Newsletter 2002 (PDF-File)

The 39th ISCEV Symposium, organised by Dr Pierre Lachapelle, was successfully held from 17-22 June 2001 in the resort area of Mont Orford in Quebec, Canada. It was one of the best organised meetings, and this was reflected not only in the scientific programme, but also in the conference enviroment, and organiser’s hospitality; the meeting will long be remembered by all who attended. The event attracted more than 200 people, with 125 registrants and 80 accompanying persons, and on behalf of everyone, I take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to Dr Lachapelle and his team.

Numerous innovative activities were organised during the meeting, and among them Wednesday night’s “memorial photo evening” was absolutely splendid. All of us were asked to submit photos taken during past ISCEV meetings and we enjoyed the moments of looking back at the history of our society. Prof Yutaka Tazawa from Morioka, Japan had done a wonderful job of editing a video taken during the 16th ISCEV meeting held in Morioka in 1978, showing the younger days of Prof Henkes (who was the President at that time), Prof Nillson, and the late Profs. Tomita and Van Lith, the still active Prof Adachi, and a splendidly hirsute Prof Marmor. Prof Tazawa deserved the Grand Prix for this wonderful work!

The Eberhard Dodt Award, which was inaugurated in 1996, was presented to Alison Mackay of Glasgow University in the UK. The thema of her research was “The Laplacian electrode montage detects steady-state VEPs faster than a conventional montage in children over three years old”, which contributed significantly in paediatric electrophysiological testing. During the award ceremony, Prof Dodt’s widow, Mrs. Elke Dodt, gave a speech to congratulate the recipient, and I take this opportunity to also extend my congratulations to Dr Mackay and her colleagues.

This ISCEV meeting had 120 presentations: 3 invited lectures, 48 papers, and 69 posters. The main topics of the meeting were “The rise and fall of vision: from paediatric to geriatric visual electrophysiology” and “Visual electrophysiology and genetics: from animal models to clinical application”. The three main lectures were the following:

(1) DM Regan (Canada): Clinical electrophysiology and clinical psychophysics
(2) J Brecelj (Slovenia): From immature to mature pattern ERG and VEP
(3) NS Peachey (USA): Importance of visual electrophysiology in the evaluation of mutant mice

ISCEV continues to increase its activities. The Western Hemisphere “ISCEV@ARVO” and various meetings in Europe, China and Japan all work together with ISCEV and this is made possible by the efforts of ISCEV Board members. I take this opportunity to express my respect and gratitude to these members. Prof Colin Barber continues to play a key role and his fundamental support is vital in running the society. Prof Vernon Odom who is the Editor-in-chief of our Journal, Documenta Ophthalmologica, has been serving the second term of the position. Because of his hard work, I hope the special editions will provide interesting reading. Dr Ulrich Kellner has become the new Treasurer and we are all happy to see that he has been well prepared to take over the role in Berlin. Dr Richard Weleber, another Board member, is now serving the second term as the Secretary (America); in the Western Hemisphere, he and his family have worked hard; our collaboration has now become a major event at ARVO where all participants thoroughly enjoy active discussions of our mutual interest.

We have two new new board members, Dr Atsushi Mizota (Chiba, Japan) has been elected as the Secretary (Asia/Australia) and Dr Mitchell Brigell as Member-at-Large. We welcome them to their new roles and look forward to their further contribution. On the other hand, we are sad to see Prof Emiko Adachi finish her term as Board member, and we extend our deepest gratitude for her years of tremendous dedication.

For the past year the ISCEV has also accomplished much educationally. CEVnet, run byDr Scott Brodie, has become an important medium of information exchange. ISCEV’s instruction course held in Cuba last August welcomed Dr Holder, and Dr Dawson was instrumental in getting it off the ground. Prof Marmor and myself organised and participated in the instruction course and ISCEV symposiums in the International Congress of Ophthalmology held in Sydney this April.

ISCEV’s 40th meeting will soon be held in Leuven/Belgium. We all look forward to what promises to be a very special 40th meeting of the ISCEV to be organised by Dr Werner Spileers. Finally, I look forward to welcoming each and every one of you to Nagoya in 2003.

