Sweeteners Alter Gut Microbiome to Promote Glucose Intolerance
I'll never forget when Ira Fritz, my doctoral committee chair, practically slapped a packet of artificial sweetener out of my hand as I was about to put it into my iced tea. "That stuff will kill you!" he said as he extracted from me an oath to swear off the stuff. I'm not sure I quite believed him, but to this day I still drink my iced tea unsweetened.As usual, Ira was right. Recently another brick has been added to the foundation of his concern about sugar substitutes. Researchers have found that sweeteners such as saccharine, sucralose, aspartame can alter the microbial ecosystem of our gut in a way th...
Source: The A and P Professor - September 19, 2014 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
Pendulum Wave Demonstration (video)
This is a large-scale demonstration of the interaction between period and pendulum length, using 16 bowling balls hung from a wooden frame.Here are answers to some common questions: What am I seeing? How does this work?The length of time it takes a ball to swing back and forth one time to return to its starting position is dependent on the length of the pendulum, not the mass of the ball. A longer pendulum will take longer to complete one cycle than a shorter pendulum. The lengths of the pendula in this demonstration are all different and were calculated so that in about 2:40, the balls all return to the same position at t...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - September 17, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: blogs
How playing an instrument benefits your brain - TED-Ed video
When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout. View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-collins
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Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - September 15, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Neurology Psychology TED Talks Source Type: blogs
Updated Cell Transport Slides
Many longtime readers of this blog know that I have a set of animated PowerPoint-compatible slides available for you to use FREE in your A&P classes. These slides—the Lion Den Slide Collection— supplement the publisher-supplied slides or homegrown slides that you are already using.I recently updated, improved, and expanded the set of slides that animate several key cell transport processes such as diffusion, osmosis, endocytosis, etc. If you've accessed the Lion Den Slide Collection in the last several months, you've already registered in the system and probably have already received an email notifi...
Source: The A and P Professor - September 15, 2014 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
The Science of Depression - moving from neurotransmitters to neurogenesis and synaptogenesis
From ASAP Science: What's going on inside the brain of a depressed person?Recent thinking suggests that rather than a shortage of serotonin, a lack of synaptogenesis (the growth of new synapses, or nerve contacts) and neurogenesis (the generation and migration of new neurons) could cause depression.The main group of medications to treat depression, SSRIs, might promote synaptogenesis and neurogenesis by turning on genes that make ITGB3 as well as other proteins that are involved in these processes. ITGB3 stands for integrin beta-3.If the neurogenesis and synaptogenesis hypothesis holds, a drug that specifically targeted mi...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - September 10, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Depression Psychiatry Source Type: blogs
Chronic Daily Headache: What is the cause? (2014 Am Fam Physician review)
What is the definition of chronic daily headache?Chronic daily headache is defined as the presence of a headache on 15 days or more per month for at least 3 months. What are the causes?The most common types of chronic daily headache are chronic migraines and chronic tension-type headaches. If a red flag for a secondary cause of headache is present, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head should be performed. All patients should be asked about medication overuse, which can increase the frequency of headaches. Patients who overuse medications for abortive therapy for headache should be encouraged to stop the medications...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - September 9, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Neurology Source Type: blogs
Pre-A&P
A story broadcast recently on National Public Radio (NPR) highlighted the role of a Pre-A&P course in student success. Listen to the story yourself (link below) and tell me you don't recognize the issues brought up there. Students failing A&P because they just don't know how to read a science textbook, don't know how to study, and don't have higher-order thinking skills. You may recall my bringing up some of these issues in a recent blog post Help Your Students Get Off to a Good Start.The story mentions a course to help students through these difficulties at West Kentucky Community and Technical College. &nbs...
Source: The A and P Professor - September 8, 2014 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
How to learn to swim as an adult and overcome "Liquid Fear"
37% American adults can’t swim the length of a poolAccording to CDC, 37% American adults can’t swim the length of a pool, which puts them at risk of being one of the 10 people who drown every day in the United States. Adults — including those who are able to swim — make up more than 70% of drowning deaths in the U.S. each year.How to overcome "Liquid Fear"Two childhood experiences with water left a professional drummer with a phobia that lasted for decades, until another major life event inspired him to face his fears:Read the full story here: http://nyti.ms/1n4NsRhA growing number of swim clinics are speciali...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - September 3, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Exercise Swim Source Type: blogs
Help Your A&P Students Get Off to a Good Start
I recently posted an article in The A&P Student called Getting a Good Start in Your Anatomy & Physiology Course. In it, I run down a brief list of practical strategies students can employ from the start of their course to get a solid start in a rigorous course—a course that intimidates many beginners who are not fully prepared.My suggested strategies are organized under three subheadings:Learn to read and raid your textbookBrush up on your study skillsTake A&P seriouslyFor each of these broad categories, I list several practical and proven tips for A&P students to get a handle on things early in...
