Scientific Legacy Research Articles

The life and science of Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber

Sidney Perkowitz uncovers the scientific legacy of the nuclear physicist, who overcame great adversity to become a renowned researcher and advocate for women in science.

Marco Capogna, a pioneering neuroscientist and true European

Marco Capogna, a pioneering neuroscientist and true European

Reflections on the Scientific Legacy of Sergej S. Zilitinkevich on PBL and Urban Parameterizations in NWP Models

The paper summarizes many of the scientific achievements of Professor Sergej S. Zilitinkevich (1936–2021). It first focuses on his basic and applied atmospheric boundary layer research contributions. It then reviews their applications within research and operational numerical weather prediction and air quality modeling, showing their contribution to solving modeling problems related to extremely-stable and -unstable boundary layers.

Theoretical economics of Richard Cantillon

In his “History of economic analysis” Joseph A. Schumpeter emphasized the role of the sequence “Petty—Cantillon—Quesnay”. Recent research has showed that it was Cantillon, whose contribution within this sequence was crucial. The article is devoted to the scientific legacy of the author of the “Essay on the nature of trade in general” — the first systemic treatise on economic theory in history; as well as to the impact it had on the subsequent development of economic thought. The topics under discussion include issues of method, ontological assumptions and ideological setting, theories of social reproduction, value and circulation of money, entrepreneurship, population and spatial development. It is argued that Cantillon’s blueprint of theoretical economics provided a pattern for the formation of classical political economy and partly retained this role in the post-classic period. Cantillon’s theoretical legacy can serve as a source of relevant lessons for theoretical economists and organizers of economic research until today.

Michel Foucault's Idea of "Biopolitics" in the Context of Contemporary Legal Theory Methodology

This article explores the concept of "biopolitics" developed by French philosopher Michel Foucault in the second half of the 20th century. In his scientific legacy Michel Foucault brought many new ideas that are relevant to the social sciences and humanities, including jurisprudence. According to Michel Foucault's logic, "biopolitics" is a manifestation of "power" in general and "disciplinary power" - in particular. The main goal of "biopolitics" is to ensure complete control not only over the social but also over the biological life of each individual. Due to its close correlation with social reality, "biopolitics" is in tune with the current issues of theoretical legal research. Modern legal theory is looking for new approaches to the understanding of law. But modern methodologies are difficult to imagine without the dense involvement of the cognitive subject in the cognitive process. It is impossible not to be involved in "biopolitics". This is where the necessary connection between "biopolitics" and contemporary theoretical and legal research comes into play. Through the prism of "biopolitics", the article attempts to rethink the concept of "the limits of legal regulation" in the "digital age". Thus, the article attempts to update Michel Foucault's idea of "biopolitics" from the perspective of legal theory. The article concludes that Michel Foucault's idea of "biopolitics" has considerable research potential for theoretical and legal research, since the consideration of "the limits of legal regulation" through "biopolitics" has shown their mobility as a phenomenon of legal reality. It is thus evident that Michel Foucault's philosophical ideas are markedly enriching the context of contemporary legal-theoretical research methodology.

Деятельность М.А. Полиевктова в академических учреждениях Грузии в 1920-1930-х годах

The article reveals the most important aspect of the scientific activity of the prominent Caucasian historian M.A. Polievktov (1872-1942) in the academic institutions of Georgia in 1920-1930, which is the most important aspect of his scientific biography. M.A. Polievktov stood at the origins of the academic Caucasian studies in Georgia. Based on archival materials from the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, the materials were intro-duced into scientific circulation for the first time among archival documents of the scientist’s per-sonal fund from the Central Historical Archives of Georgia and the Central Archives of Contem-porary History of Georgia, the author reveals the content of M.A. Polievktov to identify materials on the history of Russian-Georgian relations in the 16th-18th centuries, to create the organization-al foundations for the formation of Caucasian studies in Georgia. Unknown facts of the scientific biography of M.A. Polievktova, which until now were in the shadows, were not the patrimony of historiography. The article reveals the scientific activity of M.A. Polievktov at the Caucasian Historical and Archaeological Institute and its subsequent transformations - the Research Institute of Caucasian Studies. N.Ya. Marra, Georgian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Institute of Lan-guage, History and Material Culture of the Georgian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, which is an integral part of the life and scientific work of the Caucasian historian. The re-sults of work in the academic institutions of Georgia were the publication of articles and archival materials in Caucasian studies. Scientific legacy of M.A. Polievktov, one of the founders of Cau-casian studies in Georgia, will be the subject of historiographic research for a long time.

The leaf sheath promotes prolonged flooding protection by giving rise to specialized adventitious roots.

This article is a Commentary on Lin et al. (2023), 238: 1403–1419.

