Markes International (Llantrisant, UK), a specialist manufacturer of innovative analytical instrumentation for trace organic analysis, has announced the appointment of two key new directors to strengthen its management team.

Terry Buckland joins as Sales & Service Director after a successful 20-year career with some of the world’s biggest scientific instrumentation companies, including: Applied Biosciences, Varian and Agilent Technologies. Tim Hawkins, the new Finance Director, joins from the corporate finance team of accountancy giants PricewaterhouseCoopers. Both appointments come after the German family-owned business, Schauenburg International Group, acquired a majority stake in Markes earlier this year...

Scientific Digital Imaging’s [AIM:SDI] Syngene Division, a world- leading manufacturer of image analysis solutions, is delighted to announce that one of its G:BOX Chemi imaging systems is being used at Maastricht University in The Netherlands as part of their science bachelors programme to train students how to rapidly master a range of molecular biology imaging techniques. 

Students at the Chemelot Campus of Maastricht University are using a G:BOX Chemi system to accurately image proteins extracted from mosses, tropical leaves and insects run on Coomassie blue stained gels or blotted onto chemi-luminescent Western blots. This approach is allowing the students to quickly and easily analyse a range of proteins seen in the natural environment...

Bibby Scientific’s online sale has proved such a hit with customers that the company is extending the up to 20% discounts available right through to 30 September 2013.

There are savings to be made on selected items purchased directly through the Bibby Scientific online shop. These include heating mantles, pH meters, vortex mixers, melting point analysers, thermal cyclers and block heaters from Bibby Scientific’s Techne, Electrothermal, Stuart and Jenway brands. Bibby Scientific’s webshop has been a huge success since its launch early this year. Chris Edmans, Senior Technician in the Institute of Life Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University, UK, and June’s winner of the Bibby webshop iPad draw said, “I find the Bibby Scientific online shop very straightforward and easy to use...

Nanounity announces that their partners, Delmic BV, have won one of the ten 2013 Microscopy Today Innovation Awards for their release of the SECOM correlative microscopy system. The award presentation ceremony is being made today at the Microscopy & Microanalysis meeting in Indianapolis, USA.

Each year, the publication, Microscopy Today under the stewardship of its editor, Dr Charles Lyman from Lehigh University, make awards at the annual Microscopy & Microanalysis meeting. In 2013, the meeting is being held in Indianapolis with awards going to companies in the following product areas: light microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, electron microscopy and microanalysis. Two additional awards go to innovative technologies not already covered...

Complex human brain tissue has been successfully developed in a three-dimensional culture system established in an Austrian laboratory.

Enigma Diagnostics Ltd, the spin-out company of Ploughshare Innovations, has successfully completed its analytical and diagnostic verification of its FluAB-RSV diagnostic assay on the Enigma® ML system, which looks set to benefit many patients in the future.

The organisation – which specialises in developing next generation rapid molecular diagnostic instrument platforms for decentralised and point-of-care settings – completed the verification at Guy’s and St.Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, and is set to finalise validation and CE marking of the test this year. Enigma installed a series of mini laboratory (ML) instruments at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ for use at the Trust’s Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research (CIDR)...

NanoSight reports on how Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, NTA, is being used at St George's, University of London, to explore extracellular vesicles as a potential source of biomarkers, by identifying proteins or peptides differentially expressed between healthy subjects and patients with rare inherited diseases.

St George's, University of London, is the UK's only independent medical and healthcare higher education institution. Dr Bridget Bax is a senior research fellow in the Clinical Sciences Division where the main focus of her group's research is to improve the understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of rare inherited diseases and to develop novel therapies for translation into the clinical setting. One of their major areas of interest is the identification and validation of biomarkers in patients with the rare and fatal disease mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy (MNGIE)...

