Kidney injury molecule-1 (Kim-1) has been qualified by the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency as a highly sensitive and specific urinary biomarker to monitor drug-induced kidney injury in preclinical studies and on a case-by-case basis in clinical trials. The urinary Kim-1 band intensity using the Kim-1 dipstick significantly correlated with levels of Kim-1 as measured by a microbead-based assay, histopathological damage, and immunohistochemical assessment of renal Kim-1 in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Kim-1 was detected following kidney injury induced in rats by cadmium, gentamicin, or bilateral renal ischaemia/reperfusion. In humans, the urinary KIM-1 band intensity was significantly greater in urine from patients with acute kidney injury than in urine from healthy volunteers. The KIM-1 dipstick also enabled temporal evaluation of kidney injury and recovery in two patients who developed postoperative acute kidney injury following cytoreductive surgery for malignant mesothelioma with intraoperative local cisplatin administration.
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The MDF-U76V ultra-low freezer combines improved cooling performance with outstanding energy efficiency. The advantages include greater security for precious research or clinical samples, as well as significantly lower running costs and added environmental benefits. This latest -86ºC VIP upright freezer has been specifically designed to meet the growing demand for energy savings, without in any way compromising freezer performance. In fact, cooling efficiency, insulation characteristics and door-open recovery times have all been enhanced via a capillary tube heat exchanger, next-generation VIP PLUS insulation, and the Cool Safe compressor. As a result, greater temperature uniformity throughout the freezer and faster temperature pull-down contribute to industry-leading sample security. The advanced new capillary tube heat exchanger significantly increases the overall efficiency of the freezer. By optimising the available heat exchange areas, system reliability is also increased and energy consumption is cut. In addition to helping minimise energy use, the high performance patented vacuum panels together with high-density foam insulation enable the freezers to provide up to 30 per cent more storage capacity than a conventionally insulated freezer, saving valuable lab space. An optional water-cooled condenser is also available. This enables laboratories with a chilled re-circulating water system to reduce the requirement for air conditioning within the freezer facility, reuse heat energy elsewhere and achieve even greater savings.
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Designed for diagnostic assays, the Whatman FF High Performance (HP) membrane enables fast, razor-sharp line separation and highly reproducible results for the detection of target molecules in liquids such as water, urine, blood and saliva. Th e target molecules may include drugs, hormones, proteins, antibodies, nucleic acids, whole bacteria and viruses. Th e membrane is suitable for use in lateral fl ow assay manufacture as it provides improved reliability and rapid results. Production using an innovative casting method yields a uniform, new powderfree surface that delivers a coeffi cient of variation in capillary rise of < 10 %. Both the intra- and inter- lot consistency was tested through analysis of over 1000 samples giving a low coeffi cient of variation. Th is excellent reproducibility improves the consistency of assays and off ers a more reliable limit of detection, which in turn reduces the costs of assay optimization for researchers. Th ree FF HP membranes are available with diff erent capillary rise times (wicking rate), allowing researchers to choose the most suitable membrane for their assay. Read more

The challenge to fight healthcare-associated infections in Europe is resulting in an increased number of active surveillance programmes for MRSA in a continually resource-constrained environment. Rapidly and accurately identifing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in patients, the BD MAX MRSA assay enables infection control measures to be implemented faster, which can positively impact patient management. The fully automated, bench-top molecular system is designed to perform a broad range of molecular testing as well as the MRSA assay. This offers laboratory professionals the flexibility and versatility to perform CE/in vitro diagnostic assays and user defined protocols on the same platform.
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