Moisture Analyzer

Drug Component Drying Process Optimized with Moisture Analyzer

The active agent of pharmaceuticals—the actual chemical that does the work—needs to be packaged in some way in which it can be delivered to the target within the body. Often, the drug is incorporated into a pill form. One phase in the production is to mix the drug with a binder, all moistened up together Read More

Richard Gaughan January 18th, 2012

The Right Potato for the Job

A good mashing potato is different from a good baking potato is different from a good frying potato. Probably everyone has noticed differences in potato texture, or “mealiness.” Researchers at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, India wanted to come up with some method for evaluating which potatoes are good for which application. They developed Read More

Richard Gaughan January 17th, 2012

Getting the Most out of Anti-Malarial Drug Crops

Artemisia annua is a plant whose leaves can be refined to produce artemisinin and its accompanying antioxidants. Artemisinin, along with quinine, is a natural compound that is the foundation of malaria treatment. The majority of the plants are grown in China and Vietnam, but cultivation is now being spread to a dozen or so other Read More

Richard Gaughan January 16th, 2012

Cheaper Alternative to Soy Protein Rubber Filler

We recently told you of the work of a USDA researcher who was strengthening rubber with the addition of soy protein. Well, it turns out that soy protein concentrate (SPC) is cheaper than soy protein isolate. The SPC contains both insoluble soy carbohydrate and soy protein. So the same researcher investigated the properties of rubber Read More

Richard Gaughan January 13th, 2012

Monosodium Titanate Used to Help Clean Nuclear Waste

Cleaning up a nuclear facility is no easy task…decades of radioactive waste products sit around in toxic tanks or pools. To clean up the waste at the Savannah River Site, the Savannah River National Laboratory has to first remove the radioactive portion of the tank contents. The Actinide Removal Process does that, but only if Read More

Richard Gaughan January 11th, 2012

Soy-Modified Rubber Might be Appearing in a Car Tire Near You

The strangest soy protein product I’ve ever seen was vegetarian “chicken feet.” It might have to take a backseat to a new product being developed by Lei Jong, a researcher with the USDA’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research. Jong is working on soy additives for rubber—rubber for such things as tires. One of the Read More

Richard Gaughan January 10th, 2012

Evaluating Pharmaceutical Plasticizers

It’s not just how you make your drug, it’s how you deliver it. The kinetics of drug release—the rate and duration at which the drug is released into the body—vary dramatically depending upon the mode of delivery. Injection, pills, spray—all have quite different characteristics. The chemical formulation also makes a big difference, which is why Read More

Richard Gaughan January 9th, 2012

Moisture Analyzer Measures Radioactive Waste Parameters

Nuclear fission power plants have a few problems: and one of the big ones is dealing with the radioactive waste. One way is to remove the high level radioactive waste from waste disposal ponds. To verify the job is done, the waste remaining in the disposal pond must be analyzed. That’s what personnel at the Read More

Richard Gaughan December 23rd, 2011

Hair Dryers Really Do Damage Hair

Most of us would agree that measuring cellular protein abundance is more important than washing your hair, but—let’s face it—there are a lot fewer people using laboratory centrifuges than there are using hair dryers. So don’t belittle this research led by researchers from a Korean cosmetology institute. They measured the damage to hair shafts due Read More