Monthly Archives: October 2010

Here are some links to authors who’ve written books about Android development:

• Donn Felker: founder of Eventdroid & Agilevent and author of “Android Application Development for Dummies”

• Ed Burnette: author of “Hello, Android”

• Haim Michael: author of “Pro Android Best Practices”

• Jonathan Stark: mobile application consultant and author of “Building Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

• Julian Dolce: author of “Android Development with Flash”

• Mark Murphy: author of books on Android development

• Marko Gargenta: founder of Marakana and author of “Learning Android”

• Reto Meier: Android Developer Advocate at Google and author of “Professional Android 2 Application Development”

• Satya Komatineni: founder of Active Intellect and co-author of “Pro Android”

• Shane Conder & Lauren Darcy: authors of books on Android application development

Here are some other Android books:

• Learn Java for Android Development

• Pro Android Games

• The Android Developer’s Cookbook

I recently read an interesting post (Carbohydrates and Cancer) by Dr. Robert Su. On my blog, I’ve written a couple of posts on a similar subject:

• Can Ketogenic Diets Cure Cancer?: a list of links discussing the role of high-glycemic carbohydrates and fructose in cancer progression

• Dr. Michael Eades and the Science of Low Carb and Paleo Nutrition: links to papers supporting low carb nutrition, including some papers on the relationship between carbohydrates and cancer

Dr. Su’s post has an extensive list of references showing the role of carbs in the development of cancer – especially starchy and high glycemic carbs.

For decades, many health and medical authorities encouraged people to reduce their fat intake. Many of the people who listened to that advice replaced their fat calories with calories from starchy and high glycemic carbs. That led to increased inflammation and a corresponding decline in health:

• Inflammation Theory of Aging

• An update of the oxidation-inflammation theory of aging

“Carbs cause cancer” is an alliterative and memorable mantra. It would be interesting if scientific evidence continues to accumulate regarding the role of carbohydrates in cancer. It would be even more interesting if health authorities did a 180-degree turn in their messages and decided that eating a cheeseburger (minus the bun) is healthier than eating grains, even whole grains. Health authorities were worried about the effects of saturated fat on health, but new evidence shows no link between saturated fats and heart disease.

I suspect that the evidence related to carbohydrates and their role in cancer is more pronounced for high glycemic carbs, since low glycemic fruits and vegetables like berries and broccoli have anticancer benefits:

• Enlisting Blackberries in the Fight Against Cancer

• Broccoli Component Limits Breast Cancer Stem Cells, Study Finds

This is an exciting area worthy of further research.

When thinking of the nature of reality and asking what it’s made of, one answer is that the universe is composed of particles, strings, and dark matter. Other researchers have come to different and fascinating conclusions. Some physicists and biologists think that reality is made up of information, math, or even consciousness. I first became interested in this topic when reading the book Anathem by Neal Stephenson. It’s one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. It’s a work of speculative fiction, but many ideas in the book are based on the work of physicists like Max Tegmark, Julian Barbour, J.S. Bell, David Deutsch, Henry Stapp, and Roger Penrose. The acknowledgements section of the book’s website has some further details (with spoilers, though).

These are some ideas about the universe from the frontiers of physics and biology:

Is the universe made of information?

1. Quantum computing researcher Seth Lloyd envisions the universe as a massive quantum computer, which he discusses in his book Programming the Universe.

2. Physics professor Vlatko Vedral discusses the universe as quantum information on his website and in his book Decoding Reality.

3. Related to the idea of the universe as made of information is the concept of our universe being a simulation run by an incredibly powerful computing system. Cosmologist Martin Rees raises the possibility that our reality could be a simulation.

4. MIT professor Alan Guth wrote about building a universe.

5. The astrophysicist John Gribbin wrote an article about the possibility of living in a designer universe created by a more advanced civilization.

6. Theoretical physicist Andrei Linde discusses how the universe could have been created by a hacker physicist (Link 1, Link 2).

7. Professor Nick Bostrom provides information on his Simulation Argument site, which is one of the most extensive introductions to the simulation idea.

8. Professor James Gates – His essay  describes Adinkra symbols in his essay Symbols of Power and describes why they indicate we may be living in an informational matrix.

9. Professor Robin Hanson is the author of How To Live in a Simulation, a guide to the possibility of living in a simulated universe, including some things to watch out for.

10. Math professor John Barrow wrote a short paper on detecting whether we’re in a simulation.

11. Dr. Brian Whitworth wrote a paper titled The Physical World as a Virtual Reality (PDF).

12. Theoretical physics professor Brian Greene published the book The Hidden Reality, which is about the concept of parallel universes. One fascinating section of the book discusses the simulation argument.

13. MIT Professor Edward Fredkin has discussed the possibility of an informational universe which is a computer.

14. Mathematical physicist Frank Tipler says the universe is a computer.

15. NASA scientist Rich Terrile describes how our universe could be a computer simulation.

Is the universe made of math?

1. Mathematical platonism is the idea that mathematical forms exist as real entities in the universe and that mathematical truth is objective. The work of logician Kurt Gödel contributed to this view.

