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| Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 4, Winter 2006 | |||||
| In this issue | A word from our president: Goodbye old friends and good luck in the future | |||||
 | A word from our president |
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| | Calendar of events | |||||
| | TSRI CrystalMation™ system | |||||
| | Saturn 70 part of CREAIT | |||||
| | ActiveSight pens deals, adds fragment screening and FAK to Portfolio | |||||
| | 2005-2006 Training sessions | |||||
| | SCXmini™ | |||||
| | Advanced Materials news | |||||
| | Milestone: Ultima III #100 | |||||
| | PITTCON: The mini experience | |||||
| | Technology Development news | |||||
| | Service tip | |||||
| Visit us on the web at www.Rigaku.com | ||||||
Rigaku will be attending the following conferences in
early 2006:
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Construction of Large Scale Crystallization System for The Scripps Research Institute Completed Another automation milestone for Rigaku was reached with the recent completion of a
CrystalMation line for the Joint Center for Structural Genomics (JCSG) in collaboration with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). The CrystalMation system built for TSRI represents the largest fully automated crystallization system every constructed by Rigaku and is believed to be the largest fully integrated such commercial system ever developed. This particular system is not only impressive in the scale of the robotics employed but also with respect to the level of robotic, software and data integration, enabling not only high throughput, but also high reproducibility for routine experiments.
>>> Click here for More information | |||||
| ActiveSight pens deals, adds Fragment Screening and FAK to Portfolio | ||||||
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Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland has added the Saturn 70 small-molecule crystallography system to their research equipment network, which supports about $32 million in research tools and occupies 12 labs which are spread over four buildings across the St. John's campus. The CREAIT (Core Research Equipment and Instrument Training) Network is doing its part to maximize the impact of Memorial/s institutional investments in research. David Miller, Director of CREAIT, said that the network enhances researchers/ access to major research equipment by operating thematic clusters of multi-user equipment. The network is designed to encourage interdisciplinary research proposals and promote new collaborative research and training opportunities/partnerships between faculty and students, the community, and elsewhere. |
Utilizing their in-house ACTOR™ robot and the FR-E SuperBright™ generator, ActiveSight has initiated a comprehensive fragment screening program centered on targets in their Protein Portfolio product line. ActiveSight is selling the results of their fragment screening of Hsp90 and their >400 member, hand-selected library. They will also offer the service for crystals and/or libraries provided by clients. Pictured (right): Example from the fragment screening of Hsp90 – adenine bound in the active site. ActiveSight has recently expanded the Protein Portfolio to include the cancer target, Focal Adhesion Kinase, or FAK. This kinase joins the Portfolio collection, which includes the additional oncology targets Hsp90 and Aurora-A kinase; nuclear hormone receptor targets PPAR-delta and FXR, implicated in obesity; PDE-4 for asthma and inflammation; the hypertension target renin; the type-II diabetes target FBPase; and the anti-infective target bacterial DNA gyrase. Inquiries are welcome: e-mail info@active-sight.com or call Joy Silen at (858) 455-6870 x105. | |||||
| SCXmini: Crystal structures … as easy as taking an IR spectrum? | ||||||
Rigaku is pleased to announce the
following training sessions for 2006:
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Remember walking down the hall to the instrument room to take an infrared (IR) spectrum? How about diluting up a solution, pouring up a cuvette, and collecting UV-VIS data? Or taking your own NMR spectra? Instant gratification and experimental immediacy combining to further the cause of science in real time. Self-serve spectroscopy has for very many decades been an integral part of the chemical research process. So much so that today we simply take it for granted. But what about X-ray techniques, specifically single crystal diffraction for small molecule structure determination? Submit your crystal to a crystallographer and wait for the result? For many inorganic and organometallic chemists, in both academe and industry, this is sadly still the case. But it doesn't have to be this way anymore! Rigaku's new SCXmini™ represents a new paradigm in small molecule crystallography. Specifically engineered to provide colleges, universities, and industry with self-serve access to definitive molecular structure determination, the new "mini" system allows single crystal diffraction to become a routine laboratory method and teaching tool in the same way that NMR and FT-IR did decades ago. This newest member of our small molecule line of integrated solutions was designed to offer affordable, reliable, easy-to-use, low cost-of-ownership access for routine structure determination - perfect for either routine structure determination by non-crystallographers or as a teaching tool. Completely self-contained and designed to sit on the benchtop, both hardware and software were designed for "walk-up" use by chemists needing immediate structural data. Today, more than ever, competitive research and advanced scientific education require ready access to a variety of sophisticated analytical instrumentation. Well educated and highly skilled scientists cannot be produced unless students have routine hands-on experience. But access continues to be a problem for undergraduates at both major universities and (especially) primarily undergraduate institutions, for graduate students in groups with limited funding, and in many industrial research environments. With the new SCXmini, Rigaku reshapes the old perceptions of single crystal X-ray diffraction. Imagine hearing your co-workers or students saying, "I'm just going to walk down and get a structure. Be right back." We invite you to schedule a demo with us to see for yourself the future of "hands-on" small molecule structural chemistry. | |||||
