User talk:MastCell: Difference between revisions
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::Well, regardless, it proved useful to me in a real-life discussion, and everyone around me found it very good advice. No one else had heard it, so I guess it hasn't reached all the relevant hills that it's as old as. [[User:Heimstern|Heimstern Läufer]] [[User talk:Heimstern|(talk)]] 03:41, 27 March 2012 (UTC) |
::Well, regardless, it proved useful to me in a real-life discussion, and everyone around me found it very good advice. No one else had heard it, so I guess it hasn't reached all the relevant hills that it's as old as. [[User:Heimstern|Heimstern Läufer]] [[User talk:Heimstern|(talk)]] 03:41, 27 March 2012 (UTC) |
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:::The hills in your area must be newer. [[User:EdJohnston|EdJohnston]] ([[User talk:EdJohnston|talk]]) 04:44, 27 March 2012 (UTC) |
:::The hills in your area must be newer. [[User:EdJohnston|EdJohnston]] ([[User talk:EdJohnston|talk]]) 04:44, 27 March 2012 (UTC) |
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== Re BLPN == |
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Regarding [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons/Noticeboard&diff=prev&oldid=484589657] - BLP does not apply to disenfranchised individuals - otherwise, they'd be franchised. Unless you are a conservative political figure or a celebrity of minor note BLP does not apply. Surely, you know this. [[User:Hipocrite|Hipocrite]] ([[User talk:Hipocrite|talk]]) 20:03, 29 March 2012 (UTC) |
Revision as of 20:03, 29 March 2012
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MEDRS to policy
See my post to Colin. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:38, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks for the heads-up; I commented at WT:MEDRS. I have surprisingly mixed feelings about a promotion to policy, but I think it's fantastic that this issue is gaining some visibility. MastCell Talk 17:27, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- I wonder if the biggest advantage of it being policy is the knock-on effect it would have on sourcing as a whole: " Ideal sources for
biomedical[all] material include general or systematic reviews in reliable, third-party, published sources, such as reputablemedical[academic] journals, widely recognised standard textbooks written by experts in a field, ormedicalguidelines and position statements from nationally or internationally recognised expert bodies" - Guettarda (talk) 17:52, 27 February 2012 (UTC)- I don't think Wikipedia will ever adopt those sorts of sourcing standards across the board, and it's a minor miracle they've been accepted for medical material. Then again, I suppose we've come a long way since I was told by an Arbitrator (in response to these questions) that it would fall afoul of WP:NPOV to "promote the view" that smoking was dangerous. MastCell Talk 18:10, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- But who would "promote the view" that smoking isn't dangerous? . . . dave souza, talk 21:02, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- The problem, Dave, is that Wikipedia is based, in part, on a postmodernist model where everyone has an agenda, and that it's our job to merely describe these views. That is, of course, challenged by the empiricist view that finds its dominant expression in BLP, where facts actually do matter. But that puts us at odds with Wikipedia's foundationalist philosophy that we should merely be descriptive, not normative, in our articles. Like BLP, MEDRS challenges that philosophy - in fact, it's an even more dangerous challenge, since BLP, in the way it plays out, is still descriptivist, it's still formulaic. There's no need to pick "the truth", just "reliable sources". Guettarda (talk) 21:15, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- But who would "promote the view" that smoking isn't dangerous? . . . dave souza, talk 21:02, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- I don't think Wikipedia will ever adopt those sorts of sourcing standards across the board, and it's a minor miracle they've been accepted for medical material. Then again, I suppose we've come a long way since I was told by an Arbitrator (in response to these questions) that it would fall afoul of WP:NPOV to "promote the view" that smoking was dangerous. MastCell Talk 18:10, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- I wonder if the biggest advantage of it being policy is the knock-on effect it would have on sourcing as a whole: " Ideal sources for
- Now you tell me. It's similar to what I'm encountering on PANDAS articles (a topic much more complex than smoking), where an independent editor weighed in to claim that I was edit warring after one revert (first revert) in the BRD cycle, to remove primary sources and false representation of one (and only one) source on a topic. No respect whatsoever for sourcing, not to mention false claim of edit warring based on one revert. Anyway, someone already launched the ill-formulated RFC at MEDRS, so now we're for sure in for a mess. And Guettarda, your proposal doesn't work for contemporary topics, where there isn't a body of peer-reviewed literature. Hugo Chavez comes to mind. Owners of that article have kept it a hagiography by preventing any use of mainstream reliable sources over leftist publications. The difference, and reason it works and is needed in medicine, is that primary sources (individual studies, yet to be replicated, based on small samples, based on faulty methodology, etc) can still get published in journals. We wait for them to be published in secondary reviews. That's not the case with other content areas, which aren't based on research studies that need replication, analysis, etc. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 18:18, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- I didn't mean it literally - I meant that if MEDRS became policy, it might trickle down into the way people think about sourcing. As Chavez - I looked at the article and it has serious problems that are, I think, entirely orthogonal to the question of pro- or anti-Chavez bias. It's fair to criticise the fact that the second paragraph of this section begins like a government press release. But the solution isn't to to balance it with something from the other side - what's needed is something like a tertiary source, something like a review article, that looks at the pro- and anti- (and 'other') literature and tries to assess what it all means. As an aside, what strikes me about that article is it's First World bias, it's 'outsider' approach. I remember coming home in 2001 and seeing Port of Spain awash with well-dressed young Venezuelans. A Trinidadian who knows their history can learn a lot about what middle class Venezuelans think of their government, simply by looking around. But there's remarkably little context in the article about why people supported, and did not support Chavez, and about what Venezuelans think of Chavez. Even if we applied the rules of sourcing perfectly, we still not get it right.
(As for the rest - I've got a long answer in my head. But it actually works better as a response to the rest of that stuff below). Guettarda (talk) 20:23, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- I didn't mean it literally - I meant that if MEDRS became policy, it might trickle down into the way people think about sourcing. As Chavez - I looked at the article and it has serious problems that are, I think, entirely orthogonal to the question of pro- or anti-Chavez bias. It's fair to criticise the fact that the second paragraph of this section begins like a government press release. But the solution isn't to to balance it with something from the other side - what's needed is something like a tertiary source, something like a review article, that looks at the pro- and anti- (and 'other') literature and tries to assess what it all means. As an aside, what strikes me about that article is it's First World bias, it's 'outsider' approach. I remember coming home in 2001 and seeing Port of Spain awash with well-dressed young Venezuelans. A Trinidadian who knows their history can learn a lot about what middle class Venezuelans think of their government, simply by looking around. But there's remarkably little context in the article about why people supported, and did not support Chavez, and about what Venezuelans think of Chavez. Even if we applied the rules of sourcing perfectly, we still not get it right.
