Drop.io (The Next Generation)

Y'all know how much I've been raving about the drop.io "instant web locker" and its potential uses for communicating with our students . . .

Well, they just keep rolling out new improvements! So a great tool just keeps getting better!

I recently heard about the rollout of the "next generation" or redesign of drop.io . . . and "dropped" you a phone message moments later at this blog's "sample drop" at

• http://drop.io/theAPprofessorSample
• Guest password: aprocks

[NOTE: those of you who have already "subscribed" to or regularly visit the drop heard about this redesign yesterday . . . when I dropped a voicemail there.]

drop.io, as they say, is the simplest way to privately share any sort of media or data online, period.

In literally a matter of 2 clicks with no registration drop.io allows you to take anything ranging from photos and video to documents, voice notes, web links, email etc. add them all to a private space online, and then share them with exactly whom you want, how you want, for as long as you want.

Files you share on drop.io are not searchable, and they are not networked. In a sense, each 'drop' you make is a very simple private 'website' which you can password protect and set to expire, designed to help you take control of how you share.

This is an easy way to make a course blog!

With this release drop.io is making the interface significantly easier to interact with, and adding both customization options, and much richer collaboration options (with things like in-line commenting).

Want to check it out? There are details at http://drop.io/blog

There is a great video explanation you can spin through http://drop.io/howto

and there's a drop with some media about the redesign http://drop.io/redesign2008

Please let me know if YOU are using drop.io, and how you are using it!

{a few statements in this message were adapted from a drop.io email}

drop.io Firefox Extension

Wow this drop.io thing is fun!

What, you ask, is drop.io? Just go back to my original article on drop.io to find out that it's a nifty FREE web tool to communicate and share with students, colleagues, or total strangers.

I just found out that they have a Firefox plugin that adds just one more set of magical features to an already crazy magical tool.

First, if you haven't been using Firefox browser, which is a FREE download from Mozilla, then why not?!

It's a great browswer and has a bazillion (or so) plugins and ways to customize it.

One of the plugins is the one from drop.io, which adds "drag 'n drop.io" features to Firefox.

After downloading and installing the plugin (just a few keystrokes as you regular Firefox users know), a small red drop.io dot (see the logo pictured here) will appear in the lower toolbar of the browser frame. You can drag files or web items to the red dot and a drop.io drop is created automatically with your item(s) right there already in it! Wow.

Or if you have a particular drop open, you can just drag things into the screen where the drop appears and they'll now be part of the drop.

Click here for the link to the drop.io demo on this plugin. It does even more that I'm saying, but they say it better than I do! I'll also drag it into the A&P Professor sample drop using the plugin itself (hey, I want to play with it, OK?).

Go ahead into the drop (especially if you have yet done so), and be sure to sign up for notifications of new drops (by email, text messages, or whatever). That's because I continue to drop things there and you'll want to see/hear/watch them.

AND you'll want to gain some experience with drop.io so you'll be comfortable using it for your own courses/committees/poker clubs.

[Remember the drop password? APROCKS]

2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Just as I predicted . . . this year' Nobel Prize for chemistry has an A&P connection!

The announcement came as scheduled on October 8 . . . and the same day I notified you via a voice message at our drop.io drop . . . .

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2008 jointly to

Osamu Shimomura,
Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, MA, USA
and Boston University Medical School, MA, USA,

Martin Chalfie,
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

and

Roger Y. Tsien,
University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

"for the discovery and development of the
green fluorescent protein, GFP".

So how does this discovery relate to human anatomy & physiology? GFP (shown in the ribbon model) is that bright green stain used in all those micrographs of important structures and processes in the cell!

As the Nobel Committee states, "With the aid of GFP, researchers have developed ways to watch processes that were previously invisible, such as the development of nerve cells in the brain or how cancer cells spread."

For an example of how this protein can be used, look at Figure 16-36 in our textbook Anatomy & Physiology 6th edition. The image in part A shows GFP used to identify the location of insulin in pancreatic tissue--thus outlining the beta cells and establishing the overall structure of a pancreatic islet. Just one of many examples, of course.

And it's not just green that can be used . . . Tsien is the laureate (sharing this prize) who built on the original discovery to develop a whole palette of colors that can be used to study the human body (and other organisms).

For a nice summary, check out these FREE publications (PDF format) from nobelprize.org

Information for the public
(basic summary and significance of the discovery; has COOL multicolor photos of brain tissue)

Scientific background
(More in-depth information)

Also visit the links at the main page for this prize at http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2008/index.html

Here's a great article from Science News (with links to previous articles related to this discovery):

Nobel Prize in chemistry commends finding and use of green fluorescent protein

By Tina Hesman Saey

Science News Web edition : Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

Here's a video explaining the reasons for awarding the prize . . .

(go directly to the blog if the video viewer does not appear in your email or news feed)

Here's a video clip explaining the concepts involved . . .

