Archive for December, 2015

Addicted to Distraction

Saturday, December 5th, 2015

Addicted to Distraction http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/opinion/sunday/addicted-to-distraction.html “Committed…[to a] digital-free vacation a year….1 week offline…deeply restorative."

QT:{{"
“Finally, I feel committed now to taking at least one digital-free vacation a year. I have the rare freedom to take several weeks off at a time, but I have learned that even one week offline can be deeply restorative.

Occasionally, I find myself returning to a haunting image from the last day of my vacation. I was sitting in a restaurant with my family when a man in his early 40s came in and sat down with his daughter, perhaps 4 or 5 years old and adorable.

Almost immediately, the man turned his attention to his phone. Meanwhile, his daughter was a whirlwind of energy and restlessness, standing up on her seat, walking around the table, waving and making faces to get her father’s attention.

Except for brief moments, she didn’t succeed and after a while, she glumly gave up. The silence felt deafening.”
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The best American wall map: David Imus’ “The Essential Geography of the United States of America”

Saturday, December 5th, 2015

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/01/the_best_american_wall_map_david_imus_the_essential_geography_of_the_united_states_of_america_.html

Moving piece

Saturday, December 5th, 2015

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2015/11/30/with-cancer-forgetting-the-stakes-becomes-its-own-disease

Understanding the Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Physical Activity-Induced Health Benefits: Cell Metabolism

Saturday, December 5th, 2015

Cellular…Mechanisms of Physical Activity-Induced Health Benefits http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(15)00223-5 Mitochondria important to “#exercise responsome”

QT:{{”
… augmenting overall mitochondrial density and oxidative
phosphorylation capacity by as much as 2-fold (Hood et al., 2011). Moreover, PA affects mito-chondrial quality as well as quantity, and recent studies suggest that the functional properties of these organelles are much more heterogeneous and dynamic in nature than previously appreci-ated (Jacobs and Lundby, 2013). Interestingly, PA-induced mito-chondrial biogenesis also occurs in tissues other than skeletal muscle, including brain (E et al., 2013; Steiner et al., 2011), liver (Boveris and Navarro, 2008; E et al., 2013; Navarro et al., 2004), adipose tissue (Laye et al., 2009; Sutherland et al., 2009), and kidney (Navarro et al., 2004), providing evidence that exercise also increases metabolic demand in these tissues and/or stimu-lates inter-organ crosstalk.
….
The rate-limiting impediment to discovery of molecular trans-ducers and their function is not the ‘‘omic” core technology, but the bioinformatics to extract the most useful signals and generate the most appropriate biological interpretation, including those associated with exercise adaptation. Robust computational and bioinformatics analytical tools allowing inte-gration of large datasets from a multiplicity of ‘‘omics” platforms with in vivo exercise physiology assays and measurements would contribute greatly to our understanding of the response to acute bouts of exercise and long-term adaptation to regular exercise exposure.
….
this regard, the development of detailed molecular profiles in cells and tissues in response to acute and chronic exposures to exercise (‘‘the exercise responsomes”) would provide the benchmark against which all other exercise-related conditions, including aging, sex differences, disease states, etc., could be compared for commonality and specificity.

Resources are needed not only to fund new trainees, but also to restructure current programs in a manner that combines studies in integrative physiology and bioenergetics with training in basic biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, and bioinformatics. Additional resources are needed to establish mechanisms for assembling and supporting interdisciplinary teams that are able to catalyze and sustain ex-ercise research. The field would likewise benefit from a program to support a multi-site consortium of exercise scientists with complimentary expertise and resources that together are well positioned to tackle the large, challenging problems relevant to the overarching mission.
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http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(15)00223-5

The creed of speed | The Economist

Friday, December 4th, 2015

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21679448-pace-business-really-getting-quicker-creed-speed?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/thecreedofspeed

author or not

Thursday, December 3rd, 2015

http://www.nature.com/news/researchers-wrestle-with-co-authorship-1.18881