PHYSIOLOGYNEWS winter 2006 | number 65 Meetings Bristol Brazil Heidelberg International Workshop, Kiev Also featuring A century of research in sugar transport A summer in the life of a retiring physiologist Did evolution go the wrong path for the human lung? Acute pain Legs pay out for cost of breathing! Long and tortuous goodbye to Stud Muffin No 1 A publication of The Physiological Society IMAGES OF BRAZIL JOINT INTERNATIONAL MEETING WITH THE BRAZILIAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY Ribeirão Preto, Brazil 27-30 August 2006 For more images of Brazil, including flora and fauna, see the inside back cover (photos by Prem Kumar) PHYSIOLOGYNEWS Editorial 3 Meetings Bristol Focused Meeting Johannes Reul, Astrid Linthorst, 4 The Society’s dog. ‘Rudolf Magnus gave Stafford Lightman me to Charles Sherrington, who gave me Heidelberg Focused Meeting Joseph Bruton 5 to Henry Dale, who gave me to The Images of Brazil inside front and back covers Physiological Society in October 1942’ Living history The surface energy of water from 1908 Wilfred Widdas 7 A summer in the life of ... Published quarterly by The Physiological Society An (endless?) summer in the life of a retiring physiologist 11 Contributions and Queries David Miller Executive Editor Features Linda Rimmer The Physiological Society Publications Office What structures bear the tension and store energy in lengthening 13 P O Box 502 muscle? Gavin Pinniger, K W Ranatunga, Gerald Offer Cambridge CB1 0AL Acidification protects skeletal muscle volume during anaerobic 15 UK exercise Juliet Usher-Smith, James Fraser, Christopher Huang Tel: +44 (0)1223 400180 Did evolution go the wrong path for the human lung? 17 Fax: +44 (0)1223 246858 John West Email: [email protected] Organization of intermediary metabolism – lactate and its 19 The Society web server: http://www.physoc.org transporters George Brooks, Takeshi Hashimoto Endothelial nitric oxide synthase-derived NO signals regulate 21 Magazine Editorial Board Editor microvascular permeability Walter Durán, Takuya Hatakeyama, Austin Elliott (University of Manchester) Fabiola Sánchez Members Acute pain Peggy Mason 23 Lesley Anson (Nature) Legs pay out for cost of breathing! Lee Romer, Jerome Dempsey 25 Patricia de Winter (King’s College London) Sarah Hall (Cardiff University) Functional domains of tropomyosin: new insights Robert Gaffin 27 Munir Hussain (University of Liverpool) Mariappan Muthuchamy John Lee (Rotherham General Hospital) International News Thelma Lovick (University of Birmingham) Bill Winlow (Prime Medica, Knutsford/University of Kiev International Workshop Bridget Lumb, Anne King, Oleg 29 Liverpool) Krishtal, Nana Voitenko, Zita Puskar, Volodymyr Khmyz, Oleksandr Maximyuk © 2006 The Physiological Society ISSN 1476-7996 The Society’s journals The Journal of Physiology Carol Huxley 35 The Society permits the single copying of Experimental Physiology Emma Ward 36 individual articles for private study or research. For copying or reproduction for any other purpose, Affiliate News written permission must be sought from The Young scientists and the media Selina Pearson 37 Physiological Society ([email protected]). From molecules to behaviour Izumi Fukunaga, Clare Howarth, 37 Opinions expressed in articles and letters submitted Rosemary Milton, Ede Rancz by, or commissioned from, Members, Affiliates or Memorable Members outside bodies are not necessarily those of The David Henry Smyth Ian Roddie 38 Physiological Society. The Physiological Society Lectures The Physiological Society is registered in England The Bayliss-Starling Prize Lecture Tim Biscoe 39 as a company limited by guarantee: No 323575. Registered office: PO Box 11319, London WC1X Book Review 41 8WQ Parliamentary and Scientific Committee 42 Registered Charity: No 211585. Carol Huxley Printed by The Lavenham Press Ltd Parliamentary Links Day Liz Bell 43 Cover photos Society News Governance for beginners – the structure of The Society 45 Simon Kellas Society rebranding Donna Brown 46 Scientific Meetings Calendar 2007 47 Lister Institute Research Prizes 48 Biosciences Federation Richard Dyer 49 Images of Brazil Unbelievable! (front cover by Nana Voitenko back cover by Prem Kumar) Long and tortuous goodbye to Stud Muffin No 1 50 Obituaries Douglas Ingram Joy Dauncey 51 PHYSIOLOGYNEWS Action points Guidelines for contributors In this issue Grants These guidelines are intended to assist Welcome to our final Physiology News For full information on Members’ authors in writing their contributions and to of 2006. and Affiliates’ Travel Grants, reduce the subsequent editing process. The Network Interaction Grants, Non- Editorial Board of Physiology News tries to A lot of biology has to do with energy. Society Symposia Grants, Vacation ensure that all articles are written in a The word ‘energy’ sometimes gets journalistic style so that they will have an Studentship Scheme, Departmental appropriated by pseudo-science and immediate interest value for a wide Seminar Scheme, Centres of readership and will be readable and used for the purposes of mystification, Excellence