New products and seminar report

LIMS Hewlett-Packard's new laboratory information management software system, HP ChemLMS, operates under standard laboratory procedure language. Running on the UNIX-compatible HP-UX operating system under X-Windows, it is based on the industry-standard Oracle relational database management system. HP ChemLMS is intended for use in laboratories requiring a custom laboratory management system with true client/server capability that complies with regulatory standards. HP ChemLMS is a highly flexible, language-based customization tool-kit that can be tailored precisely to laboratory needs. Applications include research and development, quality control and assurance and general analysis in the chemical, pharmaceutical and consumer goods industries.


compatible
HP-UX operating system under X-Windows, it is based on the industry-standard Oracle relational database management system. HP ChemLMS is intended for use in laboratories requiring a custom laboratory management system with true client/server capability that complies with regulatory standards.
HP ChemLMS is a highly flexible, language-based customization toolkit that can be tailored precisely to laboratory needs. Applications include research and development, quality control and assurance and general analysis in the chemical, pharmaceutical and consumer goods industries.
HP ChemLMS is the only laboratory management system that performs lab procedure revision and version control within the database and includes full audit-trail security. The audit-trail functions are integrated throughout the software and cover lab procedures as well as .the data. With HP ChemLMS, lab management capability is extended to include the process by which data is collected. In addition, there is an option for automatic tracking and reporting of instrument maintenance and calibration records. These features help laboratories to meet regulatory requirements including Good Laboratory practice (GLP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).
HP ChemLMS incorporates an easyto-use procedure specification language modelled on the language chemists use to write laboratory operating procedures. This allows HP ChemLMS to be customized by system integrators, HP application engineers or users to reflect exactly specific laboratory methods of working. As needs change, the software can easily be modified: chemists interact with the system just as they do with written laboratory procedures. Entering and viewing laboratory data is simple and flexible. Using the 'point-and-click' method with a mouse on multiple X-Windows viewing panels, users can view and enter data from various laboratory and corporate systems on a single terminal screen.
HP ChemLMS conforms to industry standards to provide customers with a stable laboratory management platform and easy access to a wide variety of other software packages from a variety of vendors. Kenya; a major multinational engaged in the agro-industry also sent delegates from, for example, the factory maintenance, production support and quality-control divisions. Professionals from a variety of disciplines attended, for example, the The new S140 Magnetic Stirrer incubator is a bench-top incubator which incorporates a inbuilt magnetic stirrer. The SI 40's six-place biological magnetic stirrer will accommodate vessels up to 280 mm in height, including culture flasks, and stir them at any .set speed between .10 and 100 rpm. An important feature of the stirrer is electronic feedback speed control. This ensures a soft start to stirring, and also accurately maintains the set speed, even with changes in liquid viscosity. Details from Stuart Scientific, Holmethorpe Avenue, Holmethorpe Industrial Estate, Redhill, Surrey RH1 2NB, UK. group included a chemist, biometrician, soil scientist, and medicinal chemist.
On the first day of the seminar, the opening subject was on concepts and applications of data acquisition. A presentation on how to interface instruments to computers followed. The analysis and management of data was then discussed and the day ended with discussions reviewing the day's presentations and an introduction on the analysis of a user's requirement in specifying a data acquisition system.
The second day started with two presentations-on design methodologies and implementation strategies. The afternoon was devoted to discussions on problems or potential areas of applications as envisaged by the participants. The seminar was concluded with a review of the two days and the award of certificates to participants.
Demonstrations available included a blood analyser/sampler and various commerical laboratory automation software.
The commonality of data acquisitions systems on a variety of applications became apparent during discussions. The question of costeffectiveness, especially in the Third World where hardware and software, if available, can be prohibitingly expensive, was always in the mind of the participants throughout the discussions. The presenters mentioned that 'home-made' software may be affordable, considering the lower local manpower costs. Also highlighted was the fact that some interface equipment could be designed and produced locally, with the advantages of reduced costs a major attraction, but also the close proximity of the designer to the user, enabling a better understanding and fulfillment of the design and user requirements. Here the 'openness' of PC-based systems was emphasised.
The feedback from participants suggested that more such seminars would be helpful, especially in raising the awareness of not just the solutions, but of local personnel to design and implement the solutions. Using previously available tools, locating a specific waveform after the event could take as much time as the original experiment. WaveTrak solves that problem by storing each separate digitized trace on a separate card of a HyperCard stack. In addition to the data, the card can contain a time stamp, hardware parameters (system gain, temperature, sampling rate etc.) and a user-supplied comment to annotate a specific peak or region of the trace. These annotations can be searched, allowing virtually instant retrieval of a specific piece of information.
Each card can contain up to 30 000 data points. The number of cards in a stack is limited only by the available disk storage space. Waves are displayed at screen resolution, and a unique zoom feature allows full 30 000 point resolution for selected regions of interest.
Once data is recorded into a stack it can be duplicated and distributed for viewing or analysis using only the basic HyperCard 2.0 program, making the program ideal for teaching or student use. Traces may be exported in TEXT, PICT or IGOR format.
In addition to coveniently eliminating the need to clutter up a hard disk with hundreds of separate files and folders, WaveTrak provides a library of buttons that allow the user to customize mathematical or display routines for a particular application. Equipment's SYS3000 graphite furnace system is a fully automatic, multi-element instrument. The SYS3000 accomodates an eight-lamp turret and an automatic samples changer and is able to determine up to 12 elements in a batch of samples without operator intervention. Samples which exceed the dynamic range of the calibration curve are automatically diluted until they can be accurately analysed.

