John Berkeley James (John) Wells (1935–2018)––Life, career and remembrances

John Wells, who died at age 83 on 12 November 2018, was a research scientist, teacher, Professor of Zoology, Dean of Science at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, family man and community leader. He was a man of his time, surviving World War II, progressing to a career that stretched around the world.

Nikonorova E.V. Maria Ivanovna Akilina — Scientist, Friend, and Ally (1953—2021)

The article describes contribution to the library science and scientific activity of the Russian State Library (RSL) of the famous librarian Maria Ivanovna Akilina (April 13, 1953 — June 04, 2021).Since 1989, first as senior research scientist in the departments of the Russian State Library, and then in the scientific research department of library science, she worked her way up from leading researcher to the head of the department. Together with her colleagues — library scientists, she made the great contribution to the development of problems of the general theory of library science, the organization of practical activities of libraries, scientific and methodological assistance to libraries of the country.In the scientific research department of library science, there was created the all-Russian system for monitoring library collections; there were studied the issues of standardization of library science; and the work was carried out to create the Electronic Library of the RSL. The department developed and implemented the methodology for preparing the first fundamental unique reference publication on library science in our country — the “Library Encyclopaedia”, which was published in 2007 by the “Pashkov Dom” publisher. M.I. Akilina was a member of the editorial board of this publication; she also made a great contribution to the work as an editor and author of the articles. Together with the staff of the department from 2002 through 2013, she actively participated in the publication of the scientific-practical collection “Librarianship — the 21st Century” — the supplement to the journal “Bibliotekovedenie” [Russian Journal of Library Science], and also became one of the compilers of the collection “Library Research in the System of Postnonclassical Science”.M.I. Akilina managed to create an atmosphere of creativity and scientific research in the department, which became a significant factor in the development of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of librarianship, its various aspects and research practices. Since 2015, M.I. Akilina worked as a leading research scientist in the Centre for the study of problems of library development in the information society. She is the author of more than 100 scientific papers, major part of which is devoted to the scientific and methodological activities of libraries and general theoretical problems of library science; these are the publications about national, central, mass rural and other libraries. When communicating with colleagues, she always took into account not only their achievements, but also the ability to be honest both in scientific work and in human relations. Her contribution to the library scientific research will undoubtedly become part of the research heritage of library science.

You are not born a Person, you become a Person

A surgeon working in the northern regions of Yakutia, chief physician, resident physician at the Second Pirogov Moscow ‘Order of Lenin’ State Medical University, surgeon-phthisiologist of Yakutia Institute for Research in Tuberculosis—this is the quality path of Innokenty Vinokurov in his career of a doctor and an innovative surgeon and phthisiologist. This professional development was underpinned by a number of great human qualities such as keen-witted character, strong work ethic, strong will of a northerner, commitment, curiosity, refined perception of the environment, creativity in everything he ever attempted to do. An innovative surgeon, a research scientist, a novelist—Innokenty Vinokurov, who dedicated more than 40 years of his life to healing and serving others, fell victim to the horrible pandemic of the 21st century, which took his life on June 21, 2020.

Total Cinema: Or, “What is VR?" Senses of cinema

In the late 1980s, throughout the ‘90s, and well into the 2000s, MIT Principle Research Scientist, Gloriana Davenport investigated the idea that movies had begun to operate as a kind of new “elastic” media. She wrote, “Interactive cinema reflects the longing of cinema to become something new, something more complex, something more intimate, as if in conversation with an audience.” The cultural artefacts informing this shift were in Davenport’s opinion as disparate as interactive TV, video games, large format simulation rides, and experimental VR. Between 1987 and 2004, her Interactive Cinema Lab at MIT designed multi-threaded movies, multiplayer VR experiences, previsualization tools for visual effects, documentary platforms, and “smart” VR characters driven by story databases. When asked in a 1995 interview with American Cinematographer, what kind of filmmaker would adopt the radical new tools she was building, Davenport replied that the current generation of 30-year old filmmakers steeped in the culture of video games were already deploying them.

Total Cinema: Or, “What is VR?" Senses of cinema

In the late 1980s, throughout the ‘90s, and well into the 2000s, MIT Principle Research Scientist, Gloriana Davenport investigated the idea that movies had begun to operate as a kind of new “elastic” media. She wrote, “Interactive cinema reflects the longing of cinema to become something new, something more complex, something more intimate, as if in conversation with an audience.” The cultural artefacts informing this shift were in Davenport’s opinion as disparate as interactive TV, video games, large format simulation rides, and experimental VR. Between 1987 and 2004, her Interactive Cinema Lab at MIT designed multi-threaded movies, multiplayer VR experiences, previsualization tools for visual effects, documentary platforms, and “smart” VR characters driven by story databases. When asked in a 1995 interview with American Cinematographer, what kind of filmmaker would adopt the radical new tools she was building, Davenport replied that the current generation of 30-year old filmmakers steeped in the culture of video games were already deploying them.

IDEAS OF THE NATIONAL SCHOOL IN THE LEGACY OF V. N. SOROKA-ROSINSKY

The article deals with the analysis of V. N. Soroka-Rossinsky's pedagogical heritage about the national school reflected in his pre-revolutionary articles. Based on the analysis of the articles, it is concluded that V. N. Soroka-Rosinsky in his views on the national school is close to the K. D. Ushinsky’s principle of the nationality of education. At the same time, the research scientist tends to the psychology of feeling, the energy theory of the American psychologist Stanley Hall - the creator of pedology, which was reflected in his further practical work and collaboration with A. F. Lazursky and V. M. Bekhterev. The central concept in his theory is a national feeling, which is not perceived by the mind, but is lived and experienced by the heart. This strong feeling is associated with the adolescent thirst for heroism and feat, the attraction to a strong personality, which should be applied in education. The scientist finds the roots of sacrificial civic feeling in genetic memory and connects the personal experience of a teenager with the genetic one...

Training Programs for Fundamental and Clinician-Scientists: Balanced Outcomes for Graduates by Gender

Background: Women scientists are less likely to obtain Assistant Professorship and achieve promotion, and obtain less grant funding than men. Scientist/clinician-scientist training programs which provide salary awards as well as training and mentorship are a potential intervention to improve outcomes among women scientists. We hypothesized whether a programmatic approach to scientist/clinician-scientist training is associated with improved outcomes for women scientists in Canada when compared with salary awards alone. Trainees within the Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training Program (KRESCENT), Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program (CCHCSP), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) salary award programs were evaluated. Objective: To examine whether the structured KRESCENT training program with salary support improves academic success for women scientists relative to salary awards alone. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Canadian national research scientist and clinician-scientist training programs and salary awards. Participants: KRESCENT cohort (n = 59, 2005-2017), CCHCSP cohort (n = 58, 2002-2015), and CIHR (n = 571, 2005-2015) Salary Awardees for postdoctoral fellows (PDF) and new investigators (NI). Measurements: National operating grant funding success, achieving an academic position as an Assistant Professor for PDF, or achieving promotion to Associate Professor for NI. Methods: The gender distribution of each cohort was determined using first name and NamepediA and was examined for PDF and NI, followed by a description of trainee outcomes by gender and training level. Results: KRESCENT and CIHR PDF were balanced (12/27, 44% men and 55/116, 47% women) while CCHCSP had a higher proportion of women (13/20, 65%). KRESCENT and CCHCSP NI retained women scientists (19/32, 59% and 22/38, 58% women), whereas CIHR NI had fewer women (165/455, 36% women vs 290/455, 64% men, P = 0.01). There was a high rate of NI operating grant success (91%-95%) with no gender differences in each cohort. There was a high proportion of CCHCSP PDF who achieved an Assistant Professorship (18/20, 90%) that may be due in part to a longer follow-up period (9.3 ± 3 years) compared with KRESCENT PDF (7/27, 26%, 0.88 ± 4.5 years), and these data were not available for CIHR PDF. Women KRESCENT NI showed increased promotion to Associate Professor ( P = 0.02, 0.25 ± 3.2 years follow-up) and CCHCSP NI had high promotion rates (37/38, 97%, 6.9 ± 3.6 years follow-up) irrespective of gender. There was an overall trend toward more men pursuing biomedical research. Limitations: KRESCENT and CCHCSP training program cohort size and heterogeneity; assigning gender by first name may result in misclassification; lack of data on the respective applicant pools; and inability to examine intersectionality with gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Conclusion: Overall trainee performance across programs is remarkable by community standards regardless of gender. KRESCENT and CCHCSP training programs demonstrated balanced success in their PDF and NI, whereas the CIHR awardees had reduced representation of women scientists from PDF to NI. This exploratory study highlights the utility of programmatic training approaches like the KRESCENT program as potential tools to support and retain women scientists in the academic pipeline during the challenging PDF to NI transition period.