- Email: [email protected]
Website in brief
more distressingly artificial: the reanimation of what Godard called “death 24 times per second”. Hitchcock himself borrowed widely from the history of art—Edward Hopper’s House on a Hill for P s y c h o, John Everett Millais Ophelia for Kim Novak’s drowning scene in Vertigo, Salvador Dali’s dreamscapes in S p e l l b o u n d—but what made his work so successful was that these borrowings were never pointed, they were simply part of the appeal to a sense of collective consciousness that allowed him to intimate such knowing chill. In this sense, Cindy Sherman is his equal. Her untitled film stills and large-scale colour photographs
The Nobel Chronicles hree scientists shared the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning “the humoral transmitters in the nerve terminals and the mechanisms for their storage, release and inactivation”. Born in Leipzig, Bernard Katz (figure, left) studied medicine there and obtained a doctorate in physiology from the University of London. He served briefly in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II before returning to London. Focusing their interest on neurotransmitter research, Katz and colleagues used minute electrolyte-filled glass pipettes with 0·5 micron tips and recorded motor end-plate potentials during acetylcholinemediated synaptic transmissions. They found that small amounts of acetylcholine were released con-
T
acknowledge the extent to which we live in a world shaped by the conventions of cinema. In her theatre of ambiguous scenarios, glamour and honour play equal parts, but Sherman takes these fears and obsessions further, testing our desire against our level of tolerance. These works do not refer specifically to Hitchcock, and they are not subsidiary to his fame, but we recognise him in them. Sherman’s photographs stand out as artwork in their own right. Much of the rest leaves me wondering: who is this about, him or them?
Catherine Wood 153 Grove Lane, London SE5 8NG, UK
Website in brief Children reveal their pain “This is an abomination”, says a UN Special Representative in an audio clip introducing the Children of Conflict website. The site offers a disturbing window onto the experiences of children in war zones around the world and explores the plight of child soldiers, wounded or lost children, child workers, and child-headed households. Children reveal their thoughts and feelings text and audio clips in their own languages (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ worldservice/childrenofconflict/). Marilynn Larkin
[email protected]
stantly from the terminal reuptake in the brain vesicles of the neurons, became central to the disproving the prevalent understanding of the view that during rest neumechanism of action of rons did not transmit any neuropharmacological signals. In 1977, Katz agents, and to the develalso discovered that the opment of drugs for release of acetylcholine many psychotic disor1970: Bernard Katz was due to the movement ders. Axelrod also dis(b 1911), Ulf of calcium ions a c r o s s covered the role of the Svante von Euler neuronal gaps. pineal gland in the syn(1905-1983), and Julius Axelrod (figure, thesis of melatonin. Julius Axelrod middle) was born in New Both the father and (b 1912) York. In 1949, he joined grandfather of Ulf von the National Institutes of Euler (figure, right) Health as a research scientist. were Nobel laureates in chemistry, in Focusing his work on sympath1929 and 1903, respectively. Von omimetic amines and their metaboEuler was born in Stockholm and lism, Axelrod discovered (and obtained his medical degree at the named) catechol-ø-methyltransKarolinska Institute, where he also ferase (COMT), an enzyme that worked much of his life. He discovcatabolised norepinephrine. He also ered the neurotransmitter norepidiscovered a new class of microsonephrine and characterised its mal enzymes in hepatic cells, later pharmacology and metabolism. named cytochrome P-450 monooxyRespected as one of the rare intellecgenases. His work on norepinephrine tual giants from the classical era of release, activation, storage, and physiology and pharmacology, von Euler made two other important discoveries early in his career. Working with Henry Dale in London, he isolated “substance P” in 1931. In 1935, he discovered and isolated a new chemical from the prostate glands of sheep and human beings, which he named “prostaglandin”.
Tonse NK Raju University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA
THE LANCET • Vol 354 • September 4, 1999
873
The Nobel Chronicles hree scientists shared the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning “the humoral transmitters in the nerve terminals and the mechanisms for their storage, release and inactivation”. Born in Leipzig, Bernard Katz (figure, left) studied medicine there and obtained a doctorate in physiology from the University of London. He served briefly in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II before returning to London. Focusing their interest on neurotransmitter research, Katz and colleagues used minute electrolyte-filled glass pipettes with 0·5 micron tips and recorded motor end-plate potentials during acetylcholinemediated synaptic transmissions. They found that small amounts of acetylcholine were released con-
T
acknowledge the extent to which we live in a world shaped by the conventions of cinema. In her theatre of ambiguous scenarios, glamour and honour play equal parts, but Sherman takes these fears and obsessions further, testing our desire against our level of tolerance. These works do not refer specifically to Hitchcock, and they are not subsidiary to his fame, but we recognise him in them. Sherman’s photographs stand out as artwork in their own right. Much of the rest leaves me wondering: who is this about, him or them?
Catherine Wood 153 Grove Lane, London SE5 8NG, UK
Website in brief Children reveal their pain “This is an abomination”, says a UN Special Representative in an audio clip introducing the Children of Conflict website. The site offers a disturbing window onto the experiences of children in war zones around the world and explores the plight of child soldiers, wounded or lost children, child workers, and child-headed households. Children reveal their thoughts and feelings text and audio clips in their own languages (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ worldservice/childrenofconflict/). Marilynn Larkin
[email protected]
stantly from the terminal reuptake in the brain vesicles of the neurons, became central to the disproving the prevalent understanding of the view that during rest neumechanism of action of rons did not transmit any neuropharmacological signals. In 1977, Katz agents, and to the develalso discovered that the opment of drugs for release of acetylcholine many psychotic disor1970: Bernard Katz was due to the movement ders. Axelrod also dis(b 1911), Ulf of calcium ions a c r o s s covered the role of the Svante von Euler neuronal gaps. pineal gland in the syn(1905-1983), and Julius Axelrod (figure, thesis of melatonin. Julius Axelrod middle) was born in New Both the father and (b 1912) York. In 1949, he joined grandfather of Ulf von the National Institutes of Euler (figure, right) Health as a research scientist. were Nobel laureates in chemistry, in Focusing his work on sympath1929 and 1903, respectively. Von omimetic amines and their metaboEuler was born in Stockholm and lism, Axelrod discovered (and obtained his medical degree at the named) catechol-ø-methyltransKarolinska Institute, where he also ferase (COMT), an enzyme that worked much of his life. He discovcatabolised norepinephrine. He also ered the neurotransmitter norepidiscovered a new class of microsonephrine and characterised its mal enzymes in hepatic cells, later pharmacology and metabolism. named cytochrome P-450 monooxyRespected as one of the rare intellecgenases. His work on norepinephrine tual giants from the classical era of release, activation, storage, and physiology and pharmacology, von Euler made two other important discoveries early in his career. Working with Henry Dale in London, he isolated “substance P” in 1931. In 1935, he discovered and isolated a new chemical from the prostate glands of sheep and human beings, which he named “prostaglandin”.
Tonse NK Raju University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA
THE LANCET • Vol 354 • September 4, 1999
873