New Products

Chemicals and materials

WATER QUALITY TESTING Arsenic Quick mini-kits are available as two- or five-test kits with detection ranges from 1 to 500 ppb. Verified by EPA to yield accurate results within 14 minutes, these kits can be customized for arsenic detection in water or soil. Industrial Test Systems Inc., www.sensafe.com

PCR ReaX Assay 16S beads are used to identify bacteria based on the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. The ReaX beads obtain results that are identical to those obtained by conventional PCR methods but with less variability and fewer opportunities for contamination. The beads contain all reagents necessary for 16S rRNA PCR reactions, including Taq polymerase, dNTPs, and the 16S rRNA primers 27F and 907R. Template DNA is required before running a PCR reaction. No DNA isolation step is necessary because bacterial colonies may be used directly off an agar plate. Q Chip, www.q-chip.com

GENOTOXICITY The gTox Flow Kit is a flow-cytometric approach to genotoxicity testing. This assay, which uses mouse micronuclei, is designed to evaluate the ability of a compound to cause chromosomal damage by detecting displaced micronuclei formed from chromatin. The test can be automated or performed manually; it can be done at room temperature and without centrifugation. gTox Flow Kit is compliant with European REACH regulations. Beckman Coulter, www.beckmancoulter.com

Instruments and labware

(1) TITRATOR The Aquacounter Coulometric Karl Fischer Titrator (AQ-300) has six built-in calculation modes and can accommodate solid, liquid, and gas samples. The included statistics package allows for four files with preset conditions to be stored in memory and for recall of data for up to 20 samples. Options available are ion-exchange or fritless-cell system, and thermal or impact printer. Researchers can transfer results-such as moisture content, mean value, standard deviation, moisture quantity-time curve, and more-to a laptop or PC. JM Science, www.jmscience.com

(2) SCOOP SCALE With a range between 0 and 300.0 g, the Traceable Spatula Balance both scoops and weighs to an accuracy of 0.2 g or 0.25%. Readout can toggle between grams and ounces. Readability is 0.1 g. Scoop holds 32 mL. Batteries included. Control Co., www.control3.com

CELL IMAGING The BioFlux 200 system is designed for analysis of functional cell-based assays by automating the study of live cells and biofilms under controlled-shear conditions. Using 24- or 48-well microtiter plates, the BioFlux system can produce between 50 and 100 data points from cell-adhesion assays in 30 minutes. Included software automates experimental setup and calculation of static adhesion, migration, and rolling velocities. Fluxion Biosciences, www.fluxionbio.com

SAMPLE PREP The Metrohm 815 Robotic Soliprep is designed to prepare samples for ion chromatography, HPLC, ICP, trace metal analysis, and titrimetric and direct measurement applications. The system adds solvents, homogenizes, filters, dilutes, transfers solutions to sealed vials, and titrates or measures directly without user intervention. Brinkmann, www.brinkmann.com

Plant materials and equipment

STEEL LDX 2101 is a lean duplex stainless steel that is a corrosion-resistant and low-nickel nitrogen-enhanced alloy. The duplex structure allows for resistance to uniform corrosion, pitting, crevice corrosion, and chloride stress-corrosion cracking. Plate thicknesses range between 0.1875 inches (5 mm) and 2.00 inches (51 mm). Sandmeyer Steel, www.sandmeyersteel.com

(3) ROBOTIC ARM The Smart Gripper 2.1 is a closed-loop direct-drive gripper with a programming interface that enables easy integration with most commercially available robots. The gripper allows robotic finger positioning and adjustable grip force and requires no external controller. The gripping fingers can be customized, and up to 32 programs can be entered. Applied Robotics, www.arobotics.com

CONTROLLER The multifunctional eControl 8611 is a modular control designed to integrate into multiple closed-loop cooling systems. It controls flow, pressure, and temperature in one device. The controller integrates a pressure indicator and a cascade temperature control, offers two-way communications with programmable logic or other controllers, and has multiple input and output possibilities. It can work with pneumatically or electrically driven systems. Bürkert, www.burkert.com