Quantitative Clinical Pathology

Edited by Peter Hamilton and Derek Allen. 1995. Blackwell Science, Oxford. 342 pages. Hardback. ISBN 0-632-03286-3.     

Book Review Section

Jewelry Making by the Lost Wax Process by Greta Pack D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. List Price $5.95

Designer's Trade by Gordon Russell George Allen &; Unwin, Ltd. List Price $7.20

The Graphic Art of Mary Cassatt Smithsonian Institution Press (Distributed by Random House, Inc.) List Price $8.50

Printmaking: A Medium for Basic Design by Peter Weaver Reinhold Book Corporation List Price $8.50

Fundamentals of Layout by F. H. Wills Oak Tree Press, Ltd. List Price $5.95     

Book Review Section

Jewelry Making by the Lost Wax Process by Greta Pack D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. List Price $5.95

Designer's Trade by Gordon Russell George Allen &; Unwin, Ltd. List Price $7.20

The Graphic Art of Mary Cassatt Smithsonian Institution Press (Distributed by Random House, Inc.) List Price $8.50

Printmaking: A Medium for Basic Design by Peter Weaver Reinhold Book Corporation List Price $8.50

Fundamentals of Layout by F. H. Wills Oak Tree Press, Ltd. List Price $5.95     

Reviews of publications

Book reviewed in this article:
Evolution and the Fossil Record, edited by K. C. Allen and D. E. G. Briggs
Mass Extinctions: Processes and Evolution, edited by Stephen K. Donovan
A Functional Biology of Clonal Animals, by Roger N. Hughes. "Functional Biology' Series, edited by Peter Calow
Charles Darwin in Australia, by F. W. and J. M. Nicholas     

Erratum

The paper 'Interference of rheumatoid factor activity by aspartame, a dipeptide methyl ester' by Paul A. Ramsland, Bahereh F. Movafagh, Morris Reichlin and Allen B. Edmundson, J. Mol. Recognit. 1999; 12: 249--257, was published without the required colour plates. The publisher would like to apologise for this omission. The article is reprinted here in full. Please replace the previously published pages with those following. The electronic version of the article, including the colour plates, can be downloaded from the Wiley Interscience website at http://www.interscience.wiley.com. The plates have been included in the original paper, which appeared in Issue 4 of the journal.     

Immunochemical studies on alpha-amylase. 3. Immunochemical relationships among amylases from various microorganisms

Sirishinha, Stitaya (University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, N.Y.), and Peter Z. Allen. Immunochemical studies on alpha-amylase. III. Immunochemical relationships among amylases from various microorganisms. J. Bacteriol. 90:1120-1128. 1965.-Immunochemical relationships among amylases obtained from a selected group of microorganisms were examined, and a cross-reaction was detected between the alpha-amylases of Bacillus stearothermophilus and B. subtilis. Immunodiffusion and quantitative precipitin studies, as well as cross-neutralization tests, indicate that B. stearothermophilus alpha-amylase reacts with a portion of antibody present in antisera to crystalline B. subtilis alpha-amylase. Amylases from these two species thus have some aspects of structure in common. Limited data obtained by immunodiffusion suggest that groupings which confer cross-reactivity to the B. stearothermophilus enzyme are lost after exposure to mercaptoethanol in the presence of ethylenediamine-tetraacetate, followed by treatment with iodoacetamide. With the antisera employed and within the concentration range examined, no immunochemical cross-reaction was observed among amylases from Aspergillus oryzae, B. subtilis, B. polymyxa, B. macerans, Pseudomonas saccharophila, and Euglena sanguinis. Immunoelectrophoresis of partially purified B. stearothermophilus alpha-amylase by use of antiserum to the crude enzyme, together with localization of amylase activity in immunoelectrophoretic plates, suggests that B. stearothermophilus alpha-amylase is antigenic in the rabbit.     

Reviews of publications

Sea Life of Britain and Ireland edited by Elizabeth Wood
Systematik in der Biologie , by Peter Ax
WILSON, E. O., 1989. The coming pluralization of biology and the stewardship of systematics
Microbial Ecosystems of Antarctica , by Warwick F. Vincent
Analytical Biogeography , edited by A. A. Myers and P. S. Giller
W eijermars , R., 1986. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors
Birds and Berries , by Barbara and David Snow     

Earth before life

Background

A recent study argued, based on data on functional genome size of major phyla, that there is evidence life may have originated significantly prior to the formation of the Earth.

