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Flow-injection analysis. Principles and applications
the new developments in nonlinear dynamics to quantum physics, and in particular to the French school of interpretation of quantum mechanics. It can be recommended to those to whom this theme appeals.
Flow-Injection Analysis. Principles and Applications. By M. Valcarceland M. D. Luque de Castro. Pp. 400. Ellis Horwood, Chichester. 1987. f49.50.
This volume consists of 13 chapters, although the first is a wide ranging discussion of automatic methods of analysis, including batch, continuous, segmented, and unsegmented methods. The next four chapters provide a very thorough description of the principles, theory, components, and detectors of flow injection analysis (fia). including an account of the major commercial instruments. Another two chapters describe the elementary modes of fia operation, and a further three cover gradient techniques, kinetic methods, and two-phase fia. Chapter 11 is devoted to the use of fia in clinical chemistry, covering both enzymatic and non-enzymatic methods, and Chapter 12 to applications in environmental analysis. The final chapter is ‘Present and future of fia’, and although there is relatively little speculation about the future the chapter includes useful summaries of the selectivity, sensitivity, rapidity, precision, simplicity, economy, and versatility of fia. Each chapter is extensively referenced up to 1985. The book is very well written and produced and the translators have done an excellent job in producing a highly readable style. The practical experience of the authors shows clearly in every chapter, and the book would be invaluable to all wishing to work in this area. Although fia is a technique in which we may expect to see significant advances over the next five years, there is no doubt that this book is and will remain a major work on the subject. D. J. Muicolme-Lff~es ENDOR, EPR and Electron Spin Echo for Probing Coordination Spheres. (Metal Ions in Biological Systems, Vol. 22). Edited by H. Sigel. Pp. 328. Marcel Dekker, hew York. 1987. $89.75 {USA and Canada); $707.50 (all other countries]
Volume 22 of Metal Ions in Biological Systems deals with the techniques used to study electronic/nuclear transitions in paramagnetic species, complementing the previous volume which focused on nuclear transitions alone (Vol. 21: A~pi~cat~o~ qf Nuclear Magnetic cies). In
Resonance
to Paramagnetic
Spe-
five chapter and 290 pages, including 644 references, a broad range of EPR techniques is covered from the use of line-intensities to provide quantitative information on solution equilibria involving paramagnetic (Cu”) centres. to the analysis of lineshapes and hyperfine coupling to investigate the structures of coordination spheres in metalloproteins and metal-ion complexes. The final chapter is a lucid and timely introduction to
220
the application of electron spin-echo techniques to biological problems. While each chapter summarises a number of studies of metalloproteins including work on blue-copper proteins, haem proteins, and bacteriochlorophyll, this remains a techniques-oriented voiume like volume 21 but in contrast to the previous volumes in the series. In order to assist readers unfamiliar with the techniques, each chapter is provided with a glossary of acronyms from ENDOR to SEEM, and the references show an even coverage from f. Chepn. Phys. to J. Mol. Biol. Overall, the book is well-produced and weliindexed and, while the spectroscopy is advanced, the importance of the results in the study of metalloproteins justifies the book’s inclusion in the series. Separation Determination Marczenko. Chichester.
and Spectrophotom~ric of Elements. ByZygmuot Pp. 678. Ellis Horwood, 1986. E69.50.
This is not in fact a new book, but a welcome revision of a well established and valuable reference text originally published in 1976. A special feature of this compilation is that the recommended methods (given in full detail) have been checked by Marczenko and his colleagues and shown to work weil. Many is the time that I have been grateful for both this concise summary of possible procedures for determining some element or other and the instructions for carrying out the determination. The new edition has rearranged the introductory chapters on Separation procedures. Principles of spectrophotometry, and Spectrophotometrjc reagents. These are all concise and up to date with, for example. a discussion on photometric accuracy of modern instruments (but why retain the diagram of the long obsolete Spekker photometer in Fig. 2.5?), the application of photometry in flow injection analysis and so on. The tidier new versions of the periodic tables showing the applicability of the various reagents are a distinct improvement, and, as before, the thorough indexing of the reagents is much to be commended. The individual chapters have seen substantial revision, particularly of the references. The coverage is very good, but I would have wished for a procedure for perchlorate and one for the Ethylene Blue method for sulphide, much to be preferred to the old Methylene Blue method. The scaling down of the procedures from 50 to 25 ml is very sensible. but the ‘typical maximum amount’ for the element in question has not always been halved. Are we taking advantage of the wider working range of modern spectrophotometers? To sum up, there can be few analytical laboratories which can afford not to have this volume ready to hand - it will soon repay its price in the time saved in dealing with those many one-off analyses which can be dealt with by spectrophotometry. Strongly recommended. 1. L. Marr
Plant and Animal Cells. Process Possibilities. Editedby C. Webb, Mavituna. Pp. 307. Ellis Horwood, Chichester. 1987. f35.00,
and F.
