Laboratorytalk newsletter issue 387

Latest Laboratory News from Laboratorytalk

Written by the Laboratorytalk editor Apr 21, 2009

I'm delighted to see two announcements this week which offer small but worthwhile fillips to the open access movement. It seems to me hardly worth stating that knowledge should be free, and in these days of easy and cost-free digital communications there is less and less justification for the stranglehold on knowledge maintained by the old-school academic journals. The arguments are well-rehearsed: a great deal of scientific research is financed with public money, and therefore the fruits of that research should be freely available to the public.

In the bad old days before the global availability of the web, the only practical way to keep up with research was to subscribe - at significant cost - to the these journals. That is no longer the case, but the inertia in the system and the residual prestige of the august organs of knowledge have allowed the profiteering to continue. Slowly and steadily, though, open access is gaining ground. It is a development we welcome and one we would like to see accelerate.

The first news here is from Cambridge Journals, which has just published the journal European Review on behalf of the Academia Europaea, an association of scientists and scholars which aims to promote learning, education and research. European Review is an open access journal all about, err, open access publishing. It includes a series of articles that examine technology developments and what they mean for publishing academic research. Theo D'haen, editor-in-chief of European Review says: "These articles are vital for anyone with an interest in open access and what it means for the future of scholarly publishing. The authors come from a range of disciplines and so are able to present the arguments from a range of viewpoints. The philosophy of Open Access is discussed along with the practicalities of how it can work in a business environment."

To view the articles free of charge, go to: journals.cambridge.org/erw/17:01

The second news item is a little closer to home: the US-based Association for Laboratory Automation (ALA) has had a change of heart regarding open access, and announces that the scientific content published in its official peer-reviewed journal, the Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation (JALA), will become freely available via (Link) two years after its initial publication. Non-scientific content will continue to be available online immediately upon publication.

While these are both steps in the right direction, they are also of limited impact: the navel-gazing approach of Cambridge Journals allows only the topic of open access to be discussed under open access, while all actual new scientific knowledge remains locked behind an expensive subscription. ALA's toe in the water is encouraging, but the two-year delay makes the policy change somewhat half-hearted. Even so, the days of the exhorbitantly-priced journal subscription must be numbered.

Top Products featured this issue

[1] ANDOR IMPROVES STL SCANNING WITH EM TECHNOLOGY

(Andor Technology, 16 Apr 2009)

Andor Technology has applied electron-multiplying (EM) technology for the first time to improve the speed and sensitivity of scanning tunnelling luminescent (STL) spectroscopy. The company, a provider of scientific imaging and spectroscopy solutions, achieved this by replacing the standard charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, used to detect photons, with one of its EMCCD cameras. This improves the signal-to-noise ratio and cuts the time required to gather low-light-emission spectral data. Reducing the exposure times typically associated with STL will also solve some of the common problems associated with this technique, including changes in the tip-sample cavity (through the migration of tip or sample atoms or contamination) and damage to the sample caused by excessive tunnelling current applied over...

[2] OLYMPUS UPDATES LEXT MICROSCOPE SYSTEM

(Olympus Life Science Europa, 22 Apr 2009)

Olympus has introduced the Lext OLS4000, the latest version of the Lext confocal laser scanning microscope metrology system. The OLS4000 features near-vertical slope capabilities, larger optical zoom and navigation-overview window. The new software features different user interface sheets for the main tasks - acquisition, analysis and reporting. The system also now has a sleeker look and requires only a single control unit. The Olympus Lext OLS4000 has been designed with a larger and faster MEMS scanning mirror. Its dual pinholes provide advanced confocal laser-scanning microscopy. The larger mirror allows the system to provide superior optical quality and the increased scan...

[3] SHOCKPOD LAUNCHED FOR ELECTROPORATION SYSTEM

(Bio-Rad Laboratories, 20 Apr 2009)

Bio-Rad Laboratories has announced the launch of the Gene Pulser MXcell Shockpod cuvette chamber for Bio-Rad's Gene Pulser MXcell electroporation system. The Shockpod offers researchers the flexibility to easily transition between electroporation plates and familiar cuvettes on the Gene Pulser MXcell electroporation system. With the Shockpod, the MXcell system can electroporate as few as 100,000 cells in a 96-well plate or as many as 10 million cells in a 12-well plate or cuvette. Regardless of delivery format, the Shockpod provides researchers with reliable data and highly reproducible results. Critical to the success of any electroporation experiment is the ability to optimise...