2. Mathematical physicist Roger Penrose continues developing these ideas. He shares his opinions of mathematical platonism in his book The Road to Reality and in an interview in the book Why Does the World Exist?

3. MIT professor Max Tegmark is one of the people pursuing this idea most intently. An article in Discover Magazine (Is the Universe Actually Made of Math?) provides a great overview of his work. His papers The Mathematical Universe, Shut Up and Calculate, and Parallel Universes go into more detail.

4. Physicist and Mathematica creator Stephen Wolfram describes the possibility of mathematics being built into the nature of the universe in this interview.

5. Physicist Bernard d’Espagnat describes his platonic ideas in the article Quantum Weirdness: “This reality is something that, while not a purely mind-made construct as radical idealism would have it, can be but the picture our mind forces us to form of… Of what? The only answer I am able to provide is that underlying this empirical reality is a mysterious, non-conceptualisable ‘ultimate reality,’ not embedded in space and (presumably) not in time either.

Is the universe made of consciousness?

Many attempts to explain the universe in terms of consciousness discuss the observer effect in quantum physics, where the act of observing an experiment changes the outcome of an experiment. An example is the double-slit experiment. Several books and scientists seek to define the role of consciousness in physics and the universe:

1. Quantum Enigma is a book written by two physics professors. The book explains some interpretations of quantum physics and explores how conscious observers could interact with quantum effects.

2. Biocentrism is a book written Dr. Robert Lanza (Chief Scientific Officer at Advanced Cell Technology) and astronomer Bob Berman. The book uses results of physics experiments to explain the role of consciousness in the universe. The book is split between sections that describe Lanza’s experiences becoming a scientist and physician and sections that discuss physics concepts like entanglement and the anthropic principle. Biocentrism presents the idea that consciousness is the fundamental property of the universe. The book posits that consciousness is eternal and that we are all one consciousness. It also asserts that time and space are illusions. I was left wondering how someone would go about making testable experiments to prove or disprove these ideas, but they’re fascinating concepts.

Lanza has attracted some criticism for his Huffington Post columns, since they mainly use the autobiographical sections from his book and present his experiences alone as scientific proof, rather than using the passages from the book that talk about scientific concepts. These criticisms seem to have been taken to heart. Some of his more recent columns like Does the Past Exist Yet? and Are Dreams an Extension of Physical Reality? discuss results from recent experiments in physics.

3. The Purpose Guided Universe is a book written by astrophysicist Bernard Haisch. The book covers some of the same ground as Lanza. Haisch also seeks to explain the religious or spiritual significance of conclusions reached by physics experiments.

4. Quantum Mind is a site featuring papers that discuss the interaction between quantum mechanics and consciousness.

5. Physicist John Wheeler popularized the idea of the participatory anthropic principle, which is the concept that human observation affects the universe.

6. Professor Johnjoe McFadden wrote a book titled Quantum Evolution about the role of quantum mechanics in the evolution of organisms. He discusses the role of consciousness in the universe through conscious electromagnetic field theory.

7. Physicist Henry Stapp explores the role of consciousness in quantum mechanics. He’s written many papers on the physics of consciousness and quantum mechanics in the brain.

8. In a recent talk at the Singularity Summit, Dr. Anita Goel of Nanobiosym speculated on whether intelligence and consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe. Dr. Goel has wondered: “What if information, consciousness, and mind are something pervasive, more primal, and even more fundamental than matter, energy or even space time?”

Here are some additional interesting posts about the role of quantum mechanics in the universe:

1. How to Entangle Humans

2.John Bell and the Nature of Reality

3.New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future

4.Quantum Darwinism and the Nature of Reality

5.Quantum Entanglement can be a Measure of Free Will

6.Spooky Action at a Distance Gets Spookier

Updated 9/11/2012

Dr. Michael Eades is the co-author of many books on nutrition which he wrote with Dr. Mary Dan Eades. They were some of the first physicians to collect research on low carbohydrate & paleo nutrition, explain the biochemistry behind the effectiveness of low carb diets, and apply it to helping patients lose weight in a bariatric medicine practice.

I recently went through all of the tweets published by Dr. Michael Eades over the last few years to locate research studies that indicate the efficacy of low carbohydrate nutrition and diets that emulate those of early humans. Eating meat led to the development of larger brains and jumpstarted human evolution. Before the advent of agriculture, early human beings were stronger than modern people and lived longer than expected. If hunter-gatherers somehow had access to modern medicine (antibiotics, emergency medicine, etc.) they would likely have lived as long or longer than modern people. There’s also some discussion of this in the first chapter of the book The Protein Power Lifeplan.

Since these papers are from the last few years, they represent a small fraction of the research behind low carbohydrate and paleo nutrition. Nevertheless, they provide an interesting look at one of the most exciting areas of nutrition. In this post I specifically focus on the health benefits associated with low carb and paleo diets rather than the dangers of sugar and grain, which are described in detail by bloggers listed in Low Carb and Paleo Diet Links. Besides, one frightening study by itself (Fructose induces transketolase flux to promote pancreatic cancer growth) is reason enough to give up sugary things.

I found the titles of the papers that were tweeted by Dr. Eades and then put links to them on PubMed.

