Tag: research

My favorite apps for taking notes and sense-making from PDF and Kindle

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Most of what I read for work these days is in PDF or Kindle format, and there’s an awful lot of it. Trying to make sense out of the ever-faster firehose of information, most of it on subjects that are new to me, has forced me to rethink my research methods, or lack of them. I’ve never been able to take great notes by hand – I’m a much faster typist than hand-writer, and depend on being able to search within my notes, so I’ve mainly concentrated on electronic workflows. 

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Update on Autism research

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Although repeated studies show little or no correlation between vaccination with the MMR vaccine and the onset of autism, there is a lot of popular support for the idea that there is some causal link. Originally the use of mercury in the form of thiomersal in vaccines was suggested as the culprit, but this seems less likely since mercury was removed from vaccines in North America and Europe by 2001 and the incidence of Autism continued to rise

Still many people remain unconvinced there is NO link between vaccination and autism, despite all the negative results, so other ideas have been floated. These include:

  • Some children’s immune systems may be predisposed to be overwhelmed by the combination vaccines, and they develop high fevers and sometimes febrile seizures which cause or contribute to the onset of autism.
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    • Recent research on Alzheimer’s Disease: Inflammation, and the role of viral and bacterial infection

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    The last year saw some very exciting developments in Alzheimer’s research. Among them, the relationship of inflamation processes to cognitive decline and a possible relationship of the herpes simplex virus in the presence of a certain genotype to the development of Alzheimers.

    Simon Cooke, who writes a blog called the "Accidental Scientist," has posted a very readable and informative summary of some of the most interesting highlights of the latest research. He does a great job of explaining the new discoveries, and speculates about links between infectious diseases and chronic diseases yet to be confirmed. In particular his post on the use of an anti-inflammatory drug to treat Alzheimers – in minutes!, and his post on the possible role of Herpes in many chronic diseases are particularly worth reading.

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    Recent research on Alzheimer’s Disease

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    A quick survey of some of the more interesting research on Alzheimer’s Disease recently:

    I. Causes and Disease Mechanisms
    Alzheimer’s Disease Could Be A Third Form Of Diabetes

    Science Daily Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimer’s memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes.

    Now scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling — crucial for memory formation — would stop working in Alzheimer’s disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. ..

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