Book reviews

Editing of community data matrices is complementary to analyzing data by multivariate techniques of classification and ordination in the overall task of data analysis. A computer program, DATAEDIT, is described that can perform numerous editing functions, including data transformation, deletion of certain species or samples, deletion of rare species, deletion of outliers, separation of disjunet sample groups, reordering of the species or samples of a data matrix, and the formation of composite samples or of sample subsets. DATAEDIT can use the information in a nonhierarchical or hierarchical classification, and includes its own internal routine for reciprocal averaging ordination.We appreciate valuable suggestions from the late Robert H. Whittaker, and from Philip Dixon, David Hieks, Laura Huenneke, Linda Olsvig-whittaker, and Mark Wilson. Mark O. Hill kindly supplied a fast subroutine for reciprocal averaging.     

Ruminations on twenty-five years of Patricia Hill Collins's Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge,Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment

My review focuses on the impact that Black Feminist Thought has had on my personal and professional life. I weave together lessons I have learned from Patricia Hill Collins with reflections on my own lived experience – from my family of origin to college experiences to my work as the founding director of the Collegium of Black Women Philosophers.     

Book reviews

Cruciferous vegetables have cancer preventive effects which may be due to reduction of oxidative DNA damage. We investigated the effect of an aqueous extract of cooked Brussels sprouts on formation of 7-hydro-8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) in calf thymus DNA in vitro. Damage was induced by a Fenton reaction, UVC (254 nm), UVA (365 nm), sunlamp light, and methylene blue with visible light.

The extract inhibited 8-oxodG formation in all systems except visible light with methylene blue. The IC₅₀ values were 6–20 μg/ml corresponding to the extract of 5–20 g of Brussels sprouts distributed in a volume of 50 L. The protective effect in the Fenton reaction was unaffected by addition of EDTA. After HPLC separation fractions were identified with similar DNA protective effects. Sinigrin, a glucosinolate abundant in Brussels sprouts, co-eluted with the most effective fraction and had DNA protective effects. In comparison with other antioxidants the patterns of effect of the extract in the five damage systems were more similar to that of sodium azide than to those of dimethylsulfoxide and vitamin C.

Constituents of Brussels sprouts can protect DNA by direct scavenging, e.g. hydroxyl radical and other oxidants, without prooxidant effects at concentrations potentially achievable by modest intake of the vegetable.     

Book reviews

Angiogenesis, or the growth of new blood vessels, has, in recent years, become an area of intense scientific research. The primary reason for this has been the realization that angiogenesis plays a key role in many common pathologies, and that its inhibition could have profoound implications in the treatment of these disorders. A substantial number of anti-angiogenic agents have now been identified; however, none has, as of yet, achieved widespread acceptance in the clinic. Many agents have been identified as the result of clearly defined research programs, such as the inhibitors of the vascular endothelial growth factor transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptors, but many other simply by screening. The purpose of this article is to reveiw the wealth of information available on known anti-angiogenic agents and to assess their future potential.     

Book reviews

Hugh Honour, THE IMAGE OF THE BLACK IN WESTERN ART, IV FROM THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION TO WORLD WAR I, Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard University Press, 1989; part i, 379 pp., 196 ill., part ii, 306 pp., 183 ill., £34.95 each volume.

Deborah Willis‐Thomas, AN ILLUSTRATED BIO‐BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BLACK PHOTOGRAPHERS, 1940–1988, New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989, 483 pp., $85.00.

John Hutchinson, THE DYNAMICS OF CULTURAL NATIONALISM: THE GAELIC REVIVAL AND THE CREATION OF THE IRISH NATION STATE, London: Allen and Unwin, 1987, viii + 343 pp., £38.00.

Arthur Aughey, UNDER SIEGE: ULSTER UNIONISM AND THE ANGLO‐IRISH AGREEMENT, London: Hurst & Co, 1989, xv + 214 pp., £18.50.

Richard Jenkins (ed.), NORTHERN IRELAND: STUDIES IN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE, London: Avebury, 1989, xii + 197 pp., £23.50.

J. I. Little, NATIONALISM, CAPITALISM, AND COLONIZATION IN NINETEENTH‐CENTURY QUEBEC: THE UPPER ST. FRANCIS DISTRICT, Kingston, Montreal, London: McGill‐Queen's University Press, 1989, 336 pp., £31.45.

Basdeo Mangru, BENEVOLENT NEUTRALITY: INDIAN GOVERNMENT POLICY AND LABOUR MIGRATION TO BRITISH GUIANA 1854–1884, London: Hansib, 1987, 267 pp., £12.95.