Source: The A and P Professor - September 1, 2014 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
UCL’s senior common room and the Boston marathon: emancipation in the 1960s, and now
I have always been insanely proud to work at UCL. My first job was as an assistant lecturer. The famous pharmacologist, Heinz Otto Schild gave me that job in 1964, and apart from nine years, I have been there ever since. That’s 50 years. I love its godless tradition. I love its multi-faculty nature. And I love its relatively democratic ways (with rare exceptions).
From the start, the intellectual heart of UCL has been the staff Common Room. As I so often say, failing to waste time drinking coffee with people who are cleverer than yourself can seriously damage your career (and your happiness). And there’s ...
Source: DC's goodscience - August 25, 2014 Category: Science Authors: David Colquhoun Tags: A.V. Hill UCL University College London Academia Brian Woledge emancipation Fields medal Housman Kathleen Lonsdale Kathy Switzer marathon Maryam Mirzakhani Paula Radcliffe Rosi Sexton Universities Source Type: blogs
UCL’s senior common room and the Boston marathon: emancipation in the 1960s, and now
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I have always been insanely proud to work at UCL. My first job was as an assistant lecturer. The famous pharmacologist, Heinz Otto Schild gave me that job in 1964, and apart from nine years, I have been there ever since. That’s 50 years. I love its godless tradition. I love its multi-faculty nature. And I love its relatively democratic ways (with rare exceptions).
From the start, the intellectual heart of UCL has been the staff Common Room. As I so often say, failing to waste time drinking coffee with people who are cleverer than yourself can seriously damage your career (and your happiness). ...
Source: DC's goodscience - August 25, 2014 Category: Science Authors: David Colquhoun Tags: A.V. Hill UCL University College London Academia Brian Woledge emancipation Fields medal Housman Kathleen Lonsdale Kathy Switzer marathon Maryam Mirzakhani Paula Radcliffe Rosi Sexton Universities Source Type: blogs
Use Eponyms with Style!
Paul LangerhansI love eponyms!I'm a bit sad that eponyms—terms that include a proper name—are going out of style in the world of human sciences, it seems.The international lists of anatomic terminology recommend against most eponyms, providing descriptive terms in their place. For example, pancreatic islet is the term preferred to the eponym islet of Langerhans. Osteon is preferred over haversian system.Of course, I get that. Descriptive terms are more intuitive and therefore easier to understand, learn, and remember. Related to that is that they are more accurate when it comes to medi...
Source: The A and P Professor - August 25, 2014 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
Human Microbial System
A recent article in The Scientist once again reminds us of the ongoing explosion in the scientific understanding of the human microbial system. In a few short years, this area of exploration has moved to the forefront of medical and basic science research in human biology.I think it's becoming clear that the most useful way to think of human body function is to recognize that an "organism" is really a sort of "habitat." And like any habitat, it functions best when all the inhabitants are within a limited range of balanced relationships. Who are the inhabitants? Besides our own cells? Well, one could...
Source: The A and P Professor - August 18, 2014 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
Some more pharmacological history: the legend of the Brocken and the statistics of purity in heart
This post follows directly from "Some pharmacological history: an exam from 1959". In that post, I related how two of my teachers in Leeds, James Dare and George Mogey, had encouraged my interest in statistcs. George Mogey had worked previously at the famous Wellcome Research Labs in Beckenham, Kent. He had been there at the same time as J.W. Trevan, who pioneered accurate methods of biological assay.
Another person who overlapped with Mogey and Trevan at Beckenham was C.L. Oakley. I’m told by Audrey Mogey, George’s widow, that they were good friends of the Oakleys and that probably explains why Georg...
Source: DC's goodscience - August 14, 2014 Category: Science Authors: David Colquhoun Tags: Bioassay George Mogey J.W. Trevan Wellcome Labs Beckenham C.L. Oakley He-goats into young men Probits The Brocken Wellcome Lab Beckenham Source Type: blogs
Some more pharmacological history: the legend of the Brocken and the statistics of purity in heart
This post follows directly from "Some pharmacological history: an exam from 1959". In that post, I related how two of my teachers in Leeds, James Dare and George Mogey, had encouraged my interest in statistcs. George Mogey had worked previously at the famous Wellcome Research Labs in Beckenham, Kent. He had been there at the same time as J.W. Trevan, who pioneered accurate methods of biological assay.
Another person who overlapped with Mogey and Trevan at Beckenham was C.L. Oakley. I’m told by Audrey Mogey, George’s widow, that they were good friends of the Oakleys and that probably explains why Georg...
Source: DC's goodscience - August 14, 2014 Category: Science Authors: David Colquhoun Tags: Bioassay George Mogey J.W. Trevan Wellcome Labs Beckenham C.L. Oakley He-goats into young men Probits The Brocken Wellcome Lab Beckenham Source Type: blogs
