Monday, March 31, 2003
SCI-BYTES Hottest Physics Paper for from its What's New in Research: March 31, 2003 "Measurement of the rate of v(e) + d --> p + p + e(-) interactions produced by 8B solar neutrinos at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory," by Q.R. Ahmad and 178 others, Physical Review Letters, 87(7):1301, 13 August 2001.
SCI-BYTES quotes the paper's abstract: "Solar neutrinos from 8B decay have been detected at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory via the charged current (CC) reaction on deuterium and the elastic scattering (ES) of electrons. Comparison... to the Super Kamiokande Collaboration's precision value of the flux inferred from the ES reaction yields a 3.3(sigma) difference, assuming the systematic uncertainties are normally distributed, providing evidence of an active non-Ve component to the solar flux. The total flux of active (8)B neutrinos is determined to be 5.44 plus/minus 0.99 X 10(to the sixth) cm(to -2) s(to minus 1)."
Total citations to date: 228. 52 times in current journal articles indexed by Thomson ISI during November-December 2002.
So this paper has 179 authors ... one wonders how many of the paper's authors cited this paper in subsequent papers. I would like to see a metric that normalizes for multiple authors ... I wonder what we would see then. Oh well, I guess they deserve the commotion -- for being able to actually collaborate like this and come up with a short paper.
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Posted by E Moritz @ 11:33 PM CST [Link]
Mechanical Engineering: High-Impact U.S. Universities, 1998-2002: According to a recent SCI-BYTES analysis, based on rankings of average citations per paper,the following univeristies top the list of high impact ...
1 Harvard University
2 Stanford University
3 University of California, Santa Barbara
4 University of California, Los Angeles
5 Brown University
wow, California has 3 of the top 5. But what happened to MIT and CALTECH?
Posted by E Moritz @ 11:13 PM CST [Link]
Sunday, March 30, 2003
Future History Notes -§1.1
Lots of microsnapshots of the conflict with Iraq from the embedded media. No synthesis. No discussion of events and causes within a larger context. Pundits and talking heads are running out of material. How come we don't see or hear any historians, philosophers, or futurists? The media is failing to ask good questions - of anyone. I haven't heard or seen anyone put the conflict in serious historical context. One hears of firefights, political fights, polls, budget battles, plans and counterplans, pauses, movement, and so on and so on ... but where's the insight?
Posted by E Moritz @ 08:28 PM CST [Link]
THE CDC IS CONCERNED ABOUT SARS
According to the CDC March 30, 2003, 4:30 PM EST note:
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization have received reports of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) from Canada, China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The cause of these illnesses is unknown and is being investigated. Early manifestations in these patients have included influenza-like symptoms such as fever, myalgias, headache, sore throat, dry cough , shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing. In some cases these symptoms are followed by hypoxia, pneumonia, and occasionally acute respiratory distress requiring mechanical ventilation and death. Laboratory findings may include thrombocytopenia and leukopenia. Some close contacts, including healthcare workers, have developed similar illnesses. In response to these developments, CDC is initiating surveillance for cases of SARS among recent travelers or their close contacts."
I guess my earlier comment reflected early optimism.
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Posted by E Moritz @ 07:26 PM CST [Link]
Saturday, March 29, 2003
According to Mumford:
A society in which production and consumption completely cancelled out the gains of conversion -in which people worked to live and lived to work - would remain socially inefficient, even if the entire population were constantly employed, and adequately fed, clothed, and sheltered.
The ultimate test of an efficient industry is the ratio between productive means and an achieved end. ... By the ruthless pillage of the food producing territories of Asia and Africa, the Roman Empire appropriated far more energy than Greece, with its sparse abstemious dietary and its low standard of living. But Rome produced no poem, no original architecture, no work of science, no philosophy comparable to the Odyssey, the Parthenon ... the science of Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes, Hero: and so quantitative grandeur and luxury and power of the Romans, despite their extraordinary capacity as engineers, remained relatively meaningless ....
Where do we stand? How do we measure meaning?
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Posted by E Moritz @ 01:25 PM CST [Link]
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Law School Oscars via the The Volokh Conspiracy . O.K. They're not Oscars. What would YOU call them?
