What's that tune?
In developing FAST’s tune-searching software, Bj酶rn Olstad
(10 February, p 22)
must have overlooked Denys Parsons’s Directory of Tunes, published
by Spencer Brown in 1975 and fully reviewed in New 杏吧原创 at the
time. Long before we had computers to do everything, Parsons devised a
brilliantly simple way of extracting a “word” from any tune.
The “word”, 10 to 15 letters long, is made up of the letters D, R & U.
Using the first note of the tune as the starting point (*), successive notes are
converted to one of the three letters. D is assigned if the note is lower than
the one before it, R if it is the same pitch, and U if it is higher. For
example, the start of God Save the Queen yields *RUDUU URUDDD.
The “words” corresponding to different tunes are then listed in alphabetical
order in a directory, each with the name of the composition. Some 10,000
classical works and nearly 4000 popular tunes are already listed, but to my
knowledge the directory has not been updated, so compositions from the past
thirty years are missing.
Perhaps Olstad could merge his new approach with this older version.
Parsons’s directory has been used for the types of enquiry Olstad
suggests鈥攁n analysis of composers’ styles was reported in New
杏吧原创, for instance, a year or two after the directory appeared.
Tuneful proteins
In reference to Helen Long’s patented method of transforming proteins into music
(10 February, p 21),
I wonder if she’s considered attempting the reverse.
How interesting, for example, if the protein analogue of You Are My
Sunshine was found to be the cheery neurochemical serotonin.
Pyrotechnic prank
Your cartoon on the Feedback page
(17 February)
shows a group of youths about to ignite methane from a reservoir, as a joke.
This sort of thing has a long precedent. Many years ago the outflow of sewage
into the main canal basin of Leeds was such that the entire basin was one huge
fermentation vessel. A common joke played by the local children was to sneak up
to the basin on a still, frosty morning and throw in a lighted match, igniting
the methane that had gathered over the water.
This created a spectacular display of leaping flames and irate bargemen, and
was therefore an effect much loved by the children. The trick only worked,
though, when there was a frost to cool escaping methane to a density low enough
to keep it close to the water, and such mornings were rare.
These days the canals no longer carry raw sewage, but act instead as a
repository for supermarket trolleys.
Autism increase
You report the claims made by Eric Fombonne that the incidence of autism is
essentially stable. In particular, he claims that the proportion of cases of
regressive autism hasn’t changed since the 1980s
(17 February, p 17).
However, in view of the current controversy surrounding the measles, mumps
and rubella (MMR) vaccine as a possible cause of autism, several facts should
give cause for careful reflection. Reputable research is now revealing reported
rates of autism as high as 1 in 250 in the US
(www.cdc.gov/nceh/cddh/dd/brick.htm)
and 1 in 324 in England (Journal of the American Academy
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, vol 39, p 694).
In the latter study of over 16,000 children from south London, four out of
five children subsequently diagnosed as having autistic disorder appeared normal
at 18 months, exhibiting good eye contact, fantasy play and pointing. This
suggests that the previously rare regressive pattern of onset is now the most
common presentation of the condition.
And while the Finnish study of 1.8 million children given the MMR vaccine
(3 February, p 8)
has been cited as evidence for its safety, another recent report
documents a fourfold increase in the incidence of autism in northern Finland
(European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, vol 9, p 162). This study
looked at 152,732 children over the period 1979 to 1994. The Finnish rate of
autism among 5 to 7-year-olds now appears to be 1 in 483.
Letter
Elizabeth Miller, head of vaccination at the Public Health Laboratory Service
in London says it’s inconceivable that a link between the vaccine and autism
wouldn’t have been spotted in the Finnish study.
Unlike Britain, however, Finland and Sweden don’t use vaccines containing the
preservative Thimerosa. They banned it more than five years ago.
Thimerosa is 49 per cent mercury-derived and mercury is toxic. A 1994 study
by the UK National Autistic Society concluded that mercury-based vaccines should
be withdrawn immediately.
Clean converters
Your article on catalytic converters
(10 February, p 18)
might cause unnecessary concern among your readers and the public.
The levels of platinum, palladium and rhodium that Carlo Barbante and his
colleagues have measured in Greenland since 1969 are extremely low, ranging from
0.05 to 1 picogram per gram of snow. Levels in snow 7500 years ago were so low
that to quote the factor by which levels have increased since then is
meaningless without specifying the amounts measured.
The article gives the impression that all of this increase comes from
catalytic converters on cars. In fact, it is likely that the platinum, palladium
and rhodium measured in Greenland come from industrial sources.
Increased platinum, palladium and rhodium levels
were measured in snow between 1969 and
1975, which is before the first catalytic converters came into use. And the
increase in levels of platinum-group metals since 1975 is broadly in line with
the increase in general worldwide use of these metals. The most recent levels
measured by Barbante are in almost the same ratio as Russian production for
platinum, palladium and rhodium in 1999.
Research in Germany has found that the tiny amounts of platinum, palladium
and rhodium that are sometimes emitted from cars settle out very close to the
roadside. It is therefore difficult to see how these metals could be dispersed
as far away as Greenland from areas of heavy car use.
It is also worth noting that the average family car would emit 15 tonnes of
polluting gases, over a 10-year life, if catalytic converters were not fitted to
all new cars to remove 98 per cent of harmful emissions, as current regulations
require.
Beneficial bark
All praise to James Lind for inventing the controlled trial
(24 February, p 46).
But why was he 170 years behind the times in finding a cure for scurvy?
In 1577, Sir Francis Drake stopped over at what is now called Patagonia,
during his circumnavigation of the globe. His sailing master, Captain William
Winter, discovered that the natives ate the astringent bark of a local tree
(Drimys winteri) to prevent sickness during the long winters when no
fruit or vegetables were available. He bought a supply of “winter’s bark” and
doled it out to the sailors during the later voyages. There are few reports of
scurvy among Drake’s seamen, even though the voyage lasted three years.
But when a problem disappears, the means to solve it can be forgotten too,
and that’s what happened to winter’s bark. In 1744 Admiral Anson’s
circumnavigation ended with two-thirds of his sailors鈥攐ver 400
men鈥攄ead from scurvy. Hence James Lind’s trials.
The moral is that controlled trials are a great idea, but listening to the
natives is even better.
Fighting for the right to life-saving research
I am a worried 24-year-old who has seen motor neuron disease ravage half
the siblings in my grandmother’s generation. Five out of 10 have been affected
so far, and we are watching the next generation very closely.
We the affected are forced to fight an uphill battle to promote research into
disorders which could be better understood through the use of embryos, stem
cells and genetic information
(24 February, p 3
and p 4).
Some research has been done into transplanting stem cells into the brains of
affected mice, with promising results. But given the current power of the
pro-life lobby, the possibility of similar studies using stem cells derived from
human embryos looks a long way off. Likewise, proponents of animal rights seem
to have little regard for the life-saving potential of animal studies. I know
this from personal experience, having worked at a research facility which I
subsequently left following threats from such people.
It is time we lobbied our politicians and press. We need results. Our lives
depend on them.
Habit of flirting
You report a study of the sexual signals women send men even when they are
not interested in them
(17 February, p 16).
Wouldn’t it be necessary to study the interactions of women with other women?
I know I’ve flicked my hair and acknowledged conversation with a nod when
talking to women. Does that mean I’m sending out courtship signals to them?