SCOTTISH Labour members were told “there is too much gloom and doom” about the party’s prospects in next year’s Holyrood election as the candidates to succeed Jim Murphy took part in a leadership hustings.

Labour MSPs Kezia Dugdale and Ken Macintosh are standing in the contest to lead the party in the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections, with polls showing the SNP poised to comfortably win a third term in power.

Mr Macintosh, speaking at a hustings event in Dundee, said he was “not prepared to run up the white flag” for Labour which lost 40 of its 41 seats in Scotland to the SNP in May’s General Election.

The Eastwood MSP said he would not “give up fighting” for a Labour win in the 2016 Holyrood election and stated that the party could make gains from the nationalists.

He said “There is too much gloom and doom about Labour’s prospects and that is from some of our own members. I’m not prepared to run up the white flag on Labour. Our values are too important to give up fighting for.

“I will be fighting to win seats in each and every part of our country, standing alongside Labour candidates with a message of hope and optimism for Scotland.”

Meanwhile, Ms Dugdale, speaking ahead of the hustings, said the new powers contained in the Scotland Act should be used to tackle the “inequality in our education system” .

Ms Dugdale is widely seen as the frontrunner to succeed Mr Murphy who quit after narrowly surviving a vote of no confidence at the party’s ruling body in the aftermath of Scottish Labour’s disastrous election on 7 May.

The Lothians MSP, who quit as Scottish Labour’s deputy to allow the party to elect a replacement at the same time as it picks Mr Murphy’s successor on 15 August, said she would use new powers coming to Holyrood to raise the top rate of tax for the wealthy to fund an anti-poverty programme.

Ms Dugdale, an MSP since 2011, said: “I would use the major new powers coming to Scotland to do something about the inequality we see in Dundee and across the country. Under a Scottish Labour Government the very richest few would pay a little bit more, with a 50p rate of tax on those earning more than £150,000. That would allow us to invest an extra £125 million so that we can employ more classroom assistants and literacy experts.

“We just cannot stand by whilst poorer kids leave school without the skills they need to get on in life. If I am elected Scottish Labour Leader it’s what I will campaign on every single day.”

However, Mr Macintosh, who has been an MSP since 1999, said “a new face won’t do” for Scottish Labour if the party is to avoid further losses to the SNP in next year’s Holyrood election.

He said: “I know many of my MSP colleagues are worried about next year, they’re scared about their own seats and their prospects.

“And when facing such a difficult fight, there is a temptation to follow the path of least resistance, to go with what’s in front of you rather than face up to the difficult and challenging questions about our future. This time, a new face won’t do.”

FOR all the grandstanding, hullabaloo and sound-bites, it is sometimes easy to forget that the primary role of an MP is to be a legislator. It is actually something many MPs would rather not remember and, if possible, ignore because the job of being a lawmaker is in reality an extremely tedious and thankless one.

What it actually involves is going through bills, line by line, working out what can be accepted and what needs to be changed for political or legal reasons. This can boil down to the removal or change of a single word or complete sentences and paragraphs.

This is the part of the bill process known as committee stage, which is the mid-point of five stages of a bill in the Commons. It follows the bill being placed for a first reading, general principles agreed at second reading and then followed by final detailed changes at report stage and a last vote at third reading, before the whole saga starts again in the Lords.

The task of an MP on a bill committee is arduous, often mind numbingly boring but completely necessary if laws are to be improved and the government is to be properly challenged.

This is as true for the Scotland Bill currently going through with the Smith Commission proposals as any other bill but, being constitutional, it is a committee of the whole House which means all MPs have to vote at this stage.

The committee stage of the Scotland Bill, when the main changes can be made, is then the best opportunity for the 56 SNP MPs to justify their election slogan saying they are “a strong voice for Scotland”. Yet the bold statistics this week have suggested that in reality it is Labour “standing up for Scotland” and taking on the government.

The committee stage yesterday, which dealt with financial matters, saw 51 amendments from Labour, more than twice as many as placed by the SNP who managed 24 and signed some of Labour’s on top of that. In today’s committee stage on the welfare measures, key to the bill, Labour placed 21 amendments to the SNP’s 15.

Today’s Labour amendment on allowing Holyrood to top up all benefits, which has since been signed by the SNP, is crucial for making sure the spirit of the Smith Commission is met. So the 75 amendments to 39 suggest that, despite only having one MP from north of the Border, a leaderless Labour Party appears to be making the running on the Scotland Bill, not the SNP despite the Nationalists’ claims of being the Tories’ “principle opposition”.

The SNP have made a great play of making sure their MPs are seen to be sitting in the Chamber as a large block day after day, but the truth is that they might be better employed working out ways of trying to improve important legislation for Scotland.

THE sight of armed soldiers patrolling the beaches at Sousse is further evidence of how terrorism has changed our way of life.

Where once lifeguards protected bathers from the dangers of the sea, now troops carrying machine guns are required to protect them from murderers.

Last week’s attacks have prompted a range of reactions. For some, there is fear of further attacks and from others, there is a demand for retribution. There is also frustration over playing into the enemy’s hands. Terrorist feed off the publicity their barbaric acts receive, such as the beheadings of hostages in the desert. There is an argument that the media should not report these atrocities, but that is not a realistic prospect. The reach and accessibility of the media cannot be controlled in the way it was previously, when governments could suppress reports of wartime casualties in a bid to win the propaganda war.

Frustration is also evident in objections to the use of the term Islamic State. Those who would like to see the term banished say that the terrorist group for which it is used as a label are neither Islamic nor a state, and is offensive to Muslims. The term unwittingly gives the organisation a status which it should be denied.

There is significant political support for the name Islamic State to be dropped, with David Cameron and Alex Salmond among the voices calling for the media to end reference to this term. Mr Salmond, the former First Minister, has backed calls for the use of Daesh, the term used in the Middle East which denies the terrorists the association with religion that they need. Meanwhile the Prime Minister believes that Isil would be a better option.

The majority of those in the media would probably have sympathy, and many will agree with Mr Cameron and Mr Salmond that the name is a misnomer. The difficulty is that the term has become accepted general use, and attempting to remove it is akin to putting the genie back in the bottle.

The alternatives are not perfect. Daesh is an abbreviation of Dawlat alIslamiyah f’alIraq wa alSham, which carries little recognition for all but Arabic speakers, while Isil refers to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – it is just another form of Islamic State.

There is one other concern here: the issue of what we call the terrorists is a distraction. Changing the name will not stop the killings. Whether accurate or flawed, the use of Islamic State leaves no-one in any doubt about who or what we are talking about. Simply using the name Islamic State does not confer upon the murderous terrorists the granting of statehood. It is simply the name by which this organisation is known. Energies should instead remain focused on the heart of the matter – removing the threat.

What price Wimbledon?

The diminished status of public service broadcasting has suffered a fresh blow following Discovery’s securing of the rights to the Olympic Games from 2022 onwards in a £920 million pan-European deal.

This does not mean that the Games, summer and winter, have been lost to the BBC, host to television coverage of the Games continuously since 1960. A package can still be negotiated by the BBC via a sub-licence, and, under UK government legislation, the Games remain one of sport’s “crown jewels” which demands that coverage must be provided free-to-air. The issue is the extent of that coverage. In 2012, when the summer Games were held in London, the BBC screened 2,500 hours of action over a variety of platforms. At present, Eurosport has committed to broadcasting only 200 hours of summer Olympics and 100 hours of winter Games on free-to-air television.

Even if the BBC secures those free-to-air rights – and there is no guarantee that this will happen, with competitors free to enter the fray – this will be small consolation for sports fans who do not subscribe to pay-for channels. But there is bound to be a sense of weary resignation, because the loss of the Olympics would follow the departure – from 2017 onwards – of golf’s Open Championship, a development previously considered unthinkable.

The shift of such an iconic part of BBC coverage to pay-TV requires the UK government to reconsider the effectiveness of the legislation it designed to protect sport’s showpieces, because the Discovery deal shows events can still be bought. What price Wimbledon next?

• {http://bit.ly/1fx9YVA|Ten ways to cut your home energy bills|Ten ways to cut your home energy bills}

SCOTTISH Secretary David Mundell has called on the SNP to “come clean” on how it would use new welfare powers, how much it would spend and how it would fund increases.

His comment came as the SNP had a second go at pushing through an amendment to replace the proposals of the Scotland Bill with plans to give Holyrood total control of tax and spending by introducing full fiscal autonomy.

The measure, which has support from some Tories, including Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh, would, according to the leading economic think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, leave a £10 billion black hole in Scotland’s finances.

Mr Mundell warned it would be “a disaster” for Scotland, but SNP Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie said it reflected what Scotland voted for in May rather than the “miserable” proposals of the Smith Commission.

The Scottish Secretary effectively accepted a suggestion from Labour that the new powers being handed to Holyrood should be scrutinised by a Scottish version of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, which makes forecasts based on government decisions. He said he would use negotiations with the Scottish Government to make sure Holyrood’s proposed Scottish Fiscal Commission would provide the same role by being a “substantial and independent” body.

The government opposed a Labour amendment, backed by the SNP, for Scotland’s police, fire and ambulance services to be given the same exemption from VAT that their English and Welsh equivalents receive.

On welfare, Mr Mundell said it was “crunch time” for the SNP, pointing out that the Westminster government spends £94 billion on working-age ­benefits. He said: “They will soon be receiving the powers over welfare which they have long wanted. They now have to tell us how they intend to use them.

“If that means higher welfare payments, they will have to be clear with Scotland how that will be paid for – higher taxes or cuts to ­services.”

But SNP social justice spokeswoman Eilidh Whiteford said the welfare parts of the proposed legislation “fall far short” of the spirit and letter of the ­Smith Commission.

She added: “Crucially, the bill also limits the powers of the Scottish Government to continue to provide assistance through the Scottish Welfare Fund and contains a Westminster veto over the Scottish Government’s powers in certain areas of Universal Credit – and restrictions on employment programmes.

“That is why the SNP’s welfare amendments to the Scotland Bill are so important and why Scotland needs the opposition parties to come together to support them.

“Labour will show where they stand – for Scottish control or Tory control.”