Results

Here a more refined regression analysis is performed in which 1) measurement error is systematically taken into account, and 2) interval estimates (e.g., confidence or prediction intervals) are produced. It is shown that such models for which the interval estimate for the time origin of the genome includes the age of the Earth are consistent with observed data.

Conclusions

The appearance of life after the formation of the Earth is consistent with the data set under examination.

Reviewers

This article was reviewed by Yuri Wolf, Peter Gogarten, and Christoph Adami.     

SHORT REVIEWS AND NOTICES

A CONCISE GUIDE TO THE FLOWERS OF BRITAIN and Europe. Oleg Polunin. xix + 107 pp., 192 plates of colour photographs. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York. 1987.
FLOWERS OF GREECE AND THE BALKANS, A field guide. Oleg Polunin. xv + 592 pp., 82 plates of colour photographs, several pages of line drawings. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York. 1987.
the englishman's flora. Geoffrey Grigson. 478 pp., 44 black and white woodcuts. Phoenix House, London. 1987.
bee orchids. Stephen Blackmore. ISBN 0 85263 745 4.
buttercups. Stephen Blackmore. ISBN 0 85263 763 2.
willows of the British isles. Theresa Brendall. ISBN 0 85263 765 9.
All 24 pp., illustrated in colour and black and white. Shire Publications Ltd., Princes Risborough. 1985.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: People Without Government. An Anthropology of Anarchism. By Harold Barclay The Anarchists of Casas Viejas. By Jerome R. Mintz Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences. Essays on Language, Action and Interpretation. By Paul Ricoeur. Edited, translated and introduced by John B. Thompson The Anthropological Circle. Symbol, Function, History. By Marc Auge Sciences and Cultures. Anthropological and Historical Studies of the Sciences. Edited by Everett Mendelsohn and Yehuda Elkana Australian Sociologies. By Diane J. Austin. George Allen & Unwin Social Inequality in Australian Society. By John S. Western Which Way Is Up? Essays on Class, Sex and Culture. By R. W. Connell. George Allen and Unwin The Australian Journal of Historical Archaeology, Volume 1, January 1983. Edited by Graham E. Connah Pacific Cultural Material in New Zealand Museums. By Roger Neich A Prehistory of Australia, New Guinea and Sahul. By Peter White with James F. Connell The Alligator Rivers: Prehistory and Ecology in Western Arnhem Land. By Carmel Schrire Reward and Punishment in Arnhemland 1962–1963. By Edgar Wells Daughters of the Dreaming. By Diane Bell We Are Bosses Ourselves. The Status and Role of Aboriginal Women Today. Edited by Fay Gale Sorcerers and Healing Spirits. Continuity and Change in an Aboriginal Medical System. By Janice Reid Languages of Kinship in Aboriginal Australia. Edited by Jeffrey Heath, Francesca Merlan and Alan Rumsey Searching for Aboriginal Languages: Memoirs of a Field Worker. By Bob Dixon Vanuatu: Politics, Economics and Ritual in Island Melanesia. Edited by Michael Allen Gifts and Commodities. By C. A. Gregory The Political Economy of the South Pacific. By Michael C. Howard To Find the Baruya Story. A film by Allison and Marek Jablonko and Stephen Olsson. Her Name Came on Arrows. A film by Allison and Marek Jablonko and Stephen Olsson.     

Book reviews

Book Reviewed in this article: Ecology and Management of Gamebirds Edited by Peter J. Hudson and Michael R. W. Rands Ecologic-socioeconomic System Analysis and Simulation: A guide for application of system analysis to the conservation, utilization and development of tropical and subtropical land resources in China E. E. Bruenig, H. Bossel, K-P. Elpel, T. W. Schneider, Wang Zhu-hao and Yu Zuo-yue. Battle for the Earth: Today's key environmental issues Edited by Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Ornamental Grasses. Rogcr Grounds. viii + 232 pp., 20 colour plates, 35 figures.
Meconopsis. James L. S. Cobb. 125 pp., 20 colour plates, 27 text figures
Campanulas. Peter Lewis and Margarct Lynch
The Art of Botanical Illustration. Lys de Bray     

David Alan Walker (1928–2012)

