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The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of Griffith's Fracture Theory. Many scholars regard Griffith as the father of the linear elastic fracture mechanics. Here, Nicola Pugno—who received the Griffith Medal and Prize in 2017—reflects on some Griffith's based approaches and quantized-related extensions of the original theory, as he has orally presented this year during his Plenary Opening Lecture at the quadrennial 25th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.

In this study, we extend our earlier work presented in the 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM 2017) and propose a simple parametric pre-factor (the biodegradation potential ψ B ), which can be used to estimate the biodegraded fraction of a contaminant in soil. ψ B can be determined based on either first-order or Michaelis–Menten–Monod (MMM) kinetics. We show the application in the environmental risk assessments of the herbicides atrazine (ATZ) and glyphosate (GLP). We compare the ATZ and GLP biodegraded fractions estimated with ψ B against those predicted with bioreactive models accounting for more comprehensive ATZ and GLP biodegradation reaction networks. Our analyses show that ψ B matched relativity well the biodegraded fraction predicted by the mechanistic model, with ψ B calculated using the MMM framework providing a more accurate result. We conclude that ψ B can be used to scale the predicted environmental concentration of a contaminant to account for its biodegradation potential in simplistic transport models.

This article presents a history of the origins of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Abbreviated as DICP) and relates the recent friendship between China and Japan in the field of catalysis. Although the official beginning of DICP is in 1949 with the birth of the People's Republic of China, there are earlier roots that went back to the defeat of Russia by Imperial Japan in 1905. This began a period of occupation and exploitation of Northest Asia by Japan which did not end until its defeat by Allied forces in 1945. During the period of occupation, a laboratory was created called the Central Research Laboratory of the South Manchurian Railroad Company, which was staffed by the best and brightest researchers from Japan, and was able to develop new processes in chemicals and synthetic fuels that fed the Japanese Imperial forces. Between 1945 and 1949, Dalian was administered by the Soviet Union, and the removable equipment from the Laboratory was taken. In this period one individual stood out, the Laboratory Director Marusawa Tsuneya, who risked his life to preserve the scientific records and staff of the institute, and then stayed in Dalian for ten years after the Second World War to help China rebuild its capabilities. The Central Research Laboratory is still preserved as the Old Campus of DICP. The origin of the friendship between China and Japan in catalysis can be traced to Professor Morikawa Kiyoshi, who worked in the Central Research Laboratory and helped commercialize a shale coal liquefaction process. Upon his return to Japan he became Professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and in 1975 organized the first visit by Japanese academics to China. This was reciprocated in visits to Japan in 1977 and 1980 by top researchers such as Zhang Dayu, Min Enze, Tsai Khirui, Lu Jiaxi, and Lin Liwu. This resulted in numerous contacts between individuals, which multiplied geometrically. Notably among these were the personal interactions between Guo Xiexian, the Vice-Director of DICP and Tamaru Kenzi, a Professor at the University of Tokyo, which led to a friendship lasting decades and encompassing generations. In 1981, Guo Xiexian organized the first China-Japan-USA Symposium in Dalian, assisted by Tamaru Kenzi, which was attended by over 90 scientists. This meeting was a big success, and was to lead to the organization of many other multi-country conferences, further promoting exchanges. It culminated with the hosting of China of the 16th International Congress on Catalysis in 2016 in Beijing, with Li Can as President. Today DICP is a sprawling organization with over 1300 permanent staff, and is one of the powerhouses of catalysis in the world. From 2000, it has been led by Directors Bao Xinhe, Zhang Tao, and Liu Zhongmin. The Institute is making enormous contributions to research and producing cutting-edge technology, and its future is bright.

Author(s): Gomez Marin, Jorge; de-la-Torre, Alejandra; Shapiro, Karen; Dumetre, Aurelien | Abstract: In this TrendsTalk article, the organizers of the 15th International Congress on Toxoplasma Biology and Toxoplasmosis, Professors Jorge Gomez Marin and Alejandra de-la-Torre, bring the highlights of this event and the key outcome from the inaugural workshop on the environmental transmission of Toxoplasma gondii organized by Doctors Aurelien Dumetre and Karen Shapiro.

