[Laboratory of Pharmacognosy of Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra (Portugal): teaching and et research (1902-1980)]. / Le laboratoire de pharmacognosie de la Faculté de pharmacie de l'Université de Coimbra (Portugal): enseignement et recherche (1902-1980).

In this article the authors present a brief history of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Portugal (1902-1980). The authors refer the importance of pharmacognosy in the study plans, the scientific research and the scientific collection of pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra. This heritage consists of collection of drugs prepared in the laboratory of pharmacognosy, a collection Drogen-Lehrsammlung purchased to E. Merck and a collection of botanic-didactic models of the XIXth century of the famous German manufacturer R. Brendel. The authors study the relationship between research and teaching, highlighting the importance of the collections of drugs.

[Historic Development of Clinical Biology Laboratories in Luxembourg]. / Evolution historique des laboratoires de biologie médicale au Luxembourg.

After a short overview on the development of diagnostic tools in clinical biology at an international level from Antiquity towards today, a history of the clinical biology including public and private institutions in Luxembourg will be outlined.

[Maria Sklodowska-Curie and Piotr Curie an epoch-makingin year 1898]. / Maria Sklodowska-Curie i Pierre Curie w epokowym roku 1898.

For many reasons the year 1898 was unusual for Maria Sklodowska-Curie and her husband. After defining the subject of the doctoral thesis and choosing Henri Becqerel as thesis supervisor, Maria started intensive experimental work. In the allotted room called storeroom, in conditions that were far too inadequate, they managed to put up a unique measuring equipment composed of instruments whose originator was Pierre Curie. In the ionization chamber and in the piezoelectric quartz charges formed, whose mutual neutralization was shown by the quadrant electrometer. Ionization current, which was measured quantitatively, was proportional to the radiation of the sample. Studying many elements, their compounds and minerals enabled Maria to state that uranium is not the only element endowed with the power of radiation; the second one turned out to be thorium. Anomaly detected in the radiation of uranium minerals made it possible for Maria to draw an extremely important conclusion: radioactive uranium and thorium are not the only elements endowed with such an attribute. Pitchblende, which was studied by the Curie couple, had to contain also other radioactive substances. Gustave Bémont also participated in the chemical analysis of the uranium ore and it is worth reminding that he was involved in the discovery of polonium and uranium. The phenomenon of radioactivity couldn't have been explained if it was not for the sources of strong radioactivity. Those sources undoubtedly could have been the discovered elements but their scanty content in the uranium ore made their isolation very difficult and laborious. Access to industrial remains after procession of pitchblende from Jachymov (Sankt Joachimstahl), obtained owing to the mediation of Eduard Suess, provided the source of this raw material. From it, in a shack also called le hangar, the Curie couple isolated the first samples of the radium salt. This element, later extracted by discoverers on a grand scale and handed over in a various forms to researchers and institutions, became a foundation of physics and chemistry of radioactive elements.

The Harvard Fatigue Laboratory: contributions to World War II.

The war contributions of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory in Cambridge, MA, were recorded in 169 Technical Reports, most of which were sent to the Office of the Quartermaster General. Earlier reports were sent to the National Research Council and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Many of the reports from 1941 and later dealt with either physical fitness of soldiers or the energetic cost of military tasks in extreme heat and cold. New military emergency rations to be manufactured in large quantities were analyzed in the Fatigue Laboratory and then tested in the field. Newly designed cold weather clothing was tested in the cold chamber at -40 degrees F, and desired improvements were made and tested in the field by staff and soldiers in tents and sleeping bags. Electrically heated clothing was designed for high-altitude flight crews and tested both in laboratory chambers and field tests before being issued. This eye witness account of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory during World War II was recorded by Dr. G. Edgar Folk, who is likely the sole surviving member of that famous laboratory.

Between the laboratory and life: child development research in Toronto, 1919-1965.

