Why do Japanese artists team up with engineers in order to create so-called "Device Art"? What is a nanoscientist's motivation in approaching the artworld? In the past few years, there has been a remarkable increase in attempts to foster the exchange between art, technology, and science - an exchange taking place in academies, museums, or even in research laboratories. Media art has proven especially important in the dialogue between these cultural fields. This book is a contribution to the current debate on "art & science", interdisciplinarity, and the discourse of innovation. It critically assesses artistic positions that appear as the ongoing attempt to localize art's position within technological and societal change - between now and the future.

Most lab manuals assume a high level of knowledge among biochemistry students, as well as a large amount of experience combining knowledge from separate scientific disciplines. Biochemistry in the Lab: A Manual for Undergraduates expects little more than basic chemistry. It explains procedures clearly, as well as giving a clear explanation of the theoretical reason for those steps. Key Features: Presents a comprehensive approach to modern biochemistry laboratory teaching, together with a complete experimental experience Includes chemical biology as its foundation, teaching readers experimental methods specific to the field Provides instructor experiments that are easy to prepare and execute, at comparatively low cost Supersedes existing, older texts with information that is adjusted to modern experimental biochemistry Is written by an expert in the field This textbook presents a foundational approach to modern biochemistry laboratory teaching together with a complete experimental experience, from protein purification and characterization to advanced analytical techniques. It has modules to help instructors present the techniques used in a time critical manner, as well as several modules to study protein chemistry, including gel techniques, enzymology, crystal growth, unfolding studies, and fluorescence. It proceeds from the simplest and most important techniques to the most difficult and specialized ones. It offers instructors experiments that are easy to prepare and execute, at comparatively low cost.

By closing the gap between general programming books and those on laboratory automation, this timely book makes accessible to every laboratory technician or scientist what has traditionally been restricted to highly specialized professionals. Following the idea of "learning by doing", the book provides an introduction to scripting using AutoIt, with many workable examples based on real-world scenarios. A large portion of the book tackles the traditionally hard problem of instrument synchronization, including remote, web-based synchronization. Automated result processing, database operation, and creation of graphical user interfaces are also examined. Readers of this book can immediately profit from the new knowledge in terms of both increased efficiency and reduced costs in laboratory operation. Above all, laboratory technicians and scientists will learn that they are free to choose whatever equipment they desire when configuring an automated analytical setup, regardless of manufacturers suggested specifications.

As careers in science have become increasingly demanding, they require much more than a keen scientific mind and practical ability. If you are considering a career in research, have already embarked on your career and want to succeed, are uncertain which route to take or advise, train or supervise scientists, this book offers some helpful advice. Nancy Rothwell, a senior scientist with extensive experience training scientists and communicating with the public, covers topics ranging from choosing a PhD or postdoctoral position, successful interviews and preparing your cv to managing your supervisor; how to give successful talks, publish high quality papers and become known within your field. Broader aspects of science which are so important today are also covered, including ethics and fraud, intellectual property and exploitation and disseminating science to the public.

Many students find it daunting to move from studying environmental science, to designing and implementing their own research proposals. This book provides a practical introduction to help develop scientific thinking, aimed at undergraduate and new graduate students in the earth and environmental sciences. Students are guided through the steps of scientific thinking using published scientific literature and real environmental data. The book starts with advice on how to effectively read scientific papers, before outlining how to articulate testable questions and answer them using basic data analysis. The Mauna Loa CO2 dataset is used to demonstrate how to read metadata, prepare data, generate effective graphs and identify dominant cycles on various timescales. Practical, question-driven examples are explored to explain running averages, anomalies, correlations and simple linear models. The final chapter provides a framework for writing persuasive research proposals, making this an essential guide for students embarking on their first research project.

