NEW PRODUCTS

NEW PRODUCTS pp.20 Date: May 30, 1994 The DNA Plus System, now available from Heto AS of Denmark, is a compact, complete vacuum-concentration system de- signed for drying and concentrating RNA and DNA precipitates. The DNA Plus System is an all-in-one unit, consisting of a vacuum rotator-mini centrifuge, a Teflon- coated membrane vacuum pump, a cooling trap that can handle temperatures as low as -60o C, and a built-in controller for completely automatic operation. The system is situated on a compact, mobile cart. Individual Monitoring Systems of Baltimore has introduced the PAM2 Physical Activity Monitor, a research and evaluation system for recording and analyzing body movement in animals and humans. The miniaturized, portable device weighs 32 grams. With a sensitivity of 0.1 g acceleration, the unit accumulates activity data in one-minute intervals and can store this information for hours, days, or weeks. For animal research, it can be used for measuring the effects of drugs, toxic substances, and environment on motor activity and behavior. In humans, the PAM2 monitors motor events for activity-related studies, such as investigations of sleep/wake cycles, circadian rhythms, exercise, hyperactivity, and ergonomics. According to the company, the PAM2 method requires no complicated set-up or field adjustment. Activity data from the PAM2 are downloaded to a computer for presentation and analysis. Millipore Corp. of Bedford, Mass., has developed new MultiScreen glass-fiber filter plates for filtration assays. These plates, used in conjunction with the MultiScreen bioassay system, are designed to replace conventional techniques for cell harvesting and receptor-binding assays. According to the manufacturer, when compared with traditional methods, the MultiScreen glass-fiber filter plates significantly enhance the throughput of multiple samples. They also are said to reduce the amount of expensive radioactive waste generated from such studies by up to 99 percent. Each MultiScreen plate is fitted with a glass-fiber filter recommended for bioassay (American Society for Testing and Materials designation Type B or Type C). An open-pore membrane below the glass-fiber media permits incubation as well as filtration of liquids in the upper wells of the plate. Each step of a typical bioassay--sample immobilization, incubation, washing, and detection--can be carried out within the same filter plate, eliminating the need for sample transfers from one reaction vessel to another. Once the assay is completed, the individual filters on the plate are designed to be easily punched out and transferred into scintillation vials, or counted directly in the plate with microplate counters. The user can also retain the filtrate for further analysis by placing a standard, plastic, 96-well plate below the MultiScreen plate and applying vacuum. MultiScreen glass-fiber filter plates can be used for a variety of techniques, including receptor-binding assays, thymidine-uptake studies, and assays on neural receptors. MultiScreen plates are also available with other membranes fitted to the 96-well plate. Researchers can choose from Immobilon membranes, low-binding PVDF membranes, and cellulosic filters such as nitrocellulose, depending on the application. Plates are available in both sterile and non- sterile formats, and in materials compatible with direct scintillation counting on the plate. Coreco's Oculus-F/64 Image-Acquisition And Processing Boards Make Debut Montreal, Quebec-based Coreco Inc. offers the Oculus-F/64 series, high-performance image-acquisition and processing boards for the ISA bus targeted to applications such as industrial inspection, scientific analysis, and medical imaging. The Oculus-F/64 series offers acquisition up to 40 MHz over 250 MOPS of processing power and high-bandwidth communications. The Oculus-F/64 series incorporates high-speed processing hardware including Texas Instruments' TMS 34020 GSP and TMS 320C40 DSP. The unit also features a histogram processor and Coreco's IP-Engine, which combine to perform real-time arithmetic operations. The Oculus-F/64 series relies on all four processors and an 80 MByte/second high-speed memory bus to provide simultaneous image acquisition and processing. The Oculus-F/64 series was designed to acquire data from virtually any source and to simplify data acquisition through an interactive software program that allows users to adjust all video parameters. Up to 48 MBytes of field- upgradable memory can be added to provide additional storage of images, accommodate 16-bit images, or store high- resolution images (up to 4K o 4K). The Oculus-F/64 series supports either single-screen or dual-screen operation and is compatible with Windows 3.1 and Windows NT. To view very- high-resolution images, select Oculus-F/64 products support display resolutions up to 1600 o1200. Biotechnologies Inc. Acton, Mass.-based Cohesive Biotechnologies Inc.'s patented Wave Chemistry will be used to design and develop purification media to separate and purify biomolecules. This technology was first developed and utilized at Polaroid Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., and is now licensed and patented by Cohesive Biotechnologies. According to the company, it is applying this chemistry for the first time in the separations industry. Cohesive Biotechnologies has been awarded three application patents based on applying the chemistry to chromatographic media. The chemistry's infrastructure allows protein to be analyzed and purified at the lab level and then scaled up into production. This scale-up process is designed to enable biopharmaceutical companies to accelerate the purification of biomolecules. Cohesive Biotechnologies is applying this chemistry to a series of separation products that will be released later this year. Analysis Software Noesis Vision Inc. of Montreal, Quebec, has introduced a fully automated electrophoresis one-dimensional image- analysis software package. The system is Unix-based and runs on all major workstations from Sun Microsystems Inc., Silicon Graphics Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Co. Among the functions that can be performed by the package are detection and quantification of lanes and bands. In addition, interactive tools are provided for controlling image-display parameters.

NEW PRODUCTS

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