University Of Edinburgh. Graduation Ceremony of 30/06/2015 11:00

Honorary Degree

Doctor of Science - Professor Tom Simpson; Professor Eva B. H. Åkesson

Doctor of Philosophy - Adam, Catherine; Alber, Jessica; Anjum, Saliha; Archer, Alfred; Cameron, Christopher; Cuchillo, Rémi; Cukic, Iva; Ferdinand, Vanessa; Friskney, Ruth; Hepburn, Hamish; Hill, David; Horne, Mark; Iveson, Matthew; Jiang, Jing; Jones, Alison; Ladyman, Melissa; Lam, Daniel; Lee, Jing-min; Maloney, Andrew; McGrory, Sarah; Memon, Natasha; Miller, Jessica; Miller, Louisa; Nolan, Andrew; Oliver, David; Pacholarz, Kamila; Petitjean, Nicolas; Phillips, Rachel; Pidgeon, Laura; Roy, Iain; Scott, Kyle; Silvey, Catriona; Simpson, Alain; Smith, Darren; Solana González, Jorge; Sooksawat, Top; Stevens, Charlotte; Stindl, Martin; Thomas, Sarah; Thompson, Bill; Valášek, Milan; Villalobos, Mario; Wadsworth, John; Watson, Matthew; Wieczysty, Martin; Yang, Jie

Master of Science

Mind, Language and Embodied Cognition - Hamblin, Caitlin

Master of Science by Research - Yang, Shuyu

Bachelor of Medical Sciences with Honours

Psychology - Claxton, Tom; Graham, Chris; Green, Amy; Pronin, Savva; Watkins, Eleanor; Willbond, Jennifer

Bachelor of Science with Honours

Chemistry - Kim, Taehee; Leslie, David; Marshall, Amy; Mason, Zoe; Nixon, Carly; Sheard, Lucy; Tooze, James; Wilson, Michael

Chemistry with Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry - Brinzan, Gabriela-catalina; Kanani, Farah; Newbigging, Tom; Wen, Jiaqi; Wiseman, Yvonne; Xin, Wei; Yeung, Vincent

Chemistry with Materials Chemistry - Field, James

Medicinal and Biological Chemistry - Marciulionyte, Rutele

Psychology - Ampofo, Olivia; Bano, Felicity; Beattie, Megan; Cartwright, Lydia; Choon, Ee; Comes, Aurelie; Hartley, Chris; Hinds, Isabel; Irvine, Mhairi; Klimova, Michaela; Landberg, Sara; McKee, Cameron; Pratuseviciute, Viktorija; Ramsay, Ellie

Master of Arts with Honours

Cognitive Science - Bussom, Rachel; Kacheria, Kashish; Lechelt, Susan; Marmarinou, Rea; Stevens, Chase

English Language - Counsell, Helena; Scanlon, Bobby; Ward, Elsie; Williams, Hannah

English Language and History - Harris, Adam

English Language and Literature - Aliperta-Mourissoux, Lea; Aschim, Anne; Lyttle, Stephanie; Mertekis, Lucy; Mitchell, Rebecca; Moore, Katie; Moseley, Angelique; Reid, Maili

Linguistics - Benson, Isabel; Culleton, Ian; Daniels, Sarah; Faulkner, Richard; Fields-Austin, Lexie; Ilieva, Stela; Kim, Michael; Kozak, Veronika; Lim, Victoria; McFarland, Andrew; McLellan, Lewis; Stewart, Asha; Tormey, Lauren

Linguistics and English Language - Au, Emily; Comerford, Catherine; Crouch, Natalie; Georgescu, Delia; Glynn, Polly; Gray, Bryony; Harris, Jessica; Ho, Helene; Humphries, Rachel; Merry, Joel; Pasola, Kate; Rawsthorne, Alice; Ringrose, Christy; Sachdeva, Anushka; Salvesen, Abi; Santry, Sian; Saviour, Sarah; Shaw, Harriet; Small, Ruth; Thompson, Rianne; Watson, Andrew; Wong, Emily; Young, Phoebe; Yu, Amanda

Linguistics and Social Anthropology - Jorgensen, Signe; Lou, Lucy

Philosophy - Ashton, Danielle; Attwood, Charlotte; Barlow, Andrew; Belcher, Matthew; Chase, Asher; Choucha, Caroline; Clarke-Wills, Mikhia; Clarke, Yvonne; Cohen-Fuentes, Hona; Cros, Alienor; Davenhill, Edward; Dutton, Kitty; Egerton-Warburton, Piers; Ferry, Emmylou; Harris, Robert; Hearle, Will; Helseth, Mathias; Hubbard, Kinvara; Leung, Philip; MacBeth, Nicola; MacDougall, Laura; Marler, Daniel; McDonald, Hetty; McGuire, Mary; Mehdi, Nadia; Mossman Moore, Hannah; Rafferty, Brendan; Regan, James; Robbie, Tam; Rome, David; Root, Liza; Rousseau-Chia, Maud; Sales, Ben; Scott Lintott, Daniel; Silcock, Elena; Sime, Wendy; Sykes, Caroline; Taylor, Lucile; Trovatello, David; Wersig, Emilia; Wynne-Jones, Ruth; Ziolkowski, Patrick

Philosophy and Economics - Akers, Christopher; Barr, Michael; Beeching, Charlie; Budny, Philip; Chuyko, Nikita; D’Cruz, Xavier; Key, Robert; Lindmeier, Katharina; Steel, Jack

Philosophy and English Language - Defferrard, Philippe; Walker, Katie

Philosophy and English Literature - Blades, Matt; Bond, Jason; Brayne-Whyatt, Eleanor; Clark, Margaret; Earle-Wright, Millie; Kashti, Olivia; Lawson, Nicholas; Mason, Sam; Massie, Olivia; Moir, Joshua; Paynter, Courtney; Rao, Elyzabeth; Santayana, Vivek; Smith, Alex; Yew, Andrea

Philosophy and Greek - Daly, Max

Philosophy and Linguistics - Sutherland, Jamie

Philosophy and Mathematics - Bilbeny, Norbert; Hanley, Ella; Hayman, Tessa; Howson, Beth; Loebl, Zbynek; Williams, George

Philosophy and Politics - Allcott, Genevieve; Arias Puig, Sandra; Barbato, Libero; Beeston, Nina; Brooker, Hari; Denver, Debbie; Ffrench-Constant, Laura; Lobanova, Natalya; Savage, Christen; Teakle, George; Yusupoff, Emile

Philosophy and Psychology - Dobre, Alexa; Helliwell, Alice; Koppen, Philipp; Kroupin, Ivan

Psychology - Allison, Rory; Archer, Natalie; Bashkirova, Varvara; Bertlich, Maya; Bikou, Elena; Black, Katherine; Boulter, Matt; Bray, Kirsty; Brennan, Tanya; Bridges, Ailsa; Briggs, Jessica; Buchan, Kimberley; Bulfin, Niamh; Cairney, Ailsa; Cervenak, Branislav; Chapman, Carmen; Clark, Chris; Clements, Fiona; Cowan, Briony; Cowie, Amy; Davidson, Lara; Dillon, Sophie; Duncan, Claire; Eaglesham, Sarah; Elder, Laura; Elkin, Eilidh; Falla, Lauren; Gemenetzi-Makri, Natassa; Gibb, Rachael; Goulandris, George; Gregor, Simon; Grigorova, Monika; Gundersen, Tale; Hamilton, Naomi; Harvey, Nicola; Helie, Jenny; Henniker-Heaton, Alex; Hiekkaranta, Anu; Hill, Saskia; Honeyman, Rachael; Hristova, Reni; Israfil, Khadejsha; Jones, David; Kozhuharova, Petya; Larsson, Rebecka; Leonard, Niamh; Levi, Hannah; Lewis, Alexander; Lewis, Arbell; Liddle, Ashton; Logan, Andy; Lumsden, Megan; MacGregor, Chris; MacKay, Kathryn; MacTaggart, Kirstin; Mariner, Paris; Marr, Calum; Marshall, Millie; Matthew, Claire; McBride, Emma; McCusker, Caitlin; McGhee, Jamie; Morrison, Annette; O’Brien, Eimhear; O’Gorman, Carl; Oon, Yee Jeng; Orr, Alison; Page, Danielle; Peacock, Malcolm; Pedri, Katie; Phipps, Georgie; Ptakauskaite, Nora; Sampson, Cordelia; Serlin, India; Slattery, Brydne; Smith, Jenny; Spassova, Teodora; Sprang, Katie; Tangen, Fanny; Telfer, Jen; Thompson, Hannah; Timajo, Alyssa Bea; Tomlinson, Sarah; Vachkova, Polina; Waheed, Nadia; Wase, Cara; Wills, Natalie; Wilson, Kathryn

Psychology and Business - Savova, Snezhana

Psychology and Business Studies - Bain, Sarah; Bartczak, Martyna; Calder, Julia; Gardner, Sarah; Hauser, Eva; Hynds, Faye; Laco, David; Lisowska, Adrianna; MacDonald, Ross; Nishat-Botero, Tania; Sharp, Laura; Spanikova, Sandra; Triantos, Katerina; Venskauskaite, Sigute

Psychology and Linguistics - Carracher, Ellen; Connachan, Cara; Kaps, Marju; Vujovic, Masa

Master of Chemical Physics with Honours - Duffy, Richard; Edmund, Eric; Fikouras, Alasdair

Chemical Physics with a Year Abroad - Bruce-Smith, Ian

Chemical Physics with Industrial Experience - Goodwin, Heather; Kvam, Odin; Mannix, Oonagh; McHardy, James; Schafers, Richard; Wood, Emma

Master of Chemistry with Honours - Arenas, Ben; Burns, Rebecca; Chen, Alex; Davis, Jennifer; Leung, Zoe; McCallum, Fraser; McNab, Robbie; Nausedas, Aurimas; Noafshar, Beau; O’Reilly, Jp; Scott, Neil; Shepley, Roman; Smith, Rosie

Chemistry with a Year Abroad - Fleming, Joanna; Foley, Thomas; Johansson, Viktor; Mitrikeviciute, Ugne; Platts, Lucy; Quibell, Jacob; Robertson, Evelyn

Chemistry with Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry - Desai, Elspeth

Chemistry with Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry and Industrial Experience - Rayne, Rachel; Robinson, Callum

Chemistry with Industrial Experience - Bamber, Joanna; Bean, Rachel; Chan, Derek; Doyle, Alice; Fong, Angela; Gerrard, Becky; Karlsson, Fredrik; Massaya, Jackie; McMenemy, Ross; Morris, Eleanor; Nicolson, Rebecca; Pollard, Vicky; Sebastio, Giulia; Springett, Rebecca; Stewart, Ryan; Thompson, Juliet; Vanden-Hehir, Sally; Webb, Douglas; Wojciechowski, Piotr

Chemistry with Management - Gibbon, Rachel

Chemistry with Materials Chemistry - Clason, Stephanie; Srinath, Aishwarya

Chemistry with Materials Chemistry and Industrial Experience - Gurney, Alice; Hadden, Craig; McCluskey, Andrew; Taylor, John; Waterston, Louise

Chemistry with Materials Chemistry with a Year Abroad - Hong, Jacky; Johnson, Daniel; Morrison, Sarah

Medicinal and Biological Chemistry - Parveen, Saima

Medicinal and Biological Chemistry with a Year Abroad - Bantleman, Maxine; Bownes, Richard; Farr, Sarah; Fife, Christopher; Gaarden, Ray; MacFarlane, Gillian; McArthur, Sarah; McGregor, Lindsay; Nottrodt, Anna; Scott, Jamie; Serrano, Loane; Shand, Sam; Wilson, Charlotte

Medicinal and Biological Chemistry with Industrial Experience - Eltermann, Mari; Gavins, Georgina; Kroupova, Alena; Mehigan, Kiera; Vallot, Stephanie; Zenkeviciute, Grasilda

Bachelor of Arts (Humanities and Social Science) - Arnold, David; Deacon, Chris; Hurren, Lana; Ilieva, Kristina; Lambreva, Elena; Lomax, Josh; McGhee, Libby; McIlhatton, Brenda; Parr, Lizzie; Sherlock, Rosanne; Tikilyaynen, Petr; Van Der Wal, Elsa

Bachelor of Science - Craig, Ewan; Dick, Cameron; Hunter, Madeline

Undergraduate Diploma of Higher Education - Brill, Gracie; Clewett, Lizzy; Davis, William; Devine, Chris; Greens, Daniel; McDavid, Caitlin; Nicolson, Marc; Simpson, Euan

