’d never really blogged before, and decided that it was a good way to get going quickly. I avoided the free blog hosting on Wordpress.com because it wouldn’t allow enough customization of the templates. Today I’ve completed migration of this blog from Blogger to the Wordpress software … read on for the “how” and “why”. New URL is: http://blog.pansapiens.com/ Feed url is via FeedBurner at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/YourBonesGotALittleMachine (Don’t read on if you don’t like meta-discussion about blogging software …. I personally have become pretty bored with this type of post, but it has to be done once after changing URLs etc. The bl... Your bones got a little machine. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1329996 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:06:21 +0100 1329996 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1268564&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F243480582%2Fwords_that_whack_or_win.html Have you ever wished you’d added a word of hope … when a situation seemed grim? Or have you regretted that you tossed in words of defeat … rather than insights for a solution? Words tend to shape the direction of business far more than you may realize. How so?(I should mention that this cartoon which triggered Brad Shorr’s contest  was originally produced for Bill Welter, president of Adaptive Strategies and co-author of The Prepared Mind of a Leader.) It reminds us how words can cost! Have you seen it happen?Sadly, words hold 5 hidden dangers that undermine people and limit profits. 1. Negative words … come doused in tone problems that work against human brains like gasoline works against a car wash. Once out they cannot be suctioned back. 2. Ranting ... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1268564 Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:50:02 +0100 1268564 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1258128&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F02%2F26%2Fantidepressant-data-showed-not-as-effective-as-thought%2F Meta-analyses are great research tools, because they allow researchers to look at data across large sets of data published by multiple studies, and see if there are more powerful (or less powerful) effects that no single study has found on its own. So it’s always interesting to read something that a meta-analysis finds in the data that individual studies didn’t quite find. Today, British researchers discovered, unsurprisingly, that Antidepressant Data Showed Not as Effective as Thought. I say unsurprisingly, because the researchers made a series of decisions that pretty much guaranteed their end-result. First, they went to the original datasets and included unpublished data too. Unpublished data is usually unpublished for a reason — for instance, the study was either p... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1258128 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:46:42 +0100 1258128 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1173276&cid=t_100075_134_f&fid=35152&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsstrumello.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fmore-questions-on-value-of-statins.html Statins, (technically known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) form a class of lipid-reducing drugs which are prescribed to reduce the so-called "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in the blood of people with or who are believed to be at risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is the single biggest killer of all people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2), so as a group, patients with diabetes have long been assumed to have the same risk as someone who has already had a heart attack.For those of you who aren't familiar with them (or having been living in a cave for the past decade), statins are perhaps the drug industry's biggest category of blockbusters (meaning annual sales are well over $1 billion for each drug) and include such drugs as atorvastatin (Pfizer... Scott's Web Log blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1173276 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:15:00 +0100 1173276 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1140974&cid=t_100075_132_f&fid=35021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpansapiens.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fposts-that-didnt-make-it-in-2007.html Well, a New Year is fully in swing, so I thought it would be a good time to cleanup my 'posts in progress'. There are a bunch of posts that I started last year, for reasons of lack of quality, lack of timeliness or general motivation never made it out the gate.I generally dislike this kind of 'meta-blogging', but this is the easiest way for me to let go of them and move on ... here is a list of the posts that could have been, but never were:"Open Data in structural biology: share your structure factors and restraints" was a post spurred on by the Chang et al incident and a letter written by Alexander Wlodawer about the importance of sharing 'raw data' in structural biology, particularly to allow structures to be independently validated. I'm sure mandatory deposition of structure factors ti... Your bones got a little machine. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1140974 Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:08:00 +0100 1140974 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1132688&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=34733&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fomnibrain%2F%7E3%2F212393471%2Fexiting.php It's a new year, bringing new changes. I've decided to quit Omni Brain and move on to less important things, like creating baffling and somewhat offensive art and writing more books that I won't want anyone to read. It's been fun to be here, though. I'm grateful to Steve for being a terrific co-blogger, thankful to ScienceBlogs for hosting, and am glad we've all shared lots of laughs. There's been plenty of silliness and also some seriousness. On pondering what to write in a farewell post, it seems appropriate to share a piece of writing I never really knew what to do with. It exposes the fragmented angles comprising the mental health field. So un-funny that it's absurdly funny; none of the factions involved would publish it and concede to some of the other points of view. Grey in a B&W w... Omni Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1132688 Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:29:35 +0100 1132688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1121710&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2007%2F12%2F29%2Fcymbalta-still-good-for-pain%2F In the past ten days, a few different blog entries > have been written calling our attention to a meta-analysis that suggests perhaps Cymbalta (duloxotine) — a newer antidepressant — isn’t as good as the company claims it is for the physical symptoms of pain associated with depression. But, as regular readers of World of Psychology know, a single study does not a conclusion make. Not even a meta-analysis. The new meta-analysis, conducted by Glen Spielmans, included only five of the published studies that have examined the question of pain, depression and duloxetine (Cymbalta). Why only five, when there have been dozens of studies that have been published examining depression and duloxetine with a pain measure in them? One key to a good meta-analysis is how is it cons... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1121710 Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:06:50 +0100 1121710 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1093186&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F199923929%2Fhow_you_communicate_is_who_you.html Does this mean that on that day when you snap at a co-worker … that you become a cranky snapper? Or does it mean that you’d become a caring communicator simply stepping back to communicate carefully if another person diminishes you or devalues your offering. Surprising as this sounds, brain research now affirms that how you communicate today … literally shapes who you become tomorrow.Here are 5 ways people erode who they’d like others to see in them – all through communication blunders:  1. Communicate opinionated ideas without much regard for other’s input or new facts … and your brain’s basal ganglia reboots for more narrow opinions on that topic. 2. Lie that  all is well when you really disagree with an issue, and your brain r... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1093186 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:37:48 +0100 1093186 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1047561&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2F189465564%2Ftech_tip_5_search_scienceblogs.php Why use Google, which will give you ten million irrelevant hits, when all you really want to do, is to find the juicy stuff on ScienceBlogs? Well, you can navigate to the ScienceBlogs home page, and search there, or go to any of the blogs and use the search boxes there.  Or, to simplify things a bit, use can use a Firefox extension. First, you have to get Firefox, if you don't have it already.  The install the "Add to Search Bar" extension (install here).  Once it is installed, you have to restart Firefox. Then, go to the ScienceBlogs home page.  Find the search box in the left sidebar.  Right-click in the search box.  The little menu (context menu) that pops up will have an item in it: "Add to search bar..."  Select that, and you are all set.   ... The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1047561 Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:19:39 +0100 1047561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1018344&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2F182510634%2Fshakespeare_quote_generator.php O excellent! I love corpus callosum better than figs.Which work of Shakespeare was the original quote from?Get your own quotes: Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1018344 Sat, 10 Nov 2007 03:17:13 +0100 1018344 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=912160&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F162529221%2F5_learning_stoppers_that_shut.html Here are five surefire ways to stall learning and shut down brainpower at work. 1. Demand attention and criticize every mistake you spot along the way, so that people around you run to keep up with your demands … and hide to avoid your criticism. 2. Come to work stressed to the gills and pass anxiety around freely by the way you communicate, and demand and worry, so that brains literally shrink in and around you. 3. Spout many meta messages so that people can never really take what you say as truly what you mean. Confuse people and communicate back with insincerity that stunts growth with you and prevents any learning adventure. 4. Describe how overwhelmed you are, but don’t make any efforts to organize your day for change or adventure or generosity to yourself ... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=912160 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:57:45 +0100 912160 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=877620&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=34733&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fomnibrain%2Fsb_newsletter.jpg The science blogging survey quickly met its goal of 1000 respondents, and is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated. Keep an eye on the blogs here to find out when the results are published, but you'll hear for sure if you're subscribed to the ScienceBlogs Weekly Recap newsletter. Find out about the buzzes, most popular posts, best photos, and more. Be current with news and what's hot. Don't forget to enter the ScienceBlogs 500,000th Comment Contest, open to anyone in the world with a valid email address who leaves a comment before we hit that number. Try leaving one now? Tell me something funny. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Omni Brain) Omni Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=877620 Tue, 18 Sep 2007 01:45:44 +0100 877620 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=817570&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=34733&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fomnibrain%2Fupload%2F2007%2F08%2Fneurobarbiefun.jpg The next edition of the Encephalon blog carnival is coming up on August 27, to be hosted at another of my blogs, Neurofuture. Neurofuture was my first brain sciences blog. I launched it in the spirit of the old-fashioned definition of weblog, a repository of interesting links to do with the brain, futurism, the arts and their intersections. Though I've felt a little insecure over lack of credentials I've been equally confident in the veracity and quality of the info I source, and knowing how to find it, and readers have appreciated that. It puzzles me that other people lack media literacy skills to apply to their blogs but hey, they just make me look all the better. Anyway. Neurofuture indirectly helped land a pro blogging gig at World of Psychology. Later I attempted humour at Omni Brai... Omni Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=817570 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:00:00 +0100 817570 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=793786&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F143144252%2Fwhat_do_people_hear_in_words_y.html  You’ve likely seen it happen…. He brought her down without any awareness that he undermined her career. She dismissed his good ideas without realizing she excluded her colleague. Have you seen people damage good relationships – and then appear surprised? Or have you heard people ask for help and then express their frustration when others fail to offer any ideas that assist them?Confusion and misunderstanding  come from speaking out without regard for what response will likely come back. It’s more than using good tone though. It’s also bigger than meta messages … which merely mask what we mean … such as saying “it’s Ok…” when it clearly is not. Most people would agree that what we say and how we say it impacts ... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=793786 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:36:57 +0100 793786 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=786689&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2007%2F08%2Fno-drugs-for-you-per-fda.html An appeals court decision in DC has setup the potential for a very important Supreme Court hearing on the rights of the terminally ill. The court ruled 8-2 against the Abagail Alliance which supports the rights for dying patients to get access to experimental medications. The FDA is opposed to this measure. The finding by the judges stated that the constitution does not guarantee access to experimental drugs that have not been studied enough to be deemed safe and effective. (Read the court brief here.)One of the cases cited in support of the decision was Washington v. Glucksberg, which is the Supreme Court Decision on the right to assisted suicide case from 1997, that challenged the Oregon law on PAS. The basic result from that decision was no federal/constitutional right exists but that t... Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=786689 Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:13:00 +0100 786689 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=780758&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F140929216%2F5_reasons_bad_bossess_get_thei.html Believe it or not brain based research points to reasons for bad leadership - where few people think to look. Workers suffer daily from poor decisions made while bad bosses get rewarded because…1. Blame usurps the  courage it takes for change. Look at those who learn the skills for change that improve any workplace and you’ll also see laughter, good will and passion for growth. 2. Action plans for peaceful solutions  appear missing on the opposite side. Consider the person who longs for peace when a leader insists on war, for instance. Naming the problem repeatedly can add an advantage to the bad leader … if there is no solution to violence proposed. 3. Poor tone separates decisions from benefits that could come from other choices. Some people just o... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=780758 Sun, 05 Aug 2007 16:56:34 +0100 780758 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=768911&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fcorpuscallosum%2Fimages%2Fsb-as-graph-500px.jpg This is a visual amusement, courtesy of Websites as Graphs.  The top one is Corpus Callosum.  