[Hat Tip: Jim Lippard]
Here's a simplified overview of the main biosynthesis pathways. The important ones are gluconeogenesis (the biosynthesis of glucose) and the citric acid cycle. Various intermediates in the citric acid cycle are used for synthesis of amino acids. One of them, oxaloacetate, is the substrate for PEPCK in a reaction that converts oxaloacetate to phosphoenolpyruvate.
Hakimi, P., Yang, J., Casadesus, G., Massillon, D., Tolentino-Silva, F., Nye, C.K., Cabrera, M.E., Hagen, D.R., Utter, C.B., Baghdy, Y., Johnson, D.H., Wilson, D.L., Kirwan, J.P., Kalhan, S.C. and Hanson, R.W. (2007) Overexpression of the Cytosolic Form of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (GTP) in Skeletal Muscle Repatterns Energy Metabolism in the Mouse. J Biol Chem. 282:32844-32855. [PubMed]
Some people, who shall remain nameless, sleep with a bar of Ivory soap in their beds. Now why in the world would anyone do this? Well, it turns out that the bar of Ivory soap prevents you from having leg cramps at night. [Photo Credit Wikkepedia]
Matt Nisbet is still puzzled over opposition to framing. He doesn't understand why some of us don't like the idea very much. Personally, I don't think it's much different than "spin."If the blog debate that ensued after publication of our article at Science showed anything, it was just how widely misunderstood the concept of framing might be. Not surprisingly, many bloggers offer strong opinions about framing and its relationship to science communication but have very little actual knowledge or expertise in the area.Yes, that must be the answer. We don't understand framing but as soon as we do we'll get right to it. Not.
Frame devices are used strategically in almost any policy debate. Consider just a few prominent and successful examples of such devices that have been used to alter the focus of policy:I get it. I don't want any part of that kind of "framing."
1. Republicans have used the frame device "death tax" to recast estate tax policy in populist terms and to trigger wider public concern.
2. Democrats have used the phrase "gun safety" to shift the traditional debate over "gun control" away from a focus on civil liberties and instead toward an emphasis on public health.
3. Greenpeace has used the term "frankenfood" to redefine food biotechnology in terms of unknown risks and consequences rather than the industry-promoted focus on solving world hunger.
4. Religious conservatives have relabeled the medical procedure know as "dilation and extraction" as "partial birth abortion," pushing decision-making on whether to use the procedure away from doctors and into the hands of Congress and the courts.
5. Anti-smoking advocates have promoted the term "big tobacco," a headline-friendly phrase that immediately emphasizes considerations of corporate accountability and wrongdoing.
6. Anti-evolutionists have coined the slogan "teach the controversy," which instantaneously signals their preferred interpretation that there are holes in the theory of evolution and that teaching rival explanations for life's origins is really a matter of intellectual freedom.
Is framing just false spin? What may have led to this misperception is that several examples of highly effective messaging have originated from groups or individuals with special interests. While the content of some of these messages such as Greenpeace's "Frankenfood" is debatable, these messages have been more effective in reaching key audiences than many efforts that originated from the scientific community.In other words; yes, successful framing can be the same as false spin. Thanks for explaining that, Matt.
The succinate dehydrogenase complex is also complex II in membrane-associated electron transport. This is the electron transport process that's coupled to ATP formation—part of what used to be called oxidative phosphorylation or respiration. The complexes are found in the inner membranes of mitochondria in eukaryotes and the inner plasma membrane in bacteria. 
The structure of succinate dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli was solved at good resolution some years ago [PDB 1NEK]. It reveals the presence of a heme b group in the membrane-bound part of the complex. The binding site for QH2 is located close to the third [Fe-S] cluster near the inner side of the membrane. Tran, Q.M., Rothery, R.A., Maklashina, E., Cecchini, G. and Weiner, J.H. (2007) Escherichia coli succinate dehydrogenase variant lacking the heme b. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) published online November 7, 2007, 10.1073/pnas.0707732104 [PNAS]
NOVA has produced a documentary on the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial that took place two years ago [Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial]. 