Undergraduate Certificate of Higher Education - Alderton, Kieran; Allan, Ralph; Clarke, Sylvie; Cutolo, Francesca; Docherty, Chantelle; Gelwan, Gill; Giroti, Akarshan; Grigg, Sam; Halpin, Mark; Hardcastle, Emily; Lytwyn, Ryan; Pyper, Rory; Samson, Lucy; Wang, Qike

University Of Edinburgh. Graduation Ceremony of 30/06/2015 15:00

Honorary Degree

Doctor of Letters - William Dalrymple

Doctor of Philosophy - Adediran, Gbotemi; Andreou, Georgia-marina; Angelopoulos, Nickolas; Baker, Julian; Baker, Sonia; Bertrand, Ester; Brosgill, Abigail; Cleary, Nicole; Cote, Muriel; Cowan, Nicholas; Creamer, Emily; Driscoll, Robin; Ellis, Christopher; Entwistle, Elizabeth; Galetti, Erica; Gooney, Dawn; Intagliata, Emanuele; Jones, Sam; Judge, Jane; Livingston, James; Matulis, Brett; Maxwell, Robbie; McCaslin, Sarah; McNicol, Iain; Michelakis, Dimitrios; Miller, Paul; Mitchell, Peter; Murray, Lauren; Nair, Richard; Pak, Tannaz; Roussopoulos, Theodoros; Smith, Wilson; Taylor, Emily; Tuerena, Robyn; Turner, Emma; Walker, Matthew; Wilkinson, Darren; Winning, Nicola; Wolf, Jeff; Woods, Kathryn; Xu, Xiaolu; Zhang, Yunpeng

Master of Philosophy

History - Hannon, Brian

Master of Science

Contemporary History - Newby, Kate; Peuchen, Stefan; St John, Jac

Postgraduate Diploma

Forensic Anthropology - Guizán, Tamara; Hoppé, Liv

Integrated Resource Management - Liu, Qiaoxin

Scottish History - Crawford, Mary

Postgraduate Diploma by Research

GeoSciences - Squaratti, Florent

Bachelor of Science with Honours

Ecological and Environmental Sciences - Auldjo, Charis; Butler, Elizabeth; Chan, Gary; Dundas, Elspeth; Goble, Laura; Gow, Alexandra; Hargreaves, Peter; Hedger, Annie; Hill, Dominique; King, Sarah; Lehtonen, Santeri; Lowe, Jennifer; Paspaldzhiev, Ivan; Smith, Michael; Stephen, Melanie; Stevenson, Ben; Taylor, Jack; Wangvitayakun, Bhanpavika; Watt, James; Wilkie, Euan; Yells, John

Ecological and Environmental Sciences with Management - Brown, Cameron; Dinchiyska, Lilia; Loeffler, Manuel

Environmental Geoscience - Baillie, Max; Curran, Josh; Dale, Elaine; Dalley, Paul; Gray, Emma; Littley, Eloise; Macovei, Vlad; Perera, Liam; Thomson, James; Whitelaw, Shannon

Geography - Abercrombie, Neil; Cameron, Euan; Charalambous, Maria; Cooper, Hannah; Craig, Kerrie; Farley, Isabelle; Gillespie, Jack; Honkala, Emma; Lamb, Gillian; Marking, Camilla; Melville, Andrew; Miller Kerins, Fergus; Prosser, Beth; Rudsdale, Kathryn; Seeley, Poppy; Tobin, George; Usher, Bonnie; Wilson, Hen; Wright, Merry

Geology - Bailey, Lydia; Clark, Sue; Lindle, John; Muir, Andrew; Ridout, Jenny; Yang, Yili

Geology and Physical Geography - Bradbury, Calum; Buckland, Hannah; Chestnutt, Caroline; Fletcher, Tasmin; Inglis, Michael; Johnston, Rachel; Owen, Angharad; Ziemann, Julia

Geophysics - Cronin, Ben; Hunter, Aidan; Kahr, Nina; Smith, David

Master of Arts with Honours

Ancient and Medieval History - Cleasby, Emma; Paul, Ella; Pieper, Sean; Vancans, Guy

Ancient History - Ando, Nicholas; Classon, Robert; Davis, Stephanie; Gilmore, Conor; Hutkova, Klara; James Duff, Gardie; Johnstone, Fi; Kirkland, Stephanie; Lyons, Claire; Martone-Mustapha, Maurizio; Oldman, Alexander; Porteous, Andrew; Scott, Gemma; Sheridan, Declan; Strachan, Vanda; Weldon, Jonathon; Wilson, Gary

Ancient History and Classical Archaeology - Dalrymple, Cassy; Dempster, Natasha; McLean, Andrew; Ploszajski Mayhew, Anna; Stewart, Ashley

Ancient History and Greek - Nixon, Felicity

Ancient History and Latin - Cooke, Ed

Archaeology - Anderson, Laura; Bird, Lisa; Foley, Euan; Hall-Eastman, Caroline; Higham, Zack; Lamothe Drevzy, Olivia; Macchione, Gwen; Pate, Abigail; Rigby, Madeleine; Ritchie, Sandie; Ryan, Joseph; Yorkston, Kristie

Archaeology and Social Anthropology - Raisen, Tom; Redondo, Leaira; Reed, Rebecca

Classical Studies - Barron, Heather; Barrowman, Christabel; Brawn, Jonty; Clayton, Jenny; Harris, Sophie; Hodgkinson Lahiff, Connie; Kean, Graeme; Lammas, Catriona; Parker, Guy; Stevens, Kate; Wilson, Rachel

Classics - Hare, Jessica; Human, Tara; Kelly, Aisling; Kerr, Francis; Longley - Cook, Dot; Miller, Shannon; Nichols, Catrin; Williams Bird, Henry

Classics and English Language - McKeown, Kiera

Economic History - Artemenko, Anton; Tustain, Ines

Economic History and Business Studies - John, Daniel; Riva, Edmondo

Geography - Alagia, Chiara; Beaven, James; Berry, Tilly; Birch, Luke; Campbell, Kate; Carter, James; Christie, Sean; Dastur, Zahan; Edge, Lily; English Darmstadt, Pia; Everard, Elizabeth; Fishley, Tom; Fronkova, Lenka; Gannon-Burns, Freya; Horn, Murray; Lohmeyer, Holly; Marsden Jeeves, Agnes; McDonald, Ashley; Nycz, Emma; Owen, Alice; Phillips, Nathalie; Robertson, Charlie; Saastamoinen, Uula; Selley, Megan; Shearer, Natalie; Smith, Zara; Stanek, Marcin; Stanley, Sabrina; Starling, Happi; Strebel, Iona; Turner, Tom; Van Den Brink, Josephine; Ward, Alexandra; White, Lucy

Geography and Archaeology - Banks, David

Geography and Economic and Social History - Henderson, Victoria

Geography and Economics - Atkins, Jonny; Chen, Jiajin; Downs, Ciaran; McCreath, David; Nicholas, Hannah; Waterhouse, Leah

Geography and Politics - Emmett, Tiffany; Finlayson, Ashleigh; Glasgow, Gemma; Jastrzebska, Patrycja; Maco, Jakub; Mockerova, Viera

Geography and Social Anthropology - MacIver, Ciorstaidh

Geography and Social Policy - Banks, Abigail; Dougall, Beth; MacPherson, Alix

Geography and Sociology - Barata, Henrique

Geography with Environmental Studies - Coe, Jonathan

History - Aitchison, David; Armstrong, Scott; Austin, Katie; Back, Eleanor; Baker, Jordan; Balsara, Cyrus; Barbour, Janet; Barrow, Steven; Bartlett, Amy; Beattie, Katherine; Bell, David; Berman, George; Bibby, Fergus; Blackstone, Krysten; Botha, Lauren; Bowen, Ben; Bradshaw, Roberta; Bradshaw, Tom; Brown, Becky; Brown, Connor; Byrne, Eleanor; Carn, Alexander; Carolan, Maria; Casajuana Massanet, Andrea; Cook, Samuel; Coulthard, Sophie; Cousens, Fleur; Crowther, Andy; Davies, Ed; Dudgeon, Edward; Duncan, Phil; Dunmore, Euan; Espouy, Leonore; Fenton, Harry; Frain, Calum; Gilchrist, Kumi; Greenlees, Laura; Grindey, Natalie; Gunn, Hamish; Helme, Toby; Hunter, Henry; Hutchings, Flora; Ide, Fred; Imrie, Douglas; Jacobsson, Danica; Johnson, Sam; Johnston, Hannah; Jones, Edward; Joyce, Peter; Kenny, Samantha; Kimber, Rory; Koukkoullis, Rafael; Kramer-Taylor, Ellie; Lau, Meaghan; Leith, Malcolm; MacKay, Holly; Mannion, Charly; Maples, Rose; Marston, Olivia; Masters, Tom; Maxwell, Rhiana; McCafferty, Lauren; McCarthy, Marina; McCullagh, Elliott; McKay, Ruth; McRae, James; Michie, Ellen; Morgan, Louise; Morgan, Martin; Morytko, Paula; Moss, Ciara; Mostyn-Owen, Gemma; Muircroft, Lucy; Nash, Tom; Nichols, Jack; Nicholson, Mahri; Olson, Jonathan; Paton, Ashley Dee; Patterson-Gordon, Tallie; Pollard, Ash; Purkiss, Jak; Quinn, Sarah; Ravie, Kathleen; Reardon, Katie; Reeves, Connie; Reid, John; Reid, Kathleen; Ritchie, Eliza; Robertson, Lewis; Robson, May; Sawyer, Melissa; Seed, Andrew; Shahani, Rajiv; Shan, Siping; Sheard, Grainney; Shiels, Lucy; Singer, Nick; Skirving, Adam; Smith, Anna; Smith, Craig; Sofroniou, Adam; Sparrow, Anna; Stewart, Nikita; Stockings, Victoria; Strachan, Thomas; Tautz-Davis, Zoe; Taylor, Alice; Thomas, Djavan; Thomas, Imogen; Thornton, Michael; Thurman, Dan; Tuck, Robert; Twigden, Ellenor; Vaughan-Jackson, Huw; Vrushi, Jon; Vullinghs, Georgia; Wakeling, Emma; Ware, Thomas; Watson, John; Weaver, Robin; Webb, Daniel; Wilson, David; Wood, Alexander

History and Archaeology - Bell, Olivia; Carter, Emma; Henning, Seonaid

History and Classics - Child, Rebecca; Gardiner, Ayasha; Podziewski-Koziel, Ben; Quintard, Laura; Taylor, Oli; Walmsley, Holly

History and History of Art - Henderson, Gail; Peck, Pierce

History and Politics - Botia, Rachel; Bratset, Ole; Butler-Way, Peter; Cohen, Jessica; Gutterman, Ivan; Heath, Lucie; Kaminski, James; Kaul, Pragya; Lloyd, Nicola; McFarlane, Stuart; McIvor, Rory; Petrusev, Christopher; Plunkett-Reilly, Caitlin; Richmond, Mark; Scott, David; Smith, Alice; Smith, Phil; Williams, Otto

History and Scottish History - MacArthur, Mark

History and Sociology - Olivari, Rachel

Latin Studies - King, Sebastian; Showering, Eleanor

Scottish History - Martin, Calum

Social History - Draper, Thomas; Kerridge, Fiona; McKenna, Mary

Master of Earth Science with Honours

Geology - Andreuttiova, Lucia; Konstantinov, Georgi; Torley, John

Geology and Physical Geography - Astbury, Rebecca; McIntosh, Briony; Penttila, Anniina; Shepherd, Roy

Bachelor of Arts (Humanities and Social Science) - Akbar, Ferdous; Barghouthi, Hannah; Emsley, Poppy; Nadel, Lauren; Na, Ji-hyeon; Wilson, Becky

Bachelor of Science - Crotty-Joyce, Eve; Majani, Manon; Murray, Amy; Tudor, Stefan

Undergraduate Diploma of Higher Education - Mackessack, Jennifer; Meen, Sigrid

LIFE science experts working to help colleagues cross the ‘valley of death’ and deliver life-saving treatments can change face of medicine says Mike Ferguson.

