Laboratory Informatics Weekly Update – Volume 20, Issue 52
December 28, 2022 Laboratory Informatics Weekly Update Volume 20, Issue 52 In This Issue Featured Content 12/27/2022 - The Cost of Buying Cheap Laboratory SoftwareWhen shopping for a laboratory information management system (LIMS), it’s best to remind yourself of the old idiom “you get what you pay for.” Deciding to add a LIMS to your laboratory is not a decision to take lightly, nor is choosing the best LIMS vendor to handle your project. Taking the time to make specific inquiries about your requirements, understand how the price is calculated, seek out references, and question things that seem too…The Cost of Buying Cheap Laboratory Software
When shopping for a laboratory information management system (LIMS), it’s best to remind yourself of the old idiom “you get what you pay for.” Deciding to add a LIMS to your laboratory is not a decision to take lightly, nor is choosing the best LIMS vendor to handle your project. Taking the time to make specific inquiries about your requirements, understand how the price is calculated, seek out references, and question things that seem too good to be true will save you the time and money of investing in LIMS software this year, and replacing it the next. [Read More]
Controlled data capture using Labsheets in Logilab ELN
Managing data is a crucial aspect of any laboratory of the modern age, regardless of its nature and type of activity. The Logilab Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) is a key part of this data management process in a laboratory, particularly pertaining to controlled data capture. But how exactly does the software solution developed by Agaram Technologies achieve this functionality? And why is it important that laboratories should ensure controlled data capture in the first place? [Read More]
Guide to State Pay Transparency Laws for Employers Part 2
As pay transparency laws become increasingly common across the United States, employers must understand their obligations. These laws promote pay transparency, foster equity in salary practices, and reduce salary disparities between genders, races, and other categories. The range of regulations varies by state; this is part two of our two-series blog post. We cover the remaining states with statewide pay transparency laws, what those laws entail, who is affected, and what employers need to know. [Read More]
North Pole Enterprise Improves Productivity with LabLynx LIMS
On the morning of December 26, 2019, LabLynx, Inc., a trusted laboratory information management system (LIMS) vendor in Smyrna, GA, received a peculiar email. Someone claiming to be Kris Kringle had visited LabLynx.com and filled out a form requesting to connect with a LabLynx team member and schedule a demo of the ELab LIMS software solution. The entire LabLynx office was abuzz. [Read More]
Answers to Five Common Questions About Validation
If you operate computer software, at some point you may need to consider some aspect of validation. As an end user of any software, you benefit from the validation and testing that software underwent before it got to you. Validation of systems or instruments assures all parties that the object of the validation will function as intended. It is a valuable exercise for any organization, even those that aren’t in industries subject to government regulations around CSV. This blog looks at questions that many of the organizations we work with have around computer systems validation (CSV). [Read More]
Securing Your LIMS in the Cloud
Although it may seem counterintuitive, transplanting your lab’s data and workflows from your on-premises servers to a third-party’s cloud-based LIMS makes your lab more secure. Moving your lab’s operations into the cloud also splits responsibility for security between you and your cloud LIMS vendor. Security in the cloud is one factor laboratories must consider when adopting a LIMS. There are shared security responsibilities in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model and LabLynx’s cloud-based LIMS offers security advantages over an in-house application. [Read More]
Enhancing the scientific lab experience Part 1: The lab-centric environment
Digital transformation is the bedrock of an overall positive scientific experience in the lab. For truly successful digital transformation, both the physical and data lab environments need to be carefully brought together. Lab information management systems, or LIMS, are an ideal solution, effortlessly integrating these two settings. This two-part blog series explores how to use LIMS to enhance the overall scientific experience: in this first blog, we focus on how flexible interaction with LIMS can improve the lab-centric environment. [Read More]
Astrix Scientific Staffing Blog – A Guide to State Pay Transparency Laws for Employers Part 1
As pay transparency laws become increasingly common across the United States, employers must understand their obligations. The range of regulations varies by state. This is part one of our two series blog posts; we will cover the states that have statewide pay transparency laws, what those laws entail, who is affected, and what employers need to know. Stay tuned for part two of our blog posts that covers the rest of the states with salary transparency laws. [Read More]
The Logilab ELN website is now live and has got a lot more to offer
In a bid to reach the ears of people from regulated & non-regulated industries that are in need of paperless data capture solutions for their lab, we launched Logilab ELN, a cloud-based next-gen version of its Electronic Lab Notebook solution in 2021, with the goal to make research and QC labs paperless. [Read More]
Laboratory Informatics Weekly Update – Volume 20, Issue 51
December 21, 2022 Laboratory Informatics Weekly Update Volume 20, Issue 51 In This Issue Featured Content 12/21/2022 - North Pole Enterprise Improves Productivity with LabLynx LIMSOn the morning of December 26, 2019, LabLynx, Inc., a trusted laboratory information management system (LIMS) vendor in Smyrna, GA, received a peculiar email. Someone claiming to be Kris Kringle had visited LabLynx.com and filled out a form requesting to connect with a LabLynx team member and schedule a demo of the ELab LIMS software solution. The entire LabLynx office was abuzz. [Read More] 12/21/2022 - Answers to Five Common Questions About Validation If…Construction of control charts to help in the stability and reliability of results in an accredited water quality control laboratory
In this 2022 article published in the journal Sustainability, da Silva et al. of the Polytechnic Institute of Beja demonstrate the usefulness of control charting in the realm of maintaining water quality. Using a test case of wastewater from a treatment plant associated with a slaughterhouse, the authors describe their materials and methods, which progressed from wastewater sample to analysis and databasing of the results, followed by analysis quantification and control charting. In this article, they show 10 control charts associated with five test variables, demonstrating the usefulness of the control charts in identifying at least one significant set of out-of-specification results, likely associated with a treatment failure at the facility. They conclude that the results demonstrate "how rapid detection of variations in small scales on control charts allows the lab to better act upon identifying potential causes of variability," and they "show it is possible to state that all points are under statistical control, and thus by extension these types of control charts can have routine value in the laboratory."
