Dear -Listers:
As per request of a few colleagues, here is a summary of the information on dissecting microscopes sent to me (most links added by me). Companies listed in alphabetical order. Of course, this list does *not* represent an endorsement; it is only a compilation. If it is in your heart, please, feel free to improve on this summary and send me ([email protected]) an updates. Peace and wellness, sincerely, Jorge 1. Amscope - http://stores.ebay.com/Precision-World?_trksid=p4340.l2563 , an example in this link http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cordless-Student-LED-Stereomicroscope-Science-/400210151208?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d2e624728 2. BioQuip – 20X microscope, 85 dollars - http://www.bioquip.com/search/DispProduct.asp?pid=6070 3. Motic – A colleague suggested the SMZ168 model http://www.motic.com/ProductDetail.aspx?r=Eur&lang=en&cid=&pid=25 http://www.microscope.com/digital-microscopes-motic-c-35_104.html 4. Nikon - http://www.nikoninstruments.com/Products/Microscope-Systems/Stereomicroscopes No specific model was suggested by the replying colleague. 5. Olympus - http://www.olympusamerica.com/seg_section/seg_microscopes.asp?section=stereo No specific model was suggested by the replying colleague. 6. Zeiss – A colleague suggested the DV4 model (around $2400 USD) - http://www.zeiss.com/4125681F004CA025?Opendatabase *************** Dear –Listers: * * As per request of a few colleagues, here is a summary of the information on computer-generated illustrations sent to me. Programs are listed by the amount of emails I received about them order. Of course, this list does *not* represent an endorsement; it is only a compilation. * * *Summary of computer-generated graphics programs* 1. *Adobe Illustrator* - Both R and Illustrator take time to know how to create quality figures “Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are probably the most powerful & commonly used programs for professional illustration, and many artists I know use both to create an image (i.e. creating an image in Illustrator and adding textures and special effects in Photoshop). However, they are quite expensive.” “I chose Illustrator over Inkscape because I didn't like the GUI for Inkscape on a Mac. Also, as a student Illustrator was cheap.” “I have this link that offers reviews for scientific graph software http://www.cyber-wit.com/Directory_Tech_Charting.htm And I think that a combination of Adobe suite products like Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator could meet the needs of scientific illustrations as well. Purchasing those two programs are about $1,300 to own and $50 a month to rent. http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/buying-guide.html 2. *Adobe PhotoShop (see above)* 3. *R - *R is also used for statistical analyses. “I would suggest R. It is a free ware, which means free of charge, and also powerful. R provides various kind of scientific figures. Please see the following links: http://addictedtor.free.fr/graphiques/ and http://bm2.genes.nig.ac.jp/ . For editing, you can use Open Office >draw, Inkscape for refinement.” “For plotting and visualizing data its hard to beat R. For publication quality figures its worth learning the gglot2 package. powerful, tons of resources other on the r forums...and its free” 4. *Inkscape* “I've used Inkscape, a freely available vector illustration program that's very user friendly. It doesn't have as many features as Adobe Illustrator, but I've used it to make simple diagrams and illustrations (and from the screenshots page much more advanced illustrations are possible). You can quickly import and trace over photographs, convert sketches to vectors, manipulate lines, and draw from scratch (a digital pen is very handy).”
