Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Facing the Future

I, Science 20 March 2006
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Dr. Alex Clarke talks to David Brill and Helen Morant about the psychological acceptance of facial transplantation, the importance of the selection process, and why we all have a role to play in helping those with facial disfigurements.

"You can imagine that if someone very unusual walked into this room now, we'd all look as the door opened and do a double-take. The noise volume in the room goes down and that can be devastating. There's a lot to be done in how we treat people." says Dr. Alex Clarke, Clinical Psychologist on the face transplant team at the Royal Free Hospital, London.

Increasingly, facial transplantation may become an option for the severely disfigured. The concept raises some obvious practical questions: how long will the procedure take? Will the transplanted face regain complete function? What will it look like? With so much attention focused on the logistics of the procedure the psychological management is often forgotten. Dr. Clarke's role is to provide the equally important psychological component of the patient selection procedure, and to remain closely involved in their care after the operation.

Hand transplants give us some idea as to how people might respond to a face transplant. "One of the health professionals involved in hand transplants described going into a room and seeing one of the transplant subjects biting his nails. What wonderful evidence that someone has accepted their hands as their own."

Although the first hand transplant was a physical success, the subject later requested that it be removed, raising the issue of psychological rejection. "As I understand it, he disliked the fact that he had a nonfunctioning hand. So you could say that was a failure of selection. I suspect that what he wanted was a hand that he could move and feel, but it didn't fulfill any function as far as he was concerned. So he made a very logical decision actually - it didn't meet his expectations so he didn't want it. There have been 24 hand transplants across the world and only one of them failed, but it's the one everyone mentions."

Self-acceptance of a new appearance is obviously a major step in the successful transplantation of a face, but is likely to be a long process. "Your body image is very robust," explains Dr. Clarke. "You have a well entrenched sense of yourself, and people who've had disfiguring injuries do say that it takes a long time to look in the mirror and recognise yourself. And even after you've geared yourself up to look in the mirror, you can still be caught out by catching yourself in a shop window when you’re not prepared to look. So the fact that somebody with a transplanted face didn’t necessarily recognise themselves straight away wouldn’t worry or surprise me – I would expect that and would prepare somebody accordingly.”

So it is unsurprising that selecting suitable candidates involves a rigorous screening procedure. “We have tried to make the selection process as objective as possible, so we’re using standardised scales that are used for other forms of facial assessment. These ask about social anxiety and social avoidance, for example. So we’d ask you to identify the kind of things that are difficult for you, for example having a very visibly different appearance, and the sorts of situations you avoid”.

“Some people have the idea that you would move from having an identified abnormality to being normal again. But most reconstructive procedures can’t do that. A poor psychological outcome here would be someone who was expecting to look like they looked before, that they could just walk away from the operation, done and dusted, and disappear. That would be the worst outcome from my point of view – somebody who hasn’t realised that they’re moving into a career as someone with a transplanted face. They'll need to keep in very careful and close contact with medical professionals for the rest of their life."

Facial transplantation is a drastic procedure, and Dr. Clarke stresses that she would only consider it for herself under the most severe circumstances. "If I had panfacial burns which meant that I'd got no nose, no eyelids, my sight was threatened, I couldn't eat properly because I hadn't got any lips and I had lots of tight scarring and restricting movement of the face, then certainly I would consider it as an option. I wouldn't just because I had an unusual appearance and didn't look like everybody else."

Acceptance by others seems to be as important as acceptance by the patient themselves. "The recipient of a hand transplant once spoke of what a difference it made when his little boy first saw him and, pleased to see his daddy with hands again, bent down and kissed them. It was actually the acceptance of other people that made the biggest difference towards that individual."

This example demonstrates the need to prepare not only potential recipients, but also their family and friends. "It's important to have good social support from people who really understand what a long process it is. We need to work with them as well because ultimately it's through them and their interaction with the individual, that people will finally be able to feel that they've got a new face which is theirs."

