We are pleased to present Volume 9 of our highly successful series, which now celebrates 12 years of providing the magnetic resonance community with topical, authoritative chapters on new aspects of biological magnetic resonance. As always, we try to present a diversity of topic coverage in each volume, ranging from applications of in vivo magnetic resonance to more fundamental aspects of electron spin resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance. Philip Yeagle presents an eagerly awaited chapter on 31p NMR studies of membranes and membrane protein interactions. Alan Marshall has con tributed two chapters to the volume: one, with Jiejun Wu, describes magnetic resonance studies of 5S-RNA as probes of its structure and conformation; the secon"

In the broad field of supramolecular chemistry, the design and hence the use of chemosensors for ion and molecule recognition have developed at an extroardinary rate. This imaginative and creative area which involves the interface of different disciplines, e.g. organic and inorganic chemistry, physical chemistry, biology, medicine, environmental science, is not only fundamental in nature. It is also clear that progress is most rewarding for several new sensor applications deriving from the specific signal delivered by the analyte-probe interaction. Indeed, if calcium sensing in real time for biological purposes is actually possible, owing to the emergence of efficient fluorescent receptors, other elements can also be specifically detected, identified and finally titrated using tailored chemosensors. Pollutants such as heavy metals or radionuclides are among the main targets since their detection and removal could be envisioned at very low concentrations with, in addition, sensors displaying specific and strong complexing abilities. Besides, various species of biological interest (or others, the list is large) including sugars and other micellaneous molecules such as oxygen and carbon dioxide can be actually probed with optodes and similar devices. The present volume in which the key lectures of the workshop are collected gives a survey of the main developments in the field. The success of the workshop mainly came from the high quality of the lectures, the invited short talks, the two posters sessions and the many very lively discussions which without doubt will produce positive outcomes.

Micro-TAS '98 is the third of a series of symposia initiated by MBSA (University of Twente) in 1994, on the subject of miniaturizing, and integrating within a monolithic structure, the chemical, biochemical and biological procedures commonly used for analysis and synthesis. The primary tool used to develop micro-total analysis systems (mu- TAS) has been micro-photolithographic patterning and micromachining. These powerful tools of Micro System Technology (MST or MEMS) have been applied in highly imaginative ways to develop microchip chemical arrays, fully integrated pump and fluid manifolds, and electrokinetically driven micro-channel systems to be used for genetic analysis, clinical diagnostics and environmental monitoring, and to integrate reactions as diverse as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the large volume, partial oxidation of ammonia. This text illustrates the rapid expansion of the field, the extensive industrial involvement, the increasing number of participating researchers, the expanding range of concepts and applications that utilize MST and microfluidic devices, and new MST-compatible plastic micro-machining to meet the needs of the life science community. This volume contains the proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Micro-Total Analysis Systems, mu-TAS '98, held on October 13-16 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. State-of-the-art invited and contributed papers presented by the world's leading mu- TAS research groups provide a highly informative picture of the growth since 1994 and of the promising future of this exciting and rapidly growing field.

This book draws together leading workers in the fields of mass spectrometry and gas phase ion chemistry, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. It contains 14 lecture summaries and accounts of seven workshops with contributions from Europe and North America.

The First International Symposium on the Interface between Analytical Chemistry and Microbiology: Applications of Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry was held June 1987 at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, U.S.A. The purpose of the "Interface" meeting was to forge connections between analytical chemists and microbiologists that are using chromatography and mass spectrometry to solve common problems. The goals were admirably fulfilled. Nearly a hundred participants from seven European countries, Japan, and the United States participated in hearing twenty-three plenary talks and thirty-six submitted papers and posters. The papers and discussions displayed the breadth and depth of current research applications and revealed future directions. This book "Analytical Microbiology Methods: Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry" is loosely based on some of the presentations and discussions at the meeting. Each chapter describes specific methodology and applications in the context of the relevant scientific background. The present book continues the theme of an earlier book, "Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Applications in Microbiology", edited by G. Odham, L. Larsson, and P-A. Mardh, published by Plenum Press in 1984.

