CURRENT NOTES AND NOTICES

These are collated by Gwen Bonham, the Union's Administrative Secretary. Requests for the publication of information or other required assistance will be sympathetically considered. Publicity will gladly be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for, and to new societies which might be of interest to our readers. Details of conferences and meetings will also be included if sent to the Administrative Secretary at least 6 months in advance of the event. All items for Current Notes and Notices should be sent to the BOU, % The Natural History Museum, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 6AP, UK .     

CURRENT NOTES AND NOTICES

These are collated by Gwen Bonham, the Union's Administrative Secretary. Requests for the publication of information and other assistance will be considered sympathetically. Publicity will be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for, and to new societies which might be of interest to our readers. Details of conferences and meetings will also be included if sent to the Administrative Secretary at least 6 months in advance of the event. All items for Current Notes and Notices should be sent to the BOU , % The Natural History Museum, Tring. Hertfordshire HP23 6AP, U.K. Fax No. 0442–890693 .     

CURRENT NOTES AND NOTICES

These are collated by Gwen Bonham. Requests for the publication of information and other assistance will be considered sympathetically. Publicity will be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for and to new societies which might be of interest to our readers. Details of conferences and meetings will also be included if sent at least 6 months in advance of the event, and news of members' activities is always welcome. All items for Current Notes and Notices should be sent to BOU, % The Natural History Museum, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 6AP. UK. Fax: 01442 890693.     

CURRENT NOTES AND NOTICES

These are collated by Gwen Bonham, the Union's Administrative Secretary. Requests for the publication of information or other required assistance will be sympathetically considered. Publicity will gladly be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for, and to new societies which might be of interest to our readers. Details of conferences and meetings will also be included if sent to the Administrative Secretary at least 6 months in advance of the event. All items /or Current Notes and Notices should be sent to the BOU, c The Natural History Museum, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 6AP, UK .     

Cervical screening in the UK and laboratory quality control in the context of the 2007 European guidelines

The first part of this article will provide an overview of cervical cancer screening in the UK during the years before, during and after the introduction of a highly successful centrally organised cervical screening programme in 1988: since then the incidence of invasive cervical cancer has fallen by more than 40%. Screening was introduced in a background of opportunistic screening with poor quality control during a period of time when risk of disease was increasing, which will be demonstrated by national registrations of carcinoma in situ as well as invasive cancer. The programme is still facing new challenges and has recently recorded falling screening coverage in younger women, the causes of which have yet to be established. Liquid-based cytology is in the process of being rolled out nationally but high-risk human papillomavirus testing has yet to be introduced into the National Health Service (NHS) programme. Lessons from our experience may be relevant to countries introducing and maintaining organised programmes elsewhere under similar circumstances. The second part of the article will consider laboratory quality control as practiced in the UK and as recommended in the second edition of the European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Cervical Cancer Screening. These evidence-based guidelines provide recommendations for organising and monitoring quality control as well as for introducing new technology and standardising terminology, which are equally relevant for new and existing programmes. Invasive cancer audit may highlight areas where procedures could be improved in any programme but also can also demonstrate the effectiveness of screening.     

News and notices

This section is collated by Steve Dudley (BOU Senior Administrator). Requests for the publication of information, and other assistance which is considered to be of interest to our readers, will be considered sympathetically. Publicity will be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for and to new societies operating within the field of ornithology, birds and birding. Details of conferences, meetings and other events will be included if sent at least six months in advance of the event, and news of members' activities is particularly welcome. All contributions are restricted to 500 words, and should be sent by email to: steve.dudley@bou.org.uk
Deadlines for contributions: 15 September (January issue); 15 December (April issue); 15 March (July issue); 15 June (October issue).     

News and notices

This section is collated by Steve Dudley (BOU Administrator). Requests for the publication of information, and other assistance which is considered to be of interest to our readers, will be considered sympathetically. Publicity will be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for and to new societies operating within the field of ornithology, birds and birding. Details of conferences, meetings and other events will be included if sent at least six months in advance of the event, and news of members' activities is particularly welcome. All contributions are restricted to 500 words, and should be sent by email to: steve.dudley@bou.org.uk
Deadlines for contributions: 15 September (January issue); 15 December (April issue); 15 March (July issue); 15 June (October issue).     