This is, effectively, the proceedings of a conference with the same title held in Manchester in March 1986. This fact is unrevealed until the editors’ preface on page 11, presumably at the request of the publishers, who must feel that conference proceedings do not sell, and leads to some absurdities, such as the conference poster session appearing here as ‘Supplementary Contributions’. The reviewer must decide whether to treat the book as a book, in which case it is incomplete, or as a volume of conference proceedings which contains many excellent papers. It begins with two chapters by Fowler and Spier on the future of plant- and animal-cell cultures, followed by a number of more conventional research papers, mostly from the UK, which tend to the biochemical (the word ‘engineering’ does not aDDear in the .. index). The papers cover a wide and coherent range: culture techniques and reactor design for a wide range of possible products, followed by papers describing separation of those products. The book is useful, well-typeset, and describes much interesting work. However, although it can be thoroughly recommended as conference proceedings, it is a less complete work than its title or cover wishes to imply. Peter Fryer Labelled Compounds and Radio-pharmaceuticals Applied in Nuclear Medicine. ByA. T. Baiaban, 1. Galatea~u, G. Georgescu and 1. Simionescu. Pp. 742. &Qey, Chichesfer and Editura Academiei, Bucarest. 1986. f 70.00.
This book is an English revision of the Roumanian edition published in 1979. It covers a wide range of topics and the chapters are grouped in four main parts, each being written by a different author. Part 1 deals with basics including physics, radionuclide production, radiolabelling, quality control. and stable isotope-labelled materials. Part 2 deals with diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals; a chapter on general principles is followed by chapters on agents for particular clinical studies. Part 3 is concerned with in vitro methods of analysis by radioimmune assay and Part 4 deals with their applications to human medicine. The introductory material in Part 1 is well presented and forms a solid foundation for the applications described later. although Western European readers will have their own favourite sources for this. Part 2 is a comprehensive survey of radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic imaging but is somewhat, outdated because of the rapid development of newer imaging agents and technology in the West. There are a few literature references as recent as 1984 in this part, but the majority refer to much older work. Recent advances in technetium agents for cardiac,
Flow-Injection Analysis. Principles and Applications. By M. Valcarceland M. D. Luque de Castro. Pp. 400. Ellis Horwood, Chichester. 1987. f49.50.
This volume consists of 13 chapters, although the first is a wide ranging discussion of automatic methods of analysis, including batch, continuous, segmented, and unsegmented methods. The next four chapters provide a very thorough description of the principles, theory, components, and detectors of flow injection analysis (fia). including an account of the major commercial instruments. Another two chapters describe the elementary modes of fia operation, and a further three cover gradient techniques, kinetic methods, and two-phase fia. Chapter 11 is devoted to the use of fia in clinical chemistry, covering both enzymatic and non-enzymatic methods, and Chapter 12 to applications in environmental analysis. The final chapter is ‘Present and future of fia’, and although there is relatively little speculation about the future the chapter includes useful summaries of the selectivity, sensitivity, rapidity, precision, simplicity, economy, and versatility of fia. Each chapter is extensively referenced up to 1985. The book is very well written and produced and the translators have done an excellent job in producing a highly readable style. The practical experience of the authors shows clearly in every chapter, and the book would be invaluable to all wishing to work in this area. Although fia is a technique in which we may expect to see significant advances over the next five years, there is no doubt that this book is and will remain a major work on the subject. D. J. Muicolme-Lff~es ENDOR, EPR and Electron Spin Echo for Probing Coordination Spheres. (Metal Ions in Biological Systems, Vol. 22). Edited by H. Sigel. Pp. 328. Marcel Dekker, hew York. 1987. $89.75 {USA and Canada); $707.50 (all other countries]
Volume 22 of Metal Ions in Biological Systems deals with the techniques used to study electronic/nuclear transitions in paramagnetic species, complementing the previous volume which focused on nuclear transitions alone (Vol. 21: A~pi~cat~o~ qf Nuclear Magnetic cies). In
Resonance
to Paramagnetic
Spe-
five chapter and 290 pages, including 644 references, a broad range of EPR techniques is covered from the use of line-intensities to provide quantitative information on solution equilibria involving paramagnetic (Cu”) centres. to the analysis of lineshapes and hyperfine coupling to investigate the structures of coordination spheres in metalloproteins and metal-ion complexes. The final chapter is a lucid and timely introduction to
220
the application of electron spin-echo techniques to biological problems. While each chapter summarises a number of studies of metalloproteins including work on blue-copper proteins, haem proteins, and bacteriochlorophyll, this remains a techniques-oriented voiume like volume 21 but in contrast to the previous volumes in the series. In order to assist readers unfamiliar with the techniques, each chapter is provided with a glossary of acronyms from ENDOR to SEEM, and the references show an even coverage from f. Chepn. Phys. to J. Mol. Biol. Overall, the book is well-produced and weliindexed and, while the spectroscopy is advanced, the importance of the results in the study of metalloproteins justifies the book’s inclusion in the series. Separation Determination Marczenko. Chichester.
