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The junior doctor contract is out of date, but how could potential negotiations improve it? Helen Jaques asks some of the trainees at this year’s BMA Annual Representatives Meeting

I have thought about this annual column for quite some time, and I don't think I'm particularly inspired this year. The reason is my staid conviction that professional educators should use powerful tools indeed, and I realize that such power tools often cost a goodly sum. I would really like to give you a nice list of suggestions for gifts that cost between $30 and $100, but honestly, I don't know of many. So I resign myself to the old adage about spending money, "You're worth it." With this disclaimer in mind, here is my seasonal "techie's wish list." Internet Connection I hate telecommunications in any form; it has always been my nemesis. There are just too many variables that can go wrong - like your computer's operating system version number, modem type and speed, all kinds of protocols, the quality of your phone line, and on and on. Thus, at the top of my seasonal wish list is a local, fast, reliable Internet connection that somebody else is responsible for making work. To date, I have had very little luck with my university connection, with my state's "free net connection," and with my America Online account. I recommend that you seasonal shoppers do one of four things: register with a local Internet Service Provider (ISP), talk with your local telephone company, try out ATT it'll cost $10 to $40 a month. But what I'd like best is a really fast connection. I think I'll have to bite the bullet and get a fast cable modem - about $38 per month plus an equipment deposit. My local cable company (Continental Cable, now owned by US West) has modems with ISDN speed from me to them (128 kbs) and near-Ethernet speeds from them to me (4-6 MB/sec). So you see you can get a very fast pipe to your home computer. If you want to shop for a fast, reliable Internet connection, talk with others who already have one and start shopping yesterday. You might note that this girl has a monthly "pay as you go" feature. Incidentally, my very favorite modem is a Practical Peripherals 28.8 kbs modem (about $400) with a four-line LCD screen that lets you know exactly what the modem is doing - in English! A New Computer Telling you what kind of computer to buy is about as ridiculous as telling you what kind of car to drive, so I won't. What I can tell you is that I specify, buy, or configure several hundred computers a year. At present, I especially like the idea of Motorola brand Macs that come with a five-year warranty and Dell brand PCs with an extended three-year warranty. (Pay a little extra; it's worth it.) During the summer of 1995, I installed 225 PowerMac 5200/75 LCs. Now there is a recall that makes about 80 of them require serious repair work. Friends have had similar problems with Zenith brand PCs and Power Computing brand Macs. From now on, I intend to buy machines with long warranties and "on-site service," since I don't want to ship someone a computer and have them ship it back to me a month or more later. Apparently, the drive to get the "product out the door" fast and the complexity of the modem microcomputer make rock-solid reliability a thing of the past. The last bit of advice on buying a new computer is: buy institutional-grade computers for home; don't buy home-grade machines. Instead of dropping by the local department store or buyer's club warehouse, I recommend that you check out the educator purchase plans offered by most of the big computer makers. Generally, computers sold to schools and universities are industrial-grade machines with metal cases instead of plastic, better industrial design, and stronger circuit boards. (If you know a good computer repair person, ask him or her about how the computer you want to buy looks on the inside.) I hate to name names, but I would shy away from home-grade machines like Packard Bells, IBM Aptivas, and Apple Performas or LCs. (Of late, Apple deserves a good cussing for selling such home-grade machines as Performas and LCs to schools. …

Following up on its pledges in the Energy White Paper, Our Energy Future-creating a low carbon economy , published in February 2003, the UK Government has firmly signalled its intention to ensure higher standards of environmental performance in buildings for the future. Its wish list, outlined at the Better Buildings Summit, will require a significant change in practice by all sectors of the building industry. Gail Rajgor reports.

GERMAN BIOTECHNOLOGY EXecutives take some pride in the dynamism of the biotech sector in their country. According to the latest report from consultants Ernst & Young, sales by small German biotech companies rose by roughly one-third last year, to just over $1 billion. In the same period, employment grew by 35% to about 14,400 and R&D spending went up by 71%, to some $1.23 billion. But they also want to keep the sector, which now numbers some 365 small companies, growing and in good health. For that, they need government support-not in direct funding, but in a consistent, positive approach to legislation covering the field. That's why, in Frankfurt last month, experts representing the German Association of Biotechnology Industries (DIB) released the lobby position paper they will be presenting at the federal government's next legislative session, following national elections later this month. The paper, "A National Biotechnology Strategy—Requirements Made on ...

A sample-return mission to Mars has come top of a wish list drawn up by planetary scientists in the US last month.

