The rapid detection of microRNAs using small-volume samples could therefore help save millions of lives. Such a technique could also pave the way for widespread analysis of the spatial and temporal patterns of gene activity involving microRNAs, which are believed to play a critical role in the development and operation of organisms.
Superconductivity-related materials retain shape but change properties under strain
A University of Arkansas physicist and his colleagues have found that ultra-thin films of superconductors and related materials don't lose their fundamental properties when built under strain when built as atomically thin layers, an important step towards achieving artificially designed room temperature superconductivity. This ability will allow researchers to create new types of materials and properties and enable exotic electronic phases in ultra-thin films.
Diet, Exercise Better Than Vitamins in Promoting Health
Harvard men's health watch is telling everyone how dangerous vitamin supplements are. Unfortunately they are not kidding!
Please know that although we have our references to try to refute these statements, your patient's families will be hearing this stuff.
While it was once hoped that supplements of folic acid could help reduce colon cancer, new research has shown that taking more than the minimum daily requirement would be harmful. Simon says other studies underscore the downside to dietary supplements, which are unregulated in the United States. "The most striking example is beta carotene, which we used to be very hopeful about, but actually increases the risk of lung cancer in smokers. Vitamin E increases the risk of second head-neck cancers in people who have been successfully treated for a first malignancy. Read more...
Cardiofy Heart Care Supplement
Source:
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The Neuroscience Club
Use Your Brain and Join the Neuroscience Club at the UA! The Neuroscience Club will have its first meeting on WEDNESDAY, September 14, at 4 PM in the TUBAC room of the SUMC (4th floor).
Are you interested in learning more about the nervous system? Do you like to network with physicians and researchers that specialize in a Neuro field?
No previous knowledge of Neuroscience is needed to join. All majors are welcome!
This semester we will do the following:
1) Host a number of health professionals and researchers in various neuroscience fields and network with professionals
2) Participate in community outreach within the UA and within the greater Tucson community
3) Raise funds for various organizations and participate in walks throughout the year
4) Host workshops for members
For more information e-mail Michelle at maganame@email.arizona.edu or visit the facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Neuroscience-Club-at-the-University-of-Arizona/134291233304885
We've Got Action Potential!
Neuroscience Club at UA
Best,
Michelle Magana Mendoza
Neuroscience Club at the University of Arizona
Founder, President (2009-2012)
Source:
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Physical Therapy Opportunity
Physical Therapy Experience Opportunity:
Are you interested in pursuing Physical Therapy as a career and need contact hours for your application to Physical Therapy School? Or are you interested in PT and wanting to gain more experience? We are an outpatient physical therapy clinic in Oro Valley (NW Tucson). We see a good variety of patients with injuries or limitations in the following categories: orthopedics, post-operative, sports, women’s health, pediatrics and neuro. Both therapists are great mentors and teachers and are highly enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. If you are interested in interning at our clinic, please contact Dixie Callan at dcallan@idealrehab.com and provide the following: Name, Year in School, Expected Graduation Date, Plans/Goals for Future (if uncertain please provide what areas you are interested in and why), any prior experience in PT, any additional activities you are involved in, days and time available.
Thank you, we look forward to hearing from you!
Dixie Callan, PT, DPT
Staff Physical Therapist
10355 N LaCanada Dr, Suite 125
Oro Valley, AZ 85737
Phone: 520-822-8640
Fax: 520-822-8641
Email: dcallan@idealrehab.com
Source:
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Muralcles – UA Service Club
Do you like working with children?
Would you like to get involved in community service?
Muralcles is a UA service club starting its 12th year
on campus! We provide a healing environment for
hospitalized pediatric patients and the children of
underprivileged communities through
art, music, laughter and service.
Some of our events include bringing arts and crafts projects
to children in Tucson hospitals, painting murals at
local elementary schools, and playing sing-a-long songs
in our band The Amoebas, fundraisers, and much much more!
Our first meeting of the semester is:
Wednesday September 7, 2011 Tubac Room, 4th Floor of Union 5pm-6pm.
We will have Muralcles T-Shirts available for purchase at this meeting! Shirts are $5each and you are required to wear the shirt at each event that you attend.
Please visit our website at http://sites.google.com/site/uamuralcles/or join us on OrgSync at http://www.orgsync.com for more information about our registration process, events and membership.
If you have any questions, please contact Muralcles at tucsonmuralcles@gmail.com.
