A question often asked of those of us who work in the seemingly esoteric field of fish vision is, why? To some of us the answer seems obvious - how many other visual scientists get to dive in a tropical lagoon in the name of science and then are able to eat their subjects for dinner? However, there are better, or at least scientifically more acceptable, reasons for working on the visual system of fish. First, in terms of numbers, fish are by far the most important of all vertebrate classes, probably accounting for over half (c. 22 000 species) of all recognized vertebrate species (Nelson, 1984). Furthermore, many of these are of commercial importance. Secondly, if one of the research aims is to understand the human visual system, animals such as fish can tell us a great deal, since in many ways their visual systems, and specifically their eyes, are similar to our own. This is fortunate, since there are several techniques, such as intracellular retinal recording, which are vital to our understanding of the visual process, that cannot be performed routinely on primates. The cold blooded fish, on the other hand, is an ideal subject for such studies and much of what we know about, for example, the fundamentals of information processing in the retina is based on work carried out on fish (e. g. Svaetichin, 1953).

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, you want to do everything possible to beat the disease. But with so much conflicting advice and so many options available, how do you decide on the best treatment plan for you? In this major new book, Professor Jane Plant and Professor Mustafa Djamgoz present a clear and scientifically sound 10-step programme to help you beat cancer. At a time when you may be feeling helpless and confused, this book provides the essential guidance you need to take control of your life and regain your health with targeted advice for specific cancers. Included in the 10-step plan: * Inform yourself: understand what cancer is, what causes it and how to avoid carcinogens * Choosing the right treatment: evidence-based advice on conventional and complementary therapies, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and medication * Change your lifestyle: guidance on diet, exercise, reducing stress, relationships and other lifestyle factors that have a proven link with cancer Beat Cancer will help you prevent cancer, tackle your diagnosis and stay in remission.

This comprehensive work reviews the neurobiological organization of the vertebrate outer retina with an emphasis on mammalian systems. An international team of contributors discuss the ways in which outer retinal neurones (photoreceptor, bipolar and horizontal cells) and their interconnections are disrupted in clinical conditions such as Parkinson's disease, paraneoplastic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa and other retinal dystrophies. The book begins by reviewing the functional organization and development of the outer retina, then moves on to a discussion of the contributions made by the different retinal neurones and their synaptic circuits to the visual process. Throughout, authors relate basic neurobiology to clinical conditions. Four concluding chapters focus on the mechanisms through which clinical conditions affect the outer retina. The volume should be of interest to all researchers investigating retinal function and dysfunction, general neurobiologists and visual scientists, as well as ophthalmologists and interested clinicians.