ScienceBlog.ie

As a freelance web writer, I spend much of my time reading various online media sources from
the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal to the Guardian and more. Whenever I’m reading
through news articles, I’m always curious to find out, what, exactly, has grabbed everyone’s
attention. Scrolling down to the “most viewed” section, I’ve found that the most popular reads
tend to be those focused on health.

While this is understandable, considering the developed world’s newfound obsession with
healthy lifestyles, I’m amazed by how all these stories are essentially the same. One common
story tells readers that consuming X will decrease your chances of getting Y deadly disease
by Z%. Or how about the “contrary to findings in previous studies, X isn’t (or is) bad for you
after all” story? Then there’s the common formulation “taking X supplement improves Y bodily
function.” You get the picture.

That’s why I was delighted to hear about the recent American publication of
Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks, written by science writer and psychiatrist
Ben Goldacre. Goldacre, who has written a weekly column for the Guardian for several years
now, also called Bad Science, knowledgeably demonstrates how we are daily bombarded by
misleading studies that sound convincing simply because they are decorated with “science-y”
language. He also teaches the average reader, who may not be as adept at evaluating scientific
studies, how to decipher which studies and claims stand up to the rigorous logic and proof
required of sound scientific inquiry.

Goldacre writes with unsurpassable wit that makes the book a quick read. You’ll be having so
much fun following the author on his crusades against misleading health claims, that you won’t
even realize you’re learning valuable information. In one example, Goldacre shows how footbath
detox treatments typically offered at salons are completely useless. He also skewers nutritionists
who try to claim ownership (and make money) from common sense advice like eating more
vegetables and exercising. Most importantly, Goldacre demonstrates how misinterpretations and
misleading statements stamped with the seal of scientific rhetoric can be downright dangerous.

In an age when general science literacy is particularly weak, Goldacre’s book is a breath of fresh
air on the popular science writing scene, and is a must-read for anyone looking to become a more
informed consumer. As the Independent noted in its review of the book: “Thousands of books
are enjoyable; many are enlightening; only a very few will ever rate as necessary to social health.
This is one of them.”

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Kitty Holman, who writes on the topics of nursing schools.
She welcomes your comments at her email Id: kitty.holman20@gmail.com.

web 2.0 periodic table

Life Science Recruitment launches its Web 2.0 Periodic Table

Life Science Recruitment is a specialist scientific and healthcare recruitment company based in Dublin and is the first Irish recruitment company to develop a portfolio of industry-specific recruitment websites. Presented in an innovative periodic table format (Life Science Periodic Table), the aim is to make job-seeking in specific vertical markets more relevant, targeted and efficient for candidates.

The company’s market research into recruitment trends in Ireland began in late 2007 and results from a recent online survey conducted on the lifescience.ie website indicated that 67% of respondents said they wanted to see less duplicated jobs online, while 73% of respondents said they wanted to see more niche websites dealing in their specific professional fields. The culmination of this research has been the development of the “strategic online presence” comprising 15 industry-specific websites and a Web 2.0 footprint made up of a number of blogs, combined with a presence on Facebook, twitter and other social media resources.

Each industry-specific website is tailored to the jobseeker; pharmaceutical.ie for jobseekers in the pharmaceutical sector, medicaldevice.ie for the jobseekers in the medical device sector and so on. Each website contains latest jobs from Life Science Recruitment, academic institutes and featured industry partners only, as well as industry sector overviews and career advice targeted to the specific end-user. These websites have an unrivalled presence in the search engines, compared to competitors.

According to Seth Godin, author of numerous best-selling marketing books and internet marketing guru, “Big companies, non-profits and even candidates will discover hyperlocal, hyperspecialized, hyperrelevant… this is where we are going, and it turns out that this time, the media is way ahead of the marketers.” Life Science Recruitment’s strategic online presence aims to encapsulate these three maxims as it moves forward with the changing face of the recruitment industry in Ireland.

The management team at Life Science Recruitment brings over 20 years of recruitment experience to the table, combined with an academic grounding in life science and technology.

Contact Information:
For further information please contact:
Eamonn O’Raghallaigh, Life Science Recruitment Ltd, 4th Floor, Newmarket House, Newmarket, Dublin 8. Tel: 01 6854545 / Fax: 01 443 0524

Websites: lifescience.ie / pharmaceutical.ie / medicaldevice.ie / alliedhealth.ie / clinicalresearch.ie / biopharmaceutical.ie / diagnostics.ie / scientificjobs.ie /salesandmarketing.ie / qualityassurance.ie / regulatoryaffairs.ie / qualitycontrol.ie / microbiology.ie / chemistryjobs.ie

Social Media: ScienceBlog.ie / Life Science Company Blog / Sales and Marketing Blog / Life Science FaceBook Page / Life Science Twitter Page

Propofol is very short acting hypnotic agent used to induce general anesthesia and to maintain patients who are mechanically ventilated. For those of you who have undergone general anesthesia, the milky white liquid is probably the last thing you see prior to being knocked out – as once injected propofol will induce unconsciousness in around 10 seconds. Due to its ability to impair memory while under its influence and its appearance as a white liquid, propofol is jokingly called “milk of amnesia” by medical professionals. Interestingly, Michael called propofol his “milk”.

It has several mechanisms of action, both through potentiation of GABA-A receptor activity, thereby slowing the channel closing time, and also acting as a sodium channel blocker. Recent research has also suggested the endocannabinoid system may contribute significantly to propofol’s anesthetic action and to its unique properties.

So What Went Wrong?

As with most cases of this kind, although propofol was the actual coup de grace, it was the combination of multiple drug interactions which ultimately led to Michael’s death. In a report released today, Michael was actually dosed with a 10-milligram tab of Valium (diazepam, a long-acting benzodiazepine) at 1.30am, followed by injections including two milligrams of lorazepam (a medium-acting benzodiazepine) around 2 a.m., two milligrams of midazolam (an ultra-short-acting benzodiazepine) around 3 a.m., and repeats of each at 5 a.m. and 7.30 a.m. respectively. That’s a lot of benzodiazepines!

Finally, at 10.40am, 25 milligrams of propofol was administered and Michael was dead within 10 minutes, most likely from respiratory depression caused by the interaction of high doses of benzodiazepines and propofol.

Alas, a totally avoidable death due to medical negligence on the part of a physician giving in to the demands of a patient.

- Eamonn

Found a very cool use of technology meeting science head on. Lots of fun playing with you periodic table!

Simply follow the link -> www.ptable.com

R

Fun with science

Just saw this on RTE news, amazing story. Connie Culp, 46, was shot in the face by her husband in 2004 – he then turned the gun on himself. 30 operations later, she still did not have the ability to perform ‘ordinary’ facial functions. A 22 hr operation, led by 11 surgeons has reHer news conference afterwards was special too, kids used to call her a monster. Connie used to have to carry a photo of herself to show them what she used to look like. It will be very interesting to see if she regains the ability to smell and drink (not using a straw) – things we all take for granted.

Before shooting:

Connie Culp pre-shooting

After shooting:

Connie Culp pre-operation

After operation:

Connie Culp after operation

News conference
Pics of Connie Culp previously

-BHC

Stimulating Science: Funding for Research Included in Stimulus Package

In the hopes of fending of the current economic down turn, President Barack Obama signed in to law on February 17th the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), more commonly referred to as the “Stimulus Package”. Along with tax relief and investments in infrastructure, healthcare, and education, the law includes funding for scientific research. Within the $787 billion dollar package is $111B designated for infrastructure and science. While much of that will go toward rebuilding a national infrastructure that has been largely neglected since the Eisenhower administration, $10.4B is being provided directly to the National Institute of Health (NIH), the government bureaucracy largely responsible for administrating government support for biomedical research across the country.

The additional NIH funding was reportedly added to the bill at the behest of senator Alan Specter R-PA, as reported by Gardiner Harris in the February 13th edition of the New York Times. Specter, who as a ranking member of the Senate’s Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations sub-committee, and a cancer survivor, has long acted as a ardent supporter of the NIH. Specter’s vote was crucial as one of only 3 Republican senators, along with Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, who voted for the ARRA, this despite rigorous cajoling by the administration to garner bi-partisan support for the bill to lend legitimacy to the monumental legislation.

This renewed support of the sciences by the new administration is in line with the overtures the president has been making to the field in recent speeches. Notably during the inaugural address, Obama pledge to “restore science to its rightful place”. This was followed by his address to the joint session of Congress on Feb 24th where he proposed “seeking a cure for cancer in our time”. Now while such an ambition will be no less difficult to achieve and less easy to define than the moon shot challenge of JFK in 1961, it is good to once again see lofty goals being set by a government willing to support them.

This stands in dark contract to the policies of the Bush administration whose anti-science stances should not be news to any being with awareness greater than that of an insect. Although even that might not get you off the hook since there is a slime-mold eating beetle discovered by Dr. Quentin Wheeler named for the former executive, Agathidium Bushi. Whether it was stem-cell research or climate change, the previous 8 years were hardly a renaissance for science policy in the American government. While NIH funding has increased incrementally over that time from $17.8B in FY 2000 to $29B FY 2007 according to the institute’s website, this pales when compared to defense spending which reached $678B in the final year of the Bush administration as reported by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Of course, the question still remains as to what will the NIH spend the money on, and how will that affect those of us working in the field? According to a statement released by NIH director Raynard Kington, $8.2B will go to directly support scientific research priorities. Meanwhile, $1.8B will go toward shared instrumentation and capitol equipment, as well as construction and renovation of NIH funded centers. The remaining $400M will go toward Comparative Effectiveness Research; a much-touted program aimed at identifying best practices in the clinic with the hope of increasing the efficiency of treatments and alleviating some of the ballooning healthcare costs that are weighing down the U.S. economy. When this and the other money allocated in the stimulus package is spent, the public at large will be able to track the funded projects here, the website set up by the administration in the hope of keeping the process transparent and in the eye of public scrutiny.

What major achievements science will make as a result of this renewed investment into research by the American government are yet to be seen. However, there is an overwhelming in the scientific community that we have entered a new age of enlightenment and progress seems inevitable as impediments are lifted away. The sentiment is best expressed by the words of singer Nina Simone, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day”.

Joseph Negri is a graduate of Trinity College, and is currently involved in drug discovery research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He can be reached for comment at jnegri at broad.mit.edu