Autor: mktparalab

Categorias
Contract Analysis

Food Industry | Granulometry by Laser Diffraction

At our applications lab we do several analysis. We´d like to share an interesting example with you.

Coffee is one of the most popular and widely consumed beverages in the world today due not only to its stimulating effects on the central nervous system, but also because of its taste and aroma.

One of the crucial steps in processing coffee beans is the grinding, since different types of final use (e.g., espresso, filter coffee, mocha, capsules) require different grinding degrees to adjust specific parameters such as bitterness, acidity, sweetness, or aroma.  All these parameters are highly influenced by particle size.

It is important not only to adjust the particle size of coffee powder, but also to control the overall uniformity of the grinding process.

In the past, sieve analysis was the main method to carry out size measurements, however this technique is time consuming and quite limited. Laser Diffraction is an alternative technique that allows automation and delivers results with higher quality, quicker and in real-time, optimizing the desired product properties.

The right side graphic shows the particle size distributions of four coffee samples in capsule and one sample of soluble coffee. Through its analysis we can observe that soluble coffee has a higher D90 and D50 than coffee in capsules, which is expected considering the differences in the grinding process. Also capsule coffee present different size distributions depending on its type (expresso, decaffeinated, ristretto or lungo)

The equipment used in this work was Mastersizer 3000’s with Aero S dry powder disperser from Malvern, a laser diffraction analyzer that delivers measurements from 10 nm to 3.5 mm using a single optical measurement path, making it suitable for an extremely wide range of application. For more information, please click on the Brochure.

Analysis reports can be prepared in English (default), Portuguese or Spanish.

Other services can be requested on demand. They include analytical methods development and validation, route cause analysis support, reverse engineering support and technical consultancy in material characterization.

Categorias
Contract Analysis

Food Industry | Elementar analysis by Combustion

At our applications lab we do several analysis. We´d like to share an interesting example with you.

Protein is a nutrient human being needs to grow and repair cells and to work properly. Protein is found in a wide range of food and it is important to get enough protein in daily diet.

The increase in consumer demand for protein-rich foods has led to increased control of their content in various products, particularly milk and its by-products.

Whey Powder is one of the best-known supplements used by athletes as it contains the essential amino acids for muscle recovery and construction.

Milk Powder is marketed because it offers preservation advantages, since it does not need to be refrigerated due to its low moisture content. Another advantage is to reduce its transport volume.

In this study, elemental analyses by combustion were performed on milk and whey powder samples to quantify its nitrogen amount and estimate the protein content in the samples.

Table 1: Carbon and nitrogen results obtain for whey powder and milk powder and their respective Protein values.

SAMPLEC (%)N (%)Protein (%)
Whey Powder40.95 ± 0.111.98 ± 0.0212.6 ± 0.1
Milk Powder45.51 ± 0.125.39 ± 0.0634.3 ± 0.3

The instrument used was the vario MACRO cube CHNS, from Elementar®, using combustion of the sample to promote an instantaneous oxidization into simpler compounds which are then detected by thermal conductivity. For more information, please click on the brochure.

Analysis reports can be prepared in English (default), Portuguese or Spanish.

Other services can be requested on demand. They include analytical methods development and validation, route cause analysis support, reverse engineering support and technical consultancy in material characterization.

Categorias
Contract Analysis

Polymers | X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)

Contract Analysis | Polymers | X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)

Insulation of electrical conductors is a critical safety feature to prevent short circuits, fire hazards or electric shocks. An insulator is a material or medium that has a high resistivity towards conducting electric current. There are numerous materials employed to achieve such insulation like polymers (typically Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polyethylene (PE) and rubbers), ceramics, sand, air or vacuum.

Insulation of electrical wires and home cables can be achieved by covering them with suitable polymer layers. Its properties – mechanical behaviour, chemical stability, fire resistance and others, are usually modified or improved by additives.

In this study, identification of additives on the surface of a polymer insulator of electrical wires was performed using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) with parallel beam geometry. The obtained diffractogram, shown below, allowed the identification of two different additives: calcite-for improved stiffness and impact resistance, and a Mg-Al layered double hydroxide- for flame retardation.