Hope to see you at the meeting!
~ Muralcles Board
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American Red Cross
BLOOD DRIVE at the UA Main Library Wednesday and Thursday of this week from 10-3! Feel free to walk-in, no appointment needed!
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, BHQ asked all regions yesterday to promote the need for more blood donors to make up for the more than 70 drives that have been cancelled on the East Coast. The national inventory has a shortfall of more than 2,500 donations as of today and this number is expected to increase. This press release was distributed to media today. Biomedical talking points about Hurricane Irene are attached.
American Red Cross needs blood donors after Irene
TUCSON, Arizona, August 30, 2011-- In the wake of Hurricane Irene, the American Red Cross is urging immediate blood and platelet donations in areas unaffected by the storm. To schedule an appointment, call 1-800-RED CROSS or 520-230-7295 or go to redcrossblood.org
The nation’s blood supply was low before the storm, as it is every summer, and Irene has caused the cancellation of more than 70 blood drives along the Eastern Coast, resulting in a shortfall of more than 2,500 blood donations.
Prior to the storm making landfall, the Red Cross moved blood products to the areas most likely to be affected so that those products would be available during and after the storm.
“Arizona sent 42 units of plasma last week to the East Coast,” said Darrin Greenlee, chief executive officer for the Arizona Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross. “While that has helped, the expectation is that more blood drives will be cancelled in the coming days due to storm damage, and the need will continue for more blood donors to step up across the nation.”
While thousands of donors responded to a Red Cross appeal for blood in July, and the inventory stabilized somewhat, the need still remains. And this storm has impacted the ability to build the national blood inventory back up to sufficient levels.
“Donations typically decline around a holiday,” Greenlee added, “so we are urging people to make blood and platelet donations this week and next to ensure that we have a stable blood supply before and after Labor Day.”
Blood donor centers in Tucson will be open on Labor Day, and are located at 7401 N. La Cholla Blvd. and 7139 E. Broadway. Appointments are recommended. All those who attempt to donate now through Labor Day will be entered into drawings for a $50 gas card and a staycation at an Arizona hotel or resort.
Individuals who are at least 16 years of age, meet height and weight requirements (110 pounds or more, depending on their height), and who are generally in good health may be eligible to donate blood.
Debra Deininger
Communications and Marketing Manager
American Red Cross
Arizona Blood Services Region
3470 E. Universal Way
Tucson, AZ 85756
(520) 230-7370 (p)
(520) 820-2661 (c)
(520) 230-7529 (f)
deiningerd@usa.redcross.org
Source:
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Atlas to Exhibit at Two Upcoming Pathology Conferences
Calabasas, CA, September 1, 2011, ATLAS Medical a leader in healthcare connectivity todayannounced plans to participate in two upcoming pathology conferences. The Company will demonstrate its Anatomic Pathology order entry and results reporting solution to the attendees of CAP '11, "The Pathologist's Meeting" to be held from September 11 - 14, 2011 in Grapevine, Texas, and at the Pathology Informatics 2011 conference from October 4 -7, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ATLAS' Anatomic Pathology module offers specialized support for anatomic pathology order entry with body mass diagrams, requisitions, labels and customized reporting. The product features include detailed specimen information and sophisticated reports formats, including the ability to combine clinical and AP reports. Specialized order entry functions streamline data capture, with features such as cascading ask-at-order entry questions and specimen site location using a library of body mass diagrams.
"The ATLAS Anatomic Pathology module extends the benefits of clean electronic orders to the clinical pathology laboratory," states Julie Pantalone, Vice President of Sales for ATLAS Medical. "Order entry for both clinical and pathology tests and procedures can be efficiently entered using the same order screen. We look forward to offering clinicians and other attendees the opportunity to view a demonstration of our robust product functionality at these conferences."
Information about CAP '11, The Pathologist's Meeting can be found by visiting their website at http://www.cap.org/apps/docs/annual_meeting/2011/index.html. ATLAS will be showcasing its Anatomic Pathology product in Booth #620.
The Pathology Informatics 2011 conference is the product of more than 40 cumulative years of experience in providing continuing medical education in the area of pathology informatics. The conference website is http://www.pathinformatics.pitt.edu/.
