Saturday, 26 January 2013
Glassfrogs: translucent skin, green bones, arm spines
Glassfrogs, or centrolenids, are wide-skulled, long-limbed arboreal little frogs (SVL 20-60 mm), unique to the Central and South American cloud and rain forests. Not until 1951 did this group get recognised as a distinct and nameable entity: prior to this, species within the group (known to science since 1872) had been classified as part of Rhacophoridae, the Old World 'bush frogs' or 'shrub frogs'. Most glassfrogs lay their eggs on vegetation overhanging water or on rocks above the water surface and their tadpoles live in nearby streams. Many texts refer to them as 'glass frogs'; I here follow several recent publications (and the trend that's occurring in biological nomenclatural in general) in referring to them as 'glassfrogs'. [More]
HIV 'may have an ancient origin'
The origins of HIV can be traced back millions rather than tens of thousands of years, research suggests.
Four-stranded DNA discovered
Sixty years after scientists described the chemical code of life — an interweaving double helix called DNA — researchers have found four-stranded DNA is also lurking in human cells. . Researchers think the four-stranded DNA could be a target for personalized medicine in the future. If they could block these odd ducks perhaps they could stop the rapid cell division of cancer cells.
New Synthetic Polymer Is First to Match Rigidity of DNA or Collagen
Take one kilogram of polyisocyanide polymer. Sprinkle liberally across an Olympic swimming pool. Warm gently. Within minutes, your jelly is ready. Serves 25 million.
[More]
Antibiotic 'apocalypse' warning
The rise in drug resistant infections is comparable to the threat of global warming, according to the chief medical officer for England.
'Contaminated' horses sold for food
The Food Standards Agency admits five horses which tested positive for a drug harmful to humans were exported to France for food.
'Contaminated' horses sold for food
The Food Standards Agency admits five horses which tested positive for a drug harmful to humans were exported to France for food.
Deadly 'self-eating enzymes' blocked
Scientists studying rats find enzymes that normally digest food can eat through intestinal walls and attack other organs when the body is weakened.
'Giant' Irish turbines to power UK
UK and Irish ministers will today sign an agreement that could see some of the world's largest wind turbines built across the Irish midlands.
Struggling dolphin dies in polluted New York City canal
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A distressed dolphin died on Friday after wandering into a notoriously polluted New York City canal, according to a marine research group that was monitoring the animal.
Ice storm headed to Midwest overnight
CHICAGO (Reuters) - An ice storm was headed to parts of the Midwest later in the weekend and could create dangerous travel conditions in the region, a weather forecaster said on Saturday.
How can evolutionary biology explain why we get cancer?
London, UK (SPX) Jan 24, 2013
Over 500 billion cells in our bodies will be replaced daily, yet natural selection has enabled us to develop defenses against the cellular mutations which could cause cancer. It is this relationship between evolution and the body's fight against cancer which is explored in a new special issue of the Open Access journal Evolutionary Applications.
"Cancer is far from a single well-defined....
Over 500 billion cells in our bodies will be replaced daily, yet natural selection has enabled us to develop defenses against the cellular mutations which could cause cancer. It is this relationship between evolution and the body's fight against cancer which is explored in a new special issue of the Open Access journal Evolutionary Applications.
"Cancer is far from a single well-defined....
Massive earthquakes came as surprise
Corvallis, Ore. (UPI) Jan 23, 2013
Scientists say some recent massive earthquakes surprised them because the Pacific locations weren't thought capable of producing earthquakes of their magnitude.
The massive Tohoku, Japan, earthquake in 2011 and the Sumatra-Andaman superquake in 2004 occurred in regions scientists had thought incapable of producing a megathrust earthquake with a magnitude exceeding 8.4.
Researcher
Scientists say some recent massive earthquakes surprised them because the Pacific locations weren't thought capable of producing earthquakes of their magnitude.
The massive Tohoku, Japan, earthquake in 2011 and the Sumatra-Andaman superquake in 2004 occurred in regions scientists had thought incapable of producing a megathrust earthquake with a magnitude exceeding 8.4.
Researcher
BPA substitute could spell trouble
Galveston TX (SPX) Jan 24, 2013
A few years ago, manufacturers of water bottles, food containers, and baby products had a big problem. A key ingredient of the plastics they used to make their merchandise, an organic compound called bisphenol A, had been linked by scientists to diabetes, asthma and cancer and altered prostate and neurological development.
The FDA and state legislatures were considering action to .....
A few years ago, manufacturers of water bottles, food containers, and baby products had a big problem. A key ingredient of the plastics they used to make their merchandise, an organic compound called bisphenol A, had been linked by scientists to diabetes, asthma and cancer and altered prostate and neurological development.
The FDA and state legislatures were considering action to .....
Arctic blast sweeps Canada, US
Ottawa (AFP) Jan 23, 2013
Arctic air sweeping through Canada and parts of the United States sent temperatures plunging to record lows on Wednesday with a wind chill of minus 40 degrees (Celsius and Fahrenheit).
Canada was the coldest nation in the world at the start of the day with with temperatures as low as minus 43.1 degrees Celsius (-45.6 Fahrenheit) in the Northwest Territories, according to public broadcaster ...
Arctic air sweeping through Canada and parts of the United States sent temperatures plunging to record lows on Wednesday with a wind chill of minus 40 degrees (Celsius and Fahrenheit).
Canada was the coldest nation in the world at the start of the day with with temperatures as low as minus 43.1 degrees Celsius (-45.6 Fahrenheit) in the Northwest Territories, according to public broadcaster ...
Public Acceptance of Climate Change Affected by Word Usage
Columbia MO (SPX) Jan 24, 2013
Public acceptance of climate change's reality may have been influenced by the rate at which words moved from scientific journals into the mainstream, according to anthropologist Michael O'Brien, dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri.
A recent study of word usage in popular literature by O'Brien and his colleagues documented how the usage of certain words ....
Public acceptance of climate change's reality may have been influenced by the rate at which words moved from scientific journals into the mainstream, according to anthropologist Michael O'Brien, dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri.
