
CURRENT ISSUE | VOLUME 9 - ISSUE 9 | October 2014
COVER STORY
Beyond The Bench
Taking your career to the next level
Business Management

Mastering the technique of selling ideas to upper management is not just a vital part of your responsibilities as a lab manager. “[Selling your ideas] has the potential of providing you with opportunities for professional growth and career advancement,” says Glen Fine, chief executive officer at Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (and a former lab manager).
Leadership and Staffing
Laboratory Technology

This month, we highlight companies that will be exhibiting at two upcoming scientific trade shows–the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’ Annual Meeting and Exposition (AAPS 2014) and the Society for Neuroscience’s Annual Meeting (Neuroscience 2014). AAPS 2014 takes place at the San Diego Convention Center from November 2-6 and offers pharmaceutical scientists the opportunity to network with others in their field and check out the latest pharma equipment. Neuroscience 2014 will run November 15-19 in Washington, DC, allowing neuroscientists to present emerging science, learn from experts, forge collaborations with peers, explore new tools and technologies, and advance careers.
Ask the Expert

Derek Wachtel, scientist in the DMPK department at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, and Mingliang Bao, PhD, senior scientist at Labstat International ULC, talk to contributing editor Tanuja Koppal, PhD, regarding various issues they face with sample prep in their laboratories. They both stress that sample prep is very important and a necessary step in any analysis and with newer technologies making it easier and faster to accomplish, there should be no reason to ignore or overlook it.
Lab Health and Safety

Every year, we see research facilities moving toward more automation, and recent issues of Lab Manager highlight some of the newest equipment on the market. Many laboratory tasks are labor-intensive and the sheer number of tasks performed, such as washing and sterilizing containers and installing and disposing samples and wastes, are becoming too time-consuming. Thus, complex equipment, such as sonicators, washers, autoclaves, and autosamplers, is becoming a necessity and is much more prevalent.
Lab Health and Safety Tips
Product Focus
Research-Specific Labs
Surveys

Water is the most commonly used laboratory reagent; however, the importance of water quality is often overlooked. Because impurities can be a critical factor in many research experiments, water purity ranks high in importance. There are several types of impurities and contaminants in water such as particulates, organics, inorganics, microorganisms and pyrogens that can adversely affect results.
Achieving water of a high quality requires the careful use of purification technologies and a method for accurately measuring and monitoring contaminants.
INSIGHTS
How it Works

Problem: The assessment of cell concentration and viability is an important step in the characterization of cell health. This information can be used for monitoring proliferation rates, optimizing growth conditions and normalizing cell data for further studies, such as assessing the impacts of cytotoxic compounds.
Current methods rely on multiple, sometimes complex, instrument platforms to provide these answers, reducing flexibility and increasing research costs. Other, simpler methods provide inconsistent results due to their dependence on single-uptake dyes, which do not effectively discriminate between the various states of cell demise. As a result, there is a crucial need for analytical methods that efficiently provide reproducible count and viability data.

Problem: In recent years, cell biology has included more emphasis on the study of rapid movement inside live cells: its dynamics, mechanisms, electrochemical signaling and protein transport. To capture these events while avoiding image artifacts, frame rates must be high enough to accurately sample these cellular phenomena. Depending on the event, these rates can range from 20 to several thousand frames per second with exposure times well below 100ms.

Problem: Research, QA/QC, and other laboratories ranging from large enterprise facilities to small analytical service centers are under increasing pressure to reduce costs and increase efficiency, productivity, and quality. To reduce operating costs, lab managers know they must find ways to speed turn-around and maximize throughput. To improve productivity and quality, it’s essential for them to easily access information that will allow them to efficiently staff the laboratory, allocate assets, and optimize workflows while adhering to strict quality standards and ensuring regulatory compliance.