Pain management practice differs among hospitals in China; however, no studies have examined the association between hospital level and nursing practice of pain management.To evaluate the nursing practice of pain management in orthopedics wards of level 3 and 2 hospitals and compare the differences in pain management regulations, policies, and perceived barriers.This was a cross-sectional descriptive study.This study was conducted during the 10th International Congress of the Chinese Orthopedic Association, November 19-22, 2015.Subjects: The sample included 121 nurses from China.Quantitative research methods were used to assess pain management practice by 121 Chinese nurses as well as barriers to nursing practice.Nurses in level 3 hospitals were more likely to evaluate patients' pain intensity (85.23% vs. 65.38%, p .05) and quality (77.27% vs. 53.85%, p .05) than those in level 2 hospitals. Compared with level 2 hospitals, level 3 hospitals were more likely to participate in the Painless Orthopedics Ward program (53.41% vs. 23.08%, p .01), conduct pain management knowledge training (88.64% vs. 69.23%, p .05), and establish pain management regulations (68.18% vs. 34.62%, p .01). Level 2 hospital nurses reported a higher score for barriers than level 3 hospital nurses (3.27 vs. 2.45, p .05).Nurses from level 2 hospitals received less education on pain management and also paid less attention to and faced more restrictions for pain management than nurses from level 3 hospitals.

In January 1888, shortly after his Habilitation (Nov. 1887), Theodor Boveri came for the first time as guest investigator to the Naples Zoological Station. The last of his eight research stays took place in spring 1914, the year before his untimely death in 1915. The Naples Station was therefore a constant presence in all his scientific life. At least 20 of his publications are based on research done at Naples. In this paper, I will try to outline the unique working conditions that Boveri found at Naples. By 1888, the Naples Station was already an expanding, smoothly functioning organism. Excellent animal supply and research equipment, the constant presence of an international scientific community and the beauties of Mediterranean nature and European culture fostered a creative atmosphere that gave particular relevance to a research stay at Naples. In 1910, Boveri defined the Naples Station a "permanent international congress of zoologists". Boveri's "Naples experience" will be described and some light will also be shed on Boveri's role in keeping the memory of Anton Dohrn alive.

Resolution of old problems with new tools seems to be a new way of challenging and finding the keys to innovation. A holistic view of different branches of science and industry, including services for society, is critically important for the development of modern science. The International Congress Eurobiotech 2017 was a special opportunity for such a universal view. In this paper, we discuss the application of different small RNAs, stem cells, epigenetics and sequencing, as well as art and bioeconomy. Our most significant message is not a new one but is very universal: biotechnology is vital for society.

International Congress on Semiconductor Materials and Devices (ICSMD) -- AUG 17-19, 2017 -- Selcuk Univ, Konya, TURKEY

This article provides an overview of the Special Issue of the Journal of Mathematical Behavior: An international perspective on the knowledge in teaching mathematics, with a focus on the primary and elementary levels. The work originated with presentations given at the International Congress on Mathematics Education (ICME) 13 in Hamburg, Germany, in the Summer of 2016. The papers were solicited from the participants in Topic Study Group (TSG) 45: Knowledge In/For Teaching Mathematics at Primary Level. A primary goal for TSG 45 was to advance theories about the teacher content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge required for focusing instruction on building mathematical understanding and promoting student reasoning. This Special Issue emphasizes the role that teachers play in supporting that development. A significant corpus of research has identified major factors influencing how students build mathematical ideas and construct pathways of reasoning. However, our current understanding is that what is lacking is a conceptual framework that identifies and integrates factors regarding teachers’ roles in supporting students’ mathematical learning; and also, identifying the set of conditions and resources that optimally support that learning. We address this area of inquiry by organizing this overview article into the following sections: Cognitive perspectives; pedagogical perspectives; attending to students’ reasoning; language, communication and dialogue perspectives; and finally, we conclude with research-based implications for teaching practice and teacher professional learning.

The concept of undifferentiated spondyloarthritis has been introduced recently to describe a clinical setting where the classical features of spondyloarthritis (SpA) are not fully present. Whether this is a discrete entity was the basis of a debate during the 4th International Congress on Controversies in Rheumatology & Autoimmunity held in Bologna, Italy 9–11 March 2017. The pro and con aspects of the debate are presented. The implications of the debate are important ranging from diagnostic aspects to consequences for the society and the payers.

The Editors of the Virtual Special Issue (VSI) "New Research on Water, Waste and Energy Management, with Special Focus on Antibiotics and Priority Pollutants" (VSI WWEM-20) here present details corresponding to papers that have been accepted, as well as further comments on the matter. It should be noted that the VSI should be associated to a Conference that had been initially programmed to be held in Rome during the summer of 2020, Unfortunately, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That conference was one of those within the series called "International Congress on Water, Waste and Energy Management". Although the Conference was postponed, the Call for Papers for the VSI was maintained by this journal. As a result, a set of very interesting papers were accepted after a careful peer-review process. We hope that it will be complemented with additional VSIs associated to future conferences corresponding to the series, increasing the knowledge on the topic.

2nd International Congress on Semiconductor Materials and Devices (ICSMD-2018) was held in Ardahan, Turkey, at Ardahan University between the 28th and 30th of August 2018. The main aim of the congress was to bring together researchers from both academic and industrial community, working in the field of semiconductor science and technology, and to promote the exchange of their ideas and results, as well as to foster collaboration between them. The scientific topic of the congress spanned a broad range of research fields on 1) Semiconductor Materials and Devices, 2) Thin Films: Surface and Interface, 3) Nanofabrication, Nanotubes, and Nanowires, 4) Photonic Devices and Sensors, 5) Organic Semiconductors and Devices, 6) Magnetic Semiconductors, 7) Biological Applications of Semiconductors, 8) Computational Methods Applied to Semiconductor Materials. There were about 200 national and international participants comprised of university students, academicians, and experts from the industry. A total of 94 oral presentations, including 10 invited speakers, were given and about 39 posters were presented. The presentations mostly gave a critical assessment of existing work and future directions in semiconductor growth and device technology, including materials characterization and device fabrication processes, growth of semiconductors, photovoltaic materials, Schottky barrier diodes and hybrid organic/inorganic semiconductor devices. This special issue of Materials Today: Proceedings features 33 peer-reviewed articles which provide a general overview of topics in the field of semiconductor materials and devices discussed in ICSMD-2018. The guest editors are thankful to all the participants, and all the authors who contributed their time and effort submitting their excellent and extended works to the present special issue. The guest editors would also like to thank all the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to the authors on improving the quality of the papers.

We review interactions between British and French Neurologists from the birth of this discipline in the 1860s to the early 20th century. First connections include Robert Bentley Todd and Thomas Clifford Albutt in England and Armand Trousseau and Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne in France. During the 1860–80 years, Jean-Martin Charcot in Paris created the Salpetriere school of neurology. In London, the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic was founded in Queen's Square in 1860 with Charles Brown-Sequard as a first physician. Hughlings Jackson (1862), Russell Reynolds (1863), later William Gowers (1873) and David Ferrier (1880), all influenced French Neurology. Charcot investigated paralysis agitans and named it Parkinson's disease. He emphasized the contribution of Jackson to aphasia and epilepsy. Charcot travelled frequently to Great-Britain, especially to the annual meetings of the British Medical Association. He and other French physicians interacted with British colleagues at the International Congress in London in 1881. In the late 19th century, a number of articles were published by Charcot and other French authors in Brain, and by British neurologists in Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpetriere and Revue Neurologique. Brown-Sequard and Charcot became corresponding members of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1887, as later did Jules Dejerine, Joseph Grasset and Theodule Ribot. The creation in 1999 of the Societe de Neurologie de Paris included among the foreign corresponding members Jackson and Ferrier. Dejerine, Fulgence Raymond and Pierre Marie developed Charcot's work and received in Paris foreign neurologists, among which Samuel Alexander Kinnier Wilson who spent one year in Paris in 1903 with Pierre Marie. He returned to Queen Square and King's College Hospital and remained in contact with French neurology. Wilson presented in Paris in 1912 a new disease he called progressive lenticular degeneration with cirrhosis of the liver (Wilson's disease). During the early 20th century, Anglo-French connections were emphasized in international congresses, notably in 1900 in Paris and in 1913 in London, where Joseph Babinski made his lecture on the cerebellar syndrome. In 1914, the Societe de Neurologie de Paris elected 10 new foreign corresponding members from Great Britain. Since then, Anglo-French links have continued with other young promising neurologists travelling from France to the United Kingdom and vice-versa.

