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PROGRAMME 1

The Physics and Mathematics of the Life Sciences in the Universe 

 

Implicate and explicate order - Holomovement - Group Theory – Fractals – Structure and Symmetry/Asymmetry – Supersymmetry - Automorphism – Pattern Without Frontiers - Hyperspace - Thermodynamics - Dissipative Structures - Non-local theory - Quantum Chaos – Complex Systems - Splitting reality, Superposition and Decoherence - From Elementary Particle Physics to the New Cosmos – Stardust – Bose-Einstein Condensates – The Quantum Hall Effect - Can the Mind make Sense of the Cosmos? – Mind and Space-Time - What is Information? - Counter intuition and the plasticity of the Mind – Visiting the Past - New Foundations of Physics only Out of Nothing – Nuclear Equation of State - Cellular Equation of State – Organic Equation of State - "Universal Equation of State?" - Life in the Universe – SETI - …

 

PROGRAMME 2

 

Medical Imagery and Technology

BEAM – BMAM - CAT - PET - MRI – Functional Imagery and the Cognitive Sciences - Functional Imagery and Psychosomatics –

Elucidating Physiological Action with Brain Imaging - Evoked Potentials - Inverse Medical Imagery - Non-invasive selective stimulation of a chosen cell within the brain (including its localisation and visualisa­tion): basic principles - Focused ion beam - Focused laser beam - Holography - Computerised models/repro­duction of (segments of) the brain: science fiction? – Ultrashort-Pulse Lasers – Nanotechnology – Telesurgery – The Digital World - … 

 

PROGRAMME 3

 

The Mind

 

The Mind and the Universe - An Anatomo-Functional Study of the Mind - The Physics of Consciousness – The Biological Basis and Neurophysiology of Consciousness - Consciousness Within and Without – Awareness, Consciousness and the Unconscious – The Mind and the Gene - The Mind and the Cognitive Sciences - The Conditioned Mind – The Fragmented Mind – The Holistic Mind - The Dimensionless Mind – Psychosomatics - The Suggestive Power of the Senses – The suggestive Power of Movement - The Suggestive power of the Mind - The Plasticity of the CNS, PNS and ANS – The Mind and Infectious Disease – The Mind and the Neuroimmunoendocrine System – The Mind and the disorders of the Immune System, Connective Tissue and Joints -  The Mind and Surgery - The Mind and Anaesthetics -  The Mind and Emergency Medicine - The Mind and Pain – The Mind and Alterations in Metabolism and Body Temperature -  The Mind and the Nervous System - The Mind and Ageing – The Mind and the Circulatory and Respiratory System – The Mind and the Gastrointestinal System – The Mind and the Urinary System - The Mind and the Reproductive and Sexual System – The Mind and the Skin – The Mind and Haematology – The Mind and Neoplasia – Pharmacology of the Mind – The Mind and Genetics - The Mind and Psychiatry – The Mind and Paediatrics - The Mind and Nutrition - Ethology and Instinct – The Mind and Politics – The Mind and Education – The Mind and Existential Issues – Social Achievements and Superiorities rest overwhelmingly on Cultural Conditioning -…

 

Artificial Intelligence – Artificial Life Forms - Plasticity in Computer Science – Consciousness and Computers - Humanoids - HAL: Why not? – The Mind and Robotics - Personalised Interactive Educational Software - …

 

What do we know exactly? - The value of Degrees, Examinations and Education in general is openly questioned - Even when the degree is fully deserved (which may sometimes not necessarily be the case...), what does he/she "know" exactly?...and how? - I.Q./GRE reconsidered.

 

I might add that I also consider medical training in general to be quite inappropriate (not to say detrimental) to proper patient care. Here again, the approach is much too fragmented, the result being that I have all too often seen specialists feeling very uneasy indeed when faced with a problem outside his/her specialty. The patient is then sent to another specialist who has also more or less "forgotten" what is outside his/her own specialty.... and so forth... These fragmentary approaches often not only lack coordination but can also be very expensive to the community (and patient). The result being that not only the patient is confused but the doctor in charge has considerable difficulty having a complete and thorough picture of his/her patient's case and personality. The human brain is perfectly capable of acquiring and storing all the information necessary from the different specialties into one single competent doctor. The medical courses should be entirely reviewed.

 

And not only medical courses...

 

Could the process leading to the enculturation of the brain possibly smother/limit it's full creative potential and render it “unintelligent”? This is of fundamental importance not only for research but also for mankind/humanity in general and for the years to come. What is important is what and how you "know" (whatever that is supposed to mean...), not so much the degree as such - What would happen if - and I don't think the idea is too far fetched - through the use of personal computers, the Web and somewhat more adapted personalised interactive programmes, every human being could acquire knowledge of "good degree standard" and thereby short-circuit institutionalised establishments of education which would therefore become obsolete?

 

I am convinced that this era of multidisciplinarity and world access to information shall give birth to a new generation: that of self-made intellectual (and why not artistic...) chameleons.

