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Military medical research, of good quality but limited in scope, is conducted in both military and civilian facilities. Principal military medical research facilities include the Institute of Aviation Medicine, Prague; the Institute of Radiology and the Military Research and Postgraduate Institute, Hradec Kralove; the Central Military Hospital and the Military Institute of Hygiene, Epidemiology, and Microbiology, both in Prague. The major fields of military medical research include operational aviation medical—neurophysiological and psychological aspects, hypoxia, hyperventilation, and hypocapnia (a reduction of the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood) related to flight safety in high-performance aircraft, and on weightlessness; wound healing; drug-induced radiation immunity; protection against ionizing radiation and BW/CW agents; diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors; drugs to counteract the effects of LSD; and research on viral diseases. Benefits are also derived from civilian-conducted research and development having military implications. The general attitude of military medical personnel toward in-service research is favorable.

6. Other sciences

a. Chemistry and metallurgy (S)

The Czechoslovaks have an outstanding capability in chemical research. Their publications presently account for 2% of the world's chemical publications, slightly more than Poland but less than the U.S.S.R. The research program is well diversified, covering all of the important branches of chemistry. Both fundamental and applied aspects are included, and much of the applied research is directed towards meeting the needs of the expanding chemical industry. Most of the fundamental chemical research is conducted in the universities and in the many research institutes of the CSAV, while most of the applied chemical research is conducted at the numerous research laboratories and institutes associated with chemical and other industrial plants under the government ministries. In addition to the universities, the College of Chemical Technology in Prague and the Slovak Technical University are important centers for fundamental chemical research.

Czechoslovakia is strong in organic chemistry, including organic synthesis and physical organic chemistry. Much of the country's organic chemical research is done in support of the substantial organic chemical industry, which is interested in organic intermediates, pharmacologically active compounds, agricultural chemicals, dyes and pigments, and high polymers. Excellent organic chemical research is done at the CSAV Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Prague. At this institute, the country's most outstanding organic chemist, Dr. Frantisek Sorm, has done extensive research on steroids, the structure and function of proteins, the preparation of cancerostatic agents for leukemia, insecticidal esters, and recently on natural and synthetic materials with insect hormone activity. In cooperation with his associate, Vlastimil Herout, another prominent organic chemist, he has done considerable research on the isolation, identification, preparation, and proof of structure of terpenes and other plant substances.

Some of the foremost synthetic organic chemical research is done by Miroslav Protiva and his colleagues at the Pharmaceutical and Biochemical Research Institute in Prague. Their work on pharmacologically active organic compounds has included studies on the synthesis of tranquilizers and antidepressants, antihistamines, analgesics, and various heterocyclic compounds containing sulfur and nitrogen. The College of Chemical Technology in Prague maintains a strong research program in organic chemistry, including studies on asymmetric reactions, reactions in the pyridine series, and liquid phase catalytic hydrogenation of organic compounds (including studies with sulfide catalysts). Also physical organic investigations are done on alkaloids, amino acids, and peptides by Karel Blaha, an authority on organic nomenclature. His work includes infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, stereochemistry and conformation analysis. Extensive work on organosilicon compounds has been conducted by Vladimir Bazant at the CSAV Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals, Prague.

There is significant work at Charles University on anhydrousagars, at Palacky University on alkaloids, and at the Slovak Technical University on organic peroxides and isothiocyanates. Otto Exner at the Hevrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Prague, is prominent in research in physical organic chemistry including studies on inductive effects, dipole moments, structure and configuration, and additive physical properties of organic compounds.

Research on organic polymers has reached significant proportions. The most important research is done at the CSAV Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry in Prague and at the Research Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry in Brno. Otto Wichterle and others at the CSAV institute have done extensive work on vinyl polymerizations, the polymerization of caprolactam to polyamides, degradation of polymers,

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110012-0