Dr. John Crippens, a general practitioner from the United Kingdom, in his widely respected weblog writes: "Did you know that most Google searches on childhood immunization throw up pages and pages written by the anti-immunization lobby? And that is what parents read." To check on this premise, MEDGADGET has conducted an investigation, and our results are far from reassuring. In fact, what you will see below, is something that is quite disconcerting for many of us in the clinical practice.

Zombie snails

Peter Singer, blogging from the Brookings Institution next door to FP, just posted a fascinating piece at Defensetech.org. Singer found a tiny clause inserted in the Pentagon's fiscal year 2007 budget legislation that strips contractors of their immunity in the battlefield.

The researchers focused on a sugar called N-acetyl-D-mannosamine, or ManNAc, for short. The team created a hybrid molecule by linking ManNAc with butyrate. The hybrid easily penetrates a cell's surface, then is split apart by enzymes inside the cell. Once inside the cell, ManNAc is processed into another sugar known as sialic acid that plays key roles in cancer biology, while butyrate orchestrates the expression of genes responsible for halting the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells.

The brain's capacity for dynamic states, called neuroplasticity, or just plasticity, makes tracking the circuitry behind memories a task of near-epic proportions. Hundreds of variables come into play. Consider, for example, that a lot of memory formation and storage goes on simultaneously, some of it consciously and some of it unconsciously. And, in the time it takes to commit something to memory, hundreds of other experiences are being sorted and perhaps stored. A message passed between two neurons is like person-to-person e-mail rather than a listserv. It does not trigger a global response in the brain's processing network. Sound complicated? "That's right," says Helmstetter. "Plasticity is functionally infinite."

The results: Immune responses occurred not only in subjects in or near the Daschle office but also in those elsewhere in the Hart building, or even outside the building; the extent of exposure was thus greater than predicted. No associations were seen between exposure levels and immune responses or symptoms, but the most-exposed subjects were the only ones to have high-magnitude responses. Low-level exposure did not appear to trigger an antibody response, but did induce a response by cells of the immune system, Intermediate exposure induced both. Finally, cellular immune responses declined with post-exposure use of antibiotics, suggesting that the intervention impeded spore germination and implying that it may reduce the incidence of both subclinical and clinical B. anthracis infection.

The best analysis to date of the economic impact of migration to the UK was published today by Bank of England MPC member and professor of economics, Danny Blanchflower. Co-authored by Bank economists Jumana Saleheen and Chris Shadforth, The Impact of the Recent Migration from Eastern Europe on the UK Economy (PDF) explores the evidence in great detail. What the paper finds is ably sumarised by the accompanying news release:

An American intelligence official said the new material, which has been authenticated within the intelligence community, confirms "that Iran is working closely with both the Shiite militias and Sunni Jihadist groups."

The one social factor that researchers agree is consistently linked to longer lives in every country where it has been studied is education. It is more important than race; it obliterates any effects of income.

Iraq's Shiite-led government said Tuesday that it had ordered an investigation into the abusive behavior at the execution of Saddam Hussein, who was subjected to a battery of taunts by official Shiite witnesses and guards as he awaited his hanging.

The evolution of our molecules has been coming rapidly into focus. Much more information about the broad scale of human molecular evolution will be coming online this year. There aren't so many people who can take this information and find the aspects of human natural history that it can address. The important changes in human evolution -- beyond the brain to other aspects of our biology, such as life history, diet, and social strategies -- are just as much a black box to many molecular biologists as genomics has become to many traditional anthropologists. There is something interesting there, no doubt, but what is it? That's my field. That's what I'm working on. It's really exciting.

Some of his critics will never forgive him for championing the disastrous Iraq war. But he has compounded their suspicions, surrounding himself with a tight group of former Bush administration officials who — true to their roots — have little patience for explaining themselves and even less for criticism.

The study found that board members at roughly 460 companies, around 1,400 outside directors, probably received stock options that were manipulated, unnaturally bolstering their value. In other words, many directors saw their stock holdings goosed along with executives'. So much for independent oversight.

Our Brain Fitness Center (or “Brain Gym”) Neuroscientists have shown that we can exercise our brains and "mental muscles". We can sharpen our memory, concentration, decision-making, planning, reaction time, capacity to learn, ability to manage stress, and more.

Kavanagh's team also found troubling results when they drew blood samples from the monkeys. Those on the trans fat diet had higher blood sugar levels, which is typically a precursor to diabetes, Kavanagh says. "They also showed defects in the way that insulin works when it's released after you eat. Put together that they're also overweight and they have problems with glucose metabolism indicates that this diet is probably going to augment any predisposition that a person may have to develop diabetes, such as if they had a family history."

I fail to see that the Ethiopian troops that have now entered in large numbers can remain for long. They risk being seen as a force of occupation, and then provoke more of violence and conflict. It is not a coincidence that the UN Security Council has said that neighbours should have no military role in bringing stability to the country. Whether there would be the need for some sort of international stability force remains to be seen. Uganda is said to have offered troops, but that is unlikely to be enough. But clear is that there has to be a broadly based political agreement before there is any stability force.

5. Evidence of recent selection will be found for several Y chromosome genes. Wishful thinking or prediction for the next year? You decide!

7. "Population cluster" will become the new "race". This one is debatable, but enough papers on multi-ethnic SNPs have used the term this year, that I think it is emerging as the replacement for the race concept for a certain class of geneticists. I expect it will continue -- "cluster" has such a neutral computer-program-centric connotation, that people like to use it.

Pills? Pop 'em. The scalpel? Sharpen it. New ways to train? Bring them on. The Wired way to max out your bod. PLUS: 3 steps to a perfect baby.

With fluttering eyelids and glossy lips, Begum Nawazish Ali (Begum means Lady or Mrs. in Urdu) flirts with male guests using suggestive banter and sexual innuendo. With female guests, she is something of a tease, challenging them about who looks better. Questions are pointed and piercing. Politics, democracy and saucy gossip are enmeshed in her conversation.

• December 2006: Assessing and communicating violence risk (Dr Mike Doyle)

• December 2006: Empathy - what does it involve and how does it relate to psychiatry? (Dr Quinton Deeley)