Malaria kills more than half a million people each year, mostly children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.

Colleagues at the University of Dundee, working in our drug discovery unit, and their collaborators around the world, have just published research that describes a new class of antimalarial compound that may become a new medicine.

Named DDD10107498, it needs to undergo further study and testing in patients but, uniquely, it has the potential to prevent, cure and stop the transmission of malaria. These exciting properties warranted it being declared a candidate by the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), the not-for-profit product development partnership organisation in Geneva that co-ordinates almost all malaria drug research and development worldwide. MMV recently partnered DDD10107498 with European pharmaceutical giant Merck Serono for development.

In this case, the scientists first made a drug that kills the malaria parasite and then figured out exactly its “drug target”, the precise component of a cell, in this case the malaria parasite, with which the drug engages and through which it exerts its beneficial effects. The alternative route to a medicine is to first select a potential “drug target” for a particular disease and then make a drug that engages it. Both approaches are equally valid and require largely the same science and technology, and both are taken in the drug discovery unit at Dundee.

Founded in 2006 at the university and led by Professor Paul Wyatt, the unit has almost 90 staff and has a turnover of about £6 million a year, funded through organisations such as the Wellcome Trust, The Gates Foundation, the Medical Research Council and MMV. Its remit is to tackle neglected tropical diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, African sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis and Chagas’ disease and other unmet medical needs closer to home, including cancer, cystic fibrosis, eczema, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

All this sounds a bit like the activity of a pharmaceutical company so a good question is: “Why are you doing this in a university?” The answer is to help academic innovation cross the “valley of death”.

The “valley of death” is a phrase often used to describe all that can go wrong between ideas and their successful application, often referring to the gap between having a potentially exploitable discovery from fundamental research and providing enough validation or proof-of-concept to make it attractive enough to be developed for application.

The translation of an innovative new drug target into a new medicine is a long and expensive process with much attrition, right up to and including rejection in advanced clinical trials that may have cost hundreds of millions of pounds. Pharmaceutical companies have traditionally spotted their drug targets from the academic scientific literature. However, as the amount and complexity of life sciences research increases, picking the winning innovations, ironically, becomes harder.

Our view is that we should help de-risk some of the best life science research by having our drug discovery unit work closely with scientists, from Dundee and our sister Scottish and UK universities, who have discovered potential new drug targets. Through this close collaboration, exciting life sciences discoveries are taken through a stringent drug discovery process in order to translate potential drug targets into a smaller number of de-risked drug targets.

These can then be advanced into the clinic by pharmaceutical industry partners or through the creation of new spin-out companies. As a recent example, collaboration between Professor Irwin McLean, an expert in genetic diseases at the University of Dundee, and the drug discovery unit led to the partnering of an innovative drug target for cystic fibrosis with the multinational pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

In summary, universities are excellent at identifying the mechanisms of disease and identifying potential drug targets that could to lead to new therapeutics. There is a national, and moral, imperative to innovate by translating these opportunities towards patient benefit and job creation. In my opinion, universities themselves need to be part of this translation – not at the expense of their blue skies research, without which there is nothing to translate, but as well as. At the University Dundee, we have chosen to invest heavily in early stage drug discovery, in the form of a drug discovery unit, as a principal mechanism for translation. It sits inside one of the highest-ranked university life science departments in the UK and interacts with several more with significant successes to its name, not least the latest antimalarial describe above.

• Professor Mike Ferguson is Regius Professor of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee www.dundee.ac.uk

SEE ALSO

{http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/opinion/comment/friends-of-the-scotsman-invitation-from-the-editor-1-2943334|• More information on becoming a Friend of The Scotsman |More information}

A FORMER member of the Number 10 policy unit and non-executive director of Lloyds Banking Group has been appointed the new director general of business organisation the CBI.

Carolyn Fairbairn, 54, who has worked as a journalist, economist and management consultant, will take over from John Cridland in November, the lobby group said yesterday.

She holds a number of non-executive directorships with firms including Capita and Lloyds as well as the Competition and Markets Authority and the UK Statistics Authority.

She will step down from the roles, apart from remaining a trustee of the charity Marie Curie.

Fairbairn is a former director of strategy at both the BBC and ITV and was a member of Number 10’s policy unit, advising on health and social services between 1995 and 1997. There were 46 candidates for the top job, with a final short-list of six.

CBI president Sir Mike Rake said: “Carolyn is a remarkable business leader with an impressive background as an economist, journalist, management consultant and policy strategist.

“Carolyn’s CV speaks for itself. Her wealth and breadth of experience will be critical in steering the CBI through choppy political and economic waters, including an EU referendum. She will take over the reins from John in November and will lead a formidable team at the CBI.”

Fairbairn said: “The CBI has an outstanding track record of championing the conditions that enable British businesses to flourish.

“The debate around Britain’s relationship with the European Union and the productivity challenge facing our economy will be two of the defining issues of the next few years, and I greatly look forward to representing the voice of British businesses of all sizes on these questions and many others.”

Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said: “Carolyn Fairbairn has been appointed on her own merits to head the CBI but that shouldn’t stop us warmly welcoming her as its first female director general.”

Depressed oil prices and concerns over a second independence referendum are holding back business confidence in Scotland, according to a survey by Business Growth Fund (BGF).

The fund’s study found 85 per cent of senior figures north of the Border believed that another vote on separating from the UK would be bad for business, while 82 per cent said the UK’s membership of the European Union was positive.

Two-thirds of Scottish respondents said that conditions for growth would improve in the coming quarter, lagging behind the 76 per cent figure for the UK as a whole. The state of the economy was cited as the biggest worry for entrepreneurs in Scotland, with 22 per cent citing macro-economic factors – such as the price of oil – as their main concern, compared with a UK-wide reading of 15 per cent.

Simon Munro, the BGF’s regional director for Scotland, said: “Rather than withdrawing, many businesses appear to be acting more robustly by looking for ways to adjust to the low oil prices. Businesses want a quick and decisive outcome from Britain’s EU referendum to remove uncertainty – and they don’t want a second independence referendum adding to uncertainty in Scotland.”

THE Bank of England should avoid an early rise in interest rates from historic lows, and should be as prepared to cut as hike them in future, its chief economist said yesterday.

Andy Haldane said that recent strong wage data had not altered his view from earlier in the year about the dangers of moving too soon on monetary tightening.

He added that a drag on economic growth from the continued strength of the pound could outweigh the gains from higher wages. Haldane also warned that Britain and other major economies were suffering from “lasting and durable” psychological scars from the recent recession, which could hold back growth and keep rates – at 0.5 per cent for the past six years – lower for longer.

“A policy of early lift-off could be self-defeating,” he said.

“Looking ahead, I have no bias on either the size or the direction of future interest rate moves.”

Haldane’s comments came in an advance copy of a lecture he plans to give today.

This is going to mean a big depression on economic activity in Greece. The short-term situation is pretty dire for them.

The short-term liquidation, which is the money that goes into the cash machines, just won’t be there. The ATMs will eventually run out and people will be forced to start bartering if no money is available.

Companies may not be able to get the money to pay their employees and could have to give them IOUs.

The question is, who is going to accept these IOUs? Will they be able to take them along to the equivalent of Tesco and get their week’s groceries? Without any kind of regulation for these kinds of credit notes, that seems unlikely. There will be an unwillingness on the part of shops to accept them.

Looking certainly at the short term, this is all going to be very difficult for people. People who have not managed to get cash out before the banks closed and before the ATMs ran out will have to rely on others, and this might be where the strong sense of the Greek extended family comes in. People who have been able to get some cash will have to help others.

If there is no solution soon – and that is a pretty high chance – Greece will have no option but to start a new currency, which will probably be the drachma. However, it is not likely to be worth much at the beginning in international markets, and any goods they import will become much more expensive.

It could be a boost for their export industries, however. Many of these are food-based, so they would have to wait for the next harvest for that to take effect.

If companies from overseas are selling goods to Greece, they may not be being paid. In the longer term, companies are not going to be willing to sell to Greece if they are not sure how and when they are going to be paid.

The other thing is tourism, which is going to be hit by this as people are not going to want to book holidays to Greece, not knowing what the currency is going to be worth and how much they will pay for their booze and Greek salad when they get there.

What is very worrying is that the banks have had a lot taken out in recent months and days and not a lot going in, and the outcome for that may be bank failure which no-one wants as people would lose all of their savings.

The Greek government has claimed that all people’s savings will be guaranteed, but how they are going to make good on that I don’t know.

With 50 per cent youth unemployment in Greece, a lot of their young people will already have left the country and that is not conducive to getting an economy back on its feet.

l David Bell is a professor of economics at Stirling University

University of Glasgow Tuesday 30th June 2015

* Denotes First Class Honours

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Chemistry - Nadia Abdulkarim Abdulrahman; Helen Armstrong; Laetitia Delion; Mark William Grafton; Andrew Macdonell; Clément Morisse; Smita Odedra; Russell Purves; Robbie Warringham; Antonia Wilkes

Earth Sciences - Penelope Joanna Clare Donohue; Eric William Portenga; Rebecca Skuce; Mark Wildman

Geography - Alessa Janine Geiger; Emma Whyte Laurie

Physics and Astronomy - Reuben Aspden; Robert Peter Cameron; Brian Colquhoun; Yiming Hu; Daniel Peter McFarlane Hynds; Joshua Logue; John Macarthur; Siân Louise Nutbeam-Tuffs; Stephen Ogilvy; Ricardo Ignacio Santiago Prieto; Johan David Martin Sjögren; Sun Baoqing; Alasdair Taylor

MASTER OF SCIENCE

Geomatics and Management - Kaili Christodoulos Andrea

COLLEGE OF ARTS

MASTER OF ARTS WITH HONOURS

English Literature and Spanish - Kirsten Emma McCroskrie

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

MASTER IN SCIENCE

Chemistry and Mathematics - Louisa Clare Fearnley*

Chemical Physics with Work Placement - Kevin Donkers*; Chris Lee Kennedy*

Chemistry with European Placement - Edward Calum Lee*; David John Ward*

Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry with European Placement - Sing Fai Lau

Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry with Work Placement - Christina Jocelyn Bell*; Amanda Suzanne Fila; David Kelly*; Valerijs Korotkovs*; Corentine Marie Cécile Laurin*; Hannah Lithgow*; Olga Moleva*; Peter Smith*; Alina Madalina Tirla*; Catherine Emma Warrilow

Chemistry with Work Placement - Callum Couser*; Calum Donald; Joshua James Kennedy; Martin McIntosh; Elissa Grace McKay*; Michael Wiggins

