No matter where you stand on the impact of global warming, you can’t discount the shift in thoughts and actions to protecting the environment, addressing climate change and pursuing sustainability. On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act which allocates more than $300B to be invested in energy and climate reform. Research laboratories have had some significant breakthroughs in 2022 that may one day lead to a greener and cleaner planet. [Read More]

AQL (Acceptable Quality Limit) sampling is used to determine whether an entire batch (or order) has met a client’s specification, based on a statistical sample of that batch.  Quality inspections usually rely on random sampling of a small percentage of product, rather than trying to test the whole batch. By integrating AQL into your LIMS pass/fail parameters, decisions can be made directly from the analytical results entered. Within the LIMS the sample size table can be defined.[Read More]

Scientific research, which mostly relies on modern technology, cannot keep up the pace with the same. The digitalization of laboratories includes ideas for breaking down the barrier between the physical laboratory and its digital counterpart, resulting in a smart laboratory infrastructure in which digital instruments are connected with  Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs). Smart technologies come into play as well ... [Read More]

Many growing labs find that they outgrow their current software or have requirements that exceed the capabilities of their vendor or services partner sooner than they expect. In some cases, a lab might be able to make do with its current system. However, if it’s a constant struggle to use the software to achieve the desired goals or a lab is looking to grow, it might be time to consider the options. [Read More]

Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Machine Learning (“ML”) are creating a buzz in the Pharmacovigilance (“PV”) space because of their transformative potential to provide new and interesting insights, by processing big data in a timely, accurate, and cost-efficient manner, and promises to enable product innovations to better protect patients and the world. Artificial Intelligence is a becoming challenging term to pin down ...[Read More]

Autoscribe Informatics will be demonstrating their new LIMS Web application at Lab Innovations 2022, the UK’s largest dedicated exhibition for laboratory professionals. Released in Matrix Gemini version 6.5 the new Matrix Gemini Web application is a major upgrade to the Web interface. It can be used in parallel with the original Web application allowing users to compare, test and validate as required. [Read More]

In this 2022 paper published in the journal Environmental Advances, Musio et al. explore the usefulness of Cannabis sativa L. for the remediation of heavy metals from soils. While this concept is certainly not new, the authors also add the blue-green alga Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) into the mix to see if further remediation gains can be made. Using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) methods for analysis during the research, the authors come to several conclusions. First, they conclude that treatment of cannabis "with spirulina during the cultivation of the hemp induced an enhancement in the uptake of heavy metals." Second, they find that "NMR analysis allowed to identify the crucial variations of the metabolic composition that were induced by the treatment with spirulina," making it a useful analytical technique in this regard. By extension, they add, "the results described may encourage the application of spectroscopic methods for the rapid detection of structural changes in the various environmental spheres" and apply such remediation techniques in a monitored fashion.