Posts by Rachel Kohn
How to Calculate Vaccine Storage Requirements
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the timing of the flu season can vary but most commonly peaks in the U.S. in January or February. However, seasonal flu activity can begin as early as October and continue to occur as late as May.
Healthcare facilities should be preparing for the 2013-14 flu season by first making certain that they have the required number of doses on hand and the proper refrigeration equipment for vaccine storage. This post will take a look at both issues.
How to Calculate Vaccine Doses
Calculating vaccine doses you will need for a flu season is based, logically, on the number you typically administer during a flu season. In all likelihood you may use more refrigerated vaccine than frozen vaccine.
In making your calculations keep in mind that the CDC suggest maintaining a 60-day supply but ordering replacement stock (if needed) … Read the rest
An Ultrasonic Cleaner Design for Food Laboratories
Food laboratory technicians charged with cleaning sieves used to inspect raw materials for correct grain size may welcome a specially designed ultrasonic cleaner developed by acoustic R&D engineers at Elma Ultrasonic in collaboration with food lab personnel at two locations.
The result of this collaboration is the Elma S50R ultrasonic cleaner available from Tovatech. It is optimized for sieve cleaning, but also for degassing HPLC solvents and for sample preparation involving difficult-to-dissolve substances. A unique feature of the S50R is its built-in programming: food scientists can select three programs by pressing the corresponding key on the cleaner’s control panel: sieve cleaning, degassing and sample prep. There is also an on-off key for standard cleaning and a timer showing set and remaining time.
Sieve Cleaning Challenges Solved
While ultrasonic cleaning is safer and gentler than using brushes to dislodge particles trapped in lab sieves thoroughness has been a problem due to … Read the rest
Use a Portable Halogen Moisture Analyzer to Save Money
If you perform moisture analysis at more than one location in your facility you’ll soon see the value in the IL 50.001 halogen moisture analyzer now available from Tovatech. What makes it attractive is its portability – instead of buying multiple halogen moisture analyzers simply pack the IL 50.001 in its custom carrying case and take it to the test location.
Moreover, you’ll find this 50 g capacity moisture balance easy to use because programming choices have been confined to the basics – a feature that has a side benefit in terms of attractive pricing.
Superior Performance in a Halogen Moisture Analyzer
Attractive pricing is not at the “expense” of superior performance in this compact, 5-pound 120-volt moisture analyzer. Only 6.5” wide, 11” deep and 5” high, it offers the following performance specs:
- Readability: 0.001 g, 0.01% moisture
- Repeatability: 0.3% (3 g
Safe Vaccine Storage Check List
Updated versions of three vaccines have been recommended by the World Health Organization for the 2012-2013 flu season according to the Centers for Disease Control. In order to avoid vaccine deterioration it is essential that healthcare facilities take special precautions in vaccine storage and handling especially as it related to vaccine storage temperature. Inoculation centers should use vaccine storage refrigerators designed to maintain accurate cold chain storage temperatures. Residential and dorm-type units are not likely to maintain correct temperatures, which can result in loss of potency and the need to revaccinate – not to mention the cost of lost product.
Check Recommended Vaccine Storage Temperatures
Influenza vaccine manufacturers provide recommended storage temperatures for both LAIV (live attenuated influenza vaccine) administered as a nasal spray and TIV (trivalent influenza vaccine) administered as a flu shot. According to the CDC LAIV is shipped at 35°F – 46°F (2°C-8°C) and should be stored … Read the rest
How to Choose a Strain Gauge Load Monitor
Load monitoring devices, also called load cell sensors or tension monitors, measure the force exerted by the load on equipment, structural members or other components subjected to the load. Electronic load and tension monitoring devices find application across a broad spectrum of industry. One example is on construction cranes to assure the load – such as I-beams or fresh-mixed concrete – does not exceed the capacity of the crane. Another application is measuring the strain on wires strung between pylons or insuring that structural components on aircraft are balanced and safe to fly.
Load cells such as the Straightpoint Loadlink and Radiolink equipment available from Tovatech can also be used as crane scales and thus are employed for tension monitoring and weighing.
