26. Lessons Learned From A Failed Experiment. Part 2 (mini-series: Reading-18) Foundational Skills In Life Sciences podcast

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
52. Example of a well-written abstract (other than the one by Nobel Laureates) 19:57

13 روز پیش19:57

19:57

Let’s talk about an excellent abstract that I read this week. It was so well written, and I was so excited to read it that I wanted to talk about it with you today. The beauty of it is that the first 3 structural components guide us through the authors’ intention and question very clearly. But there was also a little twist to the structure: we will talk about it, too. The abstract that we talked about today was from the following paper: “A meta-analysis of technology use and cognitive aging” Benge & Scullin, Nature Human Behaviour, 2025 “Online ahead of print” (thus, no volume number or page numbers) as of the date of this episode upload. PubMed link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40229575/ Journal link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02159-9 We can read its abstract on either of the above websites. Unfortunately, the other parts of the paper are subscription-based. So, they are accessible, if you or your institutions have a subscription to the journal. This episode = mini-series: reading-32. (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
51. Have you read an abstract that was not written well? 8:55

28 روز پیش8:55

8:55

My students selected a paper to read in a journal club. The abstract (and the rest of the paper) was not written well. The abstract gave us two precious lessons. Lesson 1: Good structural organization will help the readers understand the content. Lesson 2: Abstracts of peer-reviewed papers can be disorganized. I hope you learn them in this episode, too! This episode = mini-series: reading-31. (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
50. Happy 50th episode! 5:39

۶ weeks پیش5:39

5:39

We have reached 50 episodes! Thank you for listening. Today, we will briefly talk about how I have kept sustainable podcasting so far. The most important thing may be that I have set my goal simple and single: It is to create high-quality content for you. That’s it. Here are links to two sources of podcast statistics that I mentioned in the episode. https://www.amplifimedia.com/blogstein-1/lyspqop3ylro9a2t7y2de820uwkgwx https://podcastindex.org/stats (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
49. Another well-crafted logic loop in Abstract by Nobel Laureates (mini-series: reading-30) 18:26

۷ weeks پیش18:26

18:26

We will talk about the second of the two, well-crafted loops of logic, in the Abstract of a paper written by the Nobel Prize Laureates. Not all abstracts have this second loop. But when it is present, it gives a better overview of the impact of the presented work. We can find one of the best examples in our Abstract. We are reading the paper written by the Laureates, Dr. Katalin Karikó & Dr. Drew Weissman, that led to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023. We call it the Milestone Article 1. Here are two sets of links related to the paper. Milestone Article 1: “Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA” by Karikó, Buckstein, Ni & Weissman. Immunity, 23(2): 165-75, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2005.06.008 PDF: https://www.cell.com/immunity/pdf/S1074-7613(05)00211-6.pdf PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16111635/ Copyright of the paper (as of March, 2025): See the pull-down menu “Article Info” near the top of the article webpage (Use the DOI above to reach it). Check the “User License” section which lists the “Elsevier user license”: --- http://www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ --- https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/open-access-licenses/elsevier-user For finding our Milestone Articles 1, 2 and 3 (i.e., three papers written by the Laureates that led to the Nobel Prize), visit the following website that shows the “Press Release” of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023. Look for "Key publications" section. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/press-release/ We discussed how to find Milestone Articles 1~3 as above, in Episode #10. Here is the link to the episode: https://synaptologica.buzzsprout.com/2219599/episodes/14122755 (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
48. Well-crafted logic loop in Abstract by Nobel Laureates (mini-series: reading-29) 19:32

