Scientists at the UK’s National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at LGC have published a paper, “Monkeypox: another test for PCR”, focusing on how to ensure the PCR diagnosis tests being deployed for monkeypox will be most accurate and that lessons learned on PCR testing from the COVID-19 pandemic are applied to the current epidemic. Dr Jim Huggett, Science Fellow at the NML, said, “Like the early stages of COVID-19, PCR is the only test that can be rapidly deployed to confirm Monkeypox cases....

New Application note from YMC - Fast UHPLC Analysis of Biomarkers Related to Tobacco Smoke Exposure using YMC-Triart C18 and YMC-Triart Diol-HILIC. Both RP and HILIC allow for high resolution peaks and fast separation. In addition to nicotine, the metabolite cotinine is also determined. The challenge here is that this is only detectable for a short time. NNAL, a breakdown product of the lung carcinogen NNK, is also suitable. In addition, human cells are exposed to oxidative stress when smoking...

Ziath has published a new catalogue that provides an informative technical introduction to its extensive range of innovative readers, scanners, software, automated tube selectors and accessories for tracking and management of life science samples. Over the last two decades, Ziath has established itself as a global leader for sample tracking of 2D barcoded tubes in applications including biobanking. compound management and COVID-19 patient sample management....

Hands-on cannabis testing! The market for cannabis products is expected to continue growing whilst requiring high quality equipment with excellent reproducibility for their complex analysis. In this whitepaper, the common challenges in cannabis testing by liquid chromatography are summarised. Numerous applications show how to select the ideal stationary phase for obtaining high resolution in cannabis potency testing excellent selectivity in pesticide analyses and sharp peak shapes in mycotoxin analyses...

The Froilabo CRP Blast Freezer is designed to rapidly freeze blood plasma in preparation for long term storage in ULT freezers. To preserve the quality and function of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) the freezing process must be rapid and homogeneous. During a Site Acceptance Test (SAT) the Froilabo CRP Blast Freezer was installed on a production line which processed plasma product. In this test, the aim was to verify the final temperature inside the plasma bags was -70°C...

A new 'Guide to Dry Down Solvent Evaporators' from Porvair Sciences offers an informative insight into traditional bottlenecks in chromatography sample preparation workflows and describes how blowdown evaporators work. Further the guide looks at factors that can enhance the speed and efficiency of sample dry down in microplates and vials and provides advice on how to choose the right evaporator for your laboratory....

Gilson has released the new 2022 Product Guide that contains their latest liquid handling, purification and extraction instruments which help make lab life easier. Gilson, who is a leading global manufacturer of sample management and purification technologies for the life sciences industry, have advanced their guide to be even more interactive and useful.  It has been designed to help signpost customers through to online tools and resources which will help them discover the right solutions for their applications....

With chemists engineering new “designer drugs” everyday, law enforcement and regulatory bodies need testing to quickly and accurately determine the composition of these compounds. This study will present a static headspace method for rapidly determining drug components for use in forensic applications. A HT3 Headspace Analyzer will be used to examine bath salt samples for the presence of mephedrone (MPD) and methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MPDV or MDPK) by GC/MS.

YMC-Triart C18 UHPLC columns with an ID of 1 mm are the ideal choice for high sensitivity LC/MS analyses. In this new application note, the screening of 6 antineoplastic drugs is shown. This analysis requires the highest sensitivity since even the smallest amounts of these drugs need to be detected due to their adverse very serious, life-threatening effects. By choosing a high efficiency column with a small internal diameter of 1 mm and coupling it to mass spectrometry the benefit becomes clear: excellent peak shapes – also for low sensitivity compounds!

The use of only one SEC column brings a certain limitation due to its dedicated pore size and a limited column volume. By coupling two columns this hurdle can be overcome. Doubling the column length implies a doubled column volume which results in improved resolution of peaks. Additionally, if using two columns with different pore size, the applicable molecular weight range can be increased significantly....

A Schlenk Line is a tubular glass apparatus commonly used in chemistry or material laboratory research to carry out experiments under a vacuum and an inert atmosphere (like nitrogen or argon). It is used when samples are sensitive to air/moisture and the vacuum is also often used to remove the last traces of solvent from a sample. A Schlenk Line typically contains a dual glass manifold with multiple ports; the number of ports is configurable....

For decades, fluorescence microscopy has been an invaluable tool in life sciences research, with new variations and implementations emerging almost every year. Laser scanning microscopy, airyscanning, structured illumination, light field and light sheet microscopy are among the many methods that have been developed through the years to overcome the limitations of the original widefield microscopy setups...

Are you plagued with poor peak shapes, low sensitivities, sample carry over and/or low recoveries for challenging compounds. Several substances are able to interact with the usual inert column hardware materials such as stainless steel or titanium. The adsorption on metallic surfaces typically leads to peak tailing, loss of recovery and sample carry over. Critical substances are especially metal-coordinating compounds, such as fumonisins, sphingophospholipids or organophosphates in general....

To protect consumers and patients, the filling weight of finished goods and drugs must be checked gravimetrically. Uniformity of dosage unit measurements ensure that the mean weight meets the specified nominal package contents and is within permissible tolerances in order to avoid over- and underdosing. Average weight control prevents underfilling of prepacked goods...

Excellims Corporation (Excellims), a leading provider of high performance ion mobility spectrometers (High Performance IMS) and Compact Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry (MS), signals its commitment to the pharmaceutical industry with the introduction of GMP-compliant at-line PAT (process analytical technology) and an increasing body of literature demonstrating its value in pharmaceutical applications...

As the demand for rapid SARS-CoV-2 testing continues to grow, so does the need for accurate, reliable and fast results. Gilson’s new COVID-19 Testing Fluid News Brochure highlights their range of world-renown and trusted manual and automated lab solutions that can easily integrate into your qPCR and RT-Lamp testing workflows. When protection, speed of analysis, reliability and traceability are paramount, Gilson’s range of lab equipment and instruments delivers verifiable data and complete confidence in results...

The Government Chemist (GC), hosted at LGC, has published the results of a recent international ring trial on the determination of cannabidiol (CBD) - an uncontrolled cannabinoid- and controlled cannabinoids in consumer products such as food and cosmetics. Consumer CBD products have entered the UK market rapidly in a variety of forms, including food and cosmetics. CBD when used as an ingredient in food or cosmetic products must currently be free from controlled cannabinoids....

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the worldwide search for an effective treatment is still ongoing. Remdesivir and GS-441524 are antiviral drugs that have been examined for the treatment of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). Remdesivir is a nucleotide analogue inhibitor that can inhibit the replication of animal and human coronaviruses...

A new eBook from Freeman Technology, a Micromeritics company and global leader in powder characterisation, explores the application of powder flow measurements for monitoring and optimising granulation processes. Granulation is a vital unit operation for many industries, notably the pharmaceutical sector, but endpoint detection and scale-up remain a challenge. ‘Powder Flow Testing for Granulation Processes’ focuses on the value of bulk powder characterisation...