Darren P. Baker, PhD A Pioneer in the Development of Pegylated Interferon-β for Clinical Use

Darren P. Baker, PhD A Pioneer in the Development of Pegylated Interferon-β for Clinical Use

Euclid preparation

The European Space Agency's Euclid mission will provide high-quality imaging for about 1.5 billion galaxies. A software pipeline to automatically process and analyse such a huge amount of data in real time is being developed by the Science Ground Segment of the Euclid Consortium; this pipeline will include a model-fitting algorithm, which will provide photometric and morphological estimates of paramount importance for the core science goals of the mission and for legacy science. The Euclid Morphology Challenge is a comparative investigation of the performance of five model-fitting software packages on simulated Euclid data, aimed at providing the baseline to identify the best-suited algorithm to be implemented in the pipeline. In this paper we describe the simulated dataset, and we discuss the photometry results. A companion paper is focussed on the structural and morphological estimates. We created mock Euclid images simulating five fields of view of 0.48 deg2 each in the IE band of the VIS instrument, containing a total of about one and a half million galaxies (of which 350 000 have a nominal signal-to-noise ratio above 5), each with three realisations of galaxy profiles (single and double Sérsic, and 'realistic' profiles obtained with a neural network); for one of the fields in the double Sérsic realisation, we also simulated images for the three near-infrared YE, JE, and HE bands of the NISP-P instrument, and five Rubin/LSST optical complementary bands (u, g, r, i, and z), which together form a typical dataset for an Euclid observation. The images were simulated at the expected Euclid Wide Survey depths. To analyse the results, we created diagnostic plots and defined metrics to take into account the completeness of the provided catalogues, as well as the median biases, dispersions, and outlier fractions of their measured flux distributions. Five model-fitting software packages (DeepLeGATo, Galapagos-2, Morfometryka, ProFit, and SourceXtractor++) were compared, all typically providing good results. Of the differences among them, some were at least partly due to the distinct strategies adopted to perform the measurements. In the best-case scenario, the median bias of the measured fluxes in the analytical profile realisations is below 1% at a signal-to-noise ratio above 5 in IE, and above 10 in all the other bands; the dispersion of the distribution is typically comparable to the theoretically expected one, with a small fraction of catastrophic outliers. However, we can expect that real observations will prove to be more demanding, since the results were found to be less accurate for the most realistic realisation. We conclude that existing model-fitting software can provide accurate photometric measurements on Euclid datasets. The results of the challenge are fully available and reproducible through an online plotting tool.

In ricordo del Prof. Giovanni Bernetti (1934-2022)

Giovanni Bernetti passed away on 21 December 2022. For several decades he taught forest mensuration, forest management and silviculture at the University of Firenze. Remembering him as a master, with whom I shared an entire professional life arouses emotions that are not easy to communicate. Giovanni Bernetti is to be considered among the great masters of Italian forest sciences. As a keen interpreter of forest dynamics and management, he disseminated his deep knowledge in several books and seminal papers of high scientific and professional influence as well. Thank you so much indeed, Prof. Bernetti, for your great cultural and scientific legacy.

The functional significance of tracheids co-occurring with vessels in xylem of Eudicots suggests a role in embolism tolerance

Summary One of Sherwin Carlquist’s greatest scientific legacies is how far he advanced our understanding of the structural and functional relationships within the xylem. His research was critical in illuminating the occurrence and importance of tracheids co-occurring with vessels in the xylem of some eudicots. Here, we highlight key concepts and findings from his work on these topics, and how testing has advanced with the advent of recent methods that produce spatially explicit data on embolism formation. There are three classifications of tracheids within vessel-bearing xylem: vasicentric, true, and vascular. Carlquist viewed tracheids as critical in safely transporting water. We review the literature on tracheid function, focusing on transport safety and efficiency, and discuss how the presence of tracheids might affect other xylem traits in the context of tradeoffs. Available data indicate that Carlquist was correct in his view that tracheids are resistant to embolism, and they contribute to the safe transport of sap. Tracheids provide connections (bridges) among vessels that remain sap-filled within highly embolized vessel networks and, in this role, they promote embolism tolerance. There is still much to learn, and integrating tracheids into models of sap flow, understanding their pit traits and connections, and how they affect xylem functional tradeoffs will transform our understanding of plant sap transport. Diverse xylem structural arrangements suggest many potential ways for xylem networks to function. In species containing both vessels and tracheids, the hydraulic network appears to be able to tolerate high levels of vessel embolism within seasonal environments.

Academician I.D. Kovalchenko: the study of the agrarian history of Russia

Academician I.D. Kovalchenko: the study of the agrarian history of Russia

Triplet odd-frequency superconductivity in hybrid superconductor–ferromagnet structures

We present an overview of the contributions made by Konstantin B. Efetov and the authors to the field of triplet odd-frequency superconductivity in hybrid ferromagnet–superconductor structures (Bergeret et al., 2005) and the repercussions they had on experimental and theoretical research. Konstantin B. Efetov passed away in August 2021. We hope the present short review gives a faithful testimony of an important part of his scientific legacy.