Here are the low carb and paleo studies:

• A 6-Month, Office-Based, Low-Carbohydrate Diet Intervention in Obese Teens. (Link)

• A Diet High in Meat Protein and Potential Renal Acid Load Increases Fractional Calcium Absorption and Urinary Calcium Excretion without Affecting Markers of Bone Resorption or Formation in Postmenopausal Women. (Link)

• A Low Carbohydrate, High Protein Diet Slows Tumor Growth and Prevents Cancer Initiation. (Link)

• A low-carbohydrate diet may prevent end-stage renal failure in type 2 diabetes. A case report. (Link)

• A low-protein diet exacerbates postprandial chylomicron concentration in moderately dyslipidaemic subjects in comparison to a lean red meat protein-enriched diet. (Link)

• A Pilot Study of the Spanish Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: An Effective Therapy for the Metabolic Syndrome. (Link)

• A randomized controlled trial on the efficacy of carbohydrate-reduced or fat-reduced diets in patients attending a telemedically guided weight loss program. (Link)

• A Randomized Trial of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet vs Orlistat Plus a Low-Fat Diet for Weight Loss. (Link)

• A Very Low-Carbohydrate Diet Improves Gastroesophageal Reflux and Its Symptoms. (Link)

• A Very Low-Carbohydrate Diet Improves Symptoms and Quality of Life in Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome. (Link)

• Acid diet (high-meat protein) effects on calcium metabolism and bone health. (Link)

• Adiponectin Changes in Relation to the Macronutrient Composition of a Weight-Loss Diet. (Link)

• Beneficial effects of a Paleolithic diet on cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes: a randomized cross-over pilot study. (Link)

• Beneficial impact on cardiovascular risk profile of water buffalo meat consumption. (Link)

• Brain fuel metabolism, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease. (Link)

• Branched-Chain Amino Acid Supplementation Promotes Survival and Supports Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Biogenesis in Middle-Aged Mice. (Link)

• Cancer incidence in vegetarians: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Oxford). (Link)

• Carbohydrate for weight and metabolic control: Where do we stand? (Link)

• Carbohydrate restriction (with or without additional dietary cholesterol provided by eggs) reduces insulin resistance and plasma leptin without modifying appetite hormones in adult men. (Link)

• Carbohydrate restriction favorably alters lipoprotein metabolism in Emirati subjects classified with the metabolic syndrome. (Link)

• Carbohydrate Restriction has a More Favorable Impact on the Metabolic Syndrome than a Low Fat Diet. (Link)

• Carbohydrate Restriction, as a First-Line Dietary Intervention, Effectively Reduces Biomarkers of Metabolic Syndrome in Emirati Adults. (Link)

• Change in Food Cravings, Food Preferences, and Appetite During a Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diet. (Link)

• Changes in weight loss, body composition and cardiovascular disease risk after altering macronutrient distributions during a regular exercise program in obese women. (Link)

• Combined effects of saturated fat and cholesterol intakes on serum lipids: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. (Link)

• Comparison of high protein and high fiber weight-loss diets in women with risk factors for the metabolic syndrome: a randomized trial. (Link)

• Dietary cholesterol and the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients: a review of the Harvard Egg Study and other data. (Link)

• Dietary Composition and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. (Link)

• Dietary intake of saturated fatty acids and mortality from cardiovascular disease in Japanese: the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk (JACC) Study. (Link)

• Dietary intake of α-linolenic acid and low ratio of n-6:n-3 PUFA are associated with decreased exhaled NO and improved asthma control. (Link)

• Dietary ketosis enhances memory in mild cognitive impairment. (Link)

• Dietary predictors of 5-year changes in waist circumference. (Link)

• Diets with High or Low Protein Content and Glycemic Index for Weight-Loss Maintenance. (Link)

• Effect of a low glycemic index compared with a conventional healthy diet on polycystic ovary syndrome. (Link)

• Effect of a relatively high-protein, high-fiber diet on body composition and metabolic risk factors in overweight women. (Link)

• Effect of ketogenic mediterranean diet with phytoextracts and low carbohydrates/high-protein meals on weight, cardiovascular risk factors, body composition and diet compliance in Italian council employees. (Link)

• Effect of short-term low- and high-fat diets on low-density lipoprotein particle size in normolipidemic subjects. (Link)

• Effect of the carbohydrate counting method on glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes. (Link)

• Effect of weight loss by a low-fat diet and a low-carbohydrate diet on peptide YY levels. (Link)

• Effects of a Diet Higher in Carbohydrate/Lower in Fat Versus Lower in Carbohydrate/Higher in Monounsaturated Fat on Postmeal Triglyceride Concentrations and Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 1 Diabetes. (Link)

• Effects of a high-protein, low-carbohydrate v. high-protein, moderate-carbohydrate weight-loss diet on antioxidant status, endothelial markers and plasma indices of the cardiometabolic profile. (Link)

• Effects of a ketogenic diet on the quality of life in 16 patients with advanced cancer: A pilot trial. (Link)

• Effects of a Low Carbohydrate Weight Loss Diet on Exercise Capacity and Tolerance in Obese Subjects. (Link)

