New Products

Unisyn Releases Medium For Growing Hybridomas Ashton Pumpmatic Offers Pipetting System Designed To Reduce Contamination Gelman Sciences Introduces Minispike Acrodisc Filter Database Package From Advanced Imaging Concepts Hamamatsu Corp.'s Avalanche Photodiode Perkin-Elmer Unveils New Workstation For Chromatography Nanoprobes' Gold-Probe Protein Labeling Kit Ultraviolet And Visible Transillumination Products From Hoefer Nikon's Zoom Stereo Materials Microscopes Unisyn Technologies, based in San Diego, has introduced Hybrid Grow specialized basal medium for growing hybridomas in the company's Cell-Pharm hollow-fiber bioreactors. The medium elevates glucose and glutamine levels to deliver nutrients to the tissue-dense hollow-fiber hybridoma cultures. According to Unisyn, Hybrid Grow simplifies downstream processing and reduces regulatory concerns because it is free of bovine products. Addition of defined medium supplements to the product increases production rates in serum-free environments, the company says. Hybrid Grow does not contain pherol red, which can interfere with charged-based separation media, such as ion-exchange gels. Unisyn notes that Hybrid Grow is produced in a Class 100 clean room in compliance with Food and Drug Administration Good Manufacturing Practices using water tested against USPXXII Water-for-Injection standards. It is also dispensed through filling equipment that sterilizes filling ports between each use. To Reduce Contamination Ashton Pumpmatic Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, offers the Pumpmatic closed pipetting system, designed to sample and dispense fluids of an unknown or potentially hazardous nature. According to the manufacturer, each single-use Pumpmatic is accurate (0.75 percent), reduces technician exposure to questionable liquids, and virtually eliminates the risk of cross-contamination. Available in 1-, 5-, and 10-ml capacities, Pumpmatics are said to allow rapid, single- handed sampling and transfers without drips or spills. Samples can be dispensed rapidly or in single drops. Made of polystyrene and available in sterile or non-sterile form, Pumpmatics conform to Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines for pipetting devices. Filter Minispike Acrodisc syringe filters, from Gelman Sciences Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich., allow samples up to 10 ml to be filtered directly into an instrument vial without sample runoff that is due to the small size of vial openings. The syringe filters, when used for high-performance liquid chromatography and analytical sample preparation, eliminate the extra step of transferring samples from test tubes to vials with disposable pipettes. Minispike Acro-discs are suitable for use with chromatography and spectroscopy autosampler vials, as well as nuclear magnetic reson- ance tubes and capillary electrophoresis vials. The filters are available in four membrane types: PVDF, nylon, PTFE, and GH Polypro, with membranes incorporated into a 13-mm polypropylene housing with a female luer inlet and a Minispike outlet available in 0.2 mm and 0.45 mm. Advanced Imaging Concepts, located in Princeton, N.J., has introduced Image Central, a user-definable image database software package designed for image management and archiving. The Windows-based package can accommodate both color and monochrome images acquired from scanners, video cameras, and still digital cameras. Image Central works with live images or those stored in formats such as TIFF, TGA, PCX, GIF, and BMP. The package is available in single-user or network versions for existing PCs or as a full-featured, turnkey workstation system. The S4402 silicon avalanche photodiode from Hamamatsu Corp. in Bridgewater, N.J., is suitable for applications such as low-light detection and laser-beam alignment. It has a 1 mm active area divided into four equal sections. With a spectral response of 400 to 1,000 nm and peak sensitivity wavelength of 800 nm, the photodiode's quantum efficiency is 75 percent at peak, and dark current is typically 0.8 nA, according to the manufacturer. The device will operate from -20 degrees to +60 degrees C. Chromatography Perkin-Elmer Nelson Corp., based in Norwalk, Conn., has made available the v4 Turbochrom, a software package designed for integrated data handling and instrument control for gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography applications. The latest version of the company's Windows- based chromatography workstation, v4 Turbochrom, offers flexible data-acquisition architecture that allows users to work simultaneously with up to eight instruments from different vendors. Stony Brook, N.Y.-based Nanoprobes Inc. offers the Nanogold- Fab ', a gold-probe kit to covalently label Fab ', IgG, and other proteins containing cysteine, peptides, and other molecules with sulfhydryls. According to the company, Nanogold is the smallest gold probe commercially available that allows penetration into cells, tissue blocks, and nuclei over colloidal gold probes. Instead of just sticking to proteins, like colloidal gold, the compound covalently reacts at specific sites under mild, normal buffer conditions--resulting in a product that can be purified chromatographically. Additionally, the covalent attachment of the gold probe adds stability over time and over the range of pH and ionic strength, according to the company. Nanogold makes possible direct, one-step labeling, according to the manufacturer. Offered in monomaleimido-Nanogold form, the probe reacts with free sulhydryls and is mixed with Fab ' or protein to be labeled. Following a total elapsed time of two hours, the product is ready for use after purification on a gel filtration column, according to Nanoprobes. Nanogold develops with silver developer, which grows the gold into silver grains of various sizes-- depending on total development time--making the probes useful for electron, light, and confocal microscopy. With further development, Nanogold can be used in immunoblots or Westerns for detection of 0.1 pg of antigen. From Hoefer Hoefer Scientific Instruments of San Francisco has announced the MightyBright line of transilluminators: 305 nm UV transilluminators with dual intensity in two sizes, 15 x 20 cm (UVTM-19) and 21 x 25 cm (UVTM-25); the MightyBright Double Vision Transilluminators, which provide both 305 nm UV and visible light, 20 x 20 cm each (UVVIS-20); and a large-format Visible Light Box, 40 x 45 cm (PH90). According to the company, the units have smaller footprints and lighter weights than older-style transilluminators--which allows for easier handling and storage. Nikon Inc., located in Melville, N.Y., offers two stereo microscope packages, the SMZ-U and the SMZ-10, designed to offer enhanced image quality in materials research. The SMZ- U features a 10:1 zoom ratio and magnifications from 3.75x to 450x. In addition, the microscope uses Nikon's ED glass, which, according to the company, provides aberration-free performance throughout the zoom range. Optical components of the SMZ-U can be customized according to the needs of the user, allowing set-up of magnification, working distance, depth of focus, and field diameter for several applications. Users can also select either low or ultra-low eye-level binocular tubes for fatigue-free observation. A variety of both reflected and transmitted light stands with built-in transformers are available; most elements of the system can be custom-configured from standard modular components. The SMZ-10 is mounted on a die-cast pillar with reversible and opal-and-black plate to provide optimum background contrast of surface-illuminated specimens. All viewing heads mount directly above the zoom ring and rotate with the optical body through 360 degrees. The teaching head allows two users to easily view a specimen at the same time. Both translucent and transparent specimens can be precisely lit by the diascopic base with built-in illuminator. Additionally, the drawing tube is designed for use as an aid for recording extensive details of a specimen.

New Products

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