The bottom one is the ScienceBlogs main page. The key is as follows: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=768911 Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:48:46 +0100 768911 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=752787&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2007%2F07%2Fnew-cpr-organ-donation-after-cardiac.html Newsweek: Back from the DeadThe cover of Newsweek has a man floating in a pool, with the caption "This Man Was Dead. He Isn't Anymore. How Science Is Bringing More Heart Attack Victims Back To Life." It is curious that the man is in a pose reminiscent of a cross, but alas this is not primarily a theological or graphic design blog so I will leave that for someone else to discuss.The focus of the news article is induced therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest, which has shown promise in animal and human testing to improved recoveries from cardiac arrest and possibly shock and stroke victims (some primary medical articles: here, here and here). Given the focus on recovery, the article does a fair job covering it, but of course with any new whiz bang technology it is important to look at ... Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=752787 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:36:00 +0100 752787 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=751813&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F136673714%2Fwhy_we_speak_what_we_really_me.html A friend and fellow writer -  Kimberbee Morrison – over at Know More Media – asked about the pool of racist thought cultivated in the human brain.  I’d referred to it in Kramer’s Rant from Cortisol Triggers.Kimberlee asked … “Does this mean that Richards’ excuse that he is not a racist - is in fact a denial of what is actually in his heart and mind, because his 'pool' of thought only rose to the surface when he was angered?”Yes, Kimberlee … but it means more…. The human brain is shaped literally by what we do daily. Had Kramer invited black neighbors in and shared a fun evening over a fine dinner – his thought pool would have been quite different. Instead he either acted or thought in ways that... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=751813 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 01:04:17 +0100 751813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=682543&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fcorpuscallosum%2F2007%2F06%2Fflying_carp_video.php Why are people, all over the country, all of a sudden, searching for "Asian flying carp video?" Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=682543 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:08:35 +0100 682543 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=682544&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fcorpuscallosum%2F2007%2F06%2Fbrief_hiatus.php Not posting much this week. I'll be taking down my computers for a few days, making it difficult to post at all.   Maybe I will finally find out where all those little wires behind my computers go.  If I can get them all plugged in to the right spots again, regular posting will resume next week. Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=682544 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:53:31 +0100 682544 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=674908&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2007%2F06%2F2-year-anniversary-medical-blogging.html Well this is the 2 year anniversary of Pallimed and the 360ish post (my God that means we've posted nearly every other day for 2 years). Hooray. I want to thank all the readers and commenters on the blog and all the people over the last 2 years who have given Christian and me encouraging feedback on Pallimed.Not wanting to wallow in self-congratulation too much here...but I'd also like to thank Christian for his contributions to Pallimed - for the reformat to be sure - but also his unique voice and perspective.It's not the happiest time to be a medical blogger. There have been several bloggers who have recently packed up shop - frequently due to fear of liability (professionally or legally) - this is particularly true of anonymous bloggers. Most notably for us - Hospice Guy at Hospice Blog... Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=674908 Sat, 09 Jun 2007 02:39:00 +0100 674908 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=659393&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F122382825%2F5_surefire_ways_to_zap_brainpo.html Here are 5 surefire ways to zap brainpower from any room you enter. 1. Tell people how great you are and how much experience you have in any topic they raise. Why learn new skills or make spaces for other people’s multiple intelligences when you have so many of your own already in operation? 2. Snap at pretty much anybody who disagrees with any of your great ideas. Tone is a blatant silent killer you can use in any circle and is bound to shut down opposition and pretty much everything else. 3. Lead people to think you like things you hate - just to keep them quiet. Meta messages are sure to confuse people so they don’t know what you are saying or thinking any longer – or even how to respond with any sincerity. 4. Tell people about all the problems you face daily and never... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=659393 Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:18:45 +0100 659393 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=655431&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fcorpuscallosum%2F2007%2F06%2Fkubuntu.php I am working on my next post, the one about amoxapine. But sssshhhh, I'm using Kubuntu. Heresy, I know, but what do you expect? It's Sunday. Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=655431 Sun, 03 Jun 2007 22:31:06 +0100 655431 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=687127&cid=t_100075_131_f&fid=35743&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthegenesherpa.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fproblem-with-avandia.html This study is a policy play, based on the fears of Vioxx. The Gene Sherpa Says: Don't get me wrong, if you have risk of heart disease in the family, then you should not take this drug now. At least until a full proper study can be done. But please, don't freak out. Just talk to your doctor about this risk! (Source: Gene Sherpas: Personalized Medicine and You) Gene Sherpas: Personalized Medicine and You blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=687127 Tue, 22 May 2007 17:49:00 +0100 687127 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=623387&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=34733&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fomnibrain%2Fupload%2F2007%2F05%2Fsteve_triangle.jpg Steve (pictured here exploring science) and Sandra visited San Francisco, meeting for the first time at the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts. Beautiful architecture. We also met up with the vibrant Janet of Adventures in Ethics and Science, we three SciBlings sharing Janet's highly recommended Zantes Pizza. Awesome Indian pizza, veg curry and cheese on a slice, a concept original to San Francisco, it seems. (Ripe for franchaise?) It was great to meet with co-blogger Steve and co-Sber Janet, and I like them all the more now. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Omni Brain) Omni Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=623387 Fri, 18 May 2007 14:44:00 +0100 623387 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=611711&cid=t_100075_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fcorpuscallosum%2F2007%2F05%2Fblogroll.php I took out the blogroll for now because it was taking forever to load.  I will put it back, somewhere, probably at the bottom of the page.  I hate to do that, but Blogrolling was just not responsive enough. UPDATE: The blogroll has been moved to its own page, accessible via a link under the "Blogroll" heading n the sidebar, or using the "Blogroll" gray tab under the banner." Note that it loads more quickly now. Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=611711 Sun, 13 May 2007 05:35:00 +0100 611711 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=587328&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2007%2F05%2Fhospiceblog-hurwitz-update-lying-chemo.html 1) If you have not gone over to see HospiceGuy and his HospiceBlog (www.hospiceblog.org) you are missing out on some great posts. HospiceGuy is on a roll with some insight about the role of the chaplain in hospice, the NHPCO conference, hospice leadership and a quick overview of the Medicare Wage Index for 2008. On the wage index, the NHPCO also has a 5 page announcement (members only) boiled down to the parts that you need to know about.2) The verdict is in on the case of Dr. Hurwitz and he was found guilty of:“knowingly and intentionally” distributing drugs “outside the bounds of medical practice” and engaging in drug trafficking “as conventionally understood”? (via NY Times)Many good overviews below so I will not go into detail here but at least read one of these links becau... Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=587328 Thu, 03 May 2007 15:25:00 +0100 587328 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=555023&cid=t_100075_140_f&fid=35450&url=http%3A%2F%2Fofflabel.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fthinking-bloggers.html I've just received a 'Thinking Blogger Award' from D at Bipolar Chicks Blogging and Breaking My Own Rules. I've actually received one before, from Gianna at Bipolar Blast, but as I was so out of it at the time thanks to Zoloft withdrawal that it kind of failed to register. Thanks guys.I'm told the rules for accepting the award are as follows:1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote. It's actually hard to nominate 'a top five', with so many blogs, written in so many styles, offering so many perspectives, so I'm going to do what I always do, and interpret the rule... Off-Label blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=555023 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 00:57:00 +0100 555023 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=531137&cid=t_100075_132_f&fid=35037&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.isavoir.com%2Fpost%2F2007%2F04%2F08%2FWhy-do-we-need-a-controlled-vocabulary The first common question for the neophyte can be : What is the purpose of having a vocabulary ? The man for a few centuries likes to organize, cut out, structure, treat on a hierarchical basis. Sometimes this hierarchisation is so excessive that one loses the direction of them first as often arrived oneself among the naturalists of the 19th century. To have a particular vocabulary to describe a field allows to organize your knowledge. Ontology Let us approach a first painful point immediately to thus evacuate it and concentrate on the subject. The origin of the word ontology such as defined in the majority of the dictionaries will not find any reference to data processing. ontology |änˈtäləjē| noun The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being. ORIGIN early 18th cent.: f... DNA MANIA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=531137 Tue, 10 