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promote industrial production by establishing large computing centers in strategic locations for the use of all agencies, research and development institutes, and production and commercial installations. About 14 centers have been established and appear to be operating. The government is planning to establish a computer center called CYRONET in Swierk to provide advanced scientific computation facilities for the Warsaw community. Initially, there are to be 11 terminals in Warsaw institutes and schools. Other regional centers are planned.
5. Medical sciences (S)
Polish biomedical sciences are making relatively few contributions to medical knowledge, but those that are made are of good quality. The government does not place a high priority on medical and biological research and progress is hampered by shortages of funds, facilities, and equipment. Much needed support is furnished by Western governments and foreign foundations. In an effort to improve its research position, Poland is committing foreign currency to acquire advanced research laboratory equipment. In addition, study abroad, especially in the United States, by biomedical scientists is encouraged. Biomedical research is directed by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the PAN, and univertieis; the PAN is expected to assume a role in coordinating the research. Emphasis in biomedical research is being placed on practical problems of improvement of health care, advancement of pharmaceutical research, and protection of the environment. Achievements have been made in environmental physiology, microbiology, hematology, and molecular biology.
Physiologists have stressed studies on the adaptation of the human body to the environment and to conditions of work. Some good electronic instrumentation has been developed to assist in determining the parameters of performance of mechanical tasks and to register the effects of noise and heat on the health of workers in selected occupations. The Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the PAN in Warsaw has produced excellent apparatus for study of night and color vision and is doing superior research on coronary circulation. The Poles have established a comprehensive research and research training program in orthopedics and powered prostheses and in rehabilitation of the disabled.
Research in hematology is traditionally of high caliber. Research is devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of blood diseases, especially hemophilia, and to the refinement of blood donor systems. Hematological studies are undertaken in cooperation with the countries of Eastern Europe.
Microbiological research is, in some limited areas, on a par with that done in the United States. Biochemical, radiological, and physiological techniques are being employed by workers at the State Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw, in the study of the neural action of toxins isolated from staphylococcic organisms. Controlled epidemiological study of the efficacy of vaccines is being utilized in the selection of the most promising for large-scale vaccination programs. The technology of research in immunology has been carefully developed and refined to assist research workers in the analysis of the phenomenon of resistance to diseases. The Poles are carrying on excellent research in immunological diagnosis of infectious diseases. Environmental studies are underway to control water pollution in the Vistula River.
Biochemical research reflects international interests and approaches, and research personnel have been trained abroad. Research is being devoted to the structure and function of proteins and to the molecular basis of resistance to infection. In work confirmed in the United States, scientists at the Biochemistry Department of the Hematology Institute and the Immunopathology Department of the State Institute of Hygiene have shed some light on the structure of the Australian antigen. The Institute of Molecular Biology at the Department of Biophysics, Krakow, has developed advanced competence in the observation of vital constituents of cells and tissues. The Poles have demonstrated interest, stimulated by Western work, in the role of biogenic amines, for example, serotonin and its derivatives, and in the etiology of mental disturbances. Attention has been directed to the application of lasers in ocular surgery and to examination of the neurological effects of exposure to microwave radiation.
An effort is being made to improve the Polish pharmaceutical industry. Research is underway in support of the production of antibiotics and of psychotropic agents, vitamins, hormones, and anti-inflammatory agents. The Institute of Organic Chemistry of the PAN has synthesized a derivative of erythromycin, an antibiotic of considerable clinical importance. Arterial hypotensive agents and psychotropic drugs have been given particular attention by Polish pharmacologists.
Research in radiation is a relatively new field for scientific investigation in Poland, but it is developing steadily. Excellent work has been devoted to study of the mechanism of ionizing radiation and its effect on
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070028-8
