Tag: Misc.

Quick post: Do you survey biological aerosols? If so – feedback wanted on protocols used

Please see this post if you sample biological aerosols:

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This is from the “Tree of Life Blog”
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate
at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter.

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Among the strangest official email msgs I have ever received

It has been brought to my attention that the practice of standing on the toilet seat has not only been identified in the women’s restroom, but also the men’s restroom. As a follow-up, the MSO/CAO for the departments has been notified of this safety & sanitary concern. As part of the corrective action, all stall doors (women and men) will be posted with the following notice: FOR SAFETY AND SANITARY REASONS, PLEASE DO NOT STAND ON THE TOILET SEAT.
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This is from the “Tree of Life Blog”
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate
at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter.

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Seriously annoyed with Nucleic Acids Research and Oxford University Press right now

Well, I was working on adding some paper links for an online version of my CV and I discovered something very annoying.

I went to get a link for my 1994 paper in Nucleic Acids Research.  I wrote this paper with my then girlfriend, now wife, and her advisor Ginny Walbot.  The paper was on finding a “transpose” motif in one of the proteins that was part of the autonomous element for the Mutator transposon in maize “Sequence similarity of putative transposases links the maize Mutator autonomous element and a group of bacterial insertion sequences.”

So I went to Pubmed and searched for Eisen JA and Mutator and got the Pubmed entry here.  And then I looked at the links in the upper right and there were two.  One to NAR and one to Pubmed Central.  I note – the paper has been freely available online for years.  I vaguely remembered noticing some issue with the NAR version in the past so I went to that site.  And there it was

Wow.  Even though the paper is freely available in Pubmed Central, NAR is trying to charge for it.

What the f**#?

Same thing for my other NAR articles:


Not sure what the deal with this is.  Could be a glitch.  COuld be a feature.

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This is from the “Tree of Life Blog”
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate
at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter.

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Top 11 biology things with a connection to 11 for 11:11:11 AM on 11/11/11

In honor of 11:11:11 on 11/11/11

Things about 11 in Biology

  1. Chromosome 11 (human) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  2. The spatial-temporal clustering of Plasmodium falciparum infection over eleven years in Gezira State, The Sudan
  3. Simultaneous Determination of Eleven Major Flavonoids in the Pollen of Typha angustifolia by HPLC-PDA-MS.
  4. The cell generation cycle of the eleven-day mouse embryo
  5. Eleven daughters of NANOG.
  6. RPS11 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  7. Development and evolution of a variable left-right asymmetry in nematodes: the handedness of P11/P12 migration.
  8. Functional display of family 11 endoxylanases on the surface of phage M13.
  9. Polypeptide synthesis during lytic induction of phage 11 of Staphylococcus aureus.
  10. Evidence of Infection with H4 and H11 Avian Influenza Viruses among Lebanese Chicken Growers.
  11. Phylogenetic analysis of avian influenza viruses of H11 subtype isolated in Kazakhstan.
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This is from the “Tree of Life Blog”
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate
at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter.

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Reading about Medical School requirements –

Just a quick one here. I am reading up on medical school curricula because I am thinking about designing a course on evolutionary medicine. Wondering what is going on these days with modernizing med. school requirements (that is what students need to take before med school) and what they take in med school.
I found this interesting page: Harvard Medical School: Requirements discussing revisions to what Harvard requires for incoming med. school students.
This led me to this HHMI AAM report which has some useful discussion of what physicians should learn about. I was glad to see a bit here and there about evolution. It is even listed as a core competency “Competency E8
Demonstrate an understanding of how the organizing principle of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of life on earth.” with specific examples of things that could be taught.
If anyone knows any other good review docs on med. school requirements or med. school curricula I would appreciate pointers.
Thanks
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This is from the “Tree of Life Blog”
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate
at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter.

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Tom Bruns talk on fungal dispersal at #UCDavis 11/10/11 #ecology #fungi

http://storify.com/phylogenomics/tom-bruns-talk-on-fungal-dispersal-at-uc-davis-11-10-11.js<a href=”http://storify.com/phylogenomics/tom-bruns-talk-on-fungal-dispersal-at-uc-davis-11-10-11″ target=”_blank”>View the story “Tom Bruns talk on fungal dispersal at UC Davis 11/10/11” on Storify</a>]

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This is from the “Tree of Life Blog”
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate
at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter.

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What you need to know about infectious disease?

New video from Institute of Medicine on “What you need to know about infectious disease” which is useful and fortunately includes some information about things other than infectious diseases.

It is based on this booklet.

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This is from the “Tree of Life Blog”
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate
at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter.

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Gorgeous new book on Evolution

Just got a review copy of Evolution by Jean-Baptiste de Panafieu and Patrick Gries

Haven’t read it yet but it looks gorgeous

This is a smaller edition of an oversized hardcover published in 2007

Gorgeous new book on Evolution

P541 P542

See the full gallery on Posterous

Just got a review copy of Evolution by Jean-Baptiste de Panafieu and Patrick Gries
Haven’t read it yet but it looks gorgeous
This is a smaller edition of an oversized hardcover published in 2007

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This is from the “Tree of Life Blog”
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate
at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter.

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Yes I like mixing science and art – but "DNA2Art" seems a bit, well, non artsy #visualiztion≠art

Just got this email

I am representing DNA2Art – a start-up working with creating DNA art. DNA2Art just launched a few new products that I would be glad to share as I think they might be of interest. 
DNA2Art takes human uniqueness to a whole new level by enabling visualization of one’s personal DNA. DNA based art is a great way to show the beauty of your genes.
DNA art is extraordinary because:  

  • As an innovation launched just recently, DNA2Art enables creating DNA art from already existing DNA test results by reverse engineering real-life laboratory testing to deliver authentic DNA art. More information on reverse engineering. Besides being a convenient and faster way for receiving personal DNA art (sample taking and analysis steps are skipped), it also grants clients a discount. More information with instructions for inserting data can be found on Already have DNA data? page. 

The technological platform developed by our bioinformatics team allows clients to use data from industry leading consumer DNA testing companies such as 23andMe, or the use of customer genetic markers. DNA2Art is working with other genetic testing service providers to add them to the platform, as offering DNA art is a great value adding opportunity for customers and companies working with genetics. 

  • As an introductory offer, DNA2Art has a special price for high-quality print ready digital file when sending in already existing DNA data (just 99 EUR). Click on the Already have DNA data? page for the offer. 
  • The latest product addition is DNA2Info – providing insights to what the genetic stripes really mean and which genes are displayed on the DNA art masterpiece. It can be ordered as an entertaining add-on to DNA Art. 

Ordering DNA Art is easy with the following steps: place an order on the website, receive a DNA collection kit for taking the DNA sample, DNA2Art’s secure and certified lab performs the DNA test. Based on the results, an art piece is created by our designer and delivered to you. 
DNA2Art is an innovative team coming up with new ways for visualizing DNA and also trying to have an educational value to it. If the above information is of interest to you we would be thankful if you could share it. In case of additional questions, please contact me.

Best wishes,
Madli

The whole thing seems a bit off to me.  Yes, you can “visualize” your genomic data.  Visualization and art are not necessarily the same thing.  And this does not sound or smell like art to me.  

——–
This is from the “Tree of Life Blog”
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist and Open Access advocate
at the University of California, Davis. For short updates, follow me on Twitter.

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