 

How could we make the Brain function more efficiently? – Cluttering the Brain with useless material – How can thought be quiet? How can one exercise thought when necessary and not exercise it when it is not necessary? What is intelligence? - Cleverness and Intelligence: two different things - Assimilating and reproducing knowledge is a mechanical process which is not intelligence: indeed, is intelligence mechanical? Intelligence is of a completely different dimen­sion - I am proposing to find a language more adapted to the nervous system than that used so far in educational institutions: this means going into the neurophysiology of basic thought processes: a protocol enabling the study and the unravelling of the mechanisms of understanding (in its fullest sense) and what hampers these processes, including neurosemantics (and the neurosemantic reactions that can bring about or take the form of powerful psychophysiological blockages), the suggestive power of words and thoughts (conscious or “hidden”),  the reason for the incessant and sometimes wild chattering "noise" within most of us (we are like slaves, puppets to the mind living in a prison of our own making) which hampers insight, reasoning and understanding, and which is sometimes just too much for the nervous system to take. The protocol explores the possibility of finding a common denominator in all the languages not only from a grammatical but also from a physico-chemical point of view.

 

In short, I am here trying to find the basic "code", the key principle of learning and reasoning (the basis of research) so that the human being does not have to waste so much time not only to acquire knowledge but even just to understand what is seen, read or said (sometimes one third of a whole life is given to study, or a whole life for research). In so doing not only shall the pace in the advancement of research, in the understanding of Nature, and of the nature of Nature be considerably increased, but also the status that is generally given to knowledge is invited to climb down the ladder putting whatever knowledge "in its place" as it were; perhaps much more attention that is so urgently needed can thereby be given to the human being as such on this planet and thus attend to the vital problem of harmony (i.e. intelligence) within and between human beings.

 

Self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom and if one could feel the urgency of an inner revolution, the solution to all the human problems

would come on its own accord, without relying on any guru, book, system, belief, idea, or what have you (including violence), since self-

knowledge by definition cannot depend on any external agency.

 

PROGRAMME 4

Alternative and Complementary Medicines

1) Meditation (yoga,...) and Music

 

A complete and thorough study of meditation – Functional analysis of the neural networks using medical imagery - Music, Psychotherapy and other applications – Neurophysiology of Meditation - Neurobiology of Meditation - …

 

2) Chi Kung - Wai Dan - Nei Dan - Taï Chi Chuan - Ba Kua Chan – Hsing I Chuan – Dancing

 

A comprehensive anatomo-functional study with reference to basic principles of neurophysiology, neuroendocrinology and psychiatry– a complete analysis of movements - a study of the potential short and long term benefits through regular practice - Why should a given succes­sion of movements have a given effect? – The Suggestive Power of Movement – Active Meditation as opposed to Passive Meditation - Analysis of the mutual positive/negative feed-back influences and of the neural networks using medical imagery whilst practising the martial arts - Psycho­therapeutic aspects - Psycho-somatic lumbalgia and arthralgia - ­the "stress-immune" system - neuro-endocrine immune interaction - Ageing – Clinical applications - …- Gestiology – Symbolism - …

 

I am interested in Chinese medicine and related disciplines.  It is important to note in this respect that the Chinese made many fundamental clinical and theoretical medical discoveries hundreds of years ago and which are only now finding confirma­tion thanks to more advanced technology and a more open mind.

3) Acupuncture - Chi Nei Tsang - Shia-Tsu,

 

A systematic study with reference to basic principles of neurophysiology, molecular biology and immunology - Psychiatric disorders - Clinical applications - Why does acupuncture work with certain people and not with others - Analysis of the meridian circuitry - Example: stimulation of point S36 followed by an analysis of subsequent brain functions and neural circuitry involved, internal parameters and the ensuing neuroimmunoendocrine interactions: neuro­transmitters/neuropeptides, synaptic transmission, neuro­endocrine factors, lymphocyte B et T, cytokine networks, phagocytosis, … - Comparative study between control subjects and hospitalised patients - …

 

I am quite aware of the fact that acupuncture is a controversial (to say the least) field of study for some.

 

It is hoped however that the advanced technology at our disposal shall enable a complete, objective(!) and very thorough investigation of the physiological and biochemical basis of acupuncture. Should acupuncture be totally rejected? Far too many questions are still left unanswered in this field, as you undoubtedly know.

 

                                         There is also far too much pressure from laboratories and faculties to use drugs and to directly and indirectly discourage research in acupuncture.  Acupuncture also allows the physician to decrease the administered therapeutic doses.  Could we do without drugs altogether through a better knowledge of acupuncture? Let us give acupuncture a fair trial.

 

Chi Nei Tsang deals with "massage of the internal organs" and the suggestive power of touch.