The equipment used in this work was Smartlab from Rigaku equipped with a 9kW rotating anode X-Ray generator. Smartlab is an automated multipurpose X-ray diffractometer with a theta/theta configuration. For more information, please click on the brochure.

Analysis reports can be prepared in English (default), Portuguese or Spanish.
Other services can be requested on demand. They include analytical methods development and validation, route cause analysis support, reverse engineering support and technical consultancy in material characterization.

Categorias
Contract Analysis

Pharmaceutical | Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)

The freeze-drying process is important in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to stabilise, store, or increase the shelf life of formulations and other biologicals. Freeze-drying uses a process called lyophilization to lower the temperature of the product below freezing, and then vacuum is applied to extract the water in the form of vapour (sublimation). Knowing the phase diagram of the formulation is paramount to define and optimise the freeze-drying process.

Formulations may form a eutectic system which is characterized by the eutectic melting line, the lowest achievable melting temperature across the entire composition range and, at a specific homogeneous mixing ratio, they present a single melting point. Eutectic system characterization is important since the freeze-drying process conditions must be set based on the eutectic temperature.

In this study, a thermal characterization of a freeze-dried formulation was performed using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The picture shows a DSC thermogram where two endothermic effects are visible. The first one (yellow arrow) corresponds to the transition S/S+L of the eutectic mixture, while the second one (red arrow) corresponds to the transition S+L/L, as exemplified by the phase diagram on the left.

The equipment used in this work was DSC 214 Polyma from Netzsch equipped with an intracooler (temperature range from -40ºC to 600ºC). For more information, please click on the Brochure.

Analysis reports can be prepared in English (default), Portuguese or Spanish.

Other services can be requested on demand. They include analytical methods development and validation, route cause analysis support, reverse engineering support and technical consultancy in material characterization.

Categorias
Contract Analysis

Food Industry | X-Ray Fluorescence

At our applications lab we do several analysis. We´d like to share an interesting example with you.

Cereals, consumed as whole, treated grains or in milled form (flower), constitute the base of all human and farm animals feed. Worldwide, cereal production in 2017/2018 surpassed 2 700 million tons (data obtained from FAO website), with wheat and rice representing 47%.

Industrial milling is achieved by means of stainless-steel blades which, if not properly maintained, can contaminate the flower with iron, chromium and nickel.

In this study, two milled products of the same cereal were analysed to verify the possible contamination with metals during the milling process.

X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) is a non-destructive elemental analysis technique which provides both qualitative and quantitative data ranging from sub-ppm to 100% (m/m), depending on the equipment, matrix and element considered.

The Image 1 is a zoomed view of the overlaid spectra of both samples analysed. This region evidences the presence of Chromium and Nickel in the sample identified as “Suspect” while absent in the sample identified as “Good”. Additionally, the iron amount is significantly higher in the “Suspect” sample. Both results indicate that the “Suspect” sample has indeed been contaminated by the stainless-steel blades during milling due to its wear.

Esta imagem tem um texto alternativo em branco, o nome da imagem é X-Ray-Fluorescence-XRF_cereals_analysis.png

The equipment used in this work was Supermini200 from Rigaku, a tabletop WD-XRF. The range of analysed elements goes from Oxygen to Uranium and can measure both solids and liquids in helium or vacuum atmosphere. For more information, please click on the Brochure.

Analysis reports can be prepared in English (default), Portuguese or Spanish.

Other services can be requested on demand. They include analytical methods development and validation, route cause analysis support, reverse engineering support and technical consultancy in material characterization.

Categorias
Bio

Desafios em Imunologia Tumoral

Livecyte 2 is a unique quantitative label free cell analysis system which delivers continuous tracking and analysis of individual cells within large populations, enabling users to gain a more realistic and comprehensive understanding of cell behaviour.

The study of cell behaviour and morphology is a fundamental aspect applied in Cell Biology to a wide variety of applications. Even more so if this study helps us to understand cell to cell behaviour using single-cell techniques and in living cells.

