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Posts posted by blike

    Handgun Widespread Availability Increases Suicide Rate

    in The Lounge

    Posted · Edited by blike

    Conclusion - permitting guns in the home, and especially hand-guns will dramatically increase the loss of life due to suicide.
    Therefore I, as a responsible citizen, should not be allowed to possess one? I don't see where you're going here.

     

    Statistic #2 follows from statistic #3. If suicide is more successful with handguns, then of course homes in which suicides happen are more likely to have handguns at the scene.

     

    It is interesting that the success rate is only 34% for jumping off a high place. I don't see how you could mess that up, unless you weren't really serious and jumped from a water bridge or the 2nd story window.

     

    Given that handguns have such a high success rate, people chose who use handguns to commit suicide are much more likely to be successful in any method they chose, because they're obviously serious about suicide. Pills are kind of the soft way out -- I think a lot of people who aren't quite sure they want to kill themselves but definitely want to cause a stir use pills. If handguns were removed as an option, we might see the success rate of other methods increase. (There's gotta be some data on this out there somewhere, I just don't have the time to chase it down).

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    Diabetes cured... through surgery?

    in Medical Science

    Posted

    It's basically a duodenaljejunal bypass (form of gastric bypass). They haven't completely worked out the mechanism of action, but it's hypothesized that it may have to do with glucagon-like peptide or glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (both are incretins). Below is a paper published on the animal model, but there's actually a clinical trial going on now at SUNY. They've enrolled about fifty non-obese type-2 diabetics to do duodenojejunal bypasses. In the animal model the control of type-2 diabetes doesn't appear to be a secondary outcome of treating the obesity, but instead appears to be a primary effect of the bypass itself.

     

    Looks interesting, and may hold some promise, but there's a lot of hurdles to overcome before this surgery would ever become mainstream.

     

    Effect of Duodenal-Jejunal Exclusion in a Non-Obese Animal Model of Type 2 Diabetes: A New Perspective for an Old Disease

    The demonstration that surgery can directly influence T2D as opposed to being a secondary effect of the treatment of obesity is not a mere intellectual exercise; it has, instead, important implications. One is that it implies the new concept of "diabetes surgery" as an independent new surgical discipline for which surgeons need to develop specific knowledge and competence. Indeed, clinical studies with diabetes-specific endpoints are now justified to define whether or not surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes should be extended also to moderately obese or overweight patients as well as which surgical technique has the best risk/benefit ratio and whether there are specific indications and contraindications for surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes.

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    Do something about Google Ads!!!

    in The Lounge

    Posted

    The only big problem with this whole thing is that blike probably needs this money for server upkeep... <sigh> damn scientologists.
    Heh. I've often wondered if we should move to a donation only system. It doesn't cost much to keep us running. I hate ads as much as the next guy, which is why they're limited to up top. Block them if that's your thing.
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    Merlin Wood's hypothesis (split from Dark Matter Question)

    in Speculations

    Posted

    My account is not (yet) supported by any measurements, calculation or mathematical formulae I'm afraid, but I have been able to illustrate the action of a nonlocal cause using diagrams.
    Why do I bother? I ask myself when I get so many self opiniated arseholes on the internet?
    Why do you bother? You're presenting a physics-related concept to a graduate physics student. He, like most other physicists, is going to ask you for the math. If that's too much to ask you're dabbling in the wrong discipline. I hardly think he should be called a self opiniated [sic] asshole for demanding a high standard of evidence. Consider that your warning.
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    Anyone catch this?

    in The Lounge

    Posted

    "A little over a year ago, the Fermilab Office of Public Affairs received a curious letter in code (image here). It has been sitting in our files all that time and we haven't had much of a chance to look into breaking the code, nor are we particularly expert at this!"

     

    Part of the letter was decoded about 2 days after Fermilab put it up on the internet. The first stanza decodes to "FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE", and the second stanza decodes to "EMPLOYEE NUMBER BASSE SIXTEEN". If I'm reading correctly, there's still part of the letter that has yet to be decoded. Now people are trying to figure out what it means. Frank Shoemaker is a physicist who worked on the main ring at Fermilab. There are questions about an odd break between "FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD" and "CALL THIS NOISE". People are also suggesting that "Basse" was deliberately misspelled and is some sort of clue

     

    One slashdot user pointed out that Wilson Hall on the Fermilab campus is 16 stories and was inspired by a cathedral once occupied by the Basse Oeuvre. Apparently you need an employee ID card to enter the 16th floor. Another person notes that if you drop the extra "S" in "Base", and convert to base 16, you get employee number 252. Employee number 252 is Pierre Piroue, who teaches classes combining physics and music. It was suggested that the second stanza should be converted to music -- somehow. Still another user found a "Frank Shoemaker" on Amazon.com who has a book in his wishlist titled "The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century".

     

    An intriguing little puzzle if you ask me. There's a lot of brains working on this one. You can follow the story here: http://www.gmilburn.ca/2008/05/17/fermilabs-strange-letter-progress/

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    The Placebo Effect

    in Medical Science

    Posted

    Because it is unethical and the placebo effect doesn't work on everyone, it is immoral to sell nothing and claim it is something especially as a doctor.
    Even the best drugs we have don't work on everyone either. You've used the words "unethical" and "immoral", but you haven't told us why they are unethical or immoral. Because it would be selling "nothing" and claiming it is "something"? Is that the only reason? I'm not taking a position here, I just want you to elaborate.
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    SFN Blogs Opened

    in Forum Announcements

    Posted

    You should lower it to three weeks to see what would happen,

    I don't think there would by any spammers in a three week delay, 1-2 week maybe though

    You don't understand the patience and persistence some of these people possess.
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    medical research scientist qualifications

    in Science Education

    Posted

    i heard that ideally one should have a Phd AND an MD to make oneself the MOST qualified. Which degree is best to study for first? and do you need residency? or just the MD degree? thanks
    What you're looking for is called MSTP (Medical Scientist Training Program).

     

    Basically the NIH will sponsor your medical education as well as give you a stipend. The programs typically take 7-9 years from what I understand, and are usually very selective. For successful applicants the average MCAT score is 36 and the average GPA is 3.8 (according to wikipedia).

     

    You can also do non-MSTP MD/PhD programs but they have variable funding and stipends available (school specific).

     

    Word on the street is that there is a high attrition rate in these programs, with most students just choosing to get their MD.

     

    What's with the MD, by the way? What will you learn at medical school vis-a-vis research that you wouldn't learn in a graduate program in biology? Maybe that's a stupid question.
    The difference is enormous. Granted, you could piece together aspects of several different PhD programs (anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, etc.) and have someone with the same general medical knowledge as a physician, but the real difference comes with clinical experience. This clinical experience leads to a completely different approach to and understanding of the human body. As students we noticed this change in the perspective of our professors between our first and second years. Our first year of medical school was taught mostly by PhDs in their respective fields, whereas our second year was taught mostly by clinicians. In a nutshell, the PhD view tends to be more black and white, whereas the physician blue tends to be a nice shade of gray.

     

    The MD/PhD graduate has a great perspective because he/she will be able to apply research principles (PhD) to clinical scenarios. Unfortunately, outside of biostatistics (which is primarily geared to help physicians sort through and understand research), the typical medical education does not include much education on how to actually conduct research -- though some schools offer electives. But honestly not many students take optional electives in medical school.

     

    From wikipedia,

    "According to a FASEB study, graduates of NIH-funded MSTPs make up just 2.5% of medical school graduates each year, but after graduation account for about one third of all NIH research grants awarded to physicians."

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