CIA, MoSSAD, NKGB and SURETE in medical research: The RAW truth.

Background: We aimed to categorize the types of productivity among published scientists and correlate them with the Nobel Prize.

Data Source: Nobel Foundation website ( www.nobelprize.

Detection of elevated antibody against calreticulin by ELISA in aged cynomolgus monkey plasma.

Calreticulin (Crt) is a molecular chaperone ubiquitously present in the endoplasmic reticulum. In non-human primates, age-related occurrence of anti-Crt antibody has not been reported. We developed an ELISA assay for an anti-Crt antibody and determined the age-related increase in the levels of anti-Crt antibody in three groups of cynomolgus monkeys: juvenile (1.

Accumulation of H+ in vacuoles induced by a marine peptide toxin, theonellamide F, in rat embryonic 3Y1 fibroblasts.

The effects of theonellamide F, a marine bicyclic peptide, on vacuolar formation in cultured cells were studied. Theonellamide F induced large vacuoles in 6 types of mammalian cells. The vacuoles induced by theonellamide F in 3Y1 cells accumulated acridine orange, a fluorescent probe indicating the presence of an acidic organelle.

Is somnambulism a distinct disorder of humans and not seen in non-human primates?

Though somnambulism (sleepwalking) is a well-recognized sleep disorder in humans, a biomedical literature search in Medline and Primate Literature bibliographic databases showed no publications on sleepwalking in non-human primates. From this finding, two inferences can be made. First is that somnambulism may be present in non-human primates; but due to limitations in expertise and methodological resources as well as narrow focus of research interest, until now researchers have not detected it in wild and/or captive conditions.

The JaICA-genox oxidative stress profile--an overview on the profiling technique in the oxidative stress assessment and management.

It is widely accepted that oxidative stress (OS) is a major causative factor for many of the age-related dysfunctions and specific diseases. Since the oxidative stress state (OSS) of an individual depends on hereditary, dietary, and environmental factors, there is a large heterogeneity in the population that may be related to disease incidence and longevity. Hence there is a need to assess how well an individual is coping against OS.

Alfred Nobel's unusual creativity: an analysis.

Howard Gardner identified five different kinds of creative activity among eminent creators, namely, solving a well-defined problem, putting forth a general conceptual scheme, creating a product that embodies ideas, stylized innovation of an art form, and a 'high-stakes' performance in the socio-political arena. In this paper, I report that Alfred Nobel's creativity can be assigned to two mutually exclusive domains. In the scientific domain, he solved a well-defined problem of his time in the study of explosives, by patenting dynamite, creating blasting gelatin as an ideal explosive and developing a nearly smokeless blasting powder.

Could nitroglycerine poisoning be the cause of Alfred Nobel's anginal pains and premature death?

The life of 19th century Swedish chemist cum inventor Alfred Nobel can be conveniently divided into two equal phases: pre-nitroglycerine phase (1833-1863) and nitroglycerine phase (1864-1896). According to the records of Ragnar Sohlman, his assistant during his last year of life, Nobel's physical condition began to decline towards the end of the 1870s, and for the last 16 years he suffered from deep depression and anginal pains. Based on Nobel's descriptions of his condition, on his prolonged experimentation with explosives, his strenuous work habit and some recent knowledge about nitroglycerine poisoning, I hypothesize that nitroglycerine poisoning was an aggravating factor which contributed to Nobel's deteriorating health and premature death at the age of 63.

Carnosine sustains the retention of cell morphology in continuous fibroblast culture subjected to nutritional insult.

L- Carnosine (beta-alanyl L-histidine), occurring abundantly in skeletal muscles, has been suggested to possess antioxidant and anti-aging properties. Using three different experimental approaches (microscopic, flow cytometric and ELISA for one of the markers of DNA oxidative damage) this study on rat embryonic fibroblasts demonstrates that L-carnosine at 30 mM concentration sustains the retention of cell morphology even during a nutritional insult for five weeks. Also, L-carnosine significantly reduces the formation of 8-hydroxy deoxyguanosine (8-OH dG) in the cells after four weeks of continuous culture.

Scientific productivity of Einstein, Freud and Landsteiner.

The scientific productivity of Albert Einstein was compared to that of designated controls Karl Landsteiner (an experimental scientist) and Sigmund Freud (an eminent theorist). Three assumptions made for this comparison were (1) that Einstein and his designated controls had equal scientific stature; (2) that their publications were produced in a similar, if not identical, sociocultural milieu; and (3) the number of publications is directly proportional to scientific productivity. At the end of their illustrious careers, Einstein, Freud and Landsteiner accumulated 315, 320 and 345 scientific publications respectively.

Einstein's medical friends and their influence on his life.