A recent study of word usage in popular literature by O'Brien and his colleagues documented how the usage of certain words ....
Unprecedented glacier melting in the Andes blamed on climate change
London, UK (SPX) Jan 24, 2013
Glaciers in the tropical Andes have been retreating at increasing rate since the 1970s, scientists write in the most comprehensive review to date of Andean glacier observations. The researchers blame the melting on rising temperatures as the region has warmed about 0.7 C over the past 50 years (1950-1994). This unprecedented retreat could affect water supply to Andean populations in the near ....
Glaciers in the tropical Andes have been retreating at increasing rate since the 1970s, scientists write in the most comprehensive review to date of Andean glacier observations. The researchers blame the melting on rising temperatures as the region has warmed about 0.7 C over the past 50 years (1950-1994). This unprecedented retreat could affect water supply to Andean populations in the near ....
Treating Lymphoma With Nanoparticles Rather Than Chemotherapy
The traditional method for treating lymphoma, a cancer of the blood in which the white blood cells behave abnormally, is through chemotherapy. This method attempts to beat the cancer cells through a standardized regimen of chemotherapeutic agents. Chemotherapy sometimes cures the disease, and other times, its aim is to simply prolong an individual's life. Other types of treatment may include radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, both of which have their own sets of complications. New research has unveiled a new method for treating lymphoma which may be both more effective and without any significant drawbacks. The method involves injecting synthetic nanoparticles which can deprive the cancer cells of an essential nutrient, resulting in the death of the cancer.
Warning raised for New Zealand volcano
Wellington, New Zealand (UPI) Jan 24, 2013
New Zealand scientists say activity at a volcano on an island to the east of the North Island has led them to upgrade a warning to aircraft and to sightseers.
The White Island volcano is showing an increasing level of unrest, causing the government's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences to raise its aviation alert code Thursday from yellow to orange, indicating an increased like ....
New Zealand scientists say activity at a volcano on an island to the east of the North Island has led them to upgrade a warning to aircraft and to sightseers.
The White Island volcano is showing an increasing level of unrest, causing the government's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences to raise its aviation alert code Thursday from yellow to orange, indicating an increased like ....
Norwegian Sea can hold 100 years of Norway's CO2 emissions: NPD
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway could store 100 times its annual emissions of carbon dioxide under the Norwegian Sea to help fight climate change, adding to its even bigger potential under the North Sea, an official report showed on Friday.
Davos strives to make climate talk more than hot air
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Climate change is back on the global agenda, with debate in the corridors at Davos given fresh impetus by U.S. President Barack Obama and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon both highlighting it as top priority this week.
The Braided Sun
The Sun is the center of our Solar System. Scientists have long puzzled over why the surface of the sun is cooler than its corona, the outer hazy atmosphere visible during a solar eclipse. Now thanks to a five-minute observation by a ultraviolet telescope they have some magnetic answers. A rocket-borne camera has provided some of the sharpest images yet of the Sun's corona, the hot layer of gas that extends more than a million kilometers above the solar surface.
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Teen arrested for pranking strangers
A Florida man was arrested for giving people wedgies outside of a theater. He often records pranks and posts them online.
Nations Agree on Global Mercury Limits
Treaty will phase out use of pollutant in many devices, but includes exception for vaccines
Cyprus bailout delayed two more months
European Union leaders decide to delay talks until the island’s elections take place after losing confidence in Communist president Demetris Christofias
Swedish buyouts warn on tax threat
Private equity groups in the Nordic country are calling on the government to put in place new rules or risk investors and executives fleeing the country
US 'supercops' backed by Theresa May
Foreign police chiefs will be allowed to run British forces for the first time under plans to be outlined within days.
Un noi de 15 anys mata a trets cinc persones a Nou Mèxic
Les víctimes, tres nens i dos adults, han estat trobades mortes per la policia en una casa a prop d'Albuquerque
El tiroteig té lloc hores després que milers de ciutadans es manifestessin als EUA en protesta pels intents de fer més estrictes els controls sobre possessió d'armes
El tiroteig té lloc hores després que milers de ciutadans es manifestessin als EUA en protesta pels intents de fer més estrictes els controls sobre possessió d'armes
Ice rain disables Frankfurt Airport, stranding passengers
Freezing rain has grounded over 300 flights at Frankfurt International Airport. Fraport, its operator, said crews struggled to de-ice aircraft. Other airports - Stuttgart and in Paris - also cancelled flights.
IRS Implements FATCA, Ramps Up Tax Evasion Battle
FATCA is not popular with financial institutions, Americans abroad or foreign governments. However, the IRS likes it a lot. Enacted in 2010, FATCA targets non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers using foreign accounts. It enlists the aid of financial institutions worldwide to ferret out Americans and if Americans won’t disclose their accounts, to withhold and remit money to the IRS.
VIDEO: Gadgets 'made waterproof in an hour'
From tissues to tablets - how nanotechnology can make things waterproof in under an hour
Hoping to revive an ancient tongue, Pope tweets in Latin
Pope Benedict tweeted in Latin for the first time on Sunday, taking his mission to revive the Catholic Church's official language to a very 21st-century medium.
'Quadruple helix' DNA in humans
Cambridge University scientists say they have seen four-stranded DNA at work in human cells for the first time and wonder if it might provide a target for the development of novel anti-cancer treatments.
California Megaflood: Lessons from A Forgotten Catastrophe
Geologic evidence shows that truly massive floods, caused by rainfall alone, have occurred in California every 100 to 200 years. Such floods are likely caused by atmospheric rivers: narrow bands of water vapor about a mile above the ocean that extend for thousands of kilometers.
[More]
Extreme Weather Events Sync Rise and Fall of Arctic Populations
Climate change and changes in weather can affect species in many ways. From altering migration patterns, to varying plant growth leading to deviating diets, to extending or decreasing hibernation periods, climate can ultimately influence the success of a species. In an attempt to study some of these effects, a group of Norwegian scientists have found that extreme climate events can cause population fluctuations not only among single species, but also in a relatively simple high arctic community.
