Document Download: World Neurology - January 2017

Published by Ascend Integrated Media LLC, Kansas, USA

From the editors

Steven L. Lewis, MD, Editor, and Walter Struhal, MD, Co-Editor

Drs. Jorge G. Burneo, David A. Steven, and Miguel Arango describe the fruitful ongoing collaboration between Canada and Peru on a project to provide high-level epilepsy surgical care in Peru. Drs. Peter Spencer and Jacques Reis report on the International Meeting on Environment and Health that recently took place in Strasbourg. Dr. Gallo Diop reports on the recent exciting announcement of the process and promotion of seven neurologists within Africa to the rank of professor.

In this issue's President's Column, WFN President Raad Shakir notes that brain health is at the forefront of diseases leading to morbidity and mortality, highlighting the critical importance and role of neurologists in increasing the profile of neurology as a discipline around the globe. Dr. Bruno Giometto reports on the highlights of the recent successful XLVII Congress of the Italian Society of Neurology, and in a related report, Dr. Luigi Bertinato's keynote lecture from the same Congress on the origins of public health and the history of plague control will be of great historical interest to our readers.

Drs. Sergey Lobzin and Natalie Zinserling report from the September 2016 Davidenkov Readings Conference in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and summarise the historical and modern aspects of Saint Petersburg Neurology. In his Editor-in-Chief's Update from the Journal of the Neurological Sciences, the official journal of the WFN, John D. England, MD, announces the new Elsevier web-based editorial system to provide an improved and streamlined author and reviewer experience for the journal. In this issue's history column, Dr. Peter Koehler informs us about the history of the discoveries and putative functions of "stones" in the brain.

Dr. Michael Ackerl reports on the latest developments of the European Board Examination in Neurology from the European Union of Medical Specialists from their last meeting in October 2016.

In what we also hope will be the model of many similar contributions from our readers for future issues, we know readers will appreciate seeing a "Photo of the Issue" that was provided by Dr. Shakir, showing Professor Jun Kimura giving a recent EMG workshop at the Lebanese society of Neurology in Beirut. Dr. Wolfgang Grisold, the Secretary-General of the WFN, and Dr. Alla Guekht briefly report on their international collaboration that resulted in a Russian translation of the American-European Atlas of Neuromuscular Diseases. Also in this issue is the official call for applications for the 2017 WFN Junior Traveling Fellowships.

Highlights

• Peru, Canada Collaborate on Epilepsy Project
  By Jorge G. Burneo, MD, David A Steven, MD, MPH, and Miguel Arango, MD
  In 2008, a collaborative effort between Peru and Canada was born. The purpose of this collaboration was to establish epilepsy surgery centres in Peru. The catalyst for this endeavour was the North American Commission of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Partnership of Epilepsy Centers across the Americas (PECA) Program. This program funded initiatives to improve epilepsy care in Latin America through partnerships with North American epilepsy centres.

• Call for Applications for 2017 WFN Junior Traveling Fellowships
  By Steven L. Lewis, MD, and Wolfgang Grisold, MD
  This year, the WFN is again able to offer Junior Traveling Fellowships for young neurologists from countries classified by the World Bank as Low or Lower Middle Income, to attend approved international meetings.

• Seven New African Professors of Neurology Announced
  By Gallo Diop, MD
  From Nov. 7 to 15, 2016, the 18th biannual African contest for selecting new university professors was organised in Dakar, Senegal. After a tough competition, the assistant professors are upgraded to the grade of professor by different juries whose members come from all French-speaking universities and, depending on the needs, from other countries such as Belgium, France, and Canada.

• International Conference Tackles Air Pollution, Emerging Medical Issues
  By Peter Spencer and Jacques Reis
  Air pollution is an increasing concern for humanity. The subject urgently needs more attention from medical scientists and society alike. It has long been recognised as a major health threat with multiple impacts, increasing mortality, and morbidity. Pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases are well-known outcomes. Brain impacts are an emergent challenge, as are related epigenetic changes and developmental issues.

• PRESIDENT'S COLUMN: The Profile of Neurology Has to Grow for Greater Recognition
  By Raad Shakir, MD
  With the publication of Global Burden of Disease (Lancet Oct. 8, 2016), it is now clear that brain health is at the forefront of diseases leading to morbidity and mortality. Moreover, if we combine neurological, mental, developmental, and substance-use disorders (NMDS), then the group is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity, surpassing cancer and cardiac disease.

• A Brief Review of the Historical and Modern Aspects of Saint Petersburg Neurology and its Influences
  By Prof. Sergey Lobzin and Natalie Zinserling, North-Western State Medical University
  Saint Petersburg neurology has a great and deeply rooted history. In 1835, Prof. Shipulinsky was the first scientist who taught neurology in Saint Petersburg. Later, separately from psychiatry, neurology was developed by Prof. I. Mierzejewski (1835-1908). He worked with K. Westphal and R. Virchow in Berlin, Gudden, Leidesdorf, and Meinert in Vienna, and Broca, Ranvier, Claude Bernard, Vulpian, and Charcot in Paris.

• Editor's Update and Selected Articles From the Journal of the Neurological Sciences
  By John D. England, MD
  Within the first few months of 2017, the Journal of the Neurological Sciences will begin using EVISE, which is Elsevier's new web-based editorial system. EVISE will replace the older system, the Elsevier Editorial System (EES). For more than a decade, the journal has been using EES to submit and manage manuscripts, but EES has gradually become outdated. We are hopeful that EVISE will provide an improved author and reviewer experience by enhancing editorial speed and increasing quality content.

• Report from the XLVII Congress of the Italian Society of Neurology
  By Bruno Giometto
  This year, the Italian neurological community gathered in Venice for the XLVII Congress of the Italian Society of Neurology (SIN). Over 1,500 delegates took part in four days of intense updating divided into three plenary sessions, 10 refresher courses, and 21 workshops, in addition to teaching conferences and sponsored symposia. Venice has always been a leader in the treatment of diseases of the nervous system, and the appeal of the illustrious city has given the national neurological community added visibility in scientific, care provision, and educational terms.

• Brain Stones
  By Peter Koehler
  "Cutting the stone" is the title of a well-known painting (1494)  by Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516), who died 400 years ago. The painting is displayed at the Prado Museum in Madrid. Another name by which the painting is known reads, "The extraction of the stone of madness or the cure of folly."

• Latest Developments of the European Board Examination in Neurology
  By Dr. Michael Ackerl
  The European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) — European Board of Neurology (EBN) autumn meeting took place in Venice on Oct. 22, 2016. The main topic was the further development of the European Board Examination, which, in the last year, was under the lead of Prof. Jan Kuks of the Netherlands, who managed it very professionally. Nevertheless, new collaborations to improve the examination were, and are, in discussion.

• Mediterranean Routes and the Bulwarks of Plague Control During the "Serenissima Republic in Venice"
  By Luigi Bertinato
  Navigation and trade have always been the cornerstones of multiple cultural relationships with civilisations of the Mediterranean and the Far East countries. Indeed, the caravans that transported the rarest and most precious wares by sea to the Venetian warehouses arrived from as far as Constantinople and Alessandria.

• American-European Atlas of Neuromuscular Diseases now Translated into Russian
  By Wolfgang Grisold and Alla Guekht
  A group of two U.S. neurologists (Eva Feldman and James Russell) and two European neurologists (Wolfgang Grisold and Wolfgang Löscher) co-wrote the second edition of the Atlas on Neuromuscular Disease, which was published by Springer in 2014.