Bridge holding Antarctic ice shelf shatters

Monday, April 06, 2009

By Alister Doyle, Oslo

AN ice bridge which had apparently held a vast Antarctic ice shelf in place during recorded history has shattered and could herald a wider collapse linked to global warming, a leading scientist said.

"It’s amazing how the ice has ruptured. Two days ago it was intact," David Vaughan, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey, said of a satellite image of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. The satellite picture, from the European Space Agency (ESA), showed that a 40km long strip of ice believed to pin the Wilkins Ice Shelf in place had splintered at its narrowest point, about 500 meters wide.


The Wilkins, now the size of Jamaica or the state of Connecticut, is one of 10 shelves to have shrunk or collapsed in recent years on the Antarctic Peninsula, where temperatures have risen apparently because of global warming.



Separate research shows that when ice shelves are removed, the glaciers and landed ice behind them start to move towards the ocean more rapidly. It is this ice which can raise sea levels, but by how much is a matter of ongoing scientific debate.

Tea drinking habits and oesophageal cancer in a high risk area in northern Iran: population based case-control study.

BMJ. 2009 Mar 26;338:b929. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b929.


Islami F, Pourshams A, Nasrollahzadeh D, Kamangar F, Fahimi S, Shakeri R, Abedi-Ardekani B, Merat S, Vahedi H, Semnani S, Abnet CC, Brennan P, Møller H, Saidi F, Dawsey SM, Malekzadeh R, Boffetta P.

Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 14117 Tehran, Iran.

RESULTS:
Nearly all (98%) of the cohort participants drank black tea regularly, with a mean volume consumed of over one litre a day. 39.0% of participants drank their tea at temperatures less than 60 degrees C, 38.9% at 60-64 degrees C, and 22.0% at 65 degrees C or higher. A moderate agreement was found between reported tea drinking temperature and actual temperature measurements (weighted kappa 0.49).

The results of the case-control study showed that compared with drinking lukewarm or warm tea, drinking hot tea (odds ratio 2.07, 95% confidence interval 1.28 to 3.35) or very hot tea (8.16, 3.93 to 16.9) was associated with an increased risk of oesophageal cancer.

Likewise, compared with drinking tea four or more minutes after being poured, drinking tea 2-3 minutes after pouring (2.49, 1.62 to 3.83) or less than two minutes after pouring (5.41, 2.63 to 11.1) was associated with a significantly increased risk.

A strong agreement was found between responses to the questions on temperature at which tea was drunk and interval from tea being poured to being drunk (weighted kappa 0.68).

CONCLUSION: Drinking hot tea, a habit common in Golestan province, was strongly associated with a higher risk of oesophageal cancer.

Renal Pathology Tutorial

The entire power point slides on renal pathology is now available in myvasc.blogspot.com and slideshare.net/edwinchowyw/slideshows

Quote of the day

When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing : either the car is new or his wife is new.

Best Tiramisu Recipe

Tiramisu basically includes Mascarpone cheese, raw eggs, sugar, espresso coffee, ladyfingers, liqueur and cocoa. Heavy cream is an optional ingredient. The richness and "mouth experience" depends on the quantity of each ingredient, and the care of preparation.

I made some Tiramisu yesterday having had Tia Maria (Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Liqour) with me for almost 2 weeks now.

The result was just fabulous.

All my friends genuinely loved the Tiramisu.
Calories: Censored....
(I only took 2 tablespoons of it and let the others feast on the rest. ha ha..)

It's really nice.

Time required for preparation- about 1 hour.
The entire process was performed manually (Whisking) and without a weighing machine.

Here's the recipe (that doesn't require a weighing scale):-

Makes 4-6 servings

16-20 lady fingers (Google it if you don't know what lady fingers are. Could use pound cake if lady fingers are not immediately available)

5 tablespoons of coffee liqueur (Any coffee liqueur would do but I used the ever popular Tia Maria. You could even use Irish Cream if you can't get hold of Tia maria/Kahlua).

3/4 cup espresso coffee (I used Jamaican Blue Coffee to brew the espresso using a stovetop. You could use a french press if you do not have a stovetop espresso maker)

1 cup mascarpone cheese
3 eggs- separate the yolks and whites
6 tablespoons sugar
1 cup heavy cream/ whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
cocoa powder
powdered sugar

Would need quite a few bowls to make this Tiramisu!

Bowl 1: Put the mascarpone cheese into a bowl and use a spatula to mix it till smooth.

Bowl 2: Add the espresso and Tia Maria and set aside.

Bowl 3 (Use a bowl suitable to be used in a hot water bath): Add 3 egg yolks and 2 tablespoon of sugar and whisk till smooth for about 3-5 minutes. Then, set over a hot water bath and beat for another 3-5 minutes until light and foamy.
When ready, pour the entire solution into the mascarpone cheese. Whisk it till a smooth batter if formed. Then set aside.
If you like, you could add 2 tablespoon of Tia Maria while whisking the batter to further enhance the flavour.

Bowl 4: Whip the cream until it holds a firm shape. (Meaning- you could make a 'mountain' peak with the whipped cream and it remains firm ie it does not melt away. But do not over whip the cream or else it will turn to butter!)
Add in the vanilla while whipping the cream.

Bowl 5: Whisk the 3 egg whites with 3 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt till if foams and holds a firm shape like what you did to the whip cream (remember- don't over-whisk or else it will turn into liquid).
Then FOLD it with a spatula into the mascarpone batter.


Now,

FOLD with a spatula 1/2 of the mascaporne batter into the whipped cream.

When it has been well mixed, fold in the remaining half. Set aside.


Final steps,

Dip each lady finger quickly but entirely in the espresso and liqueur mixture.

Line up in a single layer using half of the lady fingers.

Now, pour about half of the final batter/mixture on top of the lady fingers.

Spread out evenly.

Dust cocoa powder to the top.

Then put another layer of the lady fingers and the top it up with the remaining 1/2 of the batter/mixture.

Dust cocoa powder to the top.

Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours before serving.

Really easy stuff.
Enjoy and let me know the result.

Spring in Cambridge

Spring is just wonderful here.
Flowers everywhere...
Comfortable temperature.
Took over 1,000 pics over the past 2 weeks in Cambridge, London, Oxford and Scotland. (That was the reason for the blog inactivity).

Taking the pics were the easy part.
Now come the difficult part- editing.
Not sure how long I would take to do the editing.
Will probably do it during the easter holidays.
Meanwhile, photo taking continues.

Postgraduate course at Wellcome Hinxton Genome Centre, Cambridge

Had an excellent 1 day crash course in nephrology (Held every 3 months).
Following topics discussed:-

1. Polycystic kidney diseases
2. Histology of FSGS and MCGN
3. Tissue typing
4. Clinico-pathological cases
5. Transplantation
6. HUS-TTP
7. Biologics in immune mediated renal disease

Great discussion..

and

Great dinner

Menu:-

1. Griddled Asparagus, Glazed goats cheese with dressed leaves and fresh herb oil.

2. Pan fried rump of lamb with roasted provence vegetables, chateau potatoes, rosemary and garlic juice

3. Glazed lemon tart with bluebery compote and brandy snap cigar

4. Coffee/Tea

5. Petit Fours

Next course will be at Norwich (June 2009).