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UK • GERMANY • USA • BRAZIL • CHILE • INDIA • JAPAN • CHINA • MALAYSIA • NEW ZEALAND • AUSTRALIA PHYSIOLOGY NEWS Editorial Patricia de Winter 3 The Society’s dog. ‘Rudolf Magnus Meetings gave me to Charles Sherrington, who Physiology 2011 – University of Oxford 4 gave me to Henry Dale, who gave Epithelia & Membrane Transport, UCL 5 me to The Physiological Society in Cross Themed Meeting Stephen Kocher 6 October 1942’ The GL Brown Prize Lecture reunites with his descendants Published quarterly by The Physiological Society Helen Brown 7 The run-up to IUPS Thelma Lovick, Bridget Lumb 8 Contributions and queries Senior Production Editor My 10 key papers John Coote 10 Jill Berriman Opinion Editorial Administrator Peter Wilmshurst, a Consultant Cardiologist at the Royal Maev Fitzpatrick Shrewsbury Hospital, gives his personal experience of the The Physiological Society Publications Office PO Box 502, Cambridge CB1 0AL, UK effect of the English libel laws on scientific debate 16 Tel: +44 (0)1223 400180 Living History Fax: +44 (0)1223 246858 Bob Edwards – 2010 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine Email: [email protected] Richard Gardner 18 Website: www.physoc.org Letter from Portland, Oregon Magazine Editorial Board Rebecca St George 23 Editor History Austin Elliott R.D. Keynes (1913–2010): the legacy from two papers University of Manchester, Manchester, UK Richard Boyd 24 Deputy Editor Science News and Views Patricia de Winter Two arms as one: position and movement sense in an elbow- University College London, London, UK matching task Masahiko Izumizaki, Uwe Proske 26 Members A novel way to test human motoneurone behaviour during Angus Brown muscle fatigue Chris McNeil, Peter Martin, Simon Gandevia, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK Janet Taylor 29 Sarah Hall Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK What makes some axons more excitable than others? Munir Hussain Louise Trevillion, James Howells, Susan Tomlinson, Hugh Bostock, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK David Burke 32 John Lee NOS1, S-nitrosylation and cardiac contraction Rotherham General Hospital, Rotherham, UK Honglan Wang, Mark Ziolo 36 Thelma Lovick NO is pivotal in motor pathologies, but is it harmful or University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK protective? Bernardo Moreno-López 39 Samantha Passey The ‘cost’ of breathing in heart failure Bristol Heart Institute, Bristol, UK Thomas Olson, Bruce Johnson 42 Foreign Correspondents John Hanrahan Techniques McGill University, Montreal, Canada Western blottintg. Part II Patricia Leoni 44 John Morley Noticeboard 46 University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia Unbelievable! 47 © 2011 The Physiological Society Book reviews 48 ISSN 1476-7996 (Print) From the archives Austin Elliott 49 ISSN 2041-6512 (Online) Society pages The Physiological Society is registered in England as a Ask a physiologist! 50 company limited by guarantee: No 323575. Registered office: Peer House, Verulam Street, London The Society’s journals WC1X 8LZ. David Paterson, the new Editor-in-Chief for The Journal 51 Registered Charity: No 211585. An interview with William Large, the outgoing Editor-in-Chief 51 Printed by The Lavenham Press Ltd Optogenetics themed issue 53 Statistics: Little and often, softly softly, don’t scare the horses, oaks and acorns Gordon Drummond 54 Affiliate news Life as a Physiological Society Affiliate representative Samantha Passey 55 Dearest Affiliate Federico Formenti 55 Cover image: background, guinea pig corpus luteum (from Dr Dhia Mukhtar, University of Southampton; large photo of Bob Edwards Advancing the science of life (courtesy of Ruth Edwards): top to bottom of 3 images on left: female reproductive system (from SPL); rabbit blastocyst; and a 12 week fetus. p. 18. PHYSIOLOGY NEWS Action points Guidelines for contributors In this issue Grants These guidelines are intended to assist Welcome to the Spring 2011 The Society offers funding authors in writing their contributions and to reduce the subsequent editing Physiology News. through the following grant process. The Editorial Board of schemes: Travel Grants, Non- Physiology News tries to ensure that all The centrepiece of this issue is Society Symposia Grants, articles are written in a journalistic style obvious – Sir Richard Gardner’s Outreach Grants, International so that they will have an immediate riveting personal account of Bob Teaching and Research Grants interest value for a wide readership and Edward’s Nobel Prize winning work and the Vacation Studentship and will be readable and comprehensible to non-experts. Scientific articles should (p. 18), which Richard himself was a Departmental Seminar Schemes. give a good overview of a field rather part of in the 1960s and 70s. With For full information, please visit: than focus entirely on the authors’ own some wonderful hitherto-unseen www.physoc.org/grants research. contemporary photographs, we Format of articles hope it is a fitting tribute to Bob Membership applications The main message or question posed Edwards, a real visionary and a Applications for membership should be introduced in the first worthy (and long overdue) Nobel of The Physiological Society are paragraph. The background for the Laureate. considered on a rolling basis, topic should then be established, and a decision is normally made leading up to the final conclusion. In some ways this Spring 2011 within 15 working days. For full Length of articles issue is a kind of ‘serendipitous’ information, please visit: This will be determined by the subject special one for the history of www.physoc.org/membership matter and agreed with the Senior late 20th century physiology. Production Editor. Thus, Richard Boyd comments Is your membership information Submission of articles on the lasting legacy of another correct? Authors should submit articles as a Cambridge physiologist, Richard Please check and update your Word document attached to an email. Keynes (p. 24), while John Coote details at www.physoc.org, under Illustrations should be sent as separate gives us his ten key papers on the attachments (see below) and not ‘My Physoc Profile’. embedded in the text. brain–heart connection (p. 10), which span the years 1960–2001. Illustrations and authors’ photographs Meanwhile, nerves and muscles Authors are encouraged to submit – including heart – also form a Physiology News diagrams, drawings, photographs or (wholly spontaneous) theme in our Deadlines other artwork with their articles and a photograph of the author(s) should Science News and Views articles. Letters and articles and all other accompany submissions. Illustrations contributions for inclusion in the and photographs may be colour In Society matters, we welcome Summer 2011 issue, No. 83, or black and white, and preferably David Paterson as the new should reach the Publications TIFF, JPEG, PNG, PDF or AI files with a Editor in Chief of The Journal of minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Office ([email protected]) by Physiology (p. 51), and interview 7 April 2011. Short news items References his predecessor, William Large, and letters are encouraged, and Authors are requested to keep the now departed for retirement in number of references to a minimum – can usually be included as late the sunnier climes of Southern preferably no more than two or three. California. Though sadly we don’t copy if space permits. Please cite all references in the style of find out if William is going to be Suggestions for articles The Journal of Physiology (see Information and Guidance for Authors at surfing. Suggestions for future articles are http://jp.physoc.org). welcome. Please contact either Finally, even though 2011 is not the Editorial Administrator or a The Physiological Society permits the long underway, meeting organisers single copying of individual articles for are already gearing up for this member of the Editorial Board private study or research. For permission of Physiology News (see contents to copy or reproduce for any other Summer’s meetings (pp. 4–5) page for details). purpose contact [email protected]. and indeed for some a couple of years beyond that (p. 8). Start Opinions expressed in articles and letters planning now ... given the fairly Physiology News online submitted by, or commissioned from, grim news on UK science funding Physiology News online: Members, Affiliates or outside bodies are (see Editorial), I dare say we will be www.physoc.org not necessarily those of The Physiological Society. needing a get-together and a bit of mutual support.