The IMIA History Working Group: Inception through the IMIA History Taskforce, and Major Events Leading Up to the 50th Anniversary of IMIA

Background: The 50th Anniversary of IMIA will be celebrated in 2017 at the World Congress of Medical Informatics in China. This takes place 50 years after the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) Societies approved the formation of a new Technical Committee (TC) 4 on Medical Information Processing, which was the predecessor of IMIA, under the leadership of Dr. Francois Grémy. The IMIA History Working Group (WG) was approved in 2014 to document and write about the history of the field and its organizations. Objectives: The goals of this paper are to describe how the IMIA History WG arose and developed, including its meetings and projects, leading to the forthcoming 50th Anniversary of IMIA. Methods: We give a chronology of major developments leading up to the current work of the IMIA History WG and how it has stimulated writing on the international history of biomedical and health informatics, sponsoring the systematic compilation and writing of articles and stories from pioneers and leaders in the field, and the organization of workshops and panels over the past six years, leading towards the publication of the contributed volume on the 50th IMIA Anniversary History as an eBook by IOS Press. Conclusions: This article leads up to the IMIA History eBook which will contain original autobiographical retrospectives by pioneers and leaders in the field, together with professional organizational histories of the national and regional societies and working groups of IMIA, with commentary on the main themes and topics which have evolved as scientific and clinical practices have changed under the influence of new insights, technologies, and the changing socio-economic, cultural and professional circumstances around the globe over the past 50 years.

Communication between the higher education and industry

The paper presents the starting premise and the general frame of the Tempus Project CME-02555-96, entitled "Know How Transfer form University to Industry". It is intended to be a study for establishing a frame and methods for communication between academic, scientific and research bodies and industry. This project continues the efforts made in the RENEHEMA Tempus project aiming to support the improvement of communication between higher education and industry. Following the conclusions of the RENEHEMA conference the strategy adopted by the management board focused on the Internet technology and free market mechanisms to fulfill the project objectives.

MOBISIM--package for simulation in molecular biology

A computer program for simulation of protein synthesis regulatory processes is described. A short theoretical background reveals the requirements of a simulation program. Our program, MOBISIM, offers several facilities and a user-friendly interface for molecular biologists. An example illustrates the graphical representation both as time evolution of the system or as phase diagram.

Medical informatics educational tasks seen from practical perspective. Tempus-Phare Project CME-02555-96

This paper tries to synthesize the discussion of a seminar on medical informatics educational tasks held in May 1998 in Sinaia, Romania, within the frame of the Tempus-Phare Project CME-02555-96 entitled "Know How Transfer from University to Industry" and coordinated by the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Romania. Special emphasis was paid to particular features of medical education requirements in East European countries, with particular reference to Romania.

An approach to establishing a health information market

The Tempus CME project "Regional Network for Healthcare Management" was aiming to perform a feasibility study for a communication network dedicated to the healthcare field. The needs assessment survey as well as the debates during the working sessions and during the conference on how communication can support a better healthcare delivery, substantiated the approach for achieving the Romanian health information market. The proposed communication network can be considered as a national information infrastructure offering good links between health, education, research and industry and a unique frame for information providers and users, for the estate and private companies. The network should also provide support and guidance for the development of new educational fields as applied informatics in healthcare.

Superiority of antagonic-stress composition versus nicergoline in gerontopsychiatry

Nicergoline (NE)--a cerebral vasodilator with nicotinic acid esterified in its molecule--and Antagonic-Stress (AS) composition--a neurometabolic nootropic, also containing nicotinic acid but with fast and prolonged release--were evaluated in senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT), mild to moderate intensity (DSM-IV Options Book, 1991 and ICD-10, 1990 criteria). A double-blind, randomized, comparative, and parallel clinical trial was performed on 62 old people divided into 2 groups and exclusively treated with NE or AS. Psychogeriatric evaluations (Sandoz Clinical Assessment-Geriatric scale, Self-Assessment Scale-Geriatric and their subscales) and psychometric tests (digit symbol of WAIS, Wechsler Memory Scale, and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-WAIS) were made before and after 3 months of treatment. Prolonged and large dose treatments with NE and AS significantly decreased the psychogeriatric scores, diminished the deterioration index, and improved cognitive performances (ANOVA). Therapeutical effects of AS were significantly higher than those of NE (ANCOVA). The better actions of AS in senile dementia and for improving cognitive function and behavior are discussed in connection with its multiple neurometabolic composition, the synergism of components, the antiischemic action of its antioxidants, its anti-free radical complementary action (deceleration of the aging rate, brain and erythrocyte lipofuscinolysis, complex antioxidative and scavenger formula), the multivitamin and multimineral supplementation and, finally, with the superiority of multitherapy vs. monotherapy.

Experimental studies on human bronchial smooth muscle in vitro

The aim of this study was the investigation of bronchial reactivity in human bronchial smooth muscle in vitro. In fact, the study has two purposes: to achieve the best methods of research on human bronchial strips reactivity in vitro; to reveal the effect of acetylcholine and histamine on bronchial smooth muscle; The contractile effect of acetylcholine appears at 10(-6) M in the organ-bath; the maximal acetylcholine contraction was obtained at 10(-3) M in the organ-bath. Histamine induced a maximal contraction at 10(-3) M, but a concentration of 10(-3) M in the organ bath had no effect.