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

Chemistry - Kenneth Baird; Jennifer Louise Carroll; Alisha Louise Davidson; Cleopatra Goodman; Sarah Louise Griffin; Moya Anne Hay*; Graham Austin Keenan; Connor Kelly; Paul McFadden; Gwen Morton Lloyd; Marija Nekrasova; Joshua O’Donovan; Scott Martin Sweeney; Kirsty Helen Watson; Thomas Alexander Whitchurch

Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry - Craig Neil Angus; Aileen Mairi Baxter; Fraser Graeme Edgar*; Szonja Fehértavi; Alys Montgomery; Catriona Erin Riddoch; David Shepherd; Andrew James Timmons; Stefan Warrington; Stephen Eric Wilkie; Jonathan Wong*

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

Chemical Studies - Amie Gillon; Rebecca McEwan; Rachael Martin

MASTER OF ARTS WITH HONOURS

Geography - Alastair Bruce Clark; Adam Ferguson; Sophie Forbes; Katie Anne Herd*; Christopher Edward Honeyman; Kerri McClymont*; Molly Marianne Mackay; Jack William Ryden; Claire Frances Sannachan; Erin Seagren*; Sophie Elizabeth Swaile*; Ross Wylie*

MASTER OF ARTS (SOCIAL SCIENCES) WITH HONOURS

Geography - Madeleine Adamson*; Laura Brankin; Fiona Jean Johnston*; Lucy Robina Rose Keown; Caitlin King; Claire Leckie; Robyn Livingstone; Corey Maria MacKinnon; Olivia Jane Barrett Sharkey; Thanopoulos Constantine

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

Earth Science - Stuart Allardice; Rose Elizabeth Bradshaw; Katy Brockie; Allan Alexander Cochrane; Thomas Coyle; Joseph Dolan*; Logan Robert Duguid*; Leila Evans*; Laura Anne Heather Gillies; Christopher Andrew Graham; Andrew Aaron Gray; Nathan Robert Gray; Samuel Walter Gregory; Gavin Hepburn; Allan David Hollinsworth*; Ciarán David William Hoy; Rebecca Huston*; Lotta Inka Marianna Kemppinen; Katrina Kerr; Emma Kirk; Emilija Kralikaite*; Julie La Piazza*; Oliver Sydney Kenneth Larkin; Ryan McCafferty; Ashley McCall; Catherine Elizabeth McCutcheon; Claire McGhee; Eamon McKenna*; Fionna McNee; James Magee; Rachel Isobelle Mason; Jennifer Corinne Newall*; Alastair Parkin; Sanni Helena Pulkki; Pamela Rattigan; Jennifer Reid; Laura Jane Richmond; Ruairidh Salmon*; Matthew Alexander Simpson; Max Smith; Euan Lewis Soutter*; Emily Stone; Leah Swan*; James Taylor; Ryan James Thoele*; Veselina Yakimova*

Geography - David Clark; Georgina Faith Czernobay; Samuel Davies; Lorna Kathryn Donaghy; Gemma Eaton; Lynsay Ann Ewart*; David Fisher; Catherine Fraser; Eilis Garvey; Catherine Rose Hayden*; Ambarish Karamchedu*; Paul Richard O’Connor; Jasmine Riggs-Bristow; Honor Grace Roth*; Alice Dorothy Stedman; Leah Elizabeth Watton*

MASTER IN SCIENCE

Astronomy and Physics - Lewis Foggie*; Ruth Hope Hatton; Allan Ross Macneil*; Andrew Stewart Rodger*; Louise Smith; Rebekah Hannah Margaret Tait*; Daniel Williams*; Magnus Morton Woods

Physics - Jack Byres; Laura Valerie Cowan; Louise Dodds; Emma Doran*; Lindsay Elizabeth Downie; Heather Fraser; Tim Gazdić*; Emma Rose Gilroy*; Connor Douglas Grose*; Katie Hamilton; Alistair Inglis*; Eve Lennie; Kevin John Mitchell*; Christopher Andrew Mullen; Martin Sinclair; Andrew Philip Spencer*; Christopher Jack Valentine*; Samuel David Robert Williamson; Liam Wright

Physics with Astrophysics - Ross Ian MacSporran; Bianca Sala

Theoretical Physics - Robert John Anderson*; Michael James Fenton*; Christopher Finn; Mohammad Jibrini; Julia Rachael Kettle*; Craig Alexander Smith*; Aidan Marc Strathearn*

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

Physics - Claudette Luciana Alfonso; Gabriel Catalin Criveanu; Lynsay Bryony Duff; Andrew Charles Eadie; Ronnie Frith; Jack Girvan; Arjen Jeep Jongschaap*; Alexandra Lee; David Lough; Andrew Ross McAllister; Anna Malengou; Emma Marshall; Magnus John More; Lewis Murphy; Holly O’Brien; Mark Ian Pether; John Rae; Scott Richardson; Jamie Slattery; Paul William Stringer; John Calum Whyte

Physics with Astrophysics - Jordan Bull; Sarah Marie Butt; Richard James Gray; Michael Turner; James Howard Whittle

Theoretical Physics - Kamen Petrov; Mindaugas Sarpis

Astronomy and Physics - Andrew Gerald Barr; Ross David Brain; Magdalena Cederblad; Anthony Christie; Abi Karie Collins; Lauren Doyle; Alice Giroul*; Johanna Goodlad; Matthew McGuigan; Selyem Ádám*; Gordon Walford

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

CHEMISTRY - Kathryn Currall; Helen Gibbard; Filippo Romiti

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY - Mariam Alharbi; Marco Bigatti; Paul Graham; Martin Lavery; Rasif Mohd Zain

MASTER OF SCIENCE

COASTAL SYSTEM MANAGEMENT - Hannah Beth Rowlinson

GEOINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND CARTOGRAPHY - James Gillie

GEOMATICS AND MANAGEMENT - Erna Syazwana Zon

MASTER IN SCIENCE

CHEMISTRY WITH MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY WITH WORK PLACEMENT - Teodors Pantelejevs*

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

CHEMICAL STUDIES - Agbomeirele Osajie

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

EARTH SCIENCE - Alice Dineen

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

GEOGRAPHY - Louise Elizabeth Masey*; Clare May Sterritt*

MASTER IN SCIENCE

PHYSICS - Ross John Hunter

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

PHYSICS - Victor Michael Hearn-Yeates

THEORETICAL PHYSICS - Paulius Vaitkunas

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

PHYSICS - Perminder Singh Kainth*

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Computing Science - Sarah Omar Al Humoud; Soumyadeb Chowdhury; Nut Limsopatham; Rebecca Mancy; Ittoop Puthoor; Daryl Weir

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Mathematics - Liam Dickson; Astrid Emma Jahn

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Psychology - Louise Beattie; Niamh Friel; Patrick Ross

MASTER OF SCIENCE

Information Technology - Zoheb Baig; Lingli Cai; Karan Kamrani; Greig Douglas Taylor; Yuan Wen

Mathematics - Mary Clark

Statistics - Katie Jayne Stewart

COLLEGE OF ARTS

MASTER OF ARTS WITH HONOURS

Music and Psychology - Greta Cydzikaite

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

MASTER IN SCIENCE

Computing Science - Shin Yi Jed Breslin*; Robert Matthew Clipsham; Kristian Thorin Hentschel*; Ivaylo Boicov Ivanchev; Gordon David Reid*

Software Engineering - Dimitar Hristov Petrov*

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

Computing Science - Anton Belev; Adam Buchan-Wyber; Paul Cairney; Georgi Dimitrov; Liam Furphy*; Dainius Gliebus; Eddie Graham; Vyara Stanislavova Karakasheva; Radko Oleg Kotev*; Andrew Ka Wai Lau*; Andrew McDonald; Michael McDonald; Donald Andrew Craig Martin*; Ioan-Victor Pantazi*; Matthew Paterson; Velizar Shulev*; Mihail Antonov Tachev; Daniel Evgeniev Tsvetkov; Benjamin John Turner; Lukas Vaščila; Emilia Teodorova Vulpe*; Steven Wilson; Petar Plamenov Yordanov; Tsvetan Yordanov

Informatics - Stefan-Alin Boca; Keir Alexander Smith

Mobile Software Engineering - Arystanbayev Aldiar

Software Engineering - Supanat Auengsirirat; Daniel Mihai Budeanu; Ioannis Cleary; Daniela Cretu; Raluca Octavia Criste; Reinis Elksnis; Jon Elliott; Helen Elizabeth Foster*; Sean Karl William Jakobsen*; Dragos Miron; Georgios Moleski; Łukasz Adam Prelić; Vlad Iulian Schnakovszki*; Kritin Singh; Maksim Solovjov*; Gabriel Alexandru Susanu; Andrew Joseph Tully; Eimantas Šapoka

Business and Management and Computing Science - Vlad-Tudor Bradu; Dayana Ivanova; Benjamin Beaumont Shaw

Computing Science and Mathematics - Arnas Gabrielius Slepikas

Computing Science and Physiology (Neuroinformatics) - Christopher James Meechan

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

Computing Science - Roberto Catra*; Matthew Frost*; Robert Szkokan; Jay Taylor*

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

Civil Engineering with Architecture - Ewan Hepburn

MASTER IN SCIENCE

Applied Mathematics - Ellen Catharina Margaretha den Ouden*

Mathematics - Callum Cribbes*; Alexander Raymond Forbes*; Andrew Macpherson*; Russell Graeme Niven*; David Russell*; Ruth Pamela Katherine Uprichard*; Morag June Wilson*

Mathematics and Physics - Andrew James Gordon*; William Yat Long Lee*; Andrew McLaren*; Andrew Mooney

Statistics with Work Placement - Paige Butterfield*; David James Caldwell*; Eilidh Jack*; Nicole Jarvie*; Kate Pyper*; Suzy Whoriskey*

MASTER OF ARTS WITH HONOURS

Mathematics - Michael Roy Fitzpatrick

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

Mathematics - Dawid Patryk Bernaciak*; Eden Sarah Elizabeth Crothers; Mhairi Fenton; Katie Parisa Ghaemi; Nicola Johnston; Ross Michael Keightley; Dominic Lambert; Kit Thomas Capel Lawrence*; Connor McCrory; Martin McPhail; Alexis Régis Joseph Marchand; Sofija Režepa; Jacob Scotland; Susanne Simpson; David Smith; Hazel Louise Stamper; Stana Remus Laurentiu*; Connor Stuart

Pure Mathematics - Nicholas Forbes

Statistics - Cai Xiaomin; Valentina Cantoni*; Biwei Cao; Chen Yue*; Jennifer Ellen Coulshed; Megan Elizabeth Craig; Daniele Della Rossa*; Cillian Doherty; Raitis Elksnis; Andrew Gilliland*; Keli Guo*; Richard William Hamilton; Lucy Kirkland; Aleksandar Atanasov Kolev*; Liu Chang; Lauren Nicola MacDougall; Maria Danielle McMenemy; Holly Alex McWilliam*; Marco Palma*; Francesca Papagni*; Nicole Reid; Erika Scauzilli*; Euan Shields; Kirsten Elizabeth Steedman; Tang Yuewen*; Yankun Zhang; Zhong Yankun; Zhou Yuanfang