• Effects of a popular exercise and weight loss program on weight loss, body composition, energy expenditure and health in obese women. (Link)

• Effects of a whey protein supplementation on intrahepatocellular lipids in obese female patients. (Link)

• Effects of dietary carbohydrate restriction versus low-fat diet on flow-mediated dilation. (Link)

• Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil on the Biochemical and Anthropometric Profiles of Women Presenting Abdominal Obesity. (Link)

• Effects of dietary fat modification on oxidative stress and inflammatory markers in the LIPGENE study. (Link)

• Effects of whey protein isolate on body composition, lipids, insulin and glucose in overweight and obese individuals. (Link)

• Efficacy and Safety of a High Protein, Low Carbohydrate Diet for Weight Loss in Severely Obese Adolescents. (Link)

• Egg consumption as part of an energy-restricted high-protein diet improves blood lipid and blood glucose profiles in individuals with type 2 diabetes. (Link)

• Eggs distinctly modulate plasma carotenoid and lipoprotein subclasses in adult men following a carbohydrate-restricted diet. (Link)

• Enhanced weight loss with protein-enriched meal replacements in subjects with the metabolic syndrome. (Link)

• Evidence that protein requirements have been significantly underestimated. (Link)

• Gastrointestinal transit, post-prandial lipaemia and satiety following 3 days high-fat diet in men. (Link)

• Gluconeogenesis and energy expenditure after a high-protein, carbohydrate-free diet. (Link)

• High protein diets decrease total and abdominal fat and improve CVD risk profile in overweight and obese men and women with elevated triacylglycerol. (Link)

• High protein intake reduces intrahepatocellular lipid deposition in humans. (Link)

• High-protein diet promotes a moderate postpartum weight loss in a prospective cohort of Brazilian women. (Link)

• High-protein low-carbohydrate diets: what is the rationale? (Link)

• High-Protein Weight Loss Diets and Purported Adverse Effects: Where is the Evidence? (Link)

• Higher Branched-Chain Amino Acid Intake Is Associated with a Lower Prevalence of Being Overweight or Obese in Middle-Aged East Asian and Western Adults. (Link)

• Increased adipose tissue lipolysis after a 2-week high-fat diet in sedentary overweight/obese men. (Link)

• Increased Consumption of Dairy Foods and Protein during Diet- and Exercise-Induced Weight Loss Promotes Fat Mass Loss and Lean Mass Gain in Overweight and Obese Premenopausal Women. (Link)

• Induction of ketosis in rats fed low-carbohydrate, high-fat diets depends on the relative abundance of dietary fat and protein. (Link)

• Insulin Sensitivity as a Mediator of the Relationship Between BMI and Working Memory-Related Brain Activation. (Link)

• Ketogenic diets: An historical antiepileptic therapy with promising potentialities for the aging brain. (Link)

• Limited Effect of Dietary Saturated Fat on Plasma Saturated Fat in the Context of a Low Carbohydrate Diet. (Link)

• Long-term outcomes of children treated with the ketogenic diet in the past. (Link)

• Low carbohydrate ketogenic diet prevents the induction of diabetes using streptozotocin in rats. (Link)

• Low-carbohydrate diet induced reduction of hepatic lipid content observed with a rapid non-invasive MRI technique. (Link)

• Low-Carbohydrate Diet Review: shifting the paradigm. (Link)

• Low-Carbohydrate Diets and Prostate Cancer: How Low Is “Low Enough”? (Link)

• Measures of postprandial wellness after single intake of two protein–carbohydrate meals. (Link)

• Meat consumption and cooking practices and the risk of colorectal cancer. (Link)

• Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease. (Link)

• Metabolic and physiologic improvements from consuming a paleolithic, hunter-gatherer type diet. (Link)

• Metabolic management of glioblastoma multiforme using standard therapy together with a restricted ketogenic diet: Case Report. (Link)

• Moderate-carbohydrate low-fat versus low-carbohydrate high-fat meal replacements for weight loss. (Link)

• Optimal dietary approaches for prevention of type 2 diabetes: a life-course perspective. (Link)

• Palmitic acid in the sn-2 position of triacylglycerols acutely influences postprandial lipid metabolism. (Link)

• Prevention and reversal of diet-induced leptin resistance with a sugar-free diet despite high fat content. (Link)

• Protein choices targeting thermogenesis and metabolism. (Link)

• Protein-enriched meal replacements do not adversely affect liver, kidney or bone density: an outpatient randomized controlled trial. (Link)

• Protein, amino acids and the control of food intake. (Link)

• Red meat from animals offered a grass diet increases plasma and platelet n-3 PUFA in healthy consumers. (Link)

• Reduced Body Weight and Adiposity With a High-Protein Diet Improves Functional Status, Lipid Profiles, Glycemic Control, and Quality of Life in Patients With Heart Failure: A Feasibility Study. (Link)

• Reduced Pain and Inflammation in Juvenile and Adult Rats Fed a Ketogenic Diet. (Link)

• Relationships of maternal zinc intake from animal foods with fetal growth. (Link)

• Renal Function Following Long-Term Weight Loss in Individuals with Abdominal Obesity on a Very-Low-Carbohydrate Diet vs High-Carbohydrate Diet. (Link)

• Reversal of Diabetic Nephropathy by a Ketogenic Diet. (Link)

• Saturated fat, carbohydrate, and cardiovascular disease. (Link)

• Saturated Fats: A Perspective from Lactation and Milk Composition. (Link)

• Schizophrenia, gluten, and low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diets: a case report and review of the literature. (Link)

• Short Report: Relationship between Quality Protein, Lean Mass and Bone Health. (Link)

• Short-term weight loss and hepatic triglyceride reduction: evidence of a metabolic advantage with dietary carbohydrate restriction. (Link)

• Study of the ketogenic agent AC-1202 in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. (Link)

• Suppressive effect of short-chain fatty acids on production of proinflammatory mediators by neutrophils. (Link)

• Testing Protein Leverage in Lean Humans: A Randomised Controlled Experimental Study. (Link)

• The anabolic response to resistance exercise and a protein-rich meal is not diminished by age. (Link)

• The Beneficial Effects of a Paleolithic Diet on Type 2 Diabetes and Other Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease. (Link)

• The effect of a low-fat, high-protein or high-carbohydrate ad libitum diet on weight loss maintenance and metabolic risk factors. (Link)

• The effect of low-carbohydrate diet on left ventricular diastolic function in obese children. (Link)

• The Effect of Protein and Glycemic Index on Children’s Body Composition: The DiOGenes Randomized Study. (Link)

• The Effects of Consuming Frequent, Higher Protein Meals on Appetite and Satiety During Weight Loss in Overweight/Obese Men. (Link)

• The influence of creatine supplementation on the cognitive functioning of vegetarians and omnivores. (Link)

• The Influence of Higher Protein Intake and Greater Eating Frequency on Appetite Control in Overweight and Obese Men. (Link)

• The ketogenic diet for the treatment of glioma: Insights from genetic profiling. (Link)

• The ketogenic diet reverses gene expression patterns and reduces reactive oxygen species levels when used as an adjuvant therapy for glioma. (Link)

• The myocardial contractile response to physiological stress improves with high saturated fat feeding in heart failure. (Link)

• Therapeutic role of low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet in diabetes. (Link)

• Weight and metabolic outcomes after 2 years on a low-carbohydrate versus low-fat diet: a randomized trial. (Link)

Updated 12/26/2011

Aside from official government statistics, there are a variety of sites that publish information on labor markets in the USA and other countries.  Here’s a selection of the best:

• Adecco: has information on job markets, the search for talent, job satisfaction, and more

• Careerbuilder Industry Trends: information on employers and job markets

• Challenger, Gray & Christmas: press releases from the outplacement company that describe features of the job market

• Day & Zimmerman News: includes useful reports like the Yoh Index of Technology Wages

• Dice Report: a snapshot of the technology job market

• eWeek Careers: a blog about IT career information and statistics

• Foote Partners: has press releases with information on what IT skills are in demand

• Gallup Economy: information on job markets based on polls from Gallup

• Glassdoor: has information on a variety of positions at a variety of companies

• Kelly Global Workforce Index: results of a survey of worker attitudes

• Korn/Ferry Institute: discusses executive and leadership job markets

• Lee Hecht Harrison: information on the executive job market

• Manpower Employment Outlook: information on labor markets around the globe

• Monster Employment Index: a variety of employment indexes for various countries and regions

• NACE Press Room: information on the job market for new college graduates

• Robert Half News Releases: information on the technology job market

• Towers Watson Global Workforce Study: information on employee attitudes

• intitle:”salary survey” (for last year): this lists Google search results from a variety of industries about salary survey results over the last year

• intitle:”salary guide” (for last year): this also lists Google search results from a variety of industries about salary changes over the last year

Business schools and their faculty members are a great source of information on trends that are happening in business. Some programs are more scholarly, but other business schools have a number of professors and lecturers who ran successful businesses or divisions of companies. It might be an interesting project to go through the top business schools and find faculty members who have previous business experience at the executive levels. Many professors also serve on company boards. I bet the advice of these professors would be accurate and applicable to many businesses.

Here are some sources for finding information on business schools:

• BusinessWeek Top MBA Programs

• Business Insider: The World’s Best Business Schools

• Entrepreneur.com Top Colleges

• Financial Times MBA and Executive Education Rankings

• Forbes: The Best Business Schools

• Princeton Review Business School Rankings

• The Aspen Institute: Beyond Grey Pinstripes

• The Economist MBA Rankings

• The Official MBA Guide Rankings

• Top MBA Rankings

• US News Best Business Schools

• UTD Top 100 Business School Research Rankings

• Wall Street Journal Executive MBA Rankings

• Wikipedia: List of Business Schools in the United States

I recently read the book Science and the Near Death Experience by Chris Carter.  I find near death experiences a fascinating subject.  Whether in the end they are proven or disproven, NDEs provide an interesting area of study on the journey towards discovering how the mind works.

One of my hobbies is reading research related to near-death experiences. I’ve read nearly every book about NDEs and deathbed visions that have been written by doctors and researchers. Even more than 30 years after the study of NDEs became more formalized and structured, there continues to be debates about what causes them.