This opinion paper introduces a special series of articles dedicated to freshwater benthic algae and their use in assessment and monitoring. This special series was inspired by talks presented at the 9th International Congress on the Use of Algae for Monitoring Rivers and Comparable Habitats (Trento, Italy, 2015), the latest of a series of meetings started in 1991.In this paper, we will first provide a brief overview of phytobenthos methods in Europe. Then, we will turn towards the ‘dark side’ of phytobenthos and describe four particular problems for phytobenthos assessment in the European Union: (1) over-reliance on a single group of algae (mostly diatoms) to the exclusion of other groups; (2) relatively low adoption of benthic algae for ecological assessments in lakes; (3) absence of measures of phytobenthos abundance; (4) approaches used to define boundaries between ecological classes.Following this, we evaluate the strengths and limitations of current phytobenthos assessment methods against 12 criteria for method evaluation addressing four areas: ecological rationale, performance, feasibility of implementation, and use in communication and management. Using these criteria, we identify and discuss three general challenges for those developing new methods for phytobenthos-based assessment: a weak ecological rationale and insufficient consideration of the role of phytobenthos as a diagnostic tool and for communicating ecosystem health beyond a narrow group of specialists.The papers in the special series allow a comparison with the situation and approaches in the USA, present new methods for the assessment of ecological status and acidification, provide tools for an improved management of headwaters and petrifying springs, discuss the utility of phytobenthos for lake assessments, and test the utility of functional measures (such as biofilm phosphorus uptake capacity, PUC).

In the present chapter the authors present a brief overview of the diagnostic methods proposed over time for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) spread detection, moving from surgical procedures, through standard radiological and functional imaging techniques to the present state of the art for HL staging. The main body of the review will be dedicated to the recently published guidelines for lymphoma staging (including HL) agreed by the experts during the 12th International Congress for Malignant Lymphoma in Lugano. The recommendations of the panel on how to integrate flurodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan in the armamentarium of staging procedures will be presented and commented, with a special emphasis on the utility of special procedures, such as bone marrow trephine biopsy, which is deemed no longer needed in the PET era. While the HL diagnosis is straightforward in most cases, sometimes HL is a subtle disease, difficult to diagnose for the paucity of symptoms, the absence of physical findings, or for concomitant immunologic disorders: a compete overview of the common and rare patterns of HL clinical presentation will be also offered. The future perspective of PET scan use will be based on a operator-independent, quantitative readings of the scan thanks to a plethora of sophisticated dedicated software, which are now available, able to quantify every voxel captured by the tumor to display the metabolically active tumor volume. Moreover, new tracers are now available able to track the new pathways of cellular metabolism beside glycolysis such as amino acids or purine-analogues or specific oncoproteins; the preliminary, promising results will be reported. Preliminary results from other imaging techniques, such as diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (DW-MRI) will be also reported.

24th Biennial International Congress on Thrombosis – EMLTD Congress 2016 4–7 May 2016, Istanbul, Turkey

Transcanal endoscopic ear surgery provides a minimally invasive approach to the middle ear. We operate exclusively by the two handed technique of endoscopic ear surgery with Endoscope holders. We have incorporated the technique of stay suture for retraction of external ear canal into our practice of transcanal two handed endoscopic ear surgery after observing this technique by Prof Muaaz Tarabichi at the First International Congress on Endoscopic ear surgery Dubai, April 2015 for the single handed endoscopic ear surgery. Aim To report our experience of the stay suture in transcanal two handed endoscopic ear surgery and highlight its advantages. Design Prospective non randomized clinical study. Methods and materials A total of 354 two handed transcanal endoscopic ear surgeries (202 endoscopic cartilage tympanoplasties and 152 endoscopic attic cholesteatoma surgeries) with endoscope holders operated from May 2015 to September 2017 with the stay suture were included in the study. Results The ear canal and the tympanic membrane visualisation, instrument manipulation were better with the stay suture technique of pinna retraction. Conclusion The study reports the successful application and use of the pinna stay suture. It is a good option during two handed technique in Endoscopic Ear Surgery for pinna retraction. Level of evidence: Level 4.