Carole Marks, FAREWELL ‐ WE'RE GOOD AND GONE: THE GREAT BLACK MIGRATION, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989, x + 209 pp., $37.50 and $12.95 (paper).

James R. Grossman, LAND OF HOPE: CHICAGO, BLACK SOUTHERNERS, AND THE GREAT MIGRATION, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989, 384 pp., £23.95.

Robert M. Jiobu, ETHNICITY AND ASSIMILATION: BLACKS, CHINESE, FILIPINOS, JAPANESE, KOREANS, MEXICANS, VIETNAMESE AND WHITES, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988, np.

John M. MacKenzie (ed.), IMPERIALISM AND POPULAR CULTURE, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989, 264 pp., (illus.), £10.95 (paper).

Anne Phillips, THE ENIGMA OF COLONIALISM: BRITISH POLICY IN WEST AFRICA, James Currey and Indiana University Press, vii + 184 pp., £25.00 and £8.95 (paper).

John Darwin, BRITAIN AND DECOLONISATION: THE RETREAT FROM EMPIRE IN THE POST‐WAR WORLD, London: Macmillan, 1988, xiii + 383 pp., £33.00, and £9.95 (paper).

Tony Kushner and Kenneth Lunn (eds), TRADITIONS OF INTOLERANCE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON FASCISM AND RACE DISCOURSE IN BRITAIN, Manchester University Press, 1989, 245 pp., £29.95.     

Book reviews

The action of peroxynitrite in vivo has been proposed to account for the involvement of nitrotyrosine in the pathogenesis of many diseases. However, it has been demonstrated that nitrite under acidic conditions, similar to those in the human stomach, also has the ability to nitrate tyrosine. Dietary nitrate is also implicated in the progression of gastritis and gastric cancer and elevated levels of nitrate are found in many disease states in which nitrotyrosine may play a role. Thus, we investigated whether the dietary nitrate intake might contribute towards the plasma protein-bound levels of nitrotyrosine.

Seven healthy, non-smokers participated in a two-day study consisting of a nitrate-low control day followed by a day during which three nitrate-rich meals were consumed. Maximal urinary excretion was attained 4–6 hours after consumption of a meal and the maximum was proportional to the dose. Plasma nitrate was elevated nine-fold, 1 hour after consumption of a meal containing 128.3 mg nitrate. Plasma nitrated protein levels did not appear to alter significantly from basal 1 hour after supplementation with a nitrate-rich meal. Thus dietary nitrate does not appear to contribute to the levels of plasma nitrated proteins, as determined using a competitive inhibition of binding ELISA assay, but this does not preclude any contribution it may make to the total body burden of nitrotyrosine.     

Book reviews

Sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum L) from four different geographic locations in Sierra Leone were sampled for their mycoflora. Three toxigenic Aspergillus species: A. flavus Link ex Fries, A. ochraceus Wilhelm, and A. tamarii Kita were common to all samples. Penicillium citrinum Thom and two Fusarium sp. were found in samples from two localities. The mycotoxins aflatoxin B₁ and G₁, ochratoxin A and B, and citrinin were positively identified.     

Book reviews

The cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi represent a prime example of a rapid evolutionary radiation via sexual selection. We show that in this group, acoustic communication significantly coincides with visual courtship displays. Specifically, individuals tend to use both multimodal and unimodal displays in successive courtship bouts. Behavioral analyses on six species of Malawian cichlids from two divergent genera revealed that five of the species use displays containing both an auditory and a visual component. Metriaclima zebra “katale” was the notable exception, along with a single individual of Metriaclima lombardoi, which utilized unimodal and multimodal displays with equal frequency. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of behavioral lability in multiple sensory signals at both the intra- and interspecific levels.     

Book reviews

Stephen Cornell, THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE: AMERICAN INDIAN POLITICAL RESURGENCE, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, 278 pp., $29.95.

Jack D. Forbes, BLACK AFRICANS AND NATIVE AMERICANS: COLOR, RACE AND CASTE IN THE EVOLUTION OF RED‐BLACK PEOPLES, Oxford and New York: Basil Blackwell, 1988, 334 pp., £35.00.

Maryon McDonald, ’WE ARE NOT FRENCH!’: LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND IDENTITY IN BRITTANY, London: Routledge, 1989, 384 pp., £40.00.

Ronald Grigor Suny, THE MAKING OF THE GEORGIAN NATION, London: I. B. Taurus and Co. Ltd., 1989, ix‐395 pp., £29.50.

