a fusion of Greek and Mexican foods in San Luis Obispo
Here is what I am reading today:
““As we have now discovered in cell cultures, exosomes seem to have a whole range of functions,” explained Dr. Eva-Maria Krämer-Albers. By means of their transmission activity, the small bubbles that are the vesicles not only promote electrical activity in the nerve cells, but also influence them on the biochemical and gene regulatory level. “The extent of activities of the exosomes is impressive,” added Krämer-Albers. The researchers hope that the understanding of these processes will contribute to the development of new strategies for the treatment of neuronal diseases. Their next aim is to uncover how vesicles actually function in the brains of living organisms.”
“If you sailed through school with high grades and perfect test scores, you probably did it with traits beyond sheer smarts. A new study of more than 6000 pairs of twins finds that academic achievement is influenced by genes affecting motivation, personality, confidence, and dozens of other traits, in addition to those that shape intelligence. The results may lead to new ways to improve childhood education.
“I think this is going to end up being a really classic paper in the literature,” says psychologist Lee Thompson of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, who has studied the genetics of cognitive skills and who was not involved in the work. “It’s a really firm foundation from which we can build on.””
““We have a new way to regulate T-cell activation and potentially better control immune-mediated diseases,” said senior author Eyal Raz, MD, professor of medicine.
The receptor, called a TRPV1 channel, has a well-recognized role on nerve cells that help regulate body temperature and alert the brain to heat and pain. It is also sometimes called the capsaicin receptor because of its role in producing the sensation of heat from chili peppers.”
“”Height is almost completely determined by genetics, but our earlier studies were only able to explain about 10 percent of this genetic influence,” says Joel Hirschhorn, MD, PhD, of Boston Children’s Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, leader of the GIANT Consortium and co-senior investigator on the study. “Now, by doubling the number of people in our study, we have a much more complete picture of how common genetic variants affect height—how many of them there are and how much they contribute.””
“A high alcohol intake is linked to a heightened risk of human papillomavirus infection among men, suggests research in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections. The findings seem to be independent of other risk factors for the infection, such as number of sexual partners and smoking.”
“For decades, researchers have been trying to nail down what influences eyewitness testimony and how much confidence to place in it. After a year of sifting through the scientific evidence, a committee of psychologists and criminologists organized by the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) has now gingerly weighed in. “This is a serious issue with major implications for our justice system,” says committee member Elizabeth Phelps, a psychologist at New York University in New York City. Their 2 October report, Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification, is likely to change the way that criminal cases are prosecuted, says Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, who was an external reviewer of the report.”
24 Comments
dbbermancalpoly · October 10, 2014 at 2:26 pm
I thought the “Reliability of Eye Witness Testimony” article was very interesting. I am taking Investigative Journalism right now and we are learning about the issues that often arise in criminal case investigations. Some of the most common are regarding biases of witnesses and juries. This article discusses how witnesses are often unconsciously influenced by police or lawyers who wish to sway them towards convicting one person or another. These studies came out of necessity because of the rising number of wrongful conviction cases which are exonerated by DNA testing.The cases I’ve been reading for class demonstrate exactly these kinds of incidences. It’s crazy what the mind can do with incomplete information and how it can jump to conclusions with the right coaching.
aflor · October 11, 2014 at 3:00 pm
I found the article, “High alcohol intake linked to heightened HPV infection risk in men” to be very interesting. This study was well planned from the length at which this study took to find results, as well as the different testing methods they used for a large amount of men that were part of this study. The results found do not necessarily prove that high amounts of alcohol is linked to HPV infection, but the results do support the idea that there could be a correlation. They also found data on smokers and the number of sexual partners. I was shocked that there wasn’t a huge difference in the risk of HPV infection within the number of sexual partners a male had. I would have thought that the more sexual partners one had, the higher their risk for infection. I would be very interested in finding more articles that also explain other risks men have when they consume high amounts of alcohol.
mbrensel · October 12, 2014 at 8:57 pm
I read the article, ” Genes for school”, and found it to be very interesting. I having taken Genetics at Cal Poly, so I immediately thought ” yeah, its pretty obvious that genes affect how well a kid does in school” but this paper goes on a deeper level. Normally, how well a student performs in high school is solely genetically like to intelligence or IQ. However, author Sarah P. Williams aimed to create a genetic link between a parent and their child’s study habits such as motivation and confidence. The research team studied teenage twins in England, and concluded that “about 62% of the individual differences in academic achievement—at least when it came to GCSE scores—could be attributed to genetic factors” ( Williams). The author did acknowledge that these results were only performed in England, which has an established education system, and could not be generalized to a model to fit less developed countries. I am curious to see if the results in Engladn would be drastically different to an impoverished country in Africa.
mbrensel · October 12, 2014 at 9:28 pm
I found the article,”Reliability of Eye Witness Testimony” to be very interesting and thought provoking. It is an interesting concept that so much trust in placed in one person to determine the outcome of a courtcase, but it has ” worked” since the creation of our country. Of course there has been plenty of mis-identifications in eye witness testimonies, which has caused a reason for debate. The story of Ronald Cotton, a man wrongly accused of rape who was imprisoned for 10.5 years, is very prevalent in my mind. With our increased technological capabilities like DNA testing, I think eye witness testimony should be have less weight in a jury’s final verdict. While it can be a useful tool, I do not think it should be the ” end all” deciding factor because so much is on the line. I agree with the article that the manner eye witness testing should be changed to reduce the potential error. While it may be more expensive and complicated at the beginning, I believe the proposed method of doing ” Computerized lineups” should be implemented, sooner rather than later!
mikaelastreeter · October 12, 2014 at 10:04 pm
I found the article “Genes don’t just influence your IQ-they determine how well you do in school”, written by Sarah C.P. WIlliams to be very interesting. First off it is important that researchers are looking past the associations between genetics and IQ, but are extending their research to involve other factors such as performance in school. I found it very interesting that the majority of twins in the study showed to have their IQs genetically similar to that of their parents. There has been an ongoing debate in the realm of science research regarding environmental factors and genetic factors in twin studies. Overall it seems like what I have read that the spectrum is split in the middle as to whether or not child performance is more genetically linked or environmentally linked. What I like about this article is that they took socioeconomic conditions into account and only based their data off a cohort that shared similar environmental conditions. Overall, I think that this article was very interesting in showing that our success in school could be linked to the genes we inherit; however, at only 62% of success being linked to genetic factors it remains a hot research topic in the science world. I am very intrigued as to what other research may come along arguing for either genetic or environmental based factors affecting academic achievement.
mikaelastreeter · October 12, 2014 at 10:16 pm
The article “High alcohol intake linked to heightened HPV infection risk in men” was interesting yet seemed to lack appropriate research. Although it was only an observational study on 1313 men, it seems like the speculations of the study were quite drastic given their methods. The study concluded that a higher average daily alcohol intake could make men more susceptible to contracting HPV. Even though there study tried to take into account amount of sexual partners and smoking, I think that there are still other factors that could significantly lead to HPV that were not considered. The article did claim that no definite conclusions could be drawn about cause and effect from their research. Furthermore, the observational study does bring up a valid research question and it would be very interesting if they were able to follow up their observational study with an experimental study. This further research could contribute significantly to the medical field and potentially help educate men on methods to avoid contracting HPV.
cmc4 · October 12, 2014 at 11:10 pm
I read the article “Reliability of Eye Witness Testimony.” I found this article rather intriguing simply because of the nature of the research that is being done. I agree with eyewitness accounts need tighter control after reading this article and the research. Even in the court rooms depicted on crime shows, eye witnesses have so much confidence in their memory even when there is evidence against it, just like the article mentions. I think that the method of a “double-blind” is a good way to help accuracy at the police station. This way there would be no way for the police officer to have any kind of bias towards the eye witness choosing the right suspect. I do feel that doing a computerized choosing of the suspect would be the most effective, since the eye witness will be mostly free of outside influence. This article is very informative in the good this will do in gaining the truth.
dbbermancalpoly · October 14, 2014 at 4:28 pm
I read the article about “school” genes. I find it very interesting that it has been found that genetics influence school performance. It is sad in a way because some children are predisposed to doing more poorly than others and some are destined to excel but I still believe that “bad” school genes can be remedied by discipline and learning how to have a good work ethic. I also found it interesting that it is now believed that there is a genetic basis for the levels of enjoyment children achieve from school work. I’ve always enjoyed learning but I thought it was due to the fact that my grade school teachers encouraged learning for “fun”. This article mentions but doesn’t really develop the idea that there could be different genes linked to IQ scores than the genes that are linked to school performance, I think this would be an interesting line of study.
