A new an improved RCT - the Registered Report
TheRegistered Reportconcept is just an extension ofclinicaltrials.gov which has not been functioning as well as intended. It would be great if this idea works as intended. If the registered report catches on it could help address issues of publication bias and shed some light on the replication crisis. (Source: Bayblab)
Source: Bayblab - August 24, 2017 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
Freakonomics - Three Episode Podcast on Evidence-Based Medicine
I always enjoy the Freakonomics podcast. Their most recently relevant podcast is a three-parter on evidenced-based medicine. Perhaps not super informative for those familiar with the topic but it is entertaining as always.Part IPart IIPart III (Source: Bayblab)
Source: Bayblab - January 6, 2017 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
How is your favourite research area doing?
Just out of curiosity I wanted to check out some of the publication trends on some of my favourite research topics. I used an online tool that outputs data the number of query publications for each year (available here). Below I plotted the results of a few. The queries with multiple words were put in quotations. Importantly the results for cancer in the plot were divided by 100 as to fit on the scale of the graph. So not only is cancer a much larger topic, with about 14 000 / 100 000 papers on pubmed, but it is also growing at over 100 / 100 000 papers every year. This is much faster than the other topics presented. Data ...
Source: Bayblab - June 22, 2016 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
CRISPR/Cas9
Never have I missed being in a lab as much as I have since I started hearing about CRISPR/Cas9 a couple years ago. This is a genome editing technology that was developed by adapting an antiviral mechanism found in bacteria. If anyone has some first hand experience I would love to hear about it.Here is a good introduction to CRISPR/Cas9, where it came from, and how it works.I was also interested in what kind of commercial products are available to make this even easier, and here is avideo of the CRISPR/Cas9 offerings from ThermoFisher (long 41:49). I don't think I've really grasped the implications of this technology howeve...
Source: Bayblab - May 3, 2016 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
CRISPR/Cas9
Never have I missed being in a lab as much as I have since I started hearing about CRISPR/Cas9 a couple years ago. This is a genome editing technology that was developed by adapting an antiviral mechanism found in bacteria. If anyone has some first hand experience I would love to hear about it.Here is a good introduction to CRISPR/Cas9, where it came from, and how it works.I was also interested in what kind of commercial products are available to make this even easier, and here is a video of the CRISPR/Cas9 offerings from ThermoFisher (long 41:49). I don't think I've really grasped the implications of this technology howev...
Source: Bayblab - May 2, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
Response to the current Zika virus epidemic
Scientific American has an article that briefly summarizes the link between Zika virus infection during pregnancy and fetal microcephaly. While the circumstantial evidence is strong for a causal link, the article discusses the fact that conclusive evidence will likely only come from retrospective analysis of the current epidemic.Wired magazine has a more speculative article that has some additional interesting facts about the outbreak and the response to it."Most of Brazil's microcephaly cases are in the northeast, and it's unclear why Zika would cause more birth defects there than in other places." Multiple Zika strains o...
Source: Bayblab - February 2, 2016 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
Response to the current Zika virus epidemic
Scientific American has an article that briefly summarizes the link between Zika virus infection during pregnancy and fetal microcephaly. While the circumstantial evidence is strong for a causal link, the article discusses the fact that conclusive evidence will likely only come from retrospective analysis of the current epidemic. Wired magazine has a more speculative article that has some additional interesting facts about the outbreak and the response to it."Most of Brazil's microcephaly cases are in the northeast, and it's unclear why Zika would cause more birth defects there than in other places." Multiple Zika strains ...
Source: Bayblab - February 1, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
Physician's choice of intervention - DNR
This doctor has a tattoo that reads, " No CPR " as a living will.Unfortunately many of us will, one day, have to make choices about aggressive interventions aimed at prolonging our lives. The default is, of course, do everything possible since life is precious and our family and friends want to keep us around.It has been known for quite sometime however that doctors themselves are less likely to opt for aggressive interventions near the end of their natural lifespan. I first heard of this on an old radiolab podcast I listened to recently, The Bitter End.Somewhat related is a freakonomics podcast I also recently listened to...
Source: Bayblab - September 24, 2015 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
Physician's choice of intervention - DNR
This doctor has a tattoo that reads, "No CPR" as a living will.Unfortunately many of us will, one day, have to make choices about aggressive interventions aimed at prolonging our lives. The default is, of course, do everything possible since life is precious and our family and friends want to keep us around.It has been known for quite sometime however that doctors themselves are less likely to opt for aggressive interventions near the end of their natural lifespan. I first heard of this on an old radiolab podcast I listened to recently, The Bitter End.Somewhat related is a freakonomics podcast I also recently listened to a...
Source: Bayblab - September 24, 2015 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
Physician's choice of intervention - DNR
This doctor has a tattoo that reads, "No CPR" as a living will.Unfortunately many of us will, one day, have to make choices about aggressive interventions aimed at prolonging our lives. The default is, of course, do everything possible since life is precious and our family and friends want to keep us around. It has been known for quite sometime however that doctors themselves are less likely to opt for aggressive interventions near the end of their natural lifespan. I first heard of this on an old radiolab podcast I listened to recently, The Bitter End.Somewhat related is a freakonomics podcast I also recently listened to ...
Source: Bayblab - September 23, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
Bikes!
If I didn't break my finger mountain biking a couple of weeks ago, I'd like to be on my bike right now. So I've been watching lots of videos about bikes. Most are of the!Xtreme MTB! variety, however there are also some great Bayblab worthy videos that I would like to share.Bikes are a pretty cool intersection of physics and muscle memory. This first video is about the physics of how bikes are so stable.This second video is about the backwards bicycle and some insights into neuroplasticityAnd then, of course, bicycles and robots. (Source: Bayblab)
Source: Bayblab - July 3, 2015 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
Bikes!
If I didn't break my finger mountain biking a couple of weeks ago, I'd like to be on my bike right now. So I've been watching lots of videos about bikes. Most are of the !Xtreme MTB! variety, however there are also some great Bayblab worthy videos that I would like to share.Bikes are a pretty cool intersection of physics and muscle memory. This first video is about the physics of how bikes are so stable.This second video is about the backwards bicycle and some insights into neuroplasticity And then, of course, bicycles and robots. (Source: Bayblab)
Source: Bayblab - July 2, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