Applications such as cell growth and proliferation, healing studies, cell motility, oncology, toxicological studies, angiogenesis, stem cells, are key studies to understand how cells respond in different diseases or under the effect of drugs.

Livecyte 2 is presented as a kinetic cytometer where we can monitor the motion and morphology of each cell.

Livecyte 2 produces high contrast video at time-lapse using Phasefocus patented Ptychographic quantitative phase imaging (QPI) technology for a range of label-free assays that can be complemented with up to seven fluorescence channels.

Automated monitoring of even the most sensitive single cells quickly reveals subtle phenotypic differences in undisturbed cell populations.

Although cell division and growth are both tightly linked to cell cycle and its regulation, they remain distinct processes that can operate independently under some conditions. It can therefore be insightful to distinguish both processes during the same assay.

With the Livecyte 2, in a single label-free run, researchers are able to extract and analyse metrics such as cell count, confluence, number of mitosis events and dry mass (total or single cell).

If you want to know more about the LiveCyte 2 potential, check this recent application where QPI was used to study the effects of cytochalasin D, an actin polymerization inhibitor, on cell proliferation and growth using the A549 adenocarcinoma cell line as model.

Categorias
Bio

Caracterização de sub-populações em culturas primárias heterogéneas de células epiteliais da próstata de pacientes

O LIVECYTE da PHASEFOCUS permite analisar e extrair parâmetros para caracterizar heterogeneidade em populações mistas de células cancerígenas. Isso possibilita a avaliação de terapias combinadas em culturas primárias de células cancerígenas.

  • Células epiteliais heterogéneas de cancro primário da próstata são visualizadas sem qualquer interferência.
  • A distinção de sub-populações em culturas complexas é efectuada com auxílio de uma análise multiparamétrica.
  • As sub-populações são classificadas e identificadas com fingerprints fenotípicas.

Download Livecyte brochure

As culturas primárias de células de pacientes estão a tornar-se cada vez mais populares nos ensaios pré-clínicos uma vez que proporcionam um modelo melhorado da heterogeneidade tumoral e representam a diversidade intra e inter-paciente de uma forma mais realista que as tradicionais linhas celulares. Para desenvolver tratamentos eficientes, cada uma das diferentes sub-populações celulares necessita de ser individualmente controlada. Como tal, terapias combinadas representam maior probabilidade de êxito que as monoterapias. Nesta nota de aplicação, é utilizada uma modalidade de aquisição de imagem sem perturbação da amostra para caracterizar a heterogeneidade em culturas primárias epiteliais da próstata originadas a partir de tecidos tumorais de pacientes.

Esta nota de aplicação demonstra não só a utilização do sistema LIVECYTE para aquisição de imagens de populações heterogéneas de células, mas também o processamento multiparamétrico dos dados extraídos para classificar e distinguir automaticamente sub-populações em culturas complexas. A natureza não interferente da técnica de QPI (Quantitative Phase Imaging), assegura que as culturas primárias de células são visualizadas sem nenhum comportamento foto-induzido adicional ou potenciais comportamentos originados pela marcação fluorescente. O sistema LIVECYTE é uma poderosa ferramenta no desenvolvimento de terapias combinadas em modelos de culturas heterogéneas de células cancerígenas de pacientes.

Se pretender aceder à nota de aplicação completa, clique aqui

Categorias
Bio

Independent Cell Proliferation & Cell Growth Analysis

Livecyte 2 is a unique quantitative label free cell analysis system which delivers continuous tracking and analysis of individual cells within large populations, enabling users to gain a more realistic and comprehensive understanding of cell behaviour.

The study of cell behaviour and morphology is a fundamental aspect applied in Cell Biology to a wide variety of applications. Even more so if this study helps us to understand cell to cell behaviour using single-cell techniques and in living cells.

Applications such as cell growth and proliferation, healing studies, cell motility, oncology, toxicological studies, angiogenesis, stem cells, are key studies to understand how cells respond in different diseases or under the effect of drugs.

Livecyte 2 is presented as a kinetic cytometer where we can monitor the motion and morphology of each cell.