Snow hits London and Paris flights, more cuts seen
LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - London's Heathrow Airport canceled a fifth of flights on Sunday and airlines scrapped 40 percent of flights to Paris's main airports as snow blanketed parts of Europe, with more forecast.
Gregos e imigrantes fazem protesto contra xenofobia em Atenas
ATENAS — Em resposta aos últimos ataques racistas em Atenas, milhares de gregos e imigrantes participaram neste sábado de uma manifestação na capital da Grécia neste sábado. No começo do dia, cerca de 150 membros da comunidade paquistanesa e centenas de gregos se reuniram em frente à Prefeitura de Atenas para rezar e homenagear Shehzad Luqman, paquistanês esfaqueado na madrugada de quinta-feira em Atenas. Um carro fúnebre levou o caixão fora no final da cerimônia. Segundo a televisão pública NET, cerca de três mil pessoas aderiram ao protesto organizado por associações de esquerda, comunidades de imigrantes, autarquias e o partido de esquerda Syriza, que está na oposição.
O país passa por uma onda anti-imigração durante a crise econômica dos últimos três anos, que aumentou a taxa de desemprego e derrubou o padrão de vida no país - que tem tem sido a principal porta de entrada de imigrantes ilegais para a União Europeia. Moradora de Londres, a militante Sasha Simic disse que viajou para Atenas para participar do protesto.
- Estou aqui para mostrar solidariedade ao povo grego lutando contra a Aurora Dourada, uma organização abertamente fascista que está tentando atribuir a miséria da crise causada pelos banqueiros aos imigrantes e aos homossexuais, claramente bodes expiatórios. Sabemos o que aconteceu na década de 1930, com a ascensão dos nazistas. Estamos aqui para detê-los - afirmou a jovem.
Dois gregos, de cerca de 20 anos, foram acusados pelo assassinato de Luqman. Eles admitiram o crime, mas afirmaram que o ataque foi consequência de uma acalorada discussão que começou quando a bicicleta do paquistanês bloqueou a moto onde eles estavam. Fontes policiais afirmam, no entanto, que encontraram panfletos do partido neo-nazista Aurora Dourada e várias facas em uma busca na casa dos suspeitos.
Uma pesquisa realizada no início do ano posiciona o partido - que em seu programa defende a colocação de minas nas fronteiras para evitar a entrada de imigrantes ilegais - como a terceira força com mais apoios no país. A plataforma racista seria apoiada por 10,7% dos votantes, 3% a mais do que nas eleições realizadas em junho.
Veja também
- Queremos ser pacíficos. Somos trabalhadores simples e não vamos fazer o mesmo que os fascistas. Nos últimos três anos, eles atacaram de 700 a 800 pessoas . Saímos de casa para trabalhar e eles nos atacam. É trabalho da polícia prender essas pessoas e mandá-los para a cadeia - disse Javied Aslam, chefe da comunidade paquistanesa da Grécia.O país passa por uma onda anti-imigração durante a crise econômica dos últimos três anos, que aumentou a taxa de desemprego e derrubou o padrão de vida no país - que tem tem sido a principal porta de entrada de imigrantes ilegais para a União Europeia. Moradora de Londres, a militante Sasha Simic disse que viajou para Atenas para participar do protesto.
- Estou aqui para mostrar solidariedade ao povo grego lutando contra a Aurora Dourada, uma organização abertamente fascista que está tentando atribuir a miséria da crise causada pelos banqueiros aos imigrantes e aos homossexuais, claramente bodes expiatórios. Sabemos o que aconteceu na década de 1930, com a ascensão dos nazistas. Estamos aqui para detê-los - afirmou a jovem.
Dois gregos, de cerca de 20 anos, foram acusados pelo assassinato de Luqman. Eles admitiram o crime, mas afirmaram que o ataque foi consequência de uma acalorada discussão que começou quando a bicicleta do paquistanês bloqueou a moto onde eles estavam. Fontes policiais afirmam, no entanto, que encontraram panfletos do partido neo-nazista Aurora Dourada e várias facas em uma busca na casa dos suspeitos.
Uma pesquisa realizada no início do ano posiciona o partido - que em seu programa defende a colocação de minas nas fronteiras para evitar a entrada de imigrantes ilegais - como a terceira força com mais apoios no país. A plataforma racista seria apoiada por 10,7% dos votantes, 3% a mais do que nas eleições realizadas em junho.
Germany Plans To Eliminate Fossil Fuel Use By 2050
PBS correspondent Rick Karr reports on Germany’s plan to generate nearly all of its electricity from renewable sources and virtually eliminate its use of fossil fuels by 2050.
Support for this idea is widespread, and crosses party lines. Over two-thirds of Germans approve of the plan, which is also backed by the German Green Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Free Democratic Party, and Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union.
This plan is known as the Energiewende; wende, which means turn, referring to the peaceful revolution that culminated with the end of the Cold War.
Germany’s green revolution was characterized by private development of renewables.
The government did not attempt to finance green energy, rather, it incentivized these alternative power sources by way of a feed-in-tariff. This means the government pays producers of renewable energy and allows them to purchase their electricity at a discount.
Rainer Baake, director of Agora Energiewende, believes Germany is unique in that “about 50 percent of the installed capacity of renewables is in the hands of normal citizens and farmers.”
However, Germany’s development of green energy led to rising costs for consumers. The overall price of electricity has surged by over 66 percent after the passage of the German Renewable Energy Act in 2000.
In addition, Germany faces the same problem that plagues California: how to provide energy during windless or sunless days. The unreliability is the reason why a study by Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH indicates that coal and gas power plants will still have to provide 60 percent of the stable energy sources for days when the weather doesn’t cooperate with the production of renewables.
In order to integrate renewable energy sources onto the power grid, Germany’s best bet would be to invest in a $25+ billion smart grid. As Reuters reports, “The crucial solution that smart grids provide is the means to control the fluctuating voltage supplied due to daily and seasonal weather variability.”