News and notices

This section is collated by the BOU Office. Requests for the publication of information, and other assistance which is considered to be of interest to our readers, will be considered sympathetically. Publicity will be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for and to new societies operating within the field of ornithology, birds and birding. Details of conferences, meetings and other events will be included if sent at least six months in advance of the event, and news of members' activities is particularly welcome. All contributions are restricted to 500 words, and should be sent by email to: bou@bou.org.uk
Deadlines for contributions: 15 September (January issue); 15 December (April issue); 15 March (July issue); 15 June (October issue).     

News and notices

This section is collated by the BOU Office. Requests for the publication of information, and other assistance which is considered to be of interest to our readers, will be considered sympathetically. Publicity will be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for and to new societies operating within the field of ornithology, birds and birding. Details of conferences, meetings and other events will be included if sent at least six months in advance of the event, and news of members' activities is particularly welcome. All contributions are restricted to 500 words, and should be sent by email to: bou@bou.org.uk
Deadlines for contributions: 15 September (January issue); 15 December (April issue); 15 March (July issue); 15 June (October issue).     

News and notices

This section is collated by Steve Dudley (BOU Senior Administrator). Requests for the publication of information, and other assistance which is considered to be of interest to our readers, will be considered sympathetically. Publicity will be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for and to new societies operating within the field of ornithology, birds and birding. Details of conferences, meetings and other events will be included if sent at least six months in advance of the event, and news of members' activities is particularly welcome. All contributions are restricted to 500 words, and should be sent by email to: steve.dudley@bou.org.uk
Deadlines for contributions: 15 September (January issue); 15 December (April issue); 15 March (July issue); 15 June (October issue).     

Molecular population genetics.

Molecular population genetics is entering a new era dominated by studies of genomic polymorphism. Some of the theory that will be needed to analyze data generated by such studies is already available, but much more work is needed. Furthermore, population genetics is becoming increasingly relevant to other fields of biology, for example to genetic epidemiology, because of disease gene mapping in general populations.     

Wild immunology

In wild populations, individuals are regularly exposed to a wide range of pathogens. In this context, organisms must elicit and regulate effective immune responses to protect their health while avoiding immunopathology. However, most of our knowledge about the function and dynamics of immune responses comes from laboratory studies performed on inbred mice in highly controlled environments with limited exposure to infection. Natural populations, on the other hand, exhibit wide genetic and environmental diversity. We argue that now is the time for immunology to be taken into the wild. The goal of 'wild immunology' is to link immune phenotype with host fitness in natural environments. To achieve this requires relevant measures of immune responsiveness that are both applicable to the host-parasite interaction under study and robustly associated with measures of host and parasite fitness. Bringing immunology to nonmodel organisms and linking that knowledge host fitness, and ultimately population dynamics, will face difficult challenges, both technical (lack of reagents and annotated genomes) and statistical (variation among individuals and populations). However, the affordability of new genomic technologies will help immunologists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists work together to translate and test our current knowledge of immune mechanisms in natural systems. From this approach, ecologists will gain new insight into mechanisms relevant to host health and fitness, while immunologists will be given a measure of the real-world health impacts of the immune factors they study. Thus, wild immunology can be the missing link between laboratory-based immunology and human, wildlife and domesticated animal health.     

News and notices

This section is collated by Steve Dudley (BOU Administrator). Requests for the publication of information and other assistance which is considered to be of interest to our readers will be considered sympathetically. Publicity will be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for and to new societies operating within the field of ornithology, birds and birding. Details of conferences, meetings and other events will be included if sent at least six months in advance of the event, and news of members' activities is particularly welcome. All contributions are restricted to 500 words, preferably by email or disk (in ASCII or Word) to: The Administrator, BOU, c/o The Natural History Museum, Akeman Street, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 6AP, UK. Fax: +44 (0) 20 7942 6150. Email: steve.dudley@bou.org.uk     

News and notices

This section is collated by Steve Dudley (BOU Administrator). Requests for the publication of information and other assistance which is considered to be of interest to our readers will be considered sympathetically. Publicity will be given to relevant grants and awards that can be applied for and to new societies operating within the field of ornithology, birds and birding. Details of conferences, meetings and other events will also be included if sent at least six months in advance of the event, and news of members' activities is particularly welcome. All contributions are restricted to 500 words, preferably by email or on disk (in ASCII or Word) to: The Administrator, BOU, c/o The Natural History Museum, Akeman Street, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 6AP, UK. Fax: +44 (0) 207 942 6150. Email: steve.dudley@bou.org.uk.     

