Abingdon, UK & Lake Forest CA, USA -- AMSBIO has announced a new range of ready-to-use lentiviral particles that allow direct visualisation of organelles or structures in cells without manipulation.

For real time visualisation, traditionally researchers have had to use plasmids for organelle markers, but the labelling was transitory. Now using the new AMSBIO lentiviral particles, researchers have an easy way to provide long term labels on many cellular structures (stable integration inside the genome) without the need for transfection reagents.

Using lentiviral particles also allows effective direct visualisation of Nuclei, Nuclear Membrane, Mitotic Chromosomes and Interphase Chromatin, Endosome, Endoplasmic Reticulum, Microtubule, Mitochondria, Golgi, Lysosome, Plasma Membrane, Cytoplasm and Peroxisome in hard to transfect mammalian cells, stem cells and primary cells.


Read full article: 'Lentiviral particles provide labels for organelles'

"A novel method of temperature compensation for piezoresistive microcantilever-based sensors"
Review of Scientific Instruments / Volume 83 / Issue 3 / ARTICLES / Sensors and Actuators/MEMS/NEMS *

"Abstract:
Microcantilever with integrated piezoresistor has been applied to in situ surface stress measurement in the field of biochemical sensors. It is well known that piezoresistive cantilever-based sensors are sensitive to ambient temperature changing due to highly temperature-dependent piezoresistive effect and mismatch in thermal expansion of composite materials. This paper proposes a novel method of temperature drift compensation for microcantilever-based sensors with a piezoresistive full Wheatstone bridge integrated at the clamped ends by subtracting the amplified output voltage of the reference cantilever from the output voltage of the sensing cantilever through a simple temperature compensating circuit. Experiments show that the temperature drift of microcantilever sensors can be significantly reduced by the method."


Read full article: 'Temperature comp for microcantilever-based sensors'

An NPL Publication

Abstract:
This guide provides best practice in the evaluation of uncertainty within metrology, and in the support to this topic given by a treatment that is probabilistic. It is motivated by two principle considerations. The first is that although the primary guide on uncertainty evaluation, the 'Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement' (GUM), can be expected to be very widely applicable, the approach it predominantly endorses contains some limitations. The other is that on the basis of the authors' considerable contact with practitioners in the metrology community it is evident that important classes of problem are encountered that are subject to these limitations. A further consideration is that measurement models are encountered in practice that lie outside the scope of the model type (viz., a measurement function with a single (scalar) output quantity) that is the focus of the presentation given in the GUM. Central to consideration is the need to carry out uncertainty evaluation in as scientific a manner as economically possible. Although several approaches to uncertainty evaluation exist, the GUM has been very widely adopted (and is strongly supported by the authors of this guide). The emphasis of this guide is on making good use of the GUM, on aspects that yield greater generality, and especially on the provision in some cases of measurement uncertainties that are more objectively based and numerically more sustainable. The guide is also concerned with validating the current usage of the GUM in circumstances where there is doubt concerning its applicability. The relationship of this guide to the work being carried out by the Joint Committee on Guides in Metrology to prepare a new edition of the GUM and to provide supporting documents to the GUM is indicated.

Read full article: 'Software Support for Metrology Best Practice Guide No. 6. Uncertainty evaluation'

And purification of recombinant proteins has become easier
Abingdon, UK & Lake Forest CA, USA -- AMSBIO offers a family of anti-tag antibodies to optimize the detection and purification of recombinant tagged proteins. Most of AMSBIO's anti-tag antibodies are mouse monoclonal antibodies which have been screened and extensively validated for high sensitivity and specificity, in applications including Western Blot, Immunofluorescent Staining, Flow Cytometry and Immunoprecipitation.

The anti-DDK clone 4C5 antibody detects the DDK epitope which is widely used as tag in recombinant proteins and is included in the pCMV6-Entry vector that forms the backbone of the TrueORF cDNA series.

It has been used to validate the expression of over 15,000 mammalian recombinant proteins, purify more than 5,000 human recombinant proteins from HEK293 cells and purify immunogens under native conditions for the development of antibodies.


