Book reviews

Bo Yibo, Ruogan Zhongda Juece yu Shijian de Huigu (Reminiscences on Several Important Decisions and Events), Volume Two. Zhonggong Zhongyang Dangxiao Chubanshe, 1993. 567–1298 pp.

Li Honglin, Mingyun ‐ Li Honglin zizhuan (Fate ‐ the autobiography of Li Honglin) Taibei: Wentong tushu, 1993.

Jing Sheng, Yi Feng and Xin Ping, Haiwai Huaren Shiuejia Fajia Mijue (The Success Secrects of the Overseas Chinese Businessman) Shenyang: Liaoning People's Publishing House, 1992, 266 pages.

Li Bulou, ed. Chongji yu sikao: Xifang sichao zai Zhongguo (Impact and Reflections: Western Ideologies in China). Wuhan: Hubei renmin chubanshe, 1991. 290 + 16 pp.

Jia Pingwa, Feidu [Ruined Capital]. Beijing, Beijing chuban she. 1993, p.518.     

Book reviews

Chen Kuide, ed., Zhongguo dalu dangdai wenhua bianqian (197801989) (Cultural change in Contemporary Mainland China, 1978–1989) Taibei: Guiguan, 1991. 278 + iv pp.

Yizi Chen. China: the Ten Years Reform and Democratic Movement in 1989. Pp. ix, 209, Taipei, Taiwan, Lianjing Press, 1990.

Wu Xiaomei et al., Zhongguo xiandai zuojia yu dongxifang wenhua [Modern Chinese Writers and Eastern and Western Cultures]. Lanzhou: Lanzhou daxue chubanshe, 1990. 272 pp. 2.12 Yuan.

Zhao Xueyong, Shen Congwen yu dongxifang wenhua [Shen Congwen and Eastern and Western Cultures]. Lanzhou daxue chubanshe, 1990. 226 pp. 1.75 yuan.

Zhongguo Waijiaoguan Huiylilu: Xin Zhongguo Waijiao Fengyun (Memoirs by China's Diplomats: Diplomatic Winds of New China). Edited by Waijiaobu Waijiaoshi Bianjishi (Editorial Office of Diplomatic History of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Beijing: Shijie Zhishi chubanshe, 1990. 196 pp. 3.20 yuan

Zhao Wei, Zhao Ziyang zhuan (Biography of Zhao Ziyang)

Ruan Ming: Lishi Zhuanzedian Shangde Hu Yaobang (Hu Yaobang At the Turning Point of History), New Jersey: Global Cultural Publishing House, 1991     

Book reviews

Tibor Szamuely, The Russian Tradition. (Edited and with an Introduction by Robert Conquest.) London: Secker & Warburg, 1974. x+443 pp. £5.00.

Mahmoud Abdel‐Fadil, La Planification des prix en économie socialiste, Essai méthodologique. (Préface de Henri Bartoli.) Série: Sciences Economiques —3. Paris: Publications de l'Université de Paris I—Panthéon‐Sorbonne, 1975. 296 pp.

Jan Adam, Wage, Price and Taxation Policy in Czechoslovakia 1948–1970. Veröffentlichungen des Osteuropa‐Institutes, München. Reihe: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, Heft 15. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1974. 231 pp. DM 66.60.

Stephen Osofsky, Soviet Agricultural Policy. Toward the Abolition of Collective Farms. (Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development.) New York: Praeger, 1974. xi+300 pp. $20.00.

Peter J. Potichnyj, Soviet Agricultural Trade Unions, 1917–70. Toronto: University of Toronto Press and London: OUP, 1972. xix+258 pp. £6.25.

Roy A. Medvedev, On Socialist Democracy. (Translated from the Russian and edited by Ellen de Kadt.) London: Macmillan, 1975. xxii+405 +xv pp. £12.00.