Accelerated Technology Laboratories, Inc. (ATL) and Institute for Biopharmaceutical Research (IBR, Inc.) Partner to Provide Pipette Calibration Solutions for GLP and GMP Compliant Laboratories

Accelerated Technology Laboratories, Inc. (ATL), a premier supplier of Laboratory Data Management Solutions is excited to announce a new partnership with Institute for Biopharmaceutical Research (IBR, Inc.) - a leader in turnkey calibration software. ATL is the North American Partner for IBR and will be offering Check&Track v2.0 to GLP and GMP compliant laboratories. Check&Track v2.0 offers just-in-time management of certification and recordkeeping for pipettes, specific to ISO 9000, ISO 8655, DIN 12650 and NCCLS requirements...

Forensics Europe Expo 2014 Sales Brochure Available to Download Today

Forensics Europe Expo 29-30 April 2014, Olympia, London is pleased to announce the release of the 2014 Sales Brochure which contains important advice and information about the event to help forensics companies plan their 2014 marketing spend. The success of Forensics Europe Expo 2013 has established the event as the premier dedicated international forum for the entire forensics sector and supply chain to meet and do business....

Porvair Sciences has announced a new version of its Chemical Compatibility Chart that provides an easy-touse reference guide detailing the chemical resistance of membranes and matrices used in microplates to a wide range of common laboratory chemicals.

Employing tests performed at room temperature (25°C) - Porvair has compiled data as to the compatibility of different microplate matrices and membranes to a wide range of acids, alcohols, bases, esters, hydrocarbons /chlorinated hydrocarbons, ketones and other chemicals. In the tabulated chart - chemical compatibility data for each microplate material is listed as ‘suitable’, ‘ok for medium term use’ or ‘unsuitable’ thereby offering lab scientists the information to enable selection of just microplates constructed from materials optimised for their application...

Thermo Fisher Scientific Establishes Pesticide Analysis Center of Excellence. Expertise, technology and knowledge-sharing available to food and environmental analysts.

Government and industry laboratories worldwide have a new resource for improving methods for monitoring and measuring pesticides in food and the environment. The new Thermo Fisher Scientific Pesticide Analysis Center of Excellence (COE) recently opened its doors in Runcorn, UK to help users apply the latest technology and expertise to challenging pesticide analysis in food and environmental laboratories...

Biofortuna, a UK based molecular diagnostics company with a proprietary stabilisation technology for molecular reagents, is expanding its custom service and manufacturing business with a £1.3m investment.

The new funds will enable the business to expand its freeze drying analysis and manufacturing capability to support both its custom service clients and the USA launch of its SSPGo HLA range of products through Abbott Molecular. The funding was supported by all of the company’s current investors; the Foresight Group (UK), EV Group, Catapult Venture Managers, Merseyside Special Investment Fund, private investors and management...

Non-Animal Method Identifies Chemicals That Cause Allergic Reactions in Humans 

Work conducted by Michigan-based contract research organisation CeeTox and funding from London-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) UK has resulted in an important step towards replacing animal-based testing methods. CeeTox today reports the positive results of a study that has the potential to save tens of thousands of animals from experiments...

When Was The Last Time Your Test Sieve Had A Health Check?

In order to ensure the validity of your testing you may need to verify that your sieves are still compliant with the standard against which they were originally inspected. A sieve may no longer be compliant to the standard for the following reasons. Deviations from uniformity of mesh such as creases, wrinkles, tears and over-sized apertures will render the sieve no longer compliant to the standard....

Enzymes catalyse reactions in biological processes and their presence in biological samples is of interest to a variety of Clinical, Industrial and Educational analysts.

Several manufacturers offer test kits to enable determination of enzyme activity by Colorimetry.  The kits are designed so speed of reaction is dependent on enzyme concentration at a controlled temperature.  Whilst there are a wide variety of different enzymes, many kits use NADH, a co-enzyme which converts to NAD when reacted, to help determine the enzyme of interest; NADH adsorbs at 340nm and NAD does not.  During the reaction time interval, the rate at which NADH is converted to NAD is proportional to the concentration of the enzyme of interest and the measured decrease in absorption at 340nm is multiplied by a factor (supplied by the kit manufacturer) to determine enzyme concentration....

