Blood science has become a cornerstone of multiple disciplines, including clinical chemistry, disease diagnosis, and therapeutic monitoring. Over the past decade, we have witnessed the advent of increasingly powerful proteomics technologies that allow greater fundamental insights into the blood proteome. These technological improvements have, in part, fuelled the quest for the discovery of novel blood-based biomarkers of disease. Serum/Plasma Proteomics: Methods and Protocols is a comprehensive resource of protocols for areas, pre-analytical through to analytical, of plasma and serum proteomics. Divided into five convenient sections, this detailed volume covers fractionation strategies for in-depth blood proteome analysis, defined procedures for blood collection, handling and storage, detailed protocols for performing both antibody-based and non-antibody based quantitative assays, proteome analysis of blood cell compartments, circulating nanomebraneous vesicles and blood-related fluids, and finally data management, statistical design, and bioinformatic challenges. This book, contributed to by leading experts in the field, provides a valuable foundation for the development and application of blood-based proteomics. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters contain introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, Serum/Plasma Proteomics: Methods and Protocols, with its well-honed methodologies, seeks to serve both professionals and investigators new to the field in an effort to further our knowledge of this fundamental science.

The experiments in this manual are designed in a discovery format and the majority require only small quantities of reagents.

This book provides an introduction/overview of the various facets of laboratory automation. Laboratory automation is an active area gaining intense exposure with the increased emphasis on productivity. Laboratory automation comes in many forms ranging from robotics which can allow for automated sample preparation and subsequent analysis to flow injection analysis and other forms of automated systems. The final facet of many automated systems, LIMS, will also be adressed. This book will serve as a reference, a general introductory volume on laboratory automation for industrial and academic scientists, and also as a text for an introductory or advanced course on laboratory automation. The reader can focus on a particular technology and obtain sufficient information, or read the entire book for a comprehensive view of the field of lab automation.

This immensely practical guide to PIV provides a condensed, yet exhaustive guide to most of the information needed for experiments employing the technique. This second edition has updated chapters on the principles and extra information on microscopic, high-speed and three component measurements as well as a description of advanced evaluation techniques. What's more, the huge increase in the range of possible applications has been taken into account as the chapter describing these applications of the PIV technique has been expanded.

In addition to the traditional cytogenetics still used as the basic methodology for everyday clinical diagnosis, new molecular cytogenetic techniques provide a useful basis for routine diagnosis. Flourescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has become a standard technique, and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), spectral karyotyping (SKY), and multi-color FISH have shown their potential for diagnostic purposes. Following a section on tissue culture, chromosome staining and basic information about karyotyping, nomenclature and quality standards, protocols of relevance for comprehensive cytogenetic diagnostics are presented.

Thomas Hankins and Robert Silverman investigate an array of instruments from the seventeenth through the nineteenth century that seem at first to be marginal to science--magnetic clocks that were said to operate by the movements of sunflower seeds, magic lanterns, ocular harpsichords (machines that played different colored lights in harmonious mixtures), Aeolian harps (a form of wind chime), and other instruments of "natural magic" designed to produce wondrous effects. By looking at these and the first recording instruments, the stereoscope, and speaking machines, the authors show that "scientific instruments" first made their appearance as devices used to evoke wonder in the beholder, as in works of magic and the theater.

The authors also demonstrate that these instruments, even though they were often "tricks," were seen by their inventors as more than trickery. In the view of Athanasius Kircher, for instance, the sunflower clock was not merely a hoax, but an effort to demonstrate, however fraudulently, his truly held belief that the ability of a flower to follow the sun was due to the same cosmic magnetic influence as that which moved the planets and caused the rotation of the earth. The marvels revealed in this work raise and answer questions about the connections between natural science and natural magic, the meaning of demonstration, the role of language and the senses in science, and the connections among art, music, literature, and natural science.

Originally published in 1999.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This volume contains the proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Vacuum Microbalance Techniques held at Wakefield, Massachusetts on June 12 and 13, 1969. The tenth anniversary of the first confer ence will be registered as this volume passes through the typeset ting and proofreading stages. The eight volumes that have spawned from this continuing series of conferences now contain a total of 125 papers. Thus, these volumes serve as a major repository of the world's literature on vacuum microbalance techniques. The Ninth and Tenth Conferences will be held in West Germany in June 1970 and in Texas in 1971. Each of the eight meetings has served as a forum where new developments in this rapidly advancing field can be presented and discussed constructively within a conference atmosphere of cordial informality. The interaction of the participants at the conferences has led to the first treatise on ultra mlcrogravtmetry;' edited by S. P. Wolsky and E. J. Zdanuk, with most of the fourteen chapters written by steady contributors to the volumes on Vacuum Micro balance Techniques. The number of research investigations and published works in which a vacuum microbalance is utilized con tinues to expandr apldly. f This is a direct result of several types of automatic recording balances that are now available commercial ly. 3 The Eighth Conference was held to bring together again re search scientists and engineers who exploit the measurement of mass as a means of studying physical and chemical phenomena.

Earlier efforts in the field of thermal analysis were concerned with the demonstration of the applicability of techniques to a broad spectrum of materials and to establish the relationship of such techniques with other more accepted methods. While such efforts will and should continue, the Third International Conference was unique in that the first standards were disclosed for differential thermal analysis. This was the culmination of the international, cooperative effort of the ICTA's Standardization Committee. The standards currently are available from the United State's National Bureau of Standards. Thus, thermal analysis can be considered to have attained its majority. Reali zation of full maturity can be expected in the near future. Inclusion of plenary lectures in these volumes represents a significant departure from previous Conferences. This change is the result of the ICTA's recognition of its educational responsibilities. In the Foreword of the Proceedings of the Second International Confer ence, Professor L. Berg expressed the hope that thermal methods of analysis would find wider application in science and technology. The citation above, together with the papers presented, indicate the fulfillment of this hope. Xerox Corporation C. B. Murphy Rochester, N.Y., U.S.A. President, ICTA 1968-1971 X Ill PREFACE For the past two decades thermoanalytical methods have reached a stage of considerable importance, which is particularly due to the developments in the area of instrumentation."

The book introduces most of the basic tools of chemometrics including experimental design, signal analysis, statistical methods for analytical chemistry and multivariate methods. It then discusses a number of important applications including food chemistry, biological pattern recognition, reaction monitoring, optimisation of processes, medical applications.

The book arises from a series of short articles that have been developed over four years on Chemweb (www.chemweb.com).

Problem-solving is the cornerstone of all walks of scientific research. Fascinating Problems for Young Physicists attempts to clear the boundaries of seemingly abstract physical laws and their tangible effects through a step-by-step approach to physics in the world around us. It consists of 42 problems with detailed solutions, each describing a specific, interesting physical phenomenon. Each problem is further divided into questions designed to guide the reader through, encouraging engagement with and learning the physics behind the phenomenon. By solving the problems, the reader will be able to discover, for example, what the relation is between the mass of an animal and its expected lifetime, or what the efficiency limit is of wind turbines. Intended for first-year undergraduate students and interested high school students, this book develops inquiry-based scientific practice and enables students to acquire the necessary skills for applying the laws of physics to realistic situations.

Providing the knowledge and practical experience to begin analysing scientific data, this book is ideal for physical sciences students wishing to improve their data handling skills. The book focuses on explaining and developing the practice and understanding of basic statistical analysis, concentrating on a few core ideas, such as the visual display of information, modelling using the likelihood function, and simulating random data. Key concepts are developed through a combination of graphical explanations, worked examples, example computer code and case studies using real data. Students will develop an understanding of the ideas behind statistical methods and gain experience in applying them in practice. Further resources are available at www.cambridge.org/9781107607590, including data files for the case studies so students can practise analysing data, and exercises to test students' understanding.

One of the most universal functions of any scientific or engineer ing laboratory is the gathering of data to provide answers to immediate questions or information to be filed for future refer ence. Such data gathering may be achieved in various ways, depending on the nature and quantity of the information. The most prevalent of such data gathering methods is undoubtedly analog recording. Electrical analog recorders are available in a variety of sizes, speeds, sensitivities, and prices. They are suitable for recording any signal which is in, or can be converted to, electrical form. These recorders are found in every modern laboratory. Without them the importance of many functional relations would be missed altogether. How could one adequately diagnose a heart ailment without a cardiographic recorder, or obtain infrared or magnetic resonance spectra on any practicable basis without a strip-chart recorder? True, various curves that are now traced automatically with a recorder can be plotted manually from point-by-point measure ments. This procedure, however, is not only time-consuming, but may cause valid bits of information to be overlooked entirely, simply because the points were taken too far apart. Another factor favoring the use of recorders is the ability to pinpoint faulty operation of the data-gathering system. Artifacts that might not be observable at all in point-by-point observations 1 The Laboratory Recorder 2 will often be readily identifiable on a recording. Asymmetry of a peaked curve, for example, is only dearly evident in a recording.

The standard protocols for the purification of all known cytoskeleton proteins are presented in this manual. Proteins are listed alphabetically and each protocol follows a common format. Thus, the manual provides a quick and easy reference to all relevant procedures for cytoskeleton protein purification.
The isolation procedure for each protein is shown in a clear flowchart, while the source of the protein, equipment and material needed, a list of suppliers, standard references, accession No. of sequences as well as further relevant facts and practical tips are given on a separate page.

Volume 7 Proceedings of the Eindhoven Conference June 1718 1968.