Oxford college sued over using 'selection by wealth' for admissions
Student takes St Hugh's to court after after being rejected for not having access to £21,000 for tuition fees and living costs
An Oxford college is being sued for discriminating against poorer students applying to study for postgraduate courses. St Hugh's, which was founded in 1886, is being taken to court for choosing applicants not just on academic merit, but also on their ability to prove they can pay tens of thousands of pounds for tuition fees and living expenses.
It is claimed that, along with other Oxford colleges, St Hugh's is "selecting by wealth" in asking students with a conditional place at the university to demonstrate that they hold funds to cover tuition fees, plus at least £12,900 a year for living costs. The university refuses to take into account projected earnings from students who plan to carry out paid work during their course and has only one means-tested scholarship available.
Legal papers submitted by Damien Shannon, 26, who was barred from taking up a place that he won to study economic history because he did not have access to a total of over £21,000 for fees and living costs, said: "It is my contention that the effect of the financial conditions of entry is to select students on the basis of wealth, and to exclude those not in possession of it. In particular, the requirement for evidence of funds for living costs has a discriminatory effect."
Shannon's claim, which will have its first hearing in February, states it is clear that those without access to capital and savings were being "disproportionately discriminated against" in a breach of their human rights.
St Hugh's, which has filed a defence and refutes the claim, does not deny barring Shannon due to his financial circumstances. However, it will argue that the test of a student's financial health is to ensure that they will be able to complete their courses without suffering financial difficulty and anxiety, according to its lawyers' defence papers.
It claims that the inability to meet the so-called financial guarantee, which was formalised across the university in 2010, does not fall "disproportionately within" the lower socioeconomic groups.
It adds that because the "great majority of courses at the university (including the course to which the claimant applied) are heavily oversubscribed, it is important that those who obtain a place on those courses are financially able to complete them".
St Hugh's, whose alumni include the home secretary, Theresa May, has hired Peter Oldham QC to argue its case in Manchester county court. Counsel's fees at the trial are estimated to reach £25,000 over just two days, with total fees coming to around £60,000, according to documents seen by the Observer.
Friends of Shannon say that should he lose the case and have to pay full costs, it would probably force him to declare himself bankrupt. Hazel Blears, a former Labour cabinet minister who is now chairwoman of the all-party parliamentary group on social mobility, is backing Shannon, who lives in her Salford, Greater Manchester constituency. She said that the case illustrated the scale of the financial hurdles facing students who want to pursue postgraduate study.
Almost 16,000 fewer British students started postgraduate courses at UK universities in 2011-12 compared with the previous academic year – an 8% drop, according to data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
This month leaders at 11 universities told the Observer of their concerns about the socially divisive impact of rising tuition fees in response to teaching grant cuts and a lack of finance for prospective postgraduate students.
Blears, who has written to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, education secretary Michael Gove and universities minister David Willetts about Shannon's case, has won a parliamentary debate on the issue to be held on Wednesday. She told the Observer: "Oxford university's demands for a guarantee on living costs are deeply unfair. They will price gifted students out of doing these courses and our country will lose out on some really talented individuals.
"It is ludicrous that a student deemed to be of sufficient academic merit is deemed incapable of budgeting to ensure they have enough money to live on. Even in an expensive city like Oxford, a student can live on far less than £13,000 a year with careful budgeting. In any case, living costs should be a student's personal responsibility and many get part-time jobs to help make ends meet."
Shannon was awarded a place to read for an MSc in economic and social history at Oxford last March by the university, but was told it was conditional on meeting the college's academic and financial requirements.
He reached the college's academic target after attaining a 2:1 degree from the Open University, but was also asked to prove to the college's satisfaction that he had "resources totalling £21,082" before he could commence study.
He successfully applied to the Co-operative Bank for a professional career development loan of £10,000 which would cover costs of "both the college and university fees, and a modest contribution to living expenses".
However the legal claim by Shannon, who says he is estranged from his mother, who is a bankrupt, and does not know the identity of his father, so is unable to rely on parental help, says: "That still left the financial guarantee unsatisfied, since I was not in possession of the necessary evidence to meet the living costs stipulated by the college."
The claim adds: "For me, the effect of the financial guarantee for living costs is to render the right of access to education at the university illusory, and thus to deny the very essence of that right".
A spokesman for St Hugh's said: "The requirement that postgraduate students provide a financial guarantee in order to take up their course place at the University of Oxford is made clear to potential applicants. The university and college have both made fundraising for postgraduate scholarships a key priority."
A university spokesman said: "Oxford has been vocal about its wish that postgraduate admissions should be truly needs-blind, and works very hard to make progress towards this aim, both by fundraising for postgraduate support and lobbying the UK government to put in place measures to ensure that postgraduates, like undergraduates, have access to loans that ensure postgraduate study is a possibility for all."
An Oxford college is being sued for discriminating against poorer students applying to study for postgraduate courses. St Hugh's, which was founded in 1886, is being taken to court for choosing applicants not just on academic merit, but also on their ability to prove they can pay tens of thousands of pounds for tuition fees and living expenses.
It is claimed that, along with other Oxford colleges, St Hugh's is "selecting by wealth" in asking students with a conditional place at the university to demonstrate that they hold funds to cover tuition fees, plus at least £12,900 a year for living costs. The university refuses to take into account projected earnings from students who plan to carry out paid work during their course and has only one means-tested scholarship available.
Legal papers submitted by Damien Shannon, 26, who was barred from taking up a place that he won to study economic history because he did not have access to a total of over £21,000 for fees and living costs, said: "It is my contention that the effect of the financial conditions of entry is to select students on the basis of wealth, and to exclude those not in possession of it. In particular, the requirement for evidence of funds for living costs has a discriminatory effect."
Shannon's claim, which will have its first hearing in February, states it is clear that those without access to capital and savings were being "disproportionately discriminated against" in a breach of their human rights.
