Botulinum neurotoxins produced by Clostridium botulinum are the most potent toxins known. Because of the threat of bio-terrorism, sensitive methods for detecting botulinum neurotoxin are needed; howev...
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Night vision systems utilize cameras that are sensitive to wavelengths such as infrared (IR) to produce image frames. The IR image frames may be displayed alone in sequence to provide a moving picture...
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Compact laser sources emitting in the mid- to long-wavelength infrared range (4 to 12 microns) currently are of great interest for spectroscopic applications in homeland security, laser photo-acoustic...
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Intersubband semiconductor lasers represent a new type of laser that emits photons when electrons within a quantum-well structure release their energy during transit from high- to low-energy states. A...
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Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry is commonly used to identify and characterize proteins and to sequence DNA. A key step in this process involves creating sample sp...
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Intersubband semiconductor lasers represent a new type of laser that emits photons when electrons within a quantum-well structure release their energy during transit from high- to low-energy states. O...
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Absorption spectroscopy is a chemical analysis tool that measures light absorption of a material over a range of frequencies. In laser absorption spectroscopy, a laser may be directed through the mate...
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Flexible single-crystalline semiconductors used in high-performance micro- and macro-electronics have been intensely studied in recent years.  Thin-film transistors using single crystalline silicon, ...
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One component of lab-on-a-chip technology is on-chip microlenses for optical analysis. Prior investigators have demonstrated tiny optical lenses with variable focal lengths. These lenses use specializ...
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Detecting chemical and biological agents at low levels is important in military applications, drug enforcement, airport security and environmental monitoring.  A variety of devices and methods curren...
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Protein characterization has become an integral part of modern biology, even inspiring a new discipline known as proteomics. Mass spectrometry (MS) is the most widely used technique to characterize pr...
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Power converters change energy from one form to another form more suitable to a specific application. Parallel power converter modules for power sources, such as those used for computer servers, have ...
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Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) have been used to create mechanical resonators for switching, filtering and other purposes in electrical systems. NEMS/ME...
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Most high throughput screening (HTS) for new chemicals is done in microtiter well plates. Reagents for HTS can be very expensive, making miniaturization of the plates desirable. Microfluidics is an al...
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The atomic force microscope (AFM), one of many types of scanned-proximity probe microscopes, images a sample by lightly touching it with a probe tip attached to the end of an extremely flexible leaf s...
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Spectroscopic studies evaluate the response of a specimen to different colors of light. Lasers are normally used in spectroscopic studies; however, lasers typically operate in one or more cavity modes...
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Although detecting high-frequency magnetic fields is important in MRI, NMR and magnetic resonance force microscopes, it is more difficult to design magnetic field sensors at high frequencies (greater ...
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Ultraviolet (UV) lamps are used as a source of white (multi-colored) UV light for many applications; however, these lamps are large and expensive, require a high voltage, generate a lot of heat and ma...
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Analysis by mass spectrometry requires that molecules first be converted to gas-phase ions. Converting small molecules into ions is straightforward; however, it was not possible to ionize large molecu...
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The atomic force microscope (AFM), one of many types of scanned-proximity probe microscopes, images a sample by lightly touching it with a probe tip attached to the end of an extremely flexible leaf s...
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Microfluidic devices are being used in an increasing number of applications, including traditional laboratory tasks. To detect molecules in a small amount of solution, it’s often advantageous to fir...
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Most biochemical interactions are studied in solutions containing dilute concentrations of molecules. However, the complexity of the cellular environment makes it difficult to compare the results of s...
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Neuroscientists often study individual neurons in brain tissue in vitro. In order to reveal the cellular mechanisms underlying neural network reconfiguration, plasticity and behavior, many neurons mus...
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Controlled micrometer-scale oil droplets have applications in nano-materials, meso-materials, responsive materials, optical materials, filters, sensors and opto-electronic technologies.  Emulsion dro...
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Spectrometry is an analysis technique in which certain frequencies of light, relating to the absorption lines of a chemical species, are used to determine the chemical’s properties.  Some measureme...
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