A case is presented of infection by Oesophagostomum, a nematode worm, producing a cutaneous nodule in man. Of the 70 individual cases reported in man it is believed that this is the first in which the worm has produced a lesion outside the gastro-intestinal tract and without evidence of bowel infection. This finding suggests either that the worm is able to achieve direct skin penetration or that it can be disseminated from the bowel via the bloodstream or the lymphatics. The pathology caused by Oesophagostomum and the possible modes of infection are discussed in relation to studies in animals, particularly simians and cattle.

A sandwich ELISA method using previously described E/S antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies has been developed to detect circulating immune complexes in patients infected with Toxocara canis. This technique could be used for the study of the dynamics of the parasite-host relationship, as we believe the detection of immune complexes and/or soluble antigen to be an improvement over detection of antibodies only. In this parasitosis, antibodies may be present in residual levels for prolonged periods after active infection.

From 1974 to 1989, a total of 24 500 aborigines at 67 villages in ten mountainous districts/towns in Taiwan were examined for the Taiwan Taenia infection and 12% were found to be infected. In order to define the clinical manifestations of taeniasis caused by the Taiwan Taenia, 1661 aborigines in ten mountainous districts were surveyed. The overall clinical rate was 76%. The clinical rate was highest among Atayal aborigines (81%), followed by Bunun (66%) and Yami (61%) aborgines and lowest among Ami aborigines (40%). Among 1153 infected people, 10% had passed gravid segments in the faeces for less than 1 year, 24% for 1–3 years, 17% for 4–5 years. 23% for 6–10 years, 16% for 11–20 years, 7% for 21–30 years, and 3% over 30 years. Twenty-six occurrences of gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms were reported by 1258 infected persons. Passing proglottides in the faeces (95%) was the most frequent sign, followed by pruritis ani (77%), nausea (46%), abdominal pain (45%), dizziness (42%), increased appetite (30%), headache (26%). etc.

In order to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites among labourers from Thailand in Taiwan, the stool samples from 1364 Thai labourers were examined by the formalin-ether concentration method and 18·0% were found to be infected with one or more parasites. The infection rates of hookworm, Opisthorchis viverrini, Strongyloides stercoralis, Enterobius vermicularis, Ascaris lumbricoides, Hymenolepis nana, Capillaria philippinensis, Schistosoma japonicum, Echinostoma sp., Entamoeba coli, Giardia lamblia, and Entamoeba histolytica, were 7·6%, 7·0%, 3·2%, 0·5%, 0·3%, 0·1%, 0·1%, 0·l%,0·l%, 0·4%, 0·2%, and 0·1% respectively. The prevalence was highest among the 21–25 age group (24·8%). Among the 245 infected persons, 91% were infected with one parasite, 8% with two parasites and 1% with three parasites. The finding that parasitic infections are prevalent among Thai labourers demonstrates the need for control measures in foreign labourers in Taiwan and further studies to determine the susceptibility of O. viverrini to the snail hosts of Clonorchis sinensis.

Infection with Oesophagostomum sp. appears to be extremely common in man in northern Togo and Ghana Adult specimens were recovered from the intestinal lumen by treatment with pyrantel pamoate and the morphological characteristics of oesophagostomes of man could for the first time be compared with information available on the morphology of oesophagostomes of monkeys. The observations and measurements demonstrated that the species involved is Oesophagostomum bifurcum and that the eggs of this species cannot be differentiated from those of Necator americanus. Both infections occur simultaneously in the population involved. The L1 larvae, too, cannot be differentiated from hookworm L1 larvae. The L3 however, are characteristic. Diagnoses of human Oesophagostomum infections is based on the detection of these larvae in coprocultures. In the present paper, the eggs, the L1 and L3 larval stages and the adults, carefully described and photos are given.