Apr 2007 03:13:02 +0100 531137 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=530460&cid=t_100075_132_f&fid=35037&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.isavoir.com%2Fpost%2F2007%2F04%2F08%2FWhy-do-we-need-a-controlled-vocabulary The first common question for the neophyte can be : What is the purpose of having a vocabulary ? The man for a few centuries likes to organize, cut out, structure, treat on a hierarchical basis. Sometimes this hierarchisation is so excessive that one loses the direction of them first as often arrived oneself among the naturalists of the 19th century. To have a particular vocabulary to describe a field allows to organize your knowledge. In Philosophy. Part of the metaphysics which applies to the being as being, independently of its particular determinations. “Being And Nothingness, phenomenologic test of ontology”, Jean-Paul Sartre. What is found about Ontology in Webster's dictionary : ontology |änˈtäləjē| noun the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being. ORIGIN ea... DNA MANIA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=530460 Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:22:03 +0100 530460 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=529709&cid=t_100075_132_f&fid=35037&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.isavoir.com%2Fpost%2F2007%2F04%2F08%2FWhy-do-we-need-a-controlled-vocabulary The first common question for the neophyte can be : What is the purpose of having a vocabulary ? The man for a few centuries likes to organize, cut out, structure, treat on a hierarchical basis. Sometimes this hierarchisation is so excessive that one loses the direction of them first as often arrived oneself among the naturalists of the 19th century. To have a particular vocabulary to describe a field allows to organize your knowledge. Philosophy. Part of the metaphysics which applies to the being as being, independently of its particular determinations. “Being And Nothingness, phenomenologic test of ontology”, Jean-Paul Sartre. ontology |änˈtäləjē| noun the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being. ORIGIN early 18th cent.: from modern Latin ontologia, from Greek ō... DNA MANIA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=529709 Mon, 09 Apr 2007 01:30:04 +0100 529709 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=526383&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2007%2F04%2Fhaving-problems-with-signing-up-for.html I was checking the email subscription status and noticed that there are 25 people who are in the process of registering, which means that you probably have tried to register but things have not worked right for you. If you are having any problems please try these few steps:1. Tell your email program to allow emails from "feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com" Often times your spam blockers may prevent this from coming to you because it sees it as a bulk email which is how spam is usually sent out. We are not spammers, nor do we sell or give away your address to anyone.2. Re-register with a different email account. Many people I know have had some trouble getting their work email program to accept the subscription, but have had success with their personal hotmail, aol or gmail accounts.If neither of... Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=526383 Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:43:00 +0100 526383 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=492195&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2007%2F03%2Fpallimed-passes-100-subscribers.html Since the Pallimed site re-design and the AAHPM conference, the site has really taken off. Pallimed now has over 100 daily readers through our subscription services. We had been bumping up against 100 for a while, but all of a sudden we just busted on through with an upsurge in RSS Reader subscribers. As of this post we have 121 subscribers!So Drew and I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks for coming to the site. As always feel free to spread the word. If you would like Christian to email you some Pallimed cards to pass out to your hospice team or your palliative care team, he would be happy to mail them to you for free. Again this site is not-for-profit and we pledge to keep it that way.If there is anything that you think we should add, change, or remove, or you just want to comple... Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=492195 Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:02:00 +0100 492195 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=489477&cid=t_100075_122_f&fid=34733&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kineda.com%2Fbloglebrity%2Fblist.png It was one year ago today that I made the first post to Omni Brain. I never imagined we would do this well. In the last year Omni Brain has undergone many many changes, the biggest of which have been Sandra of Neurofuture fame joining the blog, and moving to ScienceBlogs. We started with not-even 3000 page views in our first full month and now receive tens of thousands of page views and visitors - which is pretty great for a smart ass little science blog! Our Technorati ranking has also grown by leaps and bounds; near 14,000 today. Thanks everyone, for reading and for all your lively comments - even the Scientologists and spammers! (I really love when I find a comment on an old thread directing me to a site selling porn or sexual performance enhancers.) We're looking forward to this s... Omni Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=489477 