Yozo Miyake, ISCEV President

Time, again, to review what has been happening in our Society since I last wrote my piece. It’s not a true annual report since it runs from symposium to symposium and they are not fixed. But, as we prepare for our 2002 symposium (the 40th, no less!), it’s useful to reflect on what we’ve done well, what we’ve done not-so-well and what we are currently trying to do.

High on the list of what we’ve done well comes the annual symposium. Always. One of the real pleasures of being Secretary-General is the opportunity each year to work with the symposium organisers as they prepare. I try to provide some continuity and, hopefully, some help. To run the symposium is a daunting task for the local organisers, not only because of the sheer amount of work to be done, but also because of the high standards set by previous meetings and the excellence we have all come to expect. I always find myself advising them: “Don’t try to improve on last year – it can’t be done. Just try to match the standard, but in a different way”. And always they do!

Perhaps more than anything else, the annual symposium embodies the spirit of ISCEV: the friendly “family”feeling, the striving for excellence, the determination to progress.

I have to say, though, that our determination to progress has been sorely tried when it comes to the journal, Documenta Ophthalmologica. Although many, especially the Editor, have worked hard through the year, progress has been patchy and in some respects things have actually got worse. On the positive side some excellent Special Issues have been produced, and sincere thanks are due to the Guest Editors. This is set to continue, with special issues on the main symposium topics planned as a permanent feature for the future.

An unwanted side-effect has been that the rate of throughput for regular papers –already unsatisfactory–has become worse. In practice, this has not made as much impact as might be expected since, despite all exhortations, there was no increase at all in the number of papers submitted. We are working hard to improve throughput times – the process is being streamlined, and I am negotiating with the publisher to move to an A4 format (which will also give better figure quality). I’m sure it seems progress is slow –to me it seems agonisingly slow– but I do believe progress is being made. Negotiations also continue with regard to on-line access. So please don’t give up on the journal, and please do submit your papers.

Our society has been very active in three important areas. These are Education, with many courses being run; International Communications, with more and more of us looking to the ISCEV website as a primary source of information and communication; and Standards, with new standards/guidelines being produced and old ones revisited. Some structural changes to our society have been proposed to reflect the growing importance of the above. We shall vote this year on the creation of three new Board positions for Directors of these areas of activity. At the same time we shall vote on whether to reduce the number of “Regional” positions on the Board by three. This will keep it at a manageable size, but the main reason is that relatively little of our activity is carried out on a regional basis – a reflection of the truly international nature of our society.
It is also an acknowledgement that the internet makes it just as easy to communicate with a colleague in another continent as in another town. ISCEV acknowledges its duty to facilitate communication between members whilst, at the same time, respecting and protecting individual privacy. Our policy in this regard is currently under review and your input is welcome.

Finally –and on behalf also of fellow officers who may not get the chance to write a piece for themselves– I should like to express appreciation for your continued support. To serve our Society is sometimes difficult, frequently time consuming, but always rewarding. Thank you.

Colin Barber, PhD

2000

Vaegan informs the meeting of his great success in organising the Sydney symposium, which has resulted in a surplus of $19,000.
Stuart Coupland asks whether the Multifocal Course was an ISCEV course, to which Vaegan replies that it was not. Coupland asks whether any payment was made to him, as organiser; Vaegan replies that he received expenses payments.
Michael Bach asks whether the invited Faculty were aware that it was not an ISCEV course, and whether they were paid a fee for speaking at a non-ISCEV course. Vaegan replies that he is not sure whether they were aware of it but they were not paid a fee.

2001

Pierre Lachapelle reports that attendance has exceeded all expectations with 125 participants in the symposium, plus 25 in the course (the maximum), 42 accompanying persons and 12 children.

The high point of the year 2001 was the growing ISCEV/ARVO meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. The meeting began at 1:00 pm and was fully subscribed for paper submissions. Details of the scientific section of the meeting and attendance will be provided by Dr Richard Weleber (Secretary for the Americas). The afternoon was followed by a buffet of excellent variety and quantity. The attendees indicated that both their intellectual and gastronomic needs had been fully satisfied.

During the last year, Dr James Ver Hoeve (University of Wisconsin) continued his previous interactions with the administrative offices in the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which relate to the federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). Word has come down from HCFA that Jim’s counseling has resulted in a 50 - 60% increase in the “time component”of the reimbursement scale equation which is used to calculate the allowed fees for clinical electrodiagnostic procedures. Jim fills this informal position very well and has made a number of good contacts, which will be of service to the membership in the future.