and Spectrophotom~ric of Elements. ByZygmuot Pp. 678. Ellis Horwood, 1986. E69.50.
This is not in fact a new book, but a welcome revision of a well established and valuable reference text originally published in 1976. A special feature of this compilation is that the recommended methods (given in full detail) have been checked by Marczenko and his colleagues and shown to work weil. Many is the time that I have been grateful for both this concise summary of possible procedures for determining some element or other and the instructions for carrying out the determination. The new edition has rearranged the introductory chapters on Separation procedures. Principles of spectrophotometry, and Spectrophotometrjc reagents. These are all concise and up to date with, for example. a discussion on photometric accuracy of modern instruments (but why retain the diagram of the long obsolete Spekker photometer in Fig. 2.5?), the application of photometry in flow injection analysis and so on. The tidier new versions of the periodic tables showing the applicability of the various reagents are a distinct improvement, and, as before, the thorough indexing of the reagents is much to be commended. The individual chapters have seen substantial revision, particularly of the references. The coverage is very good, but I would have wished for a procedure for perchlorate and one for the Ethylene Blue method for sulphide, much to be preferred to the old Methylene Blue method. The scaling down of the procedures from 50 to 25 ml is very sensible. but the ‘typical maximum amount’ for the element in question has not always been halved. Are we taking advantage of the wider working range of modern spectrophotometers? To sum up, there can be few analytical laboratories which can afford not to have this volume ready to hand - it will soon repay its price in the time saved in dealing with those many one-off analyses which can be dealt with by spectrophotometry. Strongly recommended. 1. L. Marr
Plant and Animal Cells. Process Possibilities. Editedby C. Webb, Mavituna. Pp. 307. Ellis Horwood, Chichester. 1987. f35.00,
and F.
This is, effectively, the proceedings of a conference with the same title held in Manchester in March 1986. This fact is unrevealed until the editors’ preface on page 11, presumably at the request of the publishers, who must feel that conference proceedings do not sell, and leads to some absurdities, such as the conference poster session appearing here as ‘Supplementary Contributions’. The reviewer must decide whether to treat the book as a book, in which case it is incomplete, or as a volume of conference proceedings which contains many excellent papers. It begins with two chapters by Fowler and Spier on the future of plant- and animal-cell cultures, followed by a number of more conventional research papers, mostly from the UK, which tend to the biochemical (the word ‘engineering’ does not aDDear in the .. index). The papers cover a wide and coherent range: culture techniques and reactor design for a wide range of possible products, followed by papers describing separation of those products. The book is useful, well-typeset, and describes much interesting work. However, although it can be thoroughly recommended as conference proceedings, it is a less complete work than its title or cover wishes to imply. Peter Fryer Labelled Compounds and Radio-pharmaceuticals Applied in Nuclear Medicine. ByA. T. Baiaban, 1. Galatea~u, G. Georgescu and 1. Simionescu. Pp. 742. &Qey, Chichesfer and Editura Academiei, Bucarest. 1986. f 70.00.
This book is an English revision of the Roumanian edition published in 1979. It covers a wide range of topics and the chapters are grouped in four main parts, each being written by a different author. Part 1 deals with basics including physics, radionuclide production, radiolabelling, quality control. and stable isotope-labelled materials. Part 2 deals with diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals; a chapter on general principles is followed by chapters on agents for particular clinical studies. Part 3 is concerned with in vitro methods of analysis by radioimmune assay and Part 4 deals with their applications to human medicine. The introductory material in Part 1 is well presented and forms a solid foundation for the applications described later. although Western European readers will have their own favourite sources for this. Part 2 is a comprehensive survey of radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic imaging but is somewhat, outdated because of the rapid development of newer imaging agents and technology in the West. There are a few literature references as recent as 1984 in this part, but the majority refer to much older work. Recent advances in technetium agents for cardiac,