Dissertations as important scientific legacy: Preservation and access (the case study of the Library of N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

The authors discuss the preservation of dissertations by national scientists in the libraries of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) research institutions. A share of theses defended in the Russian Empire before 1918 makes the part of the general collection. Since 1934, the scholarly manuscripts havebeen spinned off into a separate collection, since 1950, along with theses abstracts. The dissertations were transferred to the organizations where they were defended, therefore the collection comprises the works accomplished in different institutions. This could be the only location for the manuscripts of 1930–40s, as the Dissertation Collection of the Russian State Library was established after 1944. The authors argue that apart from their information value, the dissertations make the valuable source on the history of national science and society, demonstrate communications between academic organizations and continuity of scholar schools, and are of great memorial value. The mission of libraries is to preserve the scholar legacy of this country and to support accessibility of information on dissertations through e-catalogs and digitizing full texts of the Soviet-era theses.

Rosa Maria Rodrigues Pereira (1958-2022).

Her interest in bone metabolism started during her internship in rheumatology; she was particularly intrigued by osteoporosis and the negative effects of corticosteroids on the bone. In the 1990s, she began interacting with the endocrinology service led by Professor Aurelio Borelli, probably the only place in São Paulo University that subscribed to the main journals focused on bone research. Despite her limited experience in a basic research laboratory, she decided to face the challenges of a bench research-based postdoctoral fellowship and joined the laboratory of Professor Ernesto Canalis at Saint Francis Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA. She learned bone cell biology and became proficient with the bench research techniques that she established in her lab in São Paulo after her return to Brazil. She created and directed the Laboratory of Bone Metabolism, which became a center of excellence for training students and young physicians from different specialties. She was able to secure financing to acquire one of the few high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography machines available in Brazil. She became a go-to specialist in rare and challenging bone diseases, many of which made their way into high-impact publications. Prof Pereira developed original research directions and extensively published. Her research focused on bone and mineral disorders related to rheumatic diseases, including pediatric rheumatology and inflammatory vascular diseases. During her career, she published 391 original articles, 85 book chapters, and 8 books. She made major contributions to the use of vitamin D, including a randomized clinical trial, whose results were published in JAMA in 2021, demonstrating that among hospitalized patients with COVID-19, a single high dose of vitamin D3 did not impact the length of hospital stay. Prof Pereira contributed to the development of the Brazilian National Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis and was the coordinator of the São Paulo Ageing and Health Study, a population-based prospective cohort study in Brazil, which resulted in more than 17 publications focusing on bone microarchitecture and fragility fractures. The outstanding quality of her work has been recognized by more than 80 national and international awards. She held leadership roles with high-profile journals, including the International Advisory Board of The Lancet Rheumatology, and served as the Regional Editor of Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Prof Pereira was instrumental in the creation of the Brazilian Association of Bone Assessment and Osteometabolism (ABRASSO) in 2007, contributing to the organization of the scientific program at their conferences, where she proudly showcased the results of her research. Despite her many professional commitments, Prof Pereira was a compassionate physician who was fully dedicated to patients with rheumatologic diseases during her 40-year career. She led weekly rheumatology rounds and inspired many students and residents who had the fortune of coming under her wings during her 4-decade-long career. Prof Pereira mentored 7 postdoctoral students, 33 doctoral students, 5 master's degree students, and 22 undergraduate students. They will certainly continue to have the legacy of patient care and academic excellence. Prof Pereira was tireless and determined. Her work schedule included weekdays and weekends; she continued her hectic schedule until just a few weeks before she was overcome by illness. Prof Pereira exemplifies how effective leadership can have long-lasting positive effects on others and on our field at large. Her work and legacy will remain a source of inspiration for new generations of clinicians and researchers who will continue to advance our knowledge of rheumatology and metabolic bone diseases. Prof Pereira will be missed by her family, many lifelong colleagues, friends, and patients. She is survived by her husband, Ricardo, a great motivator and supporter of her academic career. We are now committed to turning sadness into a strength and celebrating Prof Pereira's personal and scientific legacy. The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1002/jbmr.4767. The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1002/jbmr.4767.