Since the meeting in Asilomar, CA there has been continuing discussion about the form and results of the proposed Diplomate in Electrodiagnostics which will be offered by the Academy of Optometry. During the last two years the plans, text and testing program for candidates for the diplomate have been completed. Dr Gary Trick and Elmar Schmeisser of ISCEV have served on the committee and have helped shape the final program. The diplomate is available to any member of ISCEV who might wish to join the Academy of Optometry Basic Science Division and complete the necessary testing procedures. The conscequences of the diplomate could be significant in that holders could be identified as “providers” by HCFA (Health Care Finance Administration) and therefore become eligible to receive direct compensation for electrodiagnostic services.

This office has given significant assistance and advertisement to the “Traveling Symposium” sponsored by the Cuban Institute for Neurosurgery and Ophthalmology (Dr R. Santiesteban). The meeting was scheduled for August 2001 and had an educational contribution from ISCEV by way of a program designed by Dr Graham Holder.

William W. Dawson, PhD
Vice President for the Americas

The 49annual meeting of Japanese Society for Clinical Electropysiology of Vision was held at Toba city on November 16 and 17, 2001 by Prof Dr Yukitaka Uji, Facultyof Medicine, Mie University. Participants were 145 in this meeting. Prof Dr Günter Niemeyer in Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, Zurich/ Switzerland gave a invited lecture entitled “What information can be gained using the perfused mammalian eye?”. One special lecture was given by Prof Dr Yozo Miyake in Nagoya University. Three educational lectures about abnormality of genes and electrophysiology of vision were presented by 3 speakers. One symposium about the medicine and environmental factors and electrophysiology of vision was held by 7 symposists. Forty free papers were given.

The next meeting will be held in Chiba as “Joint Symposium of the 50th Meeting of Japanese Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision and the 12th World Congress of Retina International” on August 2-3, 2002 by Prof Dr Eimiko Adachi-Usami in Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University.

Yoshihisa Oguchi MD, Secretary for Asia & Australia, and Atsushi Mizota

This year the European Vision and Eye Research meeting will be held on 1-5 October in Alicante. The past vice-president for Europe, Nick Galloway, is organising a symposium on “Early Detection of Glaucoma”. A number of Society members are invited speakers at this symposium.

A one-day meeting on “Recent Advances in Visual Electrophysiology” was held at York by an ISCEV member (Robert Royall) with Graham Holder (Director of Education) giving an invited lecture. The success of this meeting has led to the suggestion of an annual event (much like the Japanese Society meeting) hosted by different ISCEV members within the U.K. The first annual meeting is planned for the first week in September at Nottingham University and will be hosted by Colin Barber (Secretary-General).

Recent events in the U.K. over the role of clinical scientists have allowed the Secretary-General to provide an ISCEV type input into these discussions. It is felt to be important that a British society or Chapter should be formalised to ensure continuance of this representation.

My involvement with some of these activities has not been as deep as I would have wished due to extreme commitments in the first 18 months of a 5-year term as secretary of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, but now we have a professional secretariat, and at last –some years after ISCEV– our own website it is expected to improve.

I very much look forward to being with you all in Nagoya.

Graham Harding, Vice-president Europe

The purpose of Documenta Ophthalmologica is to promote the understanding and application of clinical electrophysiology of vision. Documenta Ophthalmologica publishes reviews, research articles, technical notes, brief reports and case studies which inform the readers about basic and clinical sciences related to visual electrodiagnosis and means to improve diagnosis and clinical management of patients using visual electrophysiology. Studies may involve animal or human subjects.

This year ISCEV will be renegotiating its affiliation with Kluwer. As these negotiations have not been completed at the time of my writing this report, May 2002, some aspects of the report may be altered by those negotiations.

Our Successes
Part of our agreement with Documenta’s publisher, Kluwer, was to fill six issues per year. In 2000 and 2001, we filled 6 issues. We shall do so again in 2002 and 2003. During 2001, the number of manuscript submission remained at 44. This represents the second consecutive year that we have had 44 manuscripts submitted as regular articles. At our current rate we should also reach this level in 2002 as well. Forty-four submissions is short of our goal of 60 manuscript submissions per year. However, when we include our special issues we have more than enough quality manuscripts to fill our six journal issues this year.

