Parasitic diseases are the most widespread of all the major diseases, currently 9 affecting about 3 x 10 people and innumerable domestic animals. There is no doubt that among these parasitic diseases, the helminthic infections of the gastrointestinal tract are about the most important because of their global distribution, their high prevalence, their effects on the nutritional status of men and animals, their effects on the physical and mental development of children, and their economic effects on the production of animals. Anthelmintics are important elements in the control of these gastrointestinal helminthic infections. In this volume the editors and authors have tried to find a way through the immense amount of information on anthelmintic drugs that is scattered throughout the literature. Different authors have critically examined this information from different angles. However, the aim of all has been to provide the information needed by veterinarians, physicians, and public health workers to select the most suitable drug for a given situation.

Prostatitis continues to be a major clinical enigma. In this book, all modern aspects of etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy are critically evaluated. Of special interest to the readers will be the modern diagnostic management of chronic prostatitis and the debatable therapeutic approach to chronic nonbacterial prostatitis. From the contents: Radical Transurethral Prostatectomy for Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis; Etiology, Pathogenesis, and Inflammatory Reactions in Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis; Therapy of Nonbacterial Prostatitis; Ultrasonographic Features of Prostatitis.

Once again the Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology series presents a volume with up-to-date review articles on oncogenes. The well-known authority and editor of previous volumes in the series, Dr. Vogt, has accepted five contributions which critically evaluate recent research in the field.

The mouse was first used in immunological research by Paul Ehrlich in 1891 in an extraordinary series of experiments on the maternal transfer of antitoxic immunity. A short 22 years later in 1913 Halsey Bagg acquired a stock of albino mice from a commercial dealer and used them in a series of experiments on learning. Because he was interested in the genetics of intelligence, Halsey Bagg began breeding a pedigreed line of these mice that were subsequently named for him - Bagg Albino. Though Halsey Bagg is not credited with initiating the inbred strains of mice, his stock curiously has played an indisputably important role. Bagg Albinos were progenitors of the present day BALB/c family of sublines - the subject of this book. They were also used as one of the parents in the development of inbred strains A, CBA and C3H, three other very famous strains. Today the BALB/c mouse is among the five most widely used inbred strains in biomedical research and a particular favorite in immunology and infectious disease research. The hallmark of the BALB/c response to so many kinds of infections is susceptibility and sometimes an exaggerated susceptibility, but this paradoxically is not associated with immunodeficiency as BALB/c is an excellent responder to immuni zation. These characteristics have made the BALB/c mouse a model for identifying genes that determine susceptibility to infectious and neoplastic diseases. In 1985 the laboratory BALB/c mouse became 72 years old. The current filial generations are somewhere around 350 generations MURPHY]."

1. 1 Scope of the Review This review was intended initially as a reference source for those interested in the origins and fITst descriptions ofthe defective avian sarcoma viruses. Quite a few of these viruses have been characterized in the past few years and their varied nomenclature according to source, discoverer, date of isolation or biological properties could result in some con fusion among those attempting to follow the literature. Information will be included on the molecular biology of the sarcoma viruses, rather more of which is available than when the review was fITst conceived, although in this respect the review will inevitably be out of date by the time of publication. If any bias of content is introduced, this will be towards a more detailed coverage of the author's own area of interest, the gene products of the defective sarcoma viruses. Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) serves as the model for much of this work and will frequently be referred to for comparative purposes, as will the mammalian defective transforming viruses. Recent reviews provide more complete coverage of these topics (l-4a). This review is complemented by a discussion ofthe avian acute leukaemia viruses, which appears elsewhere in this volume 5]. As will be seen, concentrating primarily on the defective sarcoma viruses and comparing them to RSV can be justified in terms of their biochemical properties as well as their similar biology."

Leading researchers present contemporary treatment of in situ hybridization applied to current issues in animal virus pathogenesis. The most recent methods are given for locating viral genes in whole animal section and for defining the number and type of cells surrounded by viruses. The genetic programs played out in these cells and the newer methods of hybridization at the electron microscopic level provide valuable insight into the complexities of virus-host interaction.

