| | THISTLE AND WEB CELEBRATE OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY
This year Thistle Scientific and our sister company Web Scientific are proud to be celebrating 10 years in buisness. Both companies were established in 1997 and now have a double reason to celebrate this occasion having joined forces two years ago. During the past 10 years we have endeavoured to meet customer requirments by bringing a range of reliable and often unique products to the life science research sector. With the emphasis on consumables and equipment used by researchers in both genomics and proteomics, we always try to deliver on time and at an affordable price. The support and trust our customers have shown us during the past 10 years is more than sufficient reward for both companies and we look forward to continuing to serve you for many more years to come. WE THANK YOU ALL! |
| ibidi PUBLISHES NEW DATA
ibidi GmbH, a supplier of solutions for BioMicroscopy, has published new data on homogeneous cell growth. The data are based on ibidi's microscopy carriers, the µ-Slides and show superior cell distribution and phase contrast images over the entire cell adhesion area - a significant advantage compared to open well culture systems.
The µ-Slides are carriers for the cultivation and subsequent imaging of cells. In an article in the latest issue of Biotech International cell densities are evaluated using imaging of crystal violet-stained cell layers, phase contrast, and fluorescence microscopy. Cell cultures in microchannels have been compared with open well cultures, using similar adhesion areas. In pen wells, the meniscus formed at the walls seriously affects the homogeneity of the cells. In contrast, cells inside channels of µ-Slides always appear perfectly homogeneous distributed.
ibidi´s responsible project manager, Elias Horn, commented:
"The homogeneity inside the channels is a consequence of the microfluidic properties of the µ-Slides, in particular the height of the channel being only 0.4 mm. Therefore, highly defined cell densities can be utilized in order to measure cell proliferation, and cell cycle times. Consequently, the high optical quality of the µ-Slides allows their utilization for cell based assays in research and high throughput applications." |
| THE PROFESSIONAL VIEW
Inspired by the desire to simplify molecular biology research, Biometra will soon be releasing the TProfessional thermocycler. This model combines performance, elegance and simplicity in a single unit. Its large graphical screen and easy user interface combine to make programming fast and simple. The TProfessional manages up to 30 individual users, each password protected, whilst the robust, yet elegant, housing is designed for heavy use. These features combine to make the TProfessional ideal for a busy lab.
Biometra's reputation has been made by manufacturing high quality thermocyclers offering unsurpassed temperature uniformity and very fast performance. In this, the TProfessional is no exception: The unit's silver block offers exceptional uniformity to ensure consistency of results; Heating rates of 5°C/sec make it one of the fastest machines on the market and the new design of heated smart lid prevents condensation in the tubes.
The TProfessional is available in 96 well, 96 well gradient and 384 well versions with all block modules easily interchangeable in under 10 seconds.
www.tprofessional.com |
| THISTLE WEB OF INFLUENCE
As companies with similar goals and complementary products, Thistle Scientific and Web Scientific have worked closely for several years. This relationship has now been cemented with Web and Thistle becoming sister companies. Internal staff at both companies will continue to fulfil their roles, whilst the Sales Representatives will now promote products from both companies.
Products from either company can continue to be bought as before. Visit our sister company to browse their product range.
www.webscientific.co.uk |
| THISTLE SCIENTIFIC EARN INVESTOR IN PEOPLE AWARD
Thistle Scientific are delighted to announce they are to receive an award from Investors in People Scotland in recognition of their approach to employee development within the company. They will be awarded their IIP plaque at a ceremony to be held in the The Crutherland House Hotel, East Kilbride to be hosted by Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire on the 27th of January.
The award further demonstrates the commitment Thistle Scientific directors, Galen Milne and Gerry McGeachey, have in trying to ensure their staff have every possible opportunity to develop their skills both from a personal and a company perspective.
Some of the findings quoted by staff in the report that was presented to the Investor in People Recognition Panel were as follows:
"We just have to say what our need is and they will give us the training"
"We all work to the same end, work in harmony and help each other where we can"
"They are very proactive in allowing us to develop our needs"
"In this type of industry you have always got to try and improve" "They like us to be multi-skilled"
"They are more willing to listen to you than other companies"
"We can concentrate now more on what we have to do"
The directors firmly believe the future growth of the company rests with willing and able staff that are happy in their work and are suitably recognised as participating in this development. |  |
| BIOMETRA COMPLIANCE WITH EU DIRECTIVE
Biometra is currently updating its production lines to ensure compliance with EU Directive (2002/95/EC) "The Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS)".
This directive will become effective in June 2006 and implies that all components must be free of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB's), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE's) and other hazardous substances. We are currently identifiying components to replace the ones in our thermocyclers that do not fulfil RoHS compliance. Since these new components require a different manufacturing process (implying much higher soldering temperatures), we are currently redesigning our instruments to be compatible with that new production type.
However, due to the complexity of the redesign, this can only be done for our current product lines. Components of the old type are not available any more or will be deleted shortly.
For that reason, we are unable to continue service and repair of all product lines, which have been discontinued for 4 years and more. This applies to TRIO, UNO, Personal Cycler and UNO II. |
| EYES LEFT AND ISO RIGHT!
Good products must be supported by good practices. To help us monitor and ensure we endeavour to offer both,
Thistle Scientific sought and achieved ISO 9002 certification at the first attempt last October. All our office/stores procedures as well as our Pipette Service facility are now covered by the ISO qualification.
We realise this doesn't mean perfection guaranteed but at least the structure provides for regular reviews and annual monitoring of our services. Any constructive criticism is welcome from YOU, so don't be shy to tell us how we might be able to improve our service. After all even Marks and Spencer has had to learn to adapt to changing customer requirements! |  |
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