Atlas Medical delivers cost-effective outreach and clinical solutions for the healthcare enterprise that include integrated CPOE for Laboratory, Radiology, ePrescribing and other disciplines, along with features to support EHR adoption. Our advanced technology enables healthcare organizations to efficiently manage their operations and reduce costs. Atlas customers include hospital outreach programs, healthcare centers of excellence and commercial laboratories. Atlas Medical is a division of Atlas Development Corporation. For more information, visit us at http://www.AtlasMedical.com.
For more information on ATLAS, our products and services:
Phone: 800.333.0070
Email: info@atlasmedical.com
On the web: http://www.atlasmedical.com
Source:Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. to introduce new technology to revolutionize anatomic pathology laboratories worldwide
TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., (Ventana) a member of the Roche Group, will unveil its newest digital pathology solution designed to increase efficiency and throughput in today's anatomic pathology laboratories. The new product will be unveiled at the College of American Pathologists (CAP) 2011 annual meeting on Sept. 11, 2011, at 12:12 pm in Ventana booth # 105.
The real promise associated with the transition to digital pathology is an evolution from where labs are today – with pathologists using digital pathology products for specific applications – to a future where pathology labs have digitized processes and workflow coupled with digital imaging-enabled diagnostic solutions.
"Digital pathology itself will continue to evolve through improvements in core technologies, such as scanning speed and image resolution, and also by the increasing adoption of specific digital imaging applications in pathology labs across the world," says Dr. Eric Walk, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Ventana.
CAP '11 will be held at the Gaylord Texan Resort, Grapevine, Texas, from Sept. 11 – 14, 2011.
Visit Ventana at booth #105 to learn more about the latest advancements in the area of digital pathology.
About Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.
Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. ("VMSI") (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), a member of the Roche Group, innovates and manufactures instruments and reagents that automate tissue processing and slide staining for cancer diagnostics. VENTANA solutions are used in clinical histology and drug development research laboratories worldwide. The company's "Smart Systems" – intuitive, integrated staining and workflow management platforms that optimize laboratory efficiencies to reduce errors – support diagnosis and inform treatment decisions for anatomic pathology professionals. Together with Roche, VMSI is driving personalized medicine through accelerated drug discovery and the development of "companion diagnostics" to identify the patients most likely to respond favorably to specific therapies. Visit http://www.ventana.com to learn more.
VENTANA and the VENTANA logo are trademarks of Roche.
Source:CAP Launches ACO/Coordinated Care Resource Web Site
The College’s online ACO/Coordinated Care Resource Web site is now live. Focused on defining the role of pathologists in these emerging care delivery models, this landing page features a wealth of practical tools, including a customizable Talking Points slide deck to assist CAP members in getting involved in local initiatives.
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Source:Webinar from Caliper Life Sciences: Digital Pathology & Telepathology Seamlessly Combined
Caliper Life Sciences is pleased to host an online webinar on “Digital Pathology & Telepathology Seamlessly Combined”, featuring solutions from 3DHistech. Microscope slides can be digitized rapidly and easily with the broad-range of Pannoramic scanners, producing imagery of the highest-quality in minimal times. Scanned images can be uploaded automatically to an accompanying CaseCenter server, where they are immediately available to authorized colleagues - near or far – over the Internet for sharing, viewing and searching.
Our presenter will be David Fletcher-Holmes, Ph.D., Product Manager, Microscopy Imaging, Caliper Life Sciences. As a bonus, we will be giving out a password during the webinar that can be mentioned at our booth at CAP (booth 622) and the viewer entered into a drawing for an Apple iPad 2. | ||||
Source:Regulating Digital Pathology: An Insider’s View
Mongillo is one of 40 distinguished industry leaders who will present at the international conference. He’ll provide insight into the latest thinking from the FDA and CMS on the regulation of laboratory-developed tests and how new initiatives may impact digital pathology. The Pathology Visions conference will also host a special FDA panel on Nov. 2 that will focus on the digital pathology approval process for primary diagnosis. More details on the FDA panel discussion will be coming soon.
“Current uncertainty surrounding the FDA approval process for primary diagnosis has had a chilling effect on the industry’s ability to promote the patient care benefits of digital pathology,” said Dirk Soenksen, President of the Digital Pathology Association and Chair of the Pathology Visions Program Committee. “Dr. Mongillo’s presentation and the FDA panel are great examples of DPA’s efforts to assemble world experts on this important topic, and to provide a common understanding of uses and potential risks, while sharing perspectives regarding potential regulatory paths for industry and potential guidelines for pathology laboratories.”
Webster will discuss the evaluation and integration of histology pattern recognition software in investigative pathology. The audience will learn how pattern recognition can enhance the quantitative and morphometric ability of pathologists.
Dr. Ochs will share his findings on the evolution of teaching pathology and histology to medical students exclusively on the Web. Students and faculty will be intrigued and inspired by the discoveries from a study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania.
Attending any of the Pathology Visions speakers’ presentations will allow physicians to earn up to 13 CME credits. The three day meeting will include presentations in the clinical, research and education settings. The Pathology Visions Conference has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of the Indiana State Medical Association and the Digital Pathology Association.Click here for more information about earning CME credits at the conference.
The conference is the perfect learning environment for all types of health care professionals and service providers interested in learning about digital pathology solutions and deployment strategies. Conference attendees will also have access to cutting-edge industry workshops covering innovative topics in digital pathology, DPA white papers and scientific poster sessions, roundtable discussions, the latest product solutions, and networking events.
About the DPA: The mission of the Digital Pathology Association is to facilitate education and awareness of digital pathology applications in health care and life sciences.
Source:Aperio Announces 14-System Sale to Labmedicin Skåne in Sweden
The Company’s Digital Pathology Systems to Drive Best Practices in Laboratory Medicine Across Region Skåne, Improving Workflow, Quality Assurance and Enhanced Patient Access to Pathology Services
Vista, CA – August 24, 2011 - Aperio, the global leader in providing digital pathology solutions that improve patient care, today announced that it has contracted with Labmedicin Skåne, of Lund, Sweden, part of Skåne Health Services, to implement 14 digital pathology systems throughout its pathology laboratories located in Helsingborg, Kristianstad, Lund, and Malmö to provide a more robust laboratory service that will expand access to high quality sub-specialized pathology diagnostics to more communities in the Region Skåne. The contract is a collaborative agreement between Aperio, LRI Imaging AB (Aperio’s Swedish distributor), and Software Point, a Finland-based laboratory information systems vendor owned by LabVantage Group.
Aperio’s digital pathology system will be fully integrated with Software Point’s Sapphire C5 laboratory information system via Aperio’s Spectrum pathology information management software, optimizing workflow and facilitating access to digital slide images and case data between the two systems. Implementation of the integrated solution is anticipated to start in Fall 2011, with plans to be fully operational by Spring 2012. The integrated system will link the four regional hospital pathology labs, estimated to produce 500,000 slides annually, for shared pathology services.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to access digital slide images and consolidate our pathologists’ workflow into one system,” stated Lena Luts, director of operations for clinical pathology at Labmedicin Skåne. “Digital access to whole-slide image data will completely transform our pathology business, saving our pathologists a vast amount of time. Being able to replace glass slides with digital images will help us significantly improve the diagnostic process and decrease turnaround time for interpretations, resulting in improved quality and patient safety.”
The 14 system installation will include 10 ScanScope® ATs, Aperio’s new addition to its patented line of ScanScope slide scanning instruments. The new ScanScope AT incorporates the very latest technology to deliver the most compact, highest throughput, lowest cost-per-slide, highest-capacity scanner on the market today with superior image quality and highest first scan success rate for high-throughput applications.
Aperio CEO Dirk G. Soenksen said, “Aperio’s win of this significant contract demonstrates our continued global leadership in providing superior, low cost solutions on the industry’s most robust digital pathology platform. We are honored to provide Labmedicin Skåne with digital pathology solutions that will help define best practices in laboratory medicine and inform better patient care decisions.”
Scanned images of slides from the four laboratories will be transferred to a central bank. This will improve laboratory workflow and allow pathologists and other employees at the laboratories to follow the specimen from the time the sample arrives at the laboratory until the response is sent to the originator. In addition, pathologists are ensured a permanent and easily accessible digitized slide image for all of their cases, which can be used by surgeons and pathologists from different hospitals to communicate about a case, or for research, audit, or quality assurance purposes. The image bank is expected to be one of the largest in Northern Europe.
With more system installations than all other digital pathology vendors combined, Aperio is the global leader and reliable choice for world class digital pathology solutions. The company has a global installed base of more than 800 systems in over 30 countries, including more than 500 systems in hospitals and reference laboratories, the 13 largest pharmaceutical companies and a multitude of biotechnology and government organizations.
