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84-563: The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story is a best-selling 1994 nonfiction thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers , particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses . The basis of the book was Preston's 1992 New Yorker article "Crisis in the Hot Zone". The filoviruses —including Ebola virus , Sudan virus , Marburg virus , and Ravn virus —are Biosafety Level 4 agents, extremely dangerous to humans because they are very infectious, have

168-470: A professor of geophysics and a complex systems theorist at UCLA , using Amazon.com sales data, created a mathematical model for predicting bestseller potential based on very early sales results. This information could be used to identify a potential for bestseller status and recommend fine tuned advertising and publicity efforts accordingly. In 1995, the authors of a book called The Discipline of Market Leaders colluded to manipulate their book onto

252-451: A spin-off industry with items such as Werther eau de cologne and porcelain puppets depicting the main characters, being sold in large numbers. By the time of Byron and Sir Walter Scott , effective copyright laws existed, at least in England, and many authors depended heavily on their income from their large royalties. America remained a zone of piracy until the mid-nineteenth century,

336-706: A "cult" object in England and throughout Europe, with important cultural consequences among those who could afford to purchase books during the era of its publication. The same could be said of the works of Voltaire , particularly his comedic and philosophically satirical novel, Candide , which, according to recent research, sold more than 20,000 copies in its first month alone in 1759. Likewise, fellow French Enlightenment author Rousseau , especially his Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse (1761) and of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 's novel, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers ( The Sorrows of Young Werther ) (1774). As with some modern bestsellers, Werther spawned what today would be called

420-443: A compromised product category and, in effect, attempting to create a marketing image. For example, a "summer bestseller" is usually determined long before the summer is over, and signals a book's suitability for millions of lounging pool-side readers. The use of the marketing phrase, underground bestseller further illustrates the independent-from-sales, self-defining aspect of the term. For example, publisher HarperCollins suggested

504-554: A fact of which Charles Dickens and Mark Twain bitterly complained. By the middle of the 19th century, a situation akin to modern publication had emerged, where most bestsellers were written for a popular taste and are now almost entirely forgotten, with odd exceptions such as East Lynne (remembered only for the line "Gone, gone, and never called me mother!"), the wildly popular Uncle Tom's Cabin , and Sherlock Holmes . Bestsellers are usually separated into fiction and non-fiction categories. Different list compilers have created

588-564: A factor in the collapse of Fox's planned production, Crisis in The Hot Zone . Directors considered for Crisis in The Hot Zone included Wolfgang Petersen (who would later direct Outbreak ), Michael Mann , and Ridley Scott . Scott eventually signed on to direct the film in February 1994. Screenwriter James V. Hart was also signed to adapt the book. In late April 1994, Fox announced they had signed Robert Redford and Jodie Foster to star in

672-523: A high fatality rate, and most have no known prophylactic measures , treatments, or cures. Along with describing the history of the devastation caused by two of these Central African diseases, Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease , Preston described a 1989 incident in which a relative of Ebola virus, Reston virus , was discovered at a primate quarantine facility in Reston, Virginia , less than 15 miles (24 km) away from Washington, D.C. The book

756-564: A major response by the World Health Organization (WHO) by shedding light on the Zaire ebolavirus . Teams of experts were immediately released. Many countries tightened their borders, issued warnings to customs officials, quarantined travellers, and issued travel advisories. In his blurb , horror writer Stephen King called the first chapter "one of the most horrifying things I've read in my whole life". When asked whether any book "scared

840-566: A new mode-word into the German speaking European countries. Bestsellers play a significant role in the mainstream movie industry. There is a long-standing Hollywood practice of turning bestsellers into feature films. Many, if not the majority, of modern movie "classics" began as bestsellers. On the Publishers Weekly fiction bestsellers of the year charts, we find: #1: Harry Potter and the Order of

924-549: A number of other subcategories. The New York Times was reported to have started its "Children's Books" section in 2001 just to move the Harry Potter books out of the No. 1, 2, and 3 positions on their fiction chart, which the then three-book series had monopolized for over a year. Bestsellers also may be ranked separately for hardcover and paperback editions. Typically, a hardcover edition appears first, followed in months or years by