| 100th Ultima III XRD delivered | ||||||
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Rigaku announced the sale of a custom engineered advanced materials X-ray diffraction system to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The system, consisting of a specialized, ultra high-precision sample stage, the world brightest laboratory X-ray source—the Rigaku FR-E SuperBright with VariMax™ optic—and Rigaku R-AXIS IV++ low noise imaging plate detector system, will be used in conjunction with a LANL Diamond Anvil Cell (DAC) to examine the behavior of materials under extreme pressure. >>> Click here for More information
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Pictured: TerraTek staff in front of the 100th Ultima III: (left to right) Susan Lutz, Senior Petrologist; Sidney Green, Chairman-Chief Executive Officer; Louise Spann, X-ray Diffraction Lab Specialist; and Wes Martin, Vice President-Head Geomechanics Division. As conventional sources of natural gas in the United States have not kept pace with demand, and with the price of natural gas reaching new historical heights, there is strong interest in the development of "unconventional gas" supplies. Mr. Sidney Green, CEO of TerraTek, commented on the purchase by saying that "successful exploration for tight shale gas relies on an understanding of the mineralogy of the clays within a target area. The Ultima III XRD is an invaluable tool because of its ability to provide both detailed clay analysis, and approximate mineral composition of shale core without conventional costly and time consuming sample preparation. Elimination of the need to grind and press samples greatly reduces the time required to provide formation data and therefore reduces producer costs." | |||||
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NESBA | PITTCON: The mini experience | |||||
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Rigaku is pleased to be a sponsor of the New England Structural Biology Association (NESBA). NESBA will have its first one-day Symposia on Friday March 3rd 2006 at Bentley College, Waltham, MA. The theme for the meeting will be "Protein Kinases and drug discovery". The keynote speakers will be Prof. Stephen Harrison of Harvard University and Dr. Sandra Jacob of Novartis. Other talks will encompass the drug discovery process from a structural perspective. The aim of NESBA is to encourage active participation from a diverse range of disciplines within the industrial structural biology community of New England. These disciplines include Protein Science, X-ray crystallography, NMR and Molecular Modeling. >>> Click here for More information |
So, what makes a Mini? The system must be small and economically designed, have low power requirements, and most importantly be functional for a variety of analytical duties. The Rigaku mini WDXRF systems have proven not only successful but surpassed all of these objectives. The Mini systems were designed to fit comfortably on a bench top and powered by any standard house current outlet. The 50W, Pd tube is air cooled and eliminates the need for circulated water or liquid nitrogen. The analytical range for the multi element system is from Na - U. Depending on which system is used, the analyzing medium can be vacuum or helium - which means that the operator has the ability to run disks, loose powders, or liquids! Single or multiple position sample changers are also available. The systems range from Multi-element capabilities to specific element analysis units. Low detection levels are obtained through close coupling of the sample to X-ray tube. The list of features continues but the best way to see and experience a Mini is to come to PITTCON and visit us in Booth 1657. >>> Click here for More information | |||||
| Service tip: Filament replacements and alignments | ||||||
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It's been a really busy few months for the detector group in Tucson as orders for the new Saturn and Mercury cameras introduced last year have been pouring in. The proven data quality that has always been evident in Rigaku's CCD cameras enhanced by the improvements in speed and user friendliness has proven a strong draw for would-be CCD camera owners. To keep up with demand and to be able to continue to develop new detector solutions Rigaku Tucson has been expanding its pool of talented "CCD meisters" over the past few weeks. With a growing order book and staff we're looking forward in Tucson to a great 2006. See the latest range of detectors available from Rigaku and why they are proving so popular by clicking below. |
To preserve the system and optic alignment it is important that when replacing a used filament that the filament be installed center to the cathode window. Should the filament be improperly installed as shown here, the optic alignment can be shifted so greatly from the original alignment it will be necessary to realign the entire system.
By carefully placing the new filament center to the cathode window as shown, the alignment should have little or no change.
If after installing a new filament, completing the normal aging procedures you can not find the beam, revisit the filament installation to be certain it is centered before attempting a major optic or system realignment. | |||||
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| 9009 New Trails Drive The Woodlands Texas USA 77381-5209 e-mail: info@Rigaku.com Tel: (281) 362-2300 FAX: (281) 364-3628 | Unit B6, Chaucer Business Park Watery Lane, Kemsing Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 6QY, England e-mail: info@rigaku.com Tel: [44] 1732 763 367 FAX: [44] 1732 763 757 | |||||
ActiveSight™, the contract crystallography arm of Rigaku Americas
Corporation,
signed co-crystallization deals with Ambit Biosciences of San Diego,
and Inpharmatica, based in the UK. ActiveSight's contract services
are centered on lead optimization co-crystallography, and feature
gene-to-structure capabilities.
Rigaku
is pleased to announce the sale and installation of the 100th
The gap between EDXRF and
high powered WDXRF systems is being bridged by a new player in the field -
mini WDXRF systems. These small, economical systems offer better
resolution, increased sensitivity, and better light element response than
most EDXRF units and they are also beginning to challenge the higher
powered WDXRF field as well.