Shlomo Deshen, THE MELLAH SOCIETY: JEWISH COMMUNITY LIFE IN SHERIFIAN MOROCCO, translated and revised from the Hebrew by the author. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989, xii + 152 pp., £23.95 and £9.50 (paper).

Roger Waldinger, Howard Aldrich, Robin Ward and Associates, ETHNIC ENTREPRENEURS: IMMIGRANT BUSINESS IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES, Sage Series on Race and Ethnic Relations, vol. 1., Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1990, 226 pp., £29.25 and £13.95 (paper).

Saul Dubow, RACIAL SEGREGATION AND THE ORIGINS OF APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1919–36, St Antony's and Macmillan, London, 1989, xi and 250 pp., £35.00.

Mark Duffield, BLACK RADICALISM AND THE POLITICS OF DE‐INDUSTRIALISATION: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF INDIAN FOUNDRY WORKERS, Avebury, 1988, 226 pp., £24.50.

John Eade, THE POLITICS OF COMMUNITY: THE BANGLADESHI COMMUNITY IN EAST LONDON, Avebury, 1989, 213 pp., £24.00.

Nicole Hahn Rafter (ed.), WHITE TRASH: THE EUGENICS FAMILY STUDIES 1877–1919, Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1988, 382 pp., £36.00.

Neil R. McMillen, DARK JOURNEY ‐ BLACK MISSISSIPPIANS IN THE AGE OF JIM CROW, Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Press, 1989, N.P.L.     

Book reviews

Eukaryotic cells contain hundreds of different lipid species that are not uniformly distributed among their membranes. For example, sphingolipids and sterols form gradients along the secretory pathway with the highest levels in the plasma membrane and the lowest in the endoplasmic reticulum. Moreover, lipids in late secretory organelles display asymmetric transbilayer arrangements with the aminophospholipids concentrated in the cytoplasmic leaflet. This lipid heterogeneity can be viewed as a manifestation of the fact that cells exploit the structural diversity of lipids in organizing intracellular membrane transport. Lipid immiscibility and the generation of phase-separated lipid domains provide a molecular basis for sorting membrane proteins into specific vesicular pathways. At the same time, energy-driven aminophospholipid transporters participate in membrane deformation during vesicle biogenesis. This review will focus on how selective membrane transport relies on a dynamic interplay between membrane lipids and proteins.     

Book reviews

The numbers of perch Perca fluviatilis in the Cikola backwater system of the river Danube were estimated by mark-recapture techniques using multiple fishings. Fish were caught by fyke nets and electrical fishing. The latter method was unselective for sex and the catch data could be used to correct the sex bias in the fyke net catches. A population estimate in April of 6059 ind ha^–1 (95% C.L. 5135–7386) for perch > 5 cm was obtained for a 0.6 ha area of backwater and 1665 ind ha^–1 (95% C.L. 1204–2692) in May for a 0.4 ha area of a small bay.     

Book reviews

A new medium is described for the growth of the freshwater diatom Melosira italica subsp. subarctica which allows prolonged exponential growth in batch culture. The medium was optimized for cell yield and observations are reported on varying the pH, shaking rate and trace-metal concentrations in the medium. The medium contained no vitamins. Preliminary results suggest that the silica usage was 0·163 mg Si mm^-3 filament volume, the molar ratio of Si:P uptake varied between 46:1 during exponential growth and 30:1 during silica limitation; the molar N:P ratio of the cells averaged 5·6:1.     

Book reviews

A total of 59 taxa of epibionts and endobionts occurred on experimentally deployed gastropod shells within one year of emplacement at depths ranging from 15 m to 260 m in the Bahamas. Most of the diversity occurred within 73 m of water depth. The experimental shells at the deepest sites (210 m, 260 m) were essentially pristine. Differences in experimental treatment affected the results: shells in bags contained more bionts than tethered shells, suggesting the bags had more protective areas for biont settlement. Soft‐bodied encrusters were restricted to the upper 73 m while foraminiferans and bryozoans exhibited bathymetric trends to the deepest sites. While boring algae and cyanobacteria were ubiquitous on the shells to 73 m, other bioeroders (e.g., clionid sponges) were rare. Bioaccumulation, rather than bioerosion, is the predominant process affecting mollusc shells during the first year of taphonomic exposure in carbonate systems to depths of 260 m.     

Book reviews

Bacteria and the Enhancement of Oil Recovery. V. Moses and D. G. Springham. Applied Science Publishers, Ltd., London, New Jersey, 1982. With 1 figure and 1 table, xi + 178 p. Hardcover. $32.00

Phanerozoic Stromatolites. Case Histories C. Monty (Editor). Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1981. 249 pp., $52.60.

