Examines the role of the ANS in the maintenance and control of bodily homeostasis, as well as in the pathogenesis, pathophysiology, and treatment of disorders such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, asthma, arrhythmia, diabetes, ischemia, myocardial infarction, urinary retention, and depression.

Comparative Physiology: Primitive Mammals attempts to dispel the widely held notion that 'primitive' animals are less advanced or less complex than the 'non-primitive'. The term 'primitive', or more accurately 'conservative', refers to the fact that these animals have retained many of the characteristics of their evolutionary ancestors. Because they have been able to adapt to a variety of environmental conditions, these so-called primitive animals should be considered highly successful evolutionary solutions. The papers contained in this volume are the result of the Fourth International Conference on Comparative Physiology held at Crans-sur-Sierre in 1978. The conference, which was sponsored by the Interunion Commission on Comparative Physiology representing the International Unions of Biological Sciences, Physiological Sciences, and Pure and Applied Biophysics, brought together scientists from various fields to discuss the widely scattered information on primitive mammals from the perspective of comparative physiology.

The study of cell membranes began to attract increasing interest before the turn of the present century with the observations of 0 verton. Since that time many investigators have become interested in the broad problem of structure and function of the membrane and today we find ourselVes at a stage in which several branches of research, particularly physical chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, physiology and pharmacology have come together, leading to the possibility of obtaining a better perspective of the overall problems. The purpose of this Symposium was to assemble in an orderly sequence representations of the knowledge of membranes achieved to date in the areas of the various disciplines. It was thought that to bring together many points of view on a problem should allow the conferees to see better what had been accomplished, what has been overlooked and what needs further development. It is to be hoped that efforts of this type have and will fulfill the desired purpose. This volume contains the majority of the papers contributed by the participants in the Symposium. In addition, it seemed logical to place at the beginning of each chapter at least one general survey of the subject which would help those who were less acquainted with the problem to derive the most benefit from their reading.

The book discusses the controversial issue of whether animals are designed according to the same rules that engineers use in building machines, namely that materials and energy are used economically while attempting to achieve a high level of performance. There is considerable scientific controversy surrounding this question because, although there is much evidence suggesting that animals are indeed well designed, evolutionary biology tells us that animals are not 'engineered' but result from evolution by natural selection. This book collates this evidence which is discussed by a group of eminent biologists from many different biological disciplines."

Originally published in 1982, this book was designed to supplement Knut Schmidt-Nielsen's Animal Physiology. Using Schmidt-Nielsen's comparative approach to the study of animal form function, the text pursues in greater detail topics introduced in Animal Physiology. Like the textbook, the Companion is organised according to major environmental features: oxygen, food and energy, temperature, and water, concluding with a section on movement and structure. The papers brought together in this volume were presented in July 1980 to honour Smith-Nielsen's sixty-fifth birthday, at the Fifth International Conference on Comparative Physiology, held in Sandbjerg, Denmark.

A wealth of information on osmotic and ionic reaulation in Estuarine and Marine Animals has been accumulated over the past decades. Beyond early studies of whole-animal responses to changes in envi- ronmental salinities, efforts have been made later on to identify, to localize and to characterize the organs and structures responsible for the control of the characteristics of the cell's environmental fluid. When considering the problem of cell volume control in animals facing media of fluctuating salinities, we are indeed dealing with two different categories of mechanisms. A first one is concerned with the control of the osmolality of the intracellular fluid, hence with the processes directly implicated in the maintenance of cell volume and shape. They have been extensively described in several recent review papers. The second category includes the processes controllin~ the charac- teristics of the cell's environmental fluid in order to minimize the amplitude of the osmotic shocks the cells may have to cope with upon acclimation to media of changed salinities. They are localized in particular organs and structures : the so-called "caZt-transporting" epithelia. Up to now, most of the studies on salt-transportino epithe- lia in estuarine and marine animals used the black box approach, so that little or sometimes nothing is still known on the physiological, the biochemical and the biophysical basis of the transporting mecha- nisms as well as on the structure-function relationships.

This book discusses the controversial issue of whether animals are designed according to the same rules that engineers use in building machines, namely that materials and energy are used economically while attempting to achieve a high level of performance. There is considerable scientific controversy surrounding this question because, although there is much evidence suggesting that animals are indeed well designed, evolutionary biology tells us that animals are not "engineered" but result from evolution by natural selection. In this volume these highly controversial questions are debated by eminent experts on the basis of a wealth of evidence ranging from the molecular biology and biochemistry of enzyme systems through the study of bone and muscle to the design and function of integrated systems of energy supply and the nervous system. The authors have made a special effort to present the chapters in a form that is accessible to a broad readership of biologists interested in basic principles.

Periphere Neuropathien gehoren in der ganzen Welt zu den schwersten Krankheitsbildern. Die iitiologischen Faktoren, welche zu diesem Krank heitsbild fiihren, sind sehr unterschiedlich und schlieBen genetische, meta bolische, toxische, entzlindliche, traumatische und nutritionale Ursachen ein. Manche Polyneuropathietypen sind prinzipiell reversibel, wiihrend bei anderen eine Therapie kaum zielfiihrend ist. Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) hat vor 3 Jahren ein Pro gramm zur Prophylaxe und Kontrolle peripherer Neuropathien gestartet und zahlreiche Symposien liber dieses Thema in den verschiedensten Liindern der Welt organisiert. Feldstudien liber die diabetische Poly neuropathie werden derzeit in Nigeria, Senegal, Mexiko, der Volksrepu blik China, Japan, Deutschland, Italien, Portugal und Spanien unter An wendung eines internationalen, standardisierten Protokolls durchgefiihrt. Aus den Ergebnissen dieser Studien hofft die WHO Anhaltspunkte fiir die Priivention, die Kontrolle und das pharmakologische Management der Erkrankungen des peripheren Nerven zu erhalten und damit eine bessere Rehabilitation von Millionen unter dieser metabolischen Erkrankung leidenden Patienten zu erzielen. Klirzlich hat die WHO Anstrengungen unternommen, ein ProtokolI zu einer Feldstudie liber traumatische periphere Nervenliisionen zu konzipieren. Diese Untersuchungen werden in Italien, Nigeria, Spanien und in der Volksrepublik China erfolgen."

The study of cell membranes began to attract increasing interest before the turn of the present century with the observations ofO verton. Since that time many investigators have become interested in the broad problern of structure and function of the membrane and today we find ourselves at a stage in which several branches of research, particularly physical chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, physiology and pharmacology have come together, leading to the possibility of obtaining a better perspective of the overall problems. The purpose of this Symposium was to assemble in an orderly sequence representations of the knowledge of membranes achieved to date in the areas of the various disciplines. It was thought that tobring together many points of view on a problern should allow the conferees to see better what had been accomplished, what has been overlooked and what needs further development. lt is tobe hoped that efforts of this type have and will fulfill the desired purpose. This volume contains the majority of the papers contributed by the participants in the Symposium. In addition, it seemed logical to place at the beginning of each chapter at least one general survey of the subject which would help those who were less acquainted with the problern to derive the most benefit from their reading.