In resonance Raman scattering (RRS), the amount of structural and chemical information deduced can be increased by analysing the polarisation of the inelastically scattered light, including the degree of molecular aggregation in bio-molecules in their natural environment.

Read more: Highlighting the importance of utilising the polarisation properties of resonance Raman scattering in obtaining molecular information

The single cell Raman spectrum (SCRS) enables cell probing and sorting to study phenotypes and ecophysiology of single cells and explore individual cells in situ in a label-free and non-destructive manner.

Read more: Probing and sorting single cells—the application of a Raman-activated cell sorter

Robert Lancashire reports from the Chemical Information Division (CINF) of the American Chemical Society meeting at their recent 246^th ACS National Meeting and Exposition.

Read more: The ACS 2013 symposium on exchangeable data formats

John Hammond reports on important developments at the ISO Committee on Reference Materials (ISO/REMCO) annual meeting.

Read more: Reference material accreditation—the way forward

This article explains the challenges in pesticide residue analysis of samples associated with suspected poisoning incident investigations, including the wide range of specimens and pesticides that need to be considered.

Read more: The use of liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for the investigation of suspected (pesticide) poisoning of vertebrate animals and beneficial insects

Now that Tony understands wavelets, he is in the perfect position to explain them to the rest of us! Whilst wavelet compression is an interesting and popular method, it is worth confirming that there is a real benefit in using them compared to FT compression, especially for near infrared spectra where there are few regions of flat baseline.

Read more: The last furlong (2) Data Compression by wavelets

Thiabendazole (TBZ) is a chemical fungicide and parasiticide used to prevent mould, blight and other diseases resulting from long transportation and storage, largely used as an ingredient in waxes applied to the skins of citrus fruits. The authors describe their work using near infrared-surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and conventional Ag nanoparticles, which showed that TBZ was found both on organic fruit and at levels higher than regulations allow.

Read more: Detection of thiabendazole applied to organic fruit by near infrared surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

In this article we learn of a new definition for “bath salts”, and how modern mass spectrometry instrumentation can provide rapid and quantitation of these “designer” drugs.

Read more: Ultrafast screen for designer drugs in urine using high-throughput mass spectrometry