Posted by E Moritz @ 10:02 PM CST [Link]
Today's medical word: Gamma Linolenic Acid (via the American Cancer Society website) -- sounds pretty clinical. On TV they were talking about Borage Seed Oil. The ACS site also associates it with Primrose and Black Currant Oil.
According to the ACS site:
1. Gamma linolenic acid (GLA) is a highly unsaturated fatty acid made in the human body from other essential fatty acids. The main sources of GLA are oils of evening primrose, borage, and black currant plants (see Evening Primrose). Many commercial preparations sell these extracts as GLA. It is also found in human breast milk.
2. Some studies have shown that GLA can inhibit the growth of some cancer cell lines in tissue cultures in the laboratory; however, there is no evidence that it is effective in preventing or treating cancer in humans. ... There is some evidence that GLA may be useful in treating neurological problems related to diabetes. A recent study suggests a promising role for the use of GLA in acute respiratory distress syndrome.
3. Gamma linolenic acid has been promoted as a fatty acid that also helps people with benign breast disease, skin problems, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, premenstrual syndrome, and neurological problems related to diabetes.
Pretty interesting. Primrose Tea anyone?
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Posted by E Moritz @ 09:22 PM CST [Link]
Wednesday, March 26, 2003
The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation? How would Honest Abe do in the corporate briefing business? Check Peter Norvig's rendition. [Via gtexts [via Who Stole the Tarts ]]. {How's that for transitivity? We'll look for reflexivity and symmetry later on ;-) }
Posted by E Moritz @ 09:42 PM CST [Link]
Why would 'lynee thigpen' be the on Google's Top 10 Declining Queries Week Ending Mar. 25, 2003 List? I might understand why 'al jazeera' and 'uefa' would be on the rise, but 'lynee thigpen'?
Posted by E Moritz @ 09:32 PM CST [Link]
Today's medical word: hypoalbuminemia. Hypoalbuminemia, according to Merriam Webster's Medical Dictionary, is hypoproteinemia marked by reduction in serum albumins. Now if we only had an innate understanding of hypoproteinemia.
According to emedicine:
"Albumin, the body's predominant serum-binding protein, transports a variety of substances, including bilirubin, fatty acids, metals, ions, hormones, and exogenous drugs. Albumin comprises 75-80% of normal plasma colloid oncotic pressure and 50% of protein content. Reference serum values range from 3.5-4.5 g/dL, with a total body content of 300-500 grams. Synthesis occurs only in hepatic cells at a rate of approximately 15 g/d in a healthy person, but the rate can vary significantly with various types of physiologic stress. The half-life of albumin is approximately 20 days, with a degradation rate of approximately 4% per day. Little is known about the site of degradation."
another interesting section talks about albumin synthesis:
"Albumin synthesis begins in the nucleus, where genes are transcribed into messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). The mRNA is secreted into the cytoplasm, where it is bound to ribosomes, forming polysomes that synthesize preproalbumin. Preproalbumin is an albumin molecule with a 24 amino acid extension at the N terminus. The amino acid extension signals insertion of preproalbumin into the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum. Once inside the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum, the leading 18 amino acids of this extension are cleaved, leaving proalbumin (albumin with the remaining extension of 6 amino acids). Proalbumin is the principal intracellular form of albumin. Proalbumin is exported to the Golgi apparatus, where the extension of 6 amino acids is removed prior to secretion of albumin by the hepatocyte. Once synthesized, albumin is secreted immediately; it is not stored in the liver."
I never knew that! [more]
Posted by E Moritz @ 09:22 PM CST [Link]
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Begriffsgeschichte and Conceptual History: Have ever heard of Begriffsgeschichte? I never have but apparently Reinhart Koselleck and pals have been hard at it. [more]
Posted by E Moritz @ 07:05 PM CST [Link]
Monday, March 24, 2003
Current conflict with Iraq: There's bad news (casualties, POWs, MIAs, innocent lives lost), there are financial costs, and there's some good news. What's the good news? Its times like these that reveal the plain truths. Who our real friends are, and who are not; what our strengths and weaknesses are, what we hold important, and most important what beliefs and perceptions we hold and how they relate to reality. Better know these now so we can fine tune our future, than discover hidden realities much later, and pay much higher prices at the school of hard knocks. We ARE doing great, we are deliberately tying one or both hands behind our backs. We will learn (relearn?) to depend on ourselves and our resources and not take the greater West for granted. The United States is unique, it has done much to advance the human agenda; perhaps more than any other country. The current conflict is like one of these pop quizes ... you find out how prepared you are, and then you get ready for the big exam. To those on the front lines. Thank you.
