[Dr. Valentin Grandis and Dr. Virgilio Ducceschi, two italian masters who initiated Experimental Physiology at the Faculty of Medical Sciences - Universidad Nacional De Cordoba (Argentina)] / Dr. Valentin Grandis y Dr. Virgilio Ducceschi, Dos maestros italianos iniciadores de la Fisiología experimental en la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas - UNC.

This paper examines the significant contribution of Dr. Valentín Grandis and Dr. Virgilio Ducceschi to the founding and development of experimental physiology at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National University of Córdoba (UNC), Argentina. Although the most notable contribution to the field of experimental physiology in Argentina is attributed to Bernardo Alberto Houssay, this study highlights the importance of the previous and fundamental efforts of Grandis and Ducceschi, two Italian professors whose work in Buenos Aires and Córdoba laid the foundations for research and teaching in this discipline. The paper details how, in 1904, the arrival of Valentin Grandis at the UNC marked the formal beginning of the teaching and practice of experimental physiology at the institution, followed by the incorporation of Virgilio Ducceschi, who continued and expanded Grandis' legacy. The work of these two Italian masters involved not only the installation of a state-of-the-art laboratory but also the establishment of a solid academic and scientific foundation that would influence future generations of Argentine physicians and researchers. Through a detailed analysis of their biographies, scientific contributions, and the impact of their work, this paper illustrates how Grandis and Ducceschi were key figures in the development of medical science in Argentina, particularly in the field of experimental physiology. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of their educational approach and their ability to train disciples who would continue their research, thus ensuring the permanence of their legacy at the National University of Córdoba and in Argentine science in general. In conclusion, this paper vindicates and celebrates the contributions of Valentín Grandis and Virgilio Ducceschi to the initiation of research and experimentation in physiology and biological chemistry at the UNC, highlighting their importance in the advancement of medicine and science in Argentina.

Este trabajo examina el significativo aporte de los doctores Valentín Grandis y Virgilio Ducceschi a la fundación y desarrollo de la fisiología experimental en la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), Argentina. A pesar de que la contribución más notable en el campo de la fisiología experimental en Argentina se atribuye a Bernardo Alberto Houssay, este estudio destaca la importancia de los esfuerzos previos y fundamentales de Grandis y Ducceschi, dos profesores italianos cuyo trabajo en Buenos Aires y Córdoba sentó las bases para la investigación y la enseñanza de esta disciplina.   El trabajo detalla cómo, en 1904, la llegada de Valentín Grandis a la UNC marcó el inicio formal de la enseñanza y práctica de la fisiología experimental en la institución, seguida por la incorporación de Virgilio Ducceschi, quien continuó y expandió el legado de Grandis. La labor de estos dos maestros italianos no solo involucró la instalación de un laboratorio de vanguardia sino también el establecimiento de una sólida base académica y científica que influiría en generaciones futuras de médicos e investigadores argentinos.   A través de un análisis detallado de sus biografías, contribuciones científicas, y el impacto de su trabajo, este documento ilustra cómo Grandis y Ducceschi fueron figuras clave en el desarrollo de la ciencia médica en Argentina, particularmente en el ámbito de la fisiología experimental. Además, el estudio resalta la importancia de su enfoque educativo y su capacidad para formar discípulos que continuarían sus investigaciones, asegurando así la permanencia de su legado en la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba y en la ciencia argentina en general.   En conclusión, el presente trabajo reivindica y celebra las contribuciones de Valentín Grandis y Virgilio Ducceschi al inicio de la investigación y experimentación en fisiología y química biológica en la UNC, subrayando su importancia en el avance de la medicina y la ciencia en Argentina.

[About the first publication of I.M. Sechenov. (To the 195th anniversary of his birth)]. / O pervoi publikatsii I.M. Sechenova. (K 195-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya).

Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov is a Russian physiologist, a natural scientist, and the creator of the Russian physiological school. The classic work «Reflexes of the Brain¼, published in 1863, became revolutionary in its own way for medicine and society, since the reflex nature of conscious and unconscious activity was proved. Along with numerous well-known scientific works, there is an early student publication in the Moscow Medical Journal published by A. I. Polunin. It describes the medical history of a patient with a tumor who was unsuccessfully treated for a long time in accordance with the humoral theory of pathology. This publication makes it possible to understand why I. M. Sechenov became disillusioned with practical medicine, but found his vocation in the study of physiology. The article is devoted to the 195th anniversary of the birth of I. M. Sechenov.

Aspectos de la vida y obra del Dr. Bernardo Alberto Houssay / Aspects of the life and work of Dr. Bernardo Alberto Houssay

Con motivo del Día Mundial de la Ciencia y la Tecnología, se realizó en la Casa Museo Bernardo Houssay un conversatorio en el que expertos biógrafos resaltaron algunos aspectos de la trayectoria profesional del Premio Nobel de Medicina de 1947, destacando su actividad como investigador en fisiología y sus cualidades humanas. Estos importantes estudiosos del tema compartieron sus conocimientos en un selecto auditorio. (AU)

On the occasion of World Science and Technology Day, a discussion was held at the Bernardo Houssay House Museum in which expert biographers highlighted some aspects of the professional career of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Medicine, highlighting his activity as a researcher in physiology and his human qualities. These important scholars of the subject shared their knowledge in a select audience. (AU)

A century of exercise physiology: key concepts in neural control of the circulation.