Accounting and Mathematics - Kamuran Ozdag

Applied Mathematics and Physics - Duncan Wright

Economics and Mathematics - George Richard Saunders; Mara Solomon*

Economics and Statistics - Graham Sutherland Hepburn*

Finance and Mathematics - Daniel Howell Clegg

Finance and Statistics - Maria-Magdalena Sârzea*

Mathematics and Business and Management - Karolis Matas Kizlaitis

Mathematics and Philosophy - Trystan Stewart Leng*

Mathematics and Physics - Dhruv Deshmukh

Mathematics and Statistics - Jennifer Bissett; Beatrice Eleanor Chreseson; Fiona Christie*; Robert Dunnings; Caroline Ellis*; Jennifer Foley; Lorna Forbes McDonald*; Harriet Eve Mugford; Sebastian Gabriel Popescu*; Isla Kathryn Reid; Jennifer Kate Ross*; Andrew Smith*; Elizabeth Mary Smith; Stephanie Rose Somerville; Katie Louise Steel

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

Mathematics - Jessica Faulds; Dimitrios Ntagias

Mathematics and Statistics - Liam McArthur

Statistics - Naomi Laing*

MASTER OF ARTS WITH HONOURS

Psychology - Jennifer Louise Adams; Hanna Adolfsson; Fraser Stuart Anderson*; Isobel Anderson; Ross Anderson; Holly Isobel Blyth; Rachel Grace Carpenter*; Madlen Cassidy*; Zoe Clay; Cristina Denk-Florea; Hayleigh Dumbreck; Jade Elliott; Aodhan Gallagher; Louise Haggarty; Patricia Hart; Méabh Hollywood; Martin Ingram*; Lucy Charlotte Ivory; Kaski Jenni Elina*; Jasmine Frances Kennedy; Cameran Khalid; Margaret Holmes Laurie; Corinne McCafferty; Catriona McCrae; Stacey Scott MacDonald; Olivia McDougall; Nicola McGuire*; Kathryn Margaret McIntosh*; Laura McIntyre; Linda McKay; Philip John McLean; Elizabeth Anne Macrae; Gaby Mahrholz*; Claire Matrunola*; Holly Maxwell Pringle; Rosanna Patricia Murray*; Sara Siobhan O’Dowd; Kathryn Anne O’Hare; Fiona Lucy Paterson; Lucy Paterson; Monika Paškauskaitė; Rhona Ferguson Philp; David Ralston; Robert O’Brien Smith; Viktoria Franziska Spinrad*; Boyana Stefanova; Hannah Streck*; Emily Anne Suddes; Taru Iris Wilhelmiina Toivo; Harriet Whitby-Tillott; Harriet White; Jennifer Clare Wilkes

MASTER OF ARTS (SOCIAL SCIENCES) WITH HONOURS

Psychology - Rachel Hannah Aitken*; Reny Baykova*; Lauren Kirsteen Brown*; Marta Da Côrte Correia*; Rebecca Anne Cutler*; Tsvetina Dimitrova*; Susan Ferguson; Ekaterina Gicheva*; Laura Calina Giese*; Cleona Grady; Jennifer Marguerite Hargrave*; Mhairi Hutchison; Shirley Kirkpatrick; Iwona Klatka-Juszczak; David McCrae; Milja Maijeli Mankinen*; Heather Marshall; Anca Stefania Panescu*; Natalie Reid; Emma Michelle McGuiness Robb*; Michael Rose; Boryana Smilenova; Elizabeth Jordan Stevenson; Lucy Taylor; Cheryl Toal; Bethan May Webster

Psychology with French - Candice Elizabeth Lindsay

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

Psychology - Jaqueline Barnett; Catriona Stephanie Blair*; Andrew Cairney; Amy Cumberledge; Fiona Cunning; Lucy Anne Dewhurst*; Isla Dougall; Vanessa Fasolt; Andrea Rose Wilson Gaffney; Alexandra Gatej*; Lydia Rebecca Herrmann*; Tze Jean Hor; Jonathan Alexander Hunsley*; Laura Elaine Jeffrey; Jennifer Kane*; Jenna Kelly*; Trina Kong; Christina Korobka; Beata Eszter Kovacs; Cian James Langan; Emma McBride; Eloise-Bean Maxwell*; Ivan Merazchiev; Brogan Millar; Kirsten Miller*; Edith O’Dowd; Mona LaVerne Akinyi Opiyo*; Stuart Palmer; Katrina Ann Forbes Port; Rebecca Elizabeth Ross; Eilidh Stevenson; Samantha Anna Stewart; Michael Walker; Jodi Karlyn Watt; Brogan White; Megan Jayne Wilson

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

Psychological Studies - Adrian Patrick Doherty*; Ewan Dunn*; Cheryl Glen*; Eveliina Aino Allison Glogan*; Nadia Jaconelli*; Antony James McFeat*; Andrei Alexandru Marginean

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

MASTER OF ARTS (SOCIAL SCIENCES) - Teri Fullerton*; Sophie Gaffney*; Sophie Helene Mallinson*; Zunainah Waheed*

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

COMPUTING SCIENCE - Hani Moaiteq A Aljahdali; Riaz-Ul-Amin; Edwin Thuma

MASTER OF SCIENCE

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - Stefanou Stefanos

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SOFTWARE AND SYSTEMS) - Gabriela Cormick

MOBILE DESIGN AND ENGINEERING - Mohamad Sani*

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

COMPUTING SCIENCE - Stefan Balling; Marin Andreev Georgiev

INFORMATICS - Lukas Greblikas

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

COMPUTING SCIENCE - Lewis McGeechan

MASTER IN SCIENCE

MATHEMATICS - Damian Niall Sanaghan

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

MATHEMATICS - Liuyang Feng*; Hirsch Ruby Maya Katayun Boomla; Eamon-Mateo Quinlan Gallego*

PURE MATHEMATICS - Tim Backstrom*; Eleftherios Tsiadis*

MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS - Andrzej Fraczek*

MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS - Robert Howitt

MASTER OF ARTS WITH HONOURS

PSYCHOLOGY - Reem Saed Hikmat Abu Hweij*; Shelley Orr; Paul Schluetter

MASTER OF ARTS (SOCIAL SCIENCES) WITH HONOURS

PSYCHOLOGY - Antonia-Eirini Stachtiari

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE WITH HONOURS

PSYCHOLOGY - Katie Sprung

CLINICIANS and businesses working together, says Mike Capaldi.

Cancer is an area with no shortage of statistics.

But one that struck me was published earlier this year by Cancer Research UK which highlighted the real need for innovation. From now on, one in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives, mostly because the UK population is living longer and the risk increases with age. Yet half of the people diagnosed will survive their cancer for more than ten years.

So, because we are living longer with cancer, treatments need to be better to improve our quality of life, prevent recurrence and minimise the economic impact of the disease.

Edinburgh BioQuarter was thrilled to help bring world oncology leaders together in Edinburgh recently to discuss new and better ways of discovering and developing more effective cancer treatments.

There is now a greater willingness than ever for academics and industrialists to work together on this challenging issue.

The Horizons in Cancer Drug Discovery Conference attracted key leaders from a range of different organisations including international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academics and clinicians working at the leading edge of cancer discovery science and innovative patient treatments, as well as venture capital investors. Everyone was asking the same question: “How do we get better cancer treatments onto the market – quicker?”

The exciting thing is, there’s no shortage of good ideas. The challenging thing is that it takes a long time – over ten years – to bring a good idea out of the laboratory and into the market. Importantly, it is acknowledged that no single organisation, company, laboratory or technology has all the answers – true innovation will come from collaborating across different disciplines and different organisations.

Oncology is a prime example of the need to innovate by adopting a collaborative approach. New technology platforms, not necessarily related to cancer research, can throw up new ways to look for new drugs. Modern genomics can identify new causes of cancer or can subdivide existing cancers (such as “breast” cancer) into several different sub-types, each requiring a different approach for optimal treatment.

In healthcare, we increasingly talk about “personalised” or “precision” medicine. Oncology is one area of medicine where this could have a huge effect.

Cancer is such a complex collection of diseases that “one size does not fit all”. So we are moving away from standard treatments like chemotherapy to a position where we are able to give patients the treatment that will best help their condition based on the specific characteristics of their disease. This is recognised as the new way to deliver healthcare – but the challenge is to develop and deliver those treatments quickly, following a rigorous process whilst minimising cost and waste, ensuring they are efficacious and appropriate, but also that they will be affordable.

One particularly exciting recent development in treating cancer is immunotherapy – stimulating the body’s own immune system to recognise the tumour as “foreign” and attack it. Clinical results have been breathtaking with some patients, seemingly at the end of the road, going into full remission having received some of the latest immunotherapies currently in clinical trials. There is a real feeling that, after 40 years, we are entering a new era in cancer treatment.

And it’s from academic laboratories and research institutes where many of these new innovations in healthcare will start. By harnessing this innovation engine, pharma can supercharge their drug discovery and development processes. This is the only way to move away from traditional ways of working and thinking and to achieve efficacious and cost-effective long term solutions to tackle our most serious healthcare issues

This type of collaboration is central to everything we hold dear here at Edinburgh BioQuarter. The more we can get scientists working with clinicians and the more we can get industry involved in these types of collaboration, the more likely we are to see new innovative approaches that will stop cancer dead in its tracks rather than just treating symptoms or extending lives by a few of years. After all, at least 50 per cent of us are likely to have a strong personal interest at some point in our lives.

• Dr Mike Capaldi is director of commercialisation, Edinburgh BioQuarter www.edinburghbioquarter.com

SEE ALSO

{http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/opinion/comment/friends-of-the-scotsman-invitation-from-the-editor-1-2943334|• More information on becoming a Friend of The Scotsman |More information}

scientists have discovered an immune response in lab animals that appears to provide protection against clogged arteries.

The condition, often known as atherosclerosis, is caused by the gradual hardening and narrowing of blood vessels due to the build-up of “bad” cholesterol deposits inside the vessel walls.

This build-up provokes an immune response but the white blood cells sent to fight the cholesterol combine with the invaders to inflame the vessel walls and form a plaque, narrowing the artery.

The condition can go unnoticed and be trouble-free for years, until the narrowing becomes too great and damages organs or a piece of the plaque.

When it is degraded by immune cells, it breaks off and is carried in the blood stream where it blocks smaller vessels, resulting in ischaemic stroke or heart attack, experts have said.

While the reasons for the build-up of plaques in vessel walls are not fully understood, the process begins from an early age and is thought to be a natural part of ageing.

Poor diet, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and obesity can accelerate atherosclerosis but increasingly researchers have been scrutinising the role the systemic immune response plays in exacerbating the condition.

The latest study, published in the journal Immunity and led by Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich academics in collaboration with Glasgow University, found that during ageing, immune cells infiltrate the blood vessel walls and form tertiary lymphoid organs (TLOs) next to plaque sites that appear to protect against atherosclerosis.

TLOs are similar to other lymph organs such as the tonsils, spleen and lymph nodes – key elements in the immune system.

But unlike these organs, which develop at specific locations in the embryo during gestation in the womb, TLOs develop during adult life in response to chronic inflammation.

Professor Andreas Habenicht, of Ludwig-Maximilians-University, said: “The impact of TLOs in any disease setting has been an important yet unanswered question in the immunology of unresolving inflammation.

“Our study suggests that the TLOs seem to provide protection from advanced athero-
sclerosis.

“The ageing immune system assembles and selectively employs a TLO within diseased peripheral tissue to control immune responses, while bypassing the lymphoid organs including the spleen and lymph nodes.

“Thus, artery TLOs are instrumental to understanding adaptive immunity in advanced atherosclerosis and possibly other chronic inflammatory diseases, and key to identifying new targets for therapeutic 
intervention.”

