A festive dinner

Festive medical myths.

In the pursuit of scientific truth, even widely held medical beliefs require examination or re-examination. Both physicians and non-physicians sometimes believe things about our bodies that just are not true. As a reminder of the need to apply scientific investigation to conventional wisdom, we previously discussed the evidence disputing seven commonly held medical myths. The holiday season pre...

Habitat: a festive air, serious business.

A Business Dinner Problem

We are given suppliers and customers, and a set of tables. Every evening of the forthcoming days, there will be a dinner. Each customer must eat with each supplier exactly once, but two suppliers may meet at most once. The number of customers and the number of suppliers who can sit together at a table are bounded above by fixed parameters. What is the minimum number of evenings to be scheduled ...

Reunion Dinner

as a success and it has been decided to repeat it this year. The dinner will be in the Criterion Restaurant, Piccadilly Circus, London, W.I., on Saturday, 21st June, 1947, at 7-30 or 8 o'clock. Several Indian psychiatrists, members of the I.A.M.C., are temporarily in London; and this letter may catch the eye of others who propose to be in the U.K. during the summer on holiday or for post-gradua...

Festive flu delay . . . and other stories.

A recent Minerva article (BMJ 2017;356:j54, doi:10.1136/bmj. j54) on antihypertensives and acute kidney injury inaccurately stated the results. The statement should have said “Compared with patients without chronic kidney disease, having stage 4 chronic kidney disease increased the risk of acute kidney injury by a factor of 6-8 times (independent of antihypertensive use).” Although the risk of ...