What Puts Fat Into Fat Cells, and What Takes it Out?

Body fatness at its most basic level is determined by the rate of fat going into vs. out of fat cells. This in/out cycle occurs regardless of conditions outside the cell, but the balance between in and out is influenced by a variety of external factors.  One of the arguments that has been made in the popular media about obesity goes something like this:   A number of factors can promote the release of fat from fat cells, including:Epinephrine,...

FDA: Software Failures Responsible for 24% Of All Medical Device Recalls

At "FDA: Software Failures Responsible for 24% Of All Medical Device Recalls" via Kapersky Labs, a software security company, it is observed (emphases mine):Software failures were behind 24 percent of all the medical device recalls in 2011, according to data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which said it is gearing up its labs to spend more time analyzing the quality and security of software-based medical instruments and equipment.The...

I hate road races!!

OK, so everyone who has ever been within ear shot of my whining on the trails, knows that I hate road races. So why do I sign up for the Niagara 1/2 Marathon when I know it is 99.99% pavement and the temperatures are always hot and humid. Well for those that can be swayed with bull shit its because the course is scenic and relatively flat. But those in the know, will guess correctly that I would...

Segway

Niles Crane (Frasier TV Series) on aSegway.  Full original picture linkNo that's not a typo ... though I've probably been guilty of spelling it that way.  The correct spelling for the word, is segue.   But no, I'm talking about the invention that was going to revolutionize transportation as we know it.  The Segway.Recent discussions reminded me of this.Did you go to a 10 year celebration...

Huge Insurance Company WellPoint Settles Once Again, Providing a Window On the Ethical Questions Its Birth Presented

Another month, another question about the ethical conduct of for-profit insurance giant WellPoint.  WellPoint Settles Allegations its Predecessor Anthem Cheated its Former Policy-HoldersThis time the issue was how the company treated people insured by its now Anthem subsidiary a long time ago.  Here is the Reuters version:Health insurer WellPoint Inc has agreed to pay $90 million to settle a class-action lawsuit against its Anthem...

 well, hello there monday....go easy on us okay....after all, it's summer :)*images courtesy of style caster, with love from kat, open house, cultivate, amber interi...

Mendeley Desktop ~ Attention PubMed Etc. Geeks & Addicts

Are you like me?  Do you have a terabyte sized pile of PDF files on your hard drive?  A zillion studies on a bazillion topics?  Don't remember where you got it from?  Forgot to rename the file when you downloaded it, and now you've got a file named ABCXYZ123whatever.pdf and no clue what it's about?  Sure, you can preview the PDF in Windows.  Sure you can search on the...