I recently “discovered” a very interesting radio programme on BBC Radio 4. It is “devoted to the powerful, sometimes beautiful, often abused but ever ubiquitous world of numbers”. A few weeks ago we were asked to say what we were doing while listening to the programme. The next week we were told that nearly 2000 e-mails had been received and this data had been given to information designer David McCandless to turn into a graphic. When this was trailed I got the impression that something new and exciting was going to be displayed and I thought that the graphic would include sound. The graphic is good but rather “ordinary” and I was disappointed. This got me thinking about how we display information. Have we made any advance in the last 25 years? Could sound be used!

Since 2004 the Büchi Young Scientists NIRAward has been given to young scientists who worked during their diploma or doctoral thesis in the field of near infrared spectroscopy and achieved outstanding results. In the past many excellent scientists from NIR research groups all over the world have received this award.

Patrik Johanssona and A.M.C. DaviesbaApplied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Göteborg, SwedenbNorwich Near Infrared Consultancy, 75 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich NR4 6AA, UK. E-mail: td@nnirc.co.uk

Introduction

In last year’s August/September issue of Spectroscopy Europe1 I wrote a column about my “discovery” of computational chemistry and asked if anyone was interested. A satisfying number of readers answered the on-line survey with very positive comments but none more so than Patrik Johansson who e-mailed me about his delight with the column and to assure me that there was “indeed a bunch of scientists out there that do work on IR (and Raman) using both experimental and computational techniques—I am one of them”! This column is the first result of the ensuing e-mail conversation and is due to Patrik. I remain excited by the possibilities of computational chemistry particularly as Patrik thinks that an approach to NIR spectroscopy is indeed possible.Tony Davies

Axiom Analytical, Inc. has announced its fibre-optic coupled FST-600N Series NIR transmission sampling systems. Available in both manual and auto-sampling versions, they provide the ability to analyse pharmaceutical and chemical samples over pathlengths ranging from zero to 5 mm. The operation of the FST-600 is based on the use of a moveable fibre-optic probe. This is mounted on a rack and pinion stage with an electronic pathlength readout. Samples are contained in cuvettes or plastic bags. Both heated and multisampling stages are available. The auto-sampling version of the FST-600 features computer control of path length and sample sequencing. This allows the system to be programmed to sequentially analyse multiple samples either at a fixed path length or a series of path lengths.

Hamamatsu’s C11118GA is a NIR miniature spectrometer for process measurements. Optimised for CH combinational measurements such as asphaltene, cellulose and carbonates, the C11118GA simultaneously measures from 900 nm to 2550 nm. Integration times of 6 μs measure all wavelengths simultaneously, preventing data blur from rapidly changing samples. Integration times range from 6 μs to 40,000 μs (typical). The C11118GA’s doubled slit area and new diffraction grating maximise signal. The input slit is 140 μm by 250 μm (0.22 NA). A proprietary master transmission grating provides higher performance from 2000 nm to 2550 nm.

The MB3600-PH FT-NIR spectrometer is intended for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. It can be used in a broad range of applications, and can be operated without any scheduled maintenance for ten years. It is a benchtop analyser that can be fitted with a variety of accessories for measurements on a broad range of applications, such as: laboratory QA/QC analysis, raw material identification and qualification, research and development, NIR method development, and at-line PAT measurements.

The Perten Instruments website is now available in German and French.  www.perten.com

Applied Analytics has experienced double digit growth in 2009, with success in key markets such as Brazil, the US, Japan and the Persian Gulf.  www.a-a-inc.com

Chemical studies of exoplanets—planets that orbit not the Sun, but distant stars—rely on spectroscopy. Such studies used to be the domain of space observatories and of the world's largest ground-based telescopes. Now, a new data analysis technique successfully pioneered by a group of astronomers from the US, the UK and Germany has brought exoplanet spectroscopy to a much smaller (and more wide-spread) class of ground-based telescopes.

Ocean Optics has expanded the wavelength capabilities of several of its miniature fibre-optic spectrometers. The XR series, available for the USB2000+, JAZ-EL2000 and USB4000, covers all wavelengths from ~200 nm to 1050 nm.

The new SimPlus software from Perten Instruments allows users to monitor and administrate multiple DA 7200 instruments (on-site or remote installations) from one location, access data and results, update calibrations and create reports.

MicrOptix Technologies has launched a new family of sample adaptors for the i-LAB hand held analysing spectrometer, which opens up a wide array of visible and NIR range measurement possibilities for i-LAB users.

Vixar has announced a new line of multi-wavelength lasers packaged in a small form factor housing, targeting industrial sensing, spectroscopy and medical sensing applications.

Children as young as five months old will follow the gaze of an adult towards an object and engage in joint attention, according to research at Birkbeck, University of London, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. The findings, published in Biology Letters (doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.1069), suggest that the human brain develops this important social skill surprisingly early in infancy.

Children as young as five months old will follow the gaze of an adult towards an object and engage in joint attention, according to research at Birkbeck, University of London, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. The findings, published in Biology Letters (doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.1069), suggest that the human brain develops this important social skill surprisingly early in infancy.

Espinosa Alonso, a chemist from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, used four different spectroscopic techniques to study catalysts in the course of their preparation: UV-vis-NIR-microspectroscopy, IR microspectroscopy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and tomographic energy dispersive diffraction imaging (TEDDI). Whilst MRI and TEDDI are already frequently used in other research fields, but they are not commonly used to study the preparation of catalysts.

The 14th International Conference on Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR-2009) was held from 7 to 16 November in Bangkok, Thailand.

We are pleased to bring you photos and videos from:

The conference The exhibition The social programme

A.M.C. DaviesNorwich Near Infrared Consultancy, 75 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich NR4 6AA, UK. E-mail: td@nnirc.co.ukTom FearnDepartment of Statistical Science, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. E-mail: tom@stats.ucl.ac.uk

Introduction

This column has been developed from two recent publications by Tom.1,2 My thanks to NIR Publications for allowing us to use Reference 1 essentially unchanged.

Tony

It is common practice in near infrared (NIR) calibration to apply pre-treatments designed to correct for the scatter effects usually seen in absorbance data. These pre-treatments can interfere with interpretation of the spectra. This is illustrated here with the aid of two rather extreme artificial examples.

Foss NIRSystems has introduced Service Pack 3 for Vision 3.50 and, at the same time, released DSP 27, which replaces DSP 26 and all previous versions.