and Junior Fellowships comprehensible to non-experts. In but this should not detract from the visit: http://www.physoc.org/grants particular, scientific articles should give a central role of energy in science. In good overview of a field rather than focus biological systems the conversion of Membership applications entirely on the authors’ own research. energy from one form to another – e.g. Applications for Full and Affiliate chemical energy from ATP to muscle Membership are received throughout Format of articles The main message or question posed should be work, or to ion pumping – is a central the year and have no deadlines. A introduced in the first paragraph. The background part of what physiologists have been decision is normally made within 7 for the topic should then be established, leading investigating over the last 200 years. days of the Administration Office up to the final conclusion. receiving the application. For full This issue contains a fair bit of energy. Length of articles details please visit: This will be determined by the subject matter and Wilfred Widdas makes a plea for more http://www.physoc.org/join agreed with the Executive Editor. attention for surface energy as a phenomenon in Living History, while Submission of articles Change of address Authors should submit articles as a Word muscle, the energy-transducing Members should inform the document attached to an email. Illustrations machine that has fascinated Administration Office of any changes should be sent as separate attachments (see below) physiologists perhaps more than any of address, telephone, fax or email and not embedded in the text. other, gets a good look, with four News address. Illustrations and authors’ photographs and Views pieces and a meeting report Changes can be emailed to: Authors are encouraged to submit diagrams, from Heidelberg. [email protected] or updated online drawings, photographs or other artwork with their articles or to suggest appropriate illustrations. A At this time of year the decreasing daily at http://www.physoc.org photograph of the author(s) should also accompany submissions, if possible. Illustrations hours of solar energy inevitably tend to and photographs may be colour or black and be a source of some regret. If you feel white, prints, transparencies or tif/jpeg files with a this way, perhaps the pictures from the minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Electronic colour figures should be saved in CMYK mode. recent meeting in tropical Brazil may Physiology News cheer you up. And finally, even the sun Deadlines References setting (on a career) can have its Authors are requested to keep the number of upsides, as David Miller explains in his Letters and articles and all other references to a minimum – preferably no more contributions for inclusion in the than two or three. Please cite all references in the diary of a retiring physiologist. Spring 2007 issue, No. 66, should style of The Journal of Physiology (see reach the Publications Office Instructions to Authors 2005 at Austin Elliott ([email protected]) by 21 http://www.physoc.org) December 2006. Short news items are encouraged, and can usually be included as late copy if space permits. Suggestions for articles Suggestions for future articles are welcome. Please contact either the Executive Editor or a member of the Editorial Board of Physiology News (see contents page for details). Physiology News Online Physiology News is now available on The Society’s web site: http://www.physoc.org. See Unbelievable! (p. 50) EDITORIAL PN 3 The homeopaths, and the companies that acupuncture, or the physiological effects of Homeopathic ‘mumbo­ produce over-the-counter homeopathic alterations in diet. remedies, are understandably delighted. jumbo’ But scientists want evidence, not anecdotes Well, you might say, so what? The placebo and hand-waving. If proper science shows real Many scientists these days have at least the effect is not new, and a fool and his/her money physiological effects, beyond those of a odd moment when they feel that their view of are soon parted. Most scientists would agree placebo compound or sham intervention, and if the world is under threat from a tide of what the that the labelling is a joke, but in a world awash these can be made to work as a treatment, journalist Francis Wheen, in his best-selling with ridiculous claims, why get worked up? what you have is a therapy. Rather than being book, termed ‘mumbo-jumbo’ (1). a question of ‘alternative’ or ‘mainstream’, it is Well, firstly, perhaps, because the MHRA, down to what works – or more precisely, what For scientists, ‘mumbo-jumbo’ manifests itself acting on our behalf, is supposed to care – we can be sure works because it can be shown in the rejection of scientific understanding of their web site states they ‘enhance and to work in a properly-designed scientific how the physical world works in favour of safeguard the health of the public by ensuring experiment. mystical beliefs derived from a range of that medicines and medical devices work, and sources. are acceptably safe.’ (7).