So far there seem to be at least three potential explanations:

• When the body is near death, the brain releases chemicals similar to hallucinogens which cause people to think they have out-of-body experiences and meetings with beings of light.

• Consciousness is somehow stored at the quantum level and is transported to another dimension at the moment of the NDE.

• The soul leaves the body and travels to an afterlife.

I’m not sure which is the definitive explanation, and we may not know until the human brain is reverse-engineered – and even that has no guarantee of fully explaining the near death experience.

Just for background information, the quintessential near-death experience may involve being surrounded by bright light, meeting with beings that resemble family members or spiritual figures, having feelings of all-encompassing love, etc.  Near-death experiences are also frequently associated with lasting changes in an individual’s attitude. One major change is a marked decrease in fear. People will go from being extremely anxiety-prone & quiet to being more assertive.

Skepticism is a tricky subject.  In the community of people who label themselves “skeptics” you have:

• skeptics who are skeptical of extraordinary claims

• skeptics who are skeptical of conventional wisdom

• skeptics who are skeptical of the skeptics who are skeptical about extraordinary claims

When it comes to near death experiences, the easiest way to categorize researchers’ thoughts on the phenomenon is which of the following two categories they fall into:

• anti-survival hypothesis: the belief that consciousness is a purely physical phenomenon that does not survive death

• pro-survival hypothesis: the belief that consciousness is stored at the quantum level in neurotubules or in a soul that survives death

Here are some researchers and authors who have studied the near death experience:

Dr. Allan Botkin is an expert in a field known as after death communication.

Dr. Barbara Rommer is the author of Blessing in Disguise, a book about “less than positive” near death experiences that nonetheless improve the experiencers’ lives.

Dr. Brian Weiss studies and practices past-life therapy.

Dr. Bruce Greyson is a psychiatrist and professor at the University of Virginia

Carla Wills-Brandon is the author of “One Last Hug Before I Go,” a book about deathbed visions

Dr. David Darling is an astronomer who wrote Soul Search, a book discussing near death experiences and the afterlife. The full book is available to read online for free.

Dr. Eben Alexander is a neurosurgeon who had a near death experience.

Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson is a professor at the University of Iceland and co-author of At the Hour of Death

Dr. Friedbert Karger gives lectures on the survival of bodily death.

Dr. Gary Schwartz is professor of psychology at the University of Arizona who studies afterlife communication

George Gallup founded the Gallup Organization and author of Adventures in Immortality, which was based on a survey of people who had near death experiences

Dr. Gerard Nehum is working on weighing the soul.

Dr. Jan Vandersande is the author of Life After Death

Dr. Jeffrey Long is the author of Evidence of the Afterlife

Dr. Jim Tucker is a child psychiatrist and the author of Life Before Life

Dr. Jody Long is the co-founder of the Near Death Experience Research Foundation

Dr. John Turner is a neurosurgeon and the author of “Medicine, Miracles, & Manifestations”

Dr. John Lerma is medical director for TMC Hospice (part of The Medical Center of Houston) and the author of Into the Light & Learning from the Light

Dr. Julie Beischel is Director of Research at The Windbridge Institute for Applied Research in Human Potential

Dr. Kenneth Ring is a professor at the University of Connecticut and the author of multiple books on near death experiences

Dr. Lloyd Rudy is a cardiac surgeon who had two patients who experienced NDEs.

Dr. Louis LaGrand studies contact from people who have died.

Margot Grey is a psychologist and the author of Return from Death

Dr. Mario Beauregard is a professor at the University of Montreal who studies near death experiences

Dr. Mary Neal is an orthopedic spine surgeon who had a near death experience.

Dr. Melvin Morse is a pediatrician and the author of books on near death experiences

Dr. Michael Sabom is a cardiologist and the author of Light & Death

Dr. Norm Shealy researches reincarnation.

Dr. Pam Kircher is a hospice physician and author who had a near death experience of her own

Dr. Pamela Heath is a physician who studies the survival of bodily death.

Dr. Penny Sartori is a researcher who studied near death experiences

Dr. Peter Fenwick is a psychiatrist and author of books on near death experiences

Dr. Piero Calvi-Parisetti is a physician who researches the survival of consciousness

Dr. Pim Van Lommel is a cardiologist and the author of Consciousness Beyond Life

Dr. Raymond Moody is the author of multiple books on near death experiences

Dr. Rick Strassman is the author of “DMT – The Spirit Molecule” which discusses the relationship between DMT and spiritual experiences & near death experiences

Dr. Robert Peveler is part of the Horizon Research Foundation.

Dr. Sam Parnia is the founder of the Consciousness Research Group at the University of Southampton, chairman of the Horizon Research Foundation, and author of What Happens When We Die?

Dr. Satwant Pasricha is the head of Department of Clinical Psychology at NIMHANS and reincarnation researcher

Dr. Stephen Holgate is part of the Horizon Research Foundation.

Dr. T Lee Baumann wrote books about near death experiences.

Dr. Una MacConville researches near to death experiences.

Dr. Willoughby Britton studied the brains of people who had near death experiences.