Almost 30 years ago RITOSSA described a new puffing pattern in salivary gland chromosomes of Drosophila following heat shock. This was the first description of a heat shock response. For years, development in this field remained modest and it took another decade before the relevant gene products-the heat shock proteins (hsp's)-were made visible by TISSIERES and co-workers. Subsequently, progress advanced more rapidly and we can now state that studies on the heat shock response have contributed much to our understanding of various principles in molecular and cellular biology such as control of gene expression and regulation of protein translocation. More recently, the study of hsp's has converged with immunology. There are several reasons for this: The chaperone function of certain hsp's makes them particularly apt for central functions of immunity, including antigen presentation and immunoglobulin synthesis. Furthermore, an effective immune response is often caused or followed by stress situations as they arise during trauma, inflammation, transformation, infection, or autoimmune disease. Due to their abundance during stress, hsp's can provide prominent antigens in many of these situations. This volume contains 11 chapters written by well-known experts dealing with various facets of the fascinating liaison between hsp's and immunity. The particular relation of hsp's to the immune system may be best illustrated by their intimate association with the major histocompatibility gene complex. Still, as discussed by GONTHER, the relevance of this fact to our understanding of hsp functions in immunity remaif)s speculative.

Rapid progress in molecular biology, genetic engineering, and basic research in immunology has opened up new possibilities for application to diagnostic procedures and to clinical research. In a short period a new era of diagnosis dawned, covering nearly all fields of microbiology, immunology, and food technology. In consequence of this rapid development, scientists of many disciplines are involved studying infections of humans, animals, and plants or working in technical microbiology. The application of the newest findings of basic research to diagnostic work and to clinical research covers nearly all fields of microbiology and immunology. Moreover, it underlines the close relationship between diagnosis, therapy, and epidemiology. An outstanding example of these connections is given by the recent development of hepatitis B vaccine. The discovery and identification of a non cultivable agent by physicochemical and immunological methods were the heralds of a new era in the prevention of infectious diseases. This book provides an up-to-date, comprehensive review of developments and future aspects in various fields. I am convinced that the authors have succeeded in furnishing a large variety of new ideas and possibilities. K.-O. HABERMEHL Contents Time Realities in the Evaluation of Vaccines for Safety and Efficacy The Evaluation of Vaccines M. R. HILLEMAN . . . . ."

The 12th Workshop on ""Mechanisms in B-Cell Neoplasia"" continues this series of meetings on intriguing new developments in human and experimental B-cell tumors. The integration of knowledge from basic B-cell biology to the clinical problems of multiple myelomas, follicular lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma and B-CLL present the challenges that were discussed in the meeting.
The discussion focusses on:
- Cellular components of the "myeloma clone"
- Genomic instability in B-cells and B-cell tumors
- The CD5 antigen and B1 cells
- Regulation of cell cycle and apoptosis
- Role of IL-6, BCL-2, BCL-1, myc in B-cell development

Peritrophic membranes are secretion products of the midgut. For long they have been related only to insects, but they occur widely in the animal kingdom. They effect a part of the gut lumen and function not only as a mechanical protection barrier, but also as an ultrafilter, a barrier to parasites, and as envelopes for fecal pellets. Such peritrophic envelopes are of great ecological importance in marine environments. The book is divided into the following themes: - Occurrence - Formation and Structure - Degradation - Chemical Composition - Functions. It is the first comprehensive compilation of all data concerning peritrophic membranes and will provide a basis for future researches in this up to now often neglected field.

The 8th volume in the Proteases in Biology and Disease series focuses on the role of proteases in virus function and their potential as anti-viral targets. Viral infections are still difficult to threat and some remained life-threatening diseases in spite of antiviral drug research over decades. Proteases are still regarded as an Achilles heel of the pathogens and, thus, protease inhibitors may help to handle the known and the emerging viral threads. The book discusses viral proteases of the most important pathogenic viruses, responsible for severe diseases: AIDS, SARS, Hepatitis, Cytomegalovirus, T-cell lymphotropic virus, Picornavirus. This book focuses specifically on the viral proteases, crucial prerequisites for viral entry into cells and viral replication. Viral proteases represent an important pharmaceutical target. The current stage of protease inhibitor development and therapy are summarised and discussed by experts in the field. This volume represents a timely and valuable continuation of the Proteases in Biology and Disease series. The reader will learn the potential for proteases as targets for effective anti-virals. This book will be a valuable source of information on viral proteases and provoke further research in this important field."

