It’s reading week! REFERENCE: Seminal vesicle production and secretion of growth hormone into seminal fluid (1999) Nature Biotechnology, 17, 1087-1090 (1st page pdf) ABSTRACT: Production of foreign proteins in the tissues of transgenic animals represents an efficient and economical method of producing therapeutic and pharmaceutical proteins. In this study, we demonstrate that the mouse P12 gene promoter specific to the male accessory sex gland can be used to generate transgenic mice that express human growth hormone (hGH) in their seminal vesicle epithelium. The hGH is secreted into the ejaculated seminal fluids with the seminal vesicle lumen contents containing concentrations of…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From journal club
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: I SEE DEAD PEOPLE
It’s reading week! REFERENCE: Continued Encounters: The Experience of After-Death Communication (2005) Journal of Holistic Nursing, 23, 191-207 (1st page pdf) ABSTRACT: Purpose: To analyze and categorize the various forms of after-death communication (ADC) and describe the effects on the bereaved. Method: In this qualitative descriptive study of 9 men and 9 women, data were collected during in-depth interviews using the Grief and Mourning Status Interview and Inventory and semistructured interview questions. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed and coded for content. Findings: Four categories of ADCs were identified: (a) visions and dreams, (b) lost-things-found, (c) symbolic messages, and (d)…
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: MEDICAL STUDY ON SWORD SWALLOWING
It’s reading week! REFERENCE: Sword swallowing and its side effects (2006) British Medical Journal, 333, 1285-7 (1st page pdf) ABSTRACT: Sword swallowers know their occupation is dangerous. The Sword Swallowers’ Association International (SSAI, www.swordswallow.org) recognises those who can swallow a non-retractable, solid steel blade at least two centimetres wide and 38 centimetres long. As we found only two English language case reports of injury resulting from sword swallowing, we explored the technique and side effects of this unusual practice.
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: THE ROBOT TICKLER
It’s reading week! REFERENCE: Can a Machine Tickle? (1999) Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 6 (3), 504-510 ABSTRACT: It has been observed at least since the time of Aristotle that people cannot tickle themselves, but the reason remains elusive. Two sorts of explanations have been suggested. The interpersonal explanation suggests that tickling is fundamentally interpersonal and thus requires another person as the source of the touch. The reflex explanation suggests that tickle simply requires an element of unpredictability or uncontrollability and is more like a reflex or some other stereotyped motor pattern. To test these explanations, we manipulated the perceived source…
WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY: OBSERVED PHENOMENA IN iSCIURUS CAROLINENESIS
I. The ability of the common gray squirrel to act both as a particle and as a wave is a trait commonly observed yet not often remarked upon. Any human observer of this species will most likely perceive only the physical, or particle, behaviors of this alluring creature, and forgo its unusual and unsubstantiated (literally) wave properties. Of course, any scientist with half a brain, given that this half still holds the basic capabilities of reasoning and an extension to allow the half-brained individual an output of his/her perceptions, will know [and be able to state (or at least output)…
WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY: OBSERVED PHENOMENA IN iSCIURUS CAROLINENESIS
I. The ability of the common gray squirrel to act both as a particle and as a wave is a trait commonly observed yet not often remarked upon. Any human observer of this species will most likely perceive only the physical, or particle, behaviors of this alluring creature, and forgo its unusual and unsubstantiated (literally) wave properties. Of course, any scientist with half a brain, given that this half still holds the basic capabilities of reasoning and an extension to allow the half-brained individual an output of his/her perceptions, will know [and be able to state (or at least output)…
THE SOCIAL NORM OF LEAVING THE TOILET SEAT DOWN: A GAME THEORETIC ANALYSIS
The issue of whether the toilet seat should be left up or down after use seemingly generates a lot of passion among the parties concerned, however, scientific inquiries into the matter are almost non-existent. Notable exceptions are Choi (2002) and Harter (2005). Choi (2002) argues that the rule of leaving the toilet seat down after use is inefficient in the sense that there is at least one other rule that outperform this rule. The unit of analysis in Choi (2002) is the household and the efficient rule is defined as one that minimizes the total cost of toilet seat operations…
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: HOW TO BE A BORING WRITER – THE STUDY.
Fig. 1. ‘‘Congratulations, you are now capable of writing technical, impersonal and boring papers like myself and the other gentlemen – Drawing by Sverre Stein Nielsen. REFERENCE: How to write consistently boring scientific literature (page 1 pdf). (2007) Oikos 116: 723 – 727. ABSTRACT: Although scientists typically insist that their research is very exciting and adventurous when they talk to laymen and prospective students, the allure of this enthusiasm is too often lost in the predictable, stilted structure and language of their scientific publications. I present here, a top-10 list of recommendations for how to write consistently boring scientific publications.…
JOURNAL CLUB FIND: WATCHING POKEMON IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
REFERENCE: Pokemon contagion: photosensitive epilepsy or mass psychogenic illness? (2001) Southern Medical Journal 94(2):197-204. ABSTRACT: We studied a reported illness outbreak occurring on December 16, 1997, involving more than 12,000 Japanese children who had various signs and symptoms of illness after watching an episode of a popular animated cartoon, Pokemon. While photosensitive epilepsy was diagnosed in a minuscule fraction of those affected, this explanation cannot account for the breadth and pattern of the events. The characteristic features of the episode are consistent with the diagnosis of epidemic hysteria, triggered by sudden anxiety after dramatic mass media reports describing a relatively…