Doctor Pasquale Maffia, of the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation at Glasgow University, said: “If we can translate our findings to humans, it would change the way we treat this condition in the advanced stages.”

The work was supported by the German Research Council, the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research, the British Heart Foundation, the European Research Council and Medical Research Scotland.

Exploration and appraisal activity in the North Sea doubled in the opening three months of the year following the Chancellor’s industry tax cut, new figures reveal.

Data published by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) shows that work was carried out on ten new wells between 1 January and the end of March, compared to just five in the first quarter of 2014.

The jump in activity provides a boost for a sector battling a low oil price and high costs, and appears to have been triggered by George Osborne’s recent tax cut. However, just two of the ten wells were new exploration – an area that is still running at historically low levels.

Ritchie Whyte, a partner at law firm Aberdein Considine, said: “Exploration generally remains a worry – although there appears to now be an acknowledgment within the Treasury that taxation levels are an issue.”

Tax rates were slashed by the Chancellor in an attempt to save the industry from the “pressing danger” posed by low oil prices.

A SERVING female British ambassador has been appointed by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) to be its new director of global affairs.

Sarah Dickson, who is leaving her post as HM ambassador to Guatemala and Honduras this summer to take up her new role, will be responsible for the trade body’s international and European Union business.

Dickson, aged 42, who has an MBA, has held a number of roles with the UK diplomatic service in the UK and overseas, including in Spain and in South America.

She said: “I’m looking forward to joining the Scotch Whisky Association, an organisation recognised globally for its work in representing a highly successful Scottish and British industry.”

Dickson added that she would develop the SWA’s “sterling work” in trade policy and build its presence in London. In another appointment, Graeme Littlejohn has been appointed the group’s head of external affairs in London.

He was previously head of office for Danny Alexander, former MP and chief secretary to the Treasury ousted in the recent general election.

David Frost, the SWA’s chief executive, himself a former HM ambassador to Denmark, said: “I’m delighted that Sarah and Graeme are joining the Association. They bring a wealth of experience.”

EVENTS, birthdays and anniversaries on June 30.

Close season for killing of stags ends.

1520: Spanish conquistadors, under Hernan Cortés, seized gold from the Aztecs.

1690: The French under Tourville defeated the English/Dutch fleet at the Battle of Beachy Head.

1837: An act of parliament abolished punishment by pillory.

1859: Charles Blondin made the first crossing of the Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1,100ft long and 160ft above the falls.

1894: London’s Tower Bridge, designed by Sir Horace Jones and Sir J Wolfe Barry, was opened.

1910: Anthony Wilding defeated Arthur Gore in the Wimbledon men’s singles final: Dorothea Lambert Chambers defeated Dora Boothby in the ladies’ final.

1914: Mahatma Gandhi was arrested for the first time after campaigning for Indian rights in South Africa.

1925: In the USA, Charles Jenkins was granted a patent for “transmitting pictures over wireless” – a step towards the first television.

1930: Don Bradman scored 254 for Australia at Lord’s against England in 320 minutes, including 25 fours.

1934: Hitler’s rival, Ernst Röhm, and hundreds of influential Nazis were murdered by the SS in the Night of the Long Knives.

1937: The first emergency telephone service in the world opened in London, using 999.

1938: Superman made his first appearance in DC Comics’ Action Comics Series issue No 1.

1940: Guernsey was occupied by German forces.

1957: The lion was stamped on British eggs for the first time.

1960: Lionel Bart’s musical, Oliver!, based on Charles Dickens’s novel, opened in London. It ran for 2,618 performances.

1963: Cardinal Montini was elected Pope Paul VI.

1966: The Beatles landed in Tokyo for a concert tour.

1970: Brazil defeated Italy 4-1 in Mexico City to win the World Cup for the third time.

1974: Soviet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, while on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Canada, defected to the west.

1975: Muhammad Ali defeated Britain’s Joe Bugner to successfully defend his world heavyweight boxing title.

1991: Owing to rain, tennis was played on the middle Sunday of the Wimbledon championships for the first time.

1992: Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher joined the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher.

1994: Argentine football star Diego Maradona was banned from the World Cup after failing a drugs test.

1994: Ice skater Tonya Harding was stripped of her national title and banned from competition for life by the US Ice Skating Federation as a result of the knee-clubbing of fellow competitor Nancy Kerrigan during the Olympic trials.

1997: The UK transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China.

2003: MPs voted for a complete ban on hunting in England and Wales.

2007: Britain was on its highest terror alert after a burning car was driven into the passenger terminal at Glasgow Airport, a day after the discovery of two car bombs in the West End of London.

2011: Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers went on strike to protect their pensions.

BIRTHDAYS

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, singer, 32; Carole Baxter, head gardener television’s Beechgrove Garden, 58; Rupert Graves, actor, 52; Tony Hatch, composer, 76; James Loughran CBE, Glasgow-born conductor, 84; Jack McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, Scotland’s first minister 2002-7, 55; Andrew Murray, golfer, 59; Mike Tyson, former world heavyweight boxing champion, 49; Michael Phelps, multi Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, 30; Ralf Schumacher, Formula One racing driver, 40; Andy Knowles, drummer/keyboard player (Franz Ferdinand), 34; Patrick Wolf, singer-songwriter, 32.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1470 Charles VIII, king of France; 1685 John Gay, poet, dramatist; 1818 Edward John Hopkins, organist, composer; 1891 Sir Stanley Spencer, artist; 1891 Howard Hawks, film director; 1917 Lena Horne, singer; 1922 Mollie Hunter, Longniddry-born writer; 1930 James Loughran, Glasgow-born conductor of BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra; 1939 John Fortune, satirist and actor.

Deaths: 1660 William Oughtred, mathematician and inventor of slide rule in 1622; 1685 Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll; 1785 James Oglethorpe, British general, MP and founder of the British colony of Georgia; 1792 Antonio Rosetti, classical composer and musician; 1973 Nancy Mitford, writer; 2005 Christopher Fry, poet and playwright; 2012 Yitzhak Shamir, 7th prime minister of Israel;

2014 Paul Mazursky, US film director.

TIME is Brain – and new treatment extends that window of opportunity.

When your drain blocks you have two alternatives. Use a chemical to dissolve the block or call Dyno-rod. These same principles are now being applied to help stroke patients.

An exciting new treatment which can rapidly unblock arteries in the brain has been shown to offer a cure to hundreds of patients who are having an acute stroke, say stroke specialists and health charity Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS).

About 8,000 people are admitted to Scottish hospitals with an acute stroke each year. Most of these strokes are due to a blocked artery to the brain. When the artery blocks, millions of brain cells die every minute. The longer the blocked artery persists the worse the brain damage, and the greater the risk of permanent disability. Some patients will die and many others will be left with weakness of arms and legs, difficulties with speech and swallowing and loss of vision. Many surviving patients require constant care, often in nursing homes. Currently, the best available treatment in Scotland is an injection of a clot busting drug, alteplase. About 800 patients a year receive this treatment, with the number increasing year on year. The drug can only be given if patients with a blocked artery arrive in hospital very soon after their first symptoms – a maximum of four and a half hours.

The increasing number of patients treated is due to efforts by charities like CHSS, stroke specialists and the Scottish Ambulance Service to improve both public and professional awareness of acute stroke to reduce the so called “door to needle” times.

The treatment is more effective the earlier it is started – Time is Brain. However, this treatment only helps one in ten patients treated.

This year, for the first time, a new treatment, clot retrieval, has been shown to rapidly unblock those arteries which may not respond to alteplase. A specialist puts a fine tube into an artery in the groin and steers this into the blocked artery in the brain, then removes the clot with a device called a stentriever. Trials have shown that if this can be done early, ideally within six hours of symptoms onset, then the patient has a much better chance of making a good recovery.

This is far more effective than any other treatment available. This benefit is over and above that from clot busting alone and can sometimes be used even when patients cannot safely be given clot busting drugs. It is likely that 300 to 500 patients could potentially benefit from clot retrieval in Scotland each year. If this could be delivered, then over 100 people would avoid serious disability and many others would achieve improved outcomes from their stroke.

At the moment this exciting new treatment can only be delivered in Scotland to patients who happen to arrive at one of very few hospitals who can carry out clot retrieval, at a time when the specialist doctor and facilities happen to be free. There are too few specialists with the technical skills to carry out clot retrieval to patients across Scotland whenever their stroke occurs, day or night. More specialists need to be trained and appointed.

Most patients will still be assessed and treated in their local hospital but will then need to be very quickly transferred to a specialist centre. This will require much more efficient transfers between hospital than currently exist.

Profesor Martin Dennis, the Chair of the Scottish Government’s national advisory committee for stroke said: “This is the most exciting development in my 30-year career caring for stroke patients. At last we have a treatment which can prevent disability in those having a severe stroke.”

Mark O’Donnell, chief executive of Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS) said: “There now needs to be a national, properly resourced strategy to take us to the next stage, which this exciting new development offers”

One stroke victim who has benefited from this treatment is Peter Stalker

Life might have been very different for him if his wife hadn’t spotted the tell-tale symptoms that he might be having a stroke and immediately dialled 999. She was right to do so because doctors at Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital identified that he was suitable for a clot retrieval operation. He’s been making a steady recovery ever since and is helping CHSS spread the word about taking fast action if a stroke is suspected.

SEE ALSO

{http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/opinion/comment/friends-of-the-scotsman-invitation-from-the-editor-1-2943334|• More information on becoming a Friend of The Scotsman |More information}

A SOLAR-POWERED plane has passed the “point of no return” in its second bid at making a record-breaking flight across the Pacific Ocean.

Solar Impulse took off from Japan’s Nagoya airfield at 6:03pm GMT on Sunday and the journey to Hawaii is expected to take approximately 120 hours.

The team spent nearly two months waiting for clear weather, and a developing cold front forced the plane to make an unscheduled landing in Japan earlier this month.

“[Pilot] Andre Borschberg has passed the point of no return and must now see this 5 days 5 nights flight through to the end,” the Solar Impulse website reported.

He no longer has the option to turn around and return to Japan, if the weather forecast changes.

The first attempt to fly over the Pacific was cut short after a change in the forecast forced an unscheduled landing.

Another attempt to take off last Tuesday was cancelled at the last moment because of concerns about the conditions.

If the pilot succeeds, it will be the longest-duration solo flight in aviation history, as well as the furthest distance flown by a craft that is powered only by the Sun.

The Pacific crossing is the eighth leg of Solar Impulse’s journey around the world.

But this stage has proven to be the most difficult, and has been hit by weeks of delays.

Solar Impulse co-founder Mr Borschberg, who is flying the experimental single-seater craft, was initially supposed to begin his journey to Hawaii from Nanjing in China.

But he spent weeks there, with his ground-support team, waiting for the right flying conditions to present themselves.

He finally took off on 31 May, but a deterioration in the forecast a few hours into the mission meant he had to divert to Japan. The rainy season in Nagoya has meant another long wait there – but after the false start last week, meteorologists are confident they have found a weather window to make the five-day, five-night crossing to Hawaii.

The plane is heading straight out across the Pacific. “We really are in the moment of truth now,” Conor Lennon, a member of the Solar Impulse team said from the project’s headquarters. “It’s the moment of truth technically and in human terms as well. Can the plane manage it?”

