Thinking like a mouse

Mice And Humans Should Have More In Common In Clinical Trials

An interesting suggestion here about how medical researchers' attitude toward mice is not giving the best results:

... new research shows that the customary practice of standardizing mice by trying to limit environmental variation in laboratories actually increases the chance of getting an incorrect result....

....scientists often use mice that are basically genetically identical and try to limit internal and external environmental factors such as stress, diet and age to eliminate variables affecting the outcome.

Garner said there is no practical way to ensure that all environmental conditions are the same with mice, however, because they respond to cues humans cannot detect. For example, a researcher's odor in one lab might cause more stress for a mouse than another researcher's odor in a second lab with different mice, giving different results. But scientists, unaware of the odor difference, may believe a treatment worked when the mice were actually responding to an environmental cue, giving a false positive.

More details are in the article about why they think mixing up different mice would work better.

Must be something I ate

Heston's Roman Feast

It's been busy at work, but now I'm feeling a bit crook too. It could well be something I ate, but for a truly queasy feeling, no one did dinner parties like the Romans:

The most interesting bit for me was the recreation of the 'Trojan pig'. This is a joking dish described by Petronius in the Satyricon, but known elsewhere in Roman literature. It's a large roast pig stuffed with sausages, so that when the flesh of the pig is slit, what looks like intestines tumble out.

In Petronius, it is a neat joke played on the dinner guests, staged between the host Trimalchio and his cook. The pig is brought in to the banquet, and with it comes the cook -- full of apologies that he has forgotten to gut the animal. Trimalchio feigns anger and orders the cook to strip for a whipping, until the other guests plead for mercy. 'Ok,' says Trimalchio, 'gut it now'. And out come all those sausages . . . and everyone applauds.

Treating a cook like that probably now only occurs in Madonna's household. She would probably also enjoy this:

He [chef Heston Blumenthal, whose TV recreation of a Roman banquest is the subject of this article] had better luck with Petronius' ejaculating cake, which was the centrepiece of his Roman pudding.

A new dessert menu idea for Gordon Ramsay, perhaps?

Detour ahead

Probably won't be posting much for a few days.

Yes, it's a tragedy I know. Tales of despair may be related in comments.

We shall not be moved (til 20 April, then we move)

Rebel priest Peter Kennedy expects congregation to follow him | The Courier-Mail

Won't the Trades and Labor Council take the Gay and Lesbian Choir too?

For your next masked party

Free Masks | News Groper

The instructions on each are the best feature.

Nitschke considered

Column - Nitschke’s troubling trail of death | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

A column well worth reading about Dr Nitschke.

A couple of days ago The Age gave front page publicity to a terminally ill woman who committed suicide with the help of Nitschke's Exit organisation, but gave a lengthy interview to be used to promote changes to euthanasia laws.

As usual, this is an area where it feels too much like tempting fate if one sounds too critical. I watched some of her interview, and she talked about having widespread secondary cancers in her bones, and how this caused much pain.

Yet, at the time of the interview, she clearly was not in any substantial pain, and to all appearances, looked well. (She had no gaunt appearance, for example.)

I do not doubt that bone cancer must be one of the worst ways to die, but to be honest, given the example of Nancy Crick, it would always be good to have independent verification of an illness when it is someone in the Exit publicity machine.

And really, if they do want to make a more compelling case for suicide, can't they at least pick people who look very ill in the videos?

Meanwhile, over in England, a new study suggests that euthanasia as a concept is not so popular amongst their doctors. It is interesting to note that the Dutch medical profession are different in this regard:

The fundamental difference of opinion is important, says Seale, because governments who have passed laws to enable assisted dying have only done so with the support of the medical profession, as happened in the Netherlands.

"The Dutch medical association in the late 1980s and 90s was moving towards the view that euthanasia was an acceptable way of dealing with certain forms of suffering," he said. "Dutch medical opinion was influential with the government."

Going quietly?

Deal struck to end St Mary's priest rebellion | The Courier-Mail

I wonder if there will be some tension within the congregation over this, and whether Kennedy himself will accept it and go peacefully.

An unlikely solution

Condoms to be advertised round-the-clock on TV - Times Online

England has a high teenage pregnancy rate, so how do they solve it? With 24 hour condom advertising on TV, of course.

Um, I wonder just how many British teenagers there are who do not know that they can buy condoms?

The ads will probably run during shows like Shameless and Skins, shows which are full of lower income area teenagers having sex in all its variations.