- Now you tell me. It's similar to what I'm encountering on PANDAS articles (a topic much more complex than smoking), where an independent editor weighed in to claim that I was edit warring after one revert (first revert) in the BRD cycle, to remove primary sources and false representation of one (and only one) source on a topic. No respect whatsoever for sourcing, not to mention false claim of edit warring based on one revert. Anyway, someone already launched the ill-formulated RFC at MEDRS, so now we're for sure in for a mess. And Guettarda, your proposal doesn't work for contemporary topics, where there isn't a body of peer-reviewed literature. Hugo Chavez comes to mind. Owners of that article have kept it a hagiography by preventing any use of mainstream reliable sources over leftist publications. The difference, and reason it works and is needed in medicine, is that primary sources (individual studies, yet to be replicated, based on small samples, based on faulty methodology, etc) can still get published in journals. We wait for them to be published in secondary reviews. That's not the case with other content areas, which aren't based on research studies that need replication, analysis, etc. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 18:18, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- Incidentally, looking over the TimidGuy case pages, I'm still bemused by this rather ominous question to Doc James (bottom half of diff; the top half is interesting in its own right, but James handled it admirably). I asked for clarification, but none was forthcoming. MastCell Talk 18:39, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- Holy cow. Ummm, were you trying to convince to stay on Wikpedia when I'm already discouraged? :/ :/ You know, I've asked a multitude of questions of the arbs recently that have gone unanswered. [1] One doesn't even know anymore what it takes to be "drawn and quartered", but ... oh, fuck it. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 18:44, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- If it's any consolation, in this particular case I think the decision to sanction Will was made early on, based on a global, long-term impression of his editing. There seems to have been a bit of a scramble to fill in the blanks with an actual legalistic rationale for the sanctions. ArbCom settled finally (among other things) on the forum-shopping/private evidence charge. I don't think they're going to come down hard on private evidence submissions across the board; I think this was Will-specific, in that there needed to be a coatrack of a rationale to justify sanctions against him.
I'm basing this solely on ArbCom Kremlinology and have no actual knowledge of the Committee's deliberations, but it just doesn't make sense otherwise. I mean, ArbCom receives slanted or misleading evidence presentations privately and publicly every day. Certainly I received such "hogwash" routinely when I was active in resolving disputes and adminning at WP:AE. That's part of life - probably every submission to ArbCom is slanted in some way, to make the points its author thinks are most valid. To come down on Will specifically for something that is an essentially universal practice stemming from human nature only makes sense in some sort of broader context.
The bottom line is that I don't think you need to worry about these principles applying more generally. Unless, of course, you end up on the wrong side of this site's personality politics... :] MastCell Talk 18:55, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- I replied there Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:05, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- The notion that one is OK "unless, of course, you end up on the wrong side of this site's personality politics" doesn't warm my heart. I got one response from someone I believe, but it's still incomplete. The take home message is one is better to be very careful in asking questions, even privately, even of trusted arbs, considering some "personality politics". Less and less emphasis on this site is given to content, more and more to personality. Cas, I don't understand your response on that page ... I thought Will did submit it privately? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:13, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- Not all - see Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/TimidGuy_ban_appeal/Evidence#Outing - my view is that some of these aren't but at least one is. I can't speak for the other arbs on how they viewed each diff provided here and elsewhere. Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:27, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks, Cas ... are the arbs aware that the wording on that case is a nightmare, rendering confusion? Or am I just exceedingly dumber than the average bear? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:28, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- Maybe because I've read bits of it so many times I can't see it - do you mean the juxtaposition of WBB findings? Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:40, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- I think I've got it now (per Roger Davies' last post), but the confusion I think arose because of confidentiality, there was a notion somewhere on some page that WBB had gone wrong by his persistence in e-mailing arbs, which is scary! I was left wondering if I should never e-mail arbs again (some of them seem to be ignoring me on another sticky wicket), along with wondering when I'll be declared in COI status because I know so many people with tics and so many people in Venezuela :) Anyway, Roger Davies' last post clears it up for me. I think. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:49, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- Maybe because I've read bits of it so many times I can't see it - do you mean the juxtaposition of WBB findings? Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:40, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks, Cas ... are the arbs aware that the wording on that case is a nightmare, rendering confusion? Or am I just exceedingly dumber than the average bear? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:28, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- Not all - see Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/TimidGuy_ban_appeal/Evidence#Outing - my view is that some of these aren't but at least one is. I can't speak for the other arbs on how they viewed each diff provided here and elsewhere. Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:27, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
- If it's any consolation, in this particular case I think the decision to sanction Will was made early on, based on a global, long-term impression of his editing. There seems to have been a bit of a scramble to fill in the blanks with an actual legalistic rationale for the sanctions. ArbCom settled finally (among other things) on the forum-shopping/private evidence charge. I don't think they're going to come down hard on private evidence submissions across the board; I think this was Will-specific, in that there needed to be a coatrack of a rationale to justify sanctions against him.
- Holy cow. Ummm, were you trying to convince to stay on Wikpedia when I'm already discouraged? :/ :/ You know, I've asked a multitude of questions of the arbs recently that have gone unanswered. [1] One doesn't even know anymore what it takes to be "drawn and quartered", but ... oh, fuck it. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 18:44, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
Our Basic Pact of Honesty
I came across a conversation you had at User:Riskers talk regarding COI and "our basic pact of honesty with the reader". At WP:Paid Operatives I am gathering comments from wherever I find them pertaining to just those subjects and political operatives. May I include your "rant" as you called it. It is precisely the issue that troubles me---our duty to our reader. Thanking you in advance....```Buster Seven Talk 02:50, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
- Sure, no problem. MastCell Talk 04:07, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
Messy PANDAS mess
What makes something like this happen? [2] That was previously available on PMC, but is now "embargoed". Messy mess since the NIH runs PubMed, the NIMH put forward PANDAS, and something that was fit for public consumption earlier no longer is ? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:23, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
- I don't think there's anything sinister going on. Typically, articles presenting NIH-funded research must be distributed freely on PMC, but they're typically embargoed for 1 year from the date of publication before being put on PMC. During that time, the paper is only available in the journal, which protects the journal's business model (they're not happy about having articles freely available at all, but the thought is that most interest will occur during the first year after publication, during which the journal can profit from exclusivity).