(go directly to the blog if the video viewer does not appear in your email or news feed)

For the "how-to" on how to embed these clips in your webpage, email, or PowerPoint slide, please go to the YouTube page at The A&P Professor website

Also read my article from last week regarding how I use Nobel Prize winners and their discoveries in my course . . . and how they are linked to my textbook Anatomy & Physiology.

2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Yesterday, the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three people, with half the prize split in half for each notable discovery:

Harald zur Hausen

for his discovery of

"human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer"

and the other half jointly to

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier

for their discovery of

"human immunodeficiency virus"

Although these discoveries are "common knowledge" now, they represent critical shifts in our understanding of immunity and disease processes in the body.

For a detailed outline of these contributions visit http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2008/press.html At this site, you will also find a great FREE diagram you could use in a PowerPoint slide, with a link to a high-resolution version. (Please observe relevant copyright laws.) Click here for the PDF version of the press release announcing the prize.

A full complement of photos, summaries, videos, etc, is (or will be shortly) available at the regular entry page for this year's prize at http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2008/index.html

I like to use the Nobel Prizes in my course to spark interest in the topics that we cover in A&P and to engage students in the current world of science. Nearly always, the prize in the category of "physiology or medicine" relates to a principle explored in our course. In our textbook, Anatomy & Physiology, we provide a list summarizing some of the key awards in this category for the previous hundred years or so. The list identifies the chapter(s) in which the discoveries appear as part of the story of human anatomy and physiology.

[In the 6th edition of Anatomy & Physiology, the list appears as an appendix in the book; in the upcoming 7th edition, the list is called out in the first chapter and appears in the online A&P Connect feature new to this edition. In A&P Connect, students can link directly to the Nobel website for more information . . . and the list can be updated as soon as new awards are announced.]

This year's prize include an extra bonus in terms of observing how the scientific community operates . . . a prominent American researcher, Robert Gallo, is also often recognized as independently identifying HIV as the agent of AIDS. So this prize is not without some juicy controversy, eh? For a discussion of this issue, check out this article:

Nobel Medicine Prize Row as Scientist is Excluded
Mark Henderson
Times Online October 6, 2008

FYI, the website for the Nobel Prizes at nobelprize.org is rich with other resources for your teaching. For example there are free diagrams and animations related to the Nobel-recognized discoveries. There is a link to the Nobel Museum and even educational games!

And stay tuned to our sample drop.io drop . . . if the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry relates to A&P (and it often does), then I'll be posting a voicemail or text message there to alert you.

Here's a FREE video of the announcement:

Here's a video clip that explains the reasons for the award more fully:



For the "how-to" on how to embed these clips in your webpage, email, or PowerPoint slide, please go to the YouTube page at The A&P Professor website.

Lipokines--a new class of hormones

And it continues . . .

. . . yet another hormone has been identified in the mammalian system.

[FYI, I announced this last Saturday by way of a voice mail message at The A&P Professor sample drop at drop.io . . . of which you would have been notified if you are subscribed to the drop. Click here for the how-to.]

When we begin our study of the endocrine system, I always tell my students, "there is coming a day when we'll have to include every tissue in the body as part of the endocrine system." Then a moment later, "and we'll soon see a time when a new hormone will be discovered every day [except perhaps major holidays!]."

OK, that's hyperbole. A commonly used teaching technique.

Now I'm wondering how "hyper" this particular hyperbole is!

We've known for some time that adipose tissue produces hormones. Last Friday, the journal Cell reported the discovery of yet another adipose hormone. What's unusual about this one is that it is a lipokine . . . a new class of lipid hormone that is not a steroid or protein. It is a fatty acid.

The newly discovered liopkine is called C16:1n7-palmitoleate. Oh my, if this turns out to be a central hormone that should be discussed in A&P class, can you just imagine the spelling errors that we are going to see! Let's hope they find a snappier name for it before we have to start using it regularly!

The new lipokine (notice how I'm avoiding use of its specific name!) was discovered in mice but is expected to behave similarly in humans. It's a fatty acid not commonly found circulating in high quantities in the blood. But it was found in high concentration in genetically altered super-healthy mice.

The new lipokine apparently has several actions that promote health, including:

• increases the response of muscle tissue to insulin
  
• regulates the liver's handling of fats, reducing buildup of harmful fats
  
• reduces the inflammation mediators normally produced by adipose tissue (possibly reducing the inflammation associated with diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems)

At this early stage of discovery, the hope is that more investigation of the new hormone will lead to more effective treatments of obesity or health problems associated with obesity.

Want to learn more?

Identification of a Lipokine, a Lipid Hormone Linking Adipose Tissue to Systemic Metabolism
Cao, et al. Cell, Vol 134, 933-944, 19 September 2008
doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.07.048
This is the original article (abstract is FREE; full article requires subscription or per-article payment)

First Lipid Hormone Discovered
Science News (web edition, September18, 2008)
Summarizes the discovery.

