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Ultraviolet spectroscopy of proteins
112 autoantibodies. Many of these will be of importance in clinical diagnosis of haemolytic disease, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatism. The final section deals with animal viral diseases including HSV, EBV, cytomegalovirus, adenovirus, rubella, influenza, mumps, measles and FMDV, and the very last chapter deals with HTLV III antibodies. No doubt we shall see a great proliferation of assays in this area in the next few years. Comments about safety precautions are sparse. Presumably those working in viral diagnostic laboratories do not need to be told to be careful. So, the major thrust of this volume (X) is towards diagnosis of human disease, and the book will be extremely useful in the chemical pathology and virology laboratories notwithstanding the bias mentioned above. Volume XI, Antigens and Antibodies 2, deals with the determination of antigens and/or antibodies relating to Chlamydial and bacterial diseases, fungal and parasitic diseases, and plant viruses. The collection of methods is not, says the Preface, intended to be comprehensive, although each is very clearly described, but rather to describe unpublished methods for the determination of the 'most important' analytes. The inclusion of methods for plant viruses is especially valuable in view of the economics of losses due to virus-induced disease in agriculture. There is some redundancy in the descriptions (in both X and XI) and in the diagrams illustrating the overall strategies of the assays, but on the whole this makes life easier for the laboratory worker (and trouble-shooter?) and is to be welcomed. The majority of the assays here again are solid phase - - gone are titrations in animals and haemagglutination tests - - including ELISA, the use of alkaline phosphatase and peroxidase, and the use of monoclonal antibodies where available. Some of the assays will obviously compete with commercially-available kits. Volume XI will be useful for specific assays and as an ideas source book, although many laboratories will still continue to use other established methods not involving enzymes. J Oddy
Methods of Enzymatic Analysis: Drugs and Pesticides: Volume XII by H U B e r g m e y e r , pp 498. V C H Verlagsgesellschaft, P O Box 1260/1280, W e i n h e i m , F D R . 1986. D M 315 The final volume of the Third English Edition of Bergmeyer deals with Drugs Monitored During Therapy, Drugs of Abuse, and Pesticides. The majority of the assays use the enzymemultiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) or a fluorescence assay coupled to the use of antibodies, although there are a few exceptions to this. The book is a recipe book and many of the assays are very similar to one another: however, the details given are ample for those working in the laboratory. The first section deals with the determination of such compounds as caffeine, theophylline, phenobarbital, carbamazepim, digoxin and methotrexate (in fact the methotrexate assay offered is inhibition of DHFR), and a number of antibiotics (ampicillin, gentamycin, etc) these latter being determined by a double antibody EIA. The second section deals with drugs of abuse including amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepine, methadone, morphine, cannabis derivatives, paracetamol, all by immunoassay except that an alternative aryl acylamidase assay is offered for paracetamol. For educators, there should be an abundance of interesting material for medic tutorials here. The first section on pesticides includes a whole group of cholinesterase inhibitors, assayed by this property as well as by EMIT and other interesting compounds such as paraquat, assayed by anti-paraquat monoclonal antibodies. B N Cole
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 16(2) 1988
Teaching Tips: A Guidebook for the Beginning College Teacher 8th Edition by W J McKeachie. pp 353. D C H e a t h , Lexington, Mass. 1986 ISBN 0-669-06752-0 The majority of teachers in tertiary-level educational institutions have little or no formal training in the basics of educational psychology or methodology. This is as true of Biochemistry as of any other scientific discipline. On appointment, they are assigned teaching responsibilities for which their only preparation is their experience or recollection of their own student days. Since university faculty rarely discuss didactic methods or matters relating to their teaching skills with their colleagues, it is useful for them to have, in printed form, advice from someone who, while not a biochemistry teacher, has extensive experience of university teaching and of research on it. Such advice could simplify their task. It would also offer enlightenment as to how, and perspectives from which, they may undertake to improve their classroom, and other, teaching skills. This book provides such advice. With this edition, the author will conclude almost four decades as a successful and respected source of help to university teachers. The book is organized into six parts: Getting Started; Discussion Methods; Basic Skills: Lecturing, Testing and Grading; Teaching Techniques Tools and Methods; Teaching Large Classes; Perspectives on Teaching and The Teaching Environment. Many of the 31 chapters will provide useful insights to beginners and established teachers alike. These include the two chapters on Discussion Methods, and those on Lecturing, Tests and Examinations, Assigning Grades, Teaching Large Classes, Learning and Cognition and Personalizing Education. The author's philosophy, as summarized in the first chapter, can be described in five statements: (1) Education is a cooperative enterprise, (2) Students are adults, (3) Instructors can occasionally be wrong, (4) Not the least of the goals of tertiary-level education is to increase the student's motivation and ability to continue learning, (5) Most student learning occurs outside the classroom. Clearly written and well organized, most of the chapters are concise and do not take long to read. There are thirty pages of references to research reports and a useful appendix which is a questionnaire on Student Perceptions of Teaching and Learning. If you have not yet read a book on teaching, this is a very good beginner. F Vella
Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Proteins by A P D e m c h e n k o . pp 312. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 1986. D M 198 ISBN 3-540-16013-2 This book is an enthusiastically written introduction to the theory and practice of ultraviolet absorption and intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy of proteins. Its stated aim is to give a comprehensive description of basic methods, to discuss new trends and developments, and to analyze applications in the study of protein structure and dynamics. It is a book that whets the appetite and for this alone it can be recommended to research students, particularly those starting in the happy hunting ground, to use Dale's phrase for it (Dale R E (1987) Studia Biophys 121, 5-24), of time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The book has useful references to mainstream Russian and Western literature. A curious omission is Aleksander Jablonski: fluorescence emission anisotropy (p 199) is associated with his name. W H Bannister
Methods of Enzymatic Analysis: Drugs and Pesticides: Volume XII by H U B e r g m e y e r , pp 498. V C H Verlagsgesellschaft, P O Box 1260/1280, W e i n h e i m , F D R . 1986. D M 315 The final volume of the Third English Edition of Bergmeyer deals with Drugs Monitored During Therapy, Drugs of Abuse, and Pesticides. The majority of the assays use the enzymemultiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) or a fluorescence assay coupled to the use of antibodies, although there are a few exceptions to this. The book is a recipe book and many of the assays are very similar to one another: however, the details given are ample for those working in the laboratory. The first section deals with the determination of such compounds as caffeine, theophylline, phenobarbital, carbamazepim, digoxin and methotrexate (in fact the methotrexate assay offered is inhibition of DHFR), and a number of antibiotics (ampicillin, gentamycin, etc) these latter being determined by a double antibody EIA. The second section deals with drugs of abuse including amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepine, methadone, morphine, cannabis derivatives, paracetamol, all by immunoassay except that an alternative aryl acylamidase assay is offered for paracetamol. For educators, there should be an abundance of interesting material for medic tutorials here. The first section on pesticides includes a whole group of cholinesterase inhibitors, assayed by this property as well as by EMIT and other interesting compounds such as paraquat, assayed by anti-paraquat monoclonal antibodies. B N Cole
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 16(2) 1988
Teaching Tips: A Guidebook for the Beginning College Teacher 8th Edition by W J McKeachie. pp 353. D C H e a t h , Lexington, Mass. 1986 ISBN 0-669-06752-0 The majority of teachers in tertiary-level educational institutions have little or no formal training in the basics of educational psychology or methodology. This is as true of Biochemistry as of any other scientific discipline. On appointment, they are assigned teaching responsibilities for which their only preparation is their experience or recollection of their own student days. Since university faculty rarely discuss didactic methods or matters relating to their teaching skills with their colleagues, it is useful for them to have, in printed form, advice from someone who, while not a biochemistry teacher, has extensive experience of university teaching and of research on it. Such advice could simplify their task. It would also offer enlightenment as to how, and perspectives from which, they may undertake to improve their classroom, and other, teaching skills. This book provides such advice. With this edition, the author will conclude almost four decades as a successful and respected source of help to university teachers. The book is organized into six parts: Getting Started; Discussion Methods; Basic Skills: Lecturing, Testing and Grading; Teaching Techniques Tools and Methods; Teaching Large Classes; Perspectives on Teaching and The Teaching Environment. Many of the 31 chapters will provide useful insights to beginners and established teachers alike. These include the two chapters on Discussion Methods, and those on Lecturing, Tests and Examinations, Assigning Grades, Teaching Large Classes, Learning and Cognition and Personalizing Education. The author's philosophy, as summarized in the first chapter, can be described in five statements: (1) Education is a cooperative enterprise, (2) Students are adults, (3) Instructors can occasionally be wrong, (4) Not the least of the goals of tertiary-level education is to increase the student's motivation and ability to continue learning, (5) Most student learning occurs outside the classroom. Clearly written and well organized, most of the chapters are concise and do not take long to read. There are thirty pages of references to research reports and a useful appendix which is a questionnaire on Student Perceptions of Teaching and Learning. If you have not yet read a book on teaching, this is a very good beginner. F Vella
Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Proteins by A P D e m c h e n k o . pp 312. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 1986. D M 198 ISBN 3-540-16013-2 This book is an enthusiastically written introduction to the theory and practice of ultraviolet absorption and intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy of proteins. Its stated aim is to give a comprehensive description of basic methods, to discuss new trends and developments, and to analyze applications in the study of protein structure and dynamics. It is a book that whets the appetite and for this alone it can be recommended to research students, particularly those starting in the happy hunting ground, to use Dale's phrase for it (Dale R E (1987) Studia Biophys 121, 5-24), of time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The book has useful references to mainstream Russian and Western literature. A curious omission is Aleksander Jablonski: fluorescence emission anisotropy (p 199) is associated with his name. W H Bannister