Lab Manager Magazine^®

Editor's Note : Boasting for Dollars

In many quarters, bragging about oneself or one’s accomplishments is considered bad form. Modesty and humility are the virtues most ascribe to. However, things have changed.

Toot Your Own Horn : Aggressive Self Promotion Just Might Be the Scientific Community's Saving Grace

A scientific star was born when the rover Curiosity descended through the Martian atmosphere in August. Viewers watching NASA’s live feed were captivated as flight director Bobak Ferdowski guided the rover through “seven minutes of terror” to its final touchdown on the Red Planet. Bobak was dressed to kill—his Mohawk hairstyle sported red and blue highlights, offset with white stars bleached into the sides of his head.

The Second Annual Laboratory Spending Trends Report : Another Year of Low-Growth Laboratory Product Budgets Anticipated in 2013

With the “fiscal cliff ” looming—the possibility that substantial portions of the U.S. federal budget will be trimmed in 2013— laboratories that depend on government money are anticipating sharply constrained budgets.

Teaming Up : A Research Partnership Done Right Solves Technical Problems and Grows Business

Even industrial R&D giants are finding they often lack all the necessary expertise in-house and are reaching out to suppliers, customers, universities, and government laboratories to establish partnerships in order to give them access to expertise and equipment they need to develop innovative new products and processes.

Risky Business : Managing Export Control Compliance in the Biotechnology Industry

Many companies have systems to deal with the alphabet soup of agencies and regulations that govern the handling and transfer of products and technology in the U.S. Yet few biotechnology companies have the compliance systems necessary to handle export control risks involved in their international operations.

It's The Little Things That Count : Creative Ideas to Improve Morale, Enhance Productivity, and Make Your Lab More Fun!

Studies have shown that what workers want from their jobs is not better benefits or more money. Rather, it is the small things that make people feel commitment to an organization.

Five Necessary Elements for Integrating Lab Systems : Where We Are vs Where We Need to Be

The lab systems we have today are not built for integration system-wide. They are built by vendors and developers to accomplish a set of tasks, and connections to other systems are either not considered or are avoided for competitive reasons.

Ask the Expert : The Impact of UHPLC on Efficiency and Outcomes

Steven Wolk, Ph.D., associate director of analytical chemistry at SomaLogic Inc., discusses the use of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra high-performance (or pressure) liquid chromatography (UHPLC) technologies for analytical work with contributing editor, Tanuja Koppal, Ph.D. He reflects on the changes taking place in the liquid chromatography market, on both the hardware side and the software side, and comments on the incremental improvements that can be made.

Making Sense of Data Management in a Digital World

The incredible invention of social media and other Web-based technologies has transformed our personal lives in ways we really don’t have to think about anymore.

Mass Spectrometry Today : Fast-Growing, Innovative, But Still Somewhat Enigmatic

The mass spectrometry (MS) market continues to be one of the fastest-growing areas of analytical instrumentation. MS’s growing popularity can be explained by its ability to provide, in many cases, verifiable molecular weights and thereby positive identification of known molecules.

Let's Have a Look : Preparing for an Effective Lab Safety Inspection

The typical research facility contains a multitude of hazards. Most facilities will have a mix of research laboratories, instrument rooms, chemical storage areas, waste handling areas, and busy receiving/ loading docks.

Maintain a Chemical Inventory to Avoid Purchasing Unnecessary Quantities

One school accumulated 20 five-pound bottles of mercury. Each year they ordered from the same list that they had used the year before! Not a good idea. You need to know what you have, where it’s located, and who’s responsible for it.

GC Columns: The Heart of a GC System

Gas chromatography (GC) has experienced significant changes over the past 40 years, some technology based and others driven by specific applications.

Mills and Grinders: Improved Accuracy and Speed Create New Possibilities

To grind something solid, many of us might think of a mortar and pestle as the original grinding machine. In fact, that technology goes back at least to 1550 BCE, when one was described in Egyptian writing. Many other hand-powered mills and grinders followed, leading to powered devices in today’s many forms.  

Rotary Evaporators: All-in-one Versions and Other Options Enhance Efficiency and Safety

In 1950, the late biochemist Lyman C. Craig of The Rockefeller University developed a simple rotary evaporator. The first commercial version came from Walter Buchi in 1957.

Lab Washers : Advanced Features Make This Technology More Effective and More Green

Once when helping a friend do the dinner dishes, she said, “You wash them so thoroughly.” I laughed and said, “I wash dishes like lab glassware.”

The Right Choice for Refrigerators & Freezers

Refrigerators and freezers can be found in a wide variety of labs serving a wide variety of industries. That means that these instruments must meet many different requirements.

Are You in the Market for A CO2 Incubator ?

Cell culture incubators, or carbon dioxide (CO2) incubators, are designed to mimic a cell’s natural environment with a relative humidity around 95 percent and temperature of 37°C. The CO2 concentration, about 5%, is controlled to match physiologic conditions and maintain a constant pH of 7.2 to 7.5

Are You in the Market for A Biological Safety Cabinet?