Many students find it daunting to move from studying environmental science, to designing and implementing their own research proposals. This book provides a practical introduction to help develop scientific thinking, aimed at undergraduate and new graduate students in the earth and environmental sciences. Students are guided through the steps of scientific thinking using published scientific literature and real environmental data. The book starts with advice on how to effectively read scientific papers, before outlining how to articulate testable questions and answer them using basic data analysis. The Mauna Loa CO2 dataset is used to demonstrate how to read metadata, prepare data, generate effective graphs and identify dominant cycles on various timescales. Practical, question-driven examples are explored to explain running averages, anomalies, correlations and simple linear models. The final chapter provides a framework for writing persuasive research proposals, making this an essential guide for students embarking on their first research project.

Microwave Chemistry has changed the way to work in chemical laboratories and is an established state-of-the-art technology to accelarate and enhance chemical processes. This book not only gives an overview of the technology, its historical development and theoretical background, but also presents its exceptionally broad spectrum of applications. Microwave Chemistry enables graduate students and scientist to learn and apply its methods successfully.

Over recent years, progress in micropropagation has not been as rapid as many expected and, even now, relatively few crops are produced commercially. One reason for this is that the biology of material growing in vitro has been insufficiently understood for modifications to standard methods to be made based on sound physiological principles. However, since 1984, tissue culture companies and others have invested considerable effort to reduce the empirical nature of the production process. The idea of the conference "Physiology, Growth and Development of Plants and Cells in Culture"(Lancaster, 1992) was to introduce specialists in different areas of plant physiology to micropropagators, with the express aims of disseminating as wide a range of information to as large a number of participants as possible, and beginning new discussions on the constraints and potentials affecting the development of in vitro plant production methods. This book is based on presentations from the conference and has been divided into two main sections, dealing with aspects of the in vitro environment - light, nutrients, water, gas - and with applied aspects of the culture process - morphogenesis, acclimation, rejuvenation, contamination.

Maria Rentetzi surveys the experimental practices of radioactivity research in early-twentieth-century Vienna, focusing on radioactive materials, instruments, women's work in physics, and gendered skills. She shows how experimental cultures in radioactivity-scientific practices employed by gendered subjects who shared a certain material and epistemic style of research--were constructed and reshaped by socialist politics in Vienna at that time. She also explores the different ways experimental practices affected men and women in laboratory sciences. Rentetzi expands the notion of material culture to include not only instruments and objects but also materials that operated as both commodities and objects of scientific inquiry. She tells a multifaceted story of how purified radium ended up on laboratory benches and who extracted and isolated it from tons of residues; the individuals who designed experiments and instruments for probing radium's properties; and those who carried radium outside of the physics laboratory and into the clinic and medical amphitheatres. Rentetzi examines how the architecture of the laboratory affected men's and women's scientific work and the way in which its urban setting reflected assumptions about scientific cross-disciplinary collaborations. Following the circulation of radium and the pursuit of power through strategies of partnership and collaboration, Rentetzi redraws paths of scientific exchange and transfers the reader from scientific laboratories to hospitals and from academic to industrial sites.

"Essential Laboratory Skills for Biosciences" is an essential companion during laboratory sessions. It is designed to be simple and give clear step by step instructions on essential techniques, supported by relevant diagrams. The book includes the use of particular equipment and how to do simple calculations that students come across regularly in laboratory practicals.

Written by experienced lecturers this handy pocket book provides: Simple to follow laboratory techniquesClear use of diagrams and illustrations to explain techniques, procedures and equipmentStep by step worked out examples of calculations including concentrations, dilutions and molarity

Suitable for all first year university students, the techniques in the book will also be useful for postgraduate and final year project students and enhance the practical and theoretical knowledge of all those studying bioscience related subjects.

A time-tested, systematic approach to the buying and selling of complex research instruments

Searching for the best laboratory instruments and systems can be a daunting and expensive task. A poorly selected instrument can dramatically affect results produced and indirectly affect research papers, the quality of student training, and an investigator's chances for advancement. "Buying and Selling Laboratory Instruments" offers the valuable insights of an analytical chemist and consultant with over four decades of experience in locating instruments based upon both need and price. It helps all decision makers find the best equipment, service, and support while avoiding the brand-loyalty bias of sales representatives so you can fully meet your laboratory's requirements.