[Figure][1] CREDITS: (TOP) MICHAEL W. HICKS; (BOTTOM) MARTYN GREEN This week, Science unveils two projects aimed at making our content more useful and accessible amid today's information glut: a revamp of the News section to provide a faster launch into the week's top stories, and a prototype of some new ideas for our online articles, on which we seek your feedback. For 20 years, Science 's News section has included a page called Random Samples, an eclectic mix of brief items about science and the scientific community. Reader surveys have consistently shown that it is one of the most-read features in the magazine. Starting with this issue (see p. [382][2]), we are expanding and refocusing the type of coverage that has made Random Samples so popular. Each week, the News section will open with three or four pages of brief items under the heading News of the Week. The aim is to give busy readers a quick take on the important events in the world of science. It will include a roundup of the top stories in science policy, written from our far-flung bureaus: Washington, DC; Cambridge, UK; Paris; Berlin; Tokyo; Beijing; New Delhi; and Sao Paulo. We will bring you news of scientists making headlines and present the bottom line on newly published research papers. In the tradition of Random Samples, we will also include items that are offbeat, whimsical, or just plain interesting—quotes, factoids, striking images. News of the Week will be edited by Lauren Schenkman, who has been editing Random Samples since the tragic death last year of the page's long-time editor Constance (Tancy) Holden. The items will be drawn in part from Science 's daily online coverage of research findings, Science NOW, and our science policy blog Science Insider ( ). ![Figure][1] News of the Week is designed to provide a quick overview of the week's top events; the rest of the News section focuses beyond the headlines. In a section renamed News & Analysis, our award-winning news team will draw on expert opinion to put the news in context. And the News Focus section will continue to take a broad look at the trends, personalities, and events shaping the world of science. At a time when traditional journalism is under severe pressure, and science reporting is declining in many major media outlets, our goal—and that of our publisher, the American Association for the Advancement of Science—is to provide the best coverage across the sciences and throughout the interface of science with society. On a different note, we're also reaching out to our Web readers this week for their fresh, direct input to help us rethink the format and functionality of our online articles. Recently, a staff team from across Science has been exploring a variety of new ideas for Web article content, including a tabbed interface, summary material to help put the article in context, more visible ties to related content, a different treatment for figures and supporting online data, and a variety of other possibilities that we hope will save users time, make online articles more readable and functional, and open up new possibilities for further exploration. We've rolled these ideas into an initial prototype that is posted in a beta version at . We encourage readers to try out the prototype and leave us their thoughts. What do you like and dislike about this first model? What's missing that would help you work more efficiently with the content; and what's distracting? What's at the top of your own “wish list” for more effectively interacting with scientific content? The prototype is very much “release 0.1”; we plan to incorporate new ideas and adjustments based on your feedback. This process will help us to zero in on a new article interface that's better tuned to user needs in the crowded and rapidly changing environment for communicating scientific information. Stop by for a look, give us your thoughts and ideas, and become a part of this new undertaking. [1]: pending:yes [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.331.6016.382-a

The considerable improvements in computational power and the increased sophistication of programming techniques now make it possible to automate many aspects of electron microscopy [1]. Automation offers several important advantages over manual operation. Automation of microscope operation permits novice microscopists to obtain data relatively easily thus increasing instrument utilization. The experienced microscopist should be able to acquire data more rapidly and with greater ease compared to manual operation, resulting in increased efficiency. Alignment of energyfilters and proposed Cs correctors are difficult and time consuming even for experienced microscopist and stable alignment algorithms are critical for practical use. Automation is essential for extensive statistical sampling of microstructures and can permit experiments to be performed that were previously impractical. For example, spectrum imaging involves acquisition of thousands of spectra from a predefined area. The acquisition and processing of such large volumes of data cannot be accomplished without the aid of automation. The future prospects for automation are exciting, although it is important to carefully consider the relationship between the computer controlled microscope and the operator. Here I give a personal perspective on approaches to automation which increase the power and efficiency of modern transmission electron microscopes.The degree of automation is an important consideration that is related to the complexity of the analysis strategy. Some analysis situations call for repetitive sampling of a well-defined quantity such as layer thickness or particle size. These simple repetitive operations are ideal candidates for total automation. For many applications of automation it is necessary not only to acquire the data but also to process the data and extract the quantity of interest.