Albert Einstein had at least six medical friends who influenced his thoughts. In each period (Munich, Switzerland, Berlin and Princeton) of his life, one could identify the medically qualified individuals with whom Einstein was in close contact. These include Max Talmey, Heinrich Zangger, George Nicolai, Hans Mühsam, Janos Plesch and Gustav Bucky.

Pros and cons in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

I propose a new term, 'galactic organism with distinct intelligence', for the extraterrestrial forms, with which humans can make contact. This is because, among the three existing terms: (a) 'the search for extraterrestrial intelligence' 'excludes biology and is inelegant'; (b) 'extraterrestrial' does not distinguish between the micro-organisms and highly-evolved intelligent life-forms; and (c) 'unidentified flying object' projects a sense of mysticism. On the presence of galactic organisms with distinct intelligence, scientists belong to three camps.

Seasonal variation in levels of prostaglandins D2, E2 and F2(alpha) in the brain of a mammalian hibernator, the Asian chipmunk.

Seasonal changes in the in vivo levels of the prostaglandins (PGs) PGD2, PGE2, and PGF2(alpha) were measured in the brain of the male Asian chipmunk, Tamias asiaticus (n = 111), which underwent hibernation during the period between November and March. The mean level of PGD2 ranged from 36.0 to 85.

The blood revolution initiated by the famous footnote of Karl Landsteiner's 1900 paper.

A 1900 publication authored by Karl Landsteiner, at the age of 32 years, contained a footnote which stated that, "the serum of healthy human beings not only agglutinates animal red cells, but also often those of human origin, from other individuals". He followed up this statement in his 1901 paper, and concluded that, "My observations reveal characteristic differences between blood serum and red blood cells of various apparently healthy persons" and that "the reported observations may assist in the explanation of various consequences of therapeutical blood transfusions". These significant observations resulted in the discovery of A, B, O and AB blood groups and later led to successful blood transfusions in humans.

Is Karl Landsteiner the Einstein of the biomedical sciences?

If Albert Einstein is the acclaimed peerless genius among the physical scientists of this century, who can claim the equivalent title among the biomedical scientists? The research contributions of 24 Nobelists in medicine (contemporaries of Einstein) who received the Nobel prize between 1912 and 1966 were analyzed. When assessed on three criteria, (a) influence in multiple disciplines, (b) revolutionary in opening new vistas of knowledge, and (c) significant impact to human life, Karl Landsteiner's discoveries of the human blood groups stand out prominently. Thus, Landsteiner seems an appropriate choice to use as a 'control' to analyze Einstein's productivity.

Prostaglandin D2-sensitive, sleep-promoting zone defined in the ventral surface of the rostral basal forebrain.

The site of action for the sleep-promoting effect of prostaglandin (PG) D2 was extensively examined in the brain of adult male rats (n = 231). PGD2 was administered at 100 pmol/0.2 microliter per min for 6 hr (2300-0500 hr) through chronically implanted microdialysis probes or infusion cannulae.

An appraisal of Albert Einstein's chronic illness.

For the last 39 of his 76 years of life, physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) suffered from chronic illness. His health problems were primarily related to multiple complications of digestive system disorders; liver ailment, stomach ulcer, inflammation of gall bladder, jaundice and intestinal pains. Based on the published autobiographical records and biographies written by his secretary Helen Dukas and collaborators such as Philipp Frank and Banesh Hoffmann, this paper appraises the chronic illness of Einstein.

Histamine-interleukin-prostaglandin pathway: a hypothesis for a biochemical cycle regulating sleep and wakefulness.

The probable existence of a biochemical cycle, involving histamine, interleukins and prostaglandins for regulating sleep and wakefulness in higher vertebrates is proposed in this paper. For convenience, it is given an acronym, H-I-P cycle. The proposed biochemical cycle consists of 13 essential steps, with four regulatory points.

Intravenous administration of inorganic selenium compounds, inhibitors of prostaglandin D synthase, inhibits sleep in freely moving rats.

Prostaglandin (PG) D2 has been postulated to be an endogenous sleep-promoting factor. Biosynthesis of PGD2 is catalyzed by PGD synthase (prostaglandin-H2 D-isomerase, EC 5.3.

Clues to prolific productivity among prominent scientists.

In a survey based on the biographical sketches, obituary notes and eulogies of notable scientists, eight were identified as belonging to an elite group, having authored more than 1000 research publications, which include books, monographs and patents. They were, in chronological order, Thomas Alva Edison, Paul Karrer, Margaret Mead, Giulio Natta, Hans Selye, Herbert C Brown, Tetsuji Kametani and Carl Djerassi. Among these, Karrer, Natta and Brown were Nobelists in chemistry.