It looks like in this case, the article was published in J. Pediatrics in Feb. 2012, and thus will become available for free on PMC in Feb. 2013. I'm not sure why it was previously available, except that sometimes journals/PMC will provide free access to "preprints". Usually once the actual article is published, it's embargoed from PMC for a year. I suspect you've already got access to the article, but if you don't and you'd like a copy for personal use, let me know and I'll email you one. MastCell Talk 19:41, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
- But ... but ... a conspiracy theory is so much more interesting! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:15, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
Crap, I'm not a Dr and I don't even play one on television, but this isn't on, and my tax dollars are paying for it. Talk:PANDAS#Problem: moving target. Don't like the results, redefine the condition, but so how am I supposed to write a discussion of the problems with the former criteria, using secondary reviews, when they've now changed it! No wonder I'm unable to write this article. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:54, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
- Believe me, your tax dollars pay for a lot worse. Did you know that NCCAM spent $30 million investigating chelation therapy for heart disease, despite the lack of anything resembling biological plausibility ([3])? The trial was ultimately shut down, in part because OHRP identified "multiple instances of substandard practices, insurance fraud, and felony activity on the part of investigators." ([4]) But that money isn't coming back, and meanwhile I see innumerable promising cancer-research avenues wither on the vine for lack of funding.
Again, it's not totally unheard-of to refine diagnostic criteria; there's a well-publicized proposal to narrow the criteria for an autism diagnosis, and a lot of other conditions (e.g. type 2 diabetes mellitus) have had their diagnostic criteria redefined over the years. I think the best approach is to clearly state that the NIH altered the diagnostic criteria in 2010, which has implications for the previously published research. I agree that this raises some concern about goalpost-moving, and it's a little concerning how quickly and blithely they abandoned a role for strep (which was, after all, a dominant part of the initial hypothesis). But that's as may be; we just have to work with what we've got. MastCell Talk 23:19, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
- wth, writing that article is hard enough :/ NIMH: read User talk:SandyGeorgia/arch37#I need your permission for a good time (you have to skip about halfway down). My talk page used to host regular cage-matches. Oh, wait ... SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:30, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
New page patrol
My latest hobby. Will leave
for you. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:55, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
Re: WP:PA and "this seems to coincide with an effort by user|PPdd to turn our article on Paul M. Fleiss in a very promotional, non-encyclopedic direction."
Your ad hominum attack on me, "this seems to coincide with an effort by user|PPdd to turn our article on Paul M. Fleiss in a very promotional, non-encyclopedic direction." is entirely unjustified and violates WP:PA]. Paul Fleiss, in my opinion is a nutcase believer in alternative medicine, even homeopathy. However, his lifelong large body of work should not be overwhelmed by WP:Undue focus of a bizarre unproven accusation by a person who denies the existence of the AIDS virus, or of a frustrated prosecutor's efforts to get at his daughter by attacking her family, a minor incident in his life, and so not encyclopedic to overwhelm the article on him. I had planned on taking his article in the direction of focusing on his own nutball beliefs, not on two minor incidents in his own life that are about his his daughter and the AIDS virus denier, not major things about him. I ask that you please strike your ad hominum (and utterly false) ad hominum attack on me, which violates WP:PA. PPdd (talk) 05:25, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
- There is nothing remotely close to a personal attack in that statement (which from the the look at the Paul M. Fleiss article, looks to be an accurate assessment of the way the article is turning). Yobol (talk) 05:40, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
- "an effort by user|PPdd to turn our article" is a statement about me, not about my edits, and violates WP:PA. I am making no such effort. It is entirely different from stating "This series of edits is unencyclopedic", which is about my edits, not about me. PPdd (talk) 06:10, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
- I think your edits at Paul M. Fleiss take the article in a promotional and unencyclopedic direction. I said as much on the article talk page. I don't see how it's possible to collaboratively build an encyclopedia if we're not allowed to discuss the impact of each others' article edits.
Unlike you, apparently, I don't think the article should disparage Fleiss is a "nutcase believer" in anything. Nor should it promote him in excessively fulsome terms as pediatrician to the stars and the second coming of Aldous Huxley. The article should just convey what independent, reliable sources have said about him. It certainly wasn't perfect before, but it's not going in the right direction now. MastCell Talk 07:00, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
- I think your edits at Paul M. Fleiss take the article in a promotional and unencyclopedic direction. I said as much on the article talk page. I don't see how it's possible to collaboratively build an encyclopedia if we're not allowed to discuss the impact of each others' article edits.
- "an effort by user|PPdd to turn our article" is a statement about me, not about my edits, and violates WP:PA. I am making no such effort. It is entirely different from stating "This series of edits is unencyclopedic", which is about my edits, not about me. PPdd (talk) 06:10, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
- I simply think a famous scholar, pediatrician, and speaker on social issues, should have an article asbout his scholarly work, pediatrician practice, and speeches. It should not start off with MOS violating specifics in the lead abuot "circumcision" and "breast feeding", like a Hollywood sex scandal rag. These are admittedly two medical topiucs among hundreds of articles and talks he gave, but are grossly WP:UNDUE for the opening in the lead, which should be general and not specific. PPdd (talk) 01:55, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
- I'm not even sure where to start. You keep saying Fleiss is a "famous scholar", but as we've been over repeatedly, the sources I've seen don't support your claim. That doesn't stop you from repeating it several dozen times a day, which makes it hard to have a constructive discussion. It's mostly like this: "Fleiss is a famous scholar!!!!" "Er, he hasn't published much... what sources describe him as a famous scholar?" "Fleiss is a famous scholar!!!!!" and so on.