Live demonstrations of Aperio’s digital pathology system will be available at Aperio’s exhibit booth (#5a33) at the 23rd European Congress of Pathology, August 27 – September 1, in Helsinki, Finland.
Source:PathXL and Visiopharm Announce Software Integration for Digital Pathology Solutions
Belfast, Northern Ireland and Hoersholm, Denmark – August 29 2011
PathXL (formerly i-Path), a leading provider of Digital Pathology Workflow solutions, and Visiopharm, a technology leader in Whole Slide Image Analysis solutions, today announced the completion of integration between PathXL™ Manager and Visiopharm’s Tissuemorph and Visiomorph toolkits, enabling users across the pathology community to incorporate Image Analysis seamlessly into their collaborative programmes.
The integration provides an open system that streamlines workflows within the lab, as well as between labs with different scanning platforms. It provides a common platform that can be used with all major slide scanner formats, thereby facilitating cross-platform collaboration and leaving users free to choose whichever scanner platform they prefer.
PathXL’s management software and suite of specific applications enable users to upload, archive, search, share, collaborate and report on huge volumes of pathology data without worrying about performance, security or ease of use and without getting locked into expensive proprietary standards and systems . PathXL can either be provided fully deployed on the customer’s site or as a hosted service over the web. This hosted option allows users to realise the full benefits of digital pathology, without major capital investment and without the need to support the solution in-house.
Visiopharm’s software provides efficient tools for extracting morphometric data from Whole Slide Images. It is designed specifically for Pathologists, providing simple controls for identification, classification, and quantification of nuclei, membrane, cytoplasm and other structures of relevance. It allows pathologists to work in true stain space (through colour de-convolution). The technology is based on some of the most recent breakthrough research in image analysis and pattern recognition; and the software has been designed to reduce both the cost of learning and the cost of computing.
The combination of these two solutions announced today, will allow users of Digital Pathology to benefit from a complete Digital Pathology solution.
Des Speed, CEO of PathXL said ‘It is clear that Research customers are increasingly turning to Image Analysis tools, and naturally expect to be able to use these tools like any other - managing, sharing and collaborating with Image Analysis results in the same way as they do for standard digital pathology images and metadata. From the outset, we’ve built our PathXL web platform to meet the highest architectural and usability standards - intuitive, robust, fast and secure, and also flexible and open to ensure future-proofing, whatever new applications and processes emerge. We see Visiopharm as sharing the same philosophy and setting the same high standards in their specialist market, so we believe this collaboration enables customers to get the best of both worlds – great Image Analysis on a great Platform!’
Michael Grunkin, CEO of Visiopharm said ‘The ability to support complete workflows is becoming increasingly important, as pathologists seek to extract significant return on the investment from Digital Pathology. The open platform philosophy underpinning the solutions provided by both of our companies, will make it a lot easier for pathologists to choose best-of-breed solutions for analysis and data management and integrate them into one coherent workflow. We believe that this will become increasingly important, not just internally in a research lab, but also in cross-platform collaborative efforts between different research groups.’
An example of the PathXL Visiopharm integrated image analysis system.
About PathXL
PathXL specialises in web-based software and workflows for Digital Pathology. Its PathXL™ Manager product provides a robust, secure and open web-based platform to enable digital pathology users across all fields to manage, view and collaborate around virtual slides easily and efficiently. In addition, PathXL provides a range of applications and workflows on top of PathXL™ Manager to deliver specific solutions to pathologists, scientists and students in Education, Research, Clinical and Biobanking settings. PathXL also provides a full range of supporting services, including scanning, hosting, image analysis and consultancy. PathXL operates in the UK, Europe and North America.
Source:The Behavioural Science Blog in 2010
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
Crunchy numbers
A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 10,000 times in 2010. That’s about 24 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 8 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 58 posts. There were 9 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 868kb. That’s about a picture per month.