Something is seriously wrong with that place.

Gone with the ...

Green energy plans in disarray as wind farm giant slashes investment - Times Online

Set your watches

Male circumcision reduces risk of genital herpes and HPV infection, but not syphilis

Once again, I will do a post on the benefits of circumcision, partly for the fun of waiting for the international anti-circumcision forces to post a rebuttal in comments.

Honestly, the argument appears to be over, at least in the African context:

"Medically supervised adult male circumcision is a scientifically proven method for reducing a man's risk of acquiring HIV infection through heterosexual intercourse," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "This new research provides compelling evidence that circumcision can provide some protection against genital herpes and human papillomavirus infections as well."

The Pope has nothing against circumcision as far as I know, so a big push to fund safe and hygienic circumcision in Africa would have to be one of the more effective things the West can do to reduce AIDS.

Of interest

Hernando de Soto Says Toxic Assets Emerged From a Shadow Economy - WSJ.com

de Soto's take on what went wrong with the financial system sounds plausible to me. An extract:

At the beginning of the decade there was about $100 trillion worth of property paper representing tangible goods such as land, buildings, and patents world-wide, and some $170 trillion representing ownership over such semiliquid assets as mortgages, stocks and bonds. Since then, however, aggressive financiers have manufactured what the Bank for International Settlements estimates to be $1 quadrillion worth of new derivatives (mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations, and credit default swaps) that have flooded the market. These derivatives are the root of the credit crunch. Why? Unlike all other property paper, derivatives are not required by law to be recorded, continually tracked and tied to the assets they represent. Nobody knows precisely how many there are, where they are, and who is finally accountable for them.

It is hard to believe the financial institutions could not see the problem they were creating, or react to it earlier.

Doctors and their conscience

Obama weighs patient rights vs. doctor's conscience | csmonitor.com

The Christian Science Monitor really does good journalism, I think, as this well written article shows.

I wonder: is it possible to have some sort of compromise that involves doctors being entirely free to exercise their conscience in certain areas, but if so they have to it clear to the potential patient that they reserve that right in terms of "treatment" offered.

I'm thinking, signage at the reception counter, or a clear statement of the receptionist to the effect "Dr X does have conscientious objection to certain types of treatment that other doctors may be prepared to offer in the fields of reproductive health, etc. You understand that he does not have an obligation to discuss this with you when presenting options, and if you have any concerns about the potential for this to affect your treatment, you should see another doctor."

If people understand they are seeing a doctor on that basis, I don't see the harm. The doctor still exercises his/her conscience, but the patient understood that he/she would be doing that.

Of course, people would argue that this doesn't work for those who are incapable of understanding the warning, but life isn't perfect. (It may also cause much loss of business, I guess, which would not make it popular with doctors. But if the choice is between that and prosecution or loss of funding because they won't refer a patient elsewhere, would they take it?)

Unlucky and lucky

93-year-old man 1st person to be certified as survivor of both A-bombings

Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on Aug 6, 1945, when a U.S. B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on the city. He suffered serious burns to his upper body and spent the night in the city. He then returned to his hometown of Nagasaki just in time for the second attack, city officials said.

Time to delay

When even John Quiggin acknowledges a fundamental flaw in the government's emissions trading scheme, and calls for change, it's definitely time to stop and delay the introduction of a scheme that virtually keeps no one happy.

I still think there is little point in introducing anything until we see more clearly the direction the US is going to take. And I still think a carbon tax is a better idea, even if it does not "guarantee" a set level of reductions.

For nearly any problem, Labor tends to be drawn towards gesture politics (the mere appearance of effective action) over steps that ensure actual results. Introducing the present CPRS in its current form would be a continuation of that dubious tradition.

Agreed

Bryan Appleyard believes in global warming but doesn't think a blight of windmills on every hill in the land is the answer:

There is...absolutely no reason to believe at this point that wind power can do anything more than contribute a small fraction of our energy needs. Nuclear will be the answer once we have found our way through this crazy posturing phase.

Sensible chap, that Bryan.

A question or two

Lateline - 24/03/2009: US Govt plans to purge toxic assets

This segment on Lateline last night showed us one of the newly empty suburbs of America, where there are worthless "sub prime" houses the banks are happy to virtually give away.

One thing I don't understand is: where did the former occupants of these houses go? Was there an adequate rental market to absorb them immediately? You can't imagine the same thing in Australia, where housing demand is keeping rents up and vacancy down.

