Camp. Biockem. Pkysiol. Vol. 81A, No. 4, pp.l945-950, 1985 Printed in Great Britain

$3.00+0.00 Pergamon Press Ltd

The visual display of quantitative information-by E. R. TUFTE. 197~~. 1983. Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT. $34, &25.

As readers of this journal are aware, graphical represen- tation of data is a very important method of presenting results clearly and quickly. One graph may be better than a thousand words. Though tables may have greater accuracy, very few readers will go carefully through a table, but most people who actually look at the pages of a journal will look at a graph. especially if it is eye-catching and informative.

This book tells you how to make your graphs accurate, informative and eye-catching. It is an interesting and enter- taining volume that presents its information in a painless manner. It should be read by all scientists and could do much to improve the quality of scientific papers and research theses.

Purine metabolism in man-IV. Advances in experimental medicine and biology, Volumes 165 A/B-edited by C. H. M. M. DE BRUYN, H. A. SIMMONDS and M. M. MULLER. 165A Clinical and therapeutic aspects; regulatory mecha- nisms. 555~~. 1984. Plenum Press, New York. $75. 165B Biochemical, immunological and cancer research. 520~~. 1984. Plenum Press, New York. $69.50.

These volumes are the proceedings of the fourth symposium held on purine metabolism in man, and the two volumes contain two hundred contributions.

Previous meetings have discussed hyperuricaemia, clinical gout and urolithiasis. The new information on these topics is discussed here, together with newer topics such as the purine metabolism of lymphocytes and their role in immunomodu- lation and leukaemia chemotherapy. There are differences in the pathways of ATP metabolism in normal cardiac and skeletal muscles, and these may help the understanding of some pathological conditions of these tissues.

Purines are now considered to play a role as modulators of neural and muscular activity, and may also be involved in trophic activity as well as modifying transmission of exci- tation. Parasites such as Leishmania. Trichomonas and Plas- modium may have differences in the purine pathways to those present in Man and this offers a strategy for develop- ing new chemotherapies. The increase in knowledge of the genes controlling purine metabolism allows the development of the use of recombinant DNA techniques.

The two volumes provide a good picture of the present state of our knowledge concerning purine metabolism in health and disease and will enable the reader to keep up-to- date with this rapidly developing subject.

The healing and scarring of atheroma--edited by M. WOL- MAN. 156~~. 1984. Plenum Press, New York. $32.50. Advances in experimental medicine and biology, Vol. 168.

The proliferation of the smooth muscle in atherosclerosis is considered to be a variant of basic pathological mechanisms and does not require the involvement of a somatotropin, mitogen or mutagen. In many cases dilation should over- come the effect of the atheroma.

Atheroma could also be due to an imbalance between the amounts of lipids absorbed, synthesized or secreted by the intima. Some of these lipids could be taken up by macro- phages and stimulation of the macrophages by BCG and other RES activitators might affect the atheroma. The timing of the injection of BCG was important. If injected before giving an atherogenic diet, the atheroma was reduced. However if they were given during the feeding of an athero- genie diet, then the atheroma was increased.

There is some indication that the presence of oestrogens

BOOK REVIEWS

and progesterone can reduce the incidence of atheroma by activating a lipid storage system and so preventing active scar formation.

Model systems in pigs have shown that atheroma can undergo regression associated with the involvement of hyd- rolytic enzymes.

In monkeys the atheroma induced by high cholesterol feeding levels can often be reduced if the plasma cholesterol level is lowered to less than 200mg/100ml of blood for a considerable time. This is considered in relation to the control of atheroma in man.

These topics are discussed in detail in this book, which provides the experimental data to support the data and indicate future lines of investigation.

Oxygen transport to tissue-V. Advances in experimental medicine and biology, Vol. 169-edited by D. W. LUBBERS, H. ACKER, E. LENINGER-FOLLERT and T. K. GOLDSTICK. 942~~. 1984. Plenum Press, New York. $125.

This is the published proceedings of the Fifth meeting of the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissues.