Livecyte 2 produces high contrast video at time-lapse using Phasefocus patented Ptychographic quantitative phase imaging (QPI) technology for a range of label-free assays that can be complemented with up to seven fluorescence channels.

Automated monitoring of even the most sensitive single cells quickly reveals subtle phenotypic differences in undisturbed cell populations.

Although cell division and growth are both tightly linked to cell cycle and its regulation, they remain distinct processes that can operate independently under some conditions. It can therefore be insightful to distinguish both processes during the same assay.

With the Livecyte 2, in a single label-free run, researchers are able to extract and analyse metrics such as cell count, confluence, number of mitosis events and dry mass (total or single cell).

If you want to know more about the LiveCyte 2 potential, check this recent application where QPI was used to study the effects of cytochalasin D, an actin polymerization inhibitor, on cell proliferation and growth using the A549 adenocarcinoma cell line as model.

Categorias
Bio

Como melhorar a conceção de vacinas com nanopartículas através da técnica BLI

A potencial utilização de nanopartículas (NPs) para o desenvolvimento de vacinas e antigénios tem suscitado um interesse crescente devido às suas propriedades únicas. As NPs têm a capacidade de aumentar a estabilidade antigénica, controlar várias propriedades físico-químicas, e podem ser administradas através de diferentes vias.

A compreensão do tamanho do núcleo NP e a conformação dos ligantes são fundamentais para um ótimo desenvolvimento. A apresentação ligante, espaçamento, acessibilidade e estabilidade podem ser avaliados através da afinidade ligante e cinética de ligação ao alvo. A caracterização da afinidade e cinética ligante NP requer plataformas analíticas versáteis que possam abranger uma  variedade de construções e o número de interações que possam exigir uma investigação de forma a garantir a seleção de ótimas construções.

Nesta nota de aplicação poderá saber como o sistema Octet foi utilizado para otimizar o tamanho do núcleo de nanopartículas, melhorar a acessibilidade aos antigénios, determinar construções antigénicas e medir as respostas humoral desencadeadas pelos candidatos à vacina NP. Os sistemas Octet têm vantagens comprovadas para os criadores de vacinas NP:

  • Medir diretamente em amostras não purificadas – a plataforma sem fluidos Octet pode poupar tempo e oferecer uma maior flexibilidade no tipo de amostra;
  • Medir afinidades de ligação de NP e mais – compatível com pequenas moléculas até partículas semelhantes a vírus, capazes de afinidade e medidas quantitativas como o título;
  • Rápido rastreio, caracterização e desenvolvimento de ensaios – correr até 96 amostras simultaneamente.

Clique aqui para obter a nota de aplicação.

Categorias
Bio

Compare BLI, SPR, & ITC em Caracterização de Afinidades

Os métodos analíticos label-free de superfície, tais como Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) e Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) em conjunto com microCalorimetria (Isothermal Titration Calorimetry) e ELISA são amplamente utilizados para a caracterização cinética de interações biomoleculares e derivação das constantes de afinidade (KD) respectivas.

A plataforma BLI aborda cinéticas de ligação e análises quantitativas com um sistema avançado que dispensa o recurso à habitual microfluídica. De fácil utilização e com grande versatilidade no desenho experimental, os sistemas BLI possibilitam não só uma caracterização detalhada de uma interacção individual, como também ensaios de screening de elevado thoughput. Devido à variedade de biossensores disponibilizados pela Fortébio e à baixa manutenção requerida pelo sistema, a tecnologia BLI torna-se uma opção apelativa para o estudo de interacções entre biomoléculas.

Quando comparada com SPR e ITC, a BLI oferece vantagens que incluem:

  1. Reduzido volume de amostra e análise direta de sobrenadantes ou lises celulares;
  2. Interacção mínima do utilizador, reduzindo a variabilidade nos resultados;
  3. Detecção em tempo real, facilitando a resolução de problema e optimização do ensaio;
  4. Opção para a concepção de ensaios testando simultaneamente diversas condições de corrida.

Esta nota de aplicação da FortéBio resume exemplos reais da literatura comparando determinações de afinidade obtidos com as três tecnologias.