Articles by V Richard Sheridan

Scientists who study the rapidly occurring optical phenomena associated with the photoluminescent analysis of semiconductor materials, as well as those who conduct energy relaxation and transfer studies and laser, optical fiber, or optical logic research, often need specialized detectors, known as streak cameras, to analyze their data successfully. Streak cameras focus incoming photons onto a photocathode, which converts them into a beam of photoelectrons proportionate to incoming intensity. A

During the past several years, advances in light microscopy coupled with advances in fluorescence analog chemistry have permitted the analysis of a variety of processes in living cells. Numerous cellular compartments, including mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, nuclei, and cytoskeleton, can now be fluorescently labeled and monitored in living cells. In addition, other fluorescent probes are allowing researchers to study local changes in divalent cation concentrati

The first automatic cell separator, Centritech Cell, is now being marketed by Alfa-Laval Centritech, located in Tumba, Sweden. Consequently, biomedical, biochemical, and biotechnical laboratories conducting research involving the cultivation and isolation of living cells can now purchase a cell separator that yields both high cell concentrations and optimal numbers of living cells. The centrifugal process used for separation is gentle and avoids all fragmentation (often seen because of mammal

Biochemists, pharmacologists, and cell biologists frequently need to perform assays requiring the detection and quantitation of radioisotopes during such procedures as receptor binding assays, antigen detecting, metabolic/enzymatic as- says, and protein or antibody labeling. These assays invariably demand the analysis of a large number of samples, necessitating multiple pipetting. Consequently, such assays are prone to pipetting errors. Cambridge Technology Inc., based in Watertown, Mass., now

There are numerous examples in science in which a radically different conceptual approach to solving a problem at hand has resulted in a major scientific breakthrough. Such is the case for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The inventors of STM, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer of the IBM Research Laboratory in Zurich, Switzerland, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986, only four years after their initial report of the technique (G. .Binnig and H. Rohrer, Rev. Mod. Phys. 59, .6 15, 198

Analytical chemists in a broad range of fields must routinely separate and analyze complex chemical mixtures into individual’ species, some of which are present in extremely low levels. As the demand for research and industrial analysis continues to increase, rapid and accurate qualitative and quantitative analysis of such mixtures is essential. A technique of choice in the analysis of volatile chemical species is gas chromatography (GC), which separates chemical species on the basis of

Three interdisciplinary themes weave through this year’s annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), opening today at the New Orleans Convention Center. These special areas of interest are AIDS, 2nd messengers and signal transduction, and mechanisms of adaptation to the environment: FASEB projects that its huge program of tutorials, society and guest symposia, special lectures, and slide and tape poster sessions, will attract about 13,000 peop

Applied Biosystems of Foster City, Calif. has introduced the first commercially available instrument that allows scientists—biochemists, for instance—studying biomolecules to take advantage of the innovative technique of capillary electrophoresis (CE). Basically, the Model 270A CE system is an analytical tool that can separate and identify molecules by differences in charge density. CE promises to complement and, in some cases, improve upon the three standard separation techniques:

During the past few years, light microscopy has achieved new levels in sensitivity and resolution with the advent of video-enhancement techniques. Microscopists and cell biologists can now observe minute features in cells, for example microtubules in the cytoskeleton, that previously were undetectable with conventional microscopy. An essential component in video-enhanced microscopy is the image processor, which greatly increases the signal-to-noise ratio, improving the quality of the microscop