The 12th International Food Data Conference (IFDC) was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 11 to 13 October 2017. It was organized by Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Biologica and International Network of Data System/FAO (INSIBIO and INFOODS/FAO) as a pre-conference of the 21th International Congress of Nutrition (ICN2017). The theme was “From Food Composition to Better Policies and Programmes in Nutrition and Agriculture”. A total of 152 delegates from 37 countries participated in the Conference. The programme included one keynote address, 46 oral presentations and 82 poster displays. The conference programme along with the Power Point files of the oral presentations are available on the conference website ( http://www.ifdc2017.com/ ). The Conference was very successful, with high-quality scientific oral presentations and posters, and very satisfactory participation. The participants were able to exchange knowledge and personal experiences, and develop new ideas while discussing current research and other matters.

ICHNO International Congress on innovative approaches in Head and Neck Oncology (7th, 2019, Barcelona, Spain)

A lot of research has indicated that the way students are taught has a strong influence and impact on their ideas about the subject and how the subject should be taught. In 1908 at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Rome the great mathematician Felix Klein (1849 - 1925) talked about the paradox of double forgetting. The essence of the paradox is the life experience of young teachers who have to forget about a lot of university training and its scientific thinking to successfully teach mathematics. This phenomenon currently persists at Slovak primary and secondary schools. The problem is especially striking in teaching geometry. Many Slovak and Czech teachers agree that geometry has many applications in everyday life, but there is not enough “real-life” everyday problems in Slovak mathematics textbooks which are structured according to the deductive approach to teaching and learning. Based on the concept of realistic mathematics education, we deal with the implementation of special geometrical tasks called topographical tasks in teacher training. Our findings are based on real experiences teaching through workshops devoted to topographical tasks which were realized during two school lessons. In the conclusion we analysed the benefits of this new approach to active teaching. The studentś solutions to the tasks and their methodological analysis are included, too.

A brief summary of the 2015 International Congress on Ultrasonics is presented. The 2015 ICU has taken place in Metz, France, at the Arsenal and was hosted by Georgia Tech Lorraine in collaboration with the French Acoustical Society. The congress hosted a record number of 700 participants. The report focuses on the awards presented during the congress, the invited speakers and some statistics. Other details can be found in reports available on the congress website. The author N. F. Declercq, president of 2015 ICU and Editor of the congress proceedings, wishes to publish the congress proceedings in loving memory of his father Maurice Alois who suddenly passed away 5 weeks after the end of the congress.

The second edition of the workshop dedicated to cardiolipin, the signature lipid of mitochondria, was held as a satellite meeting of the 13th Euro Fed Lipid international congress in Florence, Italy, at the end of September 2015. During the workshop various aspects of basic cardiolipin functions in biomembranes of prokaryotes and animal cells were discussed, highlighting connections between cardiolipin research and human physiology in particular. Alteration of the cardiolipin species pattern and a parallel increase of monolysocardiolipin is the hallmark of Barth syndrome, an X linked genetic disease. Furthermore literature reports suggest the involvement of cardiolipin in other pathologies associated with an imbalance in bioenergetic functions, such as diabetes. The Cardiolipin Workshop was a low budget meeting sponsored by the University of Bari Aldo Moro and the Barth Syndrome Foundation. The organizers are grateful to the invited speakers, poster presenters and chairpersons as they supported the meeting by sustaining their travel and lodging expenses. Before the starting of the scientific sessions, the families of Italian boys affected by Barth syndrome (recently affiliated with the Barth Syndrome Foundation, USA) could meet scientists, biologists and pediatricians involved in research, diagnosis and cure of the disease. The family meeting was chaired by Daniela Toniolo, who discovered the tafazzin gene in 1997.

