If the most wonderful time of year is enough to plunge you into a gloom, look no further. This collection of spirited stories and vibrant poetry will brighten your mood as it brings together Charles Dickens and Philip Larkin, W.H.Auden and Wendy Cope, Jilly Cooper and Dylan Thomas. From tales of carolling and snatched mistletoe kisses to 'The Worst Christmas Dinner, Ever', there's something here to amuse and interest Christmas lovers, grinches, and everyone in between.

Protein Purification Techniques focuses on unit operations and analytical techniques. It starts with an overview of purification strategy and then covers initial extraction and clarification techniques. The rest of the book concentrates on different purification methods with the emphasis being on chromatography. The final chapter considers general scale-up considerations. Protein Purification Applications describes purification strategies from common sources: mammalian cell culture, microbial cell culture, milk, animal tissue, and plant tissue. It also includes chapters on purification of inclusion bodies, fusion proteins, and purification for crystallography. A purification strategy that can produce a highly pure single protein from a crude mixture of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and cell debris to is a work of art to be admired. These books (available individually or as a set)are designed to give the laboratory worker the information needed to undertake the challenge of designing such a strategy.

They come out of the football stadium tunnel first, but all eyes are on the well-paid athletes behind them. No one pays the referee or the referee's assistants any attention - until they make a mistake. Then all hell breaks loose. They can't explain - or defend themselves against the crowd's abuse. Gavin Muge threads an entertaining personal football memoir together with his own attempts to scale the peak of the professional game as a match official. His football life has led to encounters with a cast of stars from Gary Lineker to Paul Gascoigne, Arsene Wenger and Roy Keane. He officiated at the infamous Riot of Upton Park in 2009 and has witnessed many examples of the darker side of the game. Gavin has also shared the excitement and the pain of the average football supporter and now has the experience to try to make sense of it all in My Life on the Line. See if you agree with him! And pit your knowledge against Gavin's with the book's Chapter Challenges and his Quiz.

Protein Purification Techniques focuses on unit operations and analytical techniques. It starts with an overview of purification strategy and then covers initial extraction and clarification techniques. The rest of the book concentrates on different purification methods with the emphasis being on chromatography. The final chapter considers general scale-up considerations. Protein Purification Applications describes purification strategies from common sources: mammalian cell culture, microbial cell culture, milk, animal tissue, and plant tissue. It also includes chapters on purification of inclusion bodies, fusion proteins, and purification for crystallography. A purification strategy that can produce a highly pure single protein from a crude mixture of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and cell debris to is a work of art to be admired. These books (available individually or as a set)are designed to give the laboratory worker the information needed to undertake the challenge of designing such a strategy.

When a young girl is found strangled in a pillbox (military blockhouse) on the edge of an isolated village, it looks like a tragic but uncomplicated sex crime--especially as Jed, the local boy with whom she was last seen, has disappeared. But when Jed's blood-soaked jacket is found in another pillbox further along the river bank, it becomes clear that the case is more complicated. Chief Inspector Dalliance and DS Riley set about untangling a skein of leads, and in the process discover that the respectability of an idyllic English village conceals dark undercurrents. An exclusive swingers' club includes members of the political elite, while the younger generation seems hell-bent on a nihilistic exploration of sexual boundaries. In the meantime, as the community prepares for its annual Morris Dancing festival, another body is found. The page-turning plot reaches a dramatic climax with the prime suspect leading Dalliance and Riley a merry dance through village streets thronged with handkerchief-waving, stave-wielding Morris men.

A box is left on Marcus's doorstep in the rain. Fussy Aunt Hester has told Marcus not to open the front door under any circumstances. But she's out - and just this once can't hurt . . . can it? Except the parcel isn't embroidery supplies for Aunt Hester. Or fishing tackle for Uncle Frank. Whatever is in there, it's alive. And it's ANGRY. The thing in the box sends Marcus's life spinning horrifyingly out of control - controlling his mind and testing his will so that every moment is deadly. Can Marcus overcome the pull of the Gorgon's gaze, and use her power for good? Because he received that box for a reason - but he must find out what it is, before the terrible, beautiful Medusa turns everyone he holds dear to stone . . . and then comes for him. Laced with myth, this modern story positively writhes with horror and suspense. A terrifying, unputdownable read for fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter.