Science & Medicine Round-up

• Nature has an editorial and a number of articles discussing the current state of and fixes to the PhD system. They're mostly concerned with PhDs in science, technology, and engineering but some of the issues discussed are also relevant for the social sciences and humanities. Trigger warning for grad students and recent PhDs: lots of doom and gloom.
• In other news in the Depression section, Nature has a good summary of the impact of the current US budget on the different areas of science funding. Summary: bad, but could've been worse. doi:10.1038/472267a
• The situation in Fukushima is still far from resolved but media attention is declining, as can be seen in the declining number of articles in the major journals. 
• Nature features a fairly critical interview with the chairman of the World Association of Nuclear Operators, Laurent Stricker. Asked if another disaster could be the end of nuclear power, Sticker replies, "I fear so. As we have seen at Fukushima, an accident in one country has consequences for all nuclear operators elsewhere." doi:10.1038/472274a 
• Science discusses the impact of Fukushima on marine life and those whose living depends on it. doi:10.1126/science.332.6027.292  
• In a letter to the BMJ, a Japanese obstetrician reports on the psychological effects of uncertainty and fear about radiation risks for pregant women. doi:10.1136/bmj.d2434 
• According to WHO officials, the raised severity rating of the Fukushima disaster does not necessitate new public health countermeasure, reports the BMJ. doi:10.1136/bmj.d2491 

• Drug companies love advocacy groups. Today: anti-smoking campaigners and producers smoking-cessation products. doi:10.1136/bmj.d2430 
• JAMA reprints an article from 1911, discussing the promises of using sociology for preventive medicine. "The problems of sociology are, in most instances, problems of preventive medicine, and many of the problems of preventive medicine resolve themselves into sociologic questions." Well worth a read. doi:10.1001/jama.2011.335
• The problem of overdiagnosis in all fields of medicine is the topic of the book, "Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in Pursuit of Health" by H. Gilbert Welch, Lisa M. Schwartz, and Steven Woloshin, reviewed in JAMA by Leonard Berlin. For STSers there are probably better books out there, but for a general audience and physicians Overdiagnosed might be a good read. doi:10.1001/jama.2011.391
• Once again, we are "[a] step closer to personalized medicine," according to a JAMA editorial about whole-genome sequencing by Boris Pasche und Devin Absher. doi:10.1001/jama.2011.484
• An interesting mix of expertise, medicine, politics, and the law is in play in the case of the death of Ian Tomlinson at the 2009 London G20 protests. The BMJ reports on the latest developments in determining if Tomlinson's death was caused by being hit and pushed to the ground by a police officer. doi:10.1136/bmj.d2459
• Another case of the intersections of law and science is the issue of DNA fingerprinting. In Science Michael Goldman reviews a new book by Sheldon Krimsky and Tania Simoncelli, titled "Genetic Justice: DNA Data Banks, Criminal Investigations, and Civil Liberties." doi:10.1126/science.1204097
• Vaccinations and their alleged risks continue to be a contested issue, as can be seen in a controversy about an anti-vaccination ad at New York's Times square. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d2639
• Obtaining the lethal substances used in executions is becoming increasingly difficult for the US. The UK government, that has banned the export of these substances, now "[u]urges rest of Europe to also ban export of “execution drugs,” reports Clare Dyer in the BMJ. doi:10.1136/bmj.d2507
• Germany has been traditionally very cautious about preimplantation diagnostics, implementing a ban in 1990. The BMJ reports that the German parliament will soon vote on limited changes to the ban. The outcome is far from certain. doi:10.1136/bmj.d2473
• On my bike blog, I have already reported on new research about what keeps a bicycle upright. Now the actual article in Science has been published. doi:10.1126/science.1201959
• Isabella Rossellini, producer of humorous animal movies, is interviewed in Nature. doi:doi:10.1038/472294a
• Sleep deprivation leads to riskier decision-making and coffee doesn't help: "stimulants such as caffeine might make sleepy people more alert, they do not improve decision-making abilities." doi:10.1523/​JNEUROSCI.4407-10.2011