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1008-509: A process involving meiosis and fertilization . Meiosis involves the intimate pairing of homologous chromosomes and recombination between them. Examples of eukaryotic pathogens capable of sex include the protozoan parasites Plasmodium falciparum , Toxoplasma gondii , Trypanosoma brucei , Giardia intestinalis , and the fungi Aspergillus fumigatus , Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans . Viruses may also undergo sexual interaction when two or more viral genomes enter

1092-468: A review in the Public Health Reports which highlights the "seriousness of our current situation" and "our ability to respond to a major health threat". The Hot Zone was described in an academic journal covering research in the history of science as a "romantic account of environmental transgression" . Reactions to this book could be seen not only in the public's view of emerging viruses, but in

1176-490: A temporary method to boost their book higher on Amazon's list using carefully timed buying campaigns that take advantage of the frequent adjustments to rankings. For example, faith healing author Zhi Gang Sha has used this method to create a number of #1 bestsellers. The brief sales spike allows authors to tout that their book was an "Amazon.com top 100 seller" in marketing materials for books that actually have relatively low sales. Eventually book buyers may begin to recognize

1260-437: A theorized equilibrium between a pathogen spreading to additional hosts to parasitize resources, while lowering their virulence to keep hosts living for vertical transmission to their offspring. Algae are single-celled eukaryotes that are generally non-pathogenic. Green algae from the genus Prototheca lack chlorophyll and are known to cause the disease protothecosis in humans, dogs, cats, and cattle, typically involving

1344-423: A variety of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic pathogens, cholera is only caused by some strains of Vibrio cholerae . Additionally, some pathogens may only cause disease in hosts with an immunodeficiency . These opportunistic infections often involve hospital-acquired infections among patients already combating another condition. Infectivity involves pathogen transmission through direct contact with

1428-413: A variety of immunodeficiency disorders caused by viruses related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), such as BIV and FIV . Humans can be infected with many types of pathogens, including prions, viruses, bacteria, and fungi, causing symptoms like sneezing, coughing, fever, vomiting, and potentially lethal organ failure . While some symptoms are caused by the pathogenic infection, others are caused by

1512-548: A variety of sources. A book that sells well in gift shops and grocery stores may hit a New York Times list without ever appearing on an Indie list. USA Today has only one list, not hardcover/paperback, so that relative sales of these categories cannot be ascertained from it. Lists from Amazon.com , the dominant online book retailer, are based only on sales from their own Web site, and are updated on an hourly basis. Wholesale sales figures are not factored into Amazon's calculations. Numerous Web sites offer advice for authors about

1596-758: A wide array of pathogens and it has been estimated that only 3% of the disease caused by plant pathogens can be managed. Animals often get infected with many of the same or similar pathogens as humans including prions, viruses, bacteria, and fungi. While wild animals often get illnesses, the larger danger is for livestock animals. It is estimated that in rural settings, 90% or more of livestock deaths can be attributed to pathogens. Animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSEs) involving prions include bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), chronic wasting disease , scrapie , transmissible mink encephalopathy , feline spongiform encephalopathy , and ungulate spongiform encephalopathy. Other animal diseases include

1680-414: A wide variety of issues such as shorter plant height, growths or pits on tree trunks, root or seed rot, and leaf spots. Common and serious plant fungi include the rice blast fungus , Dutch elm disease , chestnut blight and the black knot and brown rot diseases of cherries, plums, and peaches. It is estimated that pathogenic fungi alone cause up to a 65% reduction in crop yield. Overall, plants have

1764-519: Is a closely guarded secret. This situation suggests a similar one in the area of popular music . In 1991, Billboard magazine switched its chart data from manual reports filed by stores, to automated cash register data collected by a service called SoundScan . The conversion saw a dramatic shake-up in chart content from one week to the next. Today, many lists come from automated sources. Booksellers may use their POS (point-of-sale) systems to report automatically to Book Sense. Wholesalers such as