The reaction of the public also has a significant impact on facially disfigured people. "There's no relationship between the severity of a facial disfigurement and psychological distress. People look at others with very severe facial burns and presume that their life must be dreadful, that they never go out, that kind of thing. Not true at all. I've worked with a lot of people with very severe disfigurements who weren't coping well, but actually changed things around following psychosocial intervention. This takes the form of teaching people how to cope with comments and staring - the sorts of intrusions that come from others. The classic situation that facially disfigured people describe is traveling on the tube and sitting on those seats that face other people. They feel that other people notice them and are fixated on their face, staring at it and exploring it. They have to be able to deal with that and they can learn to do so."

The world's first partial-face transplant, carried out in France last November, was accompanied by intense media coverage and Dr. Clarke believes that this has had a positive impact on public opinion of the procedure. "People's perception of what was being planned was wrong, and their perception of who it was being planned for was wrong. I think that was partly because there were no really good images available, but also because of previous films like Face Off, which contribute to the myths surrounding plastic surgery. But as time has moved on we can provide people with better information about what exactly is planned, and the kind of patients for whom it would be considered. In that regard the French operation is a great example, and the media coverage of that transplant has been really very good. People can see that it would have been a very difficult reconstructive challenge and that maybe a facial transplant was the best solution on offer."

Official permission for the procedure has not yet been granted in the UK, but Dr. Clarke is pleased with progress so far. "At the moment we've got ethical permission to develop a screening process, and that's the first step. We try to be very transparent about what we're doing, so we publish a lot of our work, and we think it's important that people are aware of what is happening and have the chance to debate it. We're certainly not in a race, put it that way, but I couldn't give you a time frame. So far we are moving ahead and we are happy with the rate at which we are doing so."

Evidently, the success of facial transplantation will be measured far beyond the reconnection of blood vessels and nerves. Acceptance of the new face by the recipient, and by those around them, will prove to be important. Perhaps it is only the reactions of other people that justify the need for the procedure at all. Dr. Clarke concludes: "People who look unusual wouldn't have a problem if it weren't for the rest of us.

Xray Vision moves one step closer

I, Science 20 March 2006
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FEBRUARY: Man has long desired the ability to see through solid objects such as bathroom walls and changing room curtains. New research suggests that this may one day be possible.

The project, a collaboration between researchers at Imperial College and the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, involves shining a laser at a newly-developed solid.

"The material goes from being opaque to being completely transparent. There is a little circular window that you can see through," said Professor Chris Phillips. "At the moment the effect can only be produced in a lab under specific conditions, but it has the potential to lead to all sorts of new applications."

"This real life 'x-ray specs' effect relies on a property of matter that is usually ignored - that the electrons it contains move in a wave-like way. What we have learnt is how to control these waves directly. The results can be pretty weird at times, but it's very exciting and so fundamental."

While the immediate impact of this new material is likely to lie in the fields of laser technology and computer networking, Professor Phillips did not rule out the possibility of a new range of lingerie.

The Beat goes on

I, Science 20 March 2006
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FEBRUARY: Traditional bypass operations involve stopping and opening the heart, while using an artificial pump to keep blood flowing around the body. But new robotic software may soon remove the need to even open the chest.

The software works with a surgical robot called da Vinci, enabling it to synchronise the movement of its tools with the beating of the heart.

Some surgeons currently slow the heart down by cooling it, but this is still risky. "It's a difficult procedure on a stationary piece of tissue, let alone when it is moving," said Dr. Rajesh Aggarwal of Imperial College, speaking at the Medical Devices Technology Conference in Birmingham this month.

The da Vinci robot, along with the new software, uses a-two camera endoscope to create a 3D view of the heart. The software tracks the movement of the surgeon's eyes as the heart beats, and compensates by moving the endoscope, generating an image that appears stationary and enabling the surgeon to concentrate on the procedure itself.

So far the technology has only been tested on an artificial silicone heart, but further refinements could one day remove the need for traumatic open-heart surgery and even enable surgeons to operate with the chest closed.

Chill out Dad

I, Science 20 March 2006
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JANUARY: Expectant fathers may have an important role to play in the physical recuperation of their partners following a caesarean section.

