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Waiting to Exhale 
Are we what we exhale? Maybe not, but by examining our breath using mass spectroscopy, we can learn a lot about our health. A Spectroscopy Now article covers recent research in the field, including efforts to make the instruments work with as-exhaled breath rather than requiring pre-treatment of the air.
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Spectrometer Unravels Cosmic Mystery
Understanding the magnetic self-organization in plasmas is crucial to unraveling puzzles in both astrophysical and laboratory plasma behavior, but off-the-shelf spectrometers don't have the speed and resolution needed for measuring plasma ions. Researchers created a high-throughput double-grating spectrometer to make fast (100 kHz ) localized Doppler measurements of plasma ions.
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Finding Drugs on Money
Irish researchers wanted a fast, sensitive way to screen samples for 16 illicit drugs, so they tested 45 banknotes for cocaine using monolithic and particle-packed reversed-phase columns with their liquid- chromatograph-mass-spectrometer. Surprisingly, every Euro note showed traces of cocaine — with the highest concentrations in the higher value notes.
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Wetlands Cut Pig Hormones
Some hog farmers construct wetlands to reduce the nitrogen seeping downstream from animal waste, causing algae blooms and other waterway problems. But nitrogen isn't pig poop's only hazard: it also contains hormones that disrupt the endocrine system of fish. A report analyzed estradiol levels using liquid-chromatography mass-spectrometry analysis, showing that wetlands reduced levels by 83-93%.
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FLIR Systems Inc.
Science-Grade SC6000 Infrared Camera
FLIR's R&D line of infrared cameras are used in wide variety of intricate applications including: military uses for range phenomenology or target signature measurement; thermal research on extremely fast moving targets via high-speed infrared imaging; and for R&D applications for accurate and sensitive temperature measurement and image capture in demanding laboratory and real-world conditions such as in the analysis of very small objects.
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Thermo Scientific Environmental Instruments Division
Model 5020 Sulfate Particulate Analyzer
Thermo Electron Corporation, the world leader in ambient air gas monitoring instrumentation, introduced an expansion of its air monitoring product lines. The Model 5020 Sulfate Particulate Analyzer (SPA) features enhancements to the trace level monitoring series of gaseous analyzers to support the increasing need to measure ultra-low pollutant concentration levels in complex urban environments.
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Stroke Insight
By studying brain blood flow using two-photon fluorescence microscopy, researchers gain insights into what happens when a stroke occurs. Researchers managed to create a small blood clot in the brain of an anesthetized rat with very little other damage, then watched how blood flow changed.
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Microscopes, Materials, and Molecular Machines
Three powerful electron microscopes in the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA will allow researchers to see molecules, materials, and molecular machines in 3D. The microscopes include two 300 kV S/TEMs, one of which is optimized for high-resolution structural biology applications, and a 200 kV electron microscope for high-throughput electron tomographic studies.
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Digitize that Lab Notebook
The eLab Notebook Software is designed to allow researchers to capture, process, save, and search data in a completely digital, networked environment. The software acts as a portal, through which you access commonly-used software programs — scientific, statistical, visualization, Microsoft Office, etc. — while capturing all content electronically according to good lab notebook practices.
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Where's the Beef?
In just three seconds, a near-IR spectrometer can analyze the tenderness of a side of beef in the packing plant, and provide simple pass-fail measurements. Work with the USDA produced the real-time non-destructive testing device. The data collected predicts the slice shear force of longissimus muscle at 14 days postmortem in Bos taurus cattle.
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StellarNet, Inc.
EPP2000 Fiber Optic Spectrometers
The StellarNet EPP2000 Spectrometers are portable fiber optic instruments for UV, VIS, and NIR measurements in 190-2200 nm ranges. These units represent a step up in low cost instrument design. Featuring 2048 wavelengths, CCD/PDA detectors, no moving parts, no detector sockets, and integrated A2D digitizer.
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Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc.
UV-1700 Spectrophotometer
The UV-1700 spectrophotometer, from Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc., is designed with compliance in mind. The 1 nm resolution optical bench is compliant with all major International Pharmacopoeia specifications. Built-in comprehensive performance validation capabilities ensure that the optical bench is performing accurately. Easy instrument validation is capable with commercially available optical filters.
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Dice
A Better Job Search by Design
DiceEngineering.com offers thousands of quality engineering jobs at top technology and engineering companies. Find jobs in your area of expertise. Search now.
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 The American Chemical Society's 233rd National Meeting & Exposition will take place March 25-29 in Chicago, IL. Scientists will present new multidisciplinary research and share their scientific expertise in 33 technical divisions. The American Chemical Society is the world's largest scientific society dedicated to a single discipline, with more than 158,000 members.
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The Fundamental Clock In Spectroscopy magazine, columnist David W. Ball argues that the clock is the world's first scientific instrument. Not only is it the first instrument designed to measure a natural quantity, but it provides the basis (both in philosophy and technology) for many of our subsequent scientific instruments.
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