News: - U of M Researchers Find Immune-Activating Cells in Intestines - Cellular Drug Delivery from the Inside Out - Novel Approach to Studying Cancer Cells Could Reduce Therapy Side Effects - Color of a Different Frog

Editor's Choice: - LC/MS Peak Identification Technology - Robot Arm Expands Automated Solutions - Particle Image Analysis Software -Automated LC-MS/MS Quantification Software -Informatics System Assesses Graphical Data -Automated Plate Reader

NuAire’s -86°C Ultralow Temperature Freezers NuAire’s -86°C Ultralow Temperature Freezers are designed with the most advanced features and benefits available for research, laboratory work, clinical and industrial applications. NuAire’s freezers use non-flammable CFC/HFC-free refrigerants. The insulation system is able to withstand extremely low temperatures; accuracy and reliability are assured with the automatic control and alarm system, utilizing a technologically advanced compressor for low power consumption, uniform temperature stability, and extremely quiet operation. Best Products • Best Performance • Best Protection Learn more>>>

Supelco Now Offers SGE FocusLiner™ Inlet Liners To prevent shifting of the quartz wool during repeated injections or sudden inlet pressure changes, SGE FocusLiner inlet liners incorporate a unique design. Two tapers inside the liner hold the glass wool plug in an optimum position. These high temperature deactivated liners provide enhanced sample vaporization, maximum sensitivity and detection levels. FocusLiner inlet liners are available for all major GC instruments. Learn more>>>

Cellular Drug Delivery from the Inside Out
Delivering a dose of chemotherapy drugs to specific cancer cells without the risk of side affects to healthy cells may one day be possible thanks to a nanoscale drug delivery system being explored by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory.

Using tiny silica particles call mesoporous nanospheres to carry drugs inside living cells, Ames Laboratory chemist Victor Lin is studying different methods to control whether or not the particle delivers its pharmaceutical payload. more>>>

Novel Approach to Studying Cancer Cells Could Reduce Therapy Side Effects
New cancer therapies with minimal side effects could result from a novel approach to studying cancer cells underway at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. This research could also lead to new medications for diseases, such as eczema, macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis, which involve pathological capillary formation. more>>>




Color of a Different Frog
A species of non-poisonous frog in the lowland rain forest of Ecuador adopts the coloring of its poisonous neighbor to ward off predators. That’s standard mimicry as practiced by species around the world.

Indeed, the frog’s only defenses are “speed and false advertising,” said Catherine Darst, a graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin who spent parts of three years studying the frogs and their protection patterns.

She found that where three frog species—more poisonous, less poisonous and harmless—overlap, the harmless frog adopts the coloring of the less poisonous frog.

The finding was not standard mimicry. Darst called it, “totally bizarre.” But, it turns out, the harmless frog’s strategy is pretty smart, she said. more>>>

Streamlined LC/MS Peak Identification Technology An improvement to Advanced Chemistry Development’s MS Manager software allows users to automatically find and label LC/MS peaks with a specified mass, and identify and label peaks with a user-specified difference from a reference mass value. Called ACD/Ion Presence, this flexible feature helps target the peaks of a parent drug and search for expected metabolite transformations. more>>>

Industrial Robot Arm Expands Automated Solutions Beckman Coulter’s automated liquid handling solutions have been integrated with the Motoman industrial robot arm. This arrangement provides drug discovery/screening and sample prep users with an industrialized option for ultra high throughput. The arm joins proprietary ORCA and Robotic Transport (BRT) offerings to give users a choice of automation scalability. more>>>

Particle Image Analysis Software Organizes Data for Fast Analysis Able to detect components in a sample down to a high picogram level, Fluid Imaging Technologies’ low temperature ELSD-LTII identifies analytes regardless of spectroscopic properties. Superior sensitivity for trace analysis is achieved by removing the mobile phase through high-efficiency nebulization and taking a light scattering measurement of the dried particles using a long-life, high-efficiency LED as a light source. more>>>

Fast, Automated LC-MS/MS Quantification Software Thermo Electron’s QuickQuan software automates high-throughput LC-MS/MS assays in early drug discovery. The combination of its rapid compound tune and optimization time with the Finnigan TSQ Quantum triple quadrupole mass spectrometer is important for assessing new chemical entities (NCEs) automatically in early drug development assays. more>>>

Informatics System Assesses Graphical Data Bio-Rad Laboratories’ KnowItAll informatics system offers comparative visualization, data mining and analysis to assess the similarities and dissimilarities in massive amounts of spectral, chromatographic or other graphical data. more>>>
	Automated Plate Reader Cuts Sample Times to 1 Minute Wyatt Technology’s DynaPro Titan plate reader increases productivity by a factor of 10 over conventional DLS instruments. It provides increased throughput in HTS and biophysical characterization studies and can be fully integrated with the proprietary Dynamics software. more>>>