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1848-638: Is almost exposed to contaminated blood, but does not get infected. Nurse Mayinga is also infected by a nun and goes to Ngaleima Hospital in Kinshasa for treatment, where she succumbs to the disease. In Reston, Virginia, less than fifteen miles (24 km) away from Washington, D.C., a company called Hazelton Research once operated a quarantine center for monkeys that were destined for laboratories. In October 1989, when an unusually high number of their monkeys began to die, their veterinarian decided to send some samples to Fort Detrick (USAMRIID) for study. Early during

1932-413: Is an accepted version of this page In biology , a pathogen ( Greek : πάθος , pathos "suffering", "passion" and -γενής , -genēs "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent , or simply a germ . The term pathogen came into use in the 1880s. Typically, the term pathogen

2016-510: Is called microbiology , while parasitology refers to the scientific study of parasites and the organisms that host them. There are several pathways through which pathogens can invade a host. The principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring a pathogen. Diseases in humans that are caused by infectious agents are known as pathogenic diseases. Not all diseases are caused by pathogens, such as black lung from exposure to

2100-563: Is called Marburg virus. Dr. Nancy Jaax had been promoted to work in the Level 4 Biosafety containment area at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and is assigned to research Ebola virus. While preparing food for her family at home, she cuts her right hand. Later, while working on a dead monkey infected with Ebola virus, one of the gloves on the hand with the open wound tears, and she

2184-464: Is first known to have been recorded in print in 1889 in the Kansas City, Missouri newspaper The Kansas Times & Star , but the phenomenon of immediate popularity goes back to the early days of mass production of printed books. For earlier books, when the maximum number of copies that would be printed was relatively small, a count of editions is the best way to assess sales. Since effective copyright

2268-461: Is in four sections: The book starts with "Charles Monet" visiting Kitum Cave during a camping trip to Mount Elgon in Central Africa. Not long after, he begins to suffer from a number of symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea and red eye. He is taken to Nairobi Hospital for treatment, but his condition deteriorates further, and he goes into a coma while in the waiting room. This particular filovirus

2352-417: Is instead said to be made by extrinsic factors like literary critics, publishers, media, conformity and other social influences. However, an elaborated model examining over a dozen external variables potentially influencing books sales could only explain less than 40% of differences in sales. Research found intrinsic properties of novels which do influence their success. For example, a smaller disparity between

2436-475: Is lethal to monkeys, humans can be infected with it without any health effects at all. This virus is now known as Reston virus. Finally, the author goes to Africa to explore Kitum Cave. On the way, he discusses the role of AIDS in the present, as the Kinshasa Highway that he travels on was sometimes called the "AIDS Highway" after its early appearance in the region. Equipped with a hazmat suit , he enters

2520-430: Is not so impressive as calling it " The New York Times bestseller". Although the former phrase is assumed to be derived from sales figures, the latter benefits from the high profile of the particular list. A book that is identified as a "bestseller" greatly improves its chance of selling to a much wider audience. In this way, bestseller has taken on its own popular meaning, rather independent of empirical data, by becoming

2604-646: Is not usually associated with a specified level of sales , and may be used very loosely in publishers' publicity. Books of superior academic value tend not to be bestsellers, although there are exceptions. Lists simply give the highest-selling titles in the category over the stated period. Some books have sold many more copies than current "bestsellers", but over a long period of time. Blockbusters for films and chart-toppers in recorded music are similar terms, although, in film and music, these measures generally are related to industry sales figures for attendance, requests, broadcast plays, or units sold. Particularly in

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2688-651: Is resistant to the commonly prescribed beta-lactam antibiotics . A 2013 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that in the United States, at least 2 million people get an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection annually, with at least 23,000 of those patients dying from the infection. Due to their indispensability in combating bacteria, new antibiotics are required for medical care. One target for new antimicrobial medications involves inhibiting DNA methyltransferases , as these proteins control

2772-574: Is the most common cause of thrush , and Cryptococcus neoformans , which can cause a severe form of meningitis . Typical fungal spores are 4.7 μm long or smaller. Prions are misfolded proteins that transmit their abnormal folding pattern to other copies of the protein without using nucleic acids . Besides obtaining prions from others, these misfolded proteins arise from genetic differences, either due to family history or sporadic mutations. Plants uptake prions from contaminated soil and transport them into their stem and leaves, potentially transmitting