Biological safety cabinets (biosafety cabinets or BSCs) are enclosures that protect users and the environment from biohazards and samples from contamination. Whether performing research or production activities, the proper degree of protection should be maintained and is required based on the biosafety containment level of the lab or application.

Documentation, Documentation, Documentation: Keeping a Record of Everything is Critical to this Small but Mighty Lab

Though small, the cell culture lab at global product supplier Akron Biotech in Boca Raton, Florida plays a critical role in the company as a whole.

Technology News

Smart Spectrometers Exemplar LS & Exemplar Plus • A good fit for applications such as high speed reaction kinetics, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, and real-time process monitoring • Feature a low stray light “unfolded” Czerny-Turner spectrograph to provide excellent performance, particularly below 400nm • LS model provides all of the advantages of the low straylight spectrograph while still retaining a small form factor; Plus model provides increased focal length

An HPLC/UHPLC Column Protection System

Problem: In most UHPLC/ HPLC applications, the buildup of sample and mobile phase contaminants at the head of the chromatography column can cause detrimental effects.

How It Works : Absolute Quantification with Droplet Digital PCR

Basic research and clinical research labs have long relied on real-time PCR (qPCR) for its speed, sensitivity, specificity and ease-of-use. Common applications include gene expression analysis, mutation detection and identification of copy number variation to better understand inherited disorders, cancer and infectious disease.

hTERT-Immortalized Cell Lines

Choosing an in vitro model system that faithfully represents the natural physiology of the cell being studied is fundamental to understanding its in vivo function. Cultures of primary cell isolates retain their physiology and karyotype after isolation, but cultures may be difficult to prepare and are susceptible to contamination.

Innovation, Flexibility and Convenience with the NEW Thermo Scientific Barnstead GenPure xCAD Water Purification System

The Thermo Scientific Barnstead water purification portfolio includes a complete line of Type 1 systems to meet all of your ultrapure water needs.

Improving Performance and Sensitivity of LC/MS Instruments Using Optimized LC/MS Solvents

Increasing the sensitivity and resolution of LC/MS instruments has been an ongoing focus for instrument manufacturers. As a result of this increased sensitivity of today’s analytical instrumentation, the choice of high purity solvents can greatly influence the test results that are achieved.

Welcome to a comfortable clean bench

The AniGARD e3 animal transfer station from The Baker Company combines improved containment and enhanced ergonomics with lower energy requirements to provide you with unrivaled performance and protection.

Economizing on Viscosity Testing

Rotational viscometers are the most widely used tool in today's QC labs for making viscosity measurements.  Many small changes, like reduction in sample size and shortening the viscosity test time, can lead to significant increase in QC lab productivity.

The Analysis of 1,4-Dioxane for EPA Method 522 and UCMR 3

This Application Note will demonstrate the extraction of 1,4-Dioxane from an aqueous matrix using Option 1 of EPA Method 522 for 500 mL initial volume sample. It will make use of the SmartPrep Cartridge Extraction System to produce a valid Initial Demonstration of Precision (IDP) and Initial Demonstration of Accuracy (IDA).

Concentration of Solutes : Options for the Removal of Solvents from Samples

Solvent removal from solutions is commonly performed in laboratory and production processes. There are a number of different methods that can be used for solvent removal, including evaporation, vacuum concentration, lyophilization, reverse extraction, solute precipitation, and dialysis (solvent exchange).

Determination of Mercury in Nutraceutical Samples Using a Direct Mercury Analyzer

With the expansion of the global nutraceutical market, the spotlight on the analysis of its raw materials is ever increasing. Testing of nutraceutical products for heavy metals like lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury has gained utmost importance. Extremely low levels of these heavy metals like mercury, in nutraceuticals make its analysis challenging.

Exhausting of a Class II, Type A2 Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC)

While searching for that extra degree of safety in your laboratory or trying to remove fumes/gases from the laboratory environment NuAire has the proper canopy connections to exhaust your Class II, Type A2 Biological Safety Cabinet.

Measurement of Gold Nanoparticle Size and Concentration by Spectrophotometry

Although gold nanoparticle production can be controlled to yield specific size ranges, both the concentration and size of nanoparticles must be checked following production. UV-Vis spectrophotometry is an established QC method for this; however cuvette spectrophotometers often require dilution of the nanoparticle solution before measuring, and volumes up to 3 mL.

The 2010 Geno/Grinder®

The 2010 Geno/Grinder® offers analysts a versatile high-throughput tissue homogenizer for plant or animal tissue homogenization. The patented design with a true linear grinding motion provides the most efficient bead milling mechanism for tissue homogenization and cell lysis for extraction of DNA, RNA, proteins or enzymes.

New! Eppendorf Xplorer plus – The Intelligent Pipette

New Xplorer plus electronic pipettes were specially designed to optimally support you and your work. With a new intuitive operating concept and additional modes, it sets new standards for simplicity, precision and reproducibility.

Optimum FTIR Precision, Sensitivity, and Reliability at an Exceptional Price

From research to routine tasks, the IRAffinity-1 FTIR is ideal for high-precision infrared analysis to confirm, identify and detect foreign matter in raw materials, medical products, cosmetics, packages and coatings, among other fields.