Helmut Sinzinger - Böcker

The International Symposium on Prostaglandins and Related Compounds, first held in Vienna 1972, revisited the city after 24 years for the 10TH Symposium. For the many re­ searchers working in this multi-disciplinary field it was an opportunity to exchange their ex­ periences and share new data with colleagues from all around the world. This scientific exchange was largely encouraged by the unseasonably cold and rainy weather. For the first time, there was quite a large attendance from the former Communist countries. Eugene Garfield prepared a key note address delivered during the meeting (The Sci­ entist 1996, 12) reviewing the contribution of the Nobel Laureates U.S. von Euler, l.R. Vane, S.K. Bergstrom, and B.I. Samuelsson, discussing the relevance of the more than 40,000 pa­ pers in this area published since 1991. Overall, there is still a rapidly growing interest, and in particular a great variety of clinical applications of this family of compounds which were dis­ cussed in detail during the meeting. Beside the lectures there were 19 workshops covering nearly all the topics of key in­ terest. All the speakers were invited to prepare a manuscript which has resulted in the volume now in your hands. Special thanks to Dr. Patrick Wong and the new publisher of this series who helped to publish the proceedings in the usual quality and reasonable period of time. Looking forward to seeing all of you again in Florence in 1999, hopefully with much more sun.

The International Symposium on Prostaglandins and Related Compounds, first held in Vienna 1972, revisited the city after 24 years for the 10TH Symposium. For the many re­ searchers working in this multi-disciplinary field it was an opportunity to exchange their ex­ periences and share new data with colleagues from all around the world. This scientific exchange was largely encouraged by the unseasonably cold and rainy weather. For the first time, there was quite a large attendance from the former Communist countries. Eugene Garfield prepared a key note address delivered during the meeting (The Sci­ entist 1996, 12) reviewing the contribution of the Nobel Laureates U.S. von Euler, l.R. Vane, S.K. Bergstrom, and B.I. Samuelsson, discussing the relevance of the more than 40,000 pa­ pers in this area published since 1991. Overall, there is still a rapidly growing interest, and in particular a great variety of clinical applications of this family of compounds which were dis­ cussed in detail during the meeting. Beside the lectures there were 19 workshops covering nearly all the topics of key in­ terest. All the speakers were invited to prepare a manuscript which has resulted in the volume now in your hands. Special thanks to Dr. Patrick Wong and the new publisher of this series who helped to publish the proceedings in the usual quality and reasonable period of time. Looking forward to seeing all of you again in Florence in 1999, hopefully with much more sun.

With the present Badgastein Symposium "Radioactive Isotopes in Clinical Medicine and Research" we have now had 40 years of an uninterrupted series of Badgastein meetings on nuclear medicine, since the first one took place in January 1954. We believe that this anni­ versary is worth mentioning. The 21 st symposium proved again to offer a representative cross­ section through the current topics of scientific interest of nuclear medicine. The general theme of research in nuclear medicine has shifted from the spectacular new developments which were so often reported in the first symposia to a less spectacular, albeit equally important period, which may best be characterized by validation and standardization. While this may not be as exciting as we would like it to be, it is nevertheless vital for nuclear medicine to maintain and improve its standing amongst the other specialties of medicine which draw upon the services that nuclear medicine offers.