Alicia PhD's Open Salon Blog

Time passing...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:02:51 -0500

It seems like many of the posts I make on here are along the lines of "I'm still kicking!" I've been away because life happens and sometimes you have to prioritize.

I'm a busy fact-checker and editor, sometimes squeezing in some writing. Though when I do write I've been concentrating on a new blog - the Gross Human Body.

Last fall we bought a house...which meant we had months before that of paperwork and searching and planning, and then we had paperwork and moving and cleaning, and we still have furniture shopping, repairs, and moving going on! The house needed a lot of love, so we're fixing things as needed as we go along. There's also a pesky squirrel in the attic who decided to have babies but the pest guys said they're mice so they wouldn't handle it, but it really is squirrels because we accidentally caught one of the babies in a mouse trap (it was just stunned and went off on its own back to their nesting area, whew).

And of course Skyrim...which I have devoted more than 200 hours to and I'm still not through with the main quest....and Mass Effect 3 is due out in 3 weeks...so, yeah...

Calcium channels getting a little love

Mon, 4 Apr 2011 01:04:25 -0400

In the past month I've run across a couple different studies that have shed a little enlightenment on the role of calcium channels in physiology - the ion channels are getting a little love in the literature.

Calcium channels are proteins in cell membranes that activate signaling cascades in the cell when calcium ions activate them. Calcium plays important roles in many cell processes, from muscle movement to neurotransmitter release, and even sperm contain calcium channels.

In fact, recent research has indicated that these channels (called CatSper, because they are specific to the tail of the sperm) may solve the mystery of how sperm seek out an egg. These CatSper channels are activated by progesterone, which is produced by the egg after it's released from the ovaries. Two different research groups found that the motility of the sperm in mice is quickened by progesterone, and one found that the system involved in egg penetration is activated by this response.

Other researchers identified the calcium channels involved in the fight or flight response, the physiological response to acute stress. Calcium released by the muscle stores, which occurs to allow quick muscle movement for fight or flight, activates the receptors involved in blood pressure and cardiac regulation to trigger quicker reflexes.

Calcium channels are also linked to heart failure and cardiovascular conditions, with beta blockers and calcium channel blockers used as anti-hypertensive drugs. From movement to conception and defense, calcium channels are responsible for a lot of what we know about being alive.

Recommended Reading - Hallmarks of Cancer

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:03:12 -0400

Cell publishing has made a wonderful new review free for your download and reading. If you want a crash course on why cancer happens, or want to gather a list of subtopics to explore to fully understand cancer, I recommend stopping by their site while it's there.

Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation by Douglas Hanahan and Robert Weinberg.

I want to print out the diagrams and hang them on my wall (I don't know if that's a tribute to the information they contain or my dorkiness..either way, I'm stunned at this review article!)

The paper provides an overview of what we've learned about cancer in the last decade, building on what we understand about all cancers and the overproliferation of cells that results in malignant events as the authors presented in a similar review in 2000. They add two hallmarks of general applicability to the previously recognized six, in addition to highlighting advances in understanding the mechanisms leading to each conceptual landmark - expanding the picture we have of cancer development and reiterating its complexity.

The only way to effectively and efficiently treat disease is to understand the processes underlying it, and cancer has been a misunderstood foe for decades. There is still much to learn, but if you want insight to what's known, read this paper!

I'm not dead

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:03:00 -0400

Really, I'm ok. Still kicking and all. Thought I'd let ya know. Yes, I saw the messages - I just cleared out 100 that dated back as far as October. I guess I've been a bit distracted (and that may also be an underestimate).

Want to know why I've been absent? Well, let's see...

I had to get a new computer, so I've had to transition everything and I've divided work from play so I don't always have everything that I find I need.

We adopted a cat from the shelter, and he's a curious bundle of energy

I wrote a 2000 word article on the origin of HIV for the magazine of a Chicago area HIV awareness organization

I've been writing articles and developing titles on health advances, basic anatomy topics to fill in the channel gaps, and working on fact checking tasks, etc....

I've been an editing fool, with one project consisting of a 25000 dissertation over 5 days

Doing my taxes. I'm self-employed...I don't think I need to say more.

Planning family visits for the Spring (it's been a looooong Winter!)

I took some free time to myself and worked my way through Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 (both more than once!), Dragon Age: Origins (and Awakenings and DLC), and Dragon Age 2 on the Xbox after Fallout New Vegas pissed me off (game blocking glitch after 40 hours of play!! arrrgh)

See, Alicia's been geeking out.

Merry Christmas!

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:12:16 -0500

I haven't been around much - sometimes I sort through my inbox and read/rate recent articles - but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, regardless of how, when, or what you celebrate this time year.

I'm hoping to do a year in research recap before the end of the year, but not sure if I can find the time lol

So have a healthy and happy new year as well!