A study of 65 women at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital has revealed that the anxieties of birth partners strongly influence those of the mother.

Both women and their partners were questioned throughout the birth process about their fears and expectations, while the pain levels of the women were also constantly assessed. According to the study, women with negative expectations before the procedure experienced the most fear during it, which in turn was associated with greater post-operative pain and a longer recovery time.

"Whilst some women say that birth partners improve birth experiences, others report less positive outcomes. It is not unreasonable for the birth partner to have some feelings of anxiety and fear about the operation they are about to witness," said Dr. Ed Keogh of the University of Bath, lead researcher along with Dr. Anita Holdcroft of Imperial.

The solution could be better preparation for the partner as well as the mother. "Rather than removing them from the operating theatre altogether, it would be better to target the emotional wellbeing of the birth partner to help reduce the anxiety and fear experienced by the mother," suggested Dr. Keogh.

Poo parasite catalyst for Schizophrenia

I, Science 20 March 2006
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JANUARY: Scientists at Imperial have identified a new reason to avoid eating cat droppings.

Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite found in feline faeces, has already been linked to the development of schizophrenia and toxoplasmosis.

Rats infected with T. gondii display behavioural abnormalities such as unawareness of danger, which may manifest itself in a suicidal attraction to cats. New research shows that anti-psychotic and mood-stablising drugs, used in the treatment of schizophrenia, are highly effective at alleviating these symptoms, strengthening the case for the parasite's role in the development of the disease.

The lead author of the report was Dr. Joanne Webster, from Imperial College. "By showing that drugs used to treat schizophrenia affect the parasite T. gondii, this does provide further evidence for its role in the development of some cases schizophrenia," she said. "Although we are certainly not saying that exposure to this parasite does definitely lead to the development of schizophrenia, this and previous studies do show there may be a link in a few individuals, providing new clues for how we treat toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia."

Clinical trials using anti-T. gondii therapies for schizophrenia have already begun at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Sex more fun with someone else

I, Science 20 March 2006
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Sex could be 400 percent more satisfying than masturbation, according to new research published in Biological Psychology.

Researchers measured blood levels of prolactin, a hormone released after orgasm, which induces a feeling of satisfaction.

Prolactin levels in both sexes were found to be 400 percent higher following an orgasm from sexual intercourse than one from masturbation.

"Aliens, watch this Space"

I, Science 20 March 2006
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FEBRUARY: Krypton, Dagobah, Vulcan and Arrakis have long been hailed as inhabited worlds by science fiction junkies. But now astronomers have boldly gone some way towards identifying genuine planetary candidates for alien life.

Margaret Turnbull, of the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC, has considered an exhaustive range of factors to compile a shortlist of stars where extra-terrestrial life could most likely live long and prosper.

Beta CVn, a binary star 26 light-years away, is named as the leading contender, while epsilion Indi A is also a force to be reckoned with.

This enterprising search is far from exhaustive, however: "There are bazillions of stars in the sky to look at, but we can't look at every single one with the scrutiny that we'd like to," said Dr Turnbull. "These are places I'd want to live if God were to put our planet around another star."

"Nuqjathl? Nuqdaq oh puchpa'e? Hab sosli' quch!" said a Klingon source.

Men have taste for revenge

I, Science 20 March 2006
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JANUARY: Men appear to take greater pleasure than women in exacting revenge on their enemies, according to a paper in Nature.

A team at UCL set up a tactical game for 32 volunteers called The Prisoner's Dilemma, in which players can co-operate or double-cross each other as they see fit. Four actors also infiltrated the group, and played with certain agendas set by the researchers.

Participants were subsequently placed in an fMRI scanner to monitor their brain activity, and shown images of their fellow players receiving mild electric shocks. When 'fair' players received a shock, both sexes showed a similar empathetic response in the fronto-insular and anterior cingulate cortices, brain areas that relate to pain.

When 'cheating', untrustworthy' players received a shock however, activity in these areas dropped significantly in men, suggesting a lack of empathy with their suffering. Furthermore, men demonstrated a rise in activity in the nucleus accumbens, an area associated with receiving rewards.

