Miscellaneous amused views on topics in the domains of neuropsychiatric epidemiology, defined broadly to encompass the entire envirome and genome, including infective agents; alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; traumatic events; you name it. Comments welcome. Will be moderated by a volunteer among one of our MSU program's chief fellows or alum.
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Monday, July 30, 2018
From M. Thiel on Chinese ‘tiao’ to strip of LSD
Read Victor Mair’s recent blog post to set up the M. Thiel story about ‘tiao’
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qb6Mdq-Gy-4/W1zriY5Z3II/AAAAAAAAMBU/NQLM_JyFr-IYdzIpwjglwkW50UBZHBVdACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D)
Michigan re-vamped its approach to licensing “medical marijuana” outlets
FAQ about Michigan MML:
https://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-78089_83746---,00.htmlThe licensing board has a list with just one active approved outlet shown.
But no testing facility has been approved.
Products apparently cannot be sold until/unless tested.
(Effect on caregiver-growers is unknown.)
How are patients adapting?
Turning to street market?
Research is needed.
From Schiphol airport shop:
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Craving, butterflies, and the sea
Of craving and butterflies and thoughts of the sea
Many inter-related terms from many languages, including Yapese and Chinese.
I was interested in bramare (Italian) and saudade (Portuguese) because saudade seemed to resonate with the yearning Portuguese fado.
Origins of fado include songs about the sea: http://www.lisbon-guide.info/about/fado
Now look at the Italian word, bramare.
Mare?
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Today’s Puzzle: Can you find the error?
NYTimes article on pragmatic trials
Leave aside for the moment any threats to validity in the “pragmatic trial”approach, which deserve scrutiny.
There is a fundamental error in this article that should be recognized by anyone who truly has mastered the details of the subject matter evidence on opioids.
Comments?
Valetudo, a name to remember.
For the oddball, playing-in-traffic moon, Dr. Sheppard has proposed Valetudo, the great-granddaughter of the Roman god Jupiter, who is also the goddess of hygiene and health.
valetudo
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Monday, July 23, 2018
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Ejection in Science.
Most of us who have played or coached baseball know that violations can lead to ejection from the game.
From Wikipedia:
In baseball, each umpire has a considerable amount of discretion, and may eject any player, coach, or manager solely on his own judgment of unsportsmanlike conduct.[1] The ejectable offense may be an excessively heated or offensive argument with an umpire, offensive interference (contact with the catcher on a play at the plate), malicious game play (especially pitchers attempting to intentionally strike batters with the ball or a manager or coach ordering a pitcher to do so),[2] illegally applying a foreign substance to a bat or otherwise tampering with a ball
This week, a lesson about ejection from the science game.
I learned to make presentations by asking my family (spouse, daughters) to give me feedback, and I avoided some mistakes in this fashion.
The most serious offense I saw at a conference was in a dementia and brain imaging study with an epidemiology audience.
The presenter wished to convey how seriously a patient was affected by the dementia process.
He told us that he showed the patient a picture and asked him to identify what the photo showed.
The patient said “I am sure it’s not a Volvo.”
The next slide in the presentation showed that the photo was that of “bathing beauties” on a sunny beach — i.e., possibly Swedish, but not a Volvo.
The slide did not pass my “family test.”
Be forewarned and careful out there.
What to do when it happens?
Walk out, and then ask for ejection of the offending “player.”
(P.s. For this kind of offense, ejection can be game-wise rather than career-wise. Even in religion, “redemption” is an optimistic option. I suspect Dr. Vogt has learned an important lesson.)
Monday, July 16, 2018
Poisons in our history
Poisons in our history
If you haven’t read or seen The Name of the Rose, put it on a vacation list.
Book is better than film.
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Carl D. Chambers, R.I.P.
I actually was surprised to see this old obituary notice today.
The first time I met up with Carl’s work, aside from his highly informative books and articles, was in a review of a State of Minnesota needs assessment survey we had been asked to critique for the state government in the early 1970s.
The last time I met up with Carl was at a New York City symposium on drugs, most likely 2 years before he passed on, roughly 1987-88.
He and one of his drug research colleagues from Texas took me out on the town (Ozzie ?).
At about 10:30 p.m., they said they were going to take a bus to Atlantic City, but could hire a car if I joined them.
I declined.
(Needed to be able to give a talk on cocaine the next morning.)
Later, Carl and I continued to correspond, but he had stopped much of his drugs research, and had other things on his mind.
R.I.P.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Monday, July 9, 2018
Saturday, July 7, 2018
George Comstock on my mind (b. 1/7/1915 - d. 7/15/2007)
George was fond of reminding us about Horace Mann 's commencement address at Antioch College in 1859: "Be ashamed to die before you have won some victory for humanity." George’s own humble approach amended Horace Mann’s assertion: "Most of us aren't going to win any big victories, but we can win little ones every day, and they mount up."
In epidemiology, it’s the pressing on, via the forward progress, making discoveries and adding incrementally more definitive evidence, that we propel the field forward within our own lives, and across generations that follow. The evidence mounts up.
It’s rarely been the single definitive study.
Perhaps not the best field for someone who wants to win the Nobel Prize for a field-changing discovery that makes the Tuesday Times.
RIP, GC.
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Monday, July 2, 2018
Learning resources from ACNP
Learning resources from ACNP.
Pleased user comments to rate what you see:
1 star: lukewarm
5 stars: high value
https://acnp.org/digital-library/
https://acnp.org/digital-library/annual-meeting-videos/
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