Evolution of Nervous Control from Primitive Organisms to Man A Symposium organized by the Section on Medical Sciences of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and presented at the New York Meeting on December 29–30, 1956. Edited by Allan D. Bass. Pp. vii + 231. (Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science; London: Bailey Bros. and Swinfen, Ltd., 1959.) 52s.

The Central Nervous System

Freud's wish for control and Jung's pugna cious ambition precipitated their final break. In his personal relationships Jung emerges badly. His long marriage survived only because of his wife's forbearance; his notorious womanising with colleagues, pu pils and patients is now well known. His wife was induced to accept a mmnage a trois with one mistress, Toni Wolff. Jung was a charismatic, difficult personality with a â€ ̃¿ mediumistic' intuition, who attracted both men and women throughout his life. As McLynn aptly shows, he clashed with men and kept few male friends, but was always surrounded by loyal female disciples. McLynn is also fair in his treatment of the question of Jung's anti-Semitism and his ambiguous dealings with the Nazis. This biography is informative and com prehensive in its coverage of Jung's personal and public life. However, it emphasises his significance today as guru of New Age interest in Eastern thought, the paranormal and astrology, rather than recognising his place in the contemporary psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic world.

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A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac

The dictionary of national biography

Among various cancers, pediatric brain tumors represent the most common cancer type in children and the second most common cause of cancer related deaths. Anticancer drugs and therapies, such as doxorubicin (Dox), have severe side effects on patients during chemotherapy, especially for children as their bodies are still under development. These side effects are believed to be due to the lack of a delivery system with high efficacy and targeting selectivity, resulting in serious damages of normal cells. To improve the efficacy and selectivity, the transferrin (Trans) receptor mediated endocytosis can be utilized for drug delivery system design, as transferrin receptors are expressed on the blood brain barrier (BBB) and often over expressed in brain tumor cells. Carbon dots (C-Dots) have recently emerged as benign nanoparticles in biomedical applications owing to their good water solubility, tunable surface functionalities and excellent biocompatibility. The unique characteristics of C-Dots make them promising candidates for drug delivery development. In this study, carbon dots–transferrin–doxorubicin covalent conjugate (C-Dots–Trans–Dox) was synthesized, characterized by different spectroscopic techniques and investigated for the potential application as a drug delivery system for anticancer drug doxorubicin to treat pediatric brain tumors. Our in vitro results demonstrate greater uptake of the C-Dots–Trans–Dox conjugate compared to Dox alone presumably owing to the high levels of transferrin receptors on these tumor cells. Experiment showed that C-Dots–Trans–Dox at 10 nM was significantly more cytotoxic than Dox alone, reducing viability by 14–45%, across multiple pediatric brain tumor cell lines.

Transferrin conjugated nontoxic carbon dots for doxorubicin delivery to target pediatric brain tumor cells

In this engagingly written book, W F Bynum tackles one of the most interesting questions in recent medical historiography: How important was science in the actual practice of medicine before the twentieth century? Ever since socially minded scholars first discovered a few years ago that the much vaunted discoveries in laboratory science had little immediate impact on the daily lives of patients and doctors, the place of science in nineteenth-century medicine has come under increasing scrutiny and doubt. A whiff of incredulity now hangs over many of the earlier claims for science in public health and medical education, as well as in patient care. The turnof-the-century vision that medicine was about to become an experimentally based, irresistible science that would sweep all doubts before it now seems at best over-optimistic, if not hopelessly naive. Bynum's purpose in the volume, he asserts, is to \"strike a balance\" between the older heroic view of science's importance to medicine and more recent accounts of the manipulative or \"rhetorical uses\" of science in enhancing the authority and status of the medical profession. He sensibly concludes that science was indeed a critical force in shaping nineteenth-century medicine but that its impact \"was more striking on the public face of medicine, and on the diagnostic skills of doctors, than it was on their therapeutic capacities\". Fair enough, but few responsible medical leaders of the 1890s would have argued otherwise. The argument proceeds from a closely reasoned analysis of the largely empirical medicine of 1790 to an increasingly scientific clinical or hospital medicine in the early nineteenth century, then moves to an examination of the impact on thought of the new \"sanitary science\" at mid-century, and finally turns to the revolution in expectations that accompanied the spread of laboratory experimentalism at the close of the century. The book is particularly good in its treatment of the actual effects of the \"new science\" on clinical medicine and practice at the fin de siecle. Scientists by this time had established themselves as a \"separate estate\" within a medical profession that was being relentlessly changed by science. Did science matter? Indeed it did, even if much of ordinary medical practice was untouched by it. For medicine, Bynum reminds us, is far more than the mechanical application of \"cures\" to human ailments. During thousands of years, as well as in our own time, the understanding of disease, where it comes from, how it can be prevented, its prognosis, and its palliation have been principal reasons for consulting a physician. By 1900, science had made enormous gains in understanding ancient afflictions and was gaining in ways to control, palliate, and even cure them. The strengths of the book are its bold compass, the deep knowledge of the literature on which it is based, and its wise, commonsense approach to a controversial subject. Its weaknesses, according to the author, are its attention to the mainstream of medical practice to the neglect of alternative therapies, and the disproportionate emphasis at times on the British experience. But this reader was not particularly bothered by these shortcomings. The author is concerned, too, that his general approach, which finds an important place for the traditional \"heroes\" of scientific medicine, may seem too traditional or \"Whiggish\". How politically sensitive we have all become! He need not be concerned. More recent historiography and the growing realization of how deeply the nineteenth-century scientific ideal has shaped our twentieth-century medicine make his fears seem groundless.

