Laboratorytalk news headlines: Sunday 18 September to Saturday 24 September 2005

Using Lims to test the limits

Limits can be set at the product level, at the test level, at the sample level, and at the stability sample level and warnings can be displayed when an entered result falls outside a limit window Brochure Available

News from Autoscribe (23 September 2005)

Fast focus on-axis parabolic mirrors

For applications including ultra-high power laser physics that require very fast focusing and high energy densities and for use in astronomical applications

News from Optical Surfaces (23 September 2005)

Monoclonal antibody for cyclin A2 identification

Cyclin A2 is important in the transition to DNA synthesis and replication phases of the cell cycle and is abruptly destroyed as the cell moves into mitosis Brochure Available

News from Beckman Coulter (23 September 2005)

Easy calibration of urine chemistry

Allows for enhanced performance of urine assays by improved recoveries for samples requiring pre-dilution, and by minimising instrument variation, resulting in tighter control ranges

News from Olympus UK (23 September 2005)

Making more of mammalian cell enumeration

Mammalian cell enumeration assay expands range of adenylate kinase (AK) kits for detection and enumeration of gram negative bacteria

News from Acolyte Biomedica (23 September 2005)

Advancing whole face skin counselling

Groundbreaking whole face skin analysis system that uses high-resolution digital camera technology and image analysis to reveal blemishes invisible to the naked eye

News from Moritex Europe (23 September 2005)

Lightweight SWIR cameras developed for army helmet

User Application Article Company designed the new miniature prototype shortwave infrared imager for use in day/night operations as part of US Army's Smarts (soldier mobility and rifle targeting system) helmet

News from Sensors Unlimited (23 September 2005)

Microchips for animal ID

Tags as small as a grain of rice have a unique identifier code, which can be read simply by waving a portable handheld microchip reader over the animal

News from Harvard Apparatus (23 September 2005)

Novel antibodies against fluorescent proteins

The antibodies are affinity purified and can be used for detection of target proteins in western blots, immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry, Elisa, in cell western, and immunoprecipitation

News from Evrogen (23 September 2005)

Drug discovery collaboration with MerLion

MerLion will screen its natural compound collection against high throughput screens developed by scientists at CRT in order to isolate new therapeutic compounds against validated cancer targets

News from Cancer Research UK (23 September 2005)

Supply chain improvements for medical testing labs

Products include buffers, cell culture reagents, histology stains, immunology reagents, laboratory equipment, molecular biology reagents, solvents as well as many others

News from Sigma-Aldrich (23 September 2005)

Thermal calibrators are convenient for field use

A range of lightweight dry-block thermal calibrators that operate between 45C below ambient and 650C has been developed by Techne for convenient use in the field Brochure Available

News from Barloworld Scientific (23 September 2005)

Accolades for the healthcare industry

Frost and Sullivan honoured dozens of companies for their 'outstanding' performance in a variety of regional and global healthcare markets

News from Frost and Sullivan (23 September 2005)

Agreement to streamline drug development

Collaboration will combine PerkinElmer's CellLux live cell platform for ion channel drug discovery and Invitrogen's voltage sensor probe reagents

News from Perkin Elmer LAS (UK) (23 September 2005)

These gratings blaze a trail

Holographic gratings offer efficiencies of greater than 80% at the blaze wavelength and exhibit greatly reduced stray light while maximising the energy over the required spectral range

News from Spectrum Scientific (22 September 2005)

Executive director oversees cancer science

David Critchley will oversee Cancer Research UK's work in directly-funded research across the UK and take responsibility for all of its scientific activities including the Cambridge Research Institute

News from Cancer Research UK (22 September 2005)

Workflow analysis boosts productivity

Workflow management software lets scientists in analytical laboratories track and accelerate order processing using an electronic workflow and storage management system

News from Waters (22 September 2005)

Infotrieve joins Oracle partner network

Will act as an Oracle database reseller and have the capability to deliver implementation efficiencies and cost savings to customers who purchase electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) software

News from Infotrieve (22 September 2005)

Bookmarking site wins innovation award

Social bookmarking and tagging applied to make the sharing of scientific information easier is seen as a significant innovation by Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP)