Science & Medicine Round-up

•  Nature has an editorial calling for preparedness for worst-case scenarios, natural and man-made doi:10.1038/472135b
• Also in Nature, Bart Penders reviews Mark Wohlsen's book "Biopunk" about DIY biologists. doi:10.1038/472167a
• Douglas Fox provides a comprehensive and comprehensible overview of the experiments with transcranial direct-current stimulation (tCDS) for cognitive enhancement. doi:10.1038/472156a
• From the category of "unexpected side effects," Nature reports that the "Libyan uprising may boost bluefin tuna" doi:10.1038/472169b 
• The nuclear crisis in Japan continues to be covered in the major journals. 
• Nature news reports on the political struggles about the future of energy generation in Japan. doi:10.1038/472143a
• A Nature editorial discusses the information management and data publishing policies of the Japanese authorities, arguing for "better data, in more user-friendly forms, and more sophisticated analyses." doi:10.1038/472135a
• Lack of data and data overload at the same time about radiation exposure in Japan is topic of an article about the Fukushima health risks in Nature news. doi:10.1038/472013a
• Linking increased cancer incidence in the vicinity of (non-failing) power plants has been and continues to be a tricky and controversial issue, as can be seen in a debate about a US study by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Academy of Science. doi:10.1038/472015a  
•  Historian of science and technology, David Kaiser, uses the history of MIT to discuss the role of private and government funding for research and education. His conclusion is that "[r]ather than focus on the source of cash — public or private — we must remember to scrutinize the inevitable strings attached." doi:10.1038/472030a
• The ozone hole seems to be beginning its recovery, earlier than expected, says an article in Science. doi:10.1126/science.332.6026.160
• Instead of increasing the number of Graduate Research Fellowships, the NSF is increasing the stipend for grant recipients in order to "keep the program competitive." doi:10.1126/science.332.6026.162-b
• In Europe, last summer was hot, really hot. So hot actually that despite an increasing incidence of "mega-heatwaves ... the likelihood of an analog over the same region remains fairly low until the second half of the 21st century." doi:10.1126/science.1201224
• Once again, there is a controversy about the potentially dangerous side-effects of two new anti-diabetes drug, known  as Byetta and Januvia. A paper has been published but withdrawn after complaints from the drugs' manufacturers. doi:10.1136/bmj.d2335 
•  A UK government advisory body has argued for making preconception genetic testing more widely available. Critics, however,  argue that "[p]reconception screening is the most dangerously eugenic application of genetics: unlike prenatal genetic testing, where there is a severe cost (ie the termination of a wanted pregnancy), preconception screening offers apparently nothing more than information, which will only later severely affect the person’s life chances and the whole society." doi:10.1136/bmj.d2324
• Fresh from the "Duh" department, BMJ reports that "Listening to patients' narratives can help improve quality of psychosis care." doi:10.1136/bmj.d2245 
• Same department, different topic: "Use of bombs in populated areas is having a devastating effect on civilians, say reports." doi:10.1136/bmj.d2161  
• "The art of remembering" and mnemotechnics was invented in Ancient Greece and is one topic of Joshua Foer's book "Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything." Foer, himself being a former memory artist, interweaves information about the psychological research on memory with stories about contemporary "memory artists" and "mental athletes." doi:10.1038/472033a
• Finally, PLoS one reports on the "rubber voice" (analogous to the rubber hand paradigm) phenomenon, "in which a stranger's voice, when presented as the auditory concomitant of a participant's own speech, is perceived as a modified version of their own voice."doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018655

Science & Medicine Round-up

Time for the second volume of what I've found notable in my RSS feeds:

• Nature has several articles on nuclear energy and the events at Fukushima. Amongst them, Mark Peplow looks a "Chernobyl's legacy," asking if there lessons to be learned from the 25 years of clean-up efforts that can be applied once the immediate emergency in Fukushima has come under control. He also focuses on the research done on the long-term health effects of the Chernobyl disaster. doi:10.1038/471562a
• A different research effort on radiation risks was the work done by the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in the aftermath of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, portrayed by Jocelyn Kaiser for Science. doi:10.1126/science.331.6024.1504
• Colin Macilwan questions the judgment of many scientific experts in the aftermath of Fukushima: "the collective impression has been unconvincing: defensive, selective, condescending towards public fears and, in my view, ultimately counterproductive. Their combined message seems to have been: don't worry, things are under control, and Fukushima is not Chernobyl." Macilwan points out three main factors that have contributed to the disaster in Japan, but that are also wide-spread in nuclear power plants around the world: the amassing of several reactors at one site; the inherent safety problems of pressurized-water reactors; and the practice of storing spent fuel rods on-site. doi:10.1038/471549a
• Spent fuel rods are also the focus of an analysis in Science. Eli Klintisch is trying to figure out what exactly went on in the storage tanks at the #4 reactor at Fukushima and discusses "concerns about U.S. spent nuclear fuel pools, which are thought to be packed more tightly than those in Europe or Asia." doi:10.1126/science.332.6025.24 
• Another article in Science gives a brief overview that the Fukushima disaster has had on nuclear policy in countries around the world. doi:10.1126/science.331.6024.1502 
• The current president of Arizona State University, Michael M Crow, advocates a radical restructuring of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in an article in Nature. He argues that spending 30 billion dollars per year on basic biomedical research is problematic when looking at the limited impact that research has on clinical outcomes and the health of society. Instead of focusing on translational research, Crow suggest that the NIH should be based on three pillars: a "fundamental biomedical systems research institute" that would include sociological, behavioral and environmental perspectives in addition to the typical biomedical sciences; an institute focused on health outcomes, again combining "behavioural sciences, economics, technology, communications and education as well as [...] fundamental biomedical research."; and finally "a 'health transformation' institute, should develop more sustainable cost models by integrating science, technology, clinical practice, economics and demographics." doi:10.1038/471569a
•  Science has interesting material on and by Steve Wise, founder of the Nonhuman Rights Project. The projects goals is to "fil[e] lawsuits on behalf of intelligent animals such as chimpanzees and dolphins in an attempt to convince courts that at least some nonhuman animals meet the requirements of legal personhood and should be accorded certain basic rights." 10.1126/science.332.6025.30  (news focus article), doi:0.1126/science.332.6025.28  (Steve Wise on "The rise of animal law")
• Saleem H. Ali favorably reviews sociologist and Max Weber scholar Toby Huff's book "Intellectual Curiosity and the Scientific Revolution A Global Perspective," an investigation into "Western scientific superiority." 10.1126/science.1204095
• Science has a special issue, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the National Cancer Act. An introduction by Paula Kiberstis and Eliot Marshall provides an overview of the issue. doi:10.1126/science.331.6024.1539-a
• The BMJ reports on the launch of a new European online register that will provide " information on every clinical trial taking place in 30 European countries." doi:10.1136/bmj.d1994