The Bolsheviks and the October Revolution. Minutes of the Central Committee of the Russian Social‐Democratic Labour Party (bolsheviks) August 1917‐February 1918. Translated from the Russian by Ann Bone. London: Pluto Press, 1974. x+331 pp. £6.60. £2.70 (paperback).

G. I. Tunkin, Theory of International Law. Translated, with an introduction, by William E. Butler. London: Allen & Unwin, 1975. First published in Great Britain in 1974. xxv+497 pp. £8.00.

Bohdan R. Bociurkiw and John W. Strong (eds.), Religion and Atheism in the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe. London: Macmillan, 1975. xviii+412 pp. £10.00.

R. S. Mathieson, The Soviet Union: An Economic Geography. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1975. xvii+342 pp. £7.50.

Violet Conolly, Siberia Today and Tomorrow. A Study of Economic Resources, Problems and Achievements. London and Glasgow: Collins, 1975. 248 pp. £4–95.

Burton Paulu, Radio and Television Broadcasting in Eastern Europe. Minneapolis: Minnesota UP and London: OUP, 1974. xi+592 pp. £13.25.

John McLeish, Soviet Psychology: History, Theory, Content. London: Methuen, 1975. xii+308 pp. £6.95.

Robin Edmonds, Soviet Foreign Policy 1962–1973: The Paradox of Super Power. London: OUP, 1975. xiv+197 pp. £4.50.

Michael MccGwire, Ken Booth and John McDonnell (eds.), Soviet Naval Policy. Objectives and Constraints. (Praeger Special Studies in International Politics and Government.) New York: Praeger and London: Pall Mall Press, 1975. xxvi+663 pp. $32.50. £14.25.

Jerome M. Gilison, The Soviet Image of Utopia. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins UP, 1975. 192 pp. £4.85.

Victor Serge and Natalia Sedova Trotsky, The Life and Death of Leon Trotsky. London: Wildwood House, 1975. 296 pp. £6.95.     

Confirmation of Syva enzyme multiple immunoassay technique (EMIT) d.a.u. and Roche Abuscreen radioimmunoassay (RIA) (125I) urine cannabinoid immunoassays by gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) and bonded-phase adsorption/thin-layer chromatographic (BPA-TLC) methods

Thirty human urines screened positive by the Syva enzyme multiple immunoassay technique (EMIT) d.a.u. urine cannabinoid assay were also positive for the major marijuana urinary metabolite 11-nor-delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH) when assayed by gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) and a noninstrumental qualitative bonded-phase adsorption/thin-layer chromatographic (BPA-TLC) technique. The noninstrumental BPA-TLC procedure was the simpler of the two techniques to perform and interpret. Assay of these same samples by the Roche Abuscreen radioimmunoassay (RIA) for cannabinoids (125I) revealed that reliance on the 100-ng/mL equivalent positive calibrator yielded a high incidence of false negative results (10 out of 30). The performance of these same 4 assays on 30 true negatives also was evaluated. All samples were negative for cannabinoids by EMIT and RIA, and for THC-COOH by BPA-TLC. GC/MS assay, however, detected spurious low levels of approximately 5-ng/mL THC-COOH in two instances. Because of this, a reliability level of 10 ng/mL was set for the routine quantitative confirmation of THC-COOH by the GC/MS method.     

Development of a heptaplex PCR system to analyse X-chromosome STR loci from five Italian population samples. A collaborative study

Many X-chromosome short tandem repeats (X-STRs) have been validated for forensic use even if further studies are needed on allele frequencies and mutation rates to evaluate the extent of polymorphism in different populations and to establish reference databases useful for forensic applications and for anthropological studies. A single multiplex reaction of seven X-STRs, which includes the DXS6789, HUMARA, DXS10011, DXS7423, HPRTB, DXS6807, DXS101 loci, is presented and their allele frequency distribution in a large population sample including 556 subjects (268 females and 288 males) analysed by five forensic laboratories of Central and Northern Italy is shown. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of a single amplification/detection reaction involving seven markers of the X chromosome, which can be fruitfully used in complex kinship analysis.