News from Nature Publishing (22 September 2005)

Laser microdissection at the cutting edge

Ensures the fast, reliable and precise dissection and manipulation of paraffin and frozen tissue sections, and even smears and cell cultures Brochure Available

News from Olympus Life Science Europa (22 September 2005)

Cabinets in seven different capacities

Stainless steel chambers are fitted with a unique cross-flow circulation system that ensures optimum temperature and humidity stability with parameters set and maintained by PID digital controllers

News from QED Scientific (22 September 2005)

Ultrasonic trials can be scaled linear

Hielscher Ultrasound Technology will present its ultrasonic laboratory, bench top, and industrial equipment at this years Eurocoat2005 in Lyon, France (27-29 September 2005) Brochure Available

News from Hielscher USA (22 September 2005)

Early-stage detection of protein crystallisation

Technical Background Article Scientists at CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory and Farfield have been able to demonstrate the use of dual polarisation interferometry (DPI) to determine the earliest stages of crystallisation of a protein

News from Farfield Scientific (22 September 2005)

Europe's first turnkey Adme/Tox system

Drug discovery processes will be streamlined using this Adme/Tox (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicology) system, now being launched in Europe

News from Thermo Fisher Scientific (22 September 2005)

Trap and guard for better capillary LC

Trap columns allow pre-concentration or desalting of a sample before injection onto the analytical column, while guard columns protect the analytical column from chemical and particulate contaminants

News from Presearch (22 September 2005)

Imperial teaching lab gets 150 new microscopes

User Application Article The department of biological sciences at Imperial College London now has 150 Zeiss Axiostar Plus microscopes installed and working in its teaching labs

News from Carl Zeiss (22 September 2005)

Award for contribution to drug discovery

Neil Kipling, a pioneer of drug discovery data management software is recognised for his contribution to the industry

News from IDBS (22 September 2005)

Resource for polymer and protein characterisation

Updated website technical data, product information and a comprehensive database of applications notes, articles and references relating to polymer characterisation Brochure Available

News from Viscotek Europe (22 September 2005)

Data logger sends signals twice as far

Data logger can transmit up to 30m (75m indoors) back to a PC receiver, and this can now be increased up to 60m (150m indoors) by adding a repeater between the logger and receiver

News from Instruments Direct (Services) (22 September 2005)

Automated colour endpoint titrations

Technical Background Article Technology overcomes the limitations of the human eye for the determination of the appropriate colour change to signify the completion of a titration reaction Brochure Available

News from Metrohm UK (22 September 2005)

Dissolved oxygen, resolved

Optical dissolved oxygen sensor provides accurate and reliable dissolved oxygen (DO) measurement across a host of water applications Brochure Available

News from Endress + Hauser (22 September 2005)

Pore size measurement for air filters

Whitehouse Scientific has developed a new device for measuring the retention properties of filter elements in compressed air lines Brochure Available

News from Whitehouse Scientific (22 September 2005)

Plate sealing films have colour coded end tabs

Clear polyester films include a colour dot and white writing area on each end tab for plate ID labelling

News from Biotech Solutions (22 September 2005)

Rapid enumeration of gram-negative bacterial cells

User Application Article Acolyte Biomedica and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have successfully resolved the challenge of rapid, highly sensitive enumeration of gram-negative bacterial cells.

News from Acolyte Biomedica (22 September 2005)

Productive heating and stirring experiment guide

Catalogue detailing how multi-experiment workstation may be easily configured to provide simultaneous stirring and heating of a wide variety of vessel types and sizes

News from Radleys (22 September 2005)

Automated endoscope reprocessor has radical design

With a choice of detergent and disinfectant type and made of anti-microbial coated materials, its design was driven by the strict washing and validation requirements of HTM 2030 and prEN ISO 15883 Brochure Available

News from Labcaire Systems (21 September 2005)

Website explains how to apply flowmeters

Provides an introduction to the standard ranges of flow measurement and instrumentation products, with full data sheets and installation instruction manuals also available in pdf format Brochure Available

News from Titan Enterprises (21 September 2005)

Increased testing capability, for free

Capability of the micro Vickers tester has been increased to include the option to perform Knoop tests, and the instruments can be upgraded by adding a CCD camera and Cams software

News from Indentec Hardness Testing Machines (21 September 2005)

Analyse sample areas with pinpoint accuracy

System is capable of analysing practically every known element in gas, liquid or solid samples in real-time and has a wide variety of industrial and scientific applications

News from Ocean Optics (21 September 2005)

IR thermography aids safety in fusion research

User Application Article Infra red thermography system will monitor the plasma temperature inside the Joint European Torus (Jet) fusion reactor through a set of IR endoscopes Brochure Available

News from Cedip Infrared Systems (21 September 2005)

Effective laboratory mills for pre-crushing

Samples with feed particle size of 120mm maximum can be ground to a few hundred micrometres with in a very short time and in a single operation. Brochure Available

News from Fritsch (21 September 2005)

Lims provider strikes partnership deal

Independent software vendor arrangement allows CSI to develop the interface between LabSoft Lims and Osisoft's real-time performance management (RtPM) platform, powered by the PI system I

News from Computing Solutions (21 September 2005)

Better treatment at water and wastewater utilities

User Application Article After installation of this analyser at Little Patuxent water reclamation plant, frequency of analysis increased from biweekly to hourly, as no labour is involved in the whole process Brochure Available

News from Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (21 September 2005)

Scalable automation of liquid handling

Instruments work on a nano-technology platform and are customisable to perform diverse functions including efficient parallel dilution, IC50 assay preparation, plate reformatting, and hit picking

News from Aurora Biomed (21 September 2005)

Analysing heart disease with array system

User Application Article Dutch researchers use Expression Array System to identify genes that may predispose towards atherosclerosis, and validate them using TaqMan gene expression assays

News from Applied Biosystems (21 September 2005)

Capture the fastest of projectiles

At least, capture an image of the fastest projectiles with this 11-million pixel camera which provides valuable information on displacement and velocity for ballistics, detonics and impact studies

News from Specialised Imaging (21 September 2005)

The milk of human kindness

User Application Article Prolacta Bioscience employs a web version of Timeless laboratory information management system (Lims) to manage collection and distribution of donor breastmilk across the USA

News from Timeless Medical Systems (21 September 2005)

Easy-to-use Kjeldahl distillation

State-of-the-art digestion units provide accurate and reproducible results with an excellent recovery rate for applications in food and beverage, feed, chemical and pharmaceutical industry labs

News from Büchi Labortechnik (21 September 2005)

Waters and Nonlinear form life science partnership

Agreement for quantitative and qualitative proteomics research will leverage ultra performance liquid chromatography and exact mass MS data acquisition systems

News from Waters (21 September 2005)

Awards for Oxford innovators and entrepreneurs

The Martin and Audrey Wood Enterprise Awards are designed to celebrate innovators and entrepreneurs and are open to companies and entrepreneurs in Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley

News from Oxfordshire Investment Opportunity Network (21 September 2005)

New sales executive for London area

Naomi Smart is an experienced sales professional who has spent a number of years working in the vaccine and pharmaceutical market sectors

News from Tristel (21 September 2005)

New technologies enable effective drug discovery

Software screens for genotoxicity in potential drug compounds and helps to eliminate toxic compounds early in the drug discovery and development process, saving time and resources

News from GE Healthcare (21 September 2005)

Gene therapy delivers tumour-busters

Technical Background Article Within 24 hours of gene therapy treatment boosted by nanoscale delivery to cancer cells, the tumours began to shrink, resulting in prolonged survival in all, and even cures in some cases

News from Cancer Research UK (21 September 2005)

XLReporter is now aka WizReport XL

SyTech re-brandes flagship product XLReporter as WizReport XL for Axeda Systems, a provider of device relationship management (DRM) and supervisory, control and data acquisition (Scada) software

News from Sytech (21 September 2005)

Jointly promoting microarray technology

Microarray agreement combines award-winning DualChip microarray offerings from Eppendorf with PerkinElmer's high-performance scanner to deliver optimum systems in microarray applications

News from Perkin Elmer LAS (UK) (21 September 2005)

How to carve up a clean room

Fully demountable and relocatable partitions treated with anti-microbial coating allow the replacement and reconfiguration of panels to take place without affecting adjacent panels

News from Spaceway South (21 September 2005)

US launch of small volume shear cell

The 2005 AAPS annual meeting and exposition (6-10 November 2005, Nashville), will see the US launch of new accessories for Freeman Technology's FT4 powder rheometer

News from Freeman Technology (21 September 2005)

Unified mass spectrometry library is comprehensive

More than 461,000 mass spectra includes pharmaceuticals, illegal drugs, chemical weapons, environmental pollutants, metabolites, flavours and fragrances, and various compounds of interest

News from Wiley (21 September 2005)

Assays test for ampetamines and ecstasy

Assays for the qualitative or semi-quantitative analysis of amphetamines or methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and closely related drugs (MDEA and MDA) in human urine

News from Olympus UK (21 September 2005)

Use secondhand equipment to save the planet

Selling for about half the price of new equipment, cutting down the need for landfills, and helping to conserve natural resources - what more reason to buy reconditioned lab equipment?

News from Rich-mond (21 September 2005)

Custom design as standard for image analyser

Image analyser consists of an ergonomically designed darkroom with an easy access chamber and camera/lens mounting pod which allows users to add their choice of camera, lens and lighting options Brochure Available

News from Syngene (20 September 2005)

Software chosen for biochemical study at Texas

User Application Article The chemical biology research group at Texas Tech University has recently decided to upgrade its existing software to the latest version of Chrom Perfect Spirit

News from Justice Laboratory Software Europe (20 September 2005)

X-ray analysis for plastics and polymers

Designed for elemental analysis of a variety of additives such as pigments, flame-retardants, UV stabilisers and catalysts as well as heavy metals in all kinds of plastics and polymers

News from Panalytical (20 September 2005)

Support office opened in Philadelphia, USA

Manufacturer of clean air, containment and laboratory equipment gains first direct presence in the American market

News from Esco Micro (20 September 2005)

Recirculating heater/chiller is portable

Integerated internal pressure reducer is used in conjunction with the latest high pressure reliable magnetically coupled pumps to ensure correct flow and pressure at all times

News from Megatech (20 September 2005)

TOC by single or dual mode analysis

Total organic carbon (TOC) analysers are available in configurations for laboratory and process monitoring, employing 100C persulphate wet oxidation or thermal combustion techniques

News from A1-Envirosciences (20 September 2005)

Pumps for those with high aspirations

Welch Rietschle Thomas has introduced two new aspiration stations. These pumps are oil-free, economical and include a 1.2l autoclavable collection receiver

News from Welch Rietschle Thomas (20 September 2005)

Enhancing cooperation in technologies for research

Palm and Qiagen say that products from both manufacturers complement each other to form an ideal tool for the production of specimens for molecular analyses in biological and medical research

News from Qiagen (20 September 2005)

Interferometer for QC of optical components

Infra red interferometer features a focal plane array camera, which is much more sensitive than previous cameras and has significantly reduced noise

News from Precision-Optical Engineering (20 September 2005)

Digital multimeter incorporates full autoranging

All models meet EN61010-1 safety standards and are supplied complete with fabric belt-loop carrying case and batteries

News from Metrix Electronics (20 September 2005)

Centrifuges for all requirements

From small micro- to large ultra-centrifuges, extensive accessories make the Thermo range suitable for all applications

News from Thermo Fisher Scientific Laboratory Equipment (20 September 2005)

Labstation has full safety features

Control terminal stores up to 30 programs with as many as ten steps, each defining time, power, and temperature and pressure conditions in a graphical interface, via connection with external PC

News from Milestone (20 September 2005)

Ten years of piezoelectric vibration control

Six degree-of-freedom active cancellation system employs geophones to sense ambient building floor vibration and piezoelectric actuators to drive the payload with equal and opposite force

News from Linos Photonics (19 September 2005)