Between 1919 and 1956, psychologists at the University of Toronto built a research program in developmental psychology on a functionalist, holistic, and ecological basis. They conducted longitudinal studies on mental health in growing children in educational settings instead of in laboratories and formed strong alliances with the local educational system in order to do so. They initially defined mental health as adjustment and considered conditions within schools to be conducive to its attainment. After developing a psychological theory of personality development, they came to view educational conditions as discouraging the development of mental health. The alliance between the educational system and psychology consequently unraveled, and the program declined.

Renovación en la terapéutica real: los destiladeros de Su Majestad, maestros simplicistas y médicos herbolarios de Felipe II

Estudio, desde una nueva perspectiva, de los intereses fundamentales de Felipe II en terapéutica: conocimiento de los simples medicinales, introducción de nuevas prácticas destilatorias en la elaboración de medicamentos y estructura de la asistencia farmacéutica al monarca (AU)

[Laqueur and Organon. The university laboratory and the pharmaceutical industry in the Netherlands]. / Laqueur en Organon. Het universitaire laboratorium en de farmaceutische industrie in Nederland.

Since the 1970s cooperation between universities and pharmaceutical firms is business as usual. This has not always been the case. The first alliances between academic scientists and the pharmaceutical industry can be traced back to the 1920s. Compared to the U.S. and most other European countries, the creation of networks between the Dutch academy and industry shows a rather peculiar pattern that is illustrative in clarifying how the relationships between scientists and the pharmaceutical companies were built. Dutch scientists could not ally themselves with the pharmaceutical industry, simply because no Dutch pharmaceutical company specialized in organpreparations existed prior to the 1920s. This situation forced scientists to opt for the strongest form of alliance they could create, namely to take part in the founding of a pharmaceutical company. Ernst Laqueur, a professor in pharmacology at the University of Amsterdam, was one of the three founders of Organon, the Dutch pharmaceutical firm that was founded in 1923. Based on an analysis of the early history of sex endocrinology, this paper examines the creation of networks between Laqueur and Organon. The paper concludes that the university laboratory played a crucial role in the development of Organon. Organon was dependent on Laqueurs laboratory for the provision of the required biological essay techniques in order to manufacture standardized hormone products, Moreover, Laqueur mediated all the contacts between Organon and the clinic, required for the clinical testing of hormones and the provision of raw materials for the making of hormones into chemicals and drugs.

[Memory of a laboratory. Promotional booklets for homeopathic drugs Abbe Chaupitre (1933-1939)]. / Memoire d'un laboratoire: les livrets promotionnels des medicaments homeopathiques de l'abbe Chaupitre entre 1933 et 1939.

Studying promotional booklets, the authors try to analyze the Laboratoire d'homeopathic complexe's external communication, during the 30's.

[Notes on several almanachs Abbe Chaupitre]. / Notes sur quelques almanachs Abbe Chaupitre.

The author brings additional material to the article by C. Raynal and T. Lefebvre on the Abbe Chaupitre Laboratory published in the current Revue (1999, p. 49-58). It concerns the almanachs published by this firm in 1935, 1936, 1938 and 1939, which constitute an important source for the history of this laboratory, of homeopathy as well as of pharmaceutical advertising.

Crime laboratory proficiency testing results, 1978-1991, I: Identification and classification of physical evidence.

The proficiency testing of crime laboratories began in the mid-1970s and presently assumes an important role in quality assurance programs within most forensic laboratories. This article reviews the origins and early results of this testing program and also examines the progress of proficiency testing in allied scientific fields. Beginning in 1978, a fee-based crime laboratory proficiency testing program was launched and has grown to its present level involving almost 400 laboratories worldwide. This is the first of two articles that review the objectives, limitations and results of this testing from 1978 through 1991. Part I reviews the success of laboratories in the identification and classification of common evidence types: controlled substances, flammables, explosives, fibers, bloodstains, and hairs. Laboratories enjoy a high degree of success in identifying drugs and classifying (typing) bloodstains. They are moderately successful in identifying flammables, explosives, and fibers. Animal hair identification and human hair body location results are troublesome. The second paper will review the proficiency of crime laboratories in determining if two or more evidentiary samples shared a common origin.