Read full article: 'Conjugated anti DDK Antibodies Detection'

{This artist's impression (Credit: Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss) shows a binary system containing a stellar-mass black hole called IGR J17091-3624, or IGR J17091 for short. The strong gravity of the black hole, on the left, is pulling gas away from a companion star on the right. This gas forms a disk of hot gas around the black hole, and the wind is driven off this disk.}

Cambridge MA, USA - This artist's impression shows a binary system containing a stellar-mass black hole called IGR J17091-3624, or IGR J17091 for short. The strong gravity of the black hole, on the left, is pulling gas away from a companion star on the right. This gas forms a disk of hot gas around the black hole, and the wind is driven off this disk.

New observations with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have clocked the fastest wind ever seen blowing off a disk around this stellar-mass black hole.

Stellar-mass black holes are born when extremely massive stars collapse and typically weigh between five and 10 times the mass of the Sun.

The record-breaking wind is moving about twenty million miles per hour, or about three percent the speed of light.


Read full article: 'NASA'S Chandra Finds Fastest Wind From Stellar-Mass Black Hole '

Leatherhead, UK -- Porvair Sciences has announced a new range of high performance 96- well ELISA microplates for diagnostic and immunological research applications.

Available with a choice of surface binding coatings an optimised Porvair ELISA microplate can be supplied for most applications.

Manufactured from virgin USP Class VI crystal polystyrene, Porvair ELISA microplates ensure excellent results with microplate readers.

Produced as a one-piece moulding, Porvair ELISA microplates have an exceptionally flat base with good clarity across the well bottom and even base thickness ensuring high accuracy and precision when making well-to-well measurements.


Read full article: 'ELISA Microplates for Diagnostic & Immunological Research'

Coventry, UK & Chelmsford MA, USA -- Developed by Exeter Analytical Inc. for use with the Model 440 Elemental Analyzer, Linear Regression Plus is a unique software algorithm that provides unmatched accuracy in the determination of the nitrogen content of combustible samples.

Created from the experience of leading experts in elemental microanalysis, Linear Regression Plus both improves data quality and reduces the time taken to accurately determine the nitrogen composition of samples.

The software capability is available as standard on all new Exeter Analytical Model 440 Elemental Analyzer's or as a free-of-charge upgrade to existing users of Model 440 Windows based software.


Read full article: 'Improving Data Quality in Nitrogen Determination'

[The tower in back supports the SOLIS instrument. Image links to a larger JPG. -- Click on image to view -- (Kim Streander, NSO/AURA/NSF)]
Tucson, AZ, USA -- One of the world's most colorful solar instruments is moving across country for a new life dissecting the chemistry of comets and stars.

The solar spectrum -- both artificial and real -- as reconstructed by the FTS. The artificial part is that the FTS does not spread white light into the rainbow, but measures intensities.

The Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) recently ended its career with the National Solar Observatory (NSO) at Kitt Peak, AZ and is being shipped to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, with delivery scheduled for February 9th.

"The FTS is one of the premier instruments for laboratory spectroscopy, high-resolution solar spectroscopy, and other research," Bernath said. "It is a fantastic instrument."


Read full article: 'One of the world's most colorful solar instruments'

Timely ends

{Click to View Wikipedia Telomere Image & Article}
Glasgow, Scotland -- New research led by a team at the University of Glasgow shows that a good indicator of how long individuals will live can be obtained from early in life using the length of specialised pieces of DNA called telomeres.

Telomeres occur at the ends of the chromosomes, which contain our genetic code. They function a bit like the plastic caps at the end of shoelaces by marking the chromosome ends and protecting them from various process that gradually cause the ends to be worn away.

This method of DNA protection is the same for most animals and plants, including humans, and the eventual loss of the telomere cap is known to cause cells to malfunction. This study is the first in which telomere length has been measured in the same individuals from early life and then repeatedly during the rest of their natural lives.


Read full article: 'Telomere length in early life predicts lifespan'

{NIST Sensor Improvement Brings Analysis Method into Mainstream Image Courtesy NIST & YouTube.com}
Gaithersburg MD, USA & Waterloo ON, Canada -- An advance in sensor design* by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Waterloo's Institute of Quantum Computing (IQC) could unshackle a powerful, yet high-maintenance technique for exploring materials.

The achievement could expand the technique, called neutron interferometryfrom a test of quantum mechanics to a tool for industry as well.

Neutron beams can be used in dozens of ways to probe complex molecules and other advanced materials, but few of the analysis techniques require as much care as neutron interferometry.

