C O N T R I B U T O R S K E T C H E S

VOLUME 28

Ion Channels for the Mechano-electrical Transduction and Efferent Synapse of the Hair Cell Harunori OHMORI, M.D. , Ph.D. , is chairman and professor in the Department of Physiology of the Faculty of Medicine of Kyoto Uni- versity. He graduated from the School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo in 1974, and received the Ph.D. in 1979 from the same institu- tion. From 1985 to 1991 he was professor in the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki and in 1991 he joined Kyoto Univer- sity. His main interest is in the mechanism of sensory transduction and signal processing in the brain.

Selenium and Arsenic in Biology: Their Chemical Forms and Biological Func- tions Yasuyuki SHmATA, D. Sci., is a senior research scientist of the Environ- mental Chemistry Division, National Institute for Environmental Stu- dies, Japan Environment Agency. He graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1977, and was a member of the institute from 1982. He obtained D. Sci. degree from the University of Tokyo in 1989, and was a research associate in Harvard Medical School, Boston, from 1990 to 1991. His current research interest is the role of heavy metals including selenium and arsenic in organisms, and the development of analytical methods for speciation and localization of the elements.

Masatoshi MORITA, D. Eng., is a division chief of the Environmental Chemistry Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies. He graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1967, and was granted the D. Eng. degree at the same university in 1972. He worked at Tokyo

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