2856-400: Is used to describe an infectious microorganism or agent, such as a virus, bacterium, protozoan , prion , viroid , or fungus . Small animals, such as helminths and insects, can also cause or transmit disease. However, these animals are usually referred to as parasites rather than pathogens. The scientific study of microscopic organisms, including microscopic pathogenic organisms,

2940-632: The Baltimore classification separates viruses by seven classes of mRNA production: Protozoans are single-celled eukaryotes that feed on microorganisms and organic tissues. Many protozoans act as pathogenic parasites to cause diseases like malaria , amoebiasis , giardiasis , toxoplasmosis , cryptosporidiosis , trichomoniasis , Chagas disease , leishmaniasis , African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), Acanthamoeba keratitis , and primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (naegleriasis). Parasitic worms (helminths) are macroparasites that can be seen by

3024-439: The anthrax vaccine and pneumococcal vaccine . Many other bacterial pathogens lack vaccines as a preventive measure, but infection by these bacteria can often be treated or prevented with antibiotics . Common antibiotics include amoxicillin , ciprofloxacin , and doxycycline . Each antibiotic has different bacteria that it is effective against and has different mechanisms to kill that bacteria. For example, doxycycline inhibits

3108-405: The echinocandin family of drugs and fluconazole . While algae are commonly not thought of as pathogens, the genus Prototheca causes disease in humans . Treatment for protothecosis is currently under investigation, and there is no consistency in clinical treatment. Many pathogens are capable of sexual interaction. Among pathogenic bacteria , sexual interaction occurs between cells of

3192-449: The tobacco mosaic virus which caused scientist Martinus Beijerinck to coin the term "virus" in 1898. Bacterial plant pathogens cause leaf spots, blight, and rot in many plant species. The most common bacterial pathogens for plants are Pseudomonas syringae and Ralstonia solanacearum , which cause leaf browning and other issues in potatoes, tomatoes, and bananas. Fungi are another major pathogen type for plants. They can cause

3276-651: The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats ( CRISPR ) associated with bacteriophages, removing the viral genes to avoid infection. This mechanism has been modified for artificial CRISPR gene editing . Plants can play host to a wide range of pathogen types, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and even other plants. Notable plant viruses include the papaya ringspot virus , which has caused millions of dollars of damage to farmers in Hawaii and Southeast Asia, and

3360-452: The Phoenix (2003); #3. Jaws (1974); #2. The Exorcist (1971); #1. Love Story (1970); #2. The Godfather (1969); among many others. Several of each year's fiction bestsellers ultimately are made into high-profile movies. Being a bestseller novel in the U.S. during the last forty years has guaranteed consideration for a big budget, wide-release movie. Pathogenicity This

3444-409: The basic dictionary definition of bestseller is self-evident, "a popular, top-selling book", the practical cultural definition is somewhat more complex. As consumer bestseller lists generally do not detail specific criteria, such as numbers sold, sales period, sales region, and so forth, a book becomes a bestseller mainly because an "authoritative" source says it is. Calling a book a "top-selling" title

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3528-440: The best seller charts. The authors allegedly purchased over 10,000 copies of their own book in small and strategically placed orders at bookstores whose sales are reported to Bookscan. Because of the ancillary benefits of making The New York Times Best Seller list (speaking engagements, more book deals, and consulting) the authors felt that buying their own work was an investment that would pay for itself. The book climbed to #8 on

3612-613: The bestseller potential of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel by announcing "...four years after her award-winning, underground bestseller, Little Altars Everywhere ..." in the promotion. The book went on to achieve bestseller status in the 1990s. In reviews of the 2002 film of the same name, the novel's bestseller status was cited routinely, as in "compelling adaptation of Rebecca Wells' bestseller". The famous Diogenes Publisher at Zürich ( Swiss ) started to talk about its own Worstsellers in 2006, and therewith brought