"Men expressed more desire for revenge and seemed to feel satisfaction when unfair people were given what they perceived as deserved physical punishment," said Dr. Tania Singer, the lead researcher on the team.

"This investigation would seem to indicate there is a predominant role for men in maintaining justice and issuing punishment."

The Story of Bob

I, Science 22 November 2005
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David Brill and Helen Morant met Professor Lord Robert Winston to discuss science, religion and his new book, The Story of God.

It's lucky that the reception area of Hammersmith Hospital has very comfortable sofas. We were kept waiting there for an hour. We then found out that the hour we had been promised could only be half that due to a later engagement with the BBC. Our opening question was described as "very bad", and a later one dismissed as something every journalist asks. It is a testament to the charm and reassuring manner of Lord Robert Winston that not one of these offences registered any damage. The ease with which he spoke left us feeling that we could have covered virtually any subject and not run out of interesting material. We concentrated on the relationship between science and religion, beginning with the existence of God.

"Each of us will have a different notion of what we mean by God, even if we're atheists. I do believe that humans have a divine spirit which is not explicable in purely evolutionary terms, although I do think that there is possibly a genetic basis for much religiosity and spirituality … I think that if you're asking me if I believe in something irrational and inexplicable that may contribute to us then yes, I do. But if you're asking me whether I believe that there's a white coated, bearded figure, up there in the clouds who dictates what's going to happen to me when I walk out of this building and will stop a brick falling from the scaffolding, I don't believe that, no."

Lord Winston does not shy away from discussing some deep ideas about science and the world around us: "It seems to me that as we discover more and more about the universe we understand less and less about the universe. And I think that what's interesting about biologists is that they tend to be so narrow that they arrogantly think that they can explain the world - but it's only their world. As physics develops, on the other hand, it uncovers more and more irrational, inexplicable and unbelievable things which make up the universe we're in. And I find it interesting that for that reason, "belief" is probably more common amongst physicists than it is amongst biologists. And I think that physicists are actually a bit more humble, to see the moment we look at the universe and realise that we probably will never explain it. I think biology will become like that too. I think that biology, far from getting more and more explicable, will become less explicable."

"I've always thought science isn't that objective, a lot of the time. It should be objective but it isn't. Religion isn't objective either, of course." But should religion be objective? "No. Because they're different systems, they're different ways of looking at the natural world. Science, of course, has to test by experiment. Theologians on the whole do not test things. They try to but generally their tests are inadequate and by our standards they are very imperfect. The fallacy of some clerics, Muslim and Catholic for example, explaining the tsunami in terms of God destroying something which was evil or wrong, or trying to give a message to the world (or indeed the same for the earthquake in Pakistan) is to my mind completely irrational. I don't think you explain the irrationalities of nature by the irrationalities of providence."

When asked whether religion is ever misused, Lord Winston is remarkably frank with his answer: "I think that's something I say in great detail in the book. I'm interested in fundamentalism and I argue that both religion and science are, to my mind, essentially about uncertainty. We do science because we are uncertain about what we are going to find. We don't really understand the natural world, but our genetic imperative is inquisitive, so we want to try and understand it. I think that what we do in science is try to underpin our uncertainties, and that's exactly what religion does. It's also essentially about uncertainty, and humans are very bad at dealing with uncertainty. So, consequently, religions often offer certainty, and so does science. And I think that science and religion, when they become certain are at their most dangerous."

"I take issue with the fundamentalist Christians (and there are a few fundamentalist Jews who are admittedly of the same thought proces) who take the literal word of the Bible as absolute truth and nothing can be changed. What's bizarre about those people living in Kentucky is that they think the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon were formed at the time of Noah's flood, and that God put the fossils there to confuse men. They claim that this is what they get from the absolute literal word of the text. Why that is so inconsistent with any kind of rationalist behaviour is of course that they read the text, which is imperfectly translated from Greek, which in turn was imperfectly translated from the Hebrew. At least they should read the original Hebrew manuscript. Now unless you go back to the original texts you cannot understand them. It isn't actually possible to do it - you get completely the wrong view of what the phrase is about … I think fundamentalism of that sort is flawed and dangerous."

