On August 6th, Cara Plese, M.S., Scientist I and Antonio Scatena, Laboratory Manager at Gateway Analytical hosted a webinar designed for police and attorneys on the topic of condom lubricant analysis. During this webinar, our presenters provided an in depth explanation of the analysis of condom lubricants and gave insight into many of the variables that can influence the results of a test, including appropriate collection time, the location of sampling, and the type of condom used in an assault. The presenters focused on the results of condom lubricant analysis and discuss what can be determined once a sample has been tested.
Scientific Working Groups, or SWGs for short, are groups of leading professionals from various fields in forensic science who work together for advancement in their area of science. Most SWGs are largely funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) with the purpose of proposing guidelines regarding the use of testing standards, reporting suggestions, and recommended standard practices for both new and traditional technologies. Even though the SWGs cannot enforce the use of these guidelines, they provide suggestions which are reached as the consensus of professionals from various agencies, and can be used by laboratories at federal, state, and local levels.
Condom Lubricant Analysis
The day the certificate arrives in the mail, it finally sinks in – all that hard work, extra time in the office, hours spent preparing has finally paid off! As you adjust to the idea that the fruits of your labor have finally (FINALLY!) been recognized, another realization begins to come to light. Along with the satisfaction of hanging your accreditation certificate on the wall, you've also come to the realization that the journey has just begun. As with any complex and detailed structure, your newly accredited quality management system is going to need continued TLC to guarantee its success.
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, or FTIR, is a vibrational spectroscopy method which is based upon the measurement of specific frequencies which occur between chemical bonds in a given material. Interestingly, as materials may be unique in chemical nature, so are the infrared spectra which they yield, resulting in a unique “fingerprint” for a given material. As such, this makes FTIR a very resourceful tool for such things as:
On July 10th, Oksana Olkhovyk, Ph.D., Senior Scientist at Gateway Analytical hosted a webinar designed for scientists working to develop various pharmaceutical drug products. During this webinar, we discussed how Raman Chemical Imaging (RCI) is an effective tool that can be used to identify agglomerates by their chemical makeup in various drug formulations, and how it can benefit developers of OINDPs such as nasal spray suspensions, dry powder inhalers (DPIs), metered dosed inhalers (MDIs), as well as semi-solids: topical creams, emulsions and gels. We also discussed the validation of the RCI method to objectively and precisely evaluate the extent and size of drug to drug or drug to excipient aggregates and compare it to other methods for identifying agglomerates including, optical microscopy, Anderson Cascade Impaction, Raman Microscopy and Confocal Spectroscopy.
This function has a great deal of utility when performing materials analysis, whether the goal is product development, failure analysis, or reverse engineering. Manual analysis certainly has its advantages when a quick, general overview of a sample is effective. However sometimes the end goal of an examination requires a bigger picture of the sample, and automated SEM-EDS analysis can provide a solution.
ISO 9001:2008 clause 5.4.1 requires top management to establish quality objectives. The objectives selected must be measurable and consistent with the quality policy. The real sign of a high quality objective is its alignment with the overall goals of the organization. Keep in mind that the manner in which quality objectives are selected and monitored can greatly impact an organization’s success.
Original Event Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Duration: 60 minutes
Presenters: Oksana Olkhovyk, Ph.D., Senior Scientist at Gateway Analytical
Host: Shawn Wilhelm, Marketing Coordinator at Gateway Analytical