Acquisition Products Author: Caren D. Potter For nearly a decade, configuring a personal computer for data collection meant opening the cover and plugging a data-acquisition board into an empty expansion slot. But if scientists take to notebook PCs the way the business community has, this may eventually seem as old-fashioned as getting up to change the channel on the TV. Notebook PCs have no expansion slots. To be used for data collection, they must have some other way to get the data-acquisit

"We are trying to make a statistics program that everyone can use, and Windows, in particular, is helping us do that," says Paul Portrey, assistant manager of technical support at Stat-Soft Inc. in Tulsa, Okla. "If developers take advantage of the features of Windows, they can make a package that's very easy to work with." Windows is not an operating system but an add-on to the DOS operating system that drives IBM and compatible PCs

"We are trying to make a statistics program that everyone can use, and Windows, in particular, is helping us do that," says Paul Portrey, assistant manager of technical support at Stat-Soft Inc. in Tulsa, Okla. "If developers take advantage of the features of Windows, they can make a package that's very easy to work with." Windows is not an operating system but an add-on to the DOS operating system that drives IBM and compatible PCs

Abacus Concepts 1918 Bonita Ave. Berkeley, Calif. 94704 (510) 540-1949 Fax: (510) 540-0260 Advanced Systems Management 1200 S. Acadian Suite 110 Baton Rouge, La. 70806 (504) 343-7151 Fax: (504) 383-3048 BBN Software Products Corp. 150 Cambridge Park Dr. Cambridge, Mass. 02140 (617) 873-5000 Fax: (617) 873-4020 BMDP Statistical Software Inc. 1440 Sepulveda Blvd. Suite 316 Los Angeles, Calif. 90025 (310) 479-7799 Fax: (310) 312-01

Abacus Concepts 1918 Bonita Ave. Berkeley, Calif. 94704 (510) 540-1949 Fax: (510) 540-0260 Advanced Systems Management 1200 S. Acadian Suite 110 Baton Rouge, La. 70806 (504) 343-7151 Fax: (504) 383-3048 BBN Software Products Corp. 150 Cambridge Park Dr. Cambridge, Mass. 02140 (617) 873-5000 Fax: (617) 873-4020 BMDP Statistical Software Inc. 1440 Sepulveda Blvd. Suite 316 Los Angeles, Calif. 90025 (310) 479-7799 Fax: (310) 312-01

Hewlett-Packard Co. 2850 Centerville Rd. Wilmington, Del. 19808 (302) 633-8188 Fax: (302) 633-8916 IN/US Systems Inc. 5809 N. 50th St. Tampa, Fla. 33610-4809 (800) 875-4687 Fax: (813) 623-3708 ISCO Inc. 4700 Superior St. Lincoln, Neb. 68504-1398 (800) 228-4250 Fax: (402) 464-01318 Jandel Scientific 2591 Kerner Blvd. San Rafael, Calif. 94901 (415) 453-6700 Fax: (415) 453-7769 Jasco Inc. 8649 Commerce Dr. Easton, Md. 21601 (800)

processors and earlier versions is that now they have so much built-in functionality that users rarely need to go to another program to prepare documents. In the past, users would have generated text and tables in the word processor, then called up a separate program to prepare graphs and perhaps a third to create equations. Each part would have been printed separately, and the user would assemble the document by hand. Today's high-end packages--priced at about $500--not only include tools for

Safe laboratory handling of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) presents paradoxical extremes to lab chiefs: The odds that a lab worker will become infected with HIV on the job are extremely low, according to studies sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta; but experience indicates that the consequences of infection are almost always fatal. Even noting the minority scientific view that HIV is not the cause of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS),

Few laboratory researchers would question the need for hazardous materials in certain experimental procedures. The radioactive isotope P32, for instance, is vital in DNA research, and hazardous solvents such as xylene and methylene chloride are virtual staples of organic chemistry and biochemistry. But the cost of disposing of such materials now routinely exceeds their purchase price, adding significantly to expenses in already-tight research budgets. And this cost is rising, driven largely by

Statistical Navigator from The Idea Works Inc., Columbia, Mo., was designed not to perform analyses but to work as a supplement to existing statistical packages. It uses a type of artificial intelligence called expert systems to determine, from users' input, which statistical analyses are most appropriate for their data. (Statistica from StatSoft, Tulsa, Okla., uses similar technology in its module "Statistical Advisor.) "Expert systems are so named, explains Edward Brent, president of The Ide

Date: December 7, 1992 More and more, the technological line that distinguishes printers from plotters is blurring. And this convergence in functionality- -enhanced by advances in both hardware and software--is good news for scientists. Hardware has advanced to the point that, in most situations, there is no longer a need for separate output devices for handling text and graphics. While there are still a few drawbacks to this one-device-does-all output approach, especially when both large-si

In the sophisticated research laboratory of today, scientists have become increasingly dependent on computers as a means of enhancing and accelerating their investigations. A growing number of lab instruments now rely on a computer for their efficient operation; and the modern lab commonly has numerous other computers scattered about to handle such day-to-day chores as data analysis and report writing. While the benefits of computers in the lab are clear, incompatibility among devices from a