The first section of the book guides buyers through the hurdles of funding, purchasing, and acquiring best-fit instruments at the least-expensive price. It explains how to find vendors that support their customers with both knowledgeable service and application support. Also offered is guidance on adapting your existing instruments to new applications, integrating new equipment, and what to do with instruments that can no longer serve in research mode.

The second section explains the sales process in detail. This is provided both as a warning against manipulative sales reps and as a guide to making the sale a win-win process for you and your vendor. It also shows you how to select a knowledgeable technical guru to help determine the exact system configuration you need and where to find the best price for it. Added bonuses are summary figures of buying sequence and sales tools and an appendix containing frequently asked questions and memory aids.

"Buying and Selling Laboratory Instruments" is for people directly involved in selecting and buying instruments for operational laboratories, from the principle investigator to the person actually delegated with investigating and selecting the system to be acquired. Sales representatives; laboratory managers; universities; pharmaceutical, biotech, and forensic research firms; corporate laboratories; graduate and postdoctoral students; and principle investigators will not want to be without this indispensible guide.

Recent years have seen massive changes in the tools and instrumentation available to chemists, in the scale of databases linking the properties of pure materials, solutions or other mixtures to molecular structure, and in the sheer ability of chemists to collect data through automated data acquisition systems. Despite these advances, many chemists still apply only rudimentary data analysis techniques and remain unaware of the advances made in information extraction over the last decade or so. This volume covers the principles of design and analysis in chemical research and development. It is organised in chapters dealing with major activities, and understanding is generated through large numbers of examples and practical applications relating to research and development chemistry. Authors adopt a user--friendly approach, concentrating on principles and interpretation rather than formal derivation and proof. A principal theme is that statistics and chemometrics (which relies on statistics) are essentially extensions of the logical processes used every day by chemists, and that they bring greater understanding of problems more quickly and easily than purely intuitive methods.

Particle characterization is an important component in product research and development, manufacture, and quality control of particulate materials and an important tool in the frontier of sciences, such as in biotechnology and nanotechnology. This book systematically describes one major branch of modern particle characterization technology - the light scattering methods. This is the first monograph in particle science and technology covering the principles, instrumentation, data interpretation, applications, and latest experimental development in laser diffraction, optical particle counting, photon correlation spectroscopy, and electrophoretic light scattering. In addition, a summary of all major particle sizing and other characterization methods, basic statistics and sample preparation techniques used in particle characterization, as well as almost 500 latest references are provided. The book is a must for industrial users of light scattering techniques characterizing a variety of particulate systems and for undergraduate or graduate students who want to learn how to use light scattering to study particular materials, in chemical engineering, material sciences, physical chemistry and other related fields.

Written by high performance computing (HPC) experts, Introduction to High Performance Computing for Scientists and Engineers provides a solid introduction to current mainstream computer architecture, dominant parallel programming models, and useful optimization strategies for scientific HPC. From working in a scientific computing center, the authors gained a unique perspective on the requirements and attitudes of users as well as manufacturers of parallel computers.

The text first introduces the architecture of modern cache-based microprocessors and discusses their inherent performance limitations, before describing general optimization strategies for serial code on cache-based architectures. It next covers shared- and distributed-memory parallel computer architectures and the most relevant network topologies. After discussing parallel computing on a theoretical level, the authors show how to avoid or ameliorate typical performance problems connected with OpenMP. They then present cache-coherent nonuniform memory access (ccNUMA) optimization techniques, examine distributed-memory parallel programming with message passing interface (MPI), and explain how to write efficient MPI code. The final chapter focuses on hybrid programming with MPI and OpenMP.

Users of high performance computers often have no idea what factors limit time to solution and whether it makes sense to think about optimization at all. This book facilitates an intuitive understanding of performance limitations without relying on heavy computer science knowledge. It also prepares readers for studying more advanced literature.