jorgiewu · October 14, 2014 at 10:26 pm
I enjoyed reading the article “Tallness Requires a lot of Genes.” This article drew my attention because my entire life, I have always stood at a below average height. However, my older sister has always been average-tall for her age. I was actually surprised that researchers can now explain about 20 percent of the heritability of height. Although this seems high to scientists, this number is actually much lower than I expected. If 80 percent of variation in height is genetic, I am curious to know what the other 20 percent of variation is attributed to. I would be interested in researching if other factors affect height and if so, what those factors are. It would be helpful to study families who have short parents and kids who grow to be extremely tall.
jorgiewu · October 14, 2014 at 10:36 pm
I read the article “High alcohol consumption and increased risk of HPV in men.” My initial thought was that this correlation is understandable- men who consume high amounts of alcohol may correlate with higher sexual activity, which may correlate to increased chances of contracting HPV. However, this article states that neither smoking nor sexual activity seem to influence HPV prevalence. It would be interesting to study if particular types of alcohol influence HPV prevalence as well. In addition, for those testing positive for HPV types associated with HPV types against which the HPV vaccine is active average daily alcohol intake was highest. We can feel a little better knowing that if this is a true cause and effect relationship, we at least have the vaccine to protect against four types of HPV.
ChelsPsychPerkins · October 14, 2014 at 10:58 pm
I read the article “Genes for School”, I can understand how personality, motivation, confidence and many other traits influence/shape intelligence, however so do many other factors, such as the way you are raised, the country you are raised in (less access to education), Socioeconomic status, privileges and opportunities, parental support, etc. Many children are pressured to do well in school, many children are lovingly encouraged and supported through school and some children are neglected with less value and importance placed on school/education. All this needs to be considered. Environment and Biology shape us as human beings including our successes and failures in school. Genes are not the only thing that determine intelligence. However, genes can contribute to our knowledge and understanding of why children differ in learning styles and academic achievement. Like all studies, hopefully this will help us further understand children learning abilities, teaching strategies, intelligence, etc.
Miamorr8 · October 15, 2014 at 5:00 pm
I found the “Genes for School” article very interesting. I have always found it intriguing how different siblings can be when it comes to all of the characteristics that cause a person to do well in school. I definitely think that environment plays a huge role as well, just as ChelsPsychPerkins stated, but I think that’s partially why this study was done on twins. Unless some of the twins involved happened to be separated at birth and raised in different families and under different circumstances, then I think a lot of environmental factors for the individuals in this particular study can be ruled out. The reason why I find this topic so fascinating is because both my brother and I were raised under the same roof with the same environmental factors, yet we are complete opposites when it comes to school. School has always been something that I was “good” at and interested in continuing with, whereas my brother always wanted to be doing something else with his time (and he often did). When he came home with a C, it was cause for celebration. However when I came home with a C, I would receive some serious lecturing. Of course there are those factors that cannot be controlled given that we grew up 5 years apart, such as different peers and school staff, or the way that parents change techniques of how they do certain things between their first and second child; but I believe that genes play a huge roll in all of the qualities that make a person “good” at school. I am also taking genetics right now and I find it fascinating how many possibilities there are of which genes a person receives and how they are expressed.
srvaldez · October 18, 2014 at 12:53 am
I read the “”high alcohol consumption and increased risk of HPV in men” and thought it was very interesting. The experiment was obviously well-done with thorough research methods, but I am curious about the correlation they are seeing between alcohol and HPV. Though they asked the participants how many sexual partners they had, the researchers did not specify whether or not they were having protected sex or if they knew if their past sexual partners had the sexually transmitted disease. I believe the researchers should consider the possible correlation between heavy drinking and unprotected sex, which could lead to an easier spread of HPV rather than just the idea that alcohol weakens the immune system.