The busiest day of the year was January 5th with 131 views. The most popular post that day was Unconscious perceptual processes.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, digg.com, itp.nyu.edu, search.conduit.com, and google.co.in.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for behavioural science, heterotypic continuity, behavioral science, behaviour science, and behavioural sciences.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
1
Unconscious perceptual processes February 2009
3 comments
2
Heterotypic Continuity & Comorbidity October 2008
3
How do biases affect decision making in mental health? October 2009
4
Can People who lack Self-Regulation Skills still have Satisfying and Well-functioning Relationships? June 2008
5
Ego Depletion & Executive Functioning October 2007
1 comment
Filed under: Behavioural Science 
Source:Forget the Cinderella effect: stepparents are just as likely to kill their biological children as their stepchildren
By Tim O’Mahony Operations Manager at Kexue Communications, http://www.kexuecommunications.com
Researchers have known since the early 1970s that children in stepfamilies are at greater risk of child abuse and murder (Fergusson, Fleming & O’Neill, 1972). A team of Swedish researchers has found that parents in stepfamilies are equally likely to kill their biological children as they are to kill their stepchildren. Their findings are published in the journal Current Zoology (Online First).
Evolutionary reasons such as a lack of genetic relatedness and kin selection have previously been used to explain the higher rates of child abuse and homicide observed in stepfamilies (Daly & Wilson, 1988). The research team from Stockholm University and Mid Sweden University investigated whether an evolutionary explanation sufficiently explained this higher prevalence.
The research team analyzed Statistics Sweden records of parental child homicides in Sweden for the period 1965–2009. They included data from two biparental family types in their study: families with two genetic parents and stepfamilies. The group also analyzed the proportion of stepfamilies and families with two genetic parents in the general population for 1987, the midpoint of the study, to determine whether children in stepfamilies were statistically more likely to be murdered.
Dr. Temrin’s team used contingency tables to compare the observed frequencies of parents from the two family types committing child homicide with the frequencies of parents in the two family types in the general population. They found that on average there are 3.2 perpetrators per million parents for stepfamilies, and 1.9 per million parents for families with two genetic parents.
The team also investigated perpetrators in stepfamilies specifically, by finding the ratio of biological parent and stepparent child homicide perpetrators in stepfamilies and comparing it to an expected 1:1 ratio using a Chi-square test.
There were 152 perpetrators of parental child homicide in the two family groups used over the 45 year study period: 125 perpetrators were in families with two genetic parents and 27 were in stepfamilies. Of the 27 stepfamily murderers, 13 killed their genetic children, 13 murdered their stepchildren, and 1 perpetrator killed both. This means that the risk of a stepparent or a genetic parent in a stepfamily murdering a child is not significantly different from a 1:1 ratio (Chi-square = 0, p > 0.99).
“Our study suggests that the risk of being killed is not associated primarily with the non-genetic relation stepparent and stepchild but rather by living in a stepfamily,” said the paper’s lead author, Dr. Hans Temrin from Stockholm University.
Data on the criminal record of all Swedish parents in both genetic parent families and stepfamiles was also taken from the The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention dataset for the midpoint of the study, 1987.
Dr. Temrin’s team found that rates of crime across Sweden were higher for adults in stepfamilies than in biparental families, with general crime 1.5 times higher (28.2% vs. 17.8%), and violent crime twice is high (4.4% vs. 1.9%). These findings agree with previous studies that found that there is a higher incidence of unemployment, psychiatric problems and anti-social behaviors for parents in stepfamilies than parents in families with both genetic parents (Belsky, 1993; Turner, Finkelhor & Ormrod, 2007).
“The Cinderella effect – the observation that adults are more likely to kill their stepchildren than their biological children – has long been a staple of evolutionary psychology-informed homicide research, and this study suggests that this explanation is likely too simple,” said Dr Damon Muller from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University.
Dr. Temrin explains that “most parental child homicides are not caused by conflicts with the child but rather by problems that parents have.”
“Giving help to people with psychiatric problems and to families with problems in my opinion is the only way to decrease child maltreatment and the risk of children being killed.”
The research team hopes to replicate their study in other countries to investigate whether their observations hold.
References
Belsky J, 1993. Etiology of child maltreatment: A developmental-ecological analysis. Psychological Bulletin 114: 413-434.
Daly M, Wilson M, 1988. Homicide. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Fergusson DM, Fleming J, O’Neill DP, 1972. Child abuse in New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: A. R. Shearer, Government Printer.
Turner HA, Finkelhor D, Ormrod R, 2007. Family structure variations in patterns and
predictors of child victimization. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 77: 282-295.