Functional assays as prismatic views of drug activity: relevance to new drug discovery

The two main processes involved in new drug discovery are screening and lead optimization; the latter process encompasses the dialogue between pharmacologists and medicinal chemists with the aim of maximizing primary activity and druglike properties of compounds. The pharmacological assay is the main tool in both of these processes; this will be discussed with special attention to new information regarding the signaling and networking of seven transmembrane receptors. In particular, the assays used for lead optimization will be discussed in terms of detecting and developing drugs that specifically emphasize some signaling pathways and not others, all through the stabilization of unique receptor protein conformations. There is considerable data to indicate that these are real phenomena that may be exploited for therapeutic advantage. A therapeutically relevant example will be discussed from a recent program designed to block entry of HIV-1 for the prevention and therapy of AIDS. The allosteric modulator aplaviroc (873140) and other allosteric modulators will be highlighted with reference to the development of future drugs that block the involvement of receptors in pathological process but otherwise allow them to function normally. In AIDS, this would allow the natural chemokine systems to assist in the protection against further HIV-1 infection.     

Functional Assays as Prismatic Views of Drug Activity: Relevance to New Drug Discovery

The two main processes involved in new drug discovery are screening and lead optimization; the latter process encompasses the dialogue between pharmacologists and medicinal chemists with the aim of maximizing primary activity and druglike properties of compounds. The pharmacological assay is the main tool in both of these processes; this will be discussed with special attention to new information regarding the signaling and networking of seven transmembrane receptors. In particular, the assays used for lead optimization will be discussed in terms of detecting and developing drugs that specifically emphasize some signaling pathways and not others, all through the stabilization of unique receptor protein conformations. There is considerable data to indicate that these are real phenomena that may be exploited for therapeutic advantage. A therapeutically relevant example will be discussed from a recent program designed to block entry of HIV-1 for the prevention and therapy of AIDS. The allosteric modulator aplaviroc (873140) and other allosteric modulators will be highlighted with reference to the development of future drugs that block the involvement of receptors in pathological process but otherwise allow them to function normally. In AIDS, this would allow the natural chemokine systems to assist in the protection against further HIV-1 infection.     

Genome-wide association studies for common diseases and complex traits

Genetic factors strongly affect susceptibility to common diseases and also influence disease-related quantitative traits. Identifying the relevant genes has been difficult, in part because each causal gene only makes a small contribution to overall heritability. Genetic association studies offer a potentially powerful approach for mapping causal genes with modest effects, but are limited because only a small number of genes can be studied at a time. Genome-wide association studies will soon become possible, and could open new frontiers in our understanding and treatment of disease. However, the execution and analysis of such studies will require great care.     

Genetic control of the immune repertoire in nematode infections

Mammals vary considerably, both within and between species, in the way in which their innate and adaptive immune systems respond to infections. An understanding of the processes involved in such variability will not only contribute to explaining heterogeneity in susceptibility and pathology, but will also be relevant to vaccination. This will be particularly important for the new generation of vaccines that are likely to be composed of one or a few cloned or synthesized antigens. For helminth infections, this could have particular relevance to hypersensitivity responses. The adaptive immune response is fundamentally constrained by the genetic constitution of an individual, and the need to avoid reactivity to self. This will have important implications for the dynamic relationship between host defences and parasite evasion mechanisms at both physiological and evolutionary levels. In this review, Malcolm Kennedy examines the genetic control of the specificity of the immune response to nematode infections, and in particular, the role of the major histocompatibility complex.