Cover Story | Volume 7 - Issue 8 | August 2012
Sections
Editor's Buzz
If you can’t beat them, join them
While the need for trans-global collaboration was obvious in 1991, the reluctance of the scientific community to embrace the social media aspects of the Internet for that same purpose seems curious
Business Management
Social Media Gone Viral
Once considered superfluous, social media has now become a vital tool for scientific information sharing, knowledge building, and networking.
No Boundaries
Large companies and government agencies often have laboratories dispersed over a wide geographic area— sometimes around the world.
Talk the Talk
Communication problems are all around us–two people talking about two completely different things and thinking they are communicating. People not paying attention to what the other person is saying–simply buying time to say what they want to say. Here are some tips on how to communicate effectively.
Science Matters: Putting Social Media to Work in the Lab
Being connected with colleagues all over the world with regard to your lab work or any other project your organization is working on isn’t just about taking an innovative approach when it comes to the scientific workplace.
Lab Health and Safety Tips
Around the Clock Lab Safety
Some service laboratories operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These include chemical plant laboratories, laboratories in other types of production plants, some hospital laboratories, and forensic laboratories.
Provide Adequate Supplies of Personal Protective Equipment
Employers are responsible for making sure personal protective equipment (PPE) is available and that employees are using it.
Computing and Automation
Competitive Advantage
Networking applications and the cloud have made it easier for individuals and businesses to collaborate. Meanwhile, the digitization of data [big data] has made it possible to identify collaboration partners and subsequently execute the outsourcing and offshoring of services and commodities as never before.
Leadership and Staffing
What Is Workplace Bullying?
While the term “bullying” is often associated with children, it is very common to see the same type of behavior in a work setting. Here are some startling facts about workplace bullying that you may not know.
Laboratory Technology
Building Transparency— A Bottom-Up View
How strategically integrating informatics tools across a drug discovery workflow can improve transparency, trust and productivity.
Repair, Maintenance, and Calibration, Oh My!
Designing the most cost-effective and efficient instrument service program requires careful consideration.
Ask the Expert
Ask the Expert: Trends in Next-Generation Sequencing
George Weinstock, Ph.D., professor of Genetics and Molecular Microbiology at Washington University, discusses what a lab manager can do to stay abreast of changes in the rapidly evolving field of next-generation sequencing.
Lab Health and Safety
Cut to the Chase
Recently we had the unpleasant experience of investigating a gruesome and almost deadly accident. A maintenance worker was removing a cable tie from a package on the loading dock when his pocketknife slipped and punctured his thigh, slicing his femoral artery.
Research-Specific Labs
Perspective On: A Polymer Lab
Jason Todd is in the business of solving puzzles—in the laboratory. As a manager of the liquid chromatography lab and co manager of the gas chromatography lab at Polymer Solutions Incorporated (PSI) in Blacksburg, Virginia, he’s continually solving chemical and material mysteries.
Product Focus
Refrigerators & Freezers: Users Demand Accuracy, Consistency and Capabilities
In science laboratories, researchers know the value of keeping samples frozen for long periods of time. Nonetheless, many scientists don’t give much thought to the features of a lab freezer.
Product Focus: Lab Ovens
Lab ovens appear in many settings, from basic research to industrial work. Moreover, scientists can choose from a wide range of options.
Product Focus: Microplate Readers
Microplate technology has thrived thanks to the desire to avoid radioactive assays and the need to measure more samples faster, at lower volumes, and in parallel.
Product Focus: Thermal Analyzers
Thermal analysis is the broad category of at least 20 techniques that measure some fundamental property of matter as a result of adding heat.
Surveys
2012 pH Meters Product Survey Results
In the mid-1930s, Arnold Beckman created one of the first commercial pH meters— made originally to measure the acidity of lemons.
2012 Pipettes Survey Results
Best practices dictate that pipettes undergo preventive maintenance and calibration at least once per year. Calibration involves dispensing set volumes of a liquid, usually water, into the weighing pan of a calibrated balance.
Lab Product
The Right Choice For Evaporators & Evaporation Systems
Evaporators and evaporation systems are a key part of the sample prep process in many laboratories and industries. In particular, rotary evaporators have been crucial in materials, forensics, life science, environmental, and chemical industries for decades.
The Right Choice For Water Purification Systems
Laboratory water purification systems are a common fixture in a variety of different types of facilities. In order of decreasing purity, the different classifications of pure water are as follows: Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3.
September 2012 Technology News
The latest equipment, instruments and system introductions to the laboratory market.
Products in Action
NEW Avanti J-26S High Performance Centrifuge
One centrifuge. So many possibilities. The Avanti J-26S series is the only high performance centrifuge system you’ll ever need. Built upon benchmark performance, including high speed, low heat output, imbalance tolerance, and low noise the
How it Works
How a Free Online Management Tool Works
Did somebody order more dNTPs? Where is the p53 antibody? Every day, simple questions like these disrupt workflow and distract researchers from their experiments
How it Works: Application Specific Sensors for Bioprocess Control
Problem: The bioprocessing industry is advancing the capability to monitor and control its manufacturing systems.
How it Works: A Modular and Customizable Automation Solution
Problem: With the vast majority of drug discovery research facilities and a growing number of academic laboratories now utilizing automated workflows, the ability to safely move plates from one instrument to the next is vital to ensure the efficient progression of the protocol.
How a Dispensing and Diluting System Works
Problem: Preparing samples for analysis can be a tedious, time-consuming process that is often seen as too small to automate.