Posted by E Moritz @ 09:17 PM CST [Link]
Sunday, March 23, 2003
More on Mumford:... our capacity to to go beyond the machine rests upon our power to assimilate the machine.
Posted by E Moritz @ 02:24 PM CST [Link]
Saturday, March 22, 2003
First I heard of Frederick Crews and his Pooh-Pa or is it Poo Ba .... According to a claim in the Seattle Weekly, "Walt Disney was thrilled to acquire rights to Pooh; now his faltering company is addicted to the bear, who generates perhaps one-quarter of Disney's $25 billion annual revenue". That's sort of hard to believe, but ... Crews' 'serious' academic lampooning via The Pooh Perplex is now followed by Postmodern Pooh. One will have to consult Carla Gulag for cerious insite ;-) [more]
Posted by E Moritz @ 01:09 PM CST [Link]
Joseph Epestein offers a critique of Paul Valery in The New Criterion. I like these reminders pf PV's style:
“Everything changes but the avant-garde”
“The future, like everything else, is not what it used to be”
“History is the science of things which do not repeat themselves”
Thanks Joe.
Posted by E Moritz @ 12:45 PM CST [Link]
Friday, March 21, 2003
Blogging Unlimited? Blogging Unleashed? Blogging Untamed? Blogger Paradise? The print of a new generation? Electrons and photons are oozing unto print:
Blogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content by Biz Stone
Essential Blogging by Shelley Powers, Cory Doctorow, J. Scott Johnson, Mena G. Trott, Benjamin Trott, Rael Dornfest
The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog by Rebecca Blood
We Blog: Publishing Online with Weblogs by Paul Bausch
Blog On: Building Online Communities with Web Logs by Todd Stauffer
We've Got Blog: How Weblogs Are Changing Our Culture by Rebecca Blood
Of course, you could just go to Lord Instapundit and see it done ....
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Posted by E Moritz @ 08:36 PM CST [Link]
I think there's something in me of that same weakness that is so apparent in [tennis champion] John McEnroe. I just can't sit while people are saying nonsense in a meeting without saying it's nonsense! from "A Conversation with James D. Watson" in Scientific American.
Posted by E Moritz @ 08:12 PM CST [Link]
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and paramyxoviridae: BBC reports "Doctors in Hong Kong may have a drug which can help people struggling to beat a mystery infection." According to the report "Scientists believe they have identified the cause of the illness as a virus from the paramyxoviridae family - which includes the viruses that cause measles and mumps." Researchers base their beliefs on results of usingt anti-viral drug ribavirin which appears to provide "some benefits among the most seriously-affected patients." [more]
Posted by E Moritz @ 06:21 PM CST [Link]
Thursday, March 20, 2003
Philosophy in time of War: Larry King is asking "What now Walter?" Walter Rodgers of CNN embedded with Army 3RD ID is reporting right now. Its incredible to be sitting up here with CNN in background ... hold everything ... Jamie McIntyre breaks in with live reports of U.S. casualties ... very sad ... its incredible, almost surreal, to see the war unfold in real-time or almost real time. At the same time, one wonders what people are turning to for philosophy. For that, I turn to the web merchants to see what people are buying. Po Bronson's What Should I Do with My Life? looks to be very popular. Don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom is second. It is interesting to note that Chris Hedges' War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning comes in third. It gets great reviews from its readers. The classic Sun Tzu Art of War is described as the "Swiss army knife of military theory--pop out a different tool for any situation." is fourth interesting to see a classic appear in fourth place (rather than first). The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene is fifth. Amazing that all you have to do is this: "The laws cull their principles from many great schemers--and scheming instructors--throughout history, from Sun-Tzu to Talleyrand, from Casanova to con man Yellow Kid Weil. ..."
Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain by Antonio Damasio is sixth ...The first time a Western philosopher is explicitly referred to. Oh well ... I guess Socrates, Plato, Ari, Hume, Kant, Locke are just not up to snuff for today's interests.
Posted by E Moritz @ 09:04 PM CST [Link]
Morrowind Watch: After freeing myself from Zelda (note a new one is coming - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) nearly a decade ago, thanks to my thoughtful -- keep dad tied up in something harmless ;-) -- kids, I've become immersed in Elder Scrolls: Morrowind (Bethesda Softworks; Xbox). WOW! This game is really something else ... and foreshadows the future of cyberspace. My character, Echo, a Magister Ludi Breton has leveled up to level 12. The game is nothing short of Arthur Schopenhouer's The World As Will and Representation in a box. The implications are phenomenal. Technically ... its quite a dramatic step in Object Oriented Coding and Computing. Some of you may (rightfuly) claim that on-line RPGs (role playing games) are far superior and more complex due to the nature of the interactions. But on the XBOX, you can reload the last saved game and replay it ... if you don't like the outcome. There's lots more to express about philosopy, metaphilosophy, representations, decision theory, choice and consequences. Its not quite MicroMuse as far as world building, but the graphics are incredible and you don't have to be a computer geek to play it. (Geeks? Geeks are great people; sometimes incredibly successful ... check with Bill G. -- Lord of the Geeks). Reposted ...more later ... [more]
Posted by E Moritz @ 07:48 PM CST [Link]
William James Sidis in THE EXTENT OF RIGHTS opined that "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" are more principles than rights ...Sort of Rawlsian ... if you ask me ... But what can you expect of a peridromophile? [more]
Posted by E Moritz @ 07:29 PM CST [Link]
Wednesday, March 19, 2003
Will the cheese-eating surrender monkeys ever go kinetic? It depends if you can figure out what it means. Thankfully the BBC has taken on the chore of translating 2KPLUSspeak right here. I am hopeful the West can regroup and realize it, and only it, can guard against the forces of anarchy.
Posted by E Moritz @ 11:03 PM CST [Link]
Craniosacral Therapy and Somatoemotional Release ??? It would appear the 'Craniosacral Therapy' meme is flourishing ... John Upledger and Jon Vredevoogd's book is a pivot. According to their description "Craniosacral Therapy is the most practical, comprehensive textbook in this rapidly growing field of therapy involving the cranial bones, meningeal membranes, cerebrospinal fluids, and whole-body connective tissues. Craniosacral Therapy defines the physiology and anatomy of the craniosacral system, its function in health, and relationship to disease processes. It provides practical instruction in developing and extending palpatory skills which will greatly benefit all forms of manipulation, as well as basic physical diagnosis." Is this an emerging osteopathic trend or just a fad?
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Posted by E Moritz @ 07:23 PM CST [Link]
time is tight is interesting + i never heard of PHPosxom. You do learn something new every day.
Posted by E Moritz @ 06:57 PM CST [Link]
Tuesday, March 18, 2003
If you know what Googlewhack, Googlebomb, Googleshare, Googlism, Google Smackdown mean you're an Alpha Geek. If you're like the rest of us (don't eat and sleep googlespeak) check Keith Hammonds' piece on google.
Posted by E Moritz @ 08:29 PM CST [Link]
William Taubman' s Khrushchev: The Man and His Era gets a great review from Strobe Talbott. As one keeps reading about the now extinct Soviet Union, one is more and more thankful for the freedoms we take for granted.
Posted by E Moritz @ 08:14 PM CST [Link]
Monday, March 17, 2003
Blogdex points to Wired article Media Watchdogs Caught Napping ranked #6 with 13 links. It might be argued that Napping Watchdogs Caught the Media ... Chew on that Chewey!
Posted by E Moritz @ 09:05 PM CST [Link]
What is Ideokinesis, Body-Mind Centering, the Bartenieff Fundamentals, Laban Movement Analysis all about? I don't really know ... apparently Sally Sevey Fitt does and she tell all in Dance Kinesiology. And that's not all -- Pilates Method, Rolfing, the Feldenkrais Method, and all kind of other goodies are thrown in too. Structural, biomechanical, and neuromuscular analysis ... I didn't know dance was that involved ...
