Introduction to Air Monitoring

Solid phase microexatraction or SPME is a green method for extraction of analytes out of a sample. Since SPME is a non-exhaustive extraction technique, some analysts believe that SPME is not quantifiable. This presentation will provide basic information for developing a method to extract and quantify analytes using SPME. Examples will be given on the extraction and quantification of analytes out of various matrices, and SPME will be compared to other extraction techniques such as QuEChERS and SPE. In this webinar, we will discuss some new SPME technologies such as SPME-OC (over-coated) fibers and BioSPME that help to isolate and quantify analytes from interfering compounds in the matrix. Guidelines will be provided for enhancement of precision using SPME.

The benefits of three dimensional (3D) cell culture are widely appreciated. More cell-based technologies are now becoming available that enable researchers to preserve the native 3D structure of cells in vitro. These can be broadly divided into three areas: aggregate-based methods; hydrogels and extra-cellular matrices; and inert scaffold-based technologies. Each has strengths and weaknesses and there is no one technology that satisfies all applications. Tissues in the body are mostly composed of different cell types that are often highly organized in relation to each other. Often cells are arranged in distinct layers that enable signalling and cell-to-cell interactions. Alternatively in tumours, cancer cells form aggregates and tissue masses composed of different cell types. Recreation of these types of architecture will significantly evolve 3D cell culture to a new level where real tissue-like structures can be generated in vitro.

This webinar will review the alternative approaches available to researchers and provide an overview of their capabilities and example applications. More sophisticated models are developing as 3D cell culture technology becomes established and accepted as a means of creating more physiologically relevant cell-based assays. Methods that are relatively straightforward to use and that recreate the organized structure of real tissues will become valuable research tools for use in discovery, validation studies, and modelling disease.

Key areas covered:
• 2D vs 3D cell culture debate
• Review of alternative approaches and the development of new technologies
• Challenges facing 3D culture methods, in terms of technologies available and methods used
• Showcase applications where 3D technology makes a difference
• Future perspective for 3D cell culture technology and further development

Does western blotting give you more trouble than expected? Do you feel like your precious samples are being wasted on bad westerns? Join us and find out how you can improve your western blots! In this seminar, you will learn general guidelines for performing and troubleshooting your westerns, such as:

• Choice of different blotting membranes
• Parameters affecting blotting efficiency
• Conditions for optimizing your immunodetection
• Information on SNAP i.d.® 2.0 system: A faster way to perform immunodetection

Understanding the movements, modifications and interactions of proteins within a cell is key to unraveling the fundamental tenets of biology. However, the low-level expression of many proteins, combined with the transient nature of their interactions and movements, makes analyzing and understanding these processes quite difficult. Duolink® PLA, which is based on the principles of the proximity ligation assay (PLA), offers a solution to overcome these hurdles and to study the actions of endogenous proteins within cells and tissues. Combining the specificity of antibodies with the sensitivity afforded by rolling circle amplification, Duolink® PLA allows you to detect, visualize, and quantitate proteins and their interactions (even single events) where they happen within cells or tissue, all without overexpression or genetic manipulation. This seminar will cover the basic assay principle and advantages of the Duolink® PLA technology, and discuss recent applications and developments of the technology that make it an excellent tool to understand the fundamental mechanisms of biology, as well as disease states. Applications of Duolink® PLA include the investigation of cellular responses to varying stimuli, receptor dimerization and signalling cascades, post-translational modifications, and regulation of protein expression. New developments include use in flow cytometry and multiplexed detection.

For the past two decades, Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) has represented a convenient alternative to conventional sample prep procedures. SPME allows the simultaneous extraction and enrichment of analytes of interest from a given matrix in a single step while avoiding, or drastically minimizing, the use of organic solvents and time-consuming cleanup procedures.
Like any other analytical method, the various parameters governing the SPME process need to be carefully optimized in order to achieve robustness and sensitivity. However, certain aspects of SPME method development are often overlooked by many users, leading to unsatisfactory performance of the technique.
This webinar will shed light into several aspects of SPME method development. The presentation will include a theoretical explanation of SPME fundamentals and practical suggestions to overcome common errors and bias encountered when using SPME.
The webinar is divided in three main sections: 1) optimization of extraction conditions 2) matrix modifications 3) optimization of desorption conditions for gas and liquid chromatography. Each section is divided in various subsections dedicated to each parameter affecting the performance of the SPME technique. The webinar attendees will be guided through comprehensive understanding of the technology and the critical parameters that influence the extraction process with practical examples from already existing methods.

Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in the United States. Each year, over 222,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer, and over 150,000 succumb each year to the illness, making it also the deadliest cancer in the country. With constant advancement of treatment options, the importance of accurate diagnosis and detection of lung cancer becomes more and more relevant to the survival of the patient. Immunohistochemistry has served as the catalyst for these advancements in lung cancer diagnosis. This presentation covers many of the basic science, facts, and statistics of lung cancer, as well as the utility of immunohistochemical testing with markers such as TTF-1, napsin A, desmoglein-3, and p40 in the accurate diagnosis and survival rates of lung cancer.

In typical analytical workflows, sample preparation accounts for over 60% of the time taken to generate results and 30% of any errors generated. To help analytical chemists maintain the cornerstones of all analytical processes, namely; speed, specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility, considerable resources have been devoted to the development of new and unique technologies in the sample preparation field. With specific reference to solid phase extraction and solid phase microextraction, this presentation will outline new technologies and techniques developed in sample preparation for food analysis.

CRISPR Cas9 nucleases have revolutionized the field of gene editing and high-throughput lentiviral screens continue to hold ever-increasing promise for both basic research and development of future therapies to benefit human health. Even with such powerful technologies at hand, researchers new to the field may find the screening of multiple targets to be challenging and time-consuming. This webinar discusses the Evotec partnership with Life Science Business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and the screening services for drug discovery.

As you are aware, Triton will soon be included in the Authorization list (Annex XIV) of REACh. In order to continue to supply this material, we need some detailed information from you. In anticipation of your questions, we are hosting a webinar to answer as many of these queries as we can.

The CRISPR/Cas genome editing system has revolutionized almost every aspect of the life science industry. Until recently, the most used formats for this technology have been plasmids, mRNA, or lentivirus. Each reagent has been successful in its own right, however, each approach has limitations. SygRNATM, the two-part synthetic crRNA and tracrRNA, increases the pace of research, decreases costs, and can be used with Cas9 protein, Cas9 mRNA and Cas9 expressing cells/models.

This webinar discusses the development of the SygRNATM system, protocol optimization, and proposes workflows that enable scientists to quickly incorporate CRISPR technologies into their research.

H&E is the most frequently used stain in histology and is the basis for diagnostics and further selected methods. Thus it is important to have brilliant staining. We will show which minor factors can give a negative effect or spoil the result completely. Tips will be given on improving the sensitivity of the stain. For PAS, we will give advice on how to avoid common errors and always get colourful results.
We will discuss:
•Troubleshooting
•Technical tricks
•How to prevent "critical situations"

In research areas such as academic, biofuel, food and pharmaceutical industries the determination of algal viability, lipid content, and cell concentration is important in the selection, monitoring, and maintenance of algal cultures. Flow cytometry has been shown to be an ideal method to assess health and lipid content of cultures but has been challenging to adopt due to high complexity and cost of traditional technologies. In this webinar, we present novel simplified methods for algal characterization using microcapillary cytometry on either a simple touch screen based cytometer, the Muse® Cell Analyzer, or a higher throughput cytometric platform, the compact Guava® easyCyte platforms. The MilliporeSigma algae kits utilize simple mix and read protocols, dedicated software modules, and provide quick results for the of count and viability measurements or relative lipid content on algae strains. The optimized and dedicated algae kits allow for high precision and comparable results to predicate methods. Data from applications to multiple common algal strains such as Chlorella vulgaris and Chlamydomonas reinhardti under different culture conditions will be presented. Availability of dedicated kits for algae research on simple and easy to use cytometric platforms will empower and enable algae researchers to rapidly select optimal culture conditions and strains for downstream experiments.