There's more in an expanded version of this article at The A&P Professor website!
There, you'll find a diagram of the molecule, pronunciation guides, additional references, and more.

We'll have to wait and see whether the discovery holds true for humans and what implications it really has for understanding human metabolism. But when I discuss "the two major categories" of hormones in my course I will now probably qualify that statement with a mention of this discovery.

I dropped it!

Last week I posted an article about drop.io, the exciting new service that allows you to create a FREE virtual dropbox for student assignments, course announcements, resources, whatever.

This past Saturday, I called in an announcement to show you how you can do the same. If you had previously visited our sample drop.io drop and signed up for an email or text or other alert, then you got the message and may have already logged into the drop to listen to the message.

[I know what you are wondering. The answer is "yes." ALL my voicemail messages are long and rambling. You have been warned!]

The voicemail also gave you an early alert to the new HAPS histology image collection that I described in another post today.

If you didn't previous visit the drop, or you did visit but forgot to sign up for an alert, it's not too late! Go back to the original post and get the login info (and save it for future reference!).

Then go into the drop and sign up for an alert. Or more than one kind of alert, just to see how they work.

And then when I add more stuff (and I will, because I want to see what can be done with it, too!) you'll be notified and you'll get the same experience as a student might.

Or even better . . . set up your OWN drop. Perhaps you have a resource to share with other A&P professors? Or perhaps a voicemail telling us about some little (or big) thing you've tried in your course that you want to share? A good joke, perhaps?

Then post the login info at The A&P Professor blog as a comment to this (or any) posted article.

We can then go in and access your material . . . and you'll get practice in using this handy FREE resource before using it in your course. Hopefully, we can dialog on how to best use it or what pitfalls to avoid.

Speaking of which, I have a pit I nearly fell in:

If you lose your admin login password there is NOTHING you can do to recover it! NOTHING. Well, OK, you can do something (like scream) but it won't get you in as administrator of the drop.

I thought I lost my admin password for this sample drop. Luckily, I did manage to find it . . . before the screaming started . . . but take this as a lesson! SAVE YOUR ADMIN PASSWORD!

Oh, just DROP it!

Do you ever have a student who wants to email you something that's so big that it will certainly clog your email box? (I know our institutional mailboxes are laughably small for the 21st century . . I have to clean it out every week!).

There's a FREE service called drop.io that let's your students (or you) drop any file(s) up to 100Mb for free. (You can post more in one drop at a modest price.) Once dropped, the files can be downloaded by anyone to whom you give a "guest" password.

The service allows the "dropper" of the files to permit "guests" to change files, so your students could set the service to permit you to reupload a file to which you've added suggestions, scoring, corrections, etc.

Of course, if you have some cool files that you want me to share with other A&P professors or use on my sites, then this would be an easy way to get the material to me without clogging your email box.

But wait!

There's more!

No, not free Ginsu knives "if you act now." Actually you get a whole bunch of very rich features for FREE with the drop.io service. . . even if you don't act now!

You (or anyone) can be informed of a change/addition/update to your drop by phone, SMS cell phone text message, Twitter, RSS subscription (including iTunes), or whatever.

You can also phone in to your drop and leave a voicemail . . . the message is converted to an mp3 sound file and put into your drop. Now think about that for a minute . . . this could be really crazy.

What if you create a drop for your course this semester. Then you phone in a course announcement ("I'm sick today and class is canceled, please read Kevin Patton's wonderful textbook Chapter 1" or "I forgot to tell you today that the test next week is postponed" or "Today I said 'mucus' but I meant to say 'mucous'"). Then each of your students is notified by a text on their cell phone or by email or whatever they choose that there's something waiting for them at the course drop.

Wait!

It gets crazier:

What if you used drop.io as "the world's simplest way" to produce your own podcasts?

You could post your lectures to the drop! Or you could post a simple explanation of a concept that your students are having difficulty with! Or you could post your dean's own voice telling them that she/he is not going to fire you for giving too much homework!

Why don't you go to this drop that I've set up for you:

http://drop.io/theAPprofessorSample

Guest password: aprocks

I've already got a few things there for you. Go ahead and rig it up (with the links along the right side of the page you land on) to send you a notification of any updates to the drop. Then occasionally I'll update and you (and I) can see how it works for everyone.

FYI, this one is set up only for me to drop things. You can't update the drop. But one could set up a drop that allows others to update the drop.

The drop.io service automatically produces a pdf "business card" or an electronic v-card for your students (or colleagues) to keep so they can find the drop easily any time. Here's the pdf for my sample drop: click here. Here's the v-card for my sample drop: click here.

I've also listed the URL of drop.io at my list of free online services at The A&P Professor website.