Spectroscopy of Defects in Organic Crystals presents a masterly summary of the widespread and voluminous literature on the subject, presenting theoretical and experimental investigations of electron and vibronic optical spectra of organic crystals. Electronic states of defects combine to form crystal near-to-band and band levels. These are discrete states in the vicinity of exciton bands, surface and dislocational excitons, etc. Some studies have expressed dissimilar or even conflicting opinions about the nature of observed phenomena. In the choice of the material, preference has been given to phenomena which have received a theoretical interpretation. Some attention is paid to observations which are not completely understood and also to effects predicted but not yet confirmed. The monograph will be useful for scientists as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students of solid state physics.

by Professor D. E. Games, Mass Spectrometry Research Unit, University College of Swansea Sample preparation can be viewed as occupying a Cinderella role in analytical science. However, the quality of sample preparation plays a key role in high In the past decade, there has been quality analysis and deserves higher stature. considerable interest in the use of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) as an alternative to conventional procedures for the preparation of samples for ana lysis. The driving force for this development is the need for automated, sim pler, faster, non-destructive and selective methods for extraction, preferably using non-toxic extraction media which are easily disposed of. Utilization of supercritical fluids for extraction fulfils these requirements because of their unique physical chemical properties and usually low toxicity. Selectivity can be achieved by suitable selection of pressure (density), temperature and modi fier conditions which enable solvating power to be varied. The high diffusivity of supercritical fluids provides rapid sample penetration and extraction. Use of fluids with low critical temperatures enables extraction to be conducted under mild thermal conditions ensuring that thermally labile compounds do not decompose. The technique can be used off-line, and the extracts analysed by appropriate techniques, or it can be used on-line, by coupling with a variety of chromatographic techniques. These can then, if necessary, be coupled fur ther with spectroscopic techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared, ultra violet or mass spectrometry, to provide specific identification or structural information."

As Lord Kelvin said, "Fourier's theorem is not only one of the most beautiful results of modern analysis, but it may be said to furnish an indispensable instrument in the treatment of nearly every recondite question in modern physics." This has remained durable knowledge for a century, and has extended its applicability to topics as diverse as medical imaging (CT scanning), the presentation of images on screens and their digital transmission, remote sensing, geophysical exploration, and many branches of engineering. Fourier Analysis and Imaging is based on years of teaching a course on the Fourier Transform at the senior or early graduate level, as well as on Prof. Bracewell's 1995 text Two-Dimensional Imaging. It is an excellent textbook and will also be a welcome addition to the reference library of those many professionals whose daily activities involve Fourier analysis in its many guises.

Key Features:. Discusses the combination of effective analytical tools and chemometric analysis to prevent or detect food fraud and adulteration Explains how the main findings of this book confirm the need for coordination and transparency among international stakeholders to ensure strongly sustainable food supply chains Reviews the related regulations promulgated in some developed countries for assuring and ensuring that the food product is not exposed to any fraudulent practices aimed at deceiving the consumer

Fluorescence reporter is the key element of any sensing or imaging technology. Its optimal choice and implementation is very important for increasing the sensitivity, precision, multiplexing power, and also the spectral, temporal, and spatial reso- tion in different methods of research and practical analysis. Therefore, design of ?uorescence reporters with advanced properties is one of the most important problems. In this volume, top experts in this ?eld provide advanced knowledge on the design and properties of ?uorescent dyes. Organic dyes were the ?rst ?uorescent materials used for analytical purposes, and we observe that they retain their leading positions against strong competition of new materials - conjugated polymers, semiconductor nanocrystals, and metal chelating complexes. Recently, molecular and cellular biology got a valuable tool of organic ?uorophores synt- sized by cell machinery and incorporated into green ?uorescent protein and its analogs. Demands of various ?uorescence techniques operating in spectral, anisotropy, and time domains require focused design of ?uorescence reporters well adapted to these techniques. Near-IR spectral range becomes more and more attractive for various applications, and new dyes emitting in this range are strongly requested. Two-photonic ?uorescence has become one of the major tools in bioimaging, and ?uorescence reporters well adapted to this technique are in urgent need. These problems cannot be solved without the knowledge of fundamental principles of dye design and of physical phenomena behind their ?uorescence response.