Interaction between antigen-specific T cells and antigen presenting cells (APC) cognate ligand involve reorganization of the cytoskeleton and recruitment of adhesive and signaling molecules to the site of intercellular contact. Sustained adhesion of T cells to APCs and formation of the immunological synapse after T cell receptor stimulation are required for the antigen-specific response. One way to measure an immunological synapse is by fluorescently labeling the molecules that have been recruited to the synapse and imaging by fluorescence microscopy. However, immunological synapses are rare and therefore difficult to analyze objectively and statistically by traditional microscopy methods. To overcome these problems, we employed the Amnis brand imaging flow cytometers to objectively collect imagery of large numbers of cells. We report the percentage of T cells involved in an organized immunological synapse, the recruitment of adhesion molecule LFA-1 and signaling molecule Lck to the synaptic complex and subsequent translocation of NFkB from the cytoplasm to the nucleus in the T cell. In this study, Raji B cells loaded with Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) were incubated with human T cells to create T cell-APC conjugates. Cells were stained in various combinations for CD3, CD19, Actin, LFA-1, Lck and NFkB. Results from the FlowSight and the ImageStream imaging flow cytometers are compared. Using the FlowSight imaging flow cytometer we demonstrate image-based parameters that were used to assess the frequency of conjugates with an organized immunological synapse in an objective and statistically significant manner. Employing the ImageStream imaging flow cytometer we further evaluate the specific location of the adhesion and signaling molecules LFA-1 and Lck within the immunological synapse complex in T cells and measure the nuclear localization of NFkB in the T cell.

Childhood cancer and pediatric cancer are general terms used to describe a wide range of neoplasms found in children and teenagers. Occurring in approximately 1 in 300 people under the age of 20, compared to 1 in 6 adults, pediatric cancers are more rare than adult cancers. Because less is known about pediatric cancers, diagnosis can be quite challenging for pathologists.

This presentation covers the basic science, as well as facts and statistics about pediatric cancer. We will discuss how the utility of immunohistochemical testing along with the application of novel antibodies can contribute to accurate diagnosis and survival rates of pediatric cancer patients.

The ImageStream® and FlowSight® are multispectral imaging flow cytometers that generates high resolution images of cells at a rate of 1000’s of cells per second. This allows for the rapid acquisition of tens of thousands of images per sample. Using the IDEAS® image analysis software, the system calculates features based not only on fluorescence intensity but the morphology of that fluorescence as well. This novel approach is able to seamlessly combine the quantitative power of flow cytometry with the high content information associated with microscopy. The system can collect data on a wide range of applications including nuclear localization during a signal transduction cascade, measuring colocalization of two probes, or quantify features on the phagocytosed particles in macrophages.

Skin cancer is by far the most prevalent cancer. Each year, approximately 3.4 million people in the US alone are diagnosed with some form of skin cancer. Skin cancer can be highly treatable if it is detected and classified early, and this detection and classification is often aided by immunohistochemistry. This presentation covers many of the basic science, facts, and statistics of skin cancer, as well as the utility of immunohistochemical testing with markers such as S-100, SOX-10, Ber-Ep4, and HHV-8 in the accurate diagnosis and survival rates of skin cancer. Continuing education credits for attending this webinar will be offered through the National Society of Histotechnology

A scientific overview of the portfolio of cell lines University of Cambridge has deposited at ECACC with a focus on the KARPAS 299 and KARPAS 422 cell lines; the HeLa Mitotrap cell lines; and CHO cell lines. We will also provide an overview of the process of partnering with ECACC and Sigma-Aldrich for the storage and distribution of cell lines for research purposes. Topics include: The scientific applications of the cell lines; The types of companies and institutions we license to; Advantages of partnering with culture experts and specialised distributors; Our experience of working with ECACC and Sigma-Aldrich.

A scientific overview of the portfolio of cell lines University of Cambridge has deposited at ECACC with a focus on the KARPAS 299 and KARPAS 422 cell lines; the HeLa Mitotrap cell lines; and CHO cell lines. We will also provide an overview of the process of partnering with ECACC and Sigma-Aldrich for the storage and distribution of cell lines for research purposes. Topics include: The scientific applications of the cell lines; The types of companies and institutions we license to; Advantages of partnering with culture experts and specialised distributors; Our experience of working with ECACC and Sigma-Aldrich.