Filed under: Social Psychology Tagged: child homocide, Daly, Evolutionary Psychology, family, Fergusson, Fleming, Kexue Communications, O’Neill, stepparent, Stockholm University, Temrin, Tim O’Mahony, Wilson 
Source:"Cultures of Anatomical Collections Conference," Call for Papers, Leiden University, February 15-18 2012
Image: Museum of Anatomical Waxes “Luigi Cattezneo” Bologna, Italy, part of the Anatomical Theatre Exhibition © Joanna Ebenstein
Call for papers: Cultures of Anatomical Collections International Conference, Leiden University 15-18 February 2012
The conference ‘Cultures of Anatomical Collections’ will explore anatomical preparations and collections (preparations of human material as well as wax- and other models) as important parts of our cultural heritage. This means that we treat them in a similar way as we would examine other historical artifacts stored in today’s museum. Although the history of anatomy and anatomical illustrations has been a popular topic in the history of medicine during the last decade, the history of its material remains has been somewhat neglected. And yet, in particular when taking into account recent historiographies of materiality and medical practices, it offers challenging interdisciplinary questions on the history of anatomy as a whole. Possible topics include: How do the technical details of anatomical preparations tell us about the ideas of their maker; How do ideas on beauty and perfection shape preparations; How were preparations handled and used for teaching purposes: How does the interest of non-medical audiences shape anatomical preparations? On collections as a whole we can ask: How are particular collections build up; How do decisions of curators affect the build-up of collections; How does the housing of a collection affect its outlook and popularity?
The conference has keynote lectures and the following sessions:
Keynote Lectures : Ruth Richardson and Andrew Cunningham1. Beauty, Perfection and Materiality in Early Modern Anatomical Collections Organiser: Marieke Hendriksen ; Confirmed speaker: Anita Guerrini
This session deals with questions regarding the materiality and aesthetics of early modern anatomical preparations. So far historians of medicine have described the beauty and perfection of early modern anatomical preparations using modern (post-Kantian) understandings of aesthetics. Yet, early modern anatomical preparations must be related to early modern ideas of aesthetics, which were about beauty and perfection as well as about sense perception and experiment. Possible questions include: How does the materiality of preparations tell us more about contemporary ideals of beauty and perfection and vice versa? How can changes in theses ideals be traced in the make-up of anatomical collections? How are beauty and perfection related to natural philosophical ideas on sense perception and experiment? How do ideas of beauty and perfection relate to the morality of the early modern anatomical theatre?2. Anatomical Collections and Scientific Medicine in the Nineteenth Century Organiser: Hieke Huistra; Confirmed speaker: Simon Chaplin
With the birth of the clinic and the introduction of laboratory methods, medicine in the nineteenth century changed profoundly. At first sight it would seem as if these changes would pose a threat to the position and function of anatomical collections in research and teaching. This was, however, not the case – institutional anatomical collections flourished in the nineteenth century. In this session we explore questions such as what were the status and function of early modern collections in the nineteenth century? How were old (in most cases early modern) preparations displayed and used in the new scientific medicine? How did the use, content, accessibility and display change during the nineteenth century? How did the new collections relate to the ‘new’ disciplines of comparative anatomy and pathology?3. Handling Anatomical Collections Organiser: Rina Knoeff; Confirmed speakers: Sam Alberti, Tim Huisman
This session is directed at exploring the role of the curator of the anatomical museum. Almost invisible and hardly discussed in historical discourse, he is daily busy and literally in touch with the collections. He has always been of utmost importance for the making of preparations and the general outlook of anatomical collections. Possible questions include: What are the tasks of a curator and how have they changed over time? How did/does a curator determine the outlook of a preparation and collection? How did/does he influence the focus, significant silences and boundaries of collections? How did/do his responsibilities oscillate between professional medics and the public? How did/does he merge the interests of these two groups?4. Anatomical Collections as Public History Organiser: Rina Knoeff; Confirmed speaker: Anna Maerker
This session is about the role of the public in the making and survival of anatomical collections. Faced with recent controversies surrounding the public exhibition of human material (in particular Körperwelten) anatomical museums are faced with the questions of which exhibits should be on show, for what purposes (teaching or general interest?) and how they should be exhibited. Yet, these questions are of all times – after all, anatomical collections have almost always been publically accessible. Studying the history of anatomical collections from the public perspective can answer questions such as how are historical preparations presented in (today’s) museum and how have their public meanings transformed over time? How has public curiosity been regulated? How has the public eye influenced the presentation of a preparation?5. Comments and Final Discussion Organisers: Rina Knoeff, Marieke Hendriksen, Hieke Huistra, Rob Zwijnenberg.
