Neurodegenerative and convulsant action of quinolinic acid

The convulsant and neurodegenerative action of intraventricular administration of quinolinic acid was investigated in rats. Degree of neurodegenerative changes in the dorsal hippocampus was found to be dose-dependent and little related to severity of convulsions. Damage brought about by quinolinic acid in the central nervous sytem has little effect on typical seizures as produced by repeated injection of the same substance.M. V. Bekhterev Psychoneurology Research Institute, Ministry of Public Health of the RSFSR, Leningrad. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 354–359, May– June, 1990.     

Commentary: The Life And Times Of V. M. Bekhterev

The provocative article that follows has been translated as part of our endeavors to uncover the contributions of V. M. Bekhterev to social psychology. For these introductory comments we rely most heavily on two sources available in English, mainly the work of Alex Kozulin (1984) and V. Gerver (1932), a junior colleague of Bekhterev's. Other valuable material was provided by the work of A. L. Schniermann (1930), another of Bekhterev's junior associates. These and other writings yield a picture of an outstanding Russian scientist who published about six hundred works on anatomy and physiology, nervous and mental diseases, biology and pedology, philosophy and reflexology; who established an astonishing number of research units and laboratories, ranging from the enormous Psychoneurological Institute in St. Petersburg to small laboratories for research on vocational counseling, children's neuropathology, etc.; and who founded several important journals. In time, he should probably become generally acknowledged as one of the founders of social psychology as well.     

An historical-physiological analysis of the discussion between I. P. Pavlov and V. M. Bekhterev on the problems of localizing functions in the cerebral cortex

This article is the first of the domestic publications on physiology and medical history, which highlights the discussion between I. P. Pavlov and V. M. Bekhterev on the issue of localization of functions in human cerebral cortex: it provides information of the visit by I. P. Pavlov to the clinic of V. M. Bekhterev; it discusses the role of V. M. Bekhrerev's students who described the cortex zones of tonotopics, gustation, regulation of salivation and stomach secretion, which I. P. Pavlov denied. Unlike articles on factography and history of physiology, which in various ways praise the scientists, this article is based of the modern approaches of medical history and scientific knowledge, in particular, it provides a retrospective of the major facts of the discussion.     

Experimental Reflexological Research on the Newborn

In carrying out reflexological research on children from birth onward, the Infant Department of the Leningrad Pedological Institute found it necessary to make a most careful study of the first moments of a child's life, since it is only this period that offers the opportunity to study the child's basic, primary, "inherent" reactions that serve as the groundwork for the accumulation of "personal experience" in response to repeated stimuli from the physical and social environment. In addition, our work made clear the importance of studying the various states of a newborn child as an approach to the problem of waking and sleep.     

New Advances in Bone Research

An edited summary of an Interdepartmental Conference arranged by the Department of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles. William M. Pardridge, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, is Director of Conferences.     

Cardiac Ischemia. Part II—Reperfusion and Treatment

An edited summary of an Interdepartmental Conference arranged by the Department of Medicine of the UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles. The Director of Conferences is William M. Pardridge, MD, Professor of Medicine.     

REVIEWS

Practical Lawn Craft. By R. B. D awson . Foreword by R. G. S tapledon .
An Introduction to Industrial Mycology. By G. S mith .
Cattle Fodder and Human Nutrition: with special reference to Biological Nitrogen Fixation. By A rtturi I. V irtanen .
Coffee in Kenya. By the Staff of the Scott Agricultural Laboratories and the Agricultural Economist, Department of Agriculture, Kenya, with a contribution by the Director of the British East African Meteorological Service. Edited by J. M c D onald .
Third Conference on Cotton Growing Problems: Report and Summary of Proceedings. Pp.
Plant Injection for Diagnostic and Curative Purposes. By W. A. R oach .
Plant Physiology. By E. C. M iller .
Principles of Genetics. By E. W. S innott and L. C. D unn .
The Genetics of Garden Plants. By M. B. C rane and W. J. C. L awrence .
The Cultivation of Succulents , By H. J acobsen . Authorised translation by V era H iggins .
Research and Statistical Methodology: Books and Reviews , 1933-8. Edited by O. K. B uros .
Methods and Material for Teaching Biological Sciences. By D. F. M iller and G. W. B laydes .     