ERPA International Congress on Education (ERPA) -- JUN 06-08, 2014 -- Istanbul Univ, Istanbul, TURKEY, WOS: 000348253300177, To make a difference and to be in a better place in competition, education institutions have focused on the education of the gifted or talented children. Many institutes in education field are collaborating with other sectors and making unique education strategies. However to reach this goal, the gifted or talented children should be recognised, and the knowledge, equipment, model etc. should be important. This study aims to evaluate the education and management model of Istanbul Beyazit Ford Otosan Primary School for gifted or talented children that is the application school of the result of the protocol signed between T.C. Ministry of Education and Istanbul University in 2002.The importance of the Istanbul Beyazit Ford Otosan Primary School For Gifted Or Talented Children, its place in education and the differences and deficiencies are explored in this study. This model is examined using conducted surveys constructed with face to face interaction with managers, teachers and students.In 2002-2003 education year, Istanbul University Hasan Ali Yucel Education Faculty has started to train class teachers that can adress students with high intelligence first time in Turkiye in "Gifted Education" department. In paralel, a differentiated curriculum program is started as a pilot project in Istanbul Beyazit Ford Otosan Primary School. Although this school can no longer educate these children with individual characteristics because of the 4 vertical bar 4 vertical bar 4 education system, it is worthwhile to be examined as a model. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd., ERPA

Vasoconstriction accompanied by changes in skin color is a normal physiologic response to cold. The distinction between this normal physiology and Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) has yet to be well characterized. In anticipation of the 9th International Congress on Autoimmunity, a panel of 12 RP experts from 9 different institutes and four different countries were assembled for a Delphi exercise to establish new diagnostic criteria for RP. Relevant investigators with highly cited manuscripts in Raynaud’s-related research were identified using the Web of Science and invited to participate. Surveys at each stage were administered to participants via the on-line SurveyMonkey software tool. The participants evaluated the level of appropriateness of statements using a scale of 1 (extremely inappropriate) through 9 (extremely appropriate). In the second stage, panel participants were asked to rank rewritten items from the first round that were scored as “uncertain” for the diagnosis of RP, items with significant disagreement (Disagreement Index > 1), and new items suggested by the panel. Results were analyzed using the Interpercentile Range Adjusted for Symmetry (IPRAS) method. A 3-Step Approach to diagnose RP was then developed using items the panelists “agreed” were “appropriate” diagnostic criteria. In the final stage, the panel was presented with the newly developed diagnostic criteria and asked to rate them against previous models. Following the first two iterations of the Delphi exercise, the panel of 12 experts agreed that 36 of the items were “appropriate,” 12 items had “uncertain” appropriateness, and 13 items were “inappropriate” to use in the diagnostic criteria of RP. Using an expert committee, we developed a 3-Step Approach for the diagnosis of RP and 5 additional criteria for the diagnosis of primary RP. The committee came to an agreement that the proposed criteria were “appropriate and accurate” for use by physicians to diagnose patients with RP.

Introduction Neurophysiology is a young discipline in Morocco. The first department of Neurophysiology was created in 2003 in Rabat. It is the fruit of the collaboration of the various factors of neurosciences as well clinical as fundamental. The objective of this study is to describe the evolution of clinical neurophysiology and its future prospects within the International Federation of Neurophysiology. Methods The first department of neurology in Morocco was created in 1978 by two doctors trained in hospitals in France. This unit dedicated to neurological diseases was established at the University Hospital of Rabat, the first teaching university hospital in Morocco. Currently, there are 160 qualified neurologists in Morocco. Indeed, for clinical neurophysiology as an independent department of neurology, started in 2003 in Rabat. This department was followed by the creation of another service within the Rabat University Military Teaching Hospital. Some hospitals integrate neurophysiological explorations in a department of general clinical explorations as in Fez, while others keep them attached to neurology services “Marrakech, Oujda, Casablanca …”. Results The Clinical Neurophysiology Service in Rabat has two EEG video rooms, two EEG rooms, two EMG rooms and one EP room. The military structure also has a study unit for sleep disorders. Many programs, besides routine activities, have taken place. Thanks to the contacts maintained with the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology at the International Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology in Berlin in 2014, an Association named “MOROCCAN SOCIETY OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY” non-profit organization in accordance with the provisions of the Moroccan law was created with a seat based in the city of Marrakech where the first Moroccan congress of neurophysiology was held in 2016 and the second jointly with the First African Congress and MENA of clinical neurophysiology in Rabat in 2017, without taking into account the practical workshops of ENMG and in EEG. Conclusion The future of the SMNP crystallizes from its main objectives: Participate in the promotion of neurophysiology, Establish links of mutual aid, friendship and exchange of experience between its members and finally contribute to the improvement the exercise of neurophysiological techniques whether in the experimental or clinical field in Morocco. Achieving these goals will continually require the support of the International Federation of Neurophysiology.