Has Your Laboratory Information Management Software Reached the End of the Road?
Fed up with your current laboratory information management system (LIMS)? Find yourself struggling to work efficiently? Strangled by the inflexibility of your LIMS?
The requirement to upgrade your LIMS boils down to operational efficiency. If your current LIMS is slowing down the laboratory turnaround times, becoming a burden to use, and demotivating staff, it’s time to upgrade! [Read More]
Informatics in the Food and Beverage Industry
The food and beverage industry is under pressure from a variety of fronts, including a need to meet customer demand for nutritious, safe products; address environmental concerns like waste management and reduction; keep products on shelves, and meet the demands of multiple regulatory agencies are just a few points, all while making a profit. Laboratory informatics can play a significant role in increasing the efficiency and productivity of that research and testing. LabLynx’s ELab LIMS software solution, in particular, can support everything from materials evaluation in research to quality control during and after products are produced. [Read More]
Guidelines for Selecting a Pharmacovigilance System Project Team and Their Responsibilities
Pharmacovigilance system implementations succeed when project team members are properly chosen, and their responsibilities are clearly delineated and documented.
It is crucial to include the appropriate professionals on the pharmacovigilance system implementation team. Selecting the best qualified individuals for the team greatly enhances the odds for success. [Read More]
Autoscribe Raises the Efficiency Bar with the Release of Matrix Gemini LIMS v6.6
Autoscribe Informatics, the global leader in configurable Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), today announced the release of Matrix Gemini version 6.6. The December 2022 release includes a number of enhancements designed to improve the user experience even further. [Read More]
How Logilab SDMS helps Laboratories to enable Eudralex Annex 11 Compliance: Part 1
Eudralex is the collection of rules and regulations governing medicinal products (for human use as well as for veterinary use) in European Union (EU). Eudralex consists of 10 volumes, of which only Volume 1 (concerning medicinal products for human use) and Volume 5 (concerning medicinal products for veterinary use) present official legislation. The basic legislation is supported by a series of guidelines that are published within the other eight volumes. [Read More]
Laboratory Informatics Weekly Update – Volume 20, Issue 50
December 14, 2022 Laboratory Informatics Weekly Update Volume 20, Issue 50 In This Issue Featured Content 12/14/2022 - North Pole Enterprise Improves Productivity with LabLynx LIMSOn the morning of December 26, 2019, LabLynx, Inc., a trusted laboratory information management system (LIMS) vendor in Smyrna, GA, received a peculiar email. Someone claiming to be Kris Kringle had visited LabLynx.com and filled out a form requesting to connect with a LabLynx team member and schedule a demo of the ELab LIMS software solution. The entire LabLynx office was abuzz. [Read More] 12/14/2022 - Has Your Laboratory Information Management Software Reached the…Quality control of cannabis inflorescence and oil products: Response factors for the cost-efficient determination of ten cannabinoids by HPLC
In this 2022 paper published in Talanta Open, Hall et al. propose an analytical method for 10 cannabis-related cannabinoids that is cost-efficient, rapid, and robust in its use. Noting "elevated cost and limited availability of certified analytical reference standards for some cannabinoids," the authors sought to develop a high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array (HPLC-PDA) method for 10 cannabinoids that uses "relative retention times (RRT) for peak identification and relative response factors (RRF) for their quantification." After describing their materials and methods, the authors present their results and discuss their implications towards various aspects such as accuracy, recovery, and quantification. They conclude that their method is robust, acceptably accurate, and has sufficient dynamic range. They add that with their method, "cost barriers for the analysis of panels of cannabinoids can be overcome, such that a diversity of cannabinoids can be analyzed as a part of routine quality control, with results that reflect the therapeutic efficacy for the consumer."
LIMS Selection Workbook for All Laboratories
When planning a project of any type, it makes perfect sense to initially research and detail the specifics of the project to lay a solid foundation to work from. This is particularly true with software development, where careful initial planning is vital to ensuring the project is legitimate in the eyes of critical stakeholders and will meet specified goals. This demands the creation of a software requirements specification. Many specification documents for laboratory informatic systems have been compiled over the years. This updated version incorporates standards and regulations and provides a guidance-based approach to building a spec document for your LIMS. A solid set of LIMS requirements can act as a checklist when determining which LIMS vendor is right for your laboratory. [Read More]