۹ weeks پیش19:32

19:32

I can visualize two well-crafted loops of logic, in the Abstract of a paper written by the Nobel Prize Laureates. Can you? We will talk about one of them in today’s episode. Such a loop, together with a linear progression, highlights the authors’ clear and logical thought process. We are reading the paper written by the Laureates, Dr. Katalin Karikó & Dr. Drew Weissman, that led to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023. We call it the Milestone Article 1. Here are two sets of links related to the paper. Milestone Article 1: “Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA” by Karikó, Buckstein, Ni & Weissman. Immunity, 23(2): 165-75, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2005.06.008 PDF: https://www.cell.com/immunity/pdf/S1074-7613(05)00211-6.pdf PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16111635/ Copyright of the paper (as of March, 2025): See the pull-down menu “Article Info” near the top of the article webpage (Use the DOI above to reach it). Check the “User License” section which lists the “Elsevier user license”: --- http://www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ --- https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/open-access-licenses/elsevier-user (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
47. Why is the 2nd sentence important in an abstract? (mini-series: reading-28) 20:32

۹ weeks پیش20:32

20:32

Let's analyze a single sentence in the Abstract of an impressive paper. It is the paper that led to the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. This is the paper that we call the milestone article 1 (Please see below for details). We will analyze the second sentence. Why is this sentence important? We will discuss four of my approaches to see that this sentence is important, beautiful and helpful for readers outside the field. It is fun to spend one episode for just a single sentence, and think deep about how it reveals the authors' logic. Here are two sets of links related to the paper written by the Laureates, Dr. Katalin Karikó & Dr. Drew Weissman of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023. Milestone Article 1: “Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA” by Karikó, Buckstein, Ni & Weissman. Immunity, 23(2): 165-75, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2005.06.008 PDF: https://www.cell.com/immunity/pdf/S1074-7613(05)00211-6.pdf PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16111635/ Copyright of the paper (as of March, 2025): See the pull-down menu “Article Info” near the top of the article webpage (Use the DOI above to reach it). Check the “User License” section which lists the “Elsevier user license”: --- http://www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ --- https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/open-access-licenses/elsevier-user (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
46. Let’s analyze the Abstract of a paper written by Nobel Laureates (mini-series: reading-27) 27:59

11 weeks پیش27:59

27:59

Today, we will analyze the Abstract of an impressive paper. It is the paper that led to the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. This is the paper that we call the milestone article 1. We will have two essential pre-analysis sub-steps, and then we will analyze each sentence. During this analysis, we will read each sentence of the Abstract, examine the role of each sentence, and assign each sentence to a structural component, so that we will be able to understand the authors’ intention for each sentence. Here are two sets of links mentioned in this episode. All are related to the Laureates, Dr. Katalin Karikó & Dr. Drew Weissman of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023. Milestone Article 1: “Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA” by Karikó, Buckstein, Ni & Weissman. Immunity, 23(2): 165-75, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2005.06.008 PDF: https://www.cell.com/immunity/pdf/S1074-7613(05)00211-6.pdf PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16111635/ Copyright of the paper (as of March, 2025): See the pull-down menu “Article Info” near the top of the article webpage (Use the DOI above to reach it). Check the “User License” section which lists the “Elsevier user license”: --- http://www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ --- https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/open-access-licenses/elsevier-user (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
45. Let’s read the Abstract of a paper written by Nobel Laureates (mini-series: reading-26) 20:34

13 weeks پیش20:34

20:34

Today, we will take a significant step towards understanding the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. We will read the Abstract of the Laureates’ most important paper that led to the Nobel Prize. This is the paper that we call the milestone article 1. We will have two essential pre-reading sub-steps, and then we will conduct the initial readings. These sub-steps will set the stage for a more in-depth exploration in the next episode. Here are two sets of links mentioned in this episode. All are related to the Laureates, Dr. Katalin Karikó & Dr. Drew Weissman of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023. YouTube video of Nobel announcement (starting at ~2 minutes and 20 seconds) Embedded in Nobel website: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/prize-announcement/ Standalone with time stamp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JP-yDsLc3k&t=2m20s Milestone Article 1: Immunity, 2005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2005.06.008 PDF: https://www.cell.com/immunity/pdf/S1074-7613(05)00211-6.pdf PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16111635/ (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
44. An evolving reader: my phases through reading textbooks (Q&A-5: textbooks, part 2) 22:12