David Alan Walker, Emeritus Professor of Biology, University of Sheffield, UK and Fellow of the Royal Society, died on February 13, 2012. David had a marvelous 60?year career as a scientist, during which he was a researcher, mentor, valued colleague, and a prolific writer in the field of photosynthesis. His career was marked by creative breakthroughs in isolation and analysis of chloroplast metabolism in vitro and simple but valuable technical advances for measurement of photosynthesis in vivo that remain relevant on a global scale to production of crops and biofuels, as well as plant responses to climate change. We include here personal remembrances by the authors (GEE and UH), and by (in alphabetical order): Zoran Cerovic (France), Bob Furbank (Australia), Geoffrey Hind (USA), John Humby (UK), Agu Laisk (Estonia), Peter Lea (UK), Ross Lilley (Australia), Barry Osmond (Australia), Simon Robinson (Australia) and Charles Stirling (UK).     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology. Number VIII. Active Transport and Secretion
The Natural History of Mammals. By FRANgois Bourliere
Radiobiology Symposium 1954. Edited by Z. M. Bacq and Peter Alexander
The Chemistry of Micro-organisms. By A. Bracken
Mechanisms of Microbial Pathogenicity. The Fifth Symposium of the Society for General Microbiology. Edited by J. W. H owie and A. J. O'H ea
Perspectives and Horizons in Microbiology. By S elman A. W aksman
An Introduction to the Biology of Yeasts. By M. I ngram
Practical Plant Protection. By E. Holmes. Pp. xii + 2 52 , with 4 plates     

The cryptomonad nucleomorph

The cryptomonad nucleomorph is a vestigial nucleus of a eukaryotic red alga engulfed by a phagotrophic protist and retained as a photosynthetic endosymbiont. This review recounts the initial discovery and subsequent characterisation of the cryptomonad nucleomorph focusing on the key role of Peter Sitte and his protégés in our understanding of secondary endosymbiosis to create complex plastids, one of the major transition events in the evolution of life on Earth.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
HARDY GERANIUMS. Peter F. Yeo. Pp. 192, numerous line illustrations, 44 colour plates. Croom Helm
ORCHID GENERA IN THAILAND, XII. Dendrobium Sw. Gunnar Seidenfaden     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
PRACTICAL WOODY PLANT PROPAGATION FOR nursery growers. Bruce Macdonald. 669 pp., 496 text plates as well as text diagrams. B.T. Batsford Ltd., London. 1986.
DICTIONARY OF PLANT NAMES. Allen J. Coombes. 207 pp. Collingridge Books, Felt-ham. 1985.
the lilies of china. Stephen G. Haw. 152 pp., 20 line illustrations, 1 map, 1 table showing distribution, 9 colour plates. B.T. Batsford Ltd., London. 1986.
notes on economic botany of china. Facsimile Reprint. Augustine Henry. Introduction by E.C. Nelson, xv + 68 pp. Boethius Press, Kilkenny. 1986.     

SHORT REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
A Synoptic Guide to the Genus Primula. G.K. Fenderson, 21 1 pp., text figures. Allen Press, Kansas
Lilies. Victoria Matthews. 124pp., numerous colour plates and a few text figures. Collingridge
Avant-gardening - a guide to one-upmanship in the garden. Alan Titchmarsh. 127 pp., line drawings and monochrome photographs     

How Old is Earth,and How Do We Know?

Earth scientists have devised many complementary and consistent techniques to estimate the ages of geologic events. Annually deposited layers of sediments or ice document hundreds of thousands of years of continuous Earth history. Gradual rates of mountain building, erosion of mountains, and the motions of tectonic plates imply hundreds of millions of years of change. Radiometric dating, which relies on the predictable decay of radioactive isotopes of carbon, uranium, potassium, and other elements, provides accurate age estimates for events back to the formation of Earth more than 4.5 billion years ago. These and other dating techniques are mutually consistent and underscore the reality of “deep time” in Earth history.     

The genus Coprotus (Pezizales) in Norway

The following seven species of Coprotus from Norway are reported: C. disculus Kimbrough, Luck–Allen & Cain, C. granuliformis (Crouan) Kimbrough, C. lacteus (Cooke & Phillips) Kimbrough, Luck–Allen & Cain, of which Humana zamurensis Pat. & Gaill. is shown to be a taxonomic synonym, C. leucopocillum Kimbrough, Luck–Allen & Cain, C. luteus Kimbrough, Luck–Allen & Cain, C. ochraceus (Crouan) J. Moravec and C. sexdecimsporus (Crouan) Kimbrough & Korf. A key, comments on distribution and substrate preference are provided for the species treated.