Category Archives: Transhuman News

Dawkins And Krauss Q A The Unbelievers Hot Docs Toronto 2013
Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins talk about abiogenesis, sexual selection, genetic engineering, eugenics, and friends that are believers!

By: Daniel Torres

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Dawkins And Krauss Q&A The Unbelievers Hot Docs Toronto 2013 - Video

There is Plastic in Our Vegetation
There is plastic in our vegetation. Plants here and around the world are suffering in pain due to genetic engineering. We must stop the manipulation of God #39;s creation now. This world is...

By: Rose Mela

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There is Plastic in Our Vegetation - Video

Fairfax NZ

PROTEST: Luthar Donselaar, 6, at a New Plymouth march against the use of genetically modified organisms in New Zealand food.

A visit to an experimental farm run by the Monsanto Corporation and others in the Mississippi delta has changed the way Southland Federated Farmers' president Russell MacPherson views genetic modification (GM).

MacPherson admits he left New Zealand thinking genetic modification of crops was not important to New Zealand farmers, but after seeing several effective applications of the technology in the Mississippi River delta, he believes farmers here should at least debate the potential benefits of the technology.

"I think it's important that New Zealanders don't just put genetic engineering on the shelf because we're not interested," he said. "Let's not become an agricultural museum.

"There are some aspects of genetic engineering that could actually help resolve some environmental problems in New Zealand."

The Mississippi River is renowned for its heavy sediment loading from intensive farming of its flood plains, concisely captured in the famous adage: "Too thick to drink and too thin to plough."

During a recent farming study tour of the United States with 25 Southland farmers, MacPherson visited a corn farm in the Mississippi River delta which is regularly flooded and fertilised by silt from the river.

He said soil loss was a major concern for growers on commercial scale farms, who had slowed sediment losses from 36 kilograms an acre to 9kg an acre through a policy of no tillage cultivation.

Genetically modified herbicide tolerant corn seeds are direct drilled into the previous season's slash and when weeds emerge they are sprayed with a herbicide to reduce competition.

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Farmer calls for debate on GM potential

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

1-Oct-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, October 1, 2014The cause of fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome is not known. However, the results of a new study that compares brain activity in individuals with and without fibromyalgia indicate that decreased connectivity between pain-related and sensorimotor brain areas could contribute to deficient pain regulation in fibromyalgia, according to an article published in Brain Connectivity, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Brain Connectivity website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/brain.2014.0274 until November 1, 2014.

The new study by Pr Flodin and coauthors from Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden) builds on previous findings in fibromyalgia that showed abnormal neuronal activity in the brain associated with poor pain inhibition. In the current study, "Fibromyalgia is Associated with Decreased Connectivity between Pain- and Sensorimotor Brain Areas", the researchers report a pattern of "functional decoupling" between pain-related areas of the brain that process pain signals and other areas of the brain, such as those that control sensorimotor activity in fibromyalgia patients compared to healthy patients, in the absence of any external pain stimulus. As a result, normal pain perception may be impaired.

"Fibromyalgia is an understudied condition with an unknown cause that can only be diagnosed by its symptoms," says Christopher Pawela, PhD, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Brain Connectivity and Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin. "This study by Flodin et al is an important first step in the understanding of how the brain is involved in the widespread pain perception that is characteristic of the disorder."

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About the Journal

Brain Connectivity is the essential peer-reviewed journal covering groundbreaking findings in the rapidly advancing field of connectivity research at the systems and network levels. Published 10 times per year in print and online, the Journal is under the leadership of Founding and Co-Editors-in-Chief Christopher Pawela, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Bharat Biswal, PhD, Chair of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology. It includes original peer-reviewed papers, review articles, point-counterpoint discussions on controversies in the field, and a product/technology review section. To ensure that scientific findings are rapidly disseminated, articles are published Instant Online within 72 hours of acceptance, with fully typeset, fast-track publication within 4 weeks. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Brain Connectivity website at http://www.liebertpub.com/brain.

About the Publisher

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Fibromyalgia and the role of brain connectivity in pain inhibition

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

2-Oct-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, October 2, 2014Women who have a history of violent sexual abuse may suffer emotional distress during a routine pelvic examination. Healthcare providers would benefit from greater awareness of symptoms predictive of examination-related distress in this patient population, according to a study published in Violence and Gender, a new peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Violence and Gender website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vio.2014.0016 until November 2, 2014.

In the article "A New Perspective on Distress During the Pelvic Examination: The Role of Traumatic Hyperarousal in Women with Histories of Sexual Violence", coauthors Christina Khan, MD, PhD, Carolyn Greene, PhD, Jennifer Strauss, PhD, David Spiegel, MD, and Julie Weitlauf, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, and Stanford Cancer Institute (Palo Alto, CA), and Duke University School of Medicine (Durham, NC), identified physiologic symptoms of trauma (hyperarousal and hypervigilance) that were associated with distress among a group of female veterans with a history of sexual violence who underwent routine pelvic examination.

"This unique article provides us with a research-based perspective of the association between sexual violence and reactivity to the pelvic examination," says Violence and Gender Editor-in-Chief Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, Forensic Behavioral Consultant and Senior FBI Profiler/Criminal Investigative Analyst (ret.). "These early findings indicate that the physiologic symptoms of PTSD brought on by the assault may be associated with a greater likelihood of marked distress during the exam. This finding may be particularly meaningful to medical professionals to help them better understand the extent and long-term effects of sexual victimization, and the need for ongoing sensitivity for these patients."

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About the Journal

Violence and Gender is the only peer-reviewed journal focusing on the understanding, prediction, and prevention of acts of violence. Through research papers, roundtable discussions, case studies, and other original content, the Journal critically examines biological, genetic, behavioral, psychological, racial, ethnic, and cultural factors as they relate to the gender of perpetrators of violence. Led by Editor-in-Chief Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, Forensic Behavioral Consultant and Senior FBI Profiler/Criminal Investigative Analyst (ret.), Violence and Gender explores the difficult issues that are vital to threat assessment and prevention of the epidemic of violence. Violence and Gender is published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, and is the official journal of The Avielle Foundation. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Violence and Gender website at http://www.liebertpub.com/vio.

About the Publisher

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Link between past sexual violence and distress on pelvic exam