These are some of the major organizations that study near death experiences:

IISIS: conducts research on reincarnation

International Association for Near Death Studies: the most prominent organization focused on the research and understanding of near death experiences

Nour Foundation: leads the Human Consciousness Project, which seeks to understand what happens in the relationship between brain function and consciousness during clinical death

Montague Keen Foundation: researches life after death

SOPHIA Project: a study that includes research on after-death communication

Survival Research Institute: researches survival of the human personality after death

As I mentioned earlier, the near death experience is also the focus of some skepticism.  Alex Tsakiris, the host of Skeptiko, is clearly pro-survival hypothesis but he also has informative interviews with people who are against the survival hypothesis:

Dr. G.M. Woerlee: anesthesiologist and author of “Mortal Minds”

Interview Part 1

Interview Part 2

Dr. Kevin Nelson: neuromuscular neurologist at the University of Kentucky

Dr. Steven Novella: neurologist at Yale University

Interview Part 1

Interview Part 2

Updated 6/23/2012

In an earlier post, I linked to Jimmy Moore’s interviews with physicians who supported low carb and paleo nutrition.  Now here’s a list of interviews he did with researchers and journalists who have interesting thoughts on low carb and paleo nutrition:

Professors and Medical Experts:

• Dr. Aaron Blaisdell: founder of the Ancestral Health Symposium

• Dr. Art Ayers: biology professor

• Dr. Arthur De Vany: author of “The New Evolution Diet”

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. BG: pharmacist who supports low carb nutrition

• Dr. Charles Mobbs: ketogenic diet researcher

• Dr. Dave Dixon: independent nutrition researcher and blogger

• Dr. Detlev Boison: director of the epilepsy program at Dow Neurobiology Laboratories

• Dr. Greg Ellis: physiologist and weight loss specialist

• Dr. Jeff Volek: professor at the University of Connecticut and author of “Men’s Health TNT Diet”

• Dr. John Sorrentino: low carb dentist

• Dr. Loren Cordain: professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. Marshall Deutsch: biochemist and lipid researcher

• Dr. Mat Lalonde: research biochemist

• Dr. Michael Rose: evolutionary biologist who researches aging

• Dr. Nancy Appleton: author of “Suicide by Sugar”

• Dr. Ned Kock: creator of the Health Correlator blog

• Dr. Norm Robillard: author of “Heartburn Cured”

• Dr. Paul Jaminet: astrophysicist and co-creator of the Perfect Health Diet

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. Richard Feinman: professor of biochemistry and researcher at SUNY

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. Richard Wood: exercise science professor

• Dr. Seth Roberts: author of “The Shangri-La Diet”

• Amy Kubal: paleo registered dietitian

• Brent Pottenger: founder of the Ancestral Health Symposium

• Chris Masterjohn: nutrition researcher

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Denise Minger: debunks bad nutrition advice

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Evelyn Kocur: scientist and independent nutrition researcher

• Gary Taubes: science journalist and author of “Good Calories, Bad Calories

- Interview 1 Part 1

- Interview 1 Part 2

- Interview 2

- Interview 3 Part 1

- Interview 3 Part 2

- Interview 4

• Geoff Bond: nutritional anthropologist and author of “Deadly Harvest”

• George Stella: hosted a show on the Food Network and author of low carb cookbooks

• Jamie Scott: health researcher

• Jenny Westerkamp: registered dietitian for pro sports teams

• Mark Sisson: author of “The Primal Blueprint”

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Melissa McEwen: paleo blogger

• Robb Wolf: author of “The Paleo Solution”

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Ron Raab: founder of Insulin for Life

• Tim Ferriss: author of “The 4-Hour Body”

• Zoe Harcombe: author of “The Obesity Epidemic”

Updated 1/5/2012

Jimmy Moore’s “Livin’ La Vida Low Carb” site and show are some of the best resources for nutrition out there.  These interviews with practitioners from a wide variety of medical specialties discuss ways that carbohydrate reduction can improve health.

• Dr. Allan Sosin: Medical Director of the Institute for Progressive Medicine

• Dr. Allen Rader: bariatric physician at Idaho Weight Loss

• Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt: physician who counteracts low-fat misinformation

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. Ann Childers: psychiatrist who supports low carb nutrition

• Dr. Annika Dahlkvist: physician in Sweden

• Dr. Barnet Meltzer: board certified physician and surgeon & founder of the Meltzer Wellness Institute

• Dr. Cate Shanahan: author of “Food Rules” and “Deep Nutrition”

• Dr. Daniel Jones: radiologist who supports a low carb lifestyle

• Dr. David Ludwig: childhood obesity expert at Harvard and Boston Children’s Hospital

• Dr. David Stewart: holistic low carb physician

• Dr. Deborah Snyder: family practice physician and author of “Keto Kid”

• Dr. Denise Bruner: one of the nation’s leading bariatric specialists

• Dr. Donald Miller: cardiac surgeon and low carb advocate

• Dr. Doug McGuff: partner with Blue Ridge Emergency Physicians and author of “Body by Science”

• Dr. Duane Graveline: former Chief of Medical Operations for Kennedy Space Center

• Dr. Emily Deans: psychiatrist who supports paleo nutrition

• Dr. Eric Kossoff: Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins

• Dr. Eric Westman: faculty member of the Duke Clinical Research Training Program