ICHNO International Congress on innovative approaches in Head and Neck Oncology (7th, 2019, Barcelona, Spain)

Clinicians, basic researchers, representatives from pharma and families from around the world met in Cordoba, Argentina in October, 2014 to discuss recent research progress at the 14th International Congress on Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (NCLs; Batten disease), a group of clinically overlapping fatal, inherited lysosomal disorders with primarily neurodegenerative symptoms. This brief review article will provide perspectives on the anticipated future directions of NCL basic and clinical research as we move towards improved diagnosis, care and treatment of NCL patients.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Current Research on the Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (Batten Disease).

On May 10th 2010 Platon Grigorevitch Kostyuk sadly left us at the age of 85. He was a talented scientist, a brilliant experimenter, an outstanding organizer of science and an excellent teacher. Platon Kostyuk was born in 1924 in Kiev, Ukraine. He obtained a double education: a graduate of the Kiev University Department of Biology in 1946 and the Kiev Medical Institute in 1949, he became a pioneer in neuroscience, the first in the Soviet Union to use microelectrodes for intracellular recording of electrical signals in neurons. Despite the difficulties for international travel for those living behind the Iron Curtain, he was able to present his work at the International Congress of Physiology in Buenos Aires in 1959 and here met Prof. John Eccles who invited him to work at the University of Canberra in Australia in 1960–1961. This was the start of an outstanding international career, complementing his creative achievements in the Soviet Union. In 1966 P.G. Kostyuk became director of the Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology in Kiev, which he headed for nearly 45 years. Under his direction this Institute became a leading centre for neuroscience, renowned not only in the Soviet Union but also internationally. New directions of research were developed in cell physiology, molecular biophysics and neurophysiology. Several important discoveries were made including the development of a method for intracellular perfusion, evidence for a calcium-dependent conductance in nerve cells and the discovery of new types of ion channels. Elected to the Ukraine Academy of Science in 1969 and Grand Academician of the Soviet Academy of Science in 1974, Kostyuk has also been honoured by many international societies. He is the author of more than 650 articles, 17 monographs and 7 discoveries and was the creator and editor of two scientific journals: “Neurophysiology” and “Neuroscience”. The outstanding career and multifaceted activities of Academician Platon Kostyuk form a pyramid of achievement, at the top of which ride his research in cognition and his enthusiasm for the discovery of the secrets of Nature.

Two international scientific societies dedicated to research in neurotoxicology and neurobehavioral toxicology are the International Neurotoxicology Association (INA) and the International Congress on Occupational Health International Scientific Committee on Neurotoxicology and Psychophysiology (ICOH SCNP). From June 5-10, 2011 these two societies held a joint conference in Xi'an China entitled the Xi'an International Neurotoxicology Conference, Neurotoxicity and Neurodegeneration: Local Effect and Global Impact. At the conference two featured talks presented a brief history of the two societies. This article is a synthesis and expansion of those two presentations. The history of INA and ICOH SCNP is described in relation to the antecedent events leading to the formation of the two societies, their parallel developments, the nature of the societies and their scientific conferences, and a brief description of some of their accomplishments. Together, the historical development of these two societies is an important component of the development of the scientific discipline of neurotoxicology.