Success 1: Consistently receiving 40 or more manuscripts from our membership represents a strong commitment from the membership to make the journal succeed.

Success 2: Consistent production of quality special issues from our membership also represents a strong commitment from the membership to make the journal succeed.

In 2001, I informed Kluwer that the editorial office would again manage the review process. In addition Ms. Karen Murray, our Managing Editor, and I set a goal for ourselves; to send authors information regarding the initial decision on their manuscript within 6 weeks of our receiving the manuscript. Since July of 2001, we have come very close to meeting that goal. The average time between our receiving a manuscript and our sending out a letter informing the authors of the initial results of the review process is 6.3 weeks and appears to be improving.

Success 3: To make the editorial schedule work requires commitment on the part of the reviewers. Reviewers who agreed to review manuscripts have generally done so in a timely fashion. This is a third indication of the commitment of our members to the journal.

One thing that has made the journal work better is that you have contacted us when you thought that there might be problems with manuscripts. I encourage you to continue to do so. As always, you may send such comments either by regular or email to me, jodom@wvu.edu, or to the managing editor, Ms. Karen Murray, kmurray@hsc.wvu.edu.

Our Difficulties

This year we have had several difficulties. First among these is that some of our membership does not receive Documenta in a timely fashion. The journal has been published approximately every two months for the last year. However, at ARVO 2002, I discovered that some members including Dr Barber had not received the two issues, which were published in 2002. This represents a continuing difficulty in communication between the publisher and ISCEV.

Because of the past difficulties in timely delivery of journals, journals were not delivered to ISI, the company that creates Impact Factor ratings. Consequently, ISI did not rate Documenta Ophthalmologica in 2001-2002. Our understanding from Kluwer is that this issue of impact factor rating will be revisited in the fall of 2002 by ISI.

For a number of reasons, we currently have a backlog of articles. Consequently, there may be a considerable delay between the time articles have been accepted for publication and the time that they are actually published. The positive side to this difficulty is that it demonstrates that we are able to maintain a steady stream of quality manuscripts. Dr Barber will be using this knowledge in his negotiations with Kluwer to strive to increase the journal size by one of three methods, increasing the size to A4 format, increasing the page allotment per issue or actually increasing the number of issues. If he is successful the potential delays will be reduced.

Alison M. Mackay from Glasgow was elected Dodt awardee at the ISCEV meeting in Montréal.

The Eberhard Dodt Memorial Award commemorates the life and work of Prof Dr med Dr med hc Eberhard Dodt, former director of the Max-Planck-Institute in Bad Nauheim, and long-standing member of the advisory board of ISCEV. The award is given for the best presentation at the annual meeting to a young scientist (below 35 years of age) according to scientific excellence, the novelty and potential value and/or clinical usefulness and the quality of the presentation (taking into account the native language).

At the Montréal symposium, Alison M. Mackay presented a talk entitled “A Laplacian electrode montage detects steady-state VEPs faster than a conventional montage (Oz-Fz) in children over three years old”, co-authored by MS Bradnam, R Hamilton, GN Dutton, J Dudgeon and AT Elliott.

Honoured Prizewinners, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

On my husband’s gravestone are inscribed the words: “Your traces remain”. Of course, we all know that this is true only in a metaphorical sense. Sooner or later everyone’s remains perish and disappear – except, that is, in cases when a name and a lifetime of achievement continue to have an effect even after a person’s death, for example through support given to young colleagues in the same branch of science.

So far the Eberhardt Dodt Prize has been awarded five times on the occasion of the annual ISCEV symposium, and at four of these I have had the honour of presenting it in person.It is a great pleasure for me to be able to present the prize again on this occasion. For me it is a legacy from my late husband. Furthering the progress of young scientists, which was always close to his heart, thus continues to be associated with his name.

Last year, I was unable to come to Sydney because I had organised a charity concert at Bad Nauheim at this time. The soloists were the Japanese ophthalmic surgeon and pianist Mariko Mitsuyu, who had previously worked with my husband, and the Japanese horn-player Sichiro Ohno. They performed together with the young musicians of the German College for the Blind. The proceeds from the concert were devoted to increasing, once again, the capital sum in the endowment fund for our prize.

