>Just one more example of the effects of reporting bias in the scientific literature – and another warning to be wary, even about “consensus.” The journal, Nature, now reviews its own blogs on a web page titled the “From the blogosphere,”a subheading of the “Author” web page., on the homepage of the journal’s website. The … Continue reading
>I stumbled on the blog, Pallimed, while chasing links last week. Today, I was able to read some of the posts. The blog is owned by a doctor and discusses the various elements of Hospice and Palliative medicine. Read this post for a beautiful excerpt of a statement by a Mr. Thomas Lynch while testifying … Continue reading
Last month, I wrote about the Christian Medical and Dental Association’s ethics statements. There’s a comment about them in last weeks’ CMDA “News and Views.” See Dr. Robert Scheidt’s comments, with the links to the three ethics statements that were approved at this year’s CMDA House of Directors. This week, we have the NEJM article … Continue reading
The New England Journal of Medicine has a “Perspective” article commenting on the Emilio Gonzales case in Austin, Texas It’s available free online, and there’s an audio interview with the author. The comments are very specific on the ethics of the case, and the author does a good job of outlining the Texas Advance Directive … Continue reading
>Chasing links today, I somehow stumbled upon found this very interesting title:John Ioannidis, “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False,” PLoS Medicine, vol. 2 (2005), pp. 696-701. Brush up on your statistics and ability to evaluate scientific literature (and those that report on the same).
>This week’s (June 27) Nature.com “Advance Online Publication” contains two “Letters” describing the production of embryonic stem cells from “epiblast” cells, one in mice and rats, one focusing on mice. Full content is restricted to subscription-only, but you can listen to a discussion about the studies on the free podcast from Nature, here, and the … Continue reading
>That free Scientific American issue also contains a dialog between two scientists on faith, religion and the scientific community. Laurence M. Krauss and Richard Dawkins discuss their different views on engaging in “seducing” people of faith. (“Teaching is seduction.” “No one appreciates a dishonest seducer.”) Gentlemen, the main point you should understand is that those … Continue reading
>2 days only, through June 30th, the new Scientific American magazine is available for download online, here. This month’s issue invites us to learn all about how humans are making global warming, about the possible effects on hurricanes, which could get stronger, how memories are laid down in the human brain, how cats evolved, and … Continue reading
>I’ve had some time to consider the report that we read last week concerning the willingness of the women and men who control the fates of the frozen embryos of their children to donate those embryos for destruction in research. The report has been published in ScienceXpress, the early posting on line of articles before … Continue reading
>Patients were given shots to stimulate the production of blood stem cells, the cells were removed from their blood – not from a bone marrow biopsy – and then injected in areas of their hearts that were alive, but not functioning.There’s more information at ScienceDaily online.While the researchers remind us that this is a “small … Continue reading