A metastrongyle worm extracted from the anterior chamber of the right eye of a patient in Sri Lanka belongs to the genus Parastrongylus and probably to a yet undescribed species, related to P. cantonensis well known to infect man. It is mostly a parasite of rodents, wandering in man and unadapted to this host. Evidence for this lack of adaptation are that the specimen is undergoing necrosis (teratological specimen) and is located in an organ with little immunological defences.

In Turkana, Kenya, a prevalence of hydatidosis of nearly 10% has been recorded among the pastoralists yet their livestock have a much lower prevalence of the disease. The present study investigated the release from dogs and subsequent survival of Echinococcus eggs in Turkana huts, water-holes and in the semi-arid environment. The results were compared with the survival of eggs of Taenia hydatigena and T. saginata. The study was repeated under the cooler and moister conditons found in Maasailand where livestock have a greater incidence of hydatid disease than in Turkana but where the incidence in man is ten times lower. The average number of Echinococcus eggs per proglottid is 823. Nine percent of these remain in proglottids 15 minutes after release from a dog and the released eggs lose their viability in less than two, 48 and 300 hours in the sun, huts and water in Turkana respectively; the major influencing factor being temperature. The greater survival of eggs in the houses, coupled with the fact that dogs congregate for most of the day in the small houses facilitating a close man:dog contact, provide ideal conditions for the trasmission of the parasite to man. The hostile environmental conditions and lack of contact between dogs and livestock contributes to the lower infection rate in livestock. Conversely in Maasailand, Echinococcus eggs survive in the environment for longer than three weeks and in addition, dogs are used for herding. This partly explains the higher infection rate among Maasai livestock but the low human infection rate remains arcane and requires further study. The rapid mortality of the majority of Echinococcus eggs in Turkana suggests that control measures aimed at dog control and a decreased man:dog contact should have a profound effect on the incidence of the disease in an area intrinsically unsuitable for the parasites' survival.

Conjunctivitis due to the trematode Philophthalmus in a 13-year-old Israeli girl is described. A single worm, probably a mature Philophthalmus palpebrarum, was detected on the palpebral conjunctiva of the upper eyelid of the right eye. Removal of the worm resulted in rapid abatement of the ocular symptoms. This is the first documentation of human philophthalmosis in Israel.

This paper describes a study carried out in a rural area of Ghana on the drinking water sources and other determinants of dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease). The results confirm the association between water source choice and the prevalence of the disease. A logistic regression model was used to show the combined effect of several behavioural, biological, and environmental risk factors. The important behavioural factors were related to the head of household, fetching of water, travelling, and farming. Age was found to be an important biological risk factor for dracunculiasis, but the greatest relative risk applied to those who had suffered from guinea worm disease in the previous year. Although males were significantly more infected than females when analysing the raw data, sex did not prove to be a significant risk factor in this model. Village of residence was an important environmental risk factor for dracunculiasis. Factors related to socio-economic status were not associated with the risk of infection. The paper concludes by presenting the policy implications of the study findings.

Haematuria and proteinuria as detected by chemical reagent strips correlated moderately (r=0·7) with prevalence and intensity of infection with Schistosoma haematobium in an area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Differences attributable to age and sex were also reflected in a similar pattern, all peaks occurring in the 5–14 year age group. The differences observed with varying levels of intensity and haematuria at both 10 and 50 erythrocytes/μl (p<0·001) and proteinuria at 0·3 g/dl (p<0·01) were statistically significant. At a proteinuria level of 1 g/dl, the observed differences were however not statistically significant (p>0·5). The percentage of specimens from children (1–14 years) positive for S. haematobium eggs and with at least traces of haematuria and proteinuria (63·4% and 95%, respectively) was higher than in adults (33·3% and 80·2%, respectively). All individuals with more than 50 eggs/10 ml of urine were correctly identified using both indices either separately or in combination. For egg counts of less than 50 egg/10 ml of urine, false diagnosis occurred in only 5% of all specimens examined. The sensitivity and specificity of haematuria and proteinuria at trace quantities was very high, hut haematuria had a higher predictive value for a positive test (PvPt) and was considered the overall better indicator. A combination of both indices did not significantly increase the PvPt. When trace haematuria and moderate proteinuria were combined, both the sensitivity, specificity and PvPt were all above 90%, giving the best overall values in all the combinations made.