FIA system
The Lambda FIA System from Perkin-Elmer consists of the FIAS 200 high-performance flow-injection system for atomic spectroscopy with two separately programmable pumps, the AS 90 autosampler with separate trays for up to 152 samples and the Lambda 2 UV/VIS scanning spectrometer. Included in the system is a detailed cookbook, outlining analytical protocols for the determination of important anions and.other analytical parameters. The Lambda 2 serves as the FIA detector and can also be used as a conventional UV/ Vis spectrometer. It has a wave-length range from 190 to 1100 nm and is fully PC-controlled, using the specialized PEFIA software package with 26 preprogrammed methods for flow injection analysis with the Lambda FIA System.
The system should be of particular interest to scientists involved in environmental, drinking-and wastewater, pharmaceutical and food analyses.
For further information, contact Perkin-Elmer Limited, Post Office Lane, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire HP9 1QA, UK. catologue, which offers scientists a unique selection of over 200 specialized software packages for the IBM PC (or compatibles) and the Macintosh from more than 60 different scientific software developers. The products featured in the esc catalogue include specialized drawing tools for chemists and chemical engineers, presentation graphics for slides and posters, sophisticated molecular modelling, mathematical modelling, statistics and data analysis, scientific graphing and plotting, bibliography management, and translation software. The specialized scientific programs are augmented by commonly used programs for the PC and Macintosh, such as Lotus 1-2-3, Cricket Graph, Microsoft Word survey, separation optimisation, qualitative and quantitative analysis and preparative methods. The interactive programme has action sequences in full colour and includes quizzes for on-screen self testing.
The Mettler DL12 is intended for routine analyses with high demands on accuracy; the DL12 is especially suitable for pH titrations and is moderately priced. Operation of the DL12 is simple and userfriendly. The sample size is automatically taken into account in the calculation of the results. A new feature is the possibility to obtain the result with inputted constants or with a preprogrammed code (19 variations) in the desired mass unit. The titration routine is started at a keystroke. The simple method concept assures a high degree of reproducibility of the results. Details from Mettler-Toledo A G, CH 8606 Greifensee, Switzerland.
7680A, which was introduced to the analytical market two years ago. VII, Voight, and Log Normal peaks, and it will fit baselines from simple offset to cubic polynomials. Fitted peak types can be mixed, positive or negative, and the number of fitted peaks is virtually unlimited. The processing power of GRAMS' optimized 32 bit application instructions .gives GRAMS curvefit extraordinary speed. The fit interations are complete with unmatched efficiency, and can be performed continuously or one step at a time to monitor the progress of the fit. Initial peak parameters can be set either manually or automatically. Once the fit is complete, data can be viewed singly, with the base-line, with the residual, and it can be overlaid. Full statistical information including standard errors of the parameters, standard errors of the fit, and peak areas are provided. This information and actual fitted data can be easily output to hardcopy or pasted into other applications.

Syringeless filters
Whatman Scientific's syringeless filters have been designed to simplify the preparation of small volume samples and can be used in automated techniques. Three types of device are available, each with a choice of filter media.
Autovial contains a 25 mm diameter filter unit in a specially designed barrel housing. Samples are placed in the graduated barrel (12ml capacity) and filtered directly by depressing the self-sealing plunger.
Uniprep and Cliniprep operate by means of a hollow plunger which incorporates the filtration medium in its base. Samples are placed in the device's outer tube and filtered by means of inserting the hollow plunger. This action creates a vial of sample which can be removed, capped and used directly in further analytical procedures.