Posted by E Moritz @ 08:06 PM CST [Link]
Sunday, March 16, 2003
Arts and Letters Daily IS pretty interesting! Accoring to its mast its "A service of The Chronicle of Higher Education". Neat. Its got great snippets and links like the one about Beethoven "By the mid-1810s, as deafness encroached, the performing was all over. Visitors found his pianos had strings shredded by his frantic pounding in a desperation to hear. He removed the legs from one piano, so he could sit on the floor and feel the vibrations. Yet to the end he would improvise for hours, though he could not hear a note he played." --- or the one to this story about Stalin "Stalin was killed on order from Beria because he was about to launch World War III against America".
According to site ... ""The Arts & Letters Daily motto, “Veritas odit moras,” is a line from Seneca’s translation of Sophocles’ Oedipus. It means “Truth hates delay.” --- One wonders if interntional diplomats ever considered that?
ALDAILY is packed with goodies ... it deserves a permanent link.
Posted by E Moritz @ 09:41 PM CST [Link]
asparagirl has a real nice discussion of GEDCOM, XML,and the Open Source Genealogy Data Model. She's also got a lot of other interesting topics on her blog.
Posted by E Moritz @ 09:12 PM CST [Link]
Black Crunch jams Universal Cycle: Space might end up dark, thick and boring. PHILIP BALL reports on work by Banks and Fishler and Khoury, Ovrut, Seiberg, Steinhardt and, Turok From Big Crunch to Big Bang. It would appear that if M-theory is correct, depending on the shape of space - we might get stuck in a crunch where "the smallest kinks in density are amplified into black holes ... the whole of space-time would congeal into a very lumpy soup - a black crunch."
This might not happen, however, if the Universe were doughnut-shaped. A reassuring thought for the Dunkin Donut - Krispy Kream crowd ... a reason to get to understand donuts better ;-).
BTW ... the previous post regarding Condorcet implies destruction of inequality of opportunity ... nobody gets anything without effort ...
Posted by E Moritz @ 05:36 PM CST [Link]
Preserving Medieval Technology Posts: More interesting Medieval Technology links ...Paul J. Gans (Department of Chemistry, New York University) provides a Medieval Technology Timeline. I can't fully put my finger on it ... but I think its important. Lewis Mumford's Technics and Civilization had something to do with it. Technology is a wonderful thing .... sometimes ... it allows you to take some pretty odd pulses here and there ... like what's on Glenn "Instapundit" Reynold's mind. Or his "Million Readers A Month" minds. [well not quite a million yet, but sounds good ... sort of the 'Million Men March' but better]. Or the fact that over half of the search engines get to instapundit by looking up: instapundit, instapunditcom, reynolds, and glenn. By contrast, Krinsky sends only 0.36 percent; sex 0.18 percent; 0.17% go for bellesiles. Is there a Zipf Law significance to this?
While we're on the topic of technology ... is there any relevance to Condorcet's prescription that "the three tendencies that the entire history of the past shows will be characteristic features of the future are: (1) the destruction of inequality between nations; (2) the destruction of inequality between classes; and (3) the improvement of individuals, the indefinite perfectibility of human nature itself--intellectually, morally, and physically. The equality to which he represents nations and individuals as tending is not absolute equality but equality of freedom and of rights. Nations and men, he asserts, are equal if equally free and are all tending to equality because all are tending to freedom." ????
Posted by E Moritz @ 05:31 PM CST [Link]
FANTASY and ANTI-FANTASY Repost or is it CrossPost
obviously Harry doesn't meet Sally here, but ... some other neat things happen ...
... in other megafantasy events ....Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time, Book 10) is very welcome! The debate will rage .. Lord of the Rings - Harry Potter, or Wheel of Time? Who is the best .... and we haven't even touched Card or V.Vinge .... so many choices so little time ...
ANTI-FANTASY ... or Brutal Reality ?
U.S. Master Tax Guide, 2003 -- CCH Incorporated
U.S. Master Estate and Gift Tax Guide, 2003 -- CCH Tax Law Editors
I support both sides of the debate ... so please bring both coffee and tea ... OK we need taxes, but not too much ... That's the trick (remember the Ole Roman Empire).