St Hugh's, which has filed a defence and refutes the claim, does not deny barring Shannon due to his financial circumstances. However, it will argue that the test of a student's financial health is to ensure that they will be able to complete their courses without suffering financial difficulty and anxiety, according to its lawyers' defence papers.
It claims that the inability to meet the so-called financial guarantee, which was formalised across the university in 2010, does not fall "disproportionately within" the lower socioeconomic groups.
It adds that because the "great majority of courses at the university (including the course to which the claimant applied) are heavily oversubscribed, it is important that those who obtain a place on those courses are financially able to complete them".
St Hugh's, whose alumni include the home secretary, Theresa May, has hired Peter Oldham QC to argue its case in Manchester county court. Counsel's fees at the trial are estimated to reach £25,000 over just two days, with total fees coming to around £60,000, according to documents seen by the Observer.
Friends of Shannon say that should he lose the case and have to pay full costs, it would probably force him to declare himself bankrupt. Hazel Blears, a former Labour cabinet minister who is now chairwoman of the all-party parliamentary group on social mobility, is backing Shannon, who lives in her Salford, Greater Manchester constituency. She said that the case illustrated the scale of the financial hurdles facing students who want to pursue postgraduate study.
Almost 16,000 fewer British students started postgraduate courses at UK universities in 2011-12 compared with the previous academic year – an 8% drop, according to data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
This month leaders at 11 universities told the Observer of their concerns about the socially divisive impact of rising tuition fees in response to teaching grant cuts and a lack of finance for prospective postgraduate students.
Blears, who has written to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, education secretary Michael Gove and universities minister David Willetts about Shannon's case, has won a parliamentary debate on the issue to be held on Wednesday. She told the Observer: "Oxford university's demands for a guarantee on living costs are deeply unfair. They will price gifted students out of doing these courses and our country will lose out on some really talented individuals.
"It is ludicrous that a student deemed to be of sufficient academic merit is deemed incapable of budgeting to ensure they have enough money to live on. Even in an expensive city like Oxford, a student can live on far less than £13,000 a year with careful budgeting. In any case, living costs should be a student's personal responsibility and many get part-time jobs to help make ends meet."
Shannon was awarded a place to read for an MSc in economic and social history at Oxford last March by the university, but was told it was conditional on meeting the college's academic and financial requirements.
He reached the college's academic target after attaining a 2:1 degree from the Open University, but was also asked to prove to the college's satisfaction that he had "resources totalling £21,082" before he could commence study.
He successfully applied to the Co-operative Bank for a professional career development loan of £10,000 which would cover costs of "both the college and university fees, and a modest contribution to living expenses".
However the legal claim by Shannon, who says he is estranged from his mother, who is a bankrupt, and does not know the identity of his father, so is unable to rely on parental help, says: "That still left the financial guarantee unsatisfied, since I was not in possession of the necessary evidence to meet the living costs stipulated by the college."
The claim adds: "For me, the effect of the financial guarantee for living costs is to render the right of access to education at the university illusory, and thus to deny the very essence of that right".
A spokesman for St Hugh's said: "The requirement that postgraduate students provide a financial guarantee in order to take up their course place at the University of Oxford is made clear to potential applicants. The university and college have both made fundraising for postgraduate scholarships a key priority."
A university spokesman said: "Oxford has been vocal about its wish that postgraduate admissions should be truly needs-blind, and works very hard to make progress towards this aim, both by fundraising for postgraduate support and lobbying the UK government to put in place measures to ensure that postgraduates, like undergraduates, have access to loans that ensure postgraduate study is a possibility for all."
What doctors won't do
… have a full health check
I would never take up the regularly advertised offers by private medical companies to go for a full health check. Why? Well, if you have symptoms, you go to your GP and leave it to them to listen to your history, examine you, request investigations and reach a decision. This process is known as diagnosis. A full health check when you feel totally well is not diagnosis. The procedure is known as "screening". There are few "screening" tests where the advantages of diagnosis and treatment outweigh the disadvantages, and it is likely that your doctor has already checked for these when you first signed on with the practice, or subsequently: for example, in women, a smear test, in middle years a mammography, and for both sexes a blood pressure reading.One of the samples taken in full screening tests is a blood test for prostate cancer. If you have prostate symptoms, it can be a life‑saving help to diagnosis. If you don't and the screening test shows a high score, it could lead you to have potentially harmful investigations, or indeed cancer treatment, that you may not have needed.
One hears anecdotes about the advantages of health checks. One hears anecdotes about people who have fallen out of sixth-floor windows and lived, but I wouldn't try it myself.
Mike Smith, GP
… go into hospital with dementia
I would avoid going into a general hospital if I had a diagnosis of dementia. People with dementia have difficulty finding their way around hospital buildings. Even the walk from your bed to the toilet and back is fraught with avoidable dangers: shiny floors, bad signage, distracting and disturbing noise, terrible lighting, poor colour contrast between floors and walls, invisible grab rails that blend into the decor, taps that don't look like taps and sinks with no plugs… So you wet yourself, or fall, or get back into the wrong bed, or get shouted at for moving about at all. Then you don't get as much pain relief as other patients with the same condition, and they might forget to feed and water you.If I had to go, I'd want my family to stay with me as much as possible. Last week, I heard from a woman whose husband has dementia and she was sent off the ward at lunchtime because they had "protected meal times", with no visitors so patients could eat undisturbed. She was trying to stay and make sure he ate. How perverse is that?
Professor June Andrews, director of the Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling
… have my first child at home
I have experienced many situations where a woman's first labour has not progressed according to plan and, in some cases, become an emergency. For that reason, I would never have my first baby in a setting where there is no immediate trolley access to medical obstetric care, or at home.Moneli Golara, obstetrician and gynaecologist
… have a prostate cancer test
PSA is a "simple" blood test to check for prostate cancer. Know what it stands for? Prostate Specific Antigen. Or rather, as many doctors will tell you, Persistent Stress and Anxiety.Prostate cancer is far more common – and, usually, less serious – than most people realise. In elderly men, it's virtually a state of normality. Most of these prostate cancers lie dormant and harmless, and are something men die with, not of. So having a PSA may end up giving you information you would have been better off not knowing. That's if you can trust the result: it's notorious for inaccuracies, with false positives, false negatives and an inability to distinguish between harmless pussycat prostate cancers and the less common aggressive tigers.