Secondly, there's nothing inherently salacious about circumcision or breast-feeding. It is literally incomprehensible to me why you equate mention of these topics with a "Hollywood sex scandal rag". Finally, as best I can tell, most of Fleiss' published work (mostly letters to the editor) are about circumcision, so I fail to see merit even in your claim of undue weight. I am completely at a loss in how to deal with your editing. MastCell Talk 05:27, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
- If I may offer a suggestion, the first need seems to be a review of wp:RS and wp:BLP. Much of what is being used in the article is completely inappropriate sourcing, e.g. publisher bioblurbs. I'd suggest the editor step back temporarily while studying the policies and allow others to bring the into compliance with them. LeadSongDog come howl! 06:17, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
- I don't know why you are suggesting that I step back. I came to an article with no significant edits for a year, that said bizarre things about a living person without any citations, and I threw up a construction tag. I did a few hours of work adding sources and removing unsourced material and went to sleep. When I woke up the article suddenly had a large number of editors excliaming the merits or the unsourced original article. I never even started putting in the material I had gathered which caused me to originally put up the construction tag. Then my newly created Jesse Fleiss article got an AFD within minutes of having started it, also with a construction tag, with delete arguments essentially claiming that reality televisoin is so bad that its central "artistic" co-creators get a different standard than that in WP:CREATIVE, just because they are hacks whose work does not deserve to be notable when it is. Why should I step back from and article I just put a construcion tag on, or allow unsourced negative information in a BLP as I found it? I will do as you suggest, but please respond to that question. PPdd (talk) 02:38, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
- You've made close to 100 edits to Paul M. Fleiss and the associated talk page in just the past day or so. That's why people are asking you to slow down and step back. MastCell Talk 04:07, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
- I thought that was one of the purposes of a construction tag I put up, to have other editors step back from interference for a brief time while an editor does some major reworking, so as not to disrupt work. I never even put in the material I intended to include because once again, coming back to WP, I am spending most of my time on talk pages instead of articles, fighting deletions of information. I imaging a demographic analysis of WP editors would show new editors becoming less and less frequent because of this, as it makes me just walk away again each time I come back. PPdd (talk) 02:33, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
- You've made close to 100 edits to Paul M. Fleiss and the associated talk page in just the past day or so. That's why people are asking you to slow down and step back. MastCell Talk 04:07, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
- I don't know why you are suggesting that I step back. I came to an article with no significant edits for a year, that said bizarre things about a living person without any citations, and I threw up a construction tag. I did a few hours of work adding sources and removing unsourced material and went to sleep. When I woke up the article suddenly had a large number of editors excliaming the merits or the unsourced original article. I never even started putting in the material I had gathered which caused me to originally put up the construction tag. Then my newly created Jesse Fleiss article got an AFD within minutes of having started it, also with a construction tag, with delete arguments essentially claiming that reality televisoin is so bad that its central "artistic" co-creators get a different standard than that in WP:CREATIVE, just because they are hacks whose work does not deserve to be notable when it is. Why should I step back from and article I just put a construcion tag on, or allow unsourced negative information in a BLP as I found it? I will do as you suggest, but please respond to that question. PPdd (talk) 02:38, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
- If I may offer a suggestion, the first need seems to be a review of wp:RS and wp:BLP. Much of what is being used in the article is completely inappropriate sourcing, e.g. publisher bioblurbs. I'd suggest the editor step back temporarily while studying the policies and allow others to bring the into compliance with them. LeadSongDog come howl! 06:17, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
- I'm not even sure where to start. You keep saying Fleiss is a "famous scholar", but as we've been over repeatedly, the sources I've seen don't support your claim. That doesn't stop you from repeating it several dozen times a day, which makes it hard to have a constructive discussion. It's mostly like this: "Fleiss is a famous scholar!!!!" "Er, he hasn't published much... what sources describe him as a famous scholar?" "Fleiss is a famous scholar!!!!!" and so on.
Burzynski
Hi. I have been watching the Burzynski shills on Twitter and elsewhere, good work keeping the article stable. Let me know if you need backup. Guy (Help!) 22:32, 4 March 2012 (UTC)
Disease classification
Huh? "To be classified as a disease, a disorder must show that a particular part of the body is affected or that the symptoms occur if and only if the trigger or cause occurs." SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:02, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
- Yep, if the disorder doesn't file the appropriate paperwork in a timely fashion it will not be classified as a disease. We don't want any slacker disorders making it in under the radar into the elite club of diseases! Guettarda (talk) 02:16, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
- I think you've got it mixed up. In order for a malady to progress from an affliction to a disease, you have to first show that it's not an infirmity, which requires that a specific body part be affected unless the symptoms occur only on Wednesdays or after a heavy dinner. Otherwise it's just a debility. HTH. :P MastCell Talk 04:03, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
Cancer vaccine? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:25, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
- Oh yeah, cancer vaccines are the Next Big Thing. And have been for the past 20 years. The idea is so simple and appealing - you just stimulate a patient's immune response against antigens associated with their tumor, and sit back and watch - that 20 years of disappointments haven't dimmed the medical community's enthusiasm for this approach. To be fair, there is one FDA-approved cancer vaccine - Provenge - but that vaccine's approval was a soap opera about which books are likely being written as we speak, and I don't think the scientific verdict is in yet (e.g. [5]).
Then there's TroVax, which worked great in animal models and produced the ubiquitous "promising" and "encouraging" results in Phase I and Phase II trials. But then someone went and actually conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled trial (PMID 20881001), which didn't show any benefit.
Haven't heard of HybriCell. It looks like the approach was tried in the early 2000's (PMID 15185011), but the literature on cancer immunotherapy should incline one to extreme skepticism of any approach that hasn't been tested in Phase III randomized controlled trials. Our article on TroVax needs some serious work - it reads like an out-of-date drug-company recruiting website, and HybriCell should probably get a bit of work done as well. MastCell Talk 04:22, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
- Are there other therapeutic vaccines in use today?I'm curious because I'm not sure I really understand how they would work. Prophylactic vaccines against something like the flu or typhoid make sense to me—you allow the body to create the memory T cells (?) that would allow them to create a faster antibody response the next time they see a virulent strain of the virus or bacteria in question. But there is no next time for therapeutic vaccines; the disease is already there and the lymphocytes should already be at work... NW (Talk) 01:03, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
- Vaccine could use some work, particularly Vaccine#Experimental and Vaccine#Trends. In the trends section, it does mention CYT006-AngQb, a therapeutic vaccine for hypertension. Post-exposure treatment with a rabies vaccine schedule is also pretty common, but I'm not sure if that would properly be classified as therapeutic. Nathan T 01:14, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
- "Vaccine" may not be the best word; these are actually forms of adoptive immunotherapy. Immune responses are clearly capable of eliminating malignancy in some cases. For example, allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation works, in large part, because donor T cells attack and destroy residual cancer. If you give patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell cancer high-dose interleukin-2 (a potent immunostimulant), then you'll reliably observe dramatic responses, even cures, in about 10-15% of them (unfortunately, no one knows how to predict which 10-15%). Even more interestingly, if you administer an agent like ipilimumab which modulates T-cell costimulation, you can "break" self-tolerance and get someone's T cells to attack their melanoma.
Most cancer vaccines are a variation on a simple idea. You take a person's T cells, grow up a clone that recognizes cancer-associated antigens, and then you re-infuse them. Often this is done by co-culturing antigen-presenting cells (for example, dendritic cells) loaded with the antigen of interest. The APCs present antigen to T cells, you sprinkle in a few cytokines, and you end up with a bunch of activated T cells specific for the cancer-associated antigen. Alternately, you can transfect the T cells with the gene for a T-cell receptor that recognizes the antigen of interest, and wait for the cells to express it. Hypothetically, once they're reinfused, these cells should home to cancer cells and lyse them safely and effectively, the way a vaccinated and primed immune system eliminates pathogens.
