Monthly Archives: July 2013

Arts, Books, Scotland

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2013…

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS

30 years ago in 1983, Jenny Brown welcomed visitors through the gates of Charlotte Square Gardens for Edinburgh’s first Book Festival, presenting a vibrant programme of some 80 authors including John Updike, Liz Lochhead and Alasdair Gray. Little did anyone realise that over the next three decades the event would grow to ten times its original size, becoming the biggest and best-respected festival of books in the world.

At 30, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is well established as a key part of Scottish cultural life with an international reputation: a means of helping us think differently about our past, our present and our future. The Festival this year, which starts on the 10th August, will proudly celebrate its birthday with events looking back over three astonishing decades, and forward to what might happen over the next generation.

The 2013 Festival will include special events hosted by the Book Festival’s former directors, by Guest Selectors Margaret Atwood, Gavin Esler, Neil Gaiman and Kate Mosse, and Illustrator-in-Residence Barroux.

30 YEARS BACK, 30 YEARS FORWARD

The Edinburgh International Book Festival will also examine the impact of changes to our social, political and cultural life since the Edinburgh’s first Book Festival in 1983. Thatcherism was blossoming; the Berlin Wall still stood; Nelson Mandela was in prison and the internet was the domain of science-fiction.

In literature, 1983 was the year Roald Dahl published The Witches and Mairi Hedderwick’s Katie Morag was born; it was the year Hergé and Tennessee Williams died, while a young Iain Banks was writing his first book. Many of today’s leading Scottish authors, including Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Irvine Welsh, James Kelman and J K Rowling, were yet to publish the novels that would bring them fame across the world.

All Book Festival events take place in Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh. Author events last one hour (unless otherwise specified) and most are followed by a book signing.

All Book Festival events take place in Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh. Author events last one hour (unless otherwise specified) and most are followed by a book signing.

Next year, Scotland faces a historic referendum whose outcome will affect the lives of future generations. The Festival’s 2013 programme attempts to provide a generation-wide, international (and politically neutral) context for the referendum debate. The Festival will also look at how writers are projecting forwards to imagine what might happen in the next 30 years. The Book Festival will look into its crystal ball through the eyes of leading public intellectuals, novelists and comics and graphic novel creators.

Opening day, Saturday 10th August…

The Edinburgh Book Festival begins at 10:00 and will see a range of authors on the opening day, from Graham Stewart’s ‘Thatcher’s Decade’ to Angus Peter Campbell’s work of ‘Gaelic Fiction in the 21st Century’, presented by Guest Selectors. List events are no more than £10 for entry (£8 for concessions). The Festival which will incorporate a Children’s Programme and Young Adult Events will close on Monday 26th August.

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Biotechnology, Health, Medical, Research, Science

Cell transplant gives hope for treating blindness…

A MAJOR ADVANCE

Scientists in Britain have made a major leap forward in efforts to treat blindness.

They have grown part of an eye in the laboratory and have extracted the light-sensitive cells which are the key to vision.

These cells were injected into mice, where they seemed to grow normally and formed the crucial connections between the eye and brain.

Such developments could pave the way for a treatment which could eventually give millions back their sight. It is hoped the first human patients could be treated in as little as five years. Transplanting just a small number of cells could have a big impact on quality of life.

Those who could benefit include men and women with age-related macular degeneration – the most common cause of blindness in the elderly. This condition affects more than 600,000 Britons and the number is expected to triple in the next 25 years as the elderly population swells.

There are few treatments for the condition – and no cure.

The research and experimentation is being carried out at University College London in which scientists are trying to replace damaged cells in the retina, the light sensitive ‘film’ at the back of the eye.

Last year, researchers used healthy cells from young mice to restore vision in adult animals. The results were said to be ‘dramatic’, with the treated animals able to quickly find their way out of a miniature swimming pool in dim light, while untreated ones swam around in circles.

Stem Cell Therapy for Blindness

The project’s lead-scientist, Professor Robin Ali, said the results amount to a ‘major advance’. His team took embryonic stem cells – ‘master cells’ capable of turning into other cell types and widely touted as a repair kit for the body – and used a cocktail of nutrients to coax them into turning into a retina.

They then raided the laboratory-grown retina for rods (key cells which pick up light and send it to the brain for conversion into images). The rods were then transplanted into the eyes of mice.

A retina has been grown in a dish before but Professor Ali’s team are the first to transplant cells from one successfully.

The journal Nature Biotechnology was the first to report the findings and has said that the lab-grown cells integrated into the existing eye was successful in forming the nerve connections needed to send information to the brain.

Professor Ali said:

… We are getting closer and closer to carrying out a trial.

However, the need to be highly confident that the treatment is safe and effective means that widespread use is at least 10-15 years away.

The Medical Research Council, which funded the team’s work, said in a statement:

… This study is an important milestone on the road to developing a widely available cell therapy for blindness.

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Britain, Government, Health, Medical

Nursing code of conduct under review…

NURSING RULE BOOK AND THE NEED FOR ‘COMPASSION’

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is to overhaul its code of conduct, an eight-page handbook setting out good practice. This comes in the wake of a damning report into the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal which has ordered the profession to show more compassion.

While for many people it would seem a prerequisite for the job, nurses could for the first time be ordered to treat their patients with compassion. The word is not mentioned anywhere in the profession’s current official code of conduct.

Such an obligation could lead to more nurses being struck-off or suspended for failing to care properly for patients or by treating them with dignity.

Last week, concerns over nursing standards were raised in two separate reports.

One, into the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway, said many nurses were ‘callous and brutal’ in their treatment of dying patients. The other, into needless deaths at 11 failing hospital trusts, found nurses did not have time for basic acts of compassion such as holding the hand of a dying patient.

Professor Judith Ellis, a member of the NMC council, said the new code of conduct would be drawn up this autumn. She said that a working party has been looking in depth at the code which needs to be reviewed because ‘it can get out of date.’

Introducing a requirement to show compassion would send a powerful message to the profession, reminding nurses of their basic duties which could see more staff being struck-off or suspended if they fall short. At present, very few nurses are disciplined just for not being compassionate – the most common offence for those disciplined is for physical abuse, followed by failing to keep adequate records.

The chief nursing officer for NHS England, Jane Cummings, has backed the move, saying:

… It is appropriate that compassion is reflected in the code of conduct.

Baroness Emerton, a retired nurse and crossbench peer, said nurses should not be put out at being reminded to show compassion. But she also added:

… You would hope that all nurses have compassion but it can be difficult if patients are aggressive… I do not think any nurse should be offended by being told that in difficult circumstances they have to stay compassionate.

A representative for Patient Concern, an organisation committed to promoting choice and empowerment for all health service users, said that whilst nurses should be reminded that they must be kind and considerate to patients, they shouldn’t be abdicating this responsibility to healthcare assistants.

WHAT NURSES ARE TOLD NOW

  • You must treat people as individuals and respect their dignity.
  • You must not discriminate in any way against those in your care.
  • You must act as an advocate for those in your care, helping them to access relevant health and social care, information and support.
  • You must treat people kindly and considerately.
  • Other sections of the nursing code tell nurses to maintain patient confidentiality, not to have inappropriate relationships with patients and to work well with other staff.
  • Nurses are also told to alert managers if they think staff are putting patients at risk, and to get patients or relatives’ consent before beginning treatment.
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