Focal things

The problem with Borgmann s work is that his predominant perspective is that of the private individual — the consumer. He does not recognize that things that are devices for the individual consumer may be focal things for others. His recommendation that devices should be used intelligently and selectively, merely... 

The second thing that we need is a complete description of the metabolic and signaling pathways of the cell. This has been a focal point of biochemistry for many years and a lot of relevant information is available. We do not have a complete picture but we do have a reasonable grip on this issue. 

However, a wait and see policy is the last thing we would recommend. The lines for action are already sharply drawn, and some focal areas are outlined above as well as in the remainder of the book. It is plain that, as in the past, a huge variety... 

DOING THINGS THE HARD WAY—DE NOVO CONSTRUCTION OF THE AROMATIC C-RING AS A FOCAL POINT... 

This key individual is often the focal point of the entire operation, and must do many things well in order to be successful. 

In some infrared microscopes the infrared beam is 250 microns in diameter at the focal point where the sample is placed, and many samples are smaller than this. As a result, some of the infrared beam does not interact with the sample. This stray light causes problems if it encounters things such as fingerprints or dust whose spectrum can contaminate the sample spectrum. Also, stray light contains no sample information, and if it is allowed to hit the detector valuable detector capacity is wasted, essentially becoming a source of noise. It is the job of the upper... 

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