Symbiosis in Cell Evolution. Life and Its Environment on the Early Earth. Lynn Margulis. W.H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, 1981. 419 pp. $24.50 hardcover, $14.95 paperback.

The Flavobacterium‐Cytophaga group. Edited by H. Reichen‐bach and O.B. Weeks. GBF Monograph Series, No. 5. Verlag Chemie International, Deerfield Beach, Weinheim, Basel, 1981. xiii, 217 pages with 38 figures and 75 tables. Paperback. $55.00.     

Book reviews

The variance test, originally proposed for testing species associations, is used to test whether species richness is more or less variable than expected under the null model of no species interactions. Species richness is more variable than expected in some fields, and less variable than expected in other fields at the Cedar Creek Natural History Area in Minnesota. High variance in species richness may be caused by variability in competitive exclusion rates or small-scale environmental heterogeneity. Low variance in species richess may occur if the community is saturated with species, or if species-rich areas have high local competitive exclusion rates. Results of the variance test depend somewhat on quadrat size, and can be used to select study sites and quadrat sizes for further research on the nature of variation in species richness.     

Book reviews

Wetlands have been widely applied for water quality amelioration. Enzymatic analysis was applied in a study of decomposition in constructed wetlands. We hypothesise that soil enzyme activities would be lower in wetland sediment than adjacent upland and that the lower soil enzyme activities are partly responsible for the water quality amelioration. Four soil enzyme activities (β-glucosidase, β-N-acetylglucosaminidase, phosphatase, and arylsulfatase) and microbial activity (electron transport system activity) were measured across a transect from a upland soil to a wetland sediment in two constructed wetland sites in the USA. Along with the activities, hydrochemistry was determined in inflow and outflow of the wetlands. In both wetlands, the enzyme activities in the sediments were significantly lower than the adjacent upland soils. For hydrochemistry, significant decreases were observed in phosphate and nitrate concentrations in outflow water compared to inflow water. However, there were no significant changes in other anions (F^-, Cl^-, SO ₄ ^2- . For dissolved organic carbon, it seems that the wetlands would be a source rather than a sink. The results suggest that the enzymatic approach represents a valuable method to assess decomposition processes in wetland sediments, and that characteristically low enzyme activities in the sediments may be important in the water quality amelioration function. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Book reviews

ATP sensitive potassium (K-ATP) channels are widely expressed in many cell types including neurons. K-ATP channels are heteromeric membrane proteins that consist of two very different subunits: the pore-forming, two-transmembrane spanning potassium channel subunit (Kir6) and the regulatory, 17 transmembrane spanning sulphonylurea receptor (SUR). This ensemble―joined together in a 4:4 stoichiometry―endows this channel with a unique combination of functional properties. The open probability of K-ATP channels directly depends on the intracellular ATP/ADP levels allowing the channels to directly couple the metabolic state of a cell to its electrical activity. Here, recent progress on the molecular composition and functional diversity of neuronal K-ATP channels is reviewed. One is particular concerned with single-cell mRNA expression studies that give insight to the coexpression patterns of Kir6 and SUR isoforms in identified neurons. In addition, the physiological roles of neuronal K-ATP channels in glucose sensing and adapting neuronal activity to metabolic demands are discussed, as well as their emerging pathophysiological functions in acute brain ischemia and chronic neurodegenerative diseases.     

Book reviews

Summary

Work fulfilling actions and research specified in the Biodiversity Action Plan for SaxÍfraga hirculus is described. Two recovery sites have been set up in suitable mires situated within 3 km of lost sites.

Seeds from two of the three remaining N. Scottish sites germinated readily, and plants were successfully propagated in a garden. Transplanting to the first recovery site began in 1996 and to the second in 2000. Transplants survived well and increased in size, with some flowering. Direct sowing of seeds to the recovery sites was less successful, with poor survival and very slow growth of seedlings. Competition from resident mire plants is thought to control the performance of the transplants, growth being most checked in hummocks of Sphagnum warnstorfii. Ideally transplants should have c. 100 cm² basal area.     

Book reviews

DYNAMICS OF DINOSAURS AND OTHER EXTINCT GIANTS by R. McNeill Alexander. 1989. Columbia University Press, New York, 167 pp.

DER EOZÄNE MESSELSEE (EOCENE LAKE MESSEL), edited by Jens Lorenz Franzen and Walter Michaelis. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 107, 452 p., Frankfurt am Main 1988. ISBN 3–924500–44–4.