Read about the authors’ recent honor: Informatics Europe Curriculum Best Practices Award for Parallelism and Concurrency

Table of Contents

Modern Processors

Stored-program computer architecture

General-purpose cache-based microprocessor architecture

Memory hierarchies

Multicore processors

Multithreaded processors

Vector processors

Basic Optimization Techniques for Serial Code

Scalar profiling

Common sense optimizations

Simple measures, large impact

The role of compilers

C++ optimizations

Data Access Optimization

Balance analysis and lightspeed estimates

Storage order

Case study: The Jacobi algorithm

Case study: Dense matrix transpose

Algorithm classification and access optimizations

Case study: Sparse matrix-vector multiply

Parallel Computers

Taxonomy of parallel computing paradigms

Shared-memory computers

Distributed-memory computers

Hierarchical (hybrid) systems

Networks

Basics of Parallelization

Why parallelize?

Parallelism

Parallel scalability

Shared-Memory Parallel Programming with OpenMP

Short introduction to OpenMP

Case study: OpenMP-parallel Jacobi algorithm

Advanced OpenMP: Wavefront parallelization

Efficient OpenMP Programming

Profiling OpenMP programs

Performance pitfalls

Case study: Parallel sparse matrix-vector multiply

Locality Optimizations on ccNUMA Architectures

Locality of access on ccNUMA

Case study: ccNUMA optimization of sparse MVM

Placement pitfalls

ccNUMA issues with C++

Distributed-Memory Parallel Programming with MPI

Message passing

A short introduction to MPI

Example: MPI parallelization of a Jacobi solver

Efficient MPI Programming

MPI performance tools

Communication parameters

Synchronization, serialization, contention

Reducing communication overhead

Understanding intranode point-to-point communication

Hybrid Parallelization with MPI and OpenMP

Basic MPI/OpenMP programming models

MPI taxonomy of thread interoperability

Hybrid decomposition and mapping

Potential benefits and drawbacks of hybrid programming

Appendix A: Topology and Affinity in Multicore Environments

Appendix B: Solutions to the Problems

Bibliography

Index

Since the first recognition of outbreaks of cerebrospinal or spotted fever at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, the menace of the meningococcus has been high on the list of public health prio- ties. Few if any pathogens surpass the meningococcus in the rapidity and sev- ity with which it devastates previously healthy individuals. The challenge of understanding the biology of this fascinating microbe is immense, but few will doubt that successful control of meningococcal meningitis and septicemia will only transpire through the application of a body of extraordinary detailed inf- mation, including key minutiae of its molecular biology. In the first of two companion volumes, Meningococcal Vaccines, the team of experts gathered by Andy Pollard and Martin Maiden converge to p- vide an impressive accumulation of molecular tools with which to lay bare the secrets of the meningococcus. The results of this ambitious and welcome v- ume represent an exciting and much needed resource for all of us in the field.

This guide covers aspects of designing microarray experiments and analysing the data generated, including information on some of the tools that are available from non--commercial sources. Concepts and principles underpinning gene expression analysis are emphasised and wherever possible, the mathematics has been simplified. The guide is intended for use by graduates and researchers in bioinformatics and the life sciences and is also suitable for statisticians who are interested in the approaches currently used to study gene expression.* Microarrays are an automated way of carrying out thousands of experiments at once, and allows scientists to obtain huge amounts of information very quickly* Short, concise text on this difficult topic area* Clear illustrations throughout* Written by well--known teachers in the subject* Provides insight into how to analyse the data produced from microarrays

In addition to the issues constituting the basis of microbial biotechnology, such as microorganisms culturing or their use in industry and environmental protection, the book includes modern analytical techniques known as "omics", as well as digital techniques used to record adverse changes in the environment those resulting from the harmful activity of bacteria and fungi. A color atlas (Chapter 8) with photos of the fungi discussed in each chapter was also included. The book was prepared with the use of many years of scientific and didactic experience of the authors who conduct classes in various fields and specializations of natural sciences. This resulted in the interdisciplinary nature of the publication. It will be useful not only for PhD students and students of biotechnology and microbiology, but also environmental protection, ecological biotechnology, urban revitalization, as well as all those interested in applying the latest achievements of these areas of science in practice.

The accurate measurement of temperature is a vital parameter in many fields of engineering and scientific practice. Responding to emerging trends, this classic reference has been fully revised to include coverage of the latest instrumentation and measurement methods.

Featuring:

• Brand new chapters on computerised temperature measuring systems and temperature measurement in medicine.

• Sections on noise thermometers, the development of photoelectric and two-wave pyrometers and the latest IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standards

• Coverage of fibre optic thermometers, imaging of temperature fields and measurement in hazardous areas.

• Examination of virtual instruments, fuzzy logic in temperature measurement and new methods for thermometer calibration.

There is an increasing need for analysts to understand and be able to quantify the performance of analytical instruments, in particular with respect to the following:
* specifying equipment for purchase
* estimating uncertainties in intrumental measurements
* quantifying and demonstrating performance quality
This text links together an understanding of performance characteristics with an appreciation of the limitations imposed by instrument design, leading to the interplay of the validation and qualification processes within quality assurance systems.
A unique framework of topics covers the major instrumental techniques of spectrophotometry, chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, and atomic emission spectroscopy. The use of over 200 questions and answers, together with cross-referencing, helps to develop a thorough understanding of the various concepts that underpin the different techniques.
This book will appeal to a broad range of professional chemists, technicians and students, weither with reference to specific analytical techniques, or within a general course of study in instrumental performance.
Analytical Techniques in the Sciences
This series of books provides coverage of all the major analytical techniques and their application in the most important areas of physical, life and materials sciences. Each text is presented in an open learning/distant learning style, in which the learning objectives are clearly identified. The reader's understanding of the material is constantly evaluated by the use of self-assessment and discussion questions.

The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller Have you ever wondered if a severed head retains consciousness long enough to see what happened to it? Or whether your dog would run to fetch help, if you fell down a disused mineshaft? And what would happen if you were to give an elephant the largest ever single dose of LSD? The chances are that someone, somewhere has conducted a scientific experiment to find out... 'Excellent accounts of some of the most important and interesting experiments in biology and psychology' Simon Singh If left to their own devices, would babies instinctively choose a well-balanced diet? Discover the secret of how to sleep on planes Which really tastes better in a blind tasting - Coke or Pepsi?

THIS VOLUME, WHICH IS DESIGNED FOR STAND-ALONE USE IN TEACHING AND RESEARCH, FOCUSES ON QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, AN AREA OF SCIENCE THAT MANY CONSIDER TO BE THE CENTRAL CORE OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY. TUTORIALS AND REVIEWS COVER

1. HOW TO OBTAIN SIMPLE CHEMICAL INSIGHT AND CONCEPTS FROM DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY CALCULATIONS,
2. HOW TO MODEL PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS AND EXCITED STATES, AND
3. HOW TO COMPUTE ENTHALPIES OF FORMATION OF MOLECULES.

A FOURTH CHAPTER TRACES CANADIAN RESEARCH IN THE EVOLUTION OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY. ALSO INCLUDED WITH THIS VOLUME IS A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO QCPE.FROM REVIEWS OF THE SERIES

"Reviews in Computational Chemistry proves itself an invaluable resource to the computational chemist. This series has a place in every computational chemist’s library."—Journal of the American Chemical Society

Introduction to Statistical Analysis of Laboratory Data presents a detailed discussion of important statistical concepts and methods of data presentation and analysis * Provides detailed discussions on statistical applications including a comprehensive package of statistical tools that are specific to the laboratory experiment process * Introduces terminology used in many applications such as the interpretation of assay design and validation as well as fit for purpose procedures including real world examples * Includes a rigorous review of statistical quality control procedures in laboratory methodologies and influences on capabilities * Presents methodologies used in the areas such as method comparison procedures, limit and bias detection, outlier analysis and detecting sources of variation * Analysis of robustness and ruggedness including multivariate influences on response are introduced to account for controllable/uncontrollable laboratory conditions

X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, one of the most powerful and flexible techniques available for the analysis and characterization of materials today, has gone through major changes during the past decade.

