The Laboratory Robotics Interest Group
Mid Atlantic Chapter
March 2006 Meeting
Emerging Technologies
Date: Thursday, March 23,
2006
Place: Student Center Ballrooms,
Montclair State University
Normal Ave., Montclair, NJ, 07043
Itinerary: Poster Session & Presentations -
3:00pm
to 9:00pm
Pre-Registration: REQUESTED, not required. Pre-registering will
allow us to more accurately gauge seating requirements and refreshment
needs. Pre-register
on the web at:
https://www.lab-robotics.org/member/meetings.asp?rid=1.
There will be
drawings from the web registrants for our LRIG
laser pointers, Photon key ring lights and any donated prizes.
Door Prizes:
Laser Pointers --- LRIG
Photon Keyring Lights --- LRIG
Door prizes for the drawings gratefully accepted - a great way to get your
name out!
Agenda: This program features
posters and presentations on new and emerging laboratory automation tools and technologies.
Food and refreshments will be available FREE OF CHARGE
during the Social Period.
There is always a Job posting board at the social. Please encourage your recruiters to
give you material to post and distribute. Openings may also be posted at:
https://www.lab-robotics.org/forum/default.asp?CAT_ID=2.
There is no fee to attend the meeting.
Presentation:
The US Patent System and the Employed Inventor
Bart Zoltan, Wyeth Research, Pearl River, NY
A brief discussion of the American patent system, its rules and foibles, recent
changes, and proposed changes. Description of patent rights, inventorship, and
the corporate and personal advantages of patenting. Discussion of "patent
trolls", "submarine" patents and the role of the courts in the patent litigation
explosion.
Bart J. Zoltan is a Principal Research Engineer with Wyeth Research in Pearl
River, NY. He is registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark
Office, holds nineteen US patents and was the New Jersey Inventor of the Year in
1990.
Presentation:
The NIH Roadmap and the Prepared Pharma Mind
Mel Reichman, Ph.D.; PharmDC (West Chester, PA); Email: [email protected]
A riple helix?of Legal, Government and Scientific forces is fueling a
fundamental paradigm shift, which is at a strategic inflection point, towards
more applied biomedical research in Academia. The NIH Roadmap for Medical
Research in the 21st Century is a remarkably progressive initiative to catalyze
in academia the deployment of drug discovery technologies that have hitherto
been relegated exclusively to industry. The talk will analyze the historical and
contextual basis that led to the Roadmap and contemplate its implications for
the future of pharmaceutical R&D.
Presentation:
Mentoring in the Sciences
Maureen Quinn, Mentor Power, Lawrenceville, NJ
Presentation:
Recent Research in Microfluidics
Prof. Robert Austin, Princeton University
Poster: 1H NMR
Characterization of Herbal Teas
Veronica L. Murphy and Anita J. Brandolini
Department of Chemistry and Physics, William Paterson University, 300 Pompton
Road, Wayne NJ 07470; Email:
[email protected]
Modern gradient NMR techniques allow very efficient suppression of solvent
signals and effective optimization of field homogeneity (shimming) without the
use of deuterated solvents. In the past, 1H NMR analysis of samples such as
teas, which are mostly water, was problematic. Using the newer techniques, the
water resonance can be almost completely removed from the spectrum, allowing for
clear observation of the resonances due to the flavor and pigment components.
Furthermore, the use of gradient shimming allows the samples to be prepared with
normal, protonated water, instead of the more expensive deuterium oxide.
Comparison of spectra of various commercially available herbal teas (both
single-leaf and blended varieties) reveals some distinctive resonances that can
be attributed to specific ingredients like hibiscus flowers and cinnamon. 1H
chemical-shift predictions are being used to help assign these resonances to
identifiable compounds, such as anthocyanin pigment (from hibiscus flowers) and
cinnamaldehyde (from cinnamon).