Of course, it's not that simple. For one thing, there aren't that many cancer-specific antigens (which makes sense, since cancer is mostly just your own cells, and your immune system is optimized to tolerate your own cells). For another, the antitumor T cell clones tend to peter out and dissipate in weeks to months, presumably because of downregulatory signals intended to prevent runaway immune reactions. Finally, malignant cells are tricky and they evolve (or are intelligently-redesigned, in the interest of "NPOV"). They downregulate or hide the antigen of interest, and since the T-cell response is monoclonal instead of polyclonal, that's often enough to evade it. Or the cancer cells start expressing costimulatory molecules that promote anergy instead of cell-mediated lysis. Or any of a dozen mechanisms that no one understands yet.
I'm not an expert on this stuff, and it's a bit outside my field. An actual cancer immunologist would probably laugh at that explanation, but it's interesting stuff. MastCell Talk 01:26, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
- "Vaccine" may not be the best word; these are actually forms of adoptive immunotherapy. Immune responses are clearly capable of eliminating malignancy in some cases. For example, allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation works, in large part, because donor T cells attack and destroy residual cancer. If you give patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell cancer high-dose interleukin-2 (a potent immunostimulant), then you'll reliably observe dramatic responses, even cures, in about 10-15% of them (unfortunately, no one knows how to predict which 10-15%). Even more interestingly, if you administer an agent like ipilimumab which modulates T-cell costimulation, you can "break" self-tolerance and get someone's T cells to attack their melanoma.
- Vaccine could use some work, particularly Vaccine#Experimental and Vaccine#Trends. In the trends section, it does mention CYT006-AngQb, a therapeutic vaccine for hypertension. Post-exposure treatment with a rabies vaccine schedule is also pretty common, but I'm not sure if that would properly be classified as therapeutic. Nathan T 01:14, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
I think we should tell the world about this amazing product: Template:Did you know nominations/HybriCell. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 13:33, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
Breast cancer question
Hola,
Does this section look right to you? I simply don't have the background, but I do know Sebastiano venturi (talk · contribs) has added his own research to various page. This particular section was a duplicate of one I've already trimmed but rather than get further in over my head I thought I might ask an expert. Thanks, WLU (t) (c) Wikipedia's rules:simple/complex 19:21, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
- I guess it's OK to mention it. There seems to be some limited support in an animal model, and no doubt some of these folks are trying to drum up funding to look at the question in humans. (In fact, the text in question reads like it was taken from the Specific Aims of someone's grant application). I think it's fine to mention it, as long as the text makes clear that this observation is limited to animal models and that its significance for humans, if any, is unclear at present. MastCell Talk 19:33, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
Alkaline Diet
I want to say I really appreciate what you did to the Alkaline Diet article. That article was a mess that gave bad impressions! It required a few touch ups since but the format and negativity in the article is much improved over the every statement followed by the "but he is an idiot" phraseology due to some ownership exerted there. Many attempts have been made by many editors over the years but ownership by a few has prevailed to deter any new editors from contributing. A simple google search will display many public outcries against wikipedia for this attitude on fringe health articles. Much better now, despite a few raids still from some, and counter measures by the "owners" . It could be lengthened with some supplement testing studies (all reverted) and specific diet food lists although I believe most of the specific foods are quite controversial between proponents, yet. Thanks again.99.251.114.120 (talk) 22:52, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
Repeatedly inserting disputed material.
You can see that material on the talk page. It changed according to a critique of the person who took it out. Twice. One reversion occurred, and I would never be so offensive. Please remove your semi-protection of prion. It was not necessary. I was leading a consensus. I capitulated. You interfered. 137.186.47.81 (talk) 19:28, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
- Please feel free to continue discussion of the disputed content on the talk page (Talk:Prion). If you are, in fact, at the forefront of a developing consensus on the talk page, then I'm sure other editors will be happy to include the material in question. MastCell Talk 19:34, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
- Regrettably, the edit warring by 137.186 is just the tip of an iceberg of user conduct issues. He has entered an area where the terminology can be confusing to the newcomer, but he is unwilling to do the necessary reading (or listen to more knowledgeable editors) in order to avoid making serious errors of fact and grievously misinterpreting the literature. It's taken a few days for him to grasp (after much abuse of other editors) that PrP, the major prion protein, is not the same thing as APP, the amyloid precursor protein; unfortunately there are still a number of additional misconceptions that he needs to work through. I suspect that what happened is that he learned (correctly) that PrP aggregates in the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are amyloid in nature, and on that basis he concluded (very incorrectly) that all amyloid is the same stuff, and further that all amyloid is composed of prions.
- Unfortunately, it takes extraordinary and heroic efforts to persuade him that he has ever made even the smallest error; any challenges to his edits are met with petulance and taunting. He keeps showing up to taunt and insult and threaten on my talk page, creating four new sections on my user talk page in the last ten hours. He uses deliberate misspellings in his talk page posts, claiming to be a linguist (embracing such variant spellings as wuz for was). Worst of all, he has just speciously accused another editor (a recognized researcher in the field) of "sabotaging a competing theory" and having a conflict of interest. Unless there is a dramatic and immediate change in his approach to editing and interaction with other editors, more direct administrator intervention than page protection may be required. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 22:39, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
- ...and he's back; this time attacking Joannamasel (talk · contribs), accusing her of "sabotage" on her talk page. (For reference, Joanna Masel is a PI at U. Arizona, working in computational biology. Her PhD work concentrated on prion biology, so she can be expected to be professionally clueful in this area.) TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:30, 12 March 2012 (UTC)
- I think it is reasonable to assign some non-zero value to the time and effort of knowledgeable, serious, patient volunteers (although I realize that doing so puts me distinctly out of step with Wikipedia's prevailing ethos). On that basis, I have blocked the IP for 24 hours, I've described the basis for the block on the IP talk page, and I will follow up with additional sanctions if the problems persist or recur. MastCell Talk 17:24, 12 March 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks. It drives me up the wall to see competent, qualified editors accused of serious misconduct, and attacked for trying to be helpful. (From a bureaucratic-hoops standpoint, your block of the IP editor is also supported by the provisions of WP:BLP, as the IP was making unsupported accusations of ethical misconduct against an editor who writes under her real name.) TenOfAllTrades(talk) 18:03, 12 March 2012 (UTC)
Statement by MastCell
That's an interesting quote you have there. My recollection is that someone pointed out another, during/after ARBCC, where Cla boasts of stirring up edit wars. I don't suppose your superior WR search abilities can find that? William M. Connolley (talk) 18:51, 10 March 2012 (UTC)
Over the counter birth control pill
I know this isn't your area, but I thought you might be interested in this paper by Trussell et al and its accompanying editorial by Professor David A. Grimes (who I think has come up several times at abortion). A friend of mine sent me the article, and after rereading today's featured article, it made me wonder why the Pill isn't available over the counter or even in the same fashion that emergency contraception is currently available. Might you or one of your talk page watchers have an idea? NW (Talk) 23:15, 12 March 2012 (UTC)
- There are two barriers to over-the-counter status for oral contraceptives, one political and one more substantive. The political barrier is, sadly, obvious, especially at a time when the de facto mouthpiece of one of our major political parties attacks women interested in insurance coverage for contraception as "sluts" and "prostitutes" and insists that they should be compelled to submit footage of their sexual encounters as the price of access to contraception. And, of course, other leading Republican voices mildly object to his word choice, but not the underlying thought process.