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:00:00 +0100 489477 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=463987&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2007%2F02%2Fsome-hints-to-make-most-of-national.html I compiled this list of helpful hints from my own experiences and from peers input over the past few years. I think it may be helpful to first timers but also to veterans of national/regional medical meetings like the AAHPM Annual Assembly.This was originally posted to the AAHPM Professionals-in-Training Special Interest Group email list.Any updates or additions would be appreciated.Christian Sinclair's Handy Hints for a National MeetingOriginally written Jan 2005* Bring your CV (multiple copies, and UPDATED) and business cards, regardless of whether you are looking for a job. Many people may want to know more about you for networking reasons, not just job offers.* Talk to people. Don't sit by yourself unless you are the first person in the room. Sit next to someone and then introduc... Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=463987 Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:59:00 +0100 463987 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=463990&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2007%2F02%2Ffamily-complaints-about-hospital-deaths.html It should be noted that with Christan's flurry of posts the last couple of weeks Pallimed has now exceeded the 300 post mark.Several things in brief:1)BMJ reports that over half of complaints against Britain's NHS regarding hospital care were to do with deaths:"In many cases, families complained that they had received contradictory or confusing information from different staff caring for a relative. In other cases, relatives felt that they were unprepared for the death or had no time to arrange for family members to be present."Sound familiar?2)BMJ also has an interesting look at the role of NGOs in physician assisted suicide. It examines two organizations in detail (Exit in Switzerland and Compassionate Choices in the US). Both function as patient advocacy groups, assisting people s... Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=463990 Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:25:00 +0100 463990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=463989&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2007%2F02%2Ffirst-time-visitor-making-pallimed-work.html Welcome to Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog!We are glad you found us and hope you enjoy the information and commentary we provide. If you are here we presume you have a basic understanding of the field of hospice and palliative medicine, and are likely part of the professional field. (Here is a good description of palliative medicine) Our target audience is the professionals (MD, DO, RN, LPN, LVN, Home Health Aide, ARNP, SW, Chaplain, Administrators, PT, OT, Speech, Pharmacy, etc.) working in hospice & palliative medicine, but we welcome all readers to this blog, including patients, families and other medical professionals outside of this field.Our goal is to review current palliative medicine, hospice, end-of-life research with a particular focus on publications not from the... Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=463989 Sun, 04 Feb 2007 02:15:00 +0100 463989 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=486348&cid=t_100075_132_f&fid=35021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpansapiens.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F09%2Fblogger-templates.html So, I've been fiddling with the template of this blog for the last couple of weeks. I think I've stabilised on a look that I'm happy enough with ... so now it's time to start posting for real.Let's see if I can keep this up (and keep it interesting+useful). (Source: Your bones got a little machine.) Your bones got a little machine. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=486348 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 07:43:00 +0100 486348 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=463994&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2005%2F11%2Fpallimed-now-on-wikipedia.html Pallimed: A Palliative Medicine Blog has now been linked to the Wikipedia.(Pallimed, Blog, and Wikipedia: What are 3 words that my grandparents might confuse for curse words? What are three words I never would have said 12 months ago?)For those of you not familiar with the editable by anyone internet sensation, Wikipedia, you should check it out. For those already familiar with the Wikipedia, you may have found the Pallimed blog by clicking on the link on the bottom of the palliative care page. (Source: Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog) Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=463994 Wed, 16 Nov 2005 06:23:00 +0100 463994 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=463992&cid=t_100075_116_f&fid=34686&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pallimed.org%2F2005%2F11%2Fits-me-new-contributor.html Thank you for the kind introduction Drew.I am glad to be a contributor to the Palllimed Blog. Together, Drew and I may be able to cover more area to help you, the Pallimed Blog reader, become more informed about the advances in Palliative Medicine. We appreciate any comments on our posts and any feedback about the site. I look forward to collaborating with Drew and the Pallimed readers!Christian Sinclair (Source: Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog) Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=463992 Wed, 16 Nov 2005 05:22:00 +0100 463992