EBCG is pleased to announce an exceptional event: Medical Devices Project & Portfolio Management Toolbox.

Building on success of their Toolbox series within Pharmaceutical and Chemical industry the Medical Devices PPM Toolbox aims to be Europe's leading conference to project and portfolio experts in medical devices industry. Due to the new game and rules on the market, it is necessary for medical device companies to develop effective portfolio management processes. They need to select those product ideas that have the greatest commercial potential, and thereby will maximize the return on their investments....

IDT helps users to safeguard their experiments

Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), the world leader in oligonucleotide synthesis, provides an overview in the latest issue of its quarterly newsletter, DECODED, of the importance of checking for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) when designing PCR assays. If PCR is performed using primers that overlap a SNP, the SNP can impact the progress of the PCR, and thus the accuracy of resulting data...

Optical Surfaces Ltd. (OSL) has produced its ‘Practical Guide to Surface Quality’ – the  second in a series of practical guides for optics users.

The informative new 12-page guide is written to enable scientists and engineers better understand an optics quoted surface quality as surface imperfections are typically the most misunderstood, misinterpreted, and ambiguous of all optical specifications. Key reasons why surface quality is an important consideration in selecting optics are associated with cosmetic acceptability and often more importantly with the functionality / performance of the component. The presence of defects on the surface of an optical component can scatter light which in some circumstances may affect its performance...

Once a James Bond fantasy, diamond-based lasers are now becoming a reality.

Ground-breaking research is harnessing the unique properties of diamonds to develop a new generation of lasers that could lead to many benefits, from better treatment of skin complaints and diabetes-related eye conditions to improved pollution monitoring and aeronautical engineering. A University of Strathclyde team has developed a new type of high-performance, ultra-versatile Raman laser* that harnesses diamonds to produce light beams with more power and a wider range of colours than current Raman lasers...

NGAL Test - Early Diagnosis of Acute Kidney Injury Dedicated Website From Alpha Laboratories Provides a Valuable Information Resource

NGALTest.co.uk is a website that is dedicated to raising awareness amongst Clinicians and Laboratories about the value of early diagnosis of AKI by analysing the novel biomarker, Neutrophil Gelatinase-associated Lipocalin rather than the traditional, nonspecific Creatinine. Clinical and research products are both detailed on the website.Acute kidney injury is no longer considered to be an innocent bystander merely reflecting co-existent pathologies. It has been demonstrated to be an independent risk factor for mortality. The cause of this is unclear but is possibly associated with an increased risk of “non-renal” complications such as bleeding and sepsis...

Major protein structure discovery achieved using TTP Labtech’s mosquito LCP

For the first time, researchers have been able to successfully report the structure of a Class B G-Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) using lipidic cubic phase (LCP) protein crystallisation. The work performed at Heptares, a leading drug discovery and development company, and published this week in Nature, details the structural identification of the stress receptor, corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 (CRF1). This pioneering discovery opens up the technique to an entirely new group of molecules with important roles in the development of diseases as diverse as diabetes, osteoporosis, depression and anxiety...

Uniqsis has published details of a mild nitration method using its FlowSyn flow chemistry system that enables short reaction times and high conversion to be achieved whilst minimising the amount of corrosive (and potentially explosive) hot nitrating mixture present in the reactor at any one time.

Nitration is an important synthetic procedure that is often difficult to control. Under continuous flow-through conditions, however, exotherms are typically well controlled and nitration can be safely performed on a large scale. Using Uniqsis’s proprietary glass static mixer/reactor chip technology - nitration can be safely performed under accelerated conditions at elevated temperature and pressure without the associated problems typically encountered in batch reactors of controlling latency periods or controlling thermal run away...