3696-508: The bodily fluids or airborne droplets of infected hosts, indirect contact involving contaminated areas/items, or transfer by living vectors like mosquitos and ticks . The basic reproduction number of an infection is the expected number of subsequent cases it is likely to cause through transmission. Virulence involves pathogens extracting host nutrients for their survival, evading host immune systems by producing microbial toxins and causing immunosuppression . Optimal virulence describes

3780-457: The book, this time as a television miniseries for NatGeo . Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson , and Jeff Vintar wrote the pilot. Julianna Margulies starred as Nancy Jaax. Filming began in September 2018. Lynda Obst again produced the series. The series first aired from May 27 to May 29, 2019, and was later renewed for a second season. Best-selling In everyday use, the term bestseller

3864-433: The case of novels , a large budget and a chain of literary agents , editors , publishers , reviewers , retailers , librarians , and marketing efforts are involved in "making" bestsellers, that is, trying to increase sales. Steinberg defined a bestseller as a book for which demand, within a short time of that book's initial publication, vastly exceeds what is then considered to be big sales. The term "best seller"

3948-575: The cave and finds a large number of animals, one of which might be the virus carrier. At the conclusion of the book, he travels to the quarantine facility in Reston. He finds the building abandoned and deteriorating. He concludes the book by claiming that Ebola will be back. The discovery of the Reston virus was made in November 1989 by Thomas W. Geisbert, an intern at United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Dr. Peter B. Jahrling isolated

4032-446: The changes in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . In addition to the funding of public health infrastructure during the early 1970s, there were many public discussions of biodefense. This book continued to fuel the emerging diseases campaign. By connecting international health to national security , this campaign used The Hot Zone to justify increased intervention in the global phenomena of disease. The Hot Zone elicited

4116-438: The country's national print sales tracking service, BNC SalesData. There are many "bestseller lists" that display anywhere from 10 to 150 titles. Bestseller lists may vary widely, depending on the method used for calculating sales. The Indie bestseller lists, for example, use only sales numbers, provided by independently owned (non-chain) bookstores, while The New York Times list includes both wholesale and retail sales from

4200-534: The film. Crisis in The Hot Zone , however, was never made. Foster dropped out of the film just before filming was to begin and production was delayed, with Meryl Streep , Sharon Stone , and Robin Wright touted as possible replacements. In August 1994, Redford also dropped out of the film; a few days after Redford left it was announced that pre-production had been shut down. On October 16, 2014, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Ridley Scott again planned to adapt

4284-410: The filovirus further. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted blood tests of the 178 animal handlers. While six tested positive, they did not exhibit any symptoms. The Reston virus was found to have low pathogenicity in humans. This was further supported later when a handler infected himself during a necropsy of an infected monkey, as the handler did not show symptoms of the virus after

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4368-406: The frequency of emotional words and rational words was predictive for successful novels. Bestsellers have gained such great popularity that it has sometimes become fashionable to purchase them. Critics have pointed out that just because a book is purchased doesn't mean it will be read. The rising length of bestsellers may mean that more of them are simply becoming bookshelf decor. In 1985 members of

4452-401: The general retailer Costco . Unlike the consumer-oriented lists, BookScan's data is extremely detailed and quite expensive. Subscriptions to BookScan cost up to $ 75,000 per year, but it can provide publishers and wholesalers with an accurate picture of book sales with regional and other statistical analyses. There is only one recipe for a best seller and it is a very simple one. You have to get

4536-633: The giant Ingram Content Group have bestseller calculations similar to Amazon's, but they are available only to subscribing retailers. Barnes & Noble and other large retail chains collect sales data from retail outlets and their Web sites to build their own bestseller lists. Nielsen BookScan U.S. is perhaps the most aggressive attempt to produce a completely automatic and trusted set of bestseller lists. They claim to be gathering data directly from cash registers at more than 4,500 retail locations, including independent bookstores , large chains such as Barnes & Noble , Powell's Books , and Borders , and

