R & D articles from November 2007

R & D archives from November 2007

It's not a tropical paradise.(EDITORIAL)
November 1, 2007... By the time you read this, the Dec. 3-14 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia, will be closing, if not already completed. In addition to workshops and technical discussions, negotiations on how to replace the...

George Whitesides: a passion for discovery.(R&D Magazine's 42nd Scientist of the Year)(Cover story)
November 1, 2007... Before genomics, before computer software, and long before computer-aided chromatographs, a typical day in the chemistry lab involved arduous work. What might take minutes today required weeks a few decades ago, a fact well-known to George M....

National labs speak out on the State of Government Research: executives from the nation's government labs offer insight into their current challenges.(Government CEO Roundtable)(Interview)
November 1, 2007... The 9th Annual R&D Magazine Government CEO Roundtable took place on Oct 18 at Chicago's Navy Pier. Participating in this year's discussion were representatives from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,...

Metamaterials.(CASE STUDY)
November 1, 2007... Fiber optics revolutionized data transmission, yielding numerous advantages in telephone and cable television as well as cellular phones, thus replacing basic copper wire. Metamaterials developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, may be the...

3-D tracking.(CASE STUDY)
November 1, 2007... The detailed inner workings of a cell, specifically protein-protein interactions, is a prominent area of research for the biomedical industry and other researchers seeking to understand this fundamental knowledge for its application to larger...

Challenges & opportunities in the world of independent research: contract research organizations see a strong future for their style of R&D.(INDEPENDENT R&D ORGANIZATIONS)(Interview)
November 1, 2007... For the ninth consecutive year, the editors of R&D Magazine interviewed the chief executive officers of the leading independent research and development laboratories in North America to determine the issues and challenges confronting these...

MRI fuels energy research.(CASE STUDY)(Midwest Research Institute)
November 1, 2007... As energy has garnered the nation's attention as a too priority, MRI has expanded its focus on research in the energy area, particularly renewable energy. "Energy is a strategic focus for MRI at this time," MR Senior Vice President Michael...

Southwest Research Institute[R] (SwRI[R]).(CASE STUDY)
November 1, 2007... Success Story '07 The complex problems for which industrial or government clients seek help from independent research and development organizations require real-world solutions. The research engineer's response must reflect not only the...

Delivering high-purity water: a high-purity water system is a top priotory when designing a new research lab.(LABORATORY EQUIPMENT/DESIGN)
November 1, 2007... Designing, building and equipping a research lab is a challenge for any organization. But when you're a company involved in manufacturing a potential life-saving prognostic test, it becomes a fast-track project. That was the challenge...

New ultrasonic liquid processor--Sonicator 4000.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The new Sonicator 4000 is an advanced ultrasonic processor. A variety of new features including digital processing and touch screen control make this an intuitive and easy to use system. Output amplitude is controlled from giving a greater...

Dedicated platelet centrifuge.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] New PDQ platelet function centrifuge is dedicated solely to the standardization of platelet sample preparation and reduces process time to 5 min. Platelet rich plasma is available in just 30 sec, platelet poor...

Improving AFM data reliability: negative-stiffness vibration isolation improves data set integrity.(atomic force microscope)
November 1, 2007... At Arizona State Univ. (ASU), Tempe, the current interests of the Nanostructures Research Group lie in the areas of quantum dots, quantum wires, and ultra-small semiconductor devices. Led by David Ferry, the group conducts a wide spectrum of...

New capabilities in confocal imaging: endoscopic microscopy combines with imaging software to replace potentially dangerous biopsies.
November 1, 2007... Biological microscopy imaging generally involves conventional optical or confocal microscopes to observe and analyze sectioned tissue samples at the cellular level. The medical researcher's ultimate goal, however, has been to analyze those...

Research at room temperature: a raft of new technologies has kept cold field emission electron microscopes competitive among top-end, high-voltage instruments.
November 1, 2007... Among electron microscope manufacturers, Hitachi High Technologies America Inc., Schaumburg, Ill., has paved its own way. Through persistent development, the company has kept up with the resolutions of scanning transmission electron microscopes...

The I stands for innovation: Nikon's EclipseTi has been redesigned to accelerate live-cell discovery.
November 1, 2007... Microscopes for mass research use, especially live-cell microscopes, have traditionally been designed for a general purpose then passed along to third-party developers. In turn, developers attempted to provide useful accessories and computer...

The shape of things to come: revisions to an existing S/TEM system may set new standards for ultra-high resolution microscopy systems.(MICROSCOPY/IMAGE ANALYSIS)
November 1, 2007... According to Dominique Hubert, VP and general manager of the Nanoresearch Division of FEI Co., Hillsboro, Ore., the concept for the new [Titan.sup.3] 80-300 S/TEM (scanning/transmission electron microscope) "began with listening to leading...