The prize is intended, as you know, to spur on young scientists from the new generation in the field of the electrophysiology of sight on their painstaking but promising path to further scientific knowledge. We can only register with astonishment Goethe’s line: “The essence of medicine is easy to grasp.”

All the same, Goethe was very well versed in natural science, as we can tell from his “Theory of Colour”; and in reality, he had a quite different concept of the medical man, and specifically of the ophthalmic surgeon:

We believe that we should regard the physician with particularly warm feelings,
especially the one whose profession is to examine the eye, to keep it in a good
state, to minister to its defects and to heal it when it is diseased.

This year’s jury has deemed your research contribution, Dr Alison M. Mackay, to be most deserving, out of a number of fine pieces of work. May I present you, with my heartfelt congratulations, the Eberhard Dodt Prize.

Elke Dodt

Pierre Lachapelle shares his recollections of the Montréal Symposium with us:

As I am writing this post-symposium recollection I remember how febrile we were in the few days prior to the opening of the 39th ISCEV Symposium. Excitement was at its peak not only for members of the organizing committee but also for the entire staff of the Manoir des Sables for which this was their first major international experience. Did it show? Not at all! Everything went smoothly from the first official event, namely the ISCEV course to the very last official event, the ISCEV golf tournament, which was brilliantly won by Jane Marmor.

More than 250 friends came to visit us whether as ISCEV members, exhibitors, accompanying persons or children. A total of 121 scientific presentations were offered either as platform (52) or poster (69), all of them reporting results of stimulating and challenging research projects. How can we forget the exceptional contribution of the first ISCEV referees (Julie Racine and Allison Dorfman) in keeping us on time. All sessions started and ended on time, thanks to their firm ruling. Social events, which are also an important aspect of ISCEV family reunions, included a colourful and lively Opening Ceremony where we had to negotiate, with native Indians, in order to recuperate our president, Yozo Miyake. The natives also gave us an elegant demonstration of their ancestral dancing and signing savoir-faire which will be long remembered by all. Also included on our busy calendar of social events were: a delightful BBQ dinner under the tent, a dinner at the cabane-à-sucre where participants learned how to play the “wooden spoons”, a musical instrument typical of the Québec’s folklore, as well as perform typical québécois dances. This dinner will most probably be long remembered as the noisiest: just imagine, more than 200 (double) wooden spoons cracking at the same time. Similarly, we will not forget the traditional ISCEV Olympics which included this time not so traditional events such as the throw of the rubber booth and the québécois jig, to name a few.

The following day brought the entire group to Montréal for a full-day excursion: lunch and ISCEV official picture on the Mont-Royal mountain overlooking downtown Montréal, visit of old Montréal in the afternoon and finally a cocktail reception, followed by dinner at the Biosphere on the Notre-Dame Island.During the cocktail the contributions to the first ISCEV picture competition were presented. Winners of this competition were: Ido Perlman for best picture, Ann Moskowitz for most voluminous participation and a special prize to Yutaka Tazawa for his 1978 Morioka ISCEV film strip. Following the cocktail and recollections of past symposiums, we climbed to the 4th floor of the Biosphere to enjoy a delicious dinner facing a wonderful view of Montreal’s harbour and the Benson & Hedge’s International firework competition.

The Symposium Logo as designed by François Lachapelle

Of course the climax of all ISCEV meetings is the Banquet and ours was up to standard. The food was exquisite, the cheeses and port wine served at the most appropriate time (before dessert) and accompanying dessert and coffee the most dramatic ever conclusion of our Olympiads. You will remember that while points were gathered during the Olympiads, some were deducted by the referees for platform presentations that exceeded the allotted time. Also our Secretary-General took upon himself to add and deduct points to teams for items only he could have thought of, such as: the NAFTA geographical awareness allowance which favoured the USA team or the pre-contest penalty and bonus points which clearly disfavoured the USA team. As one could have easily anticipated, the outcome of Colin’s impartial intervention was to place all 5 teams (Asia, Canada, UK, Europe, USA) equal. This called for a pseudo-improvised tie-breaker which ultimately, after merciless competition, identified the European team as the winner.

For those of you who participated at the 39th ISCEV Symposium, the above will –I hope– bring back found memories. For those of you who, for whatever reason, could not attend our Symposium, the above (along with the accompanying pictures) will make you realise how good a family reunion you have missed. Should Canadians decide to hold another ISCEV Symposium (and now that a year has passed, I see no reason why not) let us hope that the entire ISCEV family will join us once more.