Which is why, when men ask for the test, they're potentially opening Pandora's box. We try to guide them through the maze of ifs, buts and maybes. Sure, in theory it could save your life. But in practice it could well lead to worry, unpleasant biopsies and unnecessary, traumatic surgery.
Tony Copperfield, GP and author of Sick Notes
… sunbathe
I wouldn't present a doctor with a list of symptoms. Patients often think this helps their cause, but the sight of a list makes the doctor's heart sink. They're not going to be able to deal with everything in one go and, most importantly of all, it makes them think you haven't got one particular problem, you've got a multiplicity of problems, which is a sure sign of a hypochondriac.Also, I would never sunbathe or go on a sun bed. I have had skin cancer. People underestimate the risk. They think, "My skin looks all right; how can it be damaged?" Even if your skin doesn't look aged, you can end up with skin damage that sets you up for potential cancers in the future. Sunbathing in your teens and early 20s is a very strong risk factor. We are now seeing cancers like basal cell cancer – which you used to see only on the faces of old weatherbeaten guys who had spent a lifetime outdoors – in the under-40s. We're seeing malignant melanomas, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, in different parts of the body. If I had been born a doctor, I would never have sunbathed. I would go out in the sun, but I would never lie in it with the purpose of getting a tan.
Carol Cooper, GP
… use steroids unnecessarily
Doctors treat a wide range of conditions, but often we don't quite understand the therapies that we're offering, and why or how they work. Twelve years ago, I had colitis. One of the treatments is steroids but, as a doctor, I knew that steroids are one of those treatments we apply to many illnesses without really knowing why they work. We know they're an anti-inflammatory, but all you're doing is masking the problem, and there can be side‑effects in the long term: steroids can make your skin more fragile, they can affect your connective tissue, they can change the shape of your face. It's one thing taking something if you know why it's working, but I wasn't prepared to go down that route. At that point, my lifestyle wasn't great. I was very busy and not eating well. I started eating less sugar, fewer carbohydrates, I stopped eating anything processed. Not only did I get better, but, since then, I've hardly had a cold.In terms of plastic surgery, I would never advocate long-lasting fillers. People don't want the hassle of coming every four months for injections, but you don't want something that lasts too long in your body, because your body will eventually reject it. It might be an inconvenience to have to come more often, but in the long term it will spare you a bad reaction.
Alex Karidis, cosmetic surgeon
… have a virtual colonoscopy
While I've had a colonoscopy, I'd never have a virtual colonoscopy – a CT scan of the abdomen to find polyps and early cancers in the colon. This is because it's so likely the radiologists would stumble on something else that has nothing to do with colon cancer – small abnormalities on the liver, kidney and lung, things that typically start a cascade of tests, often involving needles into body cavities, even ending in surgery.I would never take medicines to lower my blood sugar for a haemoglobin A1c of 7%. A long-term study of 50,000 diabetics in the UK found that trying to lower A1cs below 7.5% increases the overall death rate. I'm not sure we should even call an A1c of 7% "diabetes", but I'm very sure I wouldn't take medicines to lower it. Instead, I would try to lose weight and exercise more – and would be open to considering medications to lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
I'd never undergo advanced medical imaging (CT scan, MRI, PET) when I felt well. Studies of total-body CT screening have found 85% of healthy 50-60-year-olds have some abnormal finding, and the average patient has 2.8 abnormalities. That's a lot of follow-up testing and biopsies, and someone can easily be hurt. This has become such a big problem that doctors have a name for it: "incidentaloma". While I'll gladly be scanned if I'm in a car accident or develop acute abdominal pain with vomiting, I'm not getting in a scanner when I'm well.
H Gilbert Welch, professor of medicine at Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and author of Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick In The Pursuit Of Health
… have an operation I didn't need
Having just had my gallbladder out, and with the complication of leaking bile afterwards, I wouldn't have any operation or procedure without first reading the guidelines for the condition, looking at the complication rates and the risk of doing nothing (ie, how likely the condition is to cause trouble). I would ask the surgeon how many of these procedures he or she carries out a year, and what their complication rate is, Google the surgeon and ask other doctors for opinions.I would always ask what someone is doing to me and why. If I was in pain, I would ask what they were prescribing me, how much, how often. I would always read my discharge summary from hospital because they are frequently inaccurate. I would suggest trying to stay out of hospital as much as possible and having only tests that doctors will act on. And I would go to a teaching hospital: they are likely to be the safest if anything goes wrong as they will have more experience in terms of volume of patients and expertise of clinical staff.
Luisa Dillner, GP and Guardian columnist
… have my veins stripped
I would never have my veins stripped and would never have a general anaesthetic for it. Not only is stripping very painful, with large scars that have a higher chance of infection; one year later 23% of people have the same vein growing back. After five years 83% do. So it is painful and doesn't even work in the long term. With pin-hole laser methods, we have complete closure of the vein in 97% of people 10 years later. Also, general anaesthetic means you don't move, increasing the risk of DVT [deep-vein thrombosis], plus you can't tell the surgeon it is hurting, so nerves can be damaged – and the damage is found only when you wake up.If I had liver metastases – when a tumour has gone to the liver – I would not have chemotherapy unless I had been assessed by a liver surgeon first. If the metastases are only in one side of the liver, then removal of this area surgically can cure. The five-year survival following surgical removal of such tumours is far better than chemotherapy.