Posted by E Moritz @ 05:23 PM CST [Link]
Saturday, March 15, 2003
Mumford's Technics and Civilization is a "MUST READ'. There are just too many good ideas and observations here to just let it go. I am sure I'll keep commenting about it ... I never really realized the full impact of glass and mirrors on human psychology. Mumford points out, for example, that with old fasioned glass in the 16th and glass plate invented in the 17th century, "large mirrors ... became relatively cheap and the hand mirror ... a common posession". He points out that then and only then "it was possible to find an image [of oneself] that correpsonded accurately what others saw" This ability went well beyond the poor reflections in a lake or polished metal surfaces. The self consciousness and self awareness that followed were really remarakable. [more]
Posted by E Moritz @ 01:34 PM CST [Link]
Pizzelle Pizzelles Pizzella For some reason the Villaware 3850 Quattro Pizzelle Baker is becoming the hottest gadget of the bobo set ... Cuthbert says " Delicate, lacy designs and subtle sweetness make pizzelles excellent accompaniments to a rich coffee or cappuccino. With intricate patterns, these 3-inch cookies look difficult to make, but a child would have a great time printing them out: you just pour in the batter, close the lid, remove, and enjoy. ... For added sophistication, pizzelles can be shaped into cones or cups when they're still warm--try filling a fluted pizzelle with liquor-flavored whipped cream for a more decadent dessert. The pizzelle baker comes with instructions and enough recipes to transform your kitchen into a sweet-smelling Italian bakery." I am sold!
Posted by E Moritz @ 11:05 AM CST [Link]
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present might be a bit more relaxing than Bluntal Nugity ... beauty, however is in the I of the Beholder.
Posted by E Moritz @ 10:55 AM CST [Link]
Ted Nugent: Full Bluntal Nugity Live ?? Craveman song titles sounded pretty rough -- I wonder what Bluntal Nugity will add. Certainly a case for some to celebrate the first amendment.
Posted by E Moritz @ 10:51 AM CST [Link]
Thursday, March 13, 2003
Someone just asked me "what do In-Cites and SCI-BYTES have to do with Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness?" Nothing and everything ... I am very fortunate to have the liberty of indulging in blogging about anything that comes to mind. From time to time I look at In-Cites and SCI-BYTES. A less desirable alternative might be to reflect on what the surrender monkeys are up to, and that surely would not result in any happiness.
Posted by E Moritz @ 08:38 PM CST [Link]
Rheingold Spills Golden Beans ... The in-cites interview with Arnold L. Rheingold is fascinating. According to in-cites "Dr. Rheingold is currently one of the top five researchers in the field of Chemistry over the past decade, with 756 papers cited a total of 9,794 times to date". I was always curious about the citation olympians ... His 1996 paper with Crabtree (R.H. Crabtree et al., "A new intermolecular interaction: unconventional hydrogen bonds with element hydride bonds as proton acceptor," Account. Chem. Res. 29[7]: 348-54, July 1996) generated the most citations. According to this citation olympian, "The people who end up being highly cited are people doing prominent research. What often makes the difference between prominent and obscure research is the ability of people doing the work to promote what they’re doing in an interesting way that creates worldwide interest. Very often this is an entrepreneur’s game and you are selling yourself. People who are enthusiastically and capably selling their own work to the public are also obviously going to do a good job capturing my own attention, drawing me in and making me feel more involved." I always thought it was the ultimate insight and relevance that counted ... well sometimes you have to be corrected. Thanks for spilling the Rhein-golden beans. [more]
Posted by E Moritz @ 08:21 PM CST [Link]
According to ISI Essential Science Indicators, Professor Ivar Folstad's paper, "Parasites, bright males, and the immunocompetence handicap," (Amer. Naturalist 139[3]: 603-22, March 1992) has been cited 372 times to date (March 2003), placing it within the top 10 most-cited papers in the field of Environment/Ecology. In his own words "I had the opportunity to be a student at the northernmost university in the world – the University of Tromsø, Norway—where the dark winter months provide ample time for contemplation." According to him the paper's significance lies in the "stronger unification of two scientific fields: ecology and immunology". OK ... so now we know ... 'immunocompetence handicap, Parasites, and bright males' are the watchwords. It makes one wonder....