4620-768: The highest disease burdens , killing 1.6 million people in 2021, mostly in Africa and Southeast Asia. Bacterial pneumonia is primarily caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae , Staphylococcus aureus , Klebsiella pneumoniae , and Haemophilus influenzae . Foodborne illnesses typically involve Campylobacter , Clostridium perfringens , Escherichia coli , Listeria monocytogenes , and Salmonella . Other infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria include tetanus , typhoid fever , diphtheria , and leprosy . Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that can function as pathogens. There are approximately 300 known fungi that are pathogenic to humans, including Candida albicans , which

4704-505: The host genome, and hijack the host's machinery to produce hundreds of new viruses until the cell bursts open to release them for additional infections. The lytic cycle describes this active state of rapidly killing hosts, while the lysogenic cycle describes potentially hundreds of years of dormancy while integrated in the host genome. Alongside the taxonomy organized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV),

4788-458: The immune system of the host, so that when the potential host encounters the virus in the wild, the immune system can defend against infection quickly. Vaccines designed against viruses include annual influenza vaccines and the two-dose MMR vaccine against measles , mumps , and rubella . Vaccines are not available against the viruses responsible for HIV/AIDS , dengue , and chikungunya . Treatment of viral infections often involves treating

4872-420: The immune system's efforts to kill the pathogen, such as feverishly high body temperatures meant to denature pathogenic cells. Despite many attempts, no therapy has been shown to halt the progression of prion diseases . A variety of prevention and treatment options exist for some viral pathogens. Vaccines are one common and effective preventive measure against a variety of viral pathogens. Vaccines prime

4956-580: The incubation period. The Hot Zone was listed as one of around 100 books that shaped a century of science by American Scientist . Many reviews of The Hot Zone exemplify the impact the book had on the public's view of emerging viruses. A review in the British Medical Journal captures the paranoia and public panic described in this book. The reviewer was left "wondering when and where this enigmatic agent will appear next and what other disasters may await human primates". This can also be seen in

5040-572: The levels of expression for other genes, such as those encoding virulence factors. Infection by fungal pathogens is treated with anti-fungal medication. Athlete's foot , jock itch , and ringworm are fungal skin infections that are treated with topical anti-fungal medications like clotrimazole . Infections involving the yeast species Candida albicans cause oral thrush and vaginal yeast infections . These internal infections can either be treated with anti-fungal creams or with oral medication. Common anti-fungal drugs for internal infections include

5124-604: The list where it sat for 15 weeks, also peaking at #1 on the BusinessWeek best seller list. Since such lists hold the power of cumulative advantage chart success often begets more chart success. And although such efforts are not illegal, they are considered highly unethical by publishers. From what is described above, intrinsic properties of books (like style or content) are often ignored or even deemed as irrelevant for their success by consumer psychologists, literary scholars, economists and sociologists alike. The success of novels

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5208-550: The media (particularly, publishers of book reviews and bestseller lists). While literature awards have a beneficial effect at least on sales of hard covers, their impact is not detectable beyond a benchmark of ca. 800,000 sold copies. The high visibility of an established and best-selling author is paramount in the equation also. In addition to writing the book, an author has to acquire representation and negotiate this publishing chain. At least one scientific approach to creating bestsellers has been devised. In 2004, Didier Sornette ,

5292-560: The much less expensive paperback version. Hardcover bestseller status may hasten the paperback release of the same, or slow the release, if hardcover sales are brisk enough. Some lists even have a third category, trade paperback bestsellers. In the United Kingdom , a hardcover book could be considered a "bestseller" with sales ranging from 4,000 to 25,000 copies per week, and in Canada , bestsellers are determined according to weekly rankings in

5376-583: The naked eye. Worms live and feed in their living host, acquiring nutrients and shelter in the digestive tract or bloodstream of their host. They also manipulate the host's immune system by secreting immunomodulatory products which allows them to live in their host for years. Helminthiasis is the generalized term for parasitic worm infections, which typically involve roundworms , tapeworms , and flatworms . While bacteria are typically viewed as pathogens, they serve as hosts to bacteriophage viruses (commonly known as phages). The bacteriophage life cycle involves