16 weeks پیش22:12

22:12

How are you reading life-science textbooks? My approach to reading textbooks has evolved significantly throughout my academic career, from student to researcher to instructor to course director. Today’s episode is part 2. We will discuss the last two phases of my experience. I am now in the fourth phase. I fully appreciate how well the authors summarized a vast amount of knowledge in one field of life sciences, in coherent and consistent manners. Please enjoy listening to my different phases of reading textbooks. It will be great if these episodes serve in stimulating your thoughts about how to read textbooks. (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
43. An evolving reader: my phases through reading textbooks (Q&A-5: textbooks, part 1) 22:13

19 weeks پیش22:13

22:13

How are you reading life-science textbooks? My approach to reading textbooks has evolved significantly throughout my academic career, from student to researcher to instructor to course director. Today’s episode is part 1. We will discuss the first two phases of my experience. My overall goal of the two-part episodes is to highlight the unique roles that textbooks play, different from those of primary research papers. Knowing these different purposes will help us read textbooks more effectively. (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
42. Happy Holidays! 1:01

20 weeks پیش1:01

1:01

Happy Holidays to you, and I wish you the very best in 2025!

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
41. Exclude or include seemingly irrelevant experiences in your academic CV? (Q&A-4: CV) 22:01

25 weeks پیش22:01

22:01

“Should I exclude irrelevant experiences from my academic CV?” This is a question that students often ask. In this episode, I would like to give you my thoughts about this question. In general, there is a way of creating a comprehensive CV: it will show that you have unique experiences, and you are a careful and a thoughtful writer. The key would be for you to be proud of what you did in the past. I hope that this discussion will be useful for you. (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
40. Short or long CV for applying for a research position? (Q&A-3: CV) 16:23

28 weeks پیش16:23

16:23

“Should my CV be short or long, when I apply for a research assistant position in a college/university lab?” This is a question that students often ask. In this episode, I would like to give you my thoughts about this question. The content in a CV depends on the person’s career stage. But I have one common viewpoint for CVs at all stages. I would like to view the descriptions in the CV, during and after the undergraduate education, as the defining statements of the person. My thoughts about today’s question will be related to this viewpoint. At the same time, I agree that different professors and different students may have opinions different from mine. Let’s discuss them and share diverse perspectives, so that our thoughts will become deeper. (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
39. Eight key components define the Abstract structure (mini-series: reading-25) 18:57

29 weeks پیش18:57

18:57

How do top-tier scientific journals, like Nature, make sure their abstracts are clear and impactful? In today’s episode, we will identify the eight key components that make those abstracts effective, by naming the components in our own words, and clarifying their roles and order. Our system was inspired by the Nature document for the Abstract guidelines that we discussed in the Episode #38. Here is the URL that brings you directly to the Nature document: https://www.nature.com/documents/nature-summary-paragraph.pdf (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences

1
38. The journal, Nature, dissects the Abstract structure (mini-series: reading-24) 13:26

31 weeks پیش13:26

13:26

What is the best way to learn how to read the Abstract of a scientific paper? In my view, the best way is to learn how the Abstract is structured in any paper. Today, we will learn it, by reading a very short document. It is a one-page document that describes the Abstract guidelines, provided by the journal, Nature. Here is the URL that brings you directly to the Nature document: https://www.nature.com/documents/nature-summary-paragraph.pdf Here is the URL of the webpage for the Instructions for Authors by Nature. The above document can be found as the hyperlink to the note, “annotated example” in the “Articles” section: https://www.nature.com/nature/for-authors/formatting-guide Here are the links to the Milestone Article 1 (Immunity, 2005) by the Laureates, Dr. Katalin Karikó & Dr. Drew Weissman of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2005.06.008 PDF: https://www.cell.com/immunity/pdf/S1074-7613(05)00211-6.pdf PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16111635/ (My email is active. But my website is under construction. Please wait for a while. Thank you for the patience!)…

پادکست هایی که ارزش شنیدن دارند

1
Helpless Hydrangea 6:24

Foundational Skills in Life Sciences « »
26. Lessons learned from a failed experiment. Part 2 (mini-series: reading-18)