Posted by E Moritz @ 07:51 PM CST [Link]
I just ran across "Increasing Height Through Exercise" by Steven C. Cummings. The claim: "This fully illustrated how-to manual details every possible method for growing taller. The primary focus is on stretching and exercising the cartilage, tendons and ligaments in and around the spine, hips, knees and ankles for maximum height increase in minimum time." Wow! I always wanted to be taller -- only its too late to join the Pros. I guess I'll settle for tall stories.
Posted by E Moritz @ 06:37 PM CST [Link]
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
e- Books I am looking for --- Selected Speeches of the Late Right Honourable the Earl of Beaconsfield, ed. T.E. Kebbel (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1882). Is there an electronic collection / archive of Dizzy's Doins?
Posted by E Moritz @ 09:15 PM CST [Link]
Google reports Gaining Searches for March 4, 2003: fred rogers, mardi gras, alberto sordi, linkin park, daniel libeskind, jennie finch, isonews, bernard loiseau, vasaloppet, fasching. Last year's (March 2002) gaining searches were: oscars, halle berry, ostern, passover, brooke gordon, dia internacional da mulher, national geographic, ncaa, world trade center, presa canario. I have to admit I understood more of last year's gaining terms than this year's. What the xyz in fasching? Fortunately, Google exists and now I know. KARNEVAL-FASTNACHT-FASCHING etc. states that "In Catholic Bavaria and Austria people celebrate Fasching. The word "Fasching" is assumed to be a derivation of the Middle High German vaschanc or vastschang (Fastschank), the last drink served before the Fast. Historically, during Fasching the lower classes were allowed to wear costumes and masks and to mimic aristocracy and heads of church and state without fear of retribution for mockery. When things got out of hand, the custom was forbidden, for a while anyway. Even Empress Maria Theresia (1717-1780) decreed at one point that masks would no longer be allowed in the streets; whereupon the revelry was moved indoors. This was the beginning of the splendid balls, for which Vienna has become so famous." Well, now I know ... and I'll be better prepared next year. Isonews is now history. According to the current post on the site "The domain and web site were surrendered to U.S. law enforcement pursuant to a federal prosecution and felony plea agreement for conspiracy to violate criminal copyright laws."
Vasaloppet? "A whole week of skiing, music and entertainment, conferences, masses of snow and people." You learn something new every minute ....
Posted by E Moritz @ 07:25 PM CST [Link]
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Biochemistry of Happiness: Someone recently asked about the "Biochemistry of Happiness". My immediate reaction is Endorphins. [more]
Posted by E Moritz @ 07:35 PM CST [Link]
Rhabdomyolysis is making the news. CNN reports; "Germany's Bayer said on Monday 52 people are thought to have died after taking the anti-cholesterol product Baycol, its fastest-growing drug." According to the FDA, "FDA announced on August 8, 2001 that Bayer Pharmaceutical Division is voluntarily withdrawing Baycol (cerivastatin) from the U.S. market because of reports of sometimes fatal rhabdomyolysis, a severe muscle adverse reaction from this cholesterol-lowering (lipid-lowering) product. The FDA agrees with and supports this decision." Further details from the FDA state "Rhabdomyolysis is a condition that results in muscle cell breakdown and release of the contents of muscle cells into the bloodstream. Symptoms of rhabdomyolysis include muscle pain, weakness, tenderness, malaise, fever, dark urine, nausea, and vomiting. The pain may involve specific groups of muscles or may be generalized throughout the body." This is bad news! further ... "In rare cases the muscle injury is so severe that patients develop renal failure and other organ failure, which can be fatal." --- Kritzer/Zonies LLC state "Rhabdomyolysis is a muscle breakdown disorder. The muscle components are released into the blood circulation and detectable as an elevated CK level, usually five times higher than normal." Merriam Webster's Medical Dictionary describe the effects as "the destruction or degeneration of skeletal muscle tissue (as from traumatic injury, excessive exertion, or stroke) that is accompanied by the release of muscle cell contents (as myoglobin andpotassium) into the bloodstream resulting in hypovolemia, hyperkalemia, and sometimes acute renal failure". emedicine states: "Pathophysiology: Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle fibers with leakage of potentially toxic cellular contents into the systemic circulation. The final common pathway of rhabdomyolysis may be a disturbance in myocyte calcium homeostasis. Clinical sequelae of rhabdomyolysis include the following:
* Hypovolemia (sequestration of plasma water within injured myocytes)
* Hyperkalemia (release of cellular potassium into the systemic circulation)
* Metabolic acidosis (release of cellular phosphate and sulfate)
* Acute renal failure (nephrotoxic effects of liberated myocyte components)
* Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)"
I did not take any Baycol®, but did use Lipitor® last year ... I didn't feel well in a BIG way. I don't know yet if I suffered irreperable damage; the Baycol information makes me wonder!