With a 3D printer it's easy to fashion insect-like wings, the prelude to building the robotic spy that's high on the Pentagon's wish list

At the top of Douglas Gwatidzo’s wish list for Zimbabwe is a return of all those health professionals who have left the country in the past decade. Dr Gwatidzo is chairman of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights. His colleague, Rutendo Bonde, hopes for accountability in the health service, professional engagement, and governance backed by a legal system with teeth. This might feel like pie in the sky for some, but conditions in Zimbabwe have changed in the past 12 months, and there is a real sense of optimism. “We are living on hope,” Dr Gwatidzo told the BMJ . The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, which Dr Gwatidzo helped to establish in 2002, was originally set up to monitor the use of organised violence and torture in the country but has since broadened its remit. In the past five years it has also played a part in ensuring that the medical curriculum includes human rights and related matters and promotes activities in the areas of health of prisoners, child and maternal health, and HIV/AIDS. Dr Bonde, originally an anaesthetist, runs …

As you will have obviously noticed, we have redesigned the cover of the Journal and have given it a “fresher” more artistic look. We hope you like it. We have also devoted part of this issue to a specific topic: “DSM-V/ICD-11 and the Female Psyche: Quo Vadis?” The impetus to our decision to openly address this issue were concerns raised by colleagues working in the field of women’s mental health as to the currently ongoing process for revising the DSM and ICD. Based on past not-so-positive experiences (DSM-III, -III-R and -IV), scientists/clinicians/teachers wanted to make sure that decisions pertaining to female-specific issues will be less biased, less political and evidencebased as much as possible! The Editorial Board decided that it might be prudent to invite some of the leaders in this field and ask them to share with us their thoughts/wish list of what they would like to see incorporated in the DSM-V/ICD-11 as it pertains to women’s mental health. We received 14 responses published here which we hope will convey the sense of urgency that we in the trenches of women’s mental health care are experiencing. We subsequently also invited two commentaries from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean which further highlight the problem. We wish to thank all the contributors for their time and thoughtful remarks. We hope that this publication will evoke responses from others in the field and invite you to send us your own thoughts. We will also make sure that this issue of the Journal will reach members of both the DSM and ICD task forces.

Dear Reader, It is a great pleasure and privilege to welcome you to the first volume of the SIAM Journal on Financial Mathematics. This journal, with the help of its editorial board, contributors, and readers and the SIAM staff, follows in the outstanding tradition of high-quality SIAM journals and, we hope, will become a leading journal in mathematical modeling and analysis of financial problems. The journal began accepting submissions in October 2008. You will find the first papers accepted for this all-electronic publication. These papers provide a representative glance at the diversity of topics covered by the journal, something clearly observable from the outstanding editorial board itself. A number of papers currently in the pipeline further stress the broad vision of the journal. The SIAM Journal on Financial Mathematics came to exist thanks to the tremendous effort of numerous people. The impetus came from the SIAM Activity Group on Financial Mathematics and Engineering (SIAG/FME) at its inaugural meeting in Boston in July 2006. While the idea of a new journal focused on computational finance had been discussed for a number of years, the enthusiasm at this meeting persuaded us, and other officers of the SIAG, to work toward this end. We received enthusiastic support from the publications committee and SIAM's board and council, and the journal was approved in July 2008. We are grateful to Tim Kelley and David Marshall for their hard work and advice in establishing the journal. Preparing for the creation of the journal was arduous but rewarding. We aimed high, and at times, we wondered whether our goals were realistic. After agreeing on a charter for the journal, we made a wish list of associate editors, and it was no surprise to be asked by members of the council, “What makes you think that these distinguished scholars will accept your invitation to work for a new journal?" Except for two special cases, we were delighted that all of them accepted. In hindsight, the warm reception by the applied mathematics community at large has made the experience rewarding. The SIAM staff is a wonderful asset. In particular, Mitch Chernoff, Brian Fauth, and Heather Blythe have been a critical source of support. The current editorial board is working very hard to guarantee timely and high-quality reviews. The whole cycle of reviewing and production has been fast on average. Please enjoy your reading, and we look forward to receiving your high-quality submissions in the future.

[Figure][1] ![Figure][1] These books were already on my wish list when I was asked to review them. So, as a psychiatrist with a special interest in the assessment and management of sex offenders, was I right to covet them? The first edition of Sexual Deviance was a key reference

PUBLIC HEALTHPresident Barack Obama's nominees for commissioner and deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Margaret Hamburg and Joshua Sharfstein, will inherit an agency with fragmented authority and funding that has been stumbling from one crisis to the next.

Europe should build a test facility for carbon capture and storage within the next three years as well as a new high-energy gamma-ray observatory, according to a road map published last month by the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). The two facilities are among 10 projects that did not appear on a previous version of the road map released in 2006, bringing the total number of projects on ESFRI's wish list to 44.

