books and software
Cookbook on CE
more thorough reviews and recent articles in the general literature. This general brevity problem could have been mitigated by a more extensive index. For example, interesting comments on injection are sprinkled throughout many chapters, but “injection” is not the index. “Chip-CE” is listed in the index, but without reference to coverage of this topic in Chapter 2, Volume 2.
Also, the preface promises analysis of whole chromosomes, but I could not find this specific topic in the books or the index. Although the overview of the books is a strong point, the general brevity and incomplete index are weaknesses.
Reviewed by Roger Giese, Northeastern University
Books & Software Received b c Capillary Electrophoresis ofNucleic Acids,Vols.Iand II Edited by Keith R. Mitchelson and Jing Cheng Humana Press, 2000, 504 pp, $125 (Vol. 1) 2001, 432 pp, $125 (Vol. 2)
T
his two-volume set of books comprises 64 chapters of protocols for the analysis of just about every form and size of nucleic acids that one can imagine (e.g., nucleotides to 1,600,000-mers). Thus it rates near an “A” for its comprehensiveness. The books cover numerous separation conditions (e.g., entangled polymers, pulsed fields, and capillary coatings), several accessory techniques (e.g., sample collection, RNA extraction from paraffin-embedded tissues, and coupling to mass spectrometers), separation-based methods for detecting mutations (e.g., restriction fragment length, constant denaturant, temperature-programmed, single nucleotide extension, and chemical mismatch cleavage), and related general topics (e.g., capillary arrays, phosphorothioate oligonucleotides, DNA adducts, nucleosides in cancer urine, ultrafast DNA separations, short tandem repeats, RNA expression, and competitive PCR). Most chapters provide cookbooklevel details for particular applications, including some practical notes. The other chapters briefly review general topics such as separation mechanisms and strategies as well as CE for DNA sequencing. The brevity of most chapters limits the utility of these books. Because they offer little background information, depth, or critique, they aren’t very instructive for novice readers. Similarly, experts will find them less useful than
b Chem istry and Physics ofCarbon, Vol.27 Edited by Ljubisa R. Radovic Marcel Dekker, 2001, 416 pp, $225
b HPLC ofBiologicalM acrom olecules:Second Edition Edited by Karen M. Gooding and Fred Regnier Marcel Dekker, 2002, 777 pp, $195
This volume covers some interdisciplinary topics relevant to carbon, including the use of carbon materials in gasand liquid-phase environmental applications, NMR spectroscopy, and electrolyte solutions. The removal of organic and inorganic compounds from aqueous solutions is also addressed.
This revised and expanded version updates information on the analysis of proteins, peptides, and polynucleotides and presents specific applications for characterizing and dividing biological macromolecules. The book also covers the chemical and biological properties of biomolecules b Quality and Reliability in Analytical as well as the quantitative and qualiChem istry tative analysis of complex mixtures. Hassan Y. Aboul-Enein, Raluca-Loana c CAChe 5.0 Stefan, and George-Emil Baiulescu CRC Press, 2000, 104 pp, $49.95 CAChe Group, Fujitsu www.CACheSoftware.com This book focuses on obtaining highRequires: Windows NT, ME, 2000 quality data by examining the reliabil- $500–2500, academia; $1250–25,000, ity of the steps involved in the analyti- industrial cal process. The steps covered include sample investigation, methodology, The CAChe 5.0 software uses the instrument selection, data processing, PM5 Hamiltonian method, which is automation, and using proper stanused for calculating heats of formadards and standardization. tion and other properties of molecules at four times the accuracy of b A Century ofSeparation Science previous methods. The software conEdited by Haleem J. Issaq tains the 2002 Molecular Orbital Marcel Dekker, 2002, 755 pp, $225 Package (MOPAC) method for fast geometry optimizations, reaction modeling on molecules of up to This book allows the reader to trace the history of separation science from 20,000 atoms, and quantum chemits inception in 1901 to today. The istry calculations on whole proteins more than 35 experts in their respecand polymers. CAChe 5.0 also imtive fields who contributed to this ports Gaussian files for ready display edition have covered a vast range of and analysis on the desktop, and retechniques, from chromatography to searchers can import and display promicrochip electrophoresis for multiteins in 3-D form from a protein sampling analysis. data bank.
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