"If there would be no God ~ then what a staff-captain am I?" ~ said one of the characters in a novel by Dostoevskii. In a similar way we can exclaim: "If there would be no nonlinearity ~ than what physics would that be'?". Really, the most interesting and exciting effects are described by non linear equations, and vanish in the linear approximation. For example, the general theory of relativity by A.Einstein comes to mind first - one of the most beautiful physical theories, which is in fact essentially nonlinear. Next, the phase transitions crystal ~ liquid and liquid ~ gas are due to the anhar monicity of inter-particle interactions, to dissociation and infinite motion. Similarly, transitions into the superconducting state or the superftuid would be impossible with purely harmonic interaction potentials. Another bril liant achievement in nonlinear physics was the construction of a laser and the subsequent development of nonlinear optics. The latter describes the in teraction of the matter with light of super-high intensity, when multi-quanta intra-molecular transitions become essential. Last, we should note here the very beautiful mathematical theory ~ the theory of catastrophes. Its subject is the study of invariant general properties of multi-dimensional surfaces in the vicinity of bifurcation points with respect to continuous transformations.

R.N.IBBETT This book provides a source of information on all major aspects of NMR spectroscopy of synthetic polymers. It represents a deliberate attempt to pull together the numerous strands of the subject in a single comprehensive volume, designed to be readable at every scientific level. It is intended that the book will be of use to the vast majority of polymer scientists and NMR spec troscopists alike. Readers new to NMR will find extensive information within the book on the available techniques, allowing full exploration of the many polymer science applications. Readers already established within a branch of NMR will find the book an excellent guide to the practical study of polymers and the inter pretation of experimental data. Readers who have specialised in polymer NMR will find the book a valuable dictionary of proven methodologies, as well as a guide to the very latest developments in the subject. Workers from all of the main branches of polymer NMR have been invited to contribute. Each chapter therefore contains information relating to a parti cular investigative topic, indentified mainly on the basis of technique. The book is loosely divided between solution and solid-state domains, although the numerous interconnections confirm that these two domains are parts of the same continuum. Basic principles are explained within each chapter, combined with discussions of experimental theory and applications. Examples of polymer investigations are covered generously and in many chapters there are discussions of the most recent theoretical and experimental developments."

This is a book on one of the most fascinating and controversial areas in contemporary science of carbon, chemistry, and materials science. It concisely summarizes the state of the art in topical and critical reviews written by professionals in this and related fields.

The 41st Annual Conference on Applications of X-Ray Analysis was held August 2-6, 1993, at the Sheraton Denver Technical Center Hotel, Denver, Colorado. From its modest beginnings in the early 1950's, the Denver X-Ray Conference has grown to become a major venue in the national scientific calendar, with an ever-growing overseas participation. The 1993 Conference was the latest of these annual gatherings of x-ray analysts, who come together to discuss topics of current interest in diffraction and fluorescence. As the size and flavor of the Conference has changed over the years, so too have the methods and techniques of x-ray materials analysis matured. Science is advanced by the creativity of a few and the mistakes of many. It is important, therefore, that from time to time we sit back and reflect on how we got where we are, and where we are likely to go next. There has been no greater impact on the field than the introduction of the digital computer, and the Plenary Session of the 1993 Conference, "Impact of the PC in X-Ray Analysis," was designed to reflect on the role of the personal computer in the metamorphosis of x-ray instrumentation and techniques. Since the personal computer is a creation of non-x-ray specialists, we, as a group, have simply attached ourselves to the coat-tails of experts and developers in the PC field and taken advantage of new computer systems as and when they were developed.