Early in the twentieth century, Walter B. Cannon (1871-1945) introduced his overarching hypothesis of "homeostasis" (Cannon 1932)-the ability to sustain physiological values within a narrow range necessary for life during periods of stress. Physical exercise represents a stress in which motor, respiratory and cardiovascular systems must be integrated across a range of metabolic stress to match oxygen delivery to oxygen need at the cellular level, together with appropriate thermoregulatory control, blood pressure adjustments and energy provision. Of these, blood pressure regulation is a complex but controlled variable, being the function of cardiac output and vascular resistance (or conductance). Key in understanding blood pressure control during exercise is the coordinating role of the autonomic nervous system. A long history outlines the development of these concepts and how they are integrated within the exercise context. This review focuses on the renaissance observations and thinking generated in the first three decades of the twentieth century that opened the doorway to new concepts of inquiry in cardiovascular regulation during exercise. The concepts addressed here include the following: (1) exercise and blood pressure, (2) central command, (3) neurovascular transduction with emphasis on the sympathetic nerve activity and the vascular end organ response, and (4) tonic neurovascular integration.

Ferid Murad (1936-2023).

Physician-scientist who discovered NO signaling.

[Johannes Müller (1801-1858) and his school: pioneer and giant of German physiology]. / Johannes Müller (1801­1858) und seine Schule ­ Wegbereiter und Gigant der deutschen Physiologie.

Johannes Müller was indisputably the most versatile and brilliant physiologist in the mid-nineteenth century. Müller was born in Koblenz in 1801 as the eldest of five children. He received an excellent education in mathematics and the ancient languages and was thus able to read with ease the writings of Aristotle in the original.He served a year with the Pioneers after graduating from high school in 1818. In 1819 he enrolled at the University of Bonn. In 1821, while still a student, he was awarded the scientific university prize for his work on foetal respiration. Müller received his doctorate at the university of Bonn in 1822. He moved to Berlin, where he continued to attend lectures by the anatomist Karl Asmund Rudolphi.He obtained his habilitation in physiology and comparative anatomy in 1824. After his years in Bonn, he accepted a chair at the University of Berlin in 1833 as Rudolphi's successor. His famous "Handbuch der Physiologie" (1833-1840) was published in Berlin. Müller's main areas of interest were physiology, human anatomy, comparative anatomy and anatomical pathology.Müller has numerous publications in addition to his famous book on physiology. He and his distinguished students (Emil du Bois-Reymond, Ernst Haeckel, Hermann von Helmholtz, Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, Carl Ludwig, Theodor Schwann and Rudolf Virchow amongst others) made the Berlin Physiological Institute world famous. The natural-philosophical approach to medicine that was still dominant at the beginning of the 19th century was increasingly replaced by a scientifically oriented methodology by Müller.

Claude Bernard and life in the laboratory.

Much has been written on Claude Bernard as a relentless promoter of the experimental method in physiology. Although the paper will touch Bernard's experimental intuitions and his experimental practice as well, its focus is slightly different. It will address the laboratory, that is, the space in which experimentation in the life sciences takes place, and it will analyze the scattered remarks that Bernard made on the topic both in his books and in his posthumously published writings. The paper is divided into four parts. The introduction briefly sketches the coming into being of the physiological laboratory in the first half of the nineteenth century. The second section will give an overview of Claude Bernard's own itinerary in physiology and his personal laboratory experience. The third part of the paper will have a look at the image of the laboratory that Claude depicted in his Introduction to Experimental Medicine. In the subsequent section and by contrast, the image of the laboratory will come into focus as it can be reconstructed from Bernard's notebook that he kept between 1850 and 1860, the Cahier rouge. Finally, the fifth part of the paper will spotlight Claude Bernard's comparison of the sciences and the arts and their respective practices. A brief concluding statement tries to summarize Bernard's epistemological position toward experimentally practiced science.

[Beginning of the teaching of Physiology in Chile]. / Inicio de la enseñanza de la Fisiología en Chile.

This work intends to present the beginning and early development of physiological studies in Chile. Physiology, as a scientific discipline, began to be taught from the moment the School of Medicine was founded in 1833, closely associated with anatomy and hygiene. The three disciplines were taught by the same professor. His first professor was the outstanding Chilean anatomist Pedro Morán, who was continued by the outstanding professors Dr. Julio Francisco Lafargue and Dr. Vicente Padín del Valle. In a second period (1868-1901), the teaching of physiology was severely weakened, as it was taught by various clinicians who did not know this discipline in depth. After this initial period (1833-1900), which we could call the theoretical stage, the so-called experimental physiology was born, which, through classes with experimental demonstrations and then practical work, tried to bring the student closer to the reality of the physiological phenomenon.

Kresimir Krnjevic (1927-2021) and GABAergic inhibition: a lifetime dedication.

After over seven decades of neuroscience research, it is now well established that γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. In this paper dedicated to Kresimir Krnjevic (1927-2021), a pioneer and leader in neuroscience, we briefly highlight the fundamental contributions he made in identifying GABA as an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and our personal interactions with him. Of note, between 1972 and 1978 Dr. Krnjevic was a highly reputed Chief Editor of the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology.

[Unfairly Forgotten: Carl Ludwig: The Founder of Modern Physiology]. / Zu Unrecht vergessen: Carl Ludwig, Begründer der modernen Physiologie.

Cardiovascular physiology was the dominant area of research for Ludwig. He developed instruments to record hemodynamic and other physiologic events accurately, allowing him to identify previously unrecognized physiologic relationships.His classical textbook of physiology challenged traditional scientific theories and suggested new concepts. His ultimate aim was to describe nature in a mathematic manner "that in the organism no other forces are active but the common physicochemical". ("Organic physicist").His scientific program attracted medical graduates from Europe, Asia and America. Ludwig's scientific ability and personality were the major factors for the success of his research program. His intellectual generosity and unselfishness in order to promote the careers of his pupils is legendary. He put scientific research and results ahead of personal recognition. He mentored his colleagues and pupils without ever putting himself or his own interests ahead of everybody else. He decided to forgo academic recognition and did not play political games.