Lovastatin Inhibits VEGFR and AKT Activation: Synergistic Cytotoxicity in Combination with VEGFR Inhibitors

Lovastatin Inhibits VEGFR and AKT Activation: Synergistic Cytotoxicity in Combination with VEGFR Inhibitors

Tong T. Zhao, Diane Trinh, Christina L. Addison, Jim Dimitroulakos

PLoS ONE 5(9): e12563. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012563

corporate strategy: the scientific method

Venter’s corporate strategy: the scientific method. The paper in The New York Times by Andrew Pollack.

I very much like Steve Jurvetson’s comparison: “If you think of an iconic, Steve Jobs character in the life sciences field, he comes to mind“. Fan of the three of them

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Photo by jurvetson

A correlation between poverty and religiosity

Here we go again, and this is from Jerry Coyne, linking to a very nice figure from the New York Times. Looks pretty much like the figures I proposed a few weeks ago from different datasets and certainly quite different questionnaires and metrics. The trent persist, the best countries come with atheists, thank you!

I was more concerned about the outliers who spend time behind the Iron Curtain, Charles Blow discuss one particular outlier, the USA.

Coyne goes back to his January’s post “Does insecurity promote faith?” where he presented data and analyses that support the idea.

I very much like Coyne’s conclusion:

Nevertheless, Rees and Paul may be onto something. And if they’re right, even in part, then we atheists have a bigger task than simply trying to dispel the influence of religion on people. For to do that, we may have to work for better and more just societies. But isn’t that, in the end, a nobler goal?

Call the guy strident or a dick or whatever else you like, but please keep in mind that he got some simple and wonderful stances.

Larry Arnhart being evil!

And this is not a fancy title as the one he use: “PZ Myers, Creationist“. He must be off his drugs, or something.

The worst part is calling an atheist a creationist, but Arnhart isn’t that stupid as to think anybody will take him seriously on that. But he is enough stupid to use the old journalistic trick like, OMG! DARWIN WAS WRONG! Except that he don’t want Darwin to be wrong, just to make a sensational title for his blogpost. And that’s not even where he’s gone really evil. The worst part is :

Myers says that “the science of biology supports a communist world view.”

What Myers wrote (if you don’t truncate the phrase, that’s it) is :

I find their arguments that the science of biology supports a communist worldview just as convincing as Arnhart’s that it supports classical liberalism…which means not very.

Fucking quote mining with the link provided for people who hadn’t it handy and too lazy to Google it! That’s embarrassing because it’s quite stupid and really evil.

I do agree with Arnhart that the pope is a creationist but Arnhart doesn’t seem to be able to understand that the very same evolutionary process he praise explains equally every single political and moral and ethical view that was ever invented and that will be invented in the future and he can’t apply it in his particular political views. That’s partial politically induced blindness IMO and I’m sorry to have confirmation that Arnhart suffers from it. Usually he is a descent guy. Wish him prompt recovery.

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PZ already answered.

Angiogenesis but not neurogenesis is critical for normal learning and memory acquisition

Angiogenesis but not neurogenesis is critical for normal learning and memory acquisition

Kerr AL, Steuer EL, Pochtarev V, Swain RA.

Neuroscience Article in Press, Accepted Manuscript doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.08.008

I’m obsessed with angiogenesis and this have to do with my current work. I came to think that EC play a central role in CNS physiology, especially repair. EC lead you to angiogenesis – invariably.
I love this paper and I’m looking forward to read the discussions it could should must trigger.

macaque adopted kitten?! Fear mice?

clic for more

Notch1 is required for maintenance of the reservoir of adult hippocampal stem cells

Notch1 is required for maintenance of the reservoir of adult hippocampal stem cells

Ables JL, Decarolis NA, Johnson MA, Rivera PD, Gao Z, Cooper DC, Radtke F, Hsieh J, Eisch AJ

J Neurosci. 2010 Aug 4;30(31):10484-92 doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4721-09.2010

Ah! floxed stuff

no God behind the Big Bang? And you call that news?

All over the place a lot of stuff about Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow book, due for september 7th.

No news here, I mean no Gods around the Big Bang’s horizon. Some people will be pissed off. Many will not.

One of the early critics of Hawking/Mlodinow, George Ellis, Templeton Prize recipient and president of the International Society for Science and Religion. From the Times piece as reported By Jerry Coyne:

“My biggest problem with this is that it’s presenting the public with a choice: science or religion. A lot of people will say, ‘OK, I choose religion, then’ and it is science that will lose out,” he said.

I think that science will be a winner if people making the kind of choices Ellis fears leave science for religion. That’s the very same kind of attitude that make people chose faith-healing or alternative medicine, so, I wonder if there would be even any substantial loss really.

Richard Dawkins, Ruth Gledhill and Hannah Devlin chated about the issue and you will find the chat here.

Gledhill’ first comment starts with:

Tim, I just interviewed David Wilkinson, principal of St John’s Durham and astrophysicist, and this is what he said (full interview at my Times blog Articles of Faith)…

Is this David Wilkinson holder of the Humility Theology Prize given by the John Templeton Foundation, St John’s College Fellow in Christian Apologetics? Just wandering, the Templeton Foundation is losing ground here I they must do something to keep their business going.

Gledhill didn’t do well in this chat and I’ll not pay anything to read her blog. In mid-discussion she seems t regret her participation (15:25):

Oh dear. I wondered if doing this debate might be a mistake.

Hannah Devlin ask two final question at Gledhill and Dawkins. Questions and answers are interesting:

Ruth, does the possibility that religious belief has a biological basis make any difference?

Hannah, I have long believed that this might ultimately be ‘proven’ as Richard suggests and that religion might be a phenomenon because it confers some evolutionary advantage. Frazer in his Golden Bough and William James in his Varieties both seem to suggest as much. But that does not stop me believing. I guess I just want to evolve.

So, if it’s proven that cancers are some evolutionary burden Gledhill will just want to evolve. I wish her better.

Richard, why do you think there are a lot of scientists out there who argue that science and religion are compatible? Would you put it down to human weakness?

If you look a the Felllows of the Royal Society, or the American equivalent, the National Academy, the number of theists is tiny. You keep hearing the same small number of names: Collins, Polkinghorne …

Now come on! There are a little bit more than two of them. And you can be sure that The Big Questions will be asked to such a sample of scientists as to make them seem to be a majority. Ask Gary Rosen

Angiogenesis and inflammation signaling are targets of beer polyphenols on vascular cells

Angiogenesis and inflammation signaling are targets of beer polyphenols on vascular cells

Rita Negrão, Raquel Costa, Delfim Duarte, Tiago Taveira Gomes, Mário Mendanha, Liane Moura, Luísa Vasques, Isabel Azevedo, Raquel Soares

Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, doi: 10.1002/jcb.22850

To Scotty: done! it worked!

Was called this morning to rescue the new technician. Her computer’s Internet connection wasn’t working. Usually I’m answering that I can’t help with machines operating under Windows, my last in depth relation being Windows NT.

But nowadays I’m building the lab’s intranet and blogs and stuff like that, so I plan to abuse as many beta testers as possible, so I gave it a try. Re-routing the tachyon flow through the warp drive polarity inducer didn’t worked, neither trying to rebuild the connexion, or find out what was wrong using the diagnostics. The guy who wrote the messages must be a Star Trek fan and the last proposition was to switch off and on the Ethernet hub. Done that and as Steve says : Boom!

The connexion was back instantly. My reputation as the-guy-who-makes-computers-do-their-job (even those running WindowsXP) is supported by more and more evidence.

Praise Scotty!

HT the caption is by Molly_B