The first insights into the site and mechanisms of RNA process- ing to functional mRNA in eukaryotic cells came from the group of Georgiev (Lukanidin et al. 1972) who demonstrated the association of rapidly labelled, heterogeneous nuclear RNA (hnRNA) with a limited number of specific proteins in the cell nucleus. These "informofers", i. e. packaged precursors of mRNA (pre-mRNA or hnRNA), are in a form presumably amenable to the action of nucleases. With the availability of better analytical techniques, the considerable heterogeneity of hnRNA associated proteins was revealed (Niessing and Sekeris 1970), suggesting a role that was more composite, rather than solely structural, for these proteins. Later studies investigated the RNA binding behavior of these proteins (Schenkel et al. 1988, 1989; Wilk et al. 1983). For a long time, the small nuclear RNAs, well characterized with respect to primary structure (reviewed by Reddy and Busch 1983), were naively ignored regarding their function. Several events then set the stage for a detailed study of the intricate mechanisms of the splicing process and other steps involved in hnRNA processing: (1) The demonstration of a second class of nuclear ribonucleoproteins (RNPs), composed of small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) and another characteristic group ofheterogene- ous proteins (Lerner et al. 1980; Guialis et al. 1983); (2) the detec- tion of the association of snRNPs with hnRNPs by virtue of base pairing between hnRNA and snRNA (Flytzanis et al.

A variety of powerful techniques for monitoring and analysing events during signal transduction at the single cell level are described in this lab manual. An introductionary section on cell handling includes guidelines for constructing a perfusion chamber. A main section of the book presents protocols on fluorescence techniques such as flow cytometry, microfluorescence, ion imaging and confocal microscopy. The electrophysiological section illustrates multiple applications of the patch-clamp technique in various cell types from both animals and plants. Emphasis is put on calibration and validation of the different techniques to measure changes of membrane potential, and intracellular ion concentration or pH.

This volume contains the proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Vacuum Microbalance Techniques held at Wakefield, Massachusetts on June 12 and 13, 1969. The tenth anniversary of the first confer ence will be registered as this volume passes through the typeset ting and proofreading stages. The eight volumes that have spawned from this continuing series of conferences now contain a total of 125 papers. Thus, these volumes serve as a major repository of the world's literature on vacuum microbalance techniques. The Ninth and Tenth Conferences will be held in West Germany in June 1970 and in Texas in 1971. Each of the eight meetings has served as a forum where new developments in this rapidly advancing field can be presented and discussed constructively within a conference atmosphere of cordial informality. The interaction of the participants at the conferences has led to the first treatise on ultra mlcrogravtmetry;' edited by S. P. Wolsky and E. J. Zdanuk, with most of the fourteen chapters written by steady contributors to the volumes on Vacuum Micro balance Techniques. The number of research investigations and published works in which a vacuum microbalance is utilized con tinues to expandr apldly. f This is a direct result of several types of automatic recording balances that are now available commercial ly. 3 The Eighth Conference was held to bring together again re search scientists and engineers who exploit the measurement of mass as a means of studying physical and chemical phenomena.

Vacuum apparatus is widely used in research and industrial establishments for providing and monitoring the working environments required for the operation of many kinds of scientific instruments and process plant. The vacuum conditions needed range from the relatively coarse vacuum requirements in applications covering diverse fields such as food packaging, dentistry (investment casting), vacuum forming, vacuum metallur gical processes, vacuum impregnation, molecular distillation, vacuum drying and freeze drying etc. to the other extreme involving the highest possible vacuum as in particle accelerators, space technology -both in simulation and outer space, and research studies of atomically clean surfaces and pure condensed metal films. Vacua commence with the rough vacuum region, i.e. from atmosphere to 100 Pa * passing 6 through medium vacuum of 100 Pa to 0.1 Pa and high vacuum of 0.1 Pa to 1 J.lPa (10- Pa) until ultra high vacuum is reached below 1 J.lPa to the limit of measurable pressure about 12 I pPa (10- Pa)."

Neutrons are extremely versatile probes for investigating structure and dynamics in condensed matter. Due to their large penetration depth, they are ideal for in-situ measurements of samples situated in sophisticated and advanced environments. The advent of new high-intensity neutron sources and instruments, as well as the development of new real-time techniques, allows the tracking of transformation processes in condensed matter on a microscopic scale. The present volume provides a review of the state of the art of this new and exciting field of kinetics with neutrons.

This book deals with the underlying theory and practical aspects of pressure gauges that are at present in general use. Because of the ever-increasing demands to provide a wider range of sophisticated and reliable vacuum equipment a good understanding of these instruments is of vital importance to all workers in the research and industrial sectors. Of the gauges considered only the mechanical types are absolute, in the sense that they measure pressure directly as a force upon a liquid column or a solid surface. Under ideal conditions it is possible to calculate their sensitiv ities, which are the same for all gases and vapours. The recent developments in the viscous or molecular damping gauges indicate that these may also be considered absolute. Other gauges are indirect in that they involve the measurement of some secondary phenomenon which is pressure-dependent and therefore these gauges can only be used for measurement after calibration against an absolute standard. The radiometer or Knudsen type gauge has been excluded from the text since these are now only of historic interest. Also no mention is made of the integration techniques involving surface changes (such as work function) although these could have application under very special circumstances. The McLeod gauge is dealt with in some detail, for even though this gauge has few practical applications, it is the most sensitive absolute gauge available and has value as a reference standard."