The senior ISCEV 39th Organising Committee: Jacqueline Orquin, Michelle McKerral, Marie-Sylvie Roy, Carol Westall, Stuart Coupland, François Tremblay, Serge Rosolen, Pierre Lachapelle.

The junior ISCEV 39th Organising Committee: Julie Racine, Allison Dorfman, Marianne Rufiange, Julie Brûlé, Alexandra Dassa, Julie Lachapelle, Hadi Chakor.

The ISCEV-Sponsored Teaching Course

The content of the ISCEV Teaching Course was developed by the Educational Committee of ISCEV, and this course is always given in English. The 5th ISCEV Teaching Course was held June 17th, 2001, Manoir des Sables, Magog-Orford, Québec, Canada, just before the 39th ISCEV Symposium. This course was co-directed by Richard G. Weleber, MD, and Graham E. Holder, PhD, who took over as Education Director January 1st, 2002. Stuart Coupland, PhD, was the Local Coordinator. This was the first year that multifocal techniques were incorporated into the Course, which was attended by more than 35 participants and was deemed highly successful.

The next Teaching Course will take place Monday July 15th and Tuesday morning July 16th just before the 40th ISCEV Symposium in Leuven, Belgium. Dr Graham E. Holder is Course director and Dr Werner Spileers is Course Co-ordinator.

Richard G. Weleber, MD, Outgoing Director of Education

Graham E. Holder, PhD, Current Director of Education

A note from the Current Education Director

I would like to acknowledge the hard work and effort put in by Dr Weleber to ensure that the previous ISCEV Courses for which he has been responsible have been highly successful. I thank him on behalf of the Society. It is my aim to maintain the high standards that Dr Weleber has set, and to continue to offer Course participants high quality lectures from experts in the field. As part of ongoing development there will be periodic changes in Faculty; on behalf of the Society I would therefore also like to thank Professors Colin Barber and Vernon Odom for their excellent contributions to previous Courses.

Other Courses run by ISCEV members in the last year included those in Berlin (Kellner), London (Holder) Munich (Berninger) and Tubingen (Zrenner). In addition, Professor Colin Barber co-ordinated a teaching symposium at the SOE Meeting in Istanbul, June, 2001. A similar symposium was run by Professors Michael Marmor and Yozo Miyake in association with the ICO Meeting in Sydney, April, 2002.

ISCEV Members intending to run “ISCEV Approved” Courses are reminded that they need to forward details of Course content and faculty to the Director of Education prior to publicising their Course.

Graham E. Holder, Director of Education

A Report from the “Travelling Meeting on Peripheral Nerve and Visual System Disorders” in Cuba

ISCEV Members Professor Rosaralis Santiesteban Freixas and her son, Dr Carlos Mendoza Santiesteban, organised a “Travelling Meeting on Peripheral Nerve and Visual System Disorders” in Cuba in August 2001. ISCEV members Marko Hawlina (Slovenia), Graham Holder (UK) and Angelika Shamshinova (Russia) attended, with Holder and Hawlina running a very well attended teaching Course. A main theme of the meeting was the “epidemic” optic neuropathy, probably related to nutritional factors, and which affected more than 50,000 Cubans in 1993. Shamshinova was presented with a well-deserved award for services to electrophysiology in Cuba, having been instrumental in starting visual electrophysiology there in the 1970’s. Other distinguished guests included JEK (Dick) Galbraith, Michio Hirano, Tom Hedges III, Jun Kimura and Alfredo Sadun.

Unique in the writer’s experience, the meeting was held in different places, enabling those visitors from abroad to experience some more of the beauty of Cuba. After an opening day in Havana, the next day saw a bus ride to Pinar Del Rio, where the local ophthalmologists were the first to recognise the onset of the neuropathy. Days 3 and 4 were in Havana, and the fifth day in Varadero, a popular holiday resort, for the final session on Visual Electrophysiology.

Rosaralis Santiesteban and Carlos Mendoza expressed their gratitude to ISCEV for our support. They are to be congratulated, not only for organising a splendidly enjoyable meeting, but also for striving hard to attain high standards of electrophysiology under difficult conditions.

Graham E. Holder, London