Bio Sci

self-alienation: Lobar haemorrhage from Cerebral amyloid...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 07:15:22 -0500

Lobar haemorrhage from Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)

CAA is a frequent cause of parenchymal brain haemorrhage.
Insoluble 8-10nm-thick amyloid fibrils are deposited in the walls of leptomeningeal and cortical small arteries, arterioles and capillaries. Similar to small vessel disease, this process destroys normal vascular elements, makes vessels fragile, causes thickening, and impairs their permeability.

This pathology causes ischemic and haemorrhagic lesions.

thebrainscoop: wysiwyg88 asked ehmeegee: Has your line of work...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 20:34:31 -0500

William Hogarth -- Painter and his Dog, 1745.

Pug from about 1885.

Derp derp derp

thebrainscoop:

wysiwyg88 asked ehmeegee:

Has your line of work altered the way you think about or your attitude towards pets?

Yes — especially concerning purebred animals, or any type of pet which has been selectively bred in order to highlight superficial aesthetic traits for our own selfish enjoyments. Evolution is an incredibly long process when occurring naturally, yet we have forcefully pushed the morphological transformation of a few of these breeds without giving any consideration to the health problems associated with these choices.

Take the pug: it looks entirely different today than it did a short 300 years ago. That’s because we have been breeding them to accentuate their wrinkly faces, floppy ears, and most significantly their characteristic squished faces. The ‘squished face’ means that the pug has an extremely high cranial index, a ratio calculated by the maximum width of the head x 100 / maximum length. Dogs with extremely high or extremely low cranial indexes are subject to corresponding health problems. Pugs, with their extreme brachycephalic index, have an incredibly difficult time regulating their body temperature because of the lack of surface area in their mouth allowing for enough space to evaporate adequate amounts of moisture in order to cool down while they pant, meaning they are prone to overheating. They also have exaggerated ocular orbitals which give them their soulful baby eyes, but that also means their eyes are at eminent risk of popping directly out of the sockets if they sustain any amount of trauma to their heads. Throw into this equation the fact that we’ve shortened their legs and exaggerated their stature to give them a stocky build, and it means they have an even more challenging time getting enough exercise so many become terribly obese.

We see these snorting, panting, grunting little creatures as ‘adorable’, but I think it’s kind of sadistic and cruel in a way. I don’t put the blame on the dog, nor the people who adopt these creatures from shelters to give them good lives — after all, the dog didn’t choose to be this way, we did. I hope with some education about these topics humans can begin to curb their excessive need to continuously dominate over nature.

Sources:

1. William Hogarth, The Painter and his Pug, 1745.
2. Pug from about 1885.
3. Pug from the Pug Dog Page.
4. List of dogs with variable cephalic indexes.

historical-nonfiction: Primatologist Jane Goodall and tiny...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 20:31:26 -0500

historical-nonfiction:

Primatologist Jane Goodall and tiny chimpanzee Flint share a touching moment at Gombe Stream Reserve in Tanzania, East Africa, 1964

Going to a fancy straight bar

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 06:17:48 -0500

phdstress:

Photo

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 22:01:35 -0500

ellulosa: Superior half of diseased brain

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:14:10 -0500

ellulosa:

Superior half of diseased brain

thesciencellama: ElementsBy KcD Studios - on tumblr

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:15:50 -0500

thesciencellama:

Elements
By KcD Studios - on tumblr

afracturedreality: Numerous HIV-1 particles (pink) leave a...

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:07:55 -0500

afracturedreality:

Numerous HIV-1 particles (pink) leave a cultured HeLa cell (brown). These viruses lack their vpu gene and thus cannot detach from the cell’s tethering factor, BST2. Each viron particle is ~120 nm in diameter. The image was captured with a Zeiss Merlin ultra hi-res scanning electron microscope.

Since 1987, the FDA has approved more than 30 antiviral drugs, including 12 HIV protease inhibitors and one integrase inhibitor. These drugs stop ~99% of viral replication, essentially transforming HIV infection from a deadly disease to a chronic one.

By Thomas Deerinck, NCMIR, USCD

“When I die, don’t open up a museum of magic in my name. Don’t give me a big...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:10:12 -0500

“When I die, don’t open up a museum of magic in my name. Don’t give me a big stupid fancy coffin. No, what I want is to be cremated. Cremate me, and then blow my ashes into the eyes of Uri Geller.” - James Randi.

James Randi - “Why I came out at 81”.

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:08:00 -0500

James Randi - “Why I came out at 81”.