怀念伍献文所长

1985年4月3日,我们敬爱的老所长、我国鱼类学和水生生物学的奠基人之一、著名的动物学家伍献文教授安详地离开了人世。伍献文教授的一生是为发展中华民族文化科学事业而奋斗的一生,他的历史业绩将永远为人们所缅怀。       

Scientific Creationism: An Exegesis for a Religious Doctrine

An exegesis of the seminal works of Henry M. Morris, Director of the Institute for Creation Research, clearly reveals that scientific creationism is a religious doctrine. It is a necessary dogma of the conservative evangelical's particular form of Christianity, is premised upon a literal interpretation of the Bible, and has as its purpose the defense of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. [scientific creationism, religion, evolution]     

V.N. Karazin Kharkov National University as the foundation of biochemistry in Ukraine

The paper deals with the data on foundation and development of physiological chemistry (biochemistry) as independent science and education subject in the V. N. Karazin Kharkov National University before and after the organization of the Department of Physiological Chemistry. Studying the chemistry of natural compounds, their qualitative and quantitative content and transformations in living organisms both by foreign and home researchers made the basis for the appearance of physiological chemistry as static biochemistry. The improvement of the investigation methods and further discoveries caused the appearing of new branches--dynamic and functional biochemistry. The attention is paid to the fact that biochemistry arised at the Kharkov University as the education subject (A. I. Khodnev) and then developed as independent science due to efforts of A. Ya. Danilevskiy as well as biochemical school created by him. The Kazan' and Kharkov periods of scientific activity of A.Ya. Danilevskiy are described. The leading role of A. Ya. Danilevskiy in development of the home school of biochemistry is considered. Important role of A. V. Palladin in the foundation of Kharkov biochemists' school and organization of the Scientific-research Institute of Biochemistry in Kharkov is considered as well. It is stated that the Institute of Biochemistry after its arrival to Kiev and joining the Academy of Sciences became the center of Ukrainian biochemistry. The role of A. V. Nagorny and I. N. Bulankin in further development of biochemistry and foundation of a new scientific branch--age-related physiology and biochemistry--at the Kharkov University after its re-organization is discussed.     

A parallel programming interface for out-of-core cluster applications

Clusters of workstations are a practical approach to parallel computing that provide high performance at a low cost for many scientific and engineering applications. In order to handle problems with increasing data sets, methods supporting parallel out-of-core computations must be investigated. Since writing an out-of-core version of a program is a difficult task and virtual memory systems do not perform well in some cases, we have developed a parallel programming interface and the support library to provide efficient and convenient access to the out-of-core data. This paper focuses on how these components extend the range of problem sizes that can be solved on the cluster of workstations. Execution time of Jacobi iteration when using our interface, virtual memory and PVFS are compared to characterize the performance for various problem sizes, and it is concluded that our new interface significantly increases the sizes of problems that can be efficiently solved. Jianqi Tang received B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Harbin Institute of Technology in 1997 and 1999 respectively, both in computer application. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Computer Science and engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology. She has participated in several National research projects. Her research interests include parallel computing, parallel I/O and grid computing. Binxing Fang received M.Sc. in 1984 from Tsinghua University and Ph.D. from Harbin Institute of Technology in 1989, both in computer science. From 1990 to 1993 he was with National University of Defense Technology as a postdoctor. Since 1984, he is a faculty member at the Department of Computer Science and engineering of Harbin Institute of Technology, where he is presently a Professor. He is a Member of the National Information Expert Consultant Group and a Standing Member of the Council of Chinese Society of Communications. His research efforts focus on parallel computing, computer network and information security. Professor Fang has implemented over 30 projects from the state and ministry/province. Mingzeng Hu was born in 1935. He has been with the Department of Computer Science and engineering in Harbin Institute of Technology since 1958, where he is currently a Professor. He was a visiting scholar in the Siemens Company, Germany from 1978 to 1979, a visiting associate professor in Chiba University, Japan from 1984 to 1985, and a visiting professor in York University, Canada from 1989 to 1995. He is the Director of the National Key Laboratory of Computer Information Content Security. He is also a Member of 3rd Academic Degree Committee under the State Council of China. Professor Hu’s research interests include high performance computer architecture and parallel processing technology, fault tolerant computing, network system, VL design, and computer system security technology. He has implemented many projects from the state and ministry/province and has won several Ministry Science and Technology Progress Awards. He published over 100 papers in core journals home and abroad and one book. Professor Hu has supervised over 20 doctoral students. Hongli Zhang received M.Sc in computer system software in 1996 and Ph.D. in computer architecture in 1999 from Harbin Institute of Technology. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science and engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology. Her research interests include computer network security and parallel computing.     