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Posted by E Moritz @ 07:15 PM CST [Link]
SCI-BYTES identifies "Risks and benfits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women. Principal results from the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Trial," by the Writing Group for the Women's Health Initiative Investigators (J.E. Rossouw, et al.) ---JAMA-Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(3):321-33, 17 July 2002 -- as the current hot paper in medicine, cited "82 times in current journal articles indexed by ISI during November-December 2002. No other non-review paper in medicine published in the last two years attracted as many citations during that two-month period." The analysis states the conclusion as "Overall health risks exceeded benefits from use of combined estrogen plus progestin for an average 5.2-year follow-up among healthy postmenopausal US women. All-cause mortality was not affected during the trial. The risk-benefit profile found in this trial is not consistent with the requirements for a viable intervention for primary prevention of chronic diseases, and the results indicate that this regimen should not be initiated or continued for primary prevention of CHD." -- Interesting.
Posted by E Moritz @ 05:00 PM CST [Link]
Instant PDF Gratification: Booz Allen Hamilton's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Story: Booz Allen Hamilton's Capturing Value Through Customer Strategy asks if CRM "is simply a repeat of the ERP debacle of the 1980s and ’90s?". They have an immediately downloadable pdf version of their analysis. I wonder, is this going to help BAH's CRM? Is instant pdf gratification viable ... or is it just another gimmick?
Posted by E Moritz @ 04:40 PM CST [Link]
Monday, March 10, 2003
PHILIP BOBBITT has an interesting piece in the NY Times. He compares the current issues facing us in the Foreign Policy arena with "Parmenides' Fallacy" —according to Bobbitt, the fallacy "named after the Greek philosopher who held that all change was illusion. This fallacy occurs when one tries to assess a future state of affairs by measuring it against the present, as opposed to comparing it to other possible futures." .. certainly something to consider as we wrestle with hard choices. Neville, where are you when we need some well intentioned appeasement?
[Bobbitt is the author of The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History]
Posted by E Moritz @ 05:23 PM CST [Link]
Think niche. Jane Steinberg reviewing Damn! Why Didn't I Write That? How Ordinary People are Raking in $100,000.00...or more Writing Nonfiction Books says "Forget everything you've heard about the travails of the freelance writer. In Damn! Why Didn't I Write That?, Marc McCutcheon contends that "you can learn the trade and begin making a respectable income much faster than most people think possible." To illustrate, McCutcheon lists 17 pages of bestselling titles, including Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance (150,000 copies sold) and Golfing, a humor book (525,000 copies sold). McCutcheon himself wrote a few well-chosen titles and claims to be "easily support[ing] a family of four, working part-time." How? Think niche, says McCutcheon. Think backlist. Think about perennially hot topics like dieting/weight loss, relationships, parenting, health, low-fat cooking, sex, spirituality, money/finances, cats, career and leadership, and computer and Internet. McCutcheon is quite helpful about things like contract negotiation, agents, proposals, and promotion."
But HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE THAT 100 GRAND? I guess its time to study the cats ...
Posted by E Moritz @ 04:43 PM CST [Link]
Sunday, March 9, 2003
Really Bad PowerPoint (and How to Avoid It) by Seth Godin is the top selling pdf e-book download? Why? I can speculate why Obfuscating .NET: Protecting Your Code from Prying Eyes (by Dan Appleman) might be interesting but bad powerpoint? I might understand Porter's Best of HBR on Motivation or What Is Strategy? for the pro on the go. Bad PowerPoint? That's almost like bad hair ... oh well.
