journal of
ELSEVIER
Journal of Controlled Release 39 (1996) 105-107
controlled release
Book Reviews
P.C. Painter and M.M. Coleman, Fundamentals of Polymer Science: An Introductory Text, Technomic Publishing Co., Lancaster, 1994, xiii + 433 pages,
$75.00. This textbook is an excellent reference book for those who would like to obtain basic background on the use of polymers in pharmaceutical formulations. It contains a nicely written section on the thermodynamics of polymers and polymer solutions and serviceable sections of polymerization kinetics, and molecular weight distributions. The book is very strong on experimental techniques (especially spectroscopic techniques) for polymer characterization. It will be at the same level of understanding as the older textbooks by Rodriguez and Billmeyer, although it includes many new polymer materials. Recommended. NICHOLAS A. PEPPAS School of Chemical Engineering Purdue University West Lafayette, IN, USA
J.B. Bassingthwaighte, L.S. Liebovitch and B.J. West, Fractal Physiology, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994, xi + 364 pages, $55.00 and D.A. Lauffenburger and J.L. Linderman, Receptors: Models for Binding, Trafficking, and Signaling, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993, x + 365 pages, $69.95.
These two biomedical engineering monographs arrived from Oxford University Press in February 1995. They became a most pleasant reading for me during the last few weeks of the Spring semester and they made me appreciate, once more, how nice it is to read true monographs (rather than the poorly edited, multi-authored, meeting-derived volumes that seem to populate our libraries these days). Controlled release scientists will not find anything specific about their application(s) in these books. However, all biological scientists will appreciate the importance of these two subjects in their work. Let me start by saying how appreciative I am of the detailed editing that Oxford University Press has provided to these books. There are no typographical errors or improper printing in these books. The figures are of the right size, neither too big nor too small, and the references are complete and accurate. All equations are accurately printed, there are no errors in subscripts and there is a detailed listing of symbol notation. How refreshing when the publishers have high standards and show their pride in their work. And all these, at the very low price of $55 to $70! Fractal theory is a subject of significant importance in physics, materials science and related fields. Since its introduction by Benoit Mandelbrot, fractal theory has provided a clearer understanding of phenomena and process. Jim Bassingthwaighte of the University of Washington, a leading biomedical engineer, and his collaborators offer a thorough analysis of the application of fractal theory in physiological systems. What is fractai in physiology? The lung is a fractal structure! A vascular system, with its
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ramifying network of tubes with multiple scale sizes, is a fractal structure! The growth patterns of certain microbial species are fractal structures! Thus, on a structural level, the notion of self-similarity can describe many physiological networks. This, in turn, provides a detailed understanding of the structure, a kinetic presentation of the growth and numerous scaling laws that can be used to quantify physiological phenomena. The analysis is particularly helpful in the nerves and muscles. The authors have succeeded in providing a lucid and detailed description of fractal behavior in physiological systems and have addressed enough problems to make this volume the beginning for additional reading in the field. Doug Lauffenberger, now at MIT, is the premier biological scientist in the chemical engineering field. In the late 70s he started, almost single-handedly, to create the field of cellular bioengineering, and to address questions at the interface between chemical engineering and cell biology. His quantitative approach to this field has led to an explosion of important new modelling work on receptor binding, coupling with membrane-associated molecules, signaling and trafficking. In his first book on Receptors with Jennifer Linderman of the University of Michigan, they limit their attention to cell surface receptors with an extracellular domain for binding ligands, a transmembrane domain and an intracellular or cytoplasmic domain. The book addresses receptor/ligand binding and trafficking processes, signal transduction and receptor-mediated cell behavioral responses. With the strong interest of a large number of readers of this Journal in gene therapy, this is a book that will become a standard reference in the field. Its strengths are, obviously, in quantitative aspects. Yet, it is a monograph that will be appreciated by anyone with a basic cell biology background. Both books should be in the private library of any well-read biomedical/biological scientist. NICHOLAS A. PEPPAS School of Chemical Engineering Purdue University West Lafayette, IN, USA E.D. Goddard and K.P. Ananthapadmanabhan (Eds),
Interactions of Surfactants with Polymers and Proteins, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1993.
Commercial and academic interest in surfactants and their interactions with macromolecules has continued to grow in recent years. The volume Interactions of Surfactants with Polymers and Proteins provides an excellent review of this multi-faceted area and would serve as a worthy addition to the library of any researcher in the area. The primary editor of the volume, E.D. Goddard, is a pioneer in the field of polymer/surfactant interactions, and this volume expands and complements a previous set of reviews he published in 1986 (included as chapter 4 of this volume). The stated motivations for the current expanded review were to broaden the previous compilation to include the considerable research progress in the past five years and to address the area of protein/surfactant interactions. To fulfill these objectives, the editors selected a distinguished collection of contributing authors to provide reviews of each facet of interactions between surfactants and macromolecules. The final result is a comprehensive set of contributions which covers nearly every aspect of polymer/surfactant interactions ranging from the physical chemistry of the individual components in solution to applications of these polymer/surfactant systems. The volume is organized in a manner which builds from the fundamental physical chemistry of the individual components in solution before considering the interactions of macromolecules with surfactants. A chapter is provided to complement and update the recent developments in polymer surfactant interactions since the previous reviews in 1986. To enhance the impact of the work in the biosciences, separate chapters have been devoted to protein solutions and their mixtures with surfactants. The approach of covalently attaching surfactants molecules to polymer chains is described in an excellent chapter on hydrophobe-modified polymers, namely, cationic derivatives of polyvinylpyridine and anionic copolymers of maleic acid and alkyl vinyl ethers. In addition, due to the recent surge in the application of fluorescence techniques to study surfactant systems, a chapter is devoted to this topic. Finally, the growing practical and commercial importance of polymer/surfactant complexes is discussed in the final chapter. The editors of this volume have clearly succeeded in their effort to review the exciting area of polymer/surfactant interactions. This book is an invalu-