A far-reaching career

An interview with Stephen A. Felt, DVM, MPH, DACLAM, DACVPM, Attending Veterinarian, Assistant Professor, Department of Comparative Medicine, Associate Director, Veterinary Service Center, Director, Laboratory Animal Medicine Residency Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.     

Recent Trends in the Management of Life-Threatening Ventricular Arrhythmias

An edited summary of an Interdepartmental Conference arranged by the Department of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles. William M. Pardridge, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, is Director of Conferences.This study was supported in part by grants from the Public Health Service; the National Institutes of Health (HL-23970, 1978-1981); the Medical Research Service of the Veterans Administration, and the American Heart Association, the Greater Los Angeles Affiliate.     

A Festschrift for Roland L. Weinsier: Nutrition Scientist,Educator, and Clinician1

Roland L. Weinsier, M.D., Dr.P.H., devoted himself to the fields of nutrition and obesity for more than 35 years. He contributed outstanding work related to the treatment of obesity through dietary and lifestyle change; metabolic/energetic influences on obesity, weight loss, and weight regain; body composition changes accompanying weight loss and regain; the health benefits and risks of weight loss; nutrition education for physicians; and nutrition support of sick patients. He served on the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) National Task Force on Prevention and Treatment of Obesity, as Chair of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Department of Nutrition Sciences, and as Founder and Director of its NIDDK‐funded Clinical Nutrition Research Center. He was a long‐time and active member of NAASO, serving in the roles of Councilor, Publications Committee Chair, Continuing Medical Education Course Director, Public Relations Committee Chair, and Membership Committee Co‐Chair, to name just a few. He was well respected as a staunch defender of NAASO's scientific integrity in these roles. Sadly, Roland Weinsier died on November 27, 2002. He will be missed and remembered by many as a revered and beloved teacher, mentor, healer, and scholar.     

Jordan Raff

Jordan Raff is a Cancer Research UK funded group leader at the Wellcome/CR-UK Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, England. He obtained his PhD from the Department of Biochemistry at Imperial College, London, and he worked as a Post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, University of California, San Francisco. He is currently a Director of the Company of Biologists, and on the committee of the British Society of Cell Biology. He has studied centrosomes and cell division in fruit flies throughout his scientific career.     

Equipment Reviews

A report of the Royal Society—Institute of Biology Biological Education Committee Working Party on Mathematics for Biologists under the Chairmanship of Professor M. H. Williamson, Department of Biology, University of York.     

Mechanism of Action of Nalidixic Acid on Escherichia coli V. Possible Mutagenic Effect

Cook, Thomas M., (Sterling-Winthrop Research Institute, Rensselaer, N.Y.), William A. Goss, and William H. Deitz. Mechanism of action of nalidixic acid on Escherichia coli. V. Possible mutagenic effect. J. Bacteriol. 91:780-783. 1966.-With a streptomycin-dependent organism, Escherichia coli ATCC 11143, it has been shown that exposure to nalidixic acid, under conditions permitting some bactericidal action, results in an increased number of streptomycin-independent bacteria among the survivors. This effect is evident only with proliferating cultures, and is related to the concentration of nalidixic acid and the duration of exposure.     

Einthoven dissertation prizes 2014

For the 26th time in a row the Interuniversity Cardiology Institute of the Netherlands (ICIN-Netherlands Heart Institute) and the Netherlands Society of Cardiology (NVVC) have supported the competition for the best three cardiovascular PhD theses, published in the year 2014 [1–3]. The dissertation prize carries the name of one of the greatest Dutchmen in the history of cardiovascular medicine, Willem Einthoven, who in 1902 for the first time recorded the human ECG, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1924 [4].This time the jury received a total of 28 PhD dissertations published in 2014. The jury members were very much impressed by the high scientific quality of the PhD fellows. The ultimate selection was based on a combination of several parameters: the curriculum vitae of the candidate, the scientific originality of the PhD thesis and its relevance for the cardiovascular field. In addition, several objective bibliometric parameters were used: (1) the number of articles in first-rate journals both in PubMed and the Web of Science (WOS), (2) the number of citations in WOS, (3) the Hirsch index and (4) the contribution as a first author (or shared first author).Based on a combination of these results, the jury finally selected three nominees: K.Y. van Spaendonck-Zwarts (University Medical Centre Groningen), N.M. van Mieghem (Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam) and W.J. Dewilde (Sint Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein).The members of the jury were: J.W. Deckers (Director CVOI), S. Heymans (ICIN professor), A. Mosterd (Chairman WCN), M.J. Schalij (Chairman Concilium NVVC) and V.A. Umans (President NVVC).The three candidates presented their Ph.D. theses at the annual spring meeting of the NVVC, held at the Congress Centre “De Leeuwenhorst” in Noordwijkerhout, 9–10 April 2015. Based on the quality of the presentation, the audience determined the ranking of the laureates. Mrs. dr. K.Y. van Speandonck-Zwarts received the third prize, dr. N.M. van Mieghem the second prize, and dr. W.J. Dewilde the first prize. We like to congratulate the three winners with their excellent PhD Theses. Summaries of the three nominated PhD theses are given below.     