Contact: Rina Knoeff on r.knoeff@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Deadline: Proposals for 20 mins. papers can be send to Rina Knoeff until 16 September 2011.
You can find out more about this excellent looking conference here. Thanks to Kristen Ehrenberger for sending this along!
Source:
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"Books and Babies: Communicating Reproduction," Exhibition, Cambridge University Library, Through December 23, 2011
Picture books teach children the facts of life. We are always reading about reproduction. Reproduction also describes what communication media do—multiply images, sounds and text for wider consumption. This exhibition is about these two senses of reproduction, about babies and books, and the ways in which they have interacted in the past and continue to interact today. Before reproduction there was generation, a broader view of how all things come into being than passing on the blueprint of a particular form of life. Before electronic media there were clay figurines, papyrus, parchment, printed books and journals. The interactions between communication media and ideas about reproduction have transformed the most intimate aspects of our lives.
This from the new exhibition "Books and Babies: Communicating Reproduction," which will be on view at Cambridge University Library through December 23, 2011. For those of you who are unable tovisit in person (like myself!), you can console yourself with the excellent web exhibition--from which the above images are drawn--by clicking here. You can find out more about visiting the exhibition here.
Thanks to Nick Hopwood and Eric Huang for sending this to my attention!
Images:
- Aristotle’s Works: containing the Master-Piece, Directions for Midwives, and Counsel and Advice to Child-Bearing Women. With various useful remedies (c.1850). Private collection, frontispiece and title page
- From Omnium humani corporis… (1641), an anatomical booklet made up of woodcut illustrations copied from earlier books under the supervision of Walther Ryff, a prolific producer of texts intended for a broad range of readers.
- Plate from Cesare Lombroso's textbook L’Uomo Delinquente ... (1889)
Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
"Conjuring & Circus: Books, Prints, Posters and Apparatus" Auction, Bloomsbury Auctions, London, September 8
It has just come to my attention that Bloomsbury Auction House in London, England will be auctioning off a pretty epic collection of 729 lots related to "conjuring and circus"--a few of my favorites above--this Thursday September 8th.
You can find out more--and learn how to bid!--on the Bloomsbury Auction website by clicking here. Thanks so much to Morbid Anatomy reader Janine Veazue for sending this along!
All images sourced from the auction website; details about each can be found here.
Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
Back again, 23andMe still $hits the bed with their reports
In case you haven't noticed. I dropped off the blog radar for a while. I had some growing to do of the practice and some streamlining. I read Daniel Vorhaus JD's post with great interest this week. It describes clinical utility of 23andMe testing......
The one thing I haven't stopped doing is counselling patients on DTC Genomic reports.
Just yesterday I was consulting a very nice patient. They told me they just had to speak with a doctor because the report indicated that they were at increased risk of stomach and esophageal cancer. They had been up for several nights reading about it. Further, when brought to their PMD, the PMD smiled and didn't offer up any advice.
Well, first let me preface by saying, 23andMe's SNPs which they list 4 huge freaking stars of "CON"fidence for, on Esophageal and Stomach Cancer risk, while BTFW only ranking studies on Han Chinese. And only 2 studies at that.......
This report had this patient seriously concerned. Until of course I took a G-D Damn pedigree and found out they had ZERO, I repeat ZERO Asian ancestry/ethnicity, let alone Han Chinese....
The risk report from 23andSerge listed them as high risk. How in the world did that work?
(BTW, if you don't believe me, just ask and I will send you the time stamped pdfs, with name redacted of course)
You know why that worked? Because the brainchildren at the Google owned company forgot to put an ethnicity/ancestry filter on their reports. Instead they just felt that an asterisk would work just fine.....
Well Guess what 23andMe, you haven't changed at all. Even after the FDA got on your A$$. Your reports still are misleading and are causing undue angst.
Lucky for you, Myself and Dr Lubin are around to pick up after your mess......
Can you see why someone needs to look at and police these reports? This poor patient had serious concerns and when brought to a clinician who couldn't understand the SNP studies could end up with not needed endoscopies which would put the patient at risk. Primarily due to physician malpractice avoidance behavior?
Don't think that hasn't happened? Think Again.
The Sherpa Says: I am back again at it because clearly the millionaires with a penchant for DNA peddling and CPU coding can not get this right......Clearly a #FAIL