Science and the practice of medicine in the nineteenth century

Coronary artery fistula: a review.

Central nervous system tumors are the second most common form of cancer in children between the ages of 1 and 19 years. We aimed to provide the most recent data on the incidence and survival of these tumors in the USA and to assess the literature. Frequency, rates, and survival sessions were calculated using the November 2008 submission for the US Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program. Data were collected and analyzed for children and adolescents aged 1 to 19 years with primary brain tumors. We found that the incidence rate of all pediatric brain tumors has been on a gradual but steady increase from 1973 to 2008 (p < 0.001). The average annual increase was 1.37 %. Our survival analysis of the individual tumors revealed that the 5-year overall survival for children diagnosed between 1974 and 1978 with medulloblastoma was 43.7 %. However, this increased to 62.8 % for children diagnosed between 1999 and 2003. A similar survival trend was also observed when all the other pediatric brain cancer histologies were collectively analyzed (p < 0.001). From our study, we can conclude that contrary to previous reports indicating a plateau in the incidence rates of pediatric brain tumors since the mid-1980s, there has been an increase from 1973 to 2008. Potential causes include environmental carcinogens, but more research is needed to investigate the factors behind this sustained rise in incidence over the years.

Are pediatric brain tumors on the rise in the USA? Significant incidence and survival findings from the SEER database analysis

The annular pancreas remains an intriguing congenital anomaly. Many theories have sought to explain its embryological basis; however, no consensus has yet been reached regarding the exact mechanism of aberration. More recently, molecular investigations have shed light on some of these theories, confirming the origination of annular tissue from the ventral pancreatic bud. These studies highlight the role of the hedgehog signaling pathway in the development of this anomaly. Overexpression of the ventral-specific gene transmembrane 4 superfamily member 3 (tm4sf3) has also been associated with annular formation. Moreover, isolated case reports of familial annular pancreas have also been documented, suggesting a genetic basis for the development of this anomaly. Annular pancreas can initially present in childhood or adulthood with symptoms of duodenal obstruction and is diagnosed using a variety of imaging modalities. Treatment usually involves surgical correction, with bypass procedures (e.g. duodenoduodenostomy, gastrojejunostomy or duodenojejunostomy) currently favored over annular resection due to complications associated with the latter approach.

Annular pancreas: A review of its molecular embryology, genetic basis and clinical considerations

Heinrich Obersteiner (1847–1921) was amongst the most inﬂuential neuro-scientists in the 19th century. Born into a family of physicians, he gained earlyexposure to medicine, and as a medical student, he focused much of hisresearch in neuroanatomy, eventually becoming a professor of neuroanatomyat the University of Vienna. Throughout his academic career, he focused greatlyon neuropathology, and incorporated much of his research into his textbook,“Introduction to the Study of the Structure of the Central Nervous Organs inHealth and Disease,” which was considered the foremost reference text of neu-rology for many generations of scholars. The culmination of his contributions tothe neurological world can be seen as the Neurological Institute of Vienna,which he founded in 1882. Scholars from all over the world sought out hisexpertize and tutelage. While he was the director of the Institute, over 500articles were published within the Obersteiner-Arbeiten. Much of this workhelped set the foundation for the eventual development of neurology as a med-ical discipline. A review of his life will help us better understand the legacyHeinrich Obersteiner left in the ﬁeld of neurology. Clin. Anat. 28:5–11,2015.

A glimpse of our past

Injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) is one of the most common iatrogenic complications of thyroid surgery. The anatomical course of the nerve also increases its susceptibility to injury and many variations have been documented in the literature. The topographical relationship of the RLN to the ligament of Berry has been extensively studied over the past decades. The consensus in the literature is divided with several authors reporting the nerve to be embedded within the ligament and others reporting a constant finding of the nerve being posterolateral to the ligament. A new operative concept has been recently introduced as a possible resolution for the conflicting reports among authors. Further investigations are needed, however, to assess its reliability and overall effects on clinical outcomes.

Alana John

Papers

Coronary artery fistula: a review.

Are pediatric brain tumors on the rise in the USA? Significant incidence and survival findings from the SEER database analysis

Annular pancreas: A review of its molecular embryology, genetic basis and clinical considerations

A glimpse of our past

Variations in the locations of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in relation to the ligament of Berry.