I think drug-makers—who are exquisitely sensitive to political undercurrents—realize it would be suicidal to file an application for OTC status in the current political climate, particularly since the Obama Administration has demonstrated an inconsistent level of support for scientific decision-making on these issues (cf. the decision to overrule FDA on emergency-contraception availability). The OTC approval process for Plan B, both during the Bush years and currently, make it abundantly clear that politics is the dominant factor in these decisions, and the scientific recommendations of the Advisory Board carry essentially zero weight in the face of political calculus. It's not out of the question that someday the political will might exist to actually follow through on a rational approach to the subject, but it's not going to happen in an election year.
There are also more reasonable barriers to OTC access. To my knowledge, FDA has never approved an OTC that's meant to be taken continuously on an every-day basis. OTC approvals, to date, have been for symptom-focused, short-term treatments (of course, many people take ibuprofen chronically for pain, or aspirin daily for its cardiovascular benefits, but the actual approvals for these drugs were based on time-limited use for musculoskeletal pain). This isn't an insurmountable obstacle for a drug-maker—they could make the case that OCPs should be the first continuous-use OTC—but it's a consideration.
There isn't any logical safety argument against OTC status for oral contraceptives. The safety profile is no worse than that of other OTCs, and in fact they're basically overdose-proof (in contrast to Tylenol, for instance, which is highly lethal in overdose, a major cause of liver transplantation, and a highly prevalent means of suicide). There are clear warnings and contraindications, but evidence suggests that women can self-screen as effectively as physicians can screen them.
So in the end, I think it comes down to political climate, the willingness of a drug-maker to submit an OTC application (which is highly dependent on the political climate), and FDA's interest in breaking ground with an every-day OTC. I thought at one point that statins might break that last barrier, but it hasn't happened yet, for a variety of reasons. MastCell Talk 19:02, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
Hello!
Still around my friend and thank you for your note. I am quite well. Just busy, as I suspect you are as well. Hope that you are are keeping well MastCell and hope that there is little cromolyn affecting you (aren't I punny) -- Samir 02:09, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
Contraceptives and cancer
Hi MastCell - I wonder if you could check out the recent edits at Risk factors for breast cancer. The changes are cited (most recently) to reliable sources, but I question whether the user is accurately representing the source and I don't have the skill/experience at reading science/medicine stuff to properly figure it out. Could you please take a look? Thanks. –Roscelese (talk ⋅ contribs) 05:58, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
- The topic of oral contraceptives and breast cancer is a complex one. It's worth situating the question by looking at the effect of oral contraceptives on all cancers. OCP use is associated with increased risks of cervical and liver cancer, but decreased risks of endometrial, colorectal, and ovarian cancer. Overall, OCP use isn't associated with an increased risk of cancer, and may in fact modestly decrease the overall risk of cancer (see PMID 17855280).
With respect to breast cancer, most major expert bodies either take a neutral position or state that OCP use may slightly increase the risk of breast cancer in the short term, with the risk returning to normal 5-10 years after stopping OCP use (e.g. American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute). That view is based largely on a 1996 British study (PMID 8656904). It's worth noting, in passing, the increased risk of breast cancer reported in that study: between 0.5 and 4.7 additional cases of breast cancer for every 10,000 women using oral contraceptives; also, the breast cancers diagnosed in OCP users were earlier-stage, less clinically aggressive, and more treatable.
More recent evidence comes down heavily on the side of no association between OCP use and breast cancer. The 1997 Nurses' Health Study showed no excess risk in OCP users over 40 (there was insufficient data to talk about younger women; PMID 9051324). In 2002, the CDC published an analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine finding no excess risk of breast cancer with OCP use (PMID 12087137). Finally, in 2007, the Royal College of GPs published a large cohort study, with over 1 million person-years, demonstrating no increased risk of breast cancer with OCP use (PMID 17855280).
Personally, I don't think most of the major organizations' position statements have been updated to take these studies into account (for example, the NCI page doesn't even cite the 2007 study, which I personally found the most persuasive). Of course, it's just, like, my opinion, and in the end we're obligated to reflect the positions of expert bodies, which presumably will be updated to reflect more recent evidence at some point.
Regarding the edits in question, your instincts were correct and they warrant some scrutiny. I'm always a bit suspicious when people play up the IARC Group 1 carcinogen thing. Yes, "asbestos and formaldehyde" are also Group 1 carcinogens, but so are sawdust and salty fish. It seems a bit like scare-mongering, especially since the IARC determination means only that a substance is biologically capable of causing cancer, not that it increases the overall cancer risk in clinical use (see the above studies, which suggest that the overall effect of OCPs on cancer risk is neutral to favorable).
Moreover, this edit inserts some rather dubious criticisms of the 1996 British study (which is a bit dated to begin with). Worst of all, it cites Kahlenborn et al. (PMID 17036554) as the final word on the subject. It's perhaps worth noting that the lead author of that paper, Chris Kahlenborn, is an anti-abortion activist who runs something called the Polycarp Institute ([6]). In 2001, he published a book entitled "Breast cancer: its link to abortion and the birth control pill", which rehashed pretty much every dismissed and discredited argument to make the case that abortions cause breast cancer. The senior author, Walter Severs, is also an opponent of abortion and a close collaborator with the dean of all anti-abortion researchers, Joel Brind ([7]). None of that means that their work should be dismissed out of hand, but it does make one wonder, at the very least, why their findings - which are discordant with the vast majority of medical literature and expert opinion - should be featured as the final word in our article. It seems a bit, shall we say, artificially selective.
