The Chemical Scythe is the first book in a projected series to be published by Plenum Press in association with the International Disaster Institute. The aim of the series, Disaster Research in Practice, is to provide scientific and readable accounts on the most urgent areas of disaster research. It is fitting, therefore, that Dr. Hay's investigation into the nature and effects of dioxins heralds the new series. The problem of chemical hazards is one that we will have to learn to live with in future decades. Dr. Hay's book is an authoritative account of the chemistry and proven and potential effects of dioxins, and of the impli cations for safety planning. He concludes with a cautious, yet optimistic note-that indeed we can learn to live with such hazards, providing that we are prepared to understand and plan for the unexpected. The accident at Seveso in 1976 alerted the world to an imperfectly un derstood but immensely alarming environmental hazard. Public debate and argument as to the implications of dioxins and, indeed, the use of herbicides as aggressive weapons in Vietnam, rage on. And yet it is only through the painstaking research exemplified in this book that it will eventually be pos sible to promote the vital accountability on the part of industrialists and governments.

This fascinating new study shows how the CIA and the British secret service, in collaboration with the military alliance NATO and European military secret services, set up a network of clandestine anti-communist armies in Western Europe after World War II. These secret soldiers were trained on remote islands in the Mediterranean and in unorthodox warfare centres in England and in the United States by the Green Berets and SAS Special Forces. The network was armed with explosives, machine guns and high-tech communication equipment hidden in underground bunkers and secret arms caches in forests and mountain meadows. In some countries the secret army linked up with right-wing terrorist who in a secret war engaged in political manipulation, harrassement of left wing parties, massacres, coup d'états and torture. Codenamed 'Gladio' ('the sword'), the Italian secret army was exposed in 1990 by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti to the Italian Senate, whereupon the press spoke of "The best kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II" (Observer, 18. November 1990) and observed that "The story seems straight from the pages of a political thriller." (The Times, November 19, 1990). Ever since, so-called 'stay-behind' armies of NATO have also been discovered in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Greece and Turkey. They were internationally coordinated by the Pentagon and NATO and had their last known meeting in the NATO-linked Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) in Brussels in October 1990.

This book reviews the state of knowledge and progress of research on food proteins, and in particular, milk proteins. Its basis is the Symposium on Milk Proteins that was held at the Federal Dairy Research Centre in Kiel, FRG, in June, 1988. Scien tists from around the world attended and addressed pure, as well as applied fields of protein research and technology. This book is divided into five sections, each adapted from the symposium's invited lectures, short communications, and poster presentations. New criteria for the "bio logical value" of dietary proteins and their relationships are considered according to: - Milk Proteins and Nitrogen Equilibrium - Milk Proteins and Ligands - Milk Proteins: Structural and Genetic Aspects - Milk Proteins: Technological and Functional Aspects - Milk Proteins and Clinical Nutrition Generally, different dietary proteins are classified according to their "biological value," i.e., their capacity to cause different retention of nitrogen in the body. But we think there are other intriguing leads worth studying that may help to identify which dietary proteins are best recommended for specific dietary situations or clini cal conditions. In addition, we have taken into consideration new fields such as attempts to determine the three-dimensional structure of proteins using two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy, and the application of genetic engineering to the lactating cell. In other words, we are on the way to the transgenic cow with customized milk constituents and composition.

Road safety is generally a mixture of three components, namely, the road, the vehicle and the driver, or, as also referred to by the ECMT, the infrastructure, the vehicle and human behaviour. Promotion of road safety is more and more possible only through a larger scope of interest -- environment, sustainability, and quality of life. In the future, an efficient road transport system should provide a safe and sustainable accessibility. The idea of organising a seminar came from a presentation by a Swedish representative of the "Vision Zero" programme, adopted by the Swedish Parliament in autumn 1997. The basic idea of "Vision Zero" is that no person should be killed or seriously and permanently impaired in a road traffic accident. At the invitation of the Czech authorities, the seminar was held in March 2002 in Prague. Many governmental and non governmental organisations responsible for road safety policies and work participated in the event.

All the anesthesia techniques currently used in veterinary medicine are covered in one concise clinical volume. There's new material on topics such as laboratory and exotic animals, local anesthesia, and regional anesthesia. Each of the 26 chapters is organized so that species specific and organ specific information can be easily accessed and understood. The contributors list is a virtual "who's who" of veterinary anesthesia. This will be a valuable text for students in veterinary anesthesia and surgery, as well as a great reference for practitioners.