Petri dish filler for uninterrupted work flow

Effective linear design of the PS900 allows users to choose a manageable stack height for post-preparation handling, cooling and minimising condensation problems

News from Biotool (19 September 2005)

Grant for mass screening of radiation exposure

Consortium awarded a grant to develop technologies to screen large numbers of people for radiation exposure in the event of a terrorist attack on a nuclear facility or detonation of a dirty bomb

News from Sionex (19 September 2005)

Cleanrooms get clean lift

Heavy-duty lift trolley has maximum load of 125-300kg and lifting height of 190-1200mm with continuously variable lifting speed to provide absolute precision in cleanroom lifting operations

News from PBSC (19 September 2005)

Balance manufacturer opens plant in China

The company is believed to be the first UK company to open a wholly owned subsidiary in modern day China since the opening up of the China market to overseas investment

News from Adam Equipment (19 September 2005)

Weighing controllers are intelligent

Flexibility of design allows for the connection of most load cells, pressure or strain gauges over a wide range of sensitivities Brochure Available

News from Celsum Technologies (19 September 2005)

Microcalorimetry conference 'another success'

Technical Background Article Conference brings researchers together for discussion on the applications of microcalorimetry and provides practical information via presentations and tutorials on current techniques and methodologies

News from MicroCal (19 September 2005)

Lims user group meetings in UK and USA

Matrix Lims users can take advantage of these meetings in November 2005 to be held in Nottingham UK, and Las Vegas and New Jersey, USA Brochure Available

News from Autoscribe (19 September 2005)

X-ray microscope has extra-large sample chamber

Larger chamber configuration allows areas up to 20cmx20cm to be mapped for elemental distribution from sodium (Na) to uranium (U), on samples as large as 50x50x30cm

News from Horiba Jobin Yvon (19 September 2005)

�2000 Grant opportunity for life scientists

Ibla (International Biotech and Lab Automation Europe) will be offering its Science in Practice Award again this year

News from IIR Exhibitions (19 September 2005)

Data management in high-throughput screening

Software 'is set to revolutionise' screening workflow, offering superior template design flexibility and facilitating incorporation of bespoke business rules for data verification

News from IDBS (19 September 2005)

Ultrasonic cleaning bath creates waves in the lab

12-litre ultrasonic bath is said to be the first in the market to offer full validation and locking lid as standard in compliance with HTM2030

News from Ultrawave (19 September 2005)

Precise control of Peltier coolers

Temperature controllers designed for use with thermoelectric coolers come complete with control software for PC allowing operator ot remote control or one time configuration for standalone operation

News from Electron Dynamics (19 September 2005)

Responsive control of air in the laboratory

Variable air volume (VAV) system designed for use in laboratories incorporates options for air regulation of fume cupboards and room extract and supply to compensate for changes in conditions

News from Trox UK (19 September 2005)

Drug metabolism Lims is fast, flexible, paper-free

Extra user-configurable fields and additional comments on each screen of the protocol definition allow users to record observations and notes within Debra rather than on paper Brochure Available

News from Lablogic Systems (19 September 2005)

pH measurement road show and electrode clinic

Technical Background Article Metrohm says its most requested and most attended seminar is a must for anybody carrying out ph measurement, interested in 21CFR11 compliant measurement and interested in correct electrode maintenance Brochure Available

News from Metrohm UK (19 September 2005)

MCerts air conference set to be a sell out

There are now 305 people and 36 laboratories in the UK with Mcerts accreditation and the numbers continue to grow

News from MCERTS Exhibition (19 September 2005)

Investment for skin cancer technology

User Application Article Spectrophotometric intracutaneous analysis assists consultant dermatologists and GPs to identify suspicious moles at the earliest possible stage without cutting through the skin

News from Oxfordshire Investment Opportunity Network (19 September 2005)

Breakthrough technology for genomic sequencing

Benchtop device aspirates small and accurate reagent volumes, performs thermal cycling and completes purification steps with nano-pipettor, which incorporates 96 glass tubes working simultaneously

News from Parallabs (19 September 2005)

Providing bio-instruments to the life sciences

Parallabs is a newly formed corporation providing value added, technology driven bio-instruments to the life science research market