Rachel Marsden is officially a Canadian although most Canadians would prefer than this not be widely known. She's currently based in New York city. Here's how she describes her upbringing in Vancouver [About Rachel Marsden].Born in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia, Rachel grew up listening to Jack Webster, who pioneered combative political talk-radio long before it ever spread to the USA.Here's a clip of Rachel Marsden on CNN from just last week. She's defending the torture of so-called terrorists1—one of her favorite topics—while getting skewered by Jack Cafferty. One of her most famous recent quotes comes from this broadcast, "One man's torture is another man's CIA-sponsored swim lesson."
Fully bilingual in both French and English, Rachel survived growing up in Canada during the socialist regime of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, best known for his close friendship with Fidel Castro, decimation of the Canadian military, a wife who partied at Studio 54 with the Rolling Stones, and doing pirouettes behind the Queen of England's back.
Always a capitalist at heart, Rachel spent her childhood on her parents' farm selling eggs from the family driveway. To ensure the operation looked legit and to score an advantage over the competition (the neighborhood Safeway), she would hold her pet chicken, Brenda (named after her Sunday school teacher), on her lap as proof that the eggs were truly "farm fresh".
Attention terrorists and Islamofascists: You can now read the Toronto Sun without having your delicate sensibilities offended, as my weekly column is no longer with Sun Media. I am currently exploring US syndication and other venues for the column. In the meantime, you can continue to read it here at RachelMarsden.com, every Monday. And yes (to respond to some of your queries), after more than 2 years of writing weekly for the Sun, I've been under a new Editor-in-Chief, Lou Clancy, since October 5th, who comes from Canada's most liberal newspaper: The Toronto Star. My column about Islam was spiked on his first day at the job. Best of luck to any principled conservatives who remain.Now, the remarkable thing about this is that even the Toronto Sun has had enough of Rachel Marsden. Who woulda thunk?
When asked about it during a recent CNN appearance, I suggested that "one man's torture is another's CIA-sponsored swim lesson." In case anyone thought I was being facetious -- I wasn't.Judge for yourselves.
I suppose that those who object to terror suspects getting water up the nose would say that, as a young competitive swimmer, I was also tortured. It was called "hypoxic training" -- swimming underwater and holding our breath until we passed out. Our coaches didn't call it torture, just an exercise in "mental toughness." So think of it this way -- terror suspects are getting some free mental toughness training courtesy of the U.S. government.
Here's another idea to make the concept more palatable to objectors: Call the place where waterboarding is performed "The CIA Centre For Aquatic Excellence," give all participants an "I survived training camp" T-shirt with the centre's logo on it, and treat them to a couple of carbo-loading pancake breakfasts. It worked for us.
1. All of the people who are being tortured are merely "accused" of doing something wrong. Many of them are innocent. Very few of them are real terrorists.
[Hat Tip: Canadian Cynic]
"for his work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland"
Emil Theodor Kocher (1841-1917) received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering that the thyroid gland was an essential organ. It secreted a component that was required for proper development and daily metabolism. We now know that the secretion consists of two iodine-containing hormones; thyroxine and triiodothyronine [Monday's Molecule #50]. Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen.
The Nobel Medical Prize has been awarded this year to the famous surgeon, Professor Theodor Kocher of Bern, in recognition of his work concerning the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland.
The thyroid gland, thyroidea, is one of the structures in the organism whose significance has only been made clear during the last few decades. At the close of the 1870's it was still stated in the physiology text-books that the function of this gland was a complete mystery. It was even questioned that it had an actual physiological significance, for the adult organism at least. On the other hand it was a common experience that it could be the site of pathological changes; in the course of these, considerable trouble could result, as, for example, when the pathologically enlarged gland exerted pressure on neighbouring parts, especially on the trachea.