Mark Whiteley, vascular surgeon
… take sleeping tablets
I have come across many patients who have been taking sleeping tablets for decades. They are addictive and it can be very difficult for people to wean themselves off them; the side-effects can include falls, confusion, sleepiness in the daytime and the feeling that increasingly higher doses are needed to achieve the same effects. I can't imagine any situation in which I would start using them.Helen Drew, GP
… follow a low-carb diet
I would never go on a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet like Atkins, Dukan or Cambridge. Why? Because although you will probably lose weight, they may kill you. Don't take my word for it – read about the 43,396 Swedish women followed for an average of 15 years. Those who stuck to low carbs and high protein had a rising risk of dying from heart attacks and strokes, depending on how strict they were and for how long they endured them. There was a staggering 62% higher risk of such illnesses among the women eating the strictest diet over those who ate normally. Eating is for enjoyment; these diets turn food into medication, and it's patently the wrong medicine – it is often lethal.Tom Smith, GP
… drink coffee or alcohol in pregnancy
I wouldn't drink coffee if I was pregnant. Coffee increases your metabolic rate and your heart rate, and consequently your baby's heart rate is increased. Coffee and tea also inhibit the absorption of iron. In pregnancy, your iron levels always drop and, while drinking fresh orange juice helps the absorption of iron, coffee and tea do the opposite. The official guidelines say you can drink some coffee, just as they say you can drink some alcohol, but I would never do either. Your baby doesn't need alcohol as a nutrient – it's not something that's going to benefit your child. I know there are the recommendations, but I would never advise drinking at all in pregnancy, especially in the first 12 weeks, when your baby is forming.Nikki Khan, midwife
… use alternative therapies
I would never use alternative therapies like homeopathy or acupuncture, on the grounds that the evidence for them working isn't strong. And I often wonder whether the valiant efforts we make to keep our terminal-prognosis patients alive make any sense. But I have noticed that often colleagues say the same thing until they or their loved one gets a terminal prognosis, after which they want everything done.Victor Chua, healthcare practice leader
… have the flu jab
I won't have the flu jab. Elderly patients, or those with a chronic debilitating condition such as heart failure, should consider it, but there is not much evidence that it is of benefit in otherwise healthy young people. Furthermore, the evidence that inoculation of healthcare workers protects patients is very scanty and yet there is massive pressure brought to bear on healthcare workers to be inoculated.Stephen Leslie, cardiologist and honorary professor, University of Stirling
… have cosmetic surgery
The only thing I wouldn't have is cosmetic surgery. My reason for reluctance? Nothing to do with anaesthesia (safe these days), but entirely to do with surgery, which should never be undertaken for what you might call "soft" reasons. It's not that surgery is so terribly dangerous that I would worry about death. Mainly it's the worry of infection, which can be very unpleasant.Mark Patrick, consultant anaesthetist, University Hospital of South Manchester
… see a counsellor
I would never see a "counsellor" if I was having mental health problems. Absolutely anyone can claim to be a counsellor – it's an entirely unregulated area. As a result, there's a horrifying variation in the quality, and I have seen too many patients who have been further psychologically damaged by seeing poorly or under-qualified counsellors.If I were depressed, I'd be very careful to ensure that the therapist I saw had the correct qualifications and was accredited by an organisation like BABCP [British Association For Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies].
If I were paying privately, I'd only ever see a therapist who also works in the NHS or has done in the past, preferably as a chartered psychologist, because this means they have trained to a very high standard.
Max Pemberton, psychiatrist
… refuse vaccinations
I would never avoid having my children vaccinated. Several years ago, I volunteered with Médecins Sans Frontières and spent six months in Angola. I'd expected the poverty, but it was the arrival of kids suffering from severe illnesses that should never have occurred – illnesses easily prevented elsewhere, like measles, or tetanus – that saddened me most. That, and the quiet humility with which families would queue for hours under a scorching sun to receive their vaccines.Now, practising in the west, I so often meet parents who are reluctant to vaccinate their children despite the wealth of evidence regarding safety. Many of these diseases are now on the rise again. And I can't help but wonder if vaccines have become a victim of their own success; that if we, too, had to queue for hours, surrounded by families who'd also been affected by these illnesses – illnesses that can disable and even kill – then we might not take them for granted.
Damien Brown, GP and author of Band-Aid For A Broken Leg: Being A Doctor With No Borders
… dismiss alternative medicine
I would never dismiss an alternative therapy without first understanding how it works. It's taken me years of medical experience to realise that just because a therapy doesn't have evidence behind it doesn't mean it can't help some people. As doctors, we are trained, rightly, to seek scientific evidence of the effectiveness and safety of a given therapy. But conventional modern medicine can't help everyone. Despite a lack of research funding, there is a slowly growing body of evidence of the effectiveness of a range of alternative therapies. A recent example was that yoga can help reduce pain and increase mobility in people with osteoarthritis. Modern medicine remains my own area of expertise, but I now realise other forms of therapy, such as chiropractic and hypnotherapy, can help.Ian W Campbell, GP
… use homeopathy
I would never use homeopathic medicines. They are based on an 18th-century practice of diluting particular compounds in water or alcohol to the point where the solution is so weak as to contain no trace of the original compound at all. Homeopaths believe that water has a "memory" of the curative substance that then has a beneficial effect. For me, the key word is "believe". Adherents of homeopathy believe in the efficacy of homeopathic medicines in the same way as they may believe in a particular religion. Homeopathy is a faith-based medical system that, in the minds of its faithful, does not require any scientific evidence of effectiveness to be beneficial. If homeopathy is effective, then most of what we have learned in the fields of medicine, chemistry and physics since the 18th century must be incorrect. I find that implausible, so prefer to squander my money in other ways.Eddie Chaloner, vascular surgeon
… have conventional IVF
I would never have "conventional stimulated IVF", which involves prolonged hormonal medication for three to four weeks, making the ovaries initially menopausal followed by higher doses of stimulation. This method of stimulation is associated with higher risks of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), which carries serious health risks for women. We can avoid these complications thanks to recent developments in making IVF safer, cheaper, more successful and accessible.Advances in endocrinology, ultrasound and embryology have made "drug-free IVF" (natural IVF and IVM) more successful and allowed development of safer "mild IVF" protocols requiring fewer drugs in a natural cycle. Why take drugs in higher dosages if you can have a baby with no, or fewer, drugs?