The technique treats neutrons as waves, a feature of quantum mechanics, and measures how the neutron is altered as it passes through a sample material. The results can reveal a variety of details about the magnetic, nuclear and structural properties of the sample.

Neutron interferometry is extremely sensitive, but it carries a price: the instruments are so exquisitely sensitive to vibration and temperature that they must be built in a blockhouse the size of a garage, where they can be shielded from seismic activity and maintained at temperatures that are stable to within a few thousandths of a degree Celsius.


Read full article: 'NIST Sensor Improvement Brings Analysis Method into Mainstream'

Could Reveal Way to Observe Enigmatic Particle
{Schematic drawing of collision between two BECs (the gray blobs) that have been “dressed” by laser light (brown arrows) and an additional magnetic field (green arrow). The fuzzy halo shows where atoms have been scattered. The non-uniform projection of the scattering halo on the graph beneath shows that some of the scattering has been d-wave and g-wave.
High-Res Image} CREDIT: Joint Quantum Institute
Gaithersburg MD & College Park, MD, USA -- Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found a way to manipulate atoms’ internal states with lasers that dramatically influences their interactions in specific ways. Such light-tweaked atoms can be used as proxies to study important phenomena that would be difficult or impossible to study in other contexts.

Their most recent work, appearing in Science,* demonstrates a new class of interactions thought to be important to the physics of superconductors that could be used for quantum computation.

Particle interactions are fundamental to physics, determining, for example, how magnetic materials and high temperature superconductors work.

Learning more about these interactions or creating new “effective” interactions will help scientists design materials with specific magnetic or superconducting properties.


Read full article: 'Atoms Dressed with Light Show New Interactions'

Abingdon, UK & Lake Forest, CA, USA -- Available from AMSBIO, MagSi-proteomics beads are magnetic beads that are an ideal tool for the purification, concentration and desalting of peptides and protein digests.

The surface of the beads has been modified with C4, C8 and C18-alkyl groups that are optimised for reversed phase applications. Sample purity and throughput are areas of key importance for proteomics researchers.

Magnetic beads offer a convenient solid support for a variety of assays and procedures based on affinity purification. They are especially well suited for automated procedures because instrumentation is available to easily mix, incubate and separate the magnetic beads in 96-well plates without columns or centrifugation.


Read full article: 'Magnetic beads provide optimised sample preparation of peptides & protein digest'

Trig, UK -- The Specialised Imaging Multi-Channel Framing Camera (SIM) has established itself as the ultra high-speed camera of choice for many leading university research groups around the world through its proven unmatched performance, reliability, ease-of-use and wide applications flexibility.

Using high-resolution image intensifiers, no-compromise optical design, and double pulsing - SIM Cameras offer the ultimate in ultra-high-speed imaging performance to scientists and engineers.

The high throughput SIM camera optical design offers up to 16 separate channels without compromising resolution, shading, or parallax.


Read full article: 'High Speed Camera for University Research…'

{CAPTION:LROC WAC color shaded relief of the lunar farside (NASA/GSFC/DLR/Arizona State University - click for a larger image).}

Global topography -- a boon to lunar scientists and explorers around the world! The LROC team has released Version 1 of the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) topographic map of the Moon.

This amazing map shows you the ups and downs over nearly the entire Moon, at a scale of 100 meters across the surface, and 20 meters or better vertically. Despite the diminutive size of the WAC (it fits in the palm of one's hand), it images nearly the entire Moon every month.

Every month? Yes! Redundant data? No!

Each month the Moon's lighting changes, so the WAC methodically builds up a record of how different rocks reflect light under different conditions, and adds to the LROC library of stereo observations.


Read full article: 'Lunar Topography:Revealed in Stunning Colors!'

Research Triangle Park NC, USA — The Automation Federation (AF) have announced today that AF and the International Society of Automation (ISA) will exhibit at the 2nd USA Science & Engineering Festival, which will be held 28–29 April 2012, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and other key locations in Washington, D.C.,USA.

The festival is a celebration of science and engineering and will feature more than 1500 hands-on activities and more than 75 performances.

The USA Science & Engineering Festival is the country’s largest national science festival. It was developed to increase public awareness of the importance of science and to encourage youth to pursue careers in science and engineering by celebrating science the same way people celebrate Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and pop stars.


Read full article: 'The Automation Federation & ISA to Exhibit at 2nd USA Science & Eng'g Festival'