ACHIEVING and maintaining a slim, trim, look is high on our national wish list; for many years we have known that obesity is both unsightly and unhealthy. What is new is an increased urgency “to do something about it.” The public and enterprising commercial interests are ever more intently scanning the horizon for new and better treatments. At any moment, 50% of American women and 25% of men are on a diet (1). Even the government has become concerned. Hearings last September before the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives heard testimony indicating that the treatment of obesity in America is anything but small business. Commercially promoted treatments generate more than 30 billion dollars a year in gross earnings, roughly 1000-fold more than the national expenditure for research on obesity. Perhaps as a result of the hearings, various governmental agencies are preparing to do battle. Thus, the

The mathematical content of this chapter is well known, and can be found in any reasonable book on multivariable calculus, e.g. Fleming (1977). Nevertheless, the chapter serves two purposes. First, it presents a wish list, an ideal for which we address the smooth optimization problem comprehensively. We pose certain questions more easily asked now than later. Second, the chapter samples some of the applications of smooth optimization theory to economic analysis.

Some points are made on contributions to the Symposium A Stellar Journey in Uppsala, June 2008. Conclusions are drawn concerning the present status of the stellar-atmosphere research, and a wish list is presented for its further development.

ASTRONOMYEuropean astronomers have asked policymakers to green-light a 42-meter-wide giant telescope that they promise will keep them at the forefront of world astronomy.

ASTRONOMYEuropean astronomers, working through a new umbrella body called Astronet, have published a "wish list" of new projects they hope to undertake during the next 20 years and the questions they are designed to answer.

The Pharmaceutical Roundtable of the Green Chemistry Institute, a division of the American Chemical Society, has awarded its first research grant as part of a broad effort to advance green chemistry and engineering practices in the global pharmaceutical industry. The $130,000 grant goes to chemistry professor Jianliang Xiao of the University of Liverpool, in England, whose group will seek to develop a cleaner, more efficient method of reducing amides to amines, an important transformation in drug synthesis. Together with major pharmaceutical firms, the Green Chemistry Institute established the Pharmaceutical Roundtable in 2005. Made up of pharmaceutical industry representatives, the group spent its first year singling out seven common reactions and processes that need cost and environmental improvements, including the amide reduction, and drawing up a wish list of five reactions that chemists would like to add to their research arsenals (C&EN, July 24, 2006, page 36). Last fall, the roundtable called for ...

European researchers have compiled a wish list of 35 large-scale projects that they would love to see built over the next 2 decades. (Read more.)

This presentation describes this engineer’s involvement with surround sound since the days of vinyl LP, 8‐track, and four‐channel Quadrophonic sound. It includes my experiences as one of the few mastering engineers hired by Digital Theater Systems in 1997 to master and help establish their new 5.1 surround compact disc. In 2005, the author mastered 2 of the 5 Grammy‐nominated ‘‘Best Surround Sound discs’’—the SA‐CD Dire Straits 20th Anniversary edition of ‘‘Brothers in Arms’’ and the Foo Fighters ‘‘In Your Honor’’ DualDisc. This presentation also includes a short wish list of issues with popular music surround‐sound mixes with some suggestions for improvement.

The ITER fusion project received a major boost last month when it was given the highest priority in a list of new facilities being considered by the US Department of Energy (DOE). The decision represents a remarkable turnaround for the $5bn project, which the US withdrew from five years ago because of its huge cost.

In the January/February 2001 issue, Practical Diabetes International published a ‘wish list’ for the National Service Framework for Diabetes. Two years later, with the Delivery Strategy only just published, have those wishes come true? Ali Foster gives her views. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This year the Christmas decorations were in the shops before Halloween was over. It seems to get earlier every year, but I still feel a mixture of childlike anticipation in addition to the stress of getting it all done around this time of year. The‘work/life balance’ is difficult enough to manage at any time, but at Christmas the tensions get higher, there is simply too much to do. At The Royal Free we have started working on our Christmas rotas and tried to figure out how to fill stockings for the babies and decorate wards with the amount of money we have. At the same time I am thinking about life at home. As the holiday season approaches I feel I will never get it all done. Yet, when we get to Christmas Eve the enchantment takes over and there is the hope I always feel from the Christmas story. Despite all the difficulties of the world, for me, the story contains such promise and hope for the future.

In the wake of the corporate scandals of the past several months, ISS often receives inquiries as to our views on the two or three key governance changes that-if adopted by all issuers-would help investors to avoid similar market meltdowns in the future.1 Unquestionably, the item on our wish list that draws the blankest stares from corporate America is the call for annual elections of all members of corporate boards. These visceral responses are not surprising given the recent degeneration of the staggered terms versus annual election debate.2 Few governance issues produce the same "Shareholders Are from Mars, Executives Are from Venus" level of disconnect. Simply put, executives and investors view the boardelection timing issue from different perspectives. As is often the case with such genetic-level disagreements, where each group stands is dictated by where its members sit.