Introduction to Journal of chronomedicine

This fisrt article introduces the first issue, that is mostly an english version of the previous issue, devoted to the scientific heritage of two announced anniversaries.

In the second article (Prokopiev, 2019), one of the most fruitful students of Gennady Dmitrievich Gubin, a prominent Tyumen scientist and biographer, the author of a multi-volume encyclopedia of creative biographies «Keeping a grateful memory», Nikolai Prokopiev shares his memories of his teacher.

In the third article (Gubin and Cornelissen, 2019), the pitfalls in the analysis and interpretation of blood pressure variability are discussed. The authors review the main factors affecting blood pressure, without which it is impossible to improve the methods of diagnosis of pathologies that consider measurements of blood pressure. The paper also highlights the unique experience and invaluable contribution of Franz Halberg in the development of scientific research on blood pressure variability.

The fivth article (Bon, 2019), prepared by colleagues from Belarus is devoted to the genetic bases of the rat brain embryonic development of mammals. Ontogeny and realted dynamic modifications has always been one of the main scientific interests of Gennady Gubin and Tyumen school of chronobiology.

The last brief report (Borisenkov, 2019) summarizes materials and scientific discussion from the 2nd International forum on Cognitive Neurosciences that was recently held in Ekaterinburg and where section on Chron-obiological Aspects of Psychological Well-Being And Cognitive Functions took place.

Gennady Dmitrievich Gubin (20.08.1928-30.09.2008).

On August 20, 2018, Tyumen Medical University celebrated the 90th anniversary of one of the founders of the University, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Hon- oured Scientist of the Russian Federation, Chevalier of the Order of Honour, Gennady Dmitrievich Gubin.

Gennady Gubin was one of the luminaries of chronobiology, who devoted almost 50 years of his fruitful scientific career to the research of chronobiology and chronomedicine. Back in the late 50-ies of the last century, studying tissue samples of liver cells obtained at different times of the day, Gennady Gubin found that the content of glycogen, proteins, DNA and RNA in them varies significantly. Later Gennady Gubin concluded that the degree of differences between histological and physiological parameters studied at different times changes in the phylogenesis and ontogenesis of Vertebrates. He established a General biological pattern of changes in the amplitude of the 24-hour rhythm during human life and in different species of animals, which later became widely known as the concept of «Spinning Top». The graphic model of the Spinning Top concept is shown on the cover of our magazine. Each turn of the spiral in this model symbolizes the magnitude of the amplitude of the circadian rhythm at certain age stage. At the bottom of the spiral – the initial stages of postnatal ontogenesis, at the top – the most advanced stages. This model reflects the universal nature of the dynamics of the circadian amplitude, which for various vital parameters is most pronounced during the adult age period and indicates the highest level of health and adaptive capacity. Today, numerous new studies conducted at different levels of organization, including genetics, confirm the validity of this hypothesis of Gennady Gubin, demonstrating the importance of maintaining a proper magnitude of circadian rhythm amplitude as a universal criterion, interrelated with health and longevity (review in this issue, Gubin, 2019; Cornelissen et al., 2019). Gennady Gubin became not only one of the founders of the Tyumen Medical University, but also one of the founders of the Russian and world chronobiology. In particular, he played a key role in holding the first in the USSR International Symposium on Chronobiology and Chronomedicine, which Tyumen hosted in 1982. Gennady Gubin was also one of the first scientists who saw the future of medicine in the introduction of chronobiological methodology, regularly illustrating in his lectures the thesis «to treat the patient, not the disease», the prospect of the development of chronodiagnostic and chronotherapy methodologies.

Franz Julius Halberg (5.07.1919-9.06.2013).

On July 5, 2019, the world scientific community celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Father of Chronomedicine, the founder of the laboratory of chronobiology of the University of Minnesota, USA, Franz Halberg.

Franz Halberg was a world-famous scientist, the first President of the International Society for Chronobiology, an Honorary Professor of many Universities, a multiple nominee for the Nobel prize, who inspired several generations of students and followers around the globe with ideas of chronobiology. Franz Halberg is the author of the term «circadian» rhythm (Halberg et al. 1959), the founder of the concept of «microscopy of time» and Cosinor analysis, the inventor of the Chronome concept (natural temporal organization of life parameters consisting of rhythms of different frequencies, trends and noise). Being a physician by education, Franz Halberg was at the origins of chronomedicine. Colleagues and students of Franz Halberg were always impressed by his unique humanism, inexhaustible enthusiasm, encyclopaedic erudition, fluency in six languages, including Latin and poetic talent. Professor Halberg was among the first active promoters of research of large databases, in his laboratory for several decades flocked unique data not only on multi-day, but also lincluding ong-term observations. Franz Halberg’s interests were never limited to certain rhythms. He offered classifications of rhythms according to their frequency and nature, and defined infradian and ultradian rhythms. Perhaps there is not a single biological periodicity available for analysis that Franz Halberg had not examined. In the last years of his life, Franz paid great attention to the issues of chronoepidemiology, studying the influence of helio-cosmic factors on morbidity and mortality. Professor Halberg travelled, without exaggeration, the whole world; he visited Russia many times, and visited Tyumen Medical University in 1996. For more than 40 years, Franz Halberg has continuously studied and improved the methodology for monitoring and analysing blood pressure variability and may have been the scientist who knew more about the patterns of blood pressure variability than any other person. In one of the works of this issue (Gubin and Cornelissen, 2019), his colleagues and students made an attempt to briefly but informatively present the complex nature of the dynamics of blood pressure, focusing on the main factors influencing the variability of one of the most routine, but not the simplest clinical variable.