Calling things like homeopathy ‘alternative medicine’ or ‘complementary...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:49:00 -0500

Calling things like homeopathy ‘alternative medicine’ or ‘complementary treatment’ is misleading and potentially damaging. Alternative implies that it is equal to medicine and therefore you have a choice of the two treatments which will both work just as well. Complementary treatment implies that it has some benefit and is worth trying alongside effective treatment.

I propose the new term ‘predatory treatments’. It should be obvious why: they prey upon the minds and bank accounts of people who do not know any better, often at times of desperate need.

This is the second James Randi video. This one is specifically...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:23:52 -0500

This is the second James Randi video. This one is specifically about homeopathy. Seriously, please watch it. He’s such an amazing man.

The amazing James Randi on homeopathy/psychics/general bollocks....

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:07:00 -0500

The amazing James Randi on homeopathy/psychics/general bollocks. This is one of two videos I will post. He’s so amazing. Funny, informative.

The NHS spend four million pounds a year on homeopathy. Four million. Pardon? I’d save them so...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:21:31 -0500

The NHS spend four million pounds a year on homeopathy. Four million. Pardon?

I’d save them so much money if they hired me. Give me £2 for a few plastic cups and I’ll make you a homeopathic remedy from the kitchen tap. It’ll have fuck all effect on you, just like a real homeopathy wanker would prescribe, but you’ll feel lovely and hydrated.

ANN: Manga artist Hirohiko Araki has drawn the cover of volume...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:42:44 -0500

ANN:

Manga artist Hirohiko Araki has drawn the cover of volume 130’s issue 5 of the American biological journal Cell, at the request of two Japanese authors published in this issue. Dr. Mitsutoshi Setou and Dr. Hiroshi Ageta are part of a team that identified a protein named SCRAPPER that helps regulate synaptic activity in the nervous system. Among other potential benefits, the findings reported in the “Ubiquitin Ligase for Synaptic Tuning” article will aid research on Alzheimer’s disease and strokes.

According to the issue, Araki’s art depicts SCRAPPER as a purple humanoid “putting blue heart-shaped ubiquitins on the red RIM creatures.” Araki drew the illustration with the scientific direction of Drs. Setou and Ageta.

subconsciousinsanity: This is all we are Section of the human...

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:32:57 -0500

subconsciousinsanity:

This is all we are

Section of the human genome

-csianna

“All we are” is an understatement, given the sheer volume of information held within these 4 nucleobases.

The cancer tag on Tumblr would be a lot more interesting if half of it wasn’t taken up by...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:43:16 -0500

The cancer tag on Tumblr would be a lot more interesting if half of it wasn’t taken up by morons born between June 22nd and July 22nd.

How Does Cancer Kill? I hear this question a lot, both in day to...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:30:00 -0500

How Does Cancer Kill?

I hear this question a lot, both in day to day life and online.

First off, not all cancers kill. Cancers such as those of the testicle, if caught early, have a survival rate of over 90%. Carcinomas in situ, or ‘pre cancers’, have a very high survival rate because they are usually removed before they can develop into malignant invasive cancers.

For the ones that do kill, there are numerous ways in which they do it. It is worthy to remember that cancer itself is not a ‘toxic’ disease; but rather the strain of the tumour and what this does to the surrounding tissues are the lethal components.

Blockage of function: Some cancers block organs from performing their job. For example, lung cancer blocks off a large part of the lung and inhibits the amount of oxygen that can get to somatic tissues. Lung cancer also frequently causes collapsed lung, which is then open to usually lethal infection. If the tumour is in the digestive system, it can block the absorption of nutrients and cause malnutrition. Tumours of organs can eventually lead to organ failure.
Biochemical imbalance: If the cancer is in the liver or the bone, it can upset the homeostatic balance of certain biomolecules. Eg, bone cancers cause a lot of calcium to be released, causing hypercalcaemia - leading to eventual unconsciousness and death. In addition, certain cancers release compounds which can also upset the homeostatic balance.
Stress: Somewhat related to the first point, some tumours get so big and demand so much energy that the organ simply cannot cope with the demand and goes into failure.

Secondary tumours as a result of metastasis are the usual cause of death. Each different type of cancer has a secondary route, eg: breast cancers often spread to the axillary lymph nodes and brain, colon cancer to the liver. Only melanomas (dangerous skin cancers) seem to metastasise to the heart.

Picture: prostate cancer cells undergoing mitosis.

Photo

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 14:22:48 -0500

Slightly distressing video depicting a cougar hunting and...

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:08:06 -0500

Slightly distressing video depicting a cougar hunting and killing a sloth.