A cysticercus of a possibly undescribed species of Taenia which occurs commonly in Taiwan aborigines was used to establish an experimental infection in a human volunteer. Symptomatic effects attributed to the infection included diarrhoea, upper abdominal pain, and increase or loss of appetite over a four-month period. After an expelled proglottid was observed 122 days post-exposure, eggs and proglottids were found continuously until the patient was treated with anthelmintics. Antibody titres measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and levels of eosinophilia seemed to correlate with symptoms. Haematological analyses revealed an abnormal lipid metabolism during the entire symptomatic period.

In different areas of the world, strains of Echinococcus granulosus have been described which appear to vary in their infectivity, and laboratory primates have been used as indicators of their infectivity to man. This phenomenon was evaluated in Kenya for hydatid material of human, camel, cattle, sheep and goat orgin. Viable eggs, produced by experimental infections in dogs with larval material from all the above intermediate hosts, were fed separately to four baboons (Papio cynocephalus) in each case. Baboons were autopsied between 373 and 501 days following infection and the liver, lungs, heart, spleen and kidneys were thoroughly inspected. Hydatid cysts were recovered from two baboons in each of the camel, sheep and goat groups, three baboons in the cattle group and none of the baboons in the human group. Fertile cysts were found in the cattle and goat groups and it is suggested that the baboon could be used as an experimental model for this parasite.

A total of 1590 human appendices were collected and examined histologically for evidence of pinworm infection. The incidence of infection in appendices was 2·39%. In examining 100 appendices by both the histological and the parasitological methods, 3 and 7 samples respectively were seen to be infected by pinworm.

Hydatid fluid collected from the lungs and livers of sheep and humans was analysed for protein and lipid composition. There were no marked differences in the composition of these parameters and the major lipids were triglycerides and diglycerides. The phospholipids, which formed the minor fraction, were mainly phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl inositol. Cholesterol present was in the free form.

Acanthocephalan ova, indistinguishable from the ovoid eggs of Moniliformis moniliformis, were detected in the stools of a 45-year-old man at the University of Jos Health Clinic. Nigeria. The patient complained of general body weakness, occasional giddiness and intermittent burning sensations around the umbilicus. Successful treatment with niclosamide and the possible source of infection are communicated.

Infective first stage larvae of Trichinella spiralis were recovered from muscles of laboratory infected mice by digesting the muscles with 1% HC1–1% pepsin and collecting the larvae by modified Baerman's method. The larvae were cultivated in a serum-free medium for 18 h. The ES antigen obtained from the culture medium was used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting IgG antibodies to T. spiralis in serum samples collected from three groups of individuals. The individuals of the first group were parasitologically confirmed trichinellosis patients, while those of group 2 were patients with other helminthiasis and group 3 were healthy, parasite-free individuals. The specificity of the assay was 100%. The sensitivity of the test was also 100% when performed on sera of group I collected at days 57 and 120 after infection. Sera collected earlier (day 23) and those collected 700 days after infection had negligible reactivity. Thus IgG-ELISA using ES antigen of the L1 was useful not only for diagnosis but also in evaluation of cure. Western blot analysis revealed that specific antigens of T. spiralis were 94, 67, 63, and 39 kilodalton components.