I will try to take a closer look at the article in the next few days; it's an important one, and could certainly use work. MastCell Talk 06:04, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
- Sorry I didn't notice earlier that you'd responded. Thanks very much for the very informative answer - I'll try to edit the article to reflect the material. –Roscelese (talk ⋅ contribs) 19:34, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
Hello, Roscelese and Mastcell, let's please take this discussion to the talk on Risk Factors for Breast Cancer in a new section I started ["Risk_factors_for_breast_cancer: Contraception"] Thanks, I hope to see you both there Frankgyn 03:57, 22 March 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Frankgyn (talk • contribs)
Blocking
You seem to do a lot of arguing against blocking. Do you even see the irony? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.206.250.226 (talk) 14:07, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
- It's funny you say that. I usually perceive myself as being fairly hard-line, at least compared to "the community", which is generally willing to extend an almost infinite degree of forbearance (as long as the problem user in question doesn't directly impact their own editing). I don't think a block is the best answer to every problem, but they have their uses. Where do you see me doing "a lot of arguing against blocking"? MastCell Talk 15:52, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
- This particular IP appears to be stalking my recent edits, with some bizarre comments. Any suggestions on how to handle it? Yobol (talk) 18:49, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
- Looks like another admin blocked the IP... sorry for the delay in getting back to you. If it continues to be a problem, let me know and I'll take a look. Cheers. MastCell Talk 15:47, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks for looking into it. Another IP popped up later, but it has been blocked as well. Yobol (talk) 17:55, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
- Can I request semi-protection for my user talk, please? Yobol (talk) 18:40, 24 March 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks for looking into it. Another IP popped up later, but it has been blocked as well. Yobol (talk) 17:55, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
- Looks like another admin blocked the IP... sorry for the delay in getting back to you. If it continues to be a problem, let me know and I'll take a look. Cheers. MastCell Talk 15:47, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
- This particular IP appears to be stalking my recent edits, with some bizarre comments. Any suggestions on how to handle it? Yobol (talk) 18:49, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
Neuvax
I guess it's all the rage: User:Louphatton/Sandbox. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:13, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
Help please
Hey there MC. Could you give some advice/help re that editor that I "warred" with? Apparently he uses the insecticide imidacloprid in his work - killing the emerald ash beetle which is killing trees. Although his repeated edits amount to vandalism, that is not his intent, rather it is that he just doesn't get what Wikipedia is. He keeps trying to turn the articles into label instructions and its almost impossible to keep up with his edits. Please see the beetle page and the imidacloprid talk page. What can one do? Gandydancer (talk) 18:59, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
- One thing I've sometimes done in these sorts of cases is to impose a 1RR restriction on the editor in question (in this case, Tcprosser). That way, they can still edit and improve the article, but it helps them recognize that they're simply not going to be able to "force" their preferred content. It also takes some of the onus off the other editors so they're not forced to spend all their time reverting disputed edits. Finally, with 1RR, the editor is pretty much forced to use the talkpage to gain consensus.
I'd consider 1RR for Tcprosser on imidacloprid in this case, although if there's another admin already looking at the situation my preference would be to defer to him/her since I try to limit the amount of admin-type stuff I do these days. MastCell Talk 19:04, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
- MastCell, I've been trying to follow the troubles at imidacloprid, but have not decided what (if anything) would be an appropriate admin action. Would be interested to hear your recommendation. The article at clothianidin may have similar difficulties. In the past I have been alarmed by some edits by Tcprosser. Both Tcprosser (talk · contribs) and Gandydancer (talk · contribs) were blocked in February for edit warring at imidacloprid. Gandydancer's recent edits look fine to me. I also exchanged some mail with User:USEPA James who felt we were overstating some of the bad effects of these insecticides, and had been accused of a COI for his edits in this area. Thanks, EdJohnston (talk) 20:06, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
- I hope that you will both take a look at the emerald ash beetle article as well. It needs repair but I am waiting for advise so as to not waste time there. About the COI accusations at the clothianidin article, I believe that they were made by one of the several socks that have been editing that article. Gandydancer (talk) 10:16, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
- Ed, I share your concern about some of the edits by Tcprosser, and more generally about the fact that his/her participation on Wikipedia seems motivated solely by a desire to portray imidacloprid more favorably. I would actually go ahead with a 1RR for Tcprosser (on insecticide-related articles) for now, and see how that works out. I try to be optimistic about these things, but realistically, my experience is when someone comes to Wikipedia specifically to argue one side of a single contentious issue it's really hard to turn them into a productive, encyclopedic contributor (the cynical version is #17 here).
We often bend over backwards to try to get something useful out of these sorts of editors, but it never works. I think we're best off a) clearly informing them of this site's goals and expectations, and b) firmly but politely restricting their editing if there isn't a clear turnaround. I think the 1RR is a good step, because it will quickly clarify whether this editor is capable of working within our system of dispute resolution and building consensus etc. MastCell Talk 17:09, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
- A 1RR sounds good to me but how do you do it? It would appear to need a consensus for a community 1RR at a noticeboard or a relevant Arbcom case. EdJohnston (talk) 22:02, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
- Ed, I share your concern about some of the edits by Tcprosser, and more generally about the fact that his/her participation on Wikipedia seems motivated solely by a desire to portray imidacloprid more favorably. I would actually go ahead with a 1RR for Tcprosser (on insecticide-related articles) for now, and see how that works out. I try to be optimistic about these things, but realistically, my experience is when someone comes to Wikipedia specifically to argue one side of a single contentious issue it's really hard to turn them into a productive, encyclopedic contributor (the cynical version is #17 here).
- I hope that you will both take a look at the emerald ash beetle article as well. It needs repair but I am waiting for advise so as to not waste time there. About the COI accusations at the clothianidin article, I believe that they were made by one of the several socks that have been editing that article. Gandydancer (talk) 10:16, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
- MastCell, I've been trying to follow the troubles at imidacloprid, but have not decided what (if anything) would be an appropriate admin action. Would be interested to hear your recommendation. The article at clothianidin may have similar difficulties. In the past I have been alarmed by some edits by Tcprosser. Both Tcprosser (talk · contribs) and Gandydancer (talk · contribs) were blocked in February for edit warring at imidacloprid. Gandydancer's recent edits look fine to me. I also exchanged some mail with User:USEPA James who felt we were overstating some of the bad effects of these insecticides, and had been accused of a COI for his edits in this area. Thanks, EdJohnston (talk) 20:06, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
- MC, I am trying to fix the beetle article but it is turning into a nightmare. Could you go ahead and just revert everything to where it was before he started editing it? Gandydancer (talk) 22:27, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
- At this point I'm not willing to administratively endorse any specific version of the article, mostly because I haven't put in the necessary background to understand which, if any, of his changes have merit.
Ed, I guess I'm old-school, but I've usually just told people that they're under 1RR (for whatever period of time). I am not of the opinion that you need pre-existing consensus to impose such a restriction administratively, just as I think individual admins can issue topic bans without prior consensus. I would offer him the opportunity to appeal the 1RR in a suitable venue (e.g. WP:AN), but I've always operated under the belief that 1RR and topic bans are tools available to individual admins to resolve situations short of issuing an actual block.