Contribution of late Professor T. C. Tung to the experimental embryology of Amphioxus

Professor T. C. Tung (Fig. 1) was a prominent experimental embryologist in China. He was born in Jin County, Zhejiang Province, China in 1902. After he obtained his Bachelor's degree from the Department of Biology, Fudan University, Shanghai in 1927, he was appointed as a teaching assistant in that department until he moved to Belgium in 1930. He studied as a graduate student in Professors A. Brachet and A. M. Dalcq's laboratory at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and obtained his Doctor of Science degree there in 1934. During that period, he made two short working visits to the Institute of Marine Biology in France and took one training course at Cambridge University (UK). In 1934, he was invited to return to China as a Full Professor to teach at several Chinese universities, (Shandong University in Qingdao, Shandong Province; the National University in Nanjing; and Fudan University in Shanghai). He spent 1 year at Yale University (USA) between 1948 and 1949 as an invited scientist in a joint research project and finally returned to China in 1949. He was Chairman of the Department of Zoology, Shandong University in Qingdao (1949-1952), Vice-President of Shandong University (1952-1960), Director of the Marine Biological Institute, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Qingdao (1949-1958), Director of the Institute of Oceanology (CAS) in Qingdao (1959-1966), Director of the Institute of Zoology (CAS) in Beijing (1960-1962), member of CAS since 1955, Vice-Chairman of the Biological and Geographical Division of CAS (1955-1958), Chairman of the Biological Division of CAS (1959-1979) and Vice-President of CAS in Beijing (1978-1979). In spite of his administrative duties, he spent most of his life conducting bench work in his laboratories at the Institutes of Oceanology and Zoology, CAS, respectively, until he passed away in March 1979. Professor Tung's main research interest was with classic experimental studies on the determination of the egg axis and symmetry planes of fertilized eggs, early differentiation and organizing substances of egg cytoplasm, induction between embryonic cells and cytoplasm in embryogenesis, immunological studies on nuclear transplanted eggs, and cell fusion etc., in several types of animals. He conducted his experiments on a number of invertebrates (ascidians and Amphioxus) and vertebrates (fish and amphibians) by means of very skillful microsurgical operations and the nuclear transplantation method. Among these topics, his studies on the organization and developmental potency of Amphioxus eggs were unique. His important contribution to this research field involved not only establishing a practical method for collecting and using this rare animal for experimental purposes, but also clarifying controversy about the nature and early development of its eggs. He also provided conclusive evidence to determine its evolutionary position between invertebrates and vertebrates. The present article briefly reviews the main results obtained by Professor Tung and his colleagues on Amphioxus. Although their original articles were written both in Chinese and English, many international readers may not even know those original works because they were only published in scientific journals inside China from the 1950s. Comments and discussion on the experimental results of Amphioxus research by Tung's group and those from other earlier authors are also included.     

The influence of treating ferret influenza antisera with enzymes of crude filtrate ofVibrio cholerae on the titre of the antibodies

Summary After treating influenza antisera from ferrets with enzymes of a crude filtrate ofVibrio cholerac (pH 7.6) for the purpose of eliminating the non-specific inhibitors it is not possible to detect a significant fall in the titre of the antibodies with the aid of the egg protection test. Financial support was provided by the Institute for Preventive Medicine, Leyden; N. V. Philips Roxane, Weesp; the State Department of Science; the Jan Dekker Fund, and the Cura?ao Fund the Preventive Medicine.