ADP-ribosylating toxins have been the focus of intensive research for more than 30 years. Researchers from diverse fields of science have taken an interest in these bacterial toxins; they are studied, for example, by microbiologists, biochemists, cell biologists, and pharmacologists. There are two principal reasons for the broad and still growing interest in ADP ribosylating toxins. First, insights into the structure and functions of the toxins might be the key to prevention and treatment of diseases caused by the toxin-producing infectious micro organisms. Second, the ADP-ribosylating toxins provide potent and often unique pharmacological tools for the study of the physiological functions of their target proteins. The latter is especially the case with cholera and pertussis toxins, which both modify the IX-subunits of heterotrimeric G-proteins involved in signal transduction pathways. These toxins have proved invaluable in extending our basic understanding of the regulation of hormone-controlled signal transduction. This volume provides a review and an update of recent studies on the basic properties of bacterial ADP-ribosylating tbxins and/or exoenzymes. Our current knowledge of the cel lular entry mechanisms of ADP-ribosylating toxins is reviewed by MADSHUS and STENMARK. WILSON and COLLIER then deal with recent insights into the enzyme mechanism and active site structure of diphtheria toxin and Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A, which modify elongation factor 2. Toxins which ADP-ribosylate heterotrimeric G-proteins involved in trans membrane signal transduction are the subject of the next two chapters."

In this book the current knowledge on human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) as a human pathogen is lucidly summarized, bringing the reader fully up to date with current knowledge concerning HCMV and all the known clincial and medical aspects of diseases caused by, and associated with, HCMV. The book is divided into four parts: (I) Human cytomegalovirus and human diseases; (II) human cytomegalovirus infections and the immunocompromised host; (III) diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of human cytomegalovirus and human diseases; and (IV) molecular aspects of human cytomegalovirus. Each part is put together from chapters written by experts in the respective fields, providing basic medical and molecular knowledge in addition to more specific understanding of HCMV infections.

Interest in the lentivirus subfamily of retroviruses has greatly intensified due to the realization that HIV-1 and HIV-2 are members of this previously obscure group. Related lentiviruses have now been isolated from sheep, goats, horses, cattle, cats, monkeys, and humans. This issue of CTMI is devoted to the lentiviruses of nonhuman primates, referred to as simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs). The SIVs provide valuable tools for our quest to understand and control the HIVs, which are obviously important new human pathogens. Included in this volume are discussions of the distribution and molecular phylogeny of the SIVs and their use as animal models for the study of AIDS pathogenesis, and the chapters clearly illustrate how SIV models are contributing to our understanding of the ability of host immune responses to control infection at least temporarily and the ability of virus to evade these host immune defenses.

Parasitic Disease in Clinical Practice is the sixth monograph to appear in the now established and flourishing Bloomsbury Series in Clinical Science. Written by a distinguished authority in the field, the book gives a comprehensive and detailed description of parasitic infections and their clinical consequences. Such infections are no longer confined to tropical parts of the world and now have a widespread distribution. Rapid advances are being made in understanding their epidemiology and in diagnosing and treating particular infections. Current literature is largely directed to the parasites, their characteristics and their isolation; a clinical review is clearly needed. This has now been provided, for the author's stated objective is to "inculcate a greater awareness, understanding and appreciation of human parastic disease in the minds of all clinicians". London, March 1990 Jack Tinker Preface Homo sapiens has always existed in a finely balanced equilibrium with a great diversity of infective agents, almost all of them of great antiquity. Many must have exerted a profound effect on the evolution of the human genome. While the average physician is usually aware of potentially pathogenic viruses, bacteria (and rickettsia), and to a lesser extent fungi, hislher knowledge of protozoan and helminthic infections is frequently imperfect and often rudimentary.