Fully revised and expanded by 30%, X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, Second Edition incorporates the latest industrial and scientific trends in all areas. It updates all previous material and adds new chapters on such topics as the history of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, the design of X-ray spectrometers, state-of-the-art applications, and X-ray spectra.

Ron Jenkins draws on his extensive experience in training and consulting industry professionals for this clear and concise treatment, covering first the basic aspects of X rays, then the methodology of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and available instrumentation. He offers a comparison between wavelength and energy dispersive spectrometers as well as step-by-step guidelines to X-ray spectrometric techniques for qualitative and quantitative analysis—from specimen preparation to real-world industrial application.

Favored by the American Chemical Society and the International Centre for Diffraction Data, X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, Second Edition is an ideal introduction for newcomers to the field and an invaluable reference for experienced spectroscopists—in chemical analysis, geology, metallurgy, and materials science.

An up-to-date review of X-ray spectroscopic techniques. This proven guidebook for industry professionals is thoroughly updated and expanded to reflect advances in X-ray analysis over the last decade. X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, Second Edition includes:

• The history of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry—new to this edition.
• A critical review of the most useful X-ray spectrometers.
• Techniques and procedures for quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Modern applications and industrial trends.
• X-ray spectra—new to this edition.

The evolution of observational instruments, simulation techniques, and computing power has given aquatic scientists a new understanding of biological and physical processes that span temporal and spatial scales. This has created a need for a single volume that addresses concepts of scale in a manner that builds bridges between experimentalists and theoreticians in aquatic ecology. Handbook of Scaling Methods in Aquatic Ecology: Measurement, Analysis, Simulation is the first comprehensive compilation of modern scaling methods used in marine and freshwater ecological research. Written by leading researchers, it presents a systematic approach to dealing with space and time in aquatic ecology. This is a compendium that analyzes themes related to the response or behavior of organisms to processes occurring over multiple spatial and temporal scales. This book covers: novel techniques for data collection, focusing on processes over a broad range of scales (from bacteria to ocean basins); newly-developed concepts and data analysis algorithms; and innovative computer models and simulations to mimic complex biological processes. The Handbook serves as a reference volume for investigators seeking insight into new experimental approaches and data analysis, as well as the sensor design required for optimal sampling. Many of the algorithms and models provided are directly applicable to your experimental data. This comprehensive treatment of scaling methods and applications can help foster a unified understanding of subject matter among the modeling, experimental, and field research communities.

Dealing with the volume, complexity, and diversity of data currently being generated by scientific experiments and simulations often causes scientists to waste productive time. Scientific Data Management: Challenges, Technology, and Deployment describes cutting-edge technologies and solutions for managing and analyzing vast amounts of data, helping scientists focus on their scientific goals. The book begins with coverage of efficient storage systems, discussing how to write and read large volumes of data without slowing the simulation, analysis, or visualization processes. It then focuses on the efficient data movement and management of storage spaces and explores emerging database systems for scientific data. The book also addresses how to best organize data for analysis purposes, how to effectively conduct searches over large datasets, how to successfully automate multistep scientific process workflows, and how to automatically collect metadata and lineage information. This book provides a comprehensive understanding of the latest techniques for managing data during scientific exploration processes, from data generation to data analysis. Enhanced by numerous detailed color images, it includes real-world examples of applications drawn from biology, ecology, geology, climatology, and more. Check out Dr. Shoshani discuss the book during an interview with International Science Grid This Week (iSGTW): http://www.isgtw.org/?pid=1002259