The religious aspect of Lord Winston's life also affects his work on a practical level: "Whatever I believe - I certainly don't believe I'm going to be punished if I don't keep to the Robert Winston's book "The Story of God" is reviewed on page 28. Sabbath for example - I don't generally work on religious festivals, so-called holidays, and I don't work on Saturdays. I think actually that frees me up for work because having one day of the week when you don't do any work is a hugely healthy thing. I think it's been a saving grace - it's a great institution, actually."

Writing this book has taken Lord Winston on something of a personal journey. "I think it changed my views about both science and religion. I think I became somewhat more sceptical of both and about my own religion too." Some critics have suggested that in writing this book he is dealing with an area outside his expertise. But he strongly refutes this idea: "I think that is such a conceit, actually. It's a really arrogant thing to say that of somebody else, because of course we all have the ability to look at the whole world, not just narrow bits of it. I don't set myself up as an expert in the book - I say that I'm coming at it from a fairly particular perspective."

As well as tackling his critics, he showed a willingness to make bold predictions: "I think that we will find out that we can't always predict how genes are going to express, and we may even find out that genes aren't the only unit of inheritance." Our interview concluded with a walk to BBC Television Centre for another interview with Radio Five Live. Ignoring the occasional glances from passers-by, we spoke at length about a wide range of subjects from Jewish ethics and teachings to the atheism of Richard Dawkins. Whatever the critics may have to say about Lord Winston, it doesn't take long in his company to realise the immense depth of his knowledge on religion, science and, well, just about everything. An hour in reception was a small price to pay. And they were damn comfy sofas.

"New TB test: faster, cheaper and easier"

I, Science 22 November 2005
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NOVEMBER: A standard test for TB takes three to four weeks and costs £17-£23. However, a new test has been developed which takes just one week and costs only £1 to perform.

The new test, called MODS (Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptible Assay), does not require extensive training to perform and its speed and low cost mean it could be of massive benefit across the world.

"TB is a major cause of mortality in the developing world, and eradicating it has been made difficult through a lack of inexpensive diagnosis equipment which can be deployed quickly and easily. The MODS test provides a simple solution to this," said Professor Jon Friedland of Imperial College, who was involved with developing the test.

The MODS test won first place in the Best Innovation to Improve Global Healthcare category at the Medical Futures Innovation Awards. The award was given to Dr. David Moore, also from Imperial College.

We want your brain

I, Science 22 November 2005
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SEPTEMBER: Fed up of having a brain you barely use? Want someone to benefit from it after you die?

Dr. Kirstin Goldring of Imperial College has called for more people to donate their brains to medical research, suggesting that: "Your brain could play a vital role in helping develop better drug treatments or even cures for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's."

Lack of sex can lead to extinction

I, Science 22 November 2005
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NOVEMBER: Asexual organisms can reproduce rapidly and initially prosper ahead of their sexually active relatives. But new research suggests that these benefits may be confined to the short term.

The work was carried out on the P. marneffei fungus, which is dangerous to people with weakened immune systems, such as AIDS patients. The researchers found that although spores were able to travel far and wide, they were unable to adapt to new environments. Without sex, there is no mixing of genes and therefore no adaptation.

One of the authors, Dr Bill Hanage, concluded: "While becoming asexual may provide short term advantages to a species, in the long term they are likely to end up in evolution's ultimate dustbin : extinction."

Readers should note that this work was done on fungus, and humans should not be worried about facing extinction if they are currently experiencing a "dry spell".

Ju-grass-ic Park

I, Science 22 November 2005
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NOVEMBER: Years of bad publicity have finally reached an end for dinosaurs. Fossilised dung has revealed the surprising fact that some dinosaurs actually ate grass, not people on toilets as many have now come to believe.

The team, led by Caroline Strömberg, a palaeobotanist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, collected 65 million-yearold droppings from the Deccan Traps of central India. The aim was to investigate the diet of titanosaurs, a group that includes Diplodocus.

