Laboratory Products 23 Light Microscopes and Digital Cameras are Fully Operational at the University of Liverpool


Meiji's microscopes and cameras are housed on the second floor of the new Laboratory complex and function as the Environmental Sciences teaching laboratory. The laboratory has 170 individual workstations, each backed with video and online computing capabilities. Students will learn microscopy from first principles using microscopes from Meiji Techno equipped with cameras from Lumenera making this the most advanced and largest light microscopy teaching facility in the UK. It is already attracting visitors from other universities from around the country as they start planning equivalent shared, central teaching facilities.


Investing in such a large amount of instrumentation to be purchased in one tranche was a big challenge for the staff of the Department. A teaching environment has special needs so it was not just the excellent optical performance of the microscopes and cameras that won the day for Meiji Techno. Meiji in conjunction with their servicing partners, Mazurek Optical Services, worked closely with staff to ensure all specifications outlined in the comprehensive tender documents were met. So the final decision was one comprising performance, price, delivery, installation, training and long term support through Meiji's unrivalled limited lifetime warranty.


To look now at the laboratory with the new batch of first year students hard at work, it is clear that the design and layout chosen by the team at Liverpool is complemented by the neat arrangements of the microscopes and camera/video systems. In putting the final microscope packages together, partners Meiji Techno and Mazurek made suggestions that were adopted to improve aspects of safe handling in use and storage by replacing dual power supplies with a single unit on each microscope. The choice of cool LED light sources were important too removing the potential of users accidentally handling hot surfaces while producing light intensity with lower power needs matching the environment design goals of the overall teaching facility comprising physics and chemistry laboratories as well as the core group from environmental sciences described here.


MICROSCOPY MORE INFO. 587


Faster Analysis Times for Pharma Raw Materials


Compact Grade Laminate Offers Exceptional Chemical Resistance


Environments such as hospitals, clinics and laboratories demand special consideration in the specification of materials for interior fit outs. Meeting this demand Formica Group has introduced Chemtop®


Chemtop2 is available as 16mm compact grade laminate ensuring that it caters for all applications including work surfaces and splashbacks, cabinets and fume cupboards.


Ideal for use in ‘high stress’ environments, where relatively harsh acids, alkalis, corrosive salts and other destructive and staining substances are used, the Chemtop2 range boasts outstanding performance properties.


Offered in designs selected for their suitability to these environments, the Chemtop2 range comprises three plain colours and five patterns including Polar White, Grey Dust, Lava Dust and Mouse Grafix. The sheet sizes are 3050x1300mm and 3660x1525mm which provide for economical conversion and minimising seams and joints.


Cobalt Light Systems is proud to announce RapID, a pioneering instrument for the identification of raw materials through the side of the unopened packaging. The pharmaceutical industry spends significant time and resource on verifying the identity of raw materials before they enter the manufacturing process.


Accurate QC of these materials is essential and can be very time consuming, expensive and resource intensive. RapID offers significant cost savings because most raw materials can now be accurately identified without even opening the packaging.


Cobalt has successfully developed a patented technique known as Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) which is at the heart of the RapID system. A key advantage of SORS is that it can measure a highly-specific Raman spectrum of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API’s) and excipients through unopened sacks, bottles, coloured glass and opaque plastic containers.


RapID supersedes the entire notion of opening bags or bottles of raw material to take a sample which is then sent to the QC lab for testing. With RapID the process of verifying the material and getting it into manufacturing is faster, more cost effective and can be done as soon as the goods hit the loading bay. Operation is by non-scientific personnel with a simple, hand-held ‘point and shoot’ measurement tool.


100% testing of raw materials is a regulatory requirement for companies selling products in Europe and is likely to be mandatory in other parts of the world soon. These changes put ever greater demands on manufacturers to find ways of improving efficiencies throughout the value chain. Thanks to SORS, RapID offers a unique set of features developed specifically for the validation of pharmaceutical raw materials, while also providing a surprisingly fast return on investment.


SPECTROSCOPY MORE INFO. 589


The Chemtop2 range complements the array of laminate designs featured in the Formica® that offers a selection of durable, easy to clean materials for an entire range of colour schemes.


Collection


Whether in the super-clean context of the operating theatre or pathology lab, in toilets and washrooms, along corridors or stairwells, on wards or in treatment rooms, products from Formica Group can help meet the stringent requirements of sterility, durability and easy cleaning. The non-porous, wipe-clean surface of HPL is inherently hygienic and can be steam cleaned or disinfected with no adverse effects. It can be used for all horizontal and vertical surface applications, including work surfaces, splashbacks, and in the construction of cabinets and fume cupboards.


Chemtop2 laminate is also available on a made-to-order basis, in thin (0.7mm) postforming grade High Pressure Laminate (HPL). This enables the creation of work surfaces and other bonded components with integral upstands and down stands, eliminating joints and seams at critical positions in the finished installations.


LAB PRODUCTS MORE INFO. 588 2, 16mm Compact laminate with advanced chemical resistance. The result


of cutting edge technical developments and manufacturing processes, Chemtop2 is available now from Formica Group throughout Europe.


Automated Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation


Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation (FISH) is used in the leukemia diagnostics to determine the specific type of leukemia disease. Samples of blood or bone marrow are used in a short term cell culture to receive cells in the metaphase status. The cells are then investigated via microscope to determine the cell coordinates with metaphase chromosomes.


In collaboration with a major diagnostic lab Zinsser Analytic has automated a precise transfer of FISH-probes to the predefined coordinates and subsequently the samples are covered with cover slides. The procedure is therefore standardised and sources of errors are minimised. The modular FISH-LISSY®


systems can be


customised to any lab environment. Please contact Zinsser Analytic for more information.


LAB PRODUCTS MORE INFO. 590


Anytime, Anywhere... Online LABMATE UK & IRELAND - JANUARY 2013


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