Articles
Tony (A.M.C.) Davies stresses the importance of always looking at the spectrum, even if you [think you] know there’s nothing to learn. He relates his experience with noise in NIR spectra and what he has learnt from it. He would like us all to examine spectra for abnormality before relying on automated methods.
As nanotechnology grows in importance, the need for rapid, easy and automated analytical methods to investigate new nanomaterials increases. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has the potential to replace numerous methods for the investigation of a wide range of nanostructured materials and with particular potential in the area of PAT.
This article describes the analysis of cells from the pulp of the feather by IR spectroscopy and the possibility of using infrared imaging of intact eggs to determine bird gender.
Tony Davies and Tom Fearn present “A digression on regression”. They turn their attention to one of the simpler regression techniques, Classical Least Squares (CLS). As well as an explanation of the basics, they explain why it is not often used in spectroscopy, and give the pros and cons of various regression techniques.
Nati Salvadó, Salvador Butí and Trinitat Pradell have used a number of techniques to investigate changes in pictorial techniques in Catalan paintings in the 15th century. The combination of different techniques is of particular value. The use of synchtrotron radiation as a light source is also an advantage.
Roumiana Tsenkova introduces us to the field of “Aquaphotomics” which she has pioneered. The potential information held by water in biological systems coupled with NIR spectroscopy’s ability to extract a large amount of information at once, means that Aquaphotomics may be of great importance in the study of living organisms.
The counterfeiting of medicines is an increasing world wide problem as a great danger to public health. Counterfeit medicines are imitations of their authentic counterparts so that both physical characterisation and chemical analysis are required to discriminate between them. In this respect, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is ideally suited to screening for counterfeit medicines because it is non-destructive, fast, requires no sample preparation, and provides a fingerprint of the physical and chemical composition of a product.
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!
We have previously investigated the topographic and quantitative changes in the distribution of trace metals in spinal cords from ALS and control patients. X-ray fluorescence microscopy was used to investigate their metallic nature and distribution in single nerve cells. A deeper understanding of the neurodegenerative processes in ALS requires focus on the biochemical changes occurring in nervous tissue of such a disorder. For this purpose, we have undertaken an infrared microspectroscopy study. While metals are suggested to play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of ALS, they typically do not occur in tissues as free ions. This results in the presence of the complex mechanisms of metal ions buffering that protect cells against their toxic effects. Metal homeostasis is regulated by several proteins. Such proteins containing metal cofactor are called metalloproteins.
<p>In last year’s <a href="https://www.spectroscopyeurope.com/td-column/and-now-something-complete…">August/September</a> issue of <em>Spectroscopy Europe</em> 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.
Jean-Philippe Echarda and Loïc Bertrandb
aLaboratoire de recherche et de restauration, Musée de la musique, Cité de la musique, 221 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris, France. E-mail: [email protected]
bIPANEMA, synchrotron SOLEIL, Saint-Aubin, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
The growing use of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy as a tool for quality checking amongst other things foodstuffs, industrial products and pharmaceuticals begs the question of how this technology could be applied to quantifying aspects of the internal environment of living organisms. To do this requires knowledge of the types of exudates and secretions that organisms produce. Usefully, all organisms do this and, as such, the potential to look into the internal environment of living organisms is now being realised. My particular interest is in molluscan mucus as a measure of both species identification and environmental monitoring. This interest has led onto considerations of how monitoring of mucus could be used in other organisms, particularly humans. This article hopes to provide a brief current overview of the use of FT-IR spectroscopy in the investigation of mucus from a variety of organisms.
James A. Calladine and Michael W. George
School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
A.M.C. Davies
Norwich Near Infrared Consultancy, 75 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich NR4 6AA, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Tom Fearn
Department of Statistical Science, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
William J. Foley
Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia
A.N. Davies,a H.M. Heiseb and D.F. Ihrigc
aProfessor, SERC, University of Glamorgan, UK, Director, ALIS Ltd, and ALIS GmbH—Analytical Laboratory Informatics Solutions
bISAS—Institute for Analytical Sciences at Dortmund University of Technology, Bunsen-Kirchhoff-Str. 11, D-44139 Dortmund, Germany
cUniversity of Applied Sciences of South-Westphalia, Frauenstuhlweg 31, D-58644 Iserlohn, Germany
Following on from our previous foray into the UV-visible area of the spectrum, in this article we discuss its nearest neighbour in the spectral scale, namely near infrared (NIR) spectrometry. The NIR spectral region lies between 780 nm and 2500 nm (4000 cm–1 to 12,800 cm–1) bridging the more well-known and analytically used regions of the UV-visible (190–780 nm) and the infrared (4000–600 cm–1).
In the present study, operando infrared (IR) spectroscopy was used to investigate under realistic conditions the oxidation activity of Pt and Pd supported on different oxides, with the aim of generating mechanistic information that will be used for the design of improved formulations.
Tom Scherzer, Gabriele Mirschel and Katja Heymann
Leibniz Institute of Surface Modification (IOM), Permoserstr. 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]
Our laboratory has received several requests from public or private institutions to solve problems related to conservation and restoration of samples from cultural heritage. A brief description of the FT-IR methodologies used to solve some of them are detailed within this article.