ChelsPsychPerkins · October 19, 2014 at 2:02 pm
I read the article, “High Alcohol Consumption and Increased Risk of HPV in Men”, I feel as though this article is the true definition of Correlation does NOT mean Causation! This study was a thorough observational study as far as the way it was conducted with their large population of men all varying on alcohol consumption, number of sexual partners, and/or smoking or non-smoking. However, they clearly state in the article that they found no correlation between the number of sexual partners and HPV prevalence as well as being a smoker or not. I agree with Srvaldez, It would be more helpful to say that high alcohol consumption increases risk taking behavior which may or may not influence the high prevalence of HPV in men.
emmathompson95 · October 21, 2014 at 10:53 am
I read the article “Genes don’t just influence your IQ—they determine how well you do in school” and found it very relatable. Through my schooling years, I had always noticed how some students actually enjoyed doing schoolwork, and how others didn’t need to study at all but could still get a perfect score on a test. It makes sense that learning capabilities are influenced by genetics, but I also think that nurture and the environment a child grows up in affects their views on school. The article does talk about how the results of this study could most likely not be generalized to underdeveloped countries because they don’t have as many educational opportunities, but I think that the article also needs to address the role that parents, friends, siblings, the city they grew up in, and many more environmental factors play in a child’s learning experience.
savannamurphy · October 22, 2014 at 8:17 pm
I read the “genes for school” article because the title caught my attention right off the bat. I was slightly disappointed as a I read to discover that although researchers are closer to understanding how much genetics play a role in intelligence and consequently learning and test scores that they have not yet found any gene(s) that play a role in determining the smart from the dumb and the successful in school to the unsuccessful in school. Despite this, I enjoyed the article because it will hopefully further convince school administrators and teachers that not all children learn the same way and are successful in the classic classroom. Not getting good grades does not necessarily mean a student isn’t smart, but could be because the type of environment they learn in isn’t suited to them.
allisonstoner2 · October 23, 2014 at 8:33 am
The article regarding eyewitness testimony was extremely interesting. I find it terrifying that computers may be the most accurate way to identify a suspect, because the thought of technology having so much power takes away a lot of human impact. However, it’s an interesting and logical argument that eyewitnesses are often unreliable, and can be tipped off by police officers or other people involved in the case. Using a double blind approach seems as though it would lessen bias, while still leaving control in the hands of the witness.
jennatehaney · October 27, 2014 at 12:08 pm
I found the article, “GIANT study reveals giant number of genes linked to height” to be quite fascinating. It is mind boggling to me that more than 400 gene regions influence this one phenotype of a given persons height. I find it really interesting that a main reason they have been able to ascertain such a more complete picture of these genetic under workings was by something as simple as “doubling the number of people in [their] study.” It is amazing that no major changes in the means of investigation and study needed to be altered to attain these insights, but rather that they just needed to attain the same information from a much broader scope of individuals. It is also interesting that the 424 gene regions they have identified, as being related to height is the largest number to date associated with any trait or disease. This to me signifies an immense level of importance to the development of ones height, yet besides being able to be walk upright, I do not see too many current advantages that would make one more fit at a certain height in today’s society. This makes me wonder why there are so many gene regions associated with height and when exactly most of these came about, perhaps when we were transitioning and perfecting the fitness of our species’ ability to walk upright?
jennatehaney · October 27, 2014 at 12:33 pm
The article, “How reliable is eyewitness testimony?” sheds light on a very important aspect of our legal system, and raises questions that really need to be more carefully examined. I have always had an interest in the law and am quite a sucker for television shows that focus on criminal law and different legal and police crime cases. It reminds me a little of the article on phantom cell phone ringing because in my experience you really do feel that jolt even when its not in your pocket, and who is to say that with sight these similar sensory mistakes cannot occur. One could really see something, but as Loftus point out, being confident and being able to testify confidence in what you saw does not make what you perceived to be true. I’ve always been curious just how much weight should be able to be placed on eyewitness testimony given how readily they are used and relied upon in court cases. I find the cues and such too that police officers provide in line-ups or even in just coaxing an eyewitness memory to match their interpretation of the crime to too be interesting and not stressed enough in court. Given that 75% of wrongful convictions for serious crimes of murder and rape, that came to be exonerated by hard, factual, DNA evidence were originally able to be “solved” and innocent people were sentences and attributed with performing these terrible acts should in itself suggest a huge flaw in our reliance on eye witness testimony in court. It is a bit scary that eyewitness testimony still holds such weighty influence in determining ones innocence or guilt, despite such clear discrepancies and possible inaccuracies, and this article helps suggest a needed shift in this regime.
