Spectroscopy-02-01-2007

Guest author John Coates describes handheld measurements performed using a palm-sized device that can be used either as an open-ended spectrometer or as a dedicated analyzer.

Brian Johnson takes a look at two types of spectroscopy that help unlock the secrets of the famous Stradivarius violins.

Featured products from the spectroscopy marketplace.

NIR chemical imaging provides a rapid method for detecting and comparing suspected counterfeit pharmaceutical products with no sample preparation.

Although X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) has long been a tool of the laboratory, the past few years have seen a meteoric rise in the use of handheld XRF units for applications in which a portable unit can increase the speed and efficiency of the testing process. Some years ago, handheld instruments required the use of radioactive materials to provide a source of X-rays, but the development of low-power X-ray tubes has enabled this market to flourish by removing any apprehension about using regulated materials.

The study of the interaction mechanism of nucleic acids-CTMAB with AG showed that the enhanced RLS comes from the aggregation of AG on nucleic acids through the bridged and synergistic effect of CTMAB.

In the second part of this series, columnists Jerome Workman, Jr. and Howard Mark continue their discussion of the limitations of analytical accuracy and uncertainty.

In this investigation the authors assess the potential of Raman spectroscopy as a tool for probing conformational changes in membrane-spanning proteins - in this case, the sodium potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na+,K+-ATPase).