Subsequent investigation found microscopic silica structures, characteristic of grass remnants. Grass was previously not thought to have existed until some ten million years after the dinosaurs, but it now appears that they did indeed coexist.

"It was very unexpected," says Strömberg. "We will have to rewrite our understanding of [grass] evolution … we may have to add grass to the dioramas of dinosaurs we see in museums."

Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum, London, added: "It's not good dinner party conversation to say you work on fossilized dinosaur turds, but they are the best way to find out what dinosaurs ate."

Opinion is divided as to whether the Spielberg movies would have been more or less exciting had the dinosaurs refused fresh meat in favour of some tasty turf.

Scientists create Danger Mouse

I, Science 22 November 2005
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NOVEMBER: Mice are not normally renowned for their boldness. Geneticists, however, appear to have created a fearless mouse by knocking out a single gene.

Unlike puny lab rats, these super-mice are seemingly indifferent to electrical shocks and, in a slap in the face to Pavlov and his dogs, even ignored a tone associated with the shocks. Normal mice, when conditioned in this way, become frozen with fear upon hearing the tone. The mice also showed an unusual willingness to explore wide open spaces in a new environment, areas where normal mice would fear to tread.

Fear stems from a part of the brain called the amygdala. Researchers led by Gleb Shumyatsky of Rutgers University, New Jersey, knocked out a gene called stathmin which regulates the development of structural molecules in nerve cells. Stathmin is predominantly expressed in the amygdala, and without it, neurones do not form normal connections with one another and memory of fear is affected.

"Understanding the molecules that regulate fear would allow us to characterize the basic mechanisms of memory formation," said Shumyatsky.

Rumours that the mice are planning a daring revolt against their captors have not been confirmed.

Monday, December 1, 2008

A little bit of alchemy in store for the Chemistry Department

Epigram 14 February 2005 (Issue 168)
http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=424

The Departments of Medical Sciences and Chemistry are to receive a massive funding boost of £21 million, it was announced last week.

The news follows a decision by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to award a joint £9m to the departments, which will be backed by a further £12m from the University itself.

New Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) will be established with the money. Future medical students could be taught using state-of-the-art computerised mannequin patients, while chemistry students can look forward to using professional-standard laboratory facilities.

Jienchi Dorward, a third year medical student, said: "This is fantastic news for future students. The new funding will boost Bristol's reputation as a great place to study medicine."

The new medical CETL will be called the AIMS centre (Applied and Integrated Medical Sciences), while the new chemistry CETL is to be called Bristol Chemlabs.

"These are exciting times for chemistry at Bristol," said Professor Orpen, head of the chemistry department. "Thanks to HEFCE and the University, we will have world-class facilities for students to learn practical chemistry - matching the outstanding research labs we now have in place."

It seems that the divide between universities is growing. Exeter, King's College and Swansea have all closed their chemistry departments, causing hundreds of redundancies and leaving students unsure how best to complete their studies. Some Exeter students are expected to continue their chemistry degrees at Bristol and the department has held an open day on the 10th February for Exeter students. Some Exeter students were forced to return from their third year industry placements to attend.

For students at Bristol, however, the new money will result in improved teaching and learning facilities, cementing the University's reputation as one of the top places in the UK to study science and medical subjects.

Saucy!

Epigram 31 January 2005 (Issue 167)
http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=335


The next time you order cheesy chips from the Hunger Hatch, make sure you take a closer look at the colour of your tomato sauce.

Organic ketchup has been found to contain up to three times more lycopene, the red pigment responsible for the colour of tomatoes, than non-organic brands.

Lycopene has been shown to protect against prostate, pancreatic and breast cancer and is also thought to reduce the risk of heart attacks. The chemical is also found in baked beans, the cornerstone of any student meal.

New research from America investigated levels of the compound in 13 different brands of tomato sauce. The three organic brands excelled, one having 183 micrograms of lycopene per gram of ketchup, compared with one fast-food sample which had just 60 micrograms.

According to the researchers, the best way to ensure high levels of lycopene is to pick the darkest red ketchup.

A spokesperson from Heinz declined to comment on the findings.

Raising the stakes

Epigram 17 January 2005 (Issue 166)
http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=324

"There are few things that are so unpardonably neglected in our country as poker ... it is enough to make one ashamed of one's species" - Mark Twain.

You probably hadn't realised it, but something had been missing from our university. Oxford and Cambridge contest an annual game and some 300 participants are expected to attend the first ever national student championships in April. With such a boom in the student community, it was only a matter of time before the poker craze hit Bristol.

On November 18, student council finally approved the new UBU Poker Society (PokSoc), giving the go-ahead to begin running tournaments with cash prizes. The society had been in the pipeline for some months, held up by legal concerns and the worry that the university may appear to be condoning gambling. PokSoc had already been granted a modest stall at Fresh, and, despite not being on any of the maps and leaflets, managed to compile a list of 112 potential members.

Thursday 2 December saw the first official poker tournament ever held at the University of Bristol. 48 players turned up to the students' union and paid £5 to enter. The game was no-limit Texas Hold 'em, the most popular of all the different variations of poker. Around 10.15, after nearly four hours of play, a final table of eight players emerged. With prize money going to the top five places, three people knew they would be going home empty handed. A tense 45 minutes and some shaky hands later, Sandeep Achar emerged victorious, claiming the £150 first prize. Second place went to Adam Rixon with Philip Riveron in third.

The first tournament saw a fairly high standard of poker with some very experienced players. However, the society is intending to run a session for beginners at the start of term which represents an ideal opportunity for people interested in the game. Poker is easy to learn but difficult to master, and tournaments like this are a valuable learning experience in a friendly environment not found in casinos or poker clubs. Tournaments are "freeze out", meaning that when you lose your chips you cannot buy back in, ensuring that poker remains a game of skill and not simply a means to gamble. With poker on TV, in the bookshops, on the internet and with at least four tournaments scheduled for this term, there has never been a better time to learn to play. What better use for your student loan?

Might your air be just too clean to breathe?

Epigram 17 January 2005 (Issue 166)
http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=294

Asthma during childhood has been linked to household cleaning products. New research at the University of Bristol has suggested a connection between persistent wheezing in children and pre-natal exposure to household cleaning products.

The study involved 7,019 families from the university's Children of the 90s project, the most comprehensive study of early childhood ever undertaken. Household usage of various products was considered, including bleach, disinfectant and carpet cleaners.

In the 10 per cent of families using these products the most frequently, children were twice as likely to suffer from persistent wheezing as families where they were used the least. Such wheezing in young children can often develop into asthma.

Chemical reaction

Epigram 17 January 2005 (Issue 166)
http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=292

Failing departments being axed across the country.

Exeter University is to stop teaching chemistry following a Senate decision to close the department next year. Bristol may take students left in the lurch by the decision.

The move aims to cut an annual budget deficit of £4.5 million and could mean up to 130 job losses. For the 350 undergraduate students enrolled on the course, of more immediate concern is how and where they are going to complete their degrees. Students gathered for a meeting in December were first informed not by their University, but by a call from ITV asking for their opinions.

Alex Gilbert, a second year chemistry student, was left "fuming" over the handling of the decision. "We have been treated with disdain and disrespect. We don't know who's going to teach us or what's going to happen." Staff and postgraduates are likely to take legal action against the university, while many first year students may drop out and re-apply to new universities for next year. Sir Harry Kroto, a Nobel Prize winner, has returned his honourary degree to the university in protest.

For those who decide to continue (the university is legally bound to teach the full course), guest lecturers could be brought in to teach, but laboratory practicals represent a major problem. Students are being offered up to £2,000 to transfer to other universities to finish their studies, but many are understandably reluctant to do so.

Chemistry students at Bristol can rest assured that the same will not be happening here. "The department is going from strength to strength and has the full support of the University." said Professor Orpen, head of the department, adding that "Such closures could be dangerous for UK science, as many jobs depend on chemistry". Bristol's chemistry department was awarded the maximum 5* grade for research in 2001, entitling it to greater funding than lower-rated universities.

Professor Orpen also confirmed that Bristol is in talks with Exeter over the possibility of taking up to thirty students, who would join the second year.

Since 1996, 28 chemistry departments have closed, including King's College, Queen Mary and Swansea. Even Oxford, one of the largest chemistry departments in the world, is suffering financial difficulties. Many blame the Higher Education Funding Council for inappropriate distribution of funds, making it uneconomical to teach expensive subjects like chemistry. The senate also passed a vote to close the music department. Other recent departmental closures include architecture at Cambridge; philosophy, sociology and anthropology at Swansea; maths at Essex and music at Reading.

The debate rages on. Many people feel that while the loss of jobs is regrettable, it could be beneficial to have fewer but better-funded departments, resulting in a higher standard of teaching and research. Whatever the long-term implications of the closure, it seems that government funding of universities, along with universities' own course planning, needs to be reviewed before many more people find themselves out of work and study. In the meantime, staff and students at Exeter face the New Year with uncertainty.

Make mine a pint

Epigram 29 November 2004 (Issue 165)
http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=234

Finally, the news that students, pub landlords and darts players across the globe have been waiting a lifetime to hear. Beer is not bad for you. In fact, it may even be good for you.

Forget stem cells, genetics and animal testing: here is some science you will definitely want to read. Beer has actually been shown to have a number of health benefits. A reduced risk of heart attacks, gallstones and late onset diabetes are all associated with moderate consumption, not to mention protection from stomach ulcers. Of particular interest to middle aged women will be the news that the high silicon content of beer may help protect bones, reducing the risk of osteoporosis. So why do so many people associate beer with bellies?

A quick content analysis reveals some interesting facts. Beer is rich in B vitamins, low in sugar and contains a healthy amount of protein. More importantly, a glass of beer has half as many calories as the equivalent amount of milk and less than wine and most soft drinks. Half a pint contains 95 calories, a 100g packet of peanuts contains 600, while a chicken curry with rice has around 1100. Perhaps it is time to blame the lifestyle, not the choice of beverage.

Believe it or not, schools in Belgium's Limburg province have begun experimenting with low-alcohol beer as an option at lunchtime, on the grounds that it is healthier than fizzy drinks. Children will even be given a choice between lager and bitter, both with an alcohol content below 2.5 per cent. The chairman of the scheme, Rony Langenaeken, said, "Beer is for the whole family, and this scheme will be for children between the ages of three and fifteen." Rumours that fish and chips are to be replaced with kebabs and cheeseburgers have yet to be confirmed.

Before you head down the pub to celebrate this momentous news, a word of caution must be issued. These studies refer only to moderate beer consumption. The adverse health effects of binge drinking and alcoholism are well documented. The government recommends a maximum of 3-4 units per day for men and 2-3 for women. Stick to these guidelines and beer can complement a healthy lifestyle. Just remember to buy one for your mum as well; she'll thank you for it one day.

Stephen Fretwell - Magpie

Epigram 15 November 2004 (Issue 164)
http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=201

Having gained something of a cult following in his hometown, Fretwell finally releases his debut album. The sound is somewhere between Damien Rice and Coldplay, albeit their more sedate, less commercial numbers. The piano and guitar parts remain simple, leaving his rich, melodious voice to do the hard work, giving an overall mellow and somewhat sorrowful feel to the album.

There are some beautiful moments when his voice seems almost perfect, coming together expertly with the music on tracks such as 'Emilie' and the Dylan-esque 'Brother'. However, one or two of the songs seem less suited to his dulcet harmonies, and the lyrics sometimes disappoint with some fairly predictable rhyming. The order could also be improved; it seems to open with the weaker songs, leaving the best towards the end, by
which time the listener could be forgiven for having already lost interest.

However, this is a very promising debut despite a few inadequacies. Be ready to listen to it a few times before passing judgement and you may just grow to love it. With some improved lyrics, Fretwell's next album could be one to buy. Watch this space.

Rating: ***

If you liked this, try Damien Rice - O