Some fathers are exercising their emotions as much as mothers when balancing fitness and family, according to a Kansas State University kinesiology researcher.

You went through college, studied hard, perhaps got an advanced degree, and later landed the perfect research job. Years passed. One day you found yourself wondering if there wasn’t something else you could be doing, something more challenging, more rewarding—emotionally and financially.

When almost anybody asks, “Got a minute?” you automatically answer, “Sure, how can I help?” How do you stop doing that?

If the voluminous patent filings for new compressors, refrigerants, insulation, and power management are any indication, refrigeration technology is one of the most-researched engineering topics affecting lab operations.

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.

Educating users on proper technique is essential to avoiding pipette neglect

Labs of all kinds need standards, but they must be the right standards. Good standards are neither goals nor quotas that we will try to reach, but rather rules of behavior that we will follow every day, every time.

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.

Standard refrigerators should not be used for storage of flammable or reactive chemicals.

MIT economist scrutinizes firm data suggesting diverse offices function more effectively