A customer application note from FLIR Systems describes how BP Chemicals is using its Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) cameras for the visualisation and documentation of gas leaks.

Effective leak detection is a priority at BP Chemicals manufacturing sites and is one of a number of procedures used for ensuring safe operation. This application note describes the experiences of technologists at BP Chemicals flagship manufacturing and process research site at Saltend, UK. Three FLIR Systems OGI cameras were employed to check plant integrity at the Saltend site.  Designed for outdoor use - the FLIR OGI camera was used to detect a range of gases including methane and methanol that are both predominant at the UK plant...

Sygnature Discovery (Nottingham, UK) has been using an Asynt DrySyn SnowStorm system to perform low temperature reactions which have traditionally been difficult  to undertake reproducibly on a small to medium scale.

The Asynt DrySyn SnowStorm offers an attractive solution to laboratories undertaking low temperature reaction chemistries. Available in a choice of configurations, the DrySyn SnowStorm system provides controlled cooling and heating for sub-ambient parallel chemistry without the need for jacketed reaction vessels, or ice baths. Operating with a suitable chiller / circulator, a DrySyn SnowStorm system provides accurate, stable temperature control down to -50 °C and up to +150 °C...

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed a rapid and robust high-performance anion-exchange chromatography

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed a rapid and robust high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection method for the accurate determination of common sugars in acid-hydrolyzed biomass samples with high carbohydrate concentrations. Application Update (AU) 192: Carbohydrate Determination of Biofuel Samples demonstrates that this approach has a linear range suitable for handling high-concentration biomass samples with minimal sample treatment....

Optical Surfaces Ltd. has been selected by a leading spectrophotometer manufacturer to supply ultra high precision matched beamsplitter / compensator optics for the interferometer that lies at the heart of its High Resolution FT-IR system.

To achieve this outstanding performance Optical Surfaces is manufacturing the 100mm diameter OA grade fused silica beamsplitter and compensator optics with a surface accuracy of lambda / 20 (p-v) and wavefront error in transmission of lambda / 20 (p-v) at 633nm.  Further each beamsplitter / compensator pair is tightly matched in thickness and wedge angle. Dr. Aris Kouris, sales and marketing manager at Optical Surfaces Ltd. commented "High resolution spectroscopy places great demands on being able to achieve leading edge specifications with the interferometer optics...

Technological advances in minimally invasive and remote controlled devices drive the market

Although the 4 March 2014 deadline for the prize has now expired, PETA US' in vitro chicken contest was a success.

Since PETA US announced the prize, laboratory work on in vitro meat has come a long way, and a commercially viable in vitro beef hamburger or pork sausage is certain to be created. Also encouraging, the science used in the development of in vitro pork and beef will eventually be used to create in vitro chicken, sparing chickens – the most abused animals used for food by virtue of their sheer number, more than 50 billion killed around the world every year – mass suffering and death...

Adocia’s BioChaperone Combo is the first product combining insulin Glargine with a fast-acting insulin analog.

Phase I/II clinical trial demonstrates proof of concept in patients with type 1 diabetes, showing that BioChaperone Combo acts faster and longer than Humalog Mix. Adocia (Euronext Paris : FR0011184241 - ADOC) announces today positive preliminary results for the first clinical trial on an innovative formulation combining insulin analog Glargine (Lantus(R), Sanofi), the gold standard basal insulin, with a rapid-acting insulin analog, Lispro (Humalog(R), Eli Lilly) using Adocia's BioChaperone(R) technology...

Their clinical and translational research program has developed Dbait molecules now in Phase I clinical trial in patients with advanced melanoma

Curie-Cancer, the body responsible for developing Institut Curie’s industry partnership activities, and DNA Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that is developing a new class of cancer drugs, are renewing their partnership. The ongoing collaboration will aim to provide a new class of therapeutic cancer products to patients, including those who are resistant to conventional therapies. Initial clinical results are encouraging .The first molecule based on Dbait technology, DT01, is currently being assessed in combination with radiation therapy, in a Phase I clinical trial for approximately 20 patients with cutaneous metastatic chemotherapy-resistant melanoma...

Porvair Sciences' has produced an informative new guide entitled ‘Top 10 tips for positive ChIP results’.

The success of a Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay is highly dependent on the quality of chromatin prepared.  Written by scientists with many years experience of ChIP, the new 8-page document provides an informative 10-point illustrated guide to help you improve your ChIP assay results. ChIP is a commonly used immunprecipitation technique for mapping the DNA-protein interactions in cells which are crucial for correct gene regulation. In a ChIP assay  DNA-protein complexes (Chromatin) are selectively immunoprecipitated using....

In the pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical dosage forms are getting increasingly important as a basis for making more effective drugs. In the successful development of a new dosage form, formulation development typically plays a crucial role in the introduction and application of state of-the-art pharmaceutical technology.

The manufacturability and/or bioavailability of many of these dosage forms regularly depend on the characteristics of the individual ingredients. It is for this reason, that it is extremely important that the bulk characteristics of so-called particulate systems such as powders and suspensions can be accurately monitored....

Merck Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck KGaA, today announced that it will hold its 2014 Predictable Protein Performance Virtual Conference on March 26 and 27, 2014. 