Since the discovery of Australia antigen and its association with type B hepatitis, molecular characterization of the components making up hepatitis B virus (RBV) have been pursued with worldwide interest. Over the past two decades, such characterization has led to the development of sensitive assays to screen and exclude contaminated units from blood banks and has recently resulted in the licensing of several RBV vaccines. That more than 200 million people worldwide are chronically infected with RBV, and that they are at a high risk for the development of chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma, still represent formidable problems in our understanding of host-virus relationships on the molecular level. In the absence of a suitable tissue culture system, and with a very limited host range of infection, characterization of RBV on the molecular level has made remarkable progress recently with the advent of genome cloning, sequencing and expression of individual virus genes by recombinant DNA technology. The presence of hepatitis B-like viruses in an expanding number of animal hosts, and the possibility of virus replication in cells other than hepatocytes, provide great promise that future work will elucidate the molecular mechanisms operative in the various outcomes of RBV infection.

The Brescia division of the Italian Association of Blood donors (AVIS Brescia) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1985. The idea of organizing a Postgraduate Course on Viral Hepatitis on this occasion developed for ob vious reasons. Viral hepatitis is a major concern in blood transfusion and Brescia is located in the region of Lombardy characterized by a high HBsAg carrier rate in its population. Thus it seemed timely to convene a scientific forum in which the present state of knowledge on viral hepatitis would be summarized. This would allow us to review the tremendous progress achieved over the last 15 years, and also to focus on latest developments which pave the way for future investigation. The publication of the proceedings of this meeting was considered use ful, since it provides a tangible reminder of a comprehensive overview of the broad topic of viral hepatitis, its complications, and its connections with the practice of blood transfusion. The organizers were fortunate in obtaining the active participation of recognized experts in a variety of hepatological diSCiplines. Their contri butions summarized the more mature areas of knowledge in the field, in cluding clinical aspects, epidemiology and morphology, as well as newer developments in the forefront of hepatitis research, like new diagnostic techniques, oncogenesis, treatment, and vaccination."

Profound progress has been made in the fields of chronobiology and psychobiology within the past decade, in theory, experiment and clinical application. This volume integrates these new developments on all levels from the molecular, genetic and cellular to the psycho social processes of everyday life. We present a balanced variety of research from workers around the globe, who discuss the funda mental significance of their approach for a new understanding of the central role of ultradian rhythms in the self-organizing and adaptive dynamics of all life processes. The years since the publication of Ultra dian rhythms in physiology and behavior by Schultz and Lavie in 1985 have seen a burgeoning realization of the ubiquity and importance of ultradian rhythms within and between every level of the psychobiological hierarchy. The experimental evidence lies scattered through a disparate litera ture, and this volume attempts, albeit in a highly selective manner, to bring together some of the different strands. The editors are very conscious of the omission of many important current aspects; e.g. we have not included any of the fascinating and indeed long and well-established experiments with plants (Bunning 1971, 1977; Guillaume and Koukkari 1987; Millet et al. 1988; 10hnsson et al. 1990) that are widely regarded as having initiated the whole field of chronobiology (De Mairan 1729). Neither have we reviewed recent developments on glycolytic oscillations, since a great deal of the seminal work was already completed by 1973 (Chance et al. 1973).

The intention of the series Developments in Veterinary Virology is to provide monographs dealing with the major animal viral diseases. Each volume will include the latest achievements in fundamental research and practical applications and should be readable for people from various disciplines and different backgrounds. The multi-author approach provides the best opportunity to keep each chapter at the highest level and makes the composition of the volumes manageable to the editors. This monograph on Avian Leukosis presents comprehensive reviews on the recent history of avian retrovirus research, on epizootiological, virological, pathological aspects, on tumor induction, the immune response to avian retro viruses, virus-cell interactions and on techniques for diagnosis. The volume deals mainly with exogenous avian leukosis virus (ALV) infections, but one chapter is entirely devoted to endogenous avian leukemia virus. Molecular biology aspects are confined to various oncogenes and to lymphoma induction since retroviruses, including those specific for avian species, have recently been described in detail in the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory series "Molecular Biology of Tumor Viruses." Two chapters are devoted to the practical application of insights obtained from avian leukosis research: influences of AL V infection on production performance and eradication procedures."