Yet it was hardly right that this gland should have been undervalued, not to say disdained, for so long. Astley Cooper, who was working about a hundred years ago, had already observed disturbances in animals after removal of the thyroid. These were specified with greater precision by J. M. Schiff in Bern. He found that animals in which the thyroid had been extirpated, often died in circumstances which suggested that this gland might be of great importance to the organism; however, he did not gain any deeper insight into the gland's function. Unfortunately, these observations did not receive the necessary attention and development. It was only after similar results had been obtained with human beings that the question of the thyroid's significance was analysed successfully. Observations made by surgeons were the cause of this.
The disturbances which occur with a pathological enlargement of the thyroid are often so grave that people had already for many years been extirpating the thyroid occasionally to relieve them, despite the difficulty and dangers which the operation then presented. Indeed, in the days before the introduction of antisepsis it often happened that the patients died of the immediate results of the operation. After the introduction of antisepsis a significant improvement took place in this respect. As a result, the number of operations of this kind, in which the whole gland was removed, increased considerably. In the meantime it was gradually noticed that the position was by no means satisfactory, even if the operation itself and the subsequent healing had gone well. Not infrequently, after a period of apparent health, significant disturbances in the general health made their appearance. The conscientious investigation of these cases of illness resulted in the establishment of a new syndrome called «cachexia strumipriva», which was characterized by muscular weakness, swelling of the extremities and of the face, anaemia, decline in intelligence, and finally death from exhaustion. Once attention had been drawn to this condition, enthusiastic and productive research into the significance of the thyroid followed in many different centres. In this, reliance was placed on clinical observations on humans as well as on animal experiments. From this research an understanding of the physiology of the thyroid has evolved which is comprehensive, even if not complete in all respects.
We now know that this gland is a vital organ, whose total removal in experimental animals infallibly causes death within the course of a few days or weeks. The gland is of great importance in the general nutrition of the adult, and especially in individuals still undergoing development. The loss of thyroid function results in serious disturbances in this nutrition. Metabolism is significantly diminished; growth ceases; the skin and the subcutaneous tissues are the site of mucous infiltration; degenerative processes occur in internal organs; serious disturbances make their appearance in the functions of the nervous system and muscles. It became clear that the gland acts by elaborating a secretion, which reaches the various parts of the body. It is, as the expression goes, an internal «secretion». Later it became evident that such processes of internal secretion are of exceptionally great importance. Not only the thyroid, but also various other glands such as the adrenals and the pancreas play a characteristic part in the processes within the organism by elaborating a secretion peculiar to each gland, which is not excreted, but is diffused throughout the organism and is of the greatest importance to it.
The knowledge of the physiology of the thyroid has brought a valuable increase in our understanding within the field of pathology. Through it new light has been thrown on hitherto mysterious morbid conditions. Pathological changes in the gland can lead to suppression or decrease of its function. Various morbid conditions are explained by this, among which are cretinism and myxoedema. On the other hand one looks for the explanation of various other disturbances such as those in morbus Basedowi in abnormally increased or possibly qualitatively abnormal activity of this gland.
This briefly outlined important and momentous development, which has benefited medicine during the past 25 years, was brought into being, as I mentioned before, as a result of observations which have been made by surgeons. In this respect, the first public utterance was made in September, 1882, by Professor J. L. Reverdin in Geneva. At this time his colleague in Bern, Professor Kocher, had also turned his attention to the same subject, and in April, 1883, the latter gave a comprehensive exposition, which has been of fundamental importance to the later development of thyroid surgery as well as to other important areas of our knowledge of this gland. Through Kocher's exposition it became quite clear that complete extirpation of the thyroid is reprehensible. A portion of the gland which is capable of functioning, must be left behind at operation. This very important principle of surgical intervention has always been observed from that time onwards. With regard to the surgery of the thyroid, Kocher has subsequently continued to occupy a leading position. It should be possible to omit on this occasion a report concerning the development of the methods of operation and the suitability of the various types of intervention in different cases. It should suffice to recall that there are now several thousand people who owe their regained, lasting health directly to him after a goitre operation which he has successfully performed. A far greater number, which cannot be estimated, owes him a debt of gratitude indirectly for similar results. Fatal cases or secondary illnesses have become more and more of a rarity in goitre operations.
However, it is not only the treatment of the goitre which has been the subject of Kocher's research on the goitre. He has also carried out extensive investigations into the causes of the endemic occurrence of goitre in certain regions and into the cretinism connected with disturbances in thyroid function.
In the thyroid, as already indicated, other diseases can occur in addition to those which arise with the ordinary goitre. To these as well Kocher has devoted successful work, as a result of which it has been possible to define with more and more certainty the method of treatment best suited to each case; in addition, on the basis of Kocher's work a broader, deeper knowledge of the pathology of the thyroid has been achieved.
Through his research, which we have briefly described here, Kocher has carried out pioneering work of an enduring nature which is of the greatest importance to medical science and of the greatest value in the service of suffering humanity. It is this work which the Staff of Professors of the Caroline Institute has wished to honour by awarding him this year the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
[Image Credit: University of Manchester]
A new journal called Evolution: Education and Outreach has just been launched. We've been hearing about this for almost a year and it's good to see the first issue. The publisher is Springer [Evolution: Education and Outreach]. The mandate is ...The journal will connect teachers with scientists by adapting cutting-edge, peer reviewed articles for classroom use on a variety of instructional levels. Teachers and scientists will collaborate on multi-authored papers and offer tools for teachers such as unit and lesson plans and classroom activities, as well as additional online content such as podcasts and powerpoint presentations.Dr. Niles Eldredge, Curator Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (USA) and Gregory Eldredge, of John F. Kennedy High School in Bronx, New York (USA) are the editors-in-chief.
[Hat Tip: The Panda's Thumb]
The latest version of the Tangled Bank has been posted on _Paddy K_ [Tangled Bank #92].Welcome welcome one and all, to the eighty-twelfth edition of the ancient and worthy Tangled Bank Blog Carnival. And let the games begin…
Mark Hoofnagle on denialism blog has posted an interesting article on how to fix badly designed humans [Ask A Scienceblogger - Which parts of the human body could you design better?]. I agree with most of his suggestions but he left out some.[Hat Tip: John Dennehy, who has other suggestions for improvement.]
[Photo Credit: A rough diagram of the Immune system]
The United Nations Human Rights Commission has voted every year from 1998 to 2005 on a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. Canada has been a sponsor of this resolution every single time along with countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Australia and 71 other countries. I'm proud of Canada's leadership on this important issue.OTTAWA -- The Conservative government will not co-sponsor a United Nations resolution calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty, breaking with a nearly decade-old tradition.Yeah, right. This represents a substantial shift in policy for the Canadian government. It's consistent with another change recently announced whereby Canada will no longer oppose the execution of Canadian citizens in foreign countries.
An official with the Foreign Affairs Department says Canada will vote in favour of the resolution when it comes to the floor of the UN General Assembly in December, but will not sponsor it.
"There are a sufficient number of co-sponsors already, and we will focus our efforts on co-sponsoring other resolutions within the UN system which are more in need of our support,'' said Catherine Gagnaire.
Last week, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day surprised the House of Commons by announcing that Canada will not oppose the execution of a Canadian citizen on death row in Montana for two murders. Day said the new policy will apply to "murderers'' such as Ronald Allen Smith who have had a fair trial in a democratic country. (Doesn't the idea of Stockwell Day as "Public Safety Minister" just want to make you cry?One of those countries is surely the United States of America. A country that executes Canadian citizens and has voted against the UN Human Rights resolution every single time.)
The government has not specified which countries it considers democracies.