Enhanced environmental control of live cell microscopy: a new microscope chamber system design provides optimum environmental control vital to the use of live cell video microscopy.(MICROSCOPY/IMAGE ANALYSIS)
November 1, 2007... As the average stage of breast cancer at diagnosis decreases due to improved screening techniques, the study of early stage breast cancer (stages I and II) via microscopy becomes all the more significant. Yet, the environmental controls of...

Sample compartment microscopy accessory for FT-IR instruments.(Tools of the Trade)(fourier transform-infrared)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The Irtron sample compartment microscopy system provides affordable analysis of microscopic samples with the high performance features of an external FT-IR microscope accessory. Offering convenience and ease of use, it is compatible with the...

Versatile, universal design microscope.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Nikon's new LV-UDM provides universal optical technology on a single microscope platform for industrial, biological, and crossover use. With its newly designed turret condenser and motorized nosepiece, the LV-UDM is a unique multifunctional...

Touch and view technology.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... ScalarScopes's most advanced and versatile'lens: 25x-200x parfocal zoom lens (1/2-inch working distance at 200x). Images are displayed on a larger, easily viewable 3.5" monitor that is mounted on the main body. It is capable of 30 frames/sec...

Slide for optical analysis of slow migrating cells.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Chemotaxis slide allows the motion tracking of slow migrating cells like chemotactic active cancer cells in gradients. Up until now, comparable cell-based assays have only allowed the traCking of fast migrating cells such as neutrophiles or...

From theory to practice: theoretical technique comes of age: a known mathematical modeling technique and recent advances in computing combine to solve complex mechanical models.(SOFTWARE)(DynaFlexPro)
November 1, 2007... John McPhee, at the Univ. of Waterloo's Dept. of Systems Design Engineering, Ontario, Canada, is discovering how known theoretical techniques combined with powerful software can be used in new ways. He has taken a 40-year-old mathematical...

Symyx Isentris 3.0 gives new power to improve R&D.(Tools of the Trade)
November 1, 2007... Symyx Isentris 3.0 has a unique informatics system that integrates internal and commercial data and streamlines scientific workflows. Symyx Isentris 3.0 bridges internal and external information in a single search, alerting researchers to...

STN AnaVist 2.0.(Tools ot the Trade)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] STN AnaVist analysis and visualization software analyzes search results from the multidisciplinary CAplus database and the patent databases USPAT-FULL and PCTFULL. as well as from Derwent World Patents Index. The...

SPSS 16.0.(Tools ot the Trade)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SPSS 16.0 statistical software delivers enhanced integration with the Predictive Enterprise Services (PES) analytics platform, making it possible to store and manage a variety of analytic assets, including predictive...

TOF's time to shine: new instruments featuring time-of-flight (TOF) liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry technology improve on their predecessors in terms of speed and mass accuracy.(ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS)(time-of-flight)
November 1, 2007... The first generation of quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) instruments provided excellent quality data, but the quality of the instrument and the analytical horsepower were both lacking. These...

NanoVette accessory applications.(Tools of the Trade)
November 1, 2007... Beckman Coulter, Inc. announces the new nanoVette microliter accessory for DU 800 and DU 730 UV/Vis spectrophotometers. Ideal for DNA and protein applications, the cuvette-sized nanoVette accepts sample sizes as small as 0.7 [micro]L and is...

JEOL introduces new high sensitivity, cyber-enabled FT-NMR.(Tools of the Trade)(JEOL USA, Inc., Fourier Transform Nuclear Magnetic Resonance)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JEOL has unveiled the ECS series of nuclear magnetic spectrometers, featuring the new Jastec 400 MHz Super Self-Shielded SCM superconducting magnet, which greatly reduces stray fields. The fully-digital ECS console,...

Analyzer processes multiple biodiesel samples at 100 scans/sec.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The Multicomponent 2750 EP-NIR analyzer monitors methanol, water, and total glycerin in biodiesel, measures water content in ethanol, determines biediesel blends, and analyzes ethanol/gasoline blends. The unit provides pass/fail information on...

Analytical SFC systems.(Tools of the Trade)(supercritical fluid chromatography)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Thar's line of analytical SFC systems features high throughput and resolution combined with faster separations for meeting demanding separation and optional fraction collection needs. The systems utilize C[O.sub.2] as the mobile phase with...

Spectrometer targets high resolution laser spplications.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The SPM-001 Series NIR Spectrometer, featuring a Lab-VIEW-based user-interface, incorporates a high-resolution, 150-mm focal length optical bench and a 3648 pixel Toshiba CCD to achieve resolution better than 0.12 nm. The fine resolution in the...