The first 100 pages are taken up with the invited lectures on the topics of: Facilitated diffusion of oxygen; Muscle oxygen gradients from Hb to cytochrome; Metabolic rate and microcirculation; Tissue oxygen supply under normal and pathological conditions: Relationship between steady redox state and brain activation induced NAD/NADH redox responses.

The rest of the volume contains papers grouped under the headings: Theoretical aspects; Blood and oxygen transport; Brain; Heart; Muscle; Abdominal organs; Tumor; Other organs; Oxygen chemoreceptors; Microcirculation; Practical aspects; Instrumentation and methods (reflectance spectro- scopy, oxygen electrodes: fluorescence photometric indi- cators).

The volume provides a very good picture of the present

state of research in the measurement and evaluation of oxygen supply to the different tissues of the body under normal and pathological conditions.

The editor in the preface states that few people ever read the preface to a book and those that do read the preface realize that nothing of any substance is said. However, it would certainly help the general reader to have a preface or introduction in which the main highlights of the meeting are picked out so that the reader can see what is new and important. This though difficult to do, would make the volume of more use to the non-specialist. Possibly it can be done in the next meeting.

Contractile mechanisms in muscle. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, Vol. 170-edited by G. H. POLLACK and H. Suer. 921~~. 1984. Plenum Press, New York. $125.

This is the published proceedings of the second international symposium on cross bridge mechanisms in muscle contrac- tion.

The papers are grouped into the sections: Structure of the myofilaments; Do thick filaments shorten?; X-ray diffraction approaches to structural dynamics; Structural basis of forces in resting muscle; The composition of the intracellular milieu; Do cross bridges rotate during contraction?; Length -tension relations; Activation of the myofilaments: Tension transients and stiffness; Influence of myofilament lattice dimensions on contractile function; Contraction dynamics; Cardiac muscle mechanics; Energetics.

This meeting produced clear evidence that the physiologi-

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946 Book reviews

cal shortening of Limulus muscle takes place without any significant shortening of the A-filaments.

The flight muscles of insects show stepwise shortening which is synchronized throughout the whole of the muscle. It is possible that similar synchronized stepwise shortening occurs during other muscle fibre contraction.

There had been some doubt whether the linear fall of isometric tension with decreasing overlap demonstrated the action of independent tension generators adding up in parallel in the region where actin filaments overlapped myosin cross bridges. The evidence presented at this meeting indicated that the cross bridges in the overlap region are all involved equivalently in the production of tension. There is also the possibility that the myosin head consists of several domains, one of which is always attached to the actin and in rigor configuration, whilst the other domains can adopt various configurations during the working stroke.

The volume presents in detail the arguments in favour of these and many other ideas about the contractile mecha- nisms of muscle.

Glucocorticoid effects and their biological consequences. Ad- vances in experimental medicine and biology, Vol. 17lL edited by L. V. AVIOLI, C. GENNARI and B. IMBIMBO. 419~~. 1984. Plenum Press, New York. $57.50.

The anti-inflammatory action of hydrocortisone (half life S-12 hr) is associated with the undesirable side effect of sodium retention. This is reduced in the synthetic glucocorti- coid analogues such as prednisone, prednisolone, methyl- prednisone (half lives 12-36 hr): dexamethasone, betametha- sane and paramethosone (half lives 3672 hr).

Though the sodium retention is reduced, these drugs have metabolic, gastro-intestinal, cardiovascular, ocular, cuta- neous, musculo-skeletal, endocrine and CNS undesirable side effects. The major side effect of prolonged treatment is reduction in bone mass (osteopenia) which can lead to bone fractures. The new drug Deflazacort, a derivative of predni- solone, appears to bring about minimal alterations in cal- cium absorption and bone metabolism, when compared in equipotent dosages with prednisone or betamethasone.

The present volume provides an up-to-date account and discussion of the major effects of the glucocorticoids on the different tissues of the body and evaluates their side effects and role in the treatment of disease.

A biologist’s basic mathematics by DAVID R. CAUSTON. 216~~. 1983. Edward Arnold, London. E7.50 paperback.

This is a modified second edition, though the author has changed the text to allow for the later production of a second volume A Biologist’s Advanced Malhematics.