Although long known as a parasite of medical and veterinary importance, interest in Toxoplasma gondii has increased with its emergence as a major cause of death in immunosuppressed individuals, and with recognition of its suitability as a model system for molecular and cellular investigations of apicomplexan parasites. The NATO workshop brought together 32 scientists working in different areas of toxoplasmosis research to gain an overview of progress in the field. Molecular studies have been carried out on genomic and extrachromosomal DNA. They reveal that Toxoplasma is very highly conserved, genetic mapping is underway and preliminary linkage analysis suggests recombination is rare; moreover all virulent strains share the same isoenzyme markers and are seen to be essentially clonal by RFLP analysis [Boothroyd, Darde, Wilson]. Despite considerable structural homology between Toxoplasma and related apicomplexan parasites there is little direct overlap in gene sequence data. Good progress has been made in cloning functional genes and in elucidation of PI anchors [Cesbron-Delauw, Johnson, Mercereau-Puijalon, Striepen]. The structure of molecules on the surface and within dense granules, rhoptries and micronemes has in some cases been determined and provides clues as to the targetting and function of these proteins.

This book is a collection of data on the tenacity in the environment of bacteria and some rickettsiae important in medicine and veterinary medicine. These data are of fundamental importance to physicians, veterinarians, epidemiologists and others when, in their practices, they are confronted with epidemics of contagious diseases or outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. At such times prompt answers are often needed to limit the problem, and thus to protect the public's health. Since data needed for such a purpose are widely distributed in the internatio nal scientific literature, the occasional desperate literature search is likely to miss some of the information that is available. This book seeks to fill that void. It lies in the nature of a compilation such as this is that it can never be totally complete. The compilation requires continual up-dating to include new information, and some currently acceptable information may have to be corrected as new data become available. However, most of the information in this compilation will never be out-of-date. The authors are always thankful for suggestions from others. Collection of the data in this book resulted from, first, several decades of studying the literature, and, second, literature searches made by the Institut fUr Dokumentationswesen in Frankfurt a. M., the Biomedi zinische Datenbank of Hoechst A. G."

Retroviruses arguably belong to the most fascinating of all viruses because of their unusual and highly efficient mode of replication involving reverse transcription and integration of the viral genome and a complex system of transcriptional and post transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. The importance of ret roviruses as human and animal pathogens has also enhanced scientific and medical interest in this diverse group of viruses and has spurred an intensive search for novel and improved antiviral agents. More recently, analysis of retroviral replication and in particular understanding the formation and composition of the virus particle has received additional attention because of the promise of retroviral vectors as vehicles for human somatic gene therapy. Many recent advances have been made in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing as sembly and release of infectious retrovirus particles. This book attempts to summarize these recent developments and to provide an overview of our current knowledge on retrovirus particle formation. The individual chapters of the book deal with specific steps in the pathway of retroviral morphogenesis and maturation, starting at the time when the components of the virus have been synthesized within the infected cell and ending once the infectious virion has been released from the cell. An introductory chapter provides a comparative description of the structure and morphology of various retroviruses."

On the occasion of a research visit to Thailand in my capacity as a member of the governing board of the South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg, I saw for the first time the severe clinical picture of dengue with haemorrhagic symptoms among Thai children. This visit had been made possible by Profes sor Dr. med. Dr. rer. nat. Ouay Ketusinh of Bangkok, to whom I wish to express my sincere thanks in this place. In 1972 the German medical literature - the periodical Medizinische Klinik, vol. 87, pp. 152-56, to be precise - had drawn attention to this new phenomenon in the disease panorama of South East Asia, indicating a change in dengue fever from being a relatively benign tropical dis ease to a form having serious clinical and epidemiological ramifications. During the ten years following my first publication the new clinical picture, described as "dengue haemorrhagic fever," has become a standard component in the Thailand's system of notifiable diseases. So too, the World Health Orga nization publishes regular reports in its Weekly Records. On March 30/31, 1981, its Regional Office for South East Asia convened a special conference in New Delhi, thus emphasizing the significance of the diffusion of this new clini cal picture in the states of South East Asia."