Since I think 1RR is warranted here, I would be willing to take responsibility for imposing it. MastCell Talk 22:47, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
- You should boldly go forward with the 1RR. After writing an appropriate admin rationale, of course. EdJohnston (talk) 00:45, 24 March 2012 (UTC)
- At this point I'm not willing to administratively endorse any specific version of the article, mostly because I haven't put in the necessary background to understand which, if any, of his changes have merit.
- Just to close the loop here, Tcprosser (talk · contribs) hasn't edited since 22 March. If he starts editing again and the same issues are manifest, then I'll probably go ahead with the 1RR. MastCell Talk 16:16, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
Hello
I don't know English. そのため日本語で書かせていただきます。 今日本語版wikipediaではコピペ荒らしが発生しております。英語版wikipediaのP-28 turntableでも同様の記述がありました。そのため削除依頼に出してもらえませんか? — Preceding unsigned comment added by ひとつの西船橋 (talk • contribs) 05:19, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
- If I understand this correctly, the editor objects to this edit. The editor has already reverted it, but requests that it be deleted (revdel, maybe?) as copy-and-paste vandalism (perhaps a copyright violation?). WhatamIdoing (talk) 14:15, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks... that's a bit odd. Unfortunately I don't speak any Japanese, but according to Google Translate, the IP in question inserted (Pokemon?) plot lines into two articles. Both of their edits have been reverted already. I'll go ahead and rev-delete them in an excess of caution (they seem to qualify under "purely disruptive material" in any case) and I've blocked the IP for 31 hours. MastCell Talk 16:45, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
- Thank you for your deal. --ひとつの西船橋 (talk) 23:51, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
www.naturalnews.com
Hi,
Can you point out to me where and on what basis naturalnews.com is determined unencyclopedic? They appear to be non-profit and have a statement of journalistic independence on their site. Articles are attributed to authors, and have a list of sources at the bottom of many of them. Dialectric (talk) 01:39, 24 March 2012 (UTC)
- I'm basing it on this site's guidelines for appropriate sourcing, and in some cases the slightly stricter sourcing guidelines for medically related material. Sources are reliable if they have a "reputation for fact-checking and accuracy". As far as I am aware, naturalnews.com lacks such a reputation. The fact that a website "appears to be a non-profit", claims independence, or contains bylines and footnotes do not actually bear on whether it's reliable. On what basis do you think naturalnews.com has a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy? MastCell Talk 05:03, 24 March 2012 (UTC)
Live blood analysis
Hi MastCell, I saw your edit removing dark field microscopy from the article but the lead sentence of the article still defines it as dark field microscopy. What should this be changed to, other than fraud or crankism? I know little if anything about diagnostic tools,,,.--Literaturegeek | T@1k? 12:32, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
- Infact in the 'overview' section it is also still referenced as 'dark field microscopy' and cited (appropriately or inappropriately??) to reference number 7 in the live blood analysis article.--Literaturegeek | T@1k? 12:36, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
- It's a bit tricky. Dark-field microscopy is a legitimate diagnostic technique for diagnosing spirochetal infections, particularly syphilis (although it's mostly of historical interest at this point; modern diagnosis of syphilis is typically based on serology). Live blood analysis may use similar microscopic techniques, but with the (incorrect) claim that it can detect cancer, HIV/AIDS, etc. The reference in question (PMID 15985779) was basically a disproof of the claim that dark-field microscopy can detect cancer (a central claim of "live blood analysis").
I guess it's most accurate to say that while live blood analysis uses the technique of dark-field microscopy, it applies this technique in ways that have no scientific basis or validity. My concern is that we shouldn't let the legitimate use of dark-field microscopy in other branches of medicine lend an inaccurate air of legitimacy to live blood analysis. Does that make sense? MastCell Talk 16:25, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
- Yes thank you MastCell, that makes sense. I think the article does a good job of saying about how the test is misused. I wasn't sure if the test was actually dark field microscopy or not.--Literaturegeek | T@1k? 12:15, 29 March 2012 (UTC)
- It's a bit tricky. Dark-field microscopy is a legitimate diagnostic technique for diagnosing spirochetal infections, particularly syphilis (although it's mostly of historical interest at this point; modern diagnosis of syphilis is typically based on serology). Live blood analysis may use similar microscopic techniques, but with the (incorrect) claim that it can detect cancer, HIV/AIDS, etc. The reference in question (PMID 15985779) was basically a disproof of the claim that dark-field microscopy can detect cancer (a central claim of "live blood analysis").
Moving a file
Hi. I made an error in identifying the subject of an image file. Please could you move File:Sermon-on-the-mount-german-stained-glass-panel-1350.jpg to File:Transfiguration-german-stained-glass-panel-1350.jpg. Thanks in advance, Mathsci (talk) 16:30, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
- Done... do you want the redirect left behind at File:Sermon-on-the-mount-german-stained-glass-panel-1350.jpg? Or should I delete the redirect? MastCell Talk 16:13, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks for doing that. Please just delete the redirect. Mathsci (talk) 21:53, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
- Done. MastCell Talk 21:54, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks again. Mathsci (talk) 22:01, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
- Done. MastCell Talk 21:54, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks for doing that. Please just delete the redirect. Mathsci (talk) 21:53, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
Pig stuff
Just wondering, that proverb about wrestling with a pig on your userpage, is that original to you? It's a good one, and I recently used it with real live people to talk about a situation completely unrelated to Wikipedia. Heimstern Läufer (talk) 13:55, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
- No, it's not original to me; it's a saying ancient as the hills, at least where I grew up. Like any piece of resonant folk wisdom, I assume it's been attributed to Abraham Lincoln, Yogi Berra, and/or Mark Twain, but I think it's just an old Southern proverb. Or maybe it's Biblical, as in Deuteronomy 14:8: "And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor contend with them in the mire." :P MastCell Talk 16:11, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
- Well, regardless, it proved useful to me in a real-life discussion, and everyone around me found it very good advice. No one else had heard it, so I guess it hasn't reached all the relevant hills that it's as old as. Heimstern Läufer (talk) 03:41, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
- The hills in your area must be newer. EdJohnston (talk) 04:44, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
- Well, regardless, it proved useful to me in a real-life discussion, and everyone around me found it very good advice. No one else had heard it, so I guess it hasn't reached all the relevant hills that it's as old as. Heimstern Läufer (talk) 03:41, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
Re BLPN
Regarding [8] - BLP does not apply to disenfranchised individuals - otherwise, they'd be franchised. Unless you are a conservative political figure or a celebrity of minor note BLP does not apply. Surely, you know this. Hipocrite (talk) 20:03, 29 March 2012 (UTC)