64 Labelling Solution is a Clear Advantage


The new Label Attachment System from Brady is enabling a Histology Unit to put an end to hand-writing sample identification on tissue cassettes, and winning praise for the clear printed labels from researchers in Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences. The Histology Unit offers standard paraffin wax histological services, including haematoxylin and eosin staining. Around 300–400 experimental samples are processed each month, mainly from cancer research projects undertaken by the internationally renowned Genetics group within the Cardiff School of Biosciences.


According to Unit Manager, Derek Scarborough: “Using Brady’s chemical-resistant labels and the new BSP™31 Label Attachment System, all our cassettes are permanently identified with absolute clarity. We can print one, two or three lines of text and know that the label will remain readable after all the histology processing, and it cannot become detached. At the embedding stage each sample is placed into a mould filled with molten wax and the cassette, minus its lid, is placed on top. Once the wax is cooled the labelled cassette acts both as the sample identifier and as a support for the block during sectioning on the microtome.” Brady Tissue Cassette labels, printed with the BBP™11 printer and specially developed thermal transfer ribbon, are resistant to all the chemicals required for histological processing. The BSP™31 unit has four tiny heat probes that pierce the label and tissue cassette, melting the plastic just sufficiently to form permanent rivets which hold the label in place throughout the paraffin embedding process.


In the Cardiff Histology Unit, after sectioning, the unused portion of paraffin block with the labelled cassette attached is sent back to the research lab along with the associated slides. The blocks are stored in the lab and it is quite common for further slides to be required at a later date. The advantages of the Brady labelling system are also evident at this stage, as Derek Scarborough explained: “As well as looking much more professional, the printed labels save time when they need to search through their archived blocks for a particular sample. Black text printed on a white label is very much quicker and easier to read than pencil on a green cassette. The clear labels therefore eliminate any confusion or mistakes which could occur with handwritten data’. The Brady BSP™31 Label Attachment System provides a fast, simple and cost-effective way of guaranteeing labelling integrity throughout processing, embedding, sectioning and storage for up to 20 years.


Circle no. 191


Added Dimensions to Particle Characterisation Data


Enhanced Features to Guide Decisions for Drug Optimisation


Cooled Flow Chemistry Breakthrough


LABORATORY PRODUCTS


Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc was the first company in the United States to install the innovative Morphologi G3 image analysis-based particle characterisation system from Malvern Instruments. Having invested immediately after the launch of the Morphologi G3, with installation taking place in January 2008, the company’s research and development team has since taken full advantage of the system’s ability to generate comprehensive particle shape as well as size information. Solvay scientist Mychael Scoggins believes that the completeness of the data delivered by the G3 allows more discerning materials characterisation. “Everyone in the company loves it,” he said.


“By analysing shape as well as size, the Morphologi G3 adds another dimension to the usefulness of particle characterisation data,” said Mychael Scoggins. “It is good for R&D. It helps us more fully understand the materials we are working with and what we can do with them. Having previously contracted out much of our particle characterisation work, we now benefit from shortened R&D times and much richer data. We can run more samples and it is easier and quicker to interpret data generated in house.”


Commenting on the practicalities of using the Morphologi G3, he went on to say: “The system is automated, intuitive to use and requires little sample preparation. Since most of our materials are dry dispersions we like the integrated sample dispersion unit, in fact we’ve bought an extra chamber so that one sample is being prepared while another is running. Essentially we can all get on with other things while the measurements are taking place.”


For the future, this team also plans to use the Morphologi G3’s facility for characterising foreign particles collected on a filter.


The Morphologi G3 from Malvern Instruments combines microscopy and image analysis to measure the size, shape and


intensity of particles from 0.5 to 10000 µm. It captures and stores images of every particle examined. Powerful software means that with just a few clicks of the mouse, data is transformed into useful information, allowing users to make decisions quickly and with confidence.


Circle no. 192


Optibrium launched StarDrop 4.3. The intuitive software offers advantages over traditional predictive modeling platforms as it specifically helps users to identify chemistries with a high chance of success and focus expensive in-house resources. Used by pharmaceutical and biotech companies and research establishments globally, StarDrop 4.3 guides compound selection and design decisions in all stages of drug discovery. StarDrop 4.3 is the first major update to StarDrop from Optibrium, helping scientists to select high quality drug candidates with confidence, improving efficiency and productivity. StarDrop 4.3 helps drug discovery scientists to guide their decisions while designing and prioritising molecules with the aim of achieving an optimal balance of properties. By combining predicted (in silico) properties for molecules with measured in vitro and in vivo data, this integrated desktop tool enables scientists to rapidly identify and design high quality molecules to meet their project’s objectives.


The revolutionary software takes into account the potential errors to provide scientists with a rigorous analysis on which to make rational decisions. StarDrop 4.3 is groundbreaking software that enables confident decisions to be made despite all of the uncertainty. Additional new enhancements to StarDrop 4.3 include the ‘Molecule View’ feature that goes beyond traditional ‘table’ views of data sets and enables users to drag and drop properties to customise layout for viewing and printing and scroll through their compounds viewing all properties together. New features unique to StarDrop 4.3 include more flexible data set views. Direct printing support enables users to print individual molecules with data from both table and molecule views. In addition, the range of powerful Gaussian Process methods in StarDrop’s Auto-Modeller has been extended to provide new techniques for building classification models. StarDrop 4.3 offers unique benefits across the spectrum of drug discovery, helping clients make business- critical choices. Benefits include better molecule design, faster selection and optimisation of molecules, reduced late-stage bottlenecks, strengthened pipelines and reductions in cost. The software provides a comprehensive range of features to support design and prioritisation of high quality compounds including: probabilistic scoring; chemical space and glowing molecule visualisation; ADME QSAR models; P450 metabolism models and automatic model building.


Circle no. 193


Vapourtec announce a new module for the popular R Series Flow Chemistry Platform. The cooled reactor module permits flow reactions to be precisely controlled at temperatures down to -70C and yet does not require the use of additional recirculating chiller.


The system uses dry ice combined with Vapourtec's unique forced convection system to control reaction temperatures from ambient down to -70C with +/- 0.5 degree accuracy.


Reagents are pre-cooled to target temperature before mixing and the mixer itself is located within the cooled zone. There is also a ‘postmixer’ to enable inline quenching before leaving the cooled zone if required. One R Series platform can have up to two separate cooled reactors (independently controlled at different temperatures if required). Novel use of insulation prevents the build up of ice, and yet the reaction is visible in the PFA reactor tube via a viewing window.


Vapourtec's Duncan Guthrie, explained: "Our research told us that many labs don't have the space or even the budget for a large two stage recirculating chiller capable of cooling a typical flow reaction to temperatures this low. So the Vapourtec solution builds on the heat transfer technology that was developed for our very first flow reactor module, giving a solution that is clean, compact, affordable, easy to use and yet remarkably effective."


Circle no. 194


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Contact: sales@intlabmate.com INTERNATIONAL LABMATE - FEBRUARY/MARCH 2010 - LABORATORY PRODUCTS


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