Poster: Infrared Studies of Adsorbed Polymers
Mark E. Benn, Rinal Shah, Christine A. Varacallo, and Anita J. Brandolini
Department of Chemistry and Physics, William Paterson University, 300 Pompton
Road, Wayne NJ 07470; Email:
[email protected]
The use of polymers as coatings, adhesives, and binders makes an
understanding of their adsorption behavior an important topic. When a polymer
chain becomes adsorbed to a surface, portions (trains), are bound directly to
the surface. Other regions of the chain extend above the surface as loops, which
are tethered on both ends, or tails, with one loose end. Obviously, molecular
motion is significantly hindered in train segments; motions in loops and tails
are less restricted. IR spectra of polymers adsorbed from soltuion onto
inorganic supports exhibit marked frequency shifts for train segments, while the
peak positions corresponding to loops and tails are relatively unchanged as
compared to the bulk polymer. Current work focuses on polymethacrylates, which
have pendant ester groups. Changes in the carbonyl absorbance reveal changes in
the amount of adsorbed polymer and in the loop-to-train ratio. The amount
adsorbed depends on the the size and shape of the ester group and on the
identity of the support. A surprising observation has been the effect of the
solvent used. Highly polar solvents inhibit adsorption, probably because of
strong solvent-surface interactions.
Poster: Getting The Stain In: An Investigation Into
Cresyl Violet Staining Of Nucleic Acid Molecules
Holly Bansky, Stephanie Chapelliquen, Madeley Alcala and Amber Flynn
Charlebois
Chemistry and Physics Department, William Paterson University of New Jersey,
Wayne, NJ 07470
We have recently discovered that cresyl violet, a very common stain used in
preparing histological sections, is also very effective in staining nucleic acid
molecules following gel electrophoresis. More specifically, it is able to
distinguish between single stranded DNA and RNA molecules. The DNA appears as a
blue band and the RNA appears to have more of a red component as it appears
almost magenta in color. We report here the results of the investigations of how
the binding is different in the two molecules and therefore why is the color of
the band different with the two nucleic acid molecules. Investigations include
UV-Vis and fluorescence experiments as well as standard gel electrophoresis
comparisons. We are investigating the importance of the composition of the
RNA/DNA molecules.
Poster: An Inexpensive Biochemistry Laboratory
Experiment That Explores Nucleic Acid Kinetics
Stephanie Chapelliquen, Holly Bansky, Syeda Islam, Jamie Burns, and Amber
Flynn Charlebois
Chemistry and Physics Department, William Paterson University of New Jersey,
Wayne, NJ 07470
This laboratory exercise will provide an opportunity for undergraduate
students to be exposed to modern concepts in DNA and RNA research while using
standard biochemistry and molecular biology techniques. It seems that most often
nucleic acid experiments of this type involve sophisticated and/or expensive
techniques that are not practical for undergraduate laboratories, including
electron microscopy, and the use of radioactive or fluorescent labeling. We have
developed an undergraduate laboratory that allows the student to measure the
kinetics of a DNA enzyme. The 10-23 DNA-enzyme, isolated by G. F. Joyce in 1998,
is a single stranded DNA molecule that cleaves a strand of RNA site
specifically. In the exercise the standard assay is completed and the products
are separated using denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and are
visualized by the use of a cresyl violet acetate staining process. It can be
completed in two three-hour laboratory periods.
DON'T FORGET TO PRE-REGISTER TO INSURE THAT THERE IS ENOUGH FOOD AND SEATS.
https://www.lab-robotics.org/member/meetings.asp?rid=1
Directions:
http://www.montclair.edu/welcome/directions.html
Mass Transit:
Montclair State University is located on the Montclair Boonton Line
of New Jersey Transit's passenger rail system. The link to New Jersey Transit
mat be found at <http://www.njtransit.com/sf_tr_schedules.shtml#>
Visit The Laboratory Robotics
Interest Group homepage at https://www.lab-robotics.org