Bertrand Piccard, the Solar Impulse co-founder and occasional co-pilot, said: “There’s a lot of uncertainty at the end – we cannot know everything. Today we accepted the decision to go, we accepted that risk … we believe the window is good.”

The experimental craft – which has 17,000 solar cells – is powered only by the Sun.

Once over the ocean, if it fails to soak up enough rays to fully charge its batteries and make it through the night, the pilot could be forced to bail out. Mr Borschberg has been trained for that eventuality. He has a dinghy and enough supplies for several days while he waits for the team to pick him up.

But, of course, the team is hoping that none of this will be necessary.

Mr Borschberg will spend the duration of the flight strapped into his seat in a cockpit about the same size as a phone booth. He will be have only 20-minute cat-naps but says he will use yoga and meditation to make his journey more comfortable.

If this flight succeeds, the plane will continue its journey around the world, with Mr Piccard taking the controls for the next Pacific crossing from Hawaii to the US mainland.

The plane will then continue across North America, before attempting to fly over the Atlantic.

However, the build-up of delays could impact on the later stages. Ideally, the plane needs to cross the Atlantic before August, when the hurricane season reaches its peak.

Telecoms and IT group Pinnacle has slashes its first-half losses by half following a cost-cutting drive at the firm, which recently won a deal with Warner Music.

Operating losses for the six months to 31 March fell to £549,000, from £1.2 million a year earlier, despite revenues dropping 6 per cent to £4m.

Chief executive Nicholas Scallan said: “Over the last year we have seen progress in returning the business to health with a much better defined focus, costs reduced and transformational projects underway. We remain confident that the leaner, more focused organisation will return to profitable revenue growth.”

As well as Warner – home to artists including Ed Sheeran, Fleetwood Mac, Kylie Minogue and Coldplay – Pinnacle’s recent project wins include deals with Baxters Food Group, car dealer John Clark and conciliation service Acas.

Aim-quoted Pinnacle’s board is “increasingly confident” about its prospects, according to chairman James Dodd, who said the firm was also seeking acquisition opportunities.

The following are expected to graduate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland at ceremonies today.

Honorary Degrees

Doctor of the Conservatoire - Celia Duffy

Doctor of Music - Susan Boyle

Doctor of Philosophy - Lev Atlas; John Gormley

School of Drama, Dance, Production and Screen

Bachelor of Arts - Modern Ballet - Jessica Elizabeth Arnold; Elizabeth Carol Bishop; Hayley Cunningham; Stefanos Dimoulas; Nicola Catherine Gilliland; Louise Margaret Haughey; Emma Patricia McBeth; Katie Joy Murray; Stephanie Amanda Rae; Jamie Brendan Reid; Katherine Mary Rogers; Leigh Fiona Russell; Elayne Seaton; Jamie Shields; Moritz Enoch Jakob Toellner

Bachelor of Arts - Musical Theatre - James Allen Baxter; Miguel Angel Belotto Garcia; Adam Gillian; Christina Holly Deborah Gordon; Peter Edward Hughes; Adam Hunter; Rachael Kennedy; Thomas Arthur Edward Milligan; Kieran Edward Morris; Charlotte Miranda Smith; Rebecca Emily Dyson Smith; Michelle Chantelle Sodipo-Hopewell; Natalie Sheila Spence; Kara Swinney; Matthew Tomlinson; Robert Patrick Wallis

Bachelor of Arts - Production Arts and Design - Carolyn Ann Clark ; Clara Fink; Connor Samuel Gallagher ; Robert Charles Gear; Iona Louise Gray ; Carola Gudim ; Lauren Pyne Keanie; Zoe Kemp; Kenneth John MacLeod; Evonne Mairi MacRitchie ; Kerry Francesca McAreavey; Jade McNaughton ; Sophie Louise Prior ; Oliver William Ralph ; Kirstin Elspeth Rodger ; Lisa Speirs

Bachelor of Arts - Production Technology and Management - Mary Louise Crook ; Laura Hannah Dougan ; Kieran James Fitzpatrick; Shannon Howard; Chrissie Huxford; Ross Jardine ; Eve Kerr; Maciej Kopka ; Stuart Lord; Sarah Elisabeth Margaret MacDonald; Fraser Marshall Milroy ; Katherine Anne Nicolson; Siobhan Louise Scott; Ian Smyth; Elspeth Morag Buchanan Watt

Bachelor of Arts - Contemporary Performance Practice - Honours - First Class - Jessica Bennett-Eves; Ellen Daisy Douglas; Zachary Scott; Jack Clive Stancliffe

Bachelor of Arts - Contemporary Performance Practice - Honours - Second Class, division i - Louise Doyle; Katharine Dye; Sarah Louise Galloway; Maria Molly Louise Giergiel; Peter Emrys Smart

Bachelor of Arts - Contemporary Performance Practice - Honours - Second Class, division ii - Sarah Short

Bachelor of Arts - Contemporary Performance Practice - Harris Jones

Bachelor of Arts - Digital Film and Television - Bethany May Angus; Dayna Baptie; Oliver Buus-Pedersen; Philip Carden; Louise Elizabeth Dawson; Tony Colin Deans; Kirsty Marie Elliot; Fiona Mary Halket; Conor Stephen Reilly; Fergus Peter Hugh Thom; Gwenllian Thurstan; Theodore Mikolai Wyzgowski; Victoria Youngman

Bachelor of Arts - Acting - Pearl Appleby; Alix Austin; Nebli Bahja; Charlotte May Sonia Barker; Andrew John Barrett; Daniel Chrisopher Cahill; Alexandra Giulia Cockrell; Michael Kieran Collins; Amy Conachan; Snaedis Gudmundsdottir; Constance Faye Hartley; Phillip Adam Laing; Katie Leung; Lorn Alexander Donald Macdonald; Lorne Alasdair MacFadyen; Emily-Jane McNeill; Jessica Marie Nahikian; Lee Partridge; Hamish John Riddle; Sara Clark Downie Short; Carly Lundy Tisdall; Rodolfo Valadez Mota

Postgraduate Certificate in Drama - Classical and Contemporary Text – Acting - Zachary Edan Jost; Renee Williams

School of Music

Bachelor of Arts - Scottish Music - Honours - First Class - Ian Smith

Bachelor of Arts - Scottish Music - Honours - Second Class, division i - Joseph Anthony Armstrong; Alastair Forsyth; Cameron William Ross; Claudia Hope Smith

Bachelor of Arts - Scottish Music - Piping - Honours - First Class - David Ian Shedden

Bachelor of Arts - Scottish Music - Piping - Honours - Second Class, division i - Andrew Gray; Callum Moffat

Bachelor of Music - Composition - Honours - Second Class, division i - Rebekah Jane Smith ; James Wilson ; Matthew Zurowski

Bachelor of Music - Composition - Honours - Second Class, division ii - Kristaps Cukurs

Bachelor of Music - Jazz - Honours - First Class - David Bowden; Stephen Rae Henderson

Bachelor of Music - Jazz - Honours - Second Class, division i - Neil Paton; Timothy Quicke

Bachelor of Music - Joint Performance - Honours - Second Class - Ross Montgomery

Bachelor of Music - Performance - Honours - First Class - Daniel Griffin; Fiona Leslie Joice; April Atinuke Koyejo; Inga Liukaityte; Lauren Jean McQuistin; Laura Jane Sergeant; Ryan William Sullivan; George Todica; Calum Tonner

Bachelor of Music - Performance - Honours - Second Class, division i - Maggie Adamson; Ankna Arockiam; Cavan James Campbell; Kenneth Cormack; James Corrigan; Oluf Dam; Robert Neil Digney; Maximilian Fane; Veronika Furedi; Tamara Hardy; Gillian Horn; Rebecca Caroline Howard; Bethany Jerem; Cason Kang; Ben Kearsley; Jonathan Forbes Kennedy; Thomas Kinch; Kevin Anthony Kirs Verstege; Esther Keren Knight; Clara Lafuente Garcia; Richard Leonard; Yuan Li; Heather MacLeod; Emma Louise Mockett; Alastair Robert Craig Morgan; Anja Ormiston; Chelsea Rose Plaskitt; Xiaofen Song; Henrietta Claire Vinten Wake; Fionnuala Brianne Ward; Katherine Waters; Samuel Simon Watkin; Kieran Anthony Charles White; Tingqian Zhang

Bachelor of Music - Performance - Honours - Second Class, division ii - Marlon Bordas González; Harriet Elizabeth Flather; Mohammad Amin Keshmiri; Thomas Knight; Donagh Marnane; Michael George McGeary; Prashanthi Rasaratnam; Ankrita Aparna Anne Shankar; Anne Sofie Skaalvik; Rachael Louise Smart; Ailsa Gordon Taylor

Bachelor of Music - Performance - Honours - Third Class - Boru Yi

Bachelor of Music - Performance - Lucy Hannah Breton; Ross Ian Gunning; Anastas Nenkov Moskov; Zhe Xu

Master of Arts - Performance - Yue Shui; Lingxin Zeng

Master of Arts - Scottish Music - Yaffa Quan-Weinreich

Master of Music - Accompaniment - Distinction - Ailsa Zenobia Capus Aitkenhead

Master of Music - Conducting - Distinction - Ryan Adam Bancroft

Master of Music - Conducting - Hilario Flores Coni; Leon Anders Kurt Reimer

Master of Music - Jazz - Alán González Martínez

Master of Music - Opera - Distinction - Eirlys Myfanwy Davies; Hazel McBain

Master of Music - Opera - Melanie Gowie; Heather Anne Jamieson; Arshak Kuzikyan; Matthew Thomas Morgan

Master of Music - Performance - Distinction - Alice Allen; Rachel Janet Brown; Charlotte Rachel Drummond; Kamilla Kate Dunstan; Ben Hirons; David Varney Ian Horton; Maria Hughes; Gongbo Jiang; Mary Elizabeth McCabe; Andrew McLean; Sasha Poya Savaloni; Wen Wang

Master of Music - Performance - Lynn Fiona Bellamy; Nicoletta Favari; Fiona Mary Flynn; Nora Margaret Holden; Colin Duncan Hyson; Hyein Jin; Elizabeth Lawton; Charity Eleanor Mapletoft; Nan Qi; Christian James Burt Schneeberger; Charlie Zara Sheppard-Vine; Chiharu Shimano; James Lee Slimings; Veronika Vardpatrikyan

Master of Music - Scottish Music - Distinction - Graham Mackenzie

Bachelor of Education - Music - Honours - First Class - Greg Robert Nixon McGonigal

Bachelor of Education - Music - Honours - Second Class, division i - Kathryn Helen Alexander; Ronan Boyle; Anna Rachel Fraser; Amanda Gemmell; Michael Neville Gibson; Matthew Alastair Harvey; Jennifer Lindsay; Maree Murdoch; Alyson Nelson; Ellen Smith; Anthony Joseph Stuart Sutherland; Jennifer Amy Vallance

Bachelor of Education - Music - Honours - Second Class, division ii - Billy Dewar-Riddick; Emma Irving

Postgraduate Diploma in Music - Composition - Kevan O’Reilly

Postgraduate Diploma in Music - Performance - Alexandra Louise McPhee; Stephanie Mitchell

Postgraduate Diploma in Music - Scottish Music - Distinction - Rhoda Welsh

Postgraduate Certificate - Learning and Teaching in Higher Arts Education - Laura Bissell; Jenn Butterworth; Alan Costello; Drew Hammond; Jesse Paul; Lori Hope Watson