Session of the Section for the Studies of Academician V. I. Vernadsky’s Scientific Legacy: In Commemoration of 160th Anniversary of the Scientist’s Birth

Session of the Section for the Studies of Academician V. I. Vernadsky’s Scientific Legacy: In Commemoration of 160th Anniversary of the Scientist’s Birth

Theology and thermodynamics of life and mind in the scientific legacy of Nikolay Ivanovich Kobozev

Nikolay Ivanovich Kobozev (1903–1974), Professor of Moscow State University, famous Russian physico-chemist, specialist in the field of thermodynamics. In his works devoted to thermodynamics of information and thinking, he emphasized the incompatibility between the entropy law for molecular structures, including molecular machinery of the mind, and the law of identity for thinking. In order to compensate for the molecular entropy, the mind should receive a negative entropy or antientropy, which is defined on the basis of the extended concept of thermodynamic probability. The latter is defined as a number of procedures (algorithms) that can be used to produce a physico-chemical system from its elementary components. For non-algorithmic systems, the entropy is negative. In order to model processing and production of information, N. I. Kobozev postulated the existence in a brain of a strongly degenerate Fermi gas of superlight Ψ-particles (psychons), thus being one of the first scientists who emphasized the importance of quantum processes for the physics of mind. In all its levels, life contains an antientropic component, which distinguishes it from the non-living matter. According to Kobozev, ‘human mind cannot be the result of evolutionary transformation of information function into thinking. The latter must be given to us, and not acquired in the course of evolution’. Since the source of information is the God Himself, the N. I. Kobozev’s works correspond to the theocentric scientific worldview and they can well be considered as theological construction in natural sciences.

Scientific legacy of Professor A.A. Kasparov. Inductor of endogenous interferon Poludan in the treatment of ocular herpes and other corneal diseases

This article presents a retrospective analysis of the research findings by professor A.A. Kasparov, who developed and implemented a novel approach to treating ocular herpes. The treatment system is fundamentally different from the conventional chemotherapeutic approach and revolves around non-specific immunotherapy using an endogenous interferon inducer - a biosynthetic complex of polyriboadenylic and polyribouridylic acids, known as Poludan. This approach also incorporates personalized cell therapy based on Poludan, along with herpes vaccine aimed at preventing recurrence. The regenerative and antiviral properties of this approach have proven successful in treating other corneal conditions such as adenovirus infections, early postoperative bullous keratopathy, as well as in stimulation of epithelialization after refractive surgeries (photorefractive keratectomy, phototherapeutic keratectomy).

Contribution of Academician M.M. Krasnov to ophthalmological science and practice

The scientific legacy of Professor Mikhail Mikhailovich Krasnov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, is large and multifaceted. His name is associated with the whole epoch of establishment and development of new methods of diagnostics and treatment of eye diseases. The representative of the dynasty of ophthalmologists M.M. Krasnov is the author of more than 350 scientific works, 80 inventor's certificates and 40 foreign patents.

Исследования В.Г. Гниловским географических особенностей Ставропольского края

Introduction. The current stage of the development of local history is characterized by an increased interest in the most valuable results of scientists of the XX century. An active study of the information collected and systematized by them is underway. By 1917, local history took a significant place in cultural and social life of large and small cities. There was a wide range of educated people engaged in local history research, and a generation of local historians emerged. Local history societies, museums and clubs sprang up everywhere. They formed the real scientific basis without which it is difficult to imagine the further development of local history. Vladimir G. Gnilovskoy made a great contribution to the development of geographical local history and brought it to a new level but the main views of the scientist remain insufficiently studied. Materials and research methods. The research was based on the principles of historicism, objectivity and consistency. The use of general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis made the great contribution to the in-depth study of historical phenomena in the field of geographical local history. The paper uses a comparative historical method and a system-functional analysis of the material using a problem-chronological approach. The method of quantitative analysis allowed us to track the dynamics of local history works of various types over the entire period under review. Scientific legacy of V. G. Gnilovskoy is largely determined by the reliance on the works of his predecessors, their critical analysis which allowed us to complete a certain stage in the accumulation of empirical information about the nature of Stavropol. The paper uses a comparative-historical method and a system-functional analysis of the material using a problem-chronological approach. The method of quantitative analysis allowed us to trace the dynamics of local history works of various types for the entire period under review. Research results and their discussion. The purpose of this article is to identify and analyze the contribution of V. G. Gnilovskoy to the development of geographical local history. To achieve this goal the work of local historians – the predecessors in Stavropol in the XIX – early XX centuries was analyzed and the research activities of V. G. Gnilovskoy were systematized. The main approaches and principles of geographical local history in the works of V. G. Gnilovskoy were identified as well as the key ideas of popularization and educational activities of the scientist in the field of geographical local history were summarized. Conclusions. Systematization of research activities V. G. Gnilovskoy allowed us to identify two main areas that most of the scientist's works belong to: a) scientific work in the field of geomorphology; b) research activities in the field of historical geography. His long-term scientific research and discoveries enriched the geographical knowledge of Stavropol and gave an impetus to further more in-depth and comprehensive research. All the results of his research activities V. G. Gnilovskay tried not only to publish but also to convey to the public. Having identified the key ideas of popularization and educational activities in the field of geographical local history we can conclude that V. G. Gnilovskoy made a great contribution to the organization and conduct of public education activities.