5460-468: The organs remain structurally intact. McCormick and Fisher-Hoch also dispute Preston's version of the CDC's actions in the Reston virus incident. In an interview about his book Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus (2014), David Quammen claimed that The Hot Zone had "vivid, gruesome details" that gave an "exaggerated idea of Ebola over the years" causing "people to view this disease as though it

5544-477: The pants off you" writer Suzanne Collins answered " The Hot Zone , by Richard Preston. I just read it a few weeks ago. Still recovering." The Hot Zone has received criticism for sensationalizing the effects of Ebola virus. In their memoir Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC (1996), former CDC scientists Joseph B. McCormick and Susan Fisher-Hoch lambasted Preston for claiming that Ebola dissolves organs, stating that although it causes great blood loss in tissues

5628-453: The pollutant coal dust , genetic disorders like sickle cell disease , and autoimmune diseases like lupus . Pathogenicity is the potential disease-causing capacity of pathogens, involving a combination of infectivity (pathogen's ability to infect hosts) and virulence (severity of host disease). Koch's postulates are used to establish causal relationships between microbial pathogens and diseases. Whereas meningitis can be caused by

5712-424: The population. In 16th and 17th century England Pilgrim's Progress (1678) and abridged versions of Foxe's Book of Martyrs were the most broadly read books. Robinson Crusoe (1719) and The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) were early eighteenth century short novels with very large publication numbers, as well as gaining international success. Tristram Shandy , a novel by Laurence Sterne , became

5796-675: The positioning of a book in other ways. A book that might be buried on the Indie hardcover fiction list could be positioned very well on The New York Times hardcover advice list or the Publishers Weekly religion hardcover list. Bestseller reports from companies such as Amazon.com, which appear to be based strictly on auditable sales to the public, may be at odds with bestseller lists compiled from more casual data, such as The New York Times lists' survey of retailers and publishers. The exact method for ranking The New York Times bestseller lists

5880-822: The prions to herbivorous animals . Additionally, wood, rocks, plastic, glass, cement, stainless steel, and aluminum have been shown binding, retaining, and releasing prions, showcasing that the proteins resist environmental degradation. Prions are best known for causing transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) diseases like Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD), Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome (GSS), fatal familial insomnia (FFI), and kuru in humans. While prions are typically viewed as pathogens that cause protein amyloid fibers to accumulate into neurodegenerative plaques, Susan Lindquist led research showing that yeast use prions to pass on evolutionarily beneficial traits. Not to be confused with virusoids or viruses, viroids are

5964-420: The reader to turn over the page. If you look back on the best sellers you have read, you will find that they all have this quality. You simply have to turn over the page. Ultimately, having a great number of buyers creates a bestseller; however, there is a distinct "making of" process that determines which books have the potential to achieve that status. Not all publishers rely on, nor strive for, bestsellers, as

6048-631: The relative differences among lists and settle upon which lists they will consult to determine their purchases. The weight and price of a book may affect its positioning on lists. The Amazon.com list tends to favor hardcover , more expensive books, where the shipping charge is a smaller percentage of the overall purchase price or is sometimes free, and which tend to be more deeply discounted than paperbacks. Inexpensive mass market paperbacks tend to do better on The New York Times list than on Amazon's. Indie and Publishers Weekly separate mass market paperbacks onto their own list. Category structure affects

6132-589: The same species by the process of genetic transformation . Transformation involves the transfer of DNA from a donor cell to a recipient cell and the integration of the donor DNA into the recipient genome through genetic recombination . The bacterial pathogens Helicobacter pylori , Haemophilus influenzae , Legionella pneumophila , Neisseria gonorrhoeae , and Streptococcus pneumoniae frequently undergo transformation to modify their genome for additional traits and evasion of host immune cells. Eukaryotic pathogens are often capable of sexual interaction by

6216-530: The smallest known infectious pathogens. Viroids are small single-stranded, circular RNA that are only known to cause plant diseases, such as the potato spindle tuber viroid that affects various agricultural crops. Viroid RNA is not protected by a protein coat, and it does not encode any proteins, only acting as a ribozyme to catalyze other biochemical reactions. Viruses are generally between 20–200 nm in diameter. For survival and replication, viruses inject their genome into host cells, insert those genes into