The 41st Annual Conference on Applications of X-Ray Analysis was held August 3-7, 1992, at the Sheraton Colorado Springs Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Conference is recognized to be a major event in the x-ray analysis field, bringing together scientists and engineers from around the world to discuss the state of the art in x-ray applications as well as indications for further developments. In recent years, one of the most exciting and important developments in the x-ray field has been the applications of grazing-incidence x-rays for surface and thin-film analysis. To introduce the conference attendees to these "leading-edge" developments, the topic for the Plenary Session was "Grazing-Incidence X Ray Characterization of Materials. " The Conference had the privilege of inviting leading experts in the field of x-ray thin film analysis to deliver lectures at the Plenary Session. Dr. D. K. Bowen, University of Warwick, U. K., opened the session with a lecture on "Grazing Incidence X-Ray Scattering from Thin Films. " He reviewed and compared grazing incidence diffraction, fluorescence and reflectivity techniques. Results of experimental and theoretical analysis were also discussed. Dr. B. Lenge1er, Forchungszentrum Ju1ich, Germany, followed with a lecture on "Grazing Incidence Diffuse X-Ray Scattering from Thin Films. " He concentrated on the use of newly developed "off-specular" reflectivity techniques for the determination of vertical roughness, lateral correlation length and contour exponent on surfaces."

The 2nd completely revised edition of the directory Who's Who in Food Chemistry - Europe comprises carefully checked and evaluated information on more than 750 European food scientists, including complete addresses, telephone and fax numbers, fields of expertise, research topics as well as consulting activities. Private, governmental and official laboratories for food control are also included. Exhaustive indexes allow easy access to all entries. The increasing demand for internationally approved professionals in all fields of food science makes this volume an invaluable source of information for the food industry, R + D institutions, consultants, private laboratories and university departments seeking for cooperation and service partners or consultancy.

Process analytical chemistry (PAC) can be defined as the technology of obtaining quantitative and qualitative information about a chemical process in order to control or optimise its performance. This highly practical book provides an up-to-date introduction to the field with a special emphasis placed on industrial processes. Edited by representatives from one of the world's leading chemical companies and centres of excellence for research into the subject, the book is written by a transatlantic team of authors who provide a global perspective.

During the past fifty years, thousands of natural products have been isolated from plants, fungi, and bacteria. Apart from intense searches by pharmaceutical companies for medicinals and the concentrated effort mounted by the National Cancer Institute, many of these have not been tested in biological systems. The major reasons for this appear to be, at least, twofold. First, individual researchers looking for biologically active natural products will often isolate only small amounts of material sufficient to determine a structure and calculate the specific activity for their particular bioassay systems: insufficient funds preclude re-isolating the compound unless industrial potential is foreseen. Second, the difficulty with which original structures were proved prior to 1972. This required the isolation of relatively large quantities of a natural product and there followed extensive degradation, elemental analyses of the parent and its fragments, then synthesis, piece by piece, of the molecule. All this took time and energy. No wonder that when the structure was proved the chemist was enervated. And coupled to this was the fact that many chemists were not trained to test their materials in biological systems. In contrast, today a natural product can be isolated, its mass and molecular formula determined and, if there is some serendipity, crystals may be obtained for single crystal x-ray analysis. If conditions are near perfect, it is possible to isolate and identify a novel compound in a month.

Interest in the occurrence and behaviour of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is increasing due to their adverse effects on the environment and human health. It is essential that information is made available on the various aspects of research on VOCs to enable better understanding and control of the various environmental and human health threats. The information in this book will be used to improve communication and understanding of the various approaches. In particular the potential and limitations of the described analytical methods will be essential in defining environmental studies and interpreting the results.