The conference theme, "Predictable Protein Performance," will bring industry experts from around the world to discuss different aspects of this important topic. Conference speakers will explore why analyzing protein expression, structure, and function is key to any biological discovery and also outline strategies that researchers can take to ensure that the protein in their tubes accurately represents its native form, in its physiological context. Virtual Conference participants will learn how to maximize the information that can be obtained from each precious protein sample, no matter how complex or challenging it might be...

Super resolution microscopy has the ability to produce biological images that show molecular level structures.

Although the technique is limited when it comes to looking at live cells a number of research groups from around the world are working on overcoming these limitations, including a team led by Dr Ann Wheeler, Head of Imaging at the Queen Mary University of London’s Blizard Institute*, and Professor Martin Knight of Queen Mary’s School of Engineering and Materials Science. When Dr Wheeler, Prof Knight and their team needed improved stability for their new spinning disk super resolution imaging (SDSI) microscope, they turned to precision positioning specialists, PI Ltd for help...

The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) is hosting Scientific and Education Sessions at the 2014 CLSI Leadership Conference and Educational Symposium.

Which will take place from March 24-26, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The CLSI Education Team has worked hard to offer valuable Scientific and Education Sessions that appeal to a wide variety of laboratorians. These sessions will be presented by a number of well-known speakers with expertise in their respective areas....

Data from leading antibody search engine CiteAb suggests that bioscience research in China is set to overtake the United States within the next five to ten years. 

CiteAb spun out from the University of Bath in early February 2014. The company has a database containing over 1.8m antibodies from suppliers all over the world, and uses academic research citations to rank antibodies. This gives the company an overview of the amount of research being carried out in over 100 different countries. Founder of CiteAb, Dr Andrew Chalmers, said: “Our data highlights the number of academic research papers using antibodies that are produced by each country, and therefore acts as a fantastic indicator of bioscience research activity around the world. “The data we’ve pulled from CiteAb clearly shows that China is the big winner at the moment...

Dr Wei Qi and Dr Linda Kidder, both senior scientists within Malvern Instruments’ Bioscience Development Initiative, will present work on techniques for protein analysis at the 2014 Biotherapeutics Analytical Summit which takes place in Baltimore MD, USA, from 24-27 March.

The topic of Dr Wei Qi’s poster is ‘Emerging Techniques for Therapeutic Protein Characterization - Viscosity, Stability and Sub-Visible Particles’  while Dr Linda Kidder’s oral presentation on 25 March will discuss ‘Improved Understanding of Association Between Protein Colloidal and Conformation Stability with Combined DLS/Raman’. Dr Kidder will describe how the combination of dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Raman spectroscopy presents a novel approach to protein therapeutics characterization.....

NORTH West oncology company Incanthera Ltd has acquired University of Salford drug discovery spin-out Onco-NX Ltd.

The deal represents the first successful sale of a spin-out company from the University and will see both companies combine their expertise in targeted anticancer drugs, to develop a ground-breaking, therapeutics pipeline. Manchester-based Incanthera has developed a ‘smart bomb’ therapy which selectively targets solid tumours without harming healthy cells. This means there is the potential of virtually no side effects to the rest of the body....

Using an artificial protein that contains metal, researchers at Nagoya University were able to inhibit the growth of a pathogenic bacterium prevalent in hospitals which cause diseases to humans and has a high resistance to antibiotics

Efforts to combat bacteria's growing resistance to antibiotics could be helped by a key discovery about the complex processes that enable bugs to thrive. 

A symposium focusing on the results of a 3-year EU-funded programme to design a novel fibre-based microfluidic technology to enables rapid and simple point-of-use diagnostic testing has been held at the Hauser Forum, Cambridge, UK

The BiognostiX consortium, headed by experts at FFEI Life Science, has brought together academic, research and commercial partners from five European countries. The symposium Leading the way from diagnostics to BiognostiX, featured presentations from each, accelerating the process of disseminating the proof of principle data generated as part of the project...

Debilitating side effects associated with prescription medication for some of today’s most common conditions could be eradicated if they mimicked the body’s natural hormone secretion cycles, a new report has said.

Scientists from Exeter and Bristol have studied how conventional steroid treatments – commonly used to treat a range of conditions from steroid deficiency to inflammatory diseases such as asthma and arthritis – can have serious side effects due to the way in which they are delivered to the body. The study concluded that many of these side effects could be significantly reduced if the delivery of the medication mimicked the timing of the body’s own natural release mechanisms and that pharmaceutical companies should develop novel techniques for achieving this...

Market research confirms Cherwell as a leading prepared microbiological media supplier

Cherwell Laboratories Ltd’s reputation as a leading supplier of high-quality prepared microbiological media has been endorsed following a recent market research study. Results from this demonstrate that Cherwell are highly regarded by both customers and prospective customers in all areas, including Redipor^® product quality, flexibility of supply, reliability and efficiency at dealing with any customer’s problem. Cherwell commissioned an in depth market research project to gain a better understanding of the prepared microbiological media market and the needs of their customers...

Pauline Carnell, Senior Application Scientist at Malvern Instruments, will present a paper at ISEV 2014 discussing ‘The practical use of nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) to characterise extracellular vesicles in general and when using fluorescence markers’.