6300-688: The soil-associated species Prototheca wickerhami . Bacteria are single-celled prokaryotes that range in size from 0.15 and 700 μM. While the vast majority are either harmless or beneficial to their hosts, such as members of the human gut microbiome that support digestion, a small percentage are pathogenic and cause infectious diseases. Bacterial virulence factors include adherence factors to attach to host cells, invasion factors supporting entry into host cells, capsules to prevent opsonization and phagocytosis , toxins, and siderophores to acquire iron. The bacterial disease tuberculosis , primarily caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis , has one of

6384-822: The staff of The New Republic placed coupons redeemable for $ 5 cash inside 70 books that were selling well, and none of them were sent in. In April 2013 Penguin Random House was created to become the world's largest publisher. The two major shareholders are Bertelsmann (53%) and Penguin Group (47%) owned by Pearson PLC . Other major publishers include Thomson Reuters , Reed Elsevier , Wolters Kluwer , Hachette , McGraw Hill Education , John Wiley and Sons , Houghton Mifflin Harcourt , HarperCollins , Simon & Schuster , Macmillan Publishers , and Harlequin Enterprises . While

6468-485: The survival of small presses indicates. Large publishing houses, on the other hand, are like major record labels and film studios, and require consistent high returns to maintain their large overhead. Thus, the stakes are high. It is estimated that 200,000 new books are published each year in the U.S., and less than 1% achieve bestseller status. Along the way, major players act as gatekeepers and enablers, including literary agents, editors, publishing houses, booksellers, and

6552-537: The symptoms of the infection, rather than providing medication to combat the viral pathogen itself. Treating the symptoms of a viral infection gives the host immune system time to develop antibodies against the viral pathogen. However, for HIV, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is conducted to prevent the viral disease from progressing into AIDS as immune cells are lost. Much like viral pathogens, infection by certain bacterial pathogens can be prevented via vaccines. Vaccines against bacterial pathogens include

6636-461: The synthesis of new proteins in both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria , which makes it a broad-spectrum antibiotic capable of killing most bacterial species. Due to misuse of antibiotics, such as prematurely ended prescriptions exposing bacteria to evolutionary pressure under sublethal doses, some bacterial pathogens have developed antibiotic resistance . For example, a genetically distinct strain of Staphylococcus aureus called MRSA

6720-400: The testing process in biosafety level 3 , when one of the flasks appeared to be contaminated with harmless pseudomonas bacterium , two USAMRIID scientists exposed themselves to the virus by wafting the flask. The virus found at the facility was a mutated form of the original Ebola virus and was initially mistaken for simian hemorrhagic fever virus . They later determine that, while the virus

6804-420: The viruses injecting their genome into bacterial cells, inserting those genes into the bacterial genome, and hijacking the bacteria's machinery to produce hundreds of new phages until the cell bursts open to release them for additional infections. Typically, bacteriophages are only capable of infecting a specific species or strain. Streptococcus pyogenes uses a Cas9 nuclease to cleave foreign DNA matching

6888-522: Was important for a book to be short to be a bestseller, or it would be too expensive to reach a large audience. Very short works such as Ars moriendi , the Biblia pauperum , and versions of the Apocalypse were published as cheap block-books in large numbers of different editions in several languages in the fifteenth century. These were probably affordable items for most of the minority of literate members of

6972-541: Was slow to take hold, many editions were pirated well into the period of the Enlightenment , and without effective royalty systems in place, authors often saw little, if any, of the revenues for their popular works. The earliest highly popular books were nearly all religious, but the Bible , as a large book, remained expensive until the nineteenth century. This tended to keep the numbers printed and sold low. Unlike today, it

7056-418: Was some sort of preternatural phenomenon". In January 1993, 20th Century Fox producer Lynda Obst won a bidding war for the film rights to Preston's 1992 New Yorker article, which was still being transitioned into book form. In response to being outbid, Warner Bros. producer Arnold Kopelson immediately began working on a similarly themed production. This competing film, Outbreak , would ultimately be

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