The present volume deals with numbers, indices, logs, linear functions, polynomials, power functions, rectangular hyperbolae, differentiation, first and second derivatives, growth curves, integration, area under curves, differential equations, arithmetic series, geometric series, binomial ser- ies, exponentials, allometry, matrices and vectors. Worked examples are provided, together with a series of problems on each section. The answers are provided at the back of the book.

The volume will be useful for those whose basic maths is neglected or rusty, or who wish to start learning the subject from new.

The physical chemistry of biological organization- by A. R. Peacocke. 302~~. 1983. Oxford University Press, Oxford. $65.

Most biologists, though impressed with the complexities of living systems, tend to get on with their own research and assume that the general analysis of the organization of biological systems will take place in due course.

The present volume provides an excellent readable ac- count of the extent to which it is now possible to understand

the organization of biochemical and biophysical processes in cells and organisms, in terms of their thermodynamics, network communication systems, self-organization, origin and evolution. New concepts are discussed such as that of dissipative structures and order through fluctuations, and selection and quality factor in the assembly of macromole- cules.

This book is an introduction to the subject with a good bibliography to allow the reader to pursue the subject still deeper. Biologists, biochemists, physiologists and pharma- cologists will benefit from reading this thought-provoking volume.

Electrophoresis 83%edited by H. HIRAI. 787~~. 1984. W. de Gruyter, Berlin. DM 280.

This volume contains the papers from the Third Internation- al Electrophoresis Society meeting held in Tokyo.

Electrophoretic techniques allow the separation of the many charged substances in the living system. so that present-day techniques allow the separation of 1000 proteins and enable a protein index to be made of that species. It is possible that new developments will allow up to 10,000 proteins to be separated and identified. There are difficulties in getting high resolution separations. Increasing the length of the SDS-PAGE gel does not produce the expected increase in resolution due to diffusion of materials. With iso- electric focussing, there can be an increase of 1.8 times the resolution by increasing the voltage four times (from 125 V! cm to 500 V/cm). The running time can also be reduced from 52 min at 150 V to 29 min at 500 V. With the increased voltage it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the gel to 125%200pm and also to apply some cooling system to remove the heat and so reduce convection. With a two- dimensional run using iso-electric focussing in the first direction and SDS-PAGE in the second direction, a protein index of up to 2000 bits can be identified.

Another advance that has been made is to develop the electrorophoresis of material within thin glass tubes (i.d. 0.05-X)).2mm, wall thickness 0.1 mm) and have automatic UV measurement of the proteins as they separate under 100@3000 V (75-200 V/cm). A run for 5-10 min can separ- ate up to ten different proteins in the O.Ol~-5 pg sample, and the results are clearly displayed without any need for protein staining. In this, the technique is equivalent to HPLC.

The volume describes the application of electrophoresis to cell mixtures so that RBCs of rabbit, dog and man can be easily separated. The technique is also applied to lympho- cytes, and for the better matching of donor kidneys to a recipient.

All those using the techniques of electrophoresis will find this book stimulating and helpful.

Biomineralization and biological metal accumulation. Biologi- cal and geological perspectives-edited by P. Westbroek and E. W. de Jong. 533~~. 1983. Reidel. Dordrecht and Kluwer Boston, Hingham, MA.

This is the published proceedings of the Fourth Internatlon- al Symposium on Biomineralization.

The GAIA hypothesis that certain properties of the atmosphere are actively maintained by the biota for the biota, helps explain the dynamically stable anomalous atmospheric composition. modulated alkalinities, and tem- peratures at the earth surface over the last 3.5 billion years. The theory has been extended to include the composition of the lower atmosphere, and the surface sediments.

Part 1 of the book discusses global cycling and biominera- lization in terms of the GAIA theory: composition of sea water, carbonate- silicate sedimentary system, calcification and atmospheric carbon dioxide, distribution and geological history of calcium carbonate boring microorganisms. Part II deals with aspects of calcification from the mitochondrion to the mollusc shell. egg shell and enamel on teeth. Part 111 is