Geeta Nargund, lead consultant for reproductive medicine at St George's Hospital, London
… have a screening mammogram
I won't go for a screening mammogram. Down the microscope, doctors can't always tell the difference between "dangerous" and "OK to leave alone". So it is possible to find things "too early" that are not really life-threatening cancer. The independent review of breast cancer screening published last year in the Lancet helpfully distinguished biases, uncertainties and some bad science. The latest quantification is that of every 10,000 women screened every three years from age 50-70, about 43 fewer will die from breast cancer. Approximately 700 will be given a cancer diagnosis and a whole lot more women will be frightened by being recalled for further tests. Although most women who are told they have cancer by screening are grateful, I wouldn't be sure whether my life was really "saved" or if I'd just become an extra cancer patient.It appears that for every 15 women who are "screen-diagnosed", three will still die of breast cancer (so screening doesn't save their lives), eight will still live (so screening brought the diagnosis earlier, but treatment would have worked anyway), one will not die of breast cancer (so screening prevents this cause of death) but three extra will become "cancer victims" (so screening leads to having surgery and/or radiotherapy/chemotherapy that wouldn't have happened in her lifetime). Screening can only be credited with one woman not dying of breast cancer, but all 15 have to be treated once something is found. It's complicated enough to understand, and some women will take these odds. But I'm happy to wait until I have symptoms.
Susan Bewley, Professor of Complex Obstetrics, King's College London
… have surgery at the end of my life
I would never undergo major abdominal surgery if I had very little chance of getting off life support afterwards. I have operated on too many people at the end of their lives for emergent reasons, only to see them never get off life support and cause angst among their relatives, who have to decide when to pull the plug. Personally, I would avoid surgery at all costs and try to find another way to deal with whatever problem I was diagnosed with.Paul Ruggieri, surgeon and author of Confessions Of A Surgeon
These are the personal opinions of individual doctors. Consult your own doctor if you are concerned about your health.
Water Could Be The World's Next Biggest Market
In Uganda, a beer brewer is paying communities to protect wetlands in a bid to secure a steady supply of water for its businesses. In neighbouring Kenya, flower companies, ranchers and hotels are giving farmers vouchers for seeds and tools in exchange for efforts to reduce farm runoff, which can damage irrigation systems and spoil landscapes. In China, a government-backed scheme is giving tens of thousands of people health insurance benefits in exchange for land management practices that could improve the quality of drinking water.
The number of projects that pay communities – either cash or in-kind compensation, such as training or even land rights – to protect or revive water supplies has doubled over the past four years, according to analysts at Ecosystem Marketplace, an online portal that tracks and promotes the development of markets for "ecosystem services" – natural processes that benefit humans and ecosystems, such as water purification by pristine watersheds or carbon sequestration by forests and oceans.
This market-based approach to sustainable development is expanding at rapid pace – but so are concerns about exactly who stands to benefit. In a report published this week, analysts identified at least 205 projects in 2011 – up from 103 in 2008 – where governments, NGOs and private companies in almost 30 countries "bought" more than $8bn of "watershed services" – up almost $2bn (£1.2bn) from 2008.
"We are witnessing the early stages of a global response that could transform the way we value and manage the world's watersheds," said Michael Jenkins, president and chief executive of Forest Trends, a US non-profit organisation that oversees the Ecosystem Marketplace. "The level of activity is far more intense than it was just a few years ago when we began tracking these types of investments."
Most projects involve deals between downstream cities or businesses that "buy" improvements in water quality by paying property owners or cities upstream for changes in land management or pollution control. In places where water resources are more highly commodified, special water funds and water quality trading schemes have been set up. Analysts say they expect more experimentation in future, including cross-investment between ecosystem markets – for example, linking water funds to international carbon trading schemes.
More than 30% of the projects identified were in China – accounting for 91% of the total billions spent in 2011 – where funding for government "eco-compensation" schemes has soared under the country's five-year development plan. Analysts found 73 programmes under development in countries worldwide, including Ghana, Malawi, and Romania.
Supporters argue that payments for ecosystem services projects and other market-based schemes will help pave the way to a "green economy", where the value of water and other natural resources is captured by economic systems, environmental efforts and impacts are easier to quantify and manage, and new "green" income opportunities are created for the poor.
However, not everyone is excited about market-based approaches to the world's water woes. The global water justice movement – emboldened by a decade of struggles against the commodification and privatisation of water – warns that setting up markets for the benefits provided by ecosystems could pave the way for a wholesale commodification of nature while doing little to address imbalances of money, power and resources. Commentators have lashed out at payments for ecosystems services for heralding the greatest privatisation since the enclosure of common lands, and sounded the alarm over prospects for a future financialised global water market and the impact that could have on food security.
Alarmingly, this week's report notes that social goals – from poverty reduction to gender inequality – are not measured or monitored in most projects, even when mentioned as priorities. In many cases, it seems, it's assumed that project intentions will simply come true. "Worryingly, little socio-economic monitoring appears to be taking place," says the report, noting that of the more than 200 projects identified, just over 50 explicitly included social goals among stated objectives and evidence could be found in just 16 cases that these impacts were being tracked.
"There's definitely anecdotal evidence that there are some social and ecological benefits. But these things are very difficult and expensive to track," said Nathaniel Carroll, one of the report's authors, adding that he's sure there are examples of projects where no such benefits have been generated for either the ecosystems or people involved.
The uncertainty around what such schemes could mean for human development is a serious failing, one that needs urgent attention if market analysts are right and ecological service payments are indeed primed for growth in coming years. With governments bankrolling the bulk of these projects, we need some evidence that these efforts are doing good. Are resources really better managed when people are paid to look after them? Who decides which natural processes are worth protection? What's the impact of these schemes on human welfare, poverty, inequality – and on the people "selling" such "services"? It's time to take a closer look.
Blockbuster to close 129 stores
DVD rental firm Blockbuster is to close 129 stores and make 760 members of staff redundant after going into administration.
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