A total of 2.8% (5 of 176) sera from schoolchildren and university students were seropositive for hydatidosis (Echinococcus granulosus) by the ELISA IgEtest. The prevalence of seropositivity was 4·5% among females of all age groups (5–24 years) and among males of the age group 18–24 years. Males of the age group (5–17 years) were seronegative. The ratio of seropositivity between schoolboys and schoolgirl was 1:4. Sera collected from 1085 university students, aged 18–24 years, and from 1656 outpatients from northern and central Jordan, and the Jordan River valley, when tested by the IHA test, revealed the presence of antihydatid agglutinating antibodies in 5·16% (56 of 1085) and in 3·6% (60 of 1656) respectively, with a male to female infection ratio of 1:3 in the unviersity students and 1:1·1 in the outpatients. Intensity, prevalence and cyst fertility of E.granulosus increased increased in sheep with age. The results of this study indicate that hydatidosis is in an endemic steady state in Jordan with estimated economic losses if JD 3·0 (=US $ 4·4) per infected sheep.

Motion processing is a fundamental task of visual systems, and in the monkey cortical areas can be identified which appear to be functionally specialized for motion processing. The human visual system is expected to be organized in a similar way. A noninvasive method to study the functional organization of the visual cortex is the recording of scalp potentials generated by neural activity of the underlying cortical areas. In the present study, we recorded slow cortical potentials from normal subjects in order to investigate how motion stimuli are processed. Three classes of object motion were realized as random dot kinematograms, namely Fourier motion, drift-balanced motion, and theta motion, because they require mechanisms of increasing complexity in order to be extracted. Large-field motion and counterphase flicker were used as control stimuli. Three basic results were obtained: (1) The responses evoked by the three classes of object motion do not differ significantly in their time course and distribution of activation. (2) The distributions of cortical activation evoked by object motion, and the control stimuli are different. During object motion the maximum activation occurs over the superior parietal cortex. Large-field motion activates occipital and parietal locations to the same extent, and during counterphase flicker the activity is maximum over the occipital lobe. Thus, the parietal slow potentials are interpreted to specifically reflect the cortical processing of object motion. (3) The time course of the activation reflects changes in the spatial position of the object: the amplitude of a transient negative component (TNC) which occurs 240 ms after motion onset decreases with increasing eccentricity of motion onset. The consecutive sustained negative component (SNC), which persists until the movement stops, decreases during centrifugal and increases during centripetal object motion. These results can be understood on the basis of physiological and anatomical knowledge about the mapping of the visual field on the cortex.

John Searle's attack on various interpretations of Artificial Intelligence has been the most thorough challenge to the philosophical foundations of Artificial Intelligence. In this paper we attempt to contribute to a growing body of argument as to why Searle is mistaken in his attack. We propose an analogy between intelligent objects and flying objects, leading to a definition of Artificial Intelligence similar to that of aerodynamics, but one which attempts to present general laws of intelligence in man and machines alike.

PPARγ is obligatory for fat mass generation and is thought to determine the amount of TAG stored per fat cell. We investigated whether ligand availability for PPARγ is rate limiting in fat mass generation and substrate metabolism. Twenty healthy men (20–29 years) were randomly assigned to receive the PPARγ ligand rosiglitazone (RSG) (8 mg/d) (n 10) or a placebo (n 10) during a stay of 7 d in a respiration chamber. Food intake was ad libitum, resulting in positive energy balances of 32·2 MJ (placebo) and 44·7 MJ (RSG). Fat cell size and expression of PPARγ, adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (aP2), adipsin, adiponectin and fasting-induced adipose factor (FIAF) were determined in subcutaneous abdominal fat biopsies. The total amount of fat stored and the amount of TAG per fat cell were not different between groups. For the entire group, fat cell size was decreased after overeating (P = 0·02). FIAF mRNA levels were decreased after overeating in the RSG group (P = 0·01), with a trend towards a decrease in the placebo group. Unexpectedly, RSG treatment did not influence the expression levels of PPARγ and of the PPARγ responsive genes aP2, adiponectin and adipsin. In addition, RSG resulted in a larger increase in plasma TAG during overeating than placebo treatment. These results suggest that in healthy, non-obese males the PPARγ ligand RSG influences TAG metabolism, independent of its PPARγ transcriptional activity in the subcutaneous adipose tissue.