Another question: is there nothing much in the way of public housing in America? In Australia, I could imagine a push for governments to acquire a dirt cheap empty suburb or two as a way of boosting public housing.

Cold fusion comeback

'Cold fusion' rebirth? New evidence for existence of controversial energy source

Pretty clear evidence is given that a certain type of cold fusion device is producing neutrons. (If fusion is happening, there must be neutrons.)

Whether cold fusion ever proves useful for energy production is, however, another question.

UPDATE: the New Scientist version of the story goes into more detail, and provides an alternative explanation to fusion. (Not sure how credible it is, though.)

The limits of solar

The Solar Fraud - BraveNewClimate.com

Barry Brooks reviewed a skeptical solar power book last week, and thinks it has some value.

Brooks is promoting nuclear power quite strongly now, but whether or not he is making any inroads to the Green movement accepting it is another issue.

Still, if I were rich, having solar power to the house still appeals. Doesn't eveyone just like the idea of not being reliant on utilities?

Please let me see one...and in praise of Sony

How the Kindle will change the world. - By Jacob Weisberg - Slate Magazine

Meanwhile, here in the boondocks known as "Australia", there is no sign as to when epaper devices will arrive. Grrr. (I think I might prefer the Sony reader anyway.)

Speaking of Sony, here's an observation. I have been pounding away at work for the last 7 years or so on the same Sony laptop. (It is only used for wordprocessing and browsing the internet. With an upgrade of RAM, it still works fine.)

I type a fair bit everyday, yet I have recently noticed that there is absolutely no sign of wear or deterioration in the letters on the keyboard at all. This is quite different to the wireless keyboards in the office, as well as a couple of other brand laptops at home. It seems that for most keyboards, after a year or two, the most popular characters start to wear off, until some completely disappear.

How does Sony make their letters so tough? Why can't all keyboard manufacturers do that?

Crossing lines

Australian Story :: A Bitter End - Part 1

Australian Story over the last two weeks has been about the recent high profile euthanasia/murder case involving Graeme Wiley.

The shows are well worth watching to get an idea of the people and issues involved. It is done with the usual "Australian Story" soft bias, in the sense that hard questions are not asked or pursued, so that nearly all participants are allowed to put their own spin on events without challenge. (There was a bit of counterpoint by one of the daughters in this case, but I still reckon there was a general air of sympathy towards Caren Jenning, who has since killed herself.)

One of the things about the show that struck me was that, even allowing for my feelings against euthanasia as a wise policy, it always seems very hard to like the character of the people who get involved with the issue in a major way.

For example, Wylie himself, who apparently at least at some stage wanted to kill himself, was made to sound like an intelligent but stubborn bombastic type even by those close to him. To me, Caren Jennings came across a know-it-all busy body, and despite many people willing to sing her praises as a generous helper throughout her life, her good character did not extend to telling the truth to the police in the segment of the record of interview we heard.

The de facto of Mr Wylie (Shirley Justins, who is still alive) seemed, well, a little dim, and it is not clear whether some incidents she described were truthful or not. They were re-enacted in the show, which gives the viewer the impression they must be true, but they were certainly self-serving and later the daughter indicated she doubted them. But Justins portrayed herself as being somewhat manipulated by Caren Jennings, and one could imagine how that could be the case. However, it seemed they might have both been involved in the late change to Wylie's will, benefitting Justins, made at a time where his mental capacity was clearly going to be extremely doubtful.

And of course there was Dr Philip Nitschke, as usual hanging around any high profile case of a person who wants to kill himself for any reason. (He has a surprisingly short entry in Wikipedia; there is a lot more that should be inserted to give a true feel for the radicalism of his views.)

Many parts of the show were just a touch creepy, such as the bit where Nitschke and Jennings re-create for the camera the jolly meeting where (it would appear) he gave her a gift of alcohol to take after she swallows Nembutol. The issue of who may have supplied her the drug was never pursued in the show. (As I said, it is a "soft" version of events.)

Maybe it takes a certain aggressive character to be involved in euthanasia as a issue, and I generally react against that in people anyway. But I think they themselves might find it harder to get political support simply because of a reaction against their character. (Even though, logically, having fewer annoying suicide-inclined people around might be an argument for allowing euthanasia!)

Like the modern aggressive atheists, they allow for no shades of grey. Their view of the issue is right, and everyone who disagrees is an soft minded idiot.