The application of fluorescence in drug discovery, high-throughout screenings in genomics and proteomics is and will be evidently successful. The increased use of fluorescence techniques is greatly enhanced by the improved instrumentation pioneered by inventive scientists and now made available commercially by several high-tech companies. Moreover, the design and development of many new molecular probes with higher selectivity for specific microenvironmental properties has stimulated many new researchers to employ fluorescence techniques for solving their problems. Probably the most significant breakthrough in fluorescence is its use in detection of single molecules and even of their real-time dynamics. Also, probing inside living cells has become a hot topic in the life sciences. This topic book reflects the updates of scientific progress presented by frontline researchers.

Due to the worldwide epidemic of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the past ten years have witnessed a flurry of activity in the chemotherapy of viral diseases. Unprecedented scientific efforts have been made by scientists and clinicians to combat infections of human immunodeficiency virus (HIY), the causative agent. Looking back over the past ten years, we have made remarkable progress toward the treatment of the viral disease: isolation of HIV only two years after the identification of the disease, plus major strides in the areas of the molecular biology and virology of the retrovirus, etc. More remarkably, the discovery of the chemotherapeutic agent AZT (Retrovir) was made within two years after the isolation and identification of the virus, followed by unprecedented drug development efforts to culminate in the FDA approval of AZT in twenty-three months, which was a record-breaking time for approval of any drug for a major disease. The last six to seven years have particularly been an exciting and productive period for nucleoside chemists. Since the activity of AZI' was established in 1985, nucleoside chemists have had golden opportunities to discover additional anti-HIV nucleosipes, which are hoped to be less toxic and more effective than AZT, and the opportunity continues. As we all are aware, AZT possesses extremely potent anti-HIY activity, and no other nucleoside or non nucleoside has surpassed the potency of AZT in vitro."

Covering both the theoretical and applied aspects of electrochemistry, this well-known monograph series presents a review of the latest advances in the field.

Integrating both theoretical and applied aspects of electrochemistry, this acclaimed monograph series presents a review of the latest advances in the field. The current volume includes chapters on the mechanism of nerve excitation from an electrochemical standpoint, the electronic factor in the kinetics of charge-transfer reaction, and five other subjects.

* It has been rumored that a bumble bee has such aerodynamic deficiencies that it should be incapable of flight. Fiberglass-reinforced polymer com posites, similarly, have two (apparently) insurmountable obstacles to per formance: 1) Water can hydrolyze any conceivable bond between organic and inorganic phase, and 2) Stresses across the interface during temperature cycling (resulting from a mismatch in thermal expansion coefficients) may exceed the strength of one of the phases. Organofunctional silanes are hybrid organic-inorganic compounds that are used as coupling agents across the organic-inorganic interface to help overcome these two obstacles to composite performance. One of their functions is to use the hydrolytic action of water under equilibrium condi tions to relieve thermally induced stresses across the interface. If equilib rium conditions can be maintained, the two problems act to cancel each other out. Coupling agents are defined primarily as materials that improve the practical adhesive bond of polymer to mineral. This may involve an increase in true adhesion, but it may also involve improved wetting, rheology, and other handling properties. The coupling agent may also modify the inter phase region to strengthen the organic and inorganic boundary layers."

This volume is the scientific chronicle of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Computational Aspects of the Study of Biological Macro molecules by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, which was held June 3-8, 1990 at Il Ciocco, near Barga, Italy. The use of computers in the study of biological macromolecules by NMR spectroscopy is ubiquitous. The applications are diverse, including data col lection, reduction, and analysis. Furthermore, their use is rapidly evolv ing, driven by the development of new experimental methods in NMR and molecular biology and by phenomenal increases in computational perfor mance available at reasonable cost. Computers no longer merely facilitate, but are now absolutely essential in the study of biological macromolecules by NMR, due to the size and complexity of the data sets that are obtained from modern experiments. The Workshop, and this proceedings volume, provide a snapshot of the uses of computers in the NMR of biomolecules. While by no means exhaustive, the picture that emerges illustrates both the. importance and the diversity of their application."