How a Strain Gauge Load Monitor Works
Using the Straightpoint load and tension monitor and a building crane as the application, the device is positioned between two lifting … Read the rest
Hot Weather Precautions for Laboratory Refrigerators
Unprecedented heat waves across much of the country place strains on laboratory refrigerators and laboratory freezers even if they are in air conditioned research labs and medical facilities. Power cutbacks and power failures due to excessive strain on the power grid and electrical storms should be anticipated by lab personnel. Provision should be made to protect costly or rare biological samples, vaccines, and other temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals and products.
10 Tips on Proper Lab Fridge and Lab Freezer Operation
Your organization should have standard operating procedures for stocking and maintaining laboratory refrigerators and freezers. These are especially important when atmospheric conditions could lead to sub-par performance. Here are some useful tips to help ensure content protection in medical grade refrigerators and freezers during the dog days of summer. Or anytime for that matter. They are not listed in order of importance because all are important.
- Minimize access to the units. Every
Residual Contaminant Analysis with Ultrasound
For residual contaminant analysis particles must be removed from the test item before the actual analysis is carried out. Ultrasound with its predefined parameters is a suitable and cost-saving method for this. After removal solid contaminants can be filtered and analyzed. Soluble contaminants are concentrated by evaporation then analyzed.
The right ultrasonic equipment coupled with thought-through accessories is crucial for a successful analysis. The Elmasonic Select 120 ultrasonic cleaner available from Tovatech, along with sample suspension devices, provide an ideal method for residual contaminant analysis.
Several methods are available to protect products from recontamination. For example, parts being analyzed can be placed in glass beakers or test tubes containing a suitable solution. These are suspended in the ultrasonic cleaner solution. Ultrasound transmitted from liquid in the tank to the solution in the container acts on and removes the residual contaminants for subsequent analysis.
Contact the scientists at Tovatech … Read the rest
IP65-Rated Platform Scales Solve Multiple Weighing Tasks
Platform scales are workhorses of weighing, often finding themselves in environments that cause less rugged weighing systems to fail. The new Kern SFE platform scales, now available from Tovatech, build on the ruggedness and reliability of platform scale weighing systems. Their silicon-coated load cells and separate free-standing or wall mounted stainless steel control panel/display units are packaged in IP65-rated housings. This means these high-precision but rugged platform balances are totally protected against dust. When exterior surfaces need cleaning they resist low-pressure jets of water.*
Three Models with Readouts of <1 oz
SFE platform scales provide maximum weighing to 15, 30 and 60 kg (33, 66 and 132 pounds). Respective readouts are 5, 10 and 20 grams (all less than one ounce). Easy-to-follow instructions allow operators to use the control panel to perform a variety of weighing tasks including recipe, tolerance, and animal/dynamic. … Read the rest
Selecting an Entry-Level Single Cell Analytical Balance
An analytical balance is one of the more precise weighing and measuring tools available to industrial and academic research organizations. Laboratory balances equipped with single cell weighing systems have traditionally represented the high end of these precision weighing systems but at a cost premium. Technology advances have changed that, as evidenced by the new Kern ABS/ABJ series of analytical balances available from Tovatech.
What is Single Cell Weighing?
Simply stated, these systems use a single block of material such as aluminum as the weighing mechanism as opposed to multiple-component conventional balances. Because they have no moving parts there is no wear and tear. As a result these balances continue to perform well for a longer time than scales with conventional weighing mechanisms.
Other important advantaged include improvements in accuracy, precision, speed and reproducibility of weight values due in no small part to … Read the rest
How to Judge Scale Accuracy
At Tovatech we frequently find that customers are confused about weighing terms associated with analytical scales and precision balances, especially as it relates to scale accuracy. This comes as no surprise to us because, in fact, the terminology is confusing. Different manufacturers of analytical balances will use different weighing terms, some of them incorrect, by the way, to describe the performance and accuracy of their products. When you evaluate electronic scales you should compare the performance of a specific manufacturer’s products against each other rather than with those of different manufacturers.
Why Weighing Terms are Important
The importance of scale accuracy applies to many weighing operations across the weighing spectrum from moisture analyzers to counting scales. Some applications are more important than others. For example, you might tolerate a small degree of inaccuracy when weighing out a quantity of … Read the rest