managing references

for years i had used reference.manager, then switched to end.note a few years ago (the same time i started using a 12" powerbook). both are excellent programs, now owned by the same company. however, these days i find myself searching through pubmed and the ncbi molecular biology databases with regularity -- and the web interface modules of the aforementioned software are kludgy (at best)...

somewhere along the line i stumbled upon zotero! what a treat!! a firefox extension (you DO use firefox, right?), it may be one of the best web apps i've seen in a long time. it will integrate sets of references into different folders, even keeping track of attachments (like those long lost pdf files), abstracts and your own notes.

all this and more, howie.
the data are maintained in a sqlite database (though i would have placed the database in an easier-to-backup location) and are exportable into a variety of formats: including endnote and will also easily integrate with openoffice!

now, if 'they' can only make zotero a web2.0 app -- with shareable databases.
i would catch the vapors...

P = G + E

and here i thought i might have a minority point of view!

not according to:

1) Science

The etiology of most chronic human diseases (such as asthma, atherosclerosis, and cancer) is complex, involving a mix of genetic and environmental factors interacting with each other over hours, days, months, or years.

and

2) PLOS

wow.

Technorati Tags: genetics, science

genes and diets and fat, oh my!

at the same time that Consumer Reports rates Dr. Barbara Rolls' (a fellow faculty member here at Penn State) book "The Volumetrics Eating Plan" the top-rated diet plan. the NYTimes (Genes Take Charge, and Diets Fall by the Wayside - New York Times ) suggests:

... that once a person got fat, the body would adjust, making it hopeless to lose weight and keep it off.

meaning that genes are more important that ANY diet in determining a persons body weight and/or level of obesity.

oh my! what to believe... ?!?

as anyone in my genetics course could tell you, neither argument is really correct. a person's body weight is a function of both genes AND environment (including nutrition, dietary choices and habits). there is NO single diet for every combination of genes (or person); no panacea.

though, it is fairly clear that for most of us: less is more.

oh yeah; try walking around the block now and again.

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