[4] KAPA2G ROBUST DNA POLYMERASE LAUNCHED

(Anachem, 20 Apr 2009)

Kapa2G Robust DNA Polymerase is a versatile enzyme evolved from Taq DNA polymerase, available in the UK and Ireland from Anachem. The company said the novel amino acid mutations in Kapa2G Robust DNA Polymerase offer higher processing capabilities and specific activity. They ensure robust performance across a range of template and amplicon types and offer improved tolerance to common PCR inhibitors. The result is higher yield and sensitivity per unit of enzyme. All Kapa2G Robust kits are supplied with three buffers and one proprietary enhancer that offer extended optimisation options for difficult amplicons or templates. Like wild-type Taq, Kapa2G Robust DNA Polymerase has...

[5] ABSELECT KIT REMOVES ANTIBODY CONTAMINANTS

(Innova Biosciences, 20 Apr 2009)

Innova Biosciences has developed the Abselect purification kit, which enables users to remove contaminants in commercially available antibodies. These antibodies often contain substances (for example, BSA, glycine, tris, and azide) that can make life difficult for the end user to develop novel, high-quality antibody conjugates via the Lightning-Link range. Through recognition of this problem, Innova developed the Abselect purification kit. The kit enables the end user to remove such contaminants, using an approach that is...

[6] NAUTILUS LIMS AUTOMATES DATA MANAGEMENT

(Thermo Fisher Scientific (Informatics), 20 Apr 2009)

Thermo Fisher Scientific has published a technical poster demonstrating how the Thermo Fisher Nautilus Lims has help accelerate discovery for the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. The technical poster is available free-of-charge at Thermo Fisher Scientific's website. It was presented at the Lab Automation 2009 conference in Palm Springs, CA, and is entitled 'Integrating Informatics and High Content Screening to Find a Cure for Spinal Cord Injury'. Co-authored by research scientists from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and senior technical managers from Thermo Fisher Scientific, the poster highlights the growing need to manage the large amounts of data generated in the screening of neurons undertaken during the Project's quest to promote...

[7] STARLIMS OFFERS ELECTRONIC NOTEBOOK

(Starlims, 16 Apr 2009)

The Starlims integrated platform for laboratory informatics now offers an advanced electronic notebook, which eliminates the need for cumbersome and inefficient paper notebooks. Designed for structured and unstructured environments, the Starlims electronic notebook enables labs to record data in electronic format from the first moment it is created. In laboratories working under GxP, this advanced ELN helps ensure adherence to Standard Operating Procedures.

[8] USCOPE SOFTWARE ENHANCES PIXELINK CAMERAS

(Scorpion Vision, 21 Apr 2009)

Scorpion Vision is offering the Pixelink Uscope software for use with the Pixelink microscope cameras. The Pixelink Uscope software features live measurement and overlay settings, which allow users to perform measurements on the live preview image, using the crosshair or grid masks to centre and count. The grid masks include calibration data. Calibration marker (scale bar) can be placed on the live preview image. The marker (scale bar) can also be automatically burned on each captured image. Any standard file-format image can be chosen to see it above live preview image. A time-lapse capture function supports TIF, BMP and JPG file formats. It also includes an auto-save feature. Video movie recordings can...

[9] HITACHI ENHANCES TM-1000 ELECTRON MICROSCOPE

(Hitachi High-Technologies, 16 Apr 2009)

Hitachi High-Technologies, in partnership with Deben, has enhanced the TM-1000 scanning electron microscope with the introduction of cooling and heating stages. In addition to SEM imaging, the TM-1000 already features options for EDX chemical analysis and automated 3D surface visualisation and measurement. In standard configuration, the TM-1000 features a charge reduction mode, whereby the microscope operates in a low vacuum condition to eliminate charging in non-conductive specimens. The addition of stage cooling to this low vacuum operation means that wet or hydrated specimens can be examined without dehydration or complex...

[10] EMS OFFERS APPLIED PHYSICS LAB6 AND CEB6 CATHODES

(Electron Microscopy Sciences, 16 Apr 2009)

Applied Physics Technologies (APTech) lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) and cerium hexaboride (CeB6 or CeBix) cathodes are now available from Electron Microscopy Sciences. LaB6 and CeBix cathodes are ideal for many small-spot-size applications, such as SEM, TEM, surface analysis and metrology, and for high-current applications such as microwave tubes, lithography, electron-beam welders, X-ray sources and free electron lasers. The properties of hexaboride crystals provide stable electron-emitting media with work functions near 2.5 eV, yielding higher currents at lower cathode temperatures than tungsten, and resulting in greater...