Global data transfer of large files: TCP latency in transferring data can be overcome with new solutions.(TEST, MEASUREMENT & ANALYSIS)(Transmission Control Protocol)
November 1, 2007... For the past few decades, most computers users have been relying on the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) over Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to move files between computers. TCP is a "reliable protocol, meaning that received packets are...

ZBX series linear actuator.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Kerk Motion Products offers its ZBX series anti-backlash assembly, an ideal linear actuator for design operations requiring precise positional accuracy and repeatability, at a minimum cost. The inherent damping...

ABRT series rotary air-bearing stage.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Aerotech's ABRT series rotary air-bearing stages provide 360[degrees] continuous travel with resolution to 0.027 arc sec. Velocity stability and error motion performance are exceptional. Payload capacity is up to 69 kg due to the radial and...

Intelligent dual-channel LVDT controllers and indicators.(Tools of the Trade)(linear variable differential transformer)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Macro Sensors has designed the industry's first line of intelligent micro processor. The processors are based dual-channel digital controllers and indicators that can be used in a variety of industrial measurement and control applications....

Shielded nano connectors reduce EMI/noise.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Omnetics' metal bi-lobe nano-miniature connectors are now available with sealed backshells and braided cable shielding to reduce crosstalk and EMI problems in today's new high density electronic modules. Omnetics' 25-m pitch bi-lobe...

Selecting an IR detector for thermographic imaging: choosing an appropriate detector involves many technical considerations.(PHOTONICS)(infrared radiation)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Thermographic imaging is accomplished with a camera that converts infrared radiation (IR) into a visual image which depicts temperature variations across an object or scene. The main IR camera components are a lens, a detector in the form of a...

Monolithic, short pulsed supercontiuum laser source.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The MQO-SC is the world's first component level supercontinuum source. It is ideally suited for integration in OEM systems and instruments. The MQO-SC is based on a hermetically sealed design with telecom grade packaging. Output is provided via...

Fused silica penta prisms.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... A new line of TECHSPEC UV fused silica penta prisms is available from Edmund Optics. These five-sided prisms reflect light rays through a 90[degrees] angle by two reflections without inverting or reverting the image. They serve as a valuable...

VectorJet Laser Marking Technology for Acetals.(Tools of the Trade)
November 1, 2007... The Sabreen Group's Vector Jet Laser Marking Technology achieves unprecedented dark-on-light contrast, line edge detail, and marking speed on Acetals and many more plastics that have traditionally been difficult, if not impossible, to laser...

Nanobiotech research evolves for drug delivery: new nanomaterials are overcoming limitations of CNTs to advance drug research.(MATERIALS SCIENCE/NANOTECHNOLOGY)(carbon nanotubes)
November 1, 2007... Nanotechnology has proven to be a strong driver for medical applications, with drug delivery overwhelming all other areas. The whole technology arena has evolved from loading nanoparticles with compounds used to fight diseases just a few years...

Nanocomp Technologies manufactures first ready-to-use carbon nanotube textile.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Nanocomp Technologies, Inc., announces its new textile material from long carbon nanotubes. The material, in usable nonwoven sheet and yarn formats, is extremely lightweight and strong and efficiently conducts both electricity and heat. It's...

NanoLube nanoscale anti-friction lubricant.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... NanoLube nano bearings are now available from StClaire. The nano bearings in NanoLube are very predictable nanoscale spherical molecules about 90 nm in size which have anti-friction qualities suitable for extreme pressure applications that...

TurboDisc Vapor Deposition system.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The new TurboDisc E475 As/P Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) system is used in the production of red, orange, yellow high-brightness light emitting diodes (HB-LEDs) and multi-junction III-V concentrator solar cells, primarily for...

What do competition, cooperation, & standards have in common?(MATERIALS SCIENCE/NANOTECHNOLOGY)
November 1, 2007... We would have liked to headline this article with the statement 1+ 1 [not equal to] 2, but mathematical formulas tend to scare readers away. The statement is also difficult to prove. However there is substantial circumstantial evidence of the...

Nanocide Antimicrobial coated fabrics.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... CMI Enterprises has created a new environmentally friendly Nanocide Antimicrobial. The "Dimensions" line of coated fabrics for upholstery and bedding is the first of its kind for the industry, featuring the Nanocide Antimicrobial. Test...

Gold nanoparticle x-ray contrast agent for MicroCT use.(Tools of the Trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Nanoprobes, Inc. has released AuroVist, a new x-ray contrast agent for research animal use based on the company's gold nanoparticle technology. Unlike iodine, AuroVist has very low viscosity and osmolality and may be injected and used in small...