 

4) Phytotherapy, Herbs, Homeopathy, Placebo, … 

 

PROGRAMME 5

Internal Medicine and The Neurosciences

 

Basic Principles – A Comprehensive Discussion of Internal Medicine seen through the Neurosciences: Genetics and Disease – Pharmacology – Nutrition – Clinical Manifestations of Disease – Infectious Disease – Environmental and Occupational Hazards - Neurological Disorders – Endocrinology and Metabolism – Haematology and Oncology – Disorders of the Immune System – Disorders of the Connective Tissue and Joints – Disorders of the Cardiovascular System – Disorders of the Respiratory System – Disorders of the Kidney and Urinary Tract – Disorders of the Gastrointestinal System - …  

PROGRAMME 6

Surgery and The Neurosciences

Basic Principles – Preoperative Preparation of Surgical Patients – Anaesthesia - Homeostasis – Shock – Fluid and Electrolyte Management – Metabolism – Wound Healing – Infections – Trauma – Renal Failure – The Neuroimmunoendocrine System – Transplantation – Systems

Review: General and Specialised Surgery seen through the Neurosciences - …

 

PROGRAMME 7

Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care and The Neurosciences

 

Basic Principles - Clinical Anaesthesiology – Systems Review: A Comprehensive Discussion of Emergency Situations as seen through the

Neurosciences - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – Critical Care - … 

PROGRAMME 8

Biology and Computer Science

 

The Human Genome – The Anatomy of Human Gene Expression - Identification of Gene Functions – Proteomics - Glycomics – Treating Disease without Drugs - Endogenously Synthesised Drugs on Demand – Doomsday for Pharmacological Companies? - Genetic Engineering – DNA/gene chips – Protein arrays – Gene Therapy - Targeted Gene Replacement - Biohybrid Devices - Genetic Screening – Cloning - Cultivation of Stem Cells - Genetic Vaccines – Edible Vaccines - Computing with DNA - Probing the Soul? – Plasticity in Computer Science – Robotic Life Forms – The Mind and Robotics – Synthetic Consciousness - A Common Cyberlanguage for the Life Sciences – Wholesale Computation – Creating Convergence - Optical Switching – The Ultimate all-optical Network - Personalised Interactive Educational Software - The World of Biomics - Hypercomputers - Nanotechnology - Nanoelectronics - Nanomedicine …       

 

PROGRAMME 9

 

Space

 

Life sciences in the space program: Biomedical research – Medicine in Space – Emergency Medicine and Critical Care in Space – The Drug Problem: Solution = ? - Radiation - Crew factors - Systems engineering – Operational medicine - Gravitational biology - Controlled ecological life support systems - Biosystems research - Exobiology - Flight programs - Program administration – Applications - …

 

PROGRAMME 10

 

Synthesis

 

This programme systematically integrates all the afore mentioned material developed in the preceding sections.

 

The mind in and by itself contains all the essentials of the history of humanity. It is an invaluable "book", an inextinguishable source of inspiration which is forever changing, never coming to an end and which contains a wealth of information: a memory of the past and of the future… If one is able to read that "book" (which is the main difficulty), you do not need any other books on psychology, philosophy… The solution is not "out there" but within. It is interesting to note that a few Far Eastern “Philosophers” are able to talk (in their own words) about the Essence (= Quintessence?) of the Universe - which is an extremely complex issue – without having studied Physics… Could the study of our minds possibly reveal much more than the basics of psychology and philosophy...? Could I think of a predetermined gene, understand its mechanism, or  “tell” it to start making another protein because I need it to get rid of an infection…? Can Consciousness understand itself?

 

The dynamic plasticity of the CNS, PNS and ANS demonstrates that self-knowledge associated with multidisciplinary experiences, training, “education” and way of life can be undoubtedly beneficial for many reasons: medical, political, sociological, research…and last but not least: for the individual him(her)self. The educational and institutional systems, however, must be entirely revised.

 

The Neurosciences and Cognition – Education – The Savant Syndrome – Autism - The Interblending between Cognitive Sciences and the Neuroimmunoendocrine System: this integrated approach forms by far one of the most complex issues in the Neurosciences.

 

Medicine and the Neurosciences: A Holistic Approach – Clinical applications - Psychosomatics - Classical and Alternative/Comparative Medicine: an integrated approach - Problem: How are you going to deal with a patient who finds him(her)self in a (critical) medical condition (disease/inflammation/trauma/…..functional or organic problem…/…surgery…) when drugs may not be available (i.e. long distance/duration space flight, so-called "under-developed” countries in Africa, Asia, ...)? - The Drug Problem - Health without Drugs: Science Fiction? – Wound healing - Africa and the AIDS Crisis – Peritonitis on a long distance space flight: you’ve got a problem!   

 

Population genetics - Comparative ethnopsychiatric studies - Epidemio­logical studies on resistance to infection and drugs – Disease elimination and eradication.

 

The Neurosciences and International Relations – Politics – Economics – The Neurosciences and Religion – The Neurosciences and The Arts.

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