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. Ernest Curtis: author of “The Cholesterol Delusion”

• Dr. Fred Pescatore: author of “The Hamptons Diet”

• Dr. Frederic Vagnini: heart, lung, and blood vessel surgeon

• Dr. Gil Wilshire: fertility specialist and reproductive endocrinologist at Mid-Missouri Reproductive Medicine & Surgery

• Dr. Harriette Mogul: author of “Syndrome W”

• Dr. Helen Hilts: board-certified family medicine physician

• Dr. Jack Kruse: low carb paleo neurosurgeon

• Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum: physician who treats chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia patients

• Dr. James Carlson: family physician and author

- Interview Part 1

- Interview Part 2

• Dr. Jay Wortman: Canadian physician who helped patients reverse diabetes

• Dr. John Briffa: physician and author of “Waist Disposal”

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. John Salerno: founder of the Anti-Aging Institute and the Salerno Center for Complementary Medicine

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. Jorge Flechas: on the family practice staff of Park Ridge Hospital

• Dr. Joseph Mercola: supporter of intermittent fasting and low carb diets

• Dr. Kal Chinyere: physician who lost 140 lbs

• Dr. Keith Berkowitz: founder and medical director of the Center for Balanced Health

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

- Interview 3

• Dr. Kevin Weiland: board-certifed practicing physician & author of “The Dakota Diet”

• Dr. Kurt Harris: radiologist and founder of Advanced Imaging

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. Lana Boter: OBGYN who uses low carb diets to treat patients with PCOS

• Dr. Larry McCleary: former acting Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Denver Children’s Hospital

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

- Interview 3

• Dr. Lorraine Maita: physician and low carb advocate

• Dr. Malcolm Kendrick: author of “The Great Cholesterol Con”

• Dr. Mary Dan Eades: author of low carb books

• Dr. Mary Newport: medical director of the newborn intensive care unit at Spring Hill Regional Hospital

• Dr. Mary Vernon: Past President of the American Society of Bariatric Medicine

- Interview 1

- Interview 2 Part 1

- Interview 2 Part 2

- Interview 3

• Dr. Michael Aziz: attending physician at St. Vincent’s Hospital

• Dr. Michael Eades: author of low carb books

• Dr. Michael Fox: reproductive endocrinologist

• Dr. Michael Holick: vitamin D researcher

• Dr. Nathan Eliason: physician in Wyoming

• Dr. Richard Bernstein: author of “The Diabetes Solution”

• Dr. Richard Johnson: Professor of Medicine at the University of Florida

• Dr. Rob Thompson: author of “The Glycemic Load Diet”

• Dr. Robert Lustig: Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. Robert Pfalzgraf: forensic clinical pathologist

• Dr. Robert Su: physician in private practice in anesthesiology and pain management

• Dr. Ron Rosedale: Founder of the Rosedale Center, co-founder of the Colorado Center for Metabolic Medicine and founder of the Carolina Center of Metabolic Medicine

• Dr. Sarah Myhill: physician who supports paleo nutrition

• Dr. Scott Rigden: bariatric specialist and author of “The Ultimate Metabolism Diet”

• Dr. Sofie Hexeberg: physician who supports low-carb high-fat diets

• Dr. Stephen Phinney: Professor of Medicine Emeritus at UC Davis

- Teleconference Part 1

- Teleconference Part 2

- Interview 1

• Dr. Steve Parker: member of the clinical faculty at Midwestern University, Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. Steven Gundry: former head of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Loma Linda University Medical Center

- Interview Part 1

- Interview Part 2

• Dr. Steven Horvitz: low carb physician

• Dr. Terry Brown: Medical Director of the St. Joseph Memorial Hospital Sleep Disorders Center

• Dr. Tim Reynolds: board-certified emergency medicine physician

• Dr. Tracey Green: Nevada State Health Officer

• Dr. Uffe Ravnskov: author of “Fat and Cholesterol are Good for You!”

- Interview 1

- Interview 2

• Dr. William Davis: Medical Director of Milwaukee Heart Scan

- Interview Part 1

- Interview Part 2

- Interview 2

- Interview 3

Updated 1/5/2012

As regenerative medicine (stem cells, tissue engineering, organ replacement, etc) continues to grow as an industry, there will be a need for media sites to cover the new companies in this field.  Most of the news gathering and reporting will probably be done by established business & science media organizations.

This would include sites like:

• Business sites like Bloomberg/BusinessWeek, Forbes, CNNMoney, etc.

• Big science sites like Discover and Popular Science

• Trade magazines like these sources for biotechnology news

I think are also a couple of additional sites that have the potential to gain a lead in this reporting market:

FierceBiotech: FierceBiotech is part of the FierceMarkets network, which is composed of 34 different news sites.  About a third of the sites are focused on life sciences and health.  A hypothetical “FierceCells” sister site could cover news on stem cells and tissue regeneration.

Xconomy: Like VentureBeat and GigaOm, Xconomy is a site that covers news about startups in a variety of industries.  It reports on a lot of web and computer startups, but it’s also one of the major sources for information on biotechnology and medical startups.