ACapanna · October 31, 2014 at 12:51 pm
I was very interested in the article about eyewitness testimony. I do hope that police departments implement the use of a computer system so as to secure witness that is untainted by cues from the officers. I had a personal experience of testifying as a witness in a homicide case. The process was very intimidating, and I was very concerned about my accuracy. I had to give my account of the events several times over a period of about 2 years. I had a very limited account, because I had only heard gun shots (which I actually thought was a car backfiring) and was not involved in any other way. If I had needed to identify anyone, the process would have been much more unnerving. I probably only spent about 10 minutes on the witness stand, whereas a more involved witness spent days. I have studied false memories, and it is alarming how pervasive they can be. I am looking forward to reading more about continued research on this subject, and I hope that in the future our justice system can obtain testimony in ways that ensure maximum accuracy.
zk · November 2, 2014 at 8:08 pm
I read the article about genes influencing a students academic success, and I am not surprised at all of the findings of the study. What I was kind of surprised by was how the article presented the idea as such a novel concept-I thought the concept of academic success having many contributing factors was fairly well-known? Nonetheless, as a student I can definitely relate to the article findings, with many personal experiences coming to mind about the balance between IQ and other factors contributing to a person’s academic success. One good example are the varying degrees of academic success among my friends; I would consider them all very intelligent, but their individual personalities make a huge difference in their involvement in school, their motivation to study and do well in classes, and their beliefs on the importance of school in general. All such personality traits are typically rooted in their genetic makeup, with similar traits found in their parents and siblings. At least now there is scientific evidence demonstrating this concept, which hopefully will be implemented in grade schools to provide better education for all types of personalities!
camandrew · November 13, 2014 at 12:36 pm
I read the article “How reliable is eyewitness testimony” and it just shows how we can’t rely on memory or eyewitness testimonies as a valid instrument in the judicial process. This article brings to mind of an incident I learned in PSY 202 where man who was falsely accused of rape by a women named Jennifer Thompson. During the crime she studied her aggressor for the sole purpose of identifying him later to put him to jail. After the atrocious crime unfortunately Ms. Thompson identified the wrong man which lead to a wrongly convicted man. So even the midst of this tragedy where you’d think she’d be able to confidently identify the perpetrator she wasn’t able too, and the scary thing is that this is common. According to the article 75% of wrongful convictions where based on eyewitness testimonies. So, in my personal opinion eyewitness testimonies shouldn’t carry as much gravity as they do in the court because as the article suggested we can be influenced by the police, and our brains fill in a lot of the missing holes creating new memories and new problems.
aflor · November 16, 2014 at 11:47 am
The article that I found interesting was “How reliable is eyewitness testimony?” This has always been an area that has sparked controversy for several years. Eyewitness testimony can sometimes be very helpful, but at the same time, one isn’t sure of how reliable it could be. I think that by using computers, it will decrease some of the bias now seen during police line ups. That way, eyewitnesses aren’t influenced by police on which choice to make. Also, I remember reading in another article similar to this one that computer systems will help decrease the pressure to make a choice. Originally, when an eyewitness see’s the suspects all in a line, they feel pressured to make a choice, although none of them could be the suspect. With the computer system, a suspect’s face would appear one by one, and the eyewitness will have an unknown number of how many they will be shown. This decreases the pressure in having to pick from one of the suspects, if they are all not the true criminal. The system does need to change because sometimes innocent people are placed in jail for a crime they didn’t commit but fit the description of the actual person who did.
srvaldez · November 18, 2014 at 6:28 pm
I read the article “How Reliable is Eye Witness Testimony?”, it was interesting to me because I would like to believe my memory is good and would choose the right suspect in a lineup, but I know that’s not always how it works. I strongly believe that an innocent person shouldn’t have to suffer the stress of a trial and potential jail time for a crime they did not commit and I fully support the ideas suggested in this article for changing the way we show witnesses possible suspects, but unfortunately, it is not a plausible idea for the near future. Technology for a computer-generated lineup would be incredible, but most police units do not have a large enough budget for that. A more practical idea for large police units is to use an officer uninvolved in the case to bring in the suspects to create a double-blind method, however, this idea does not work for small towns or other places with a low amount of officers. I encourage witnesses to try to pull suspects out of a lineup, but soon enough this idea will be discredited in full. In our journey of studying the brain, I know how easily memory can be remolded even with the slight suggestion from a police officer telling you that you may have seen this happen. We know there is a lot of variability in proper identification so instead we should pay more attention to enhancing our detectives abilities to find criminals or giving forensics labs more technology to help provide evidence for the case.