Laboratories, government facilities

In 1953,54% of the total national expenditures for research and development came from the federal government. This percentage rose to 65% by 1960 and peaked in 1963 at 66%. Of these expenditures by the government for research and development in 1960, 80% of the 8 billion spent went to defense research. But while the federal government was the major sponsor of computational chemistry (much of the research was being done at national laboratories and at universities utilizing government facilities such as the University of Chi-... 

Each of these laboratories is a government-owned/contractor-operated facility selected from industiy, academia, and university consortia. As of 1999, the most prominent civilian contractor was Lockheed Martin, the operator of Oak Ridge and Sandia, and the major academic institution was the University of California, administrator of Los Alamos, Lawi ence Berkeley, and Lawi ence Livermore. 

Another aspect of the GLP requirements that is often overlooked when only electronic systems are used is that, in the event of a system failure, a back-up paper version should be available and reasonably located nearby. For example, should an electronic SOP system fail, it is unlikely that a government inspector will consider one paper copy of the SOP adequate for a large facility that includes held sites, animal rooms, an analytical laboratory, an immunology laboratory, and a clinical pathology laboratory. 

We also found that in the field of materials science education, both education and work force needed considerable reorientation. For historical reasons (listed in the study) synthesis processing had been neglected at university and Government laboratories. We also looked at the debate about the role of a principal investigator versus large facilities, such as the synchrotron radiation laboratories. We concluded that materials science needs all of these different modes of research, and no particular approach is more decisively effective than another. 

If certain NBC-OD are not available from local manufactures and must be imported there are two alternative solutions to establish a manufacturing facility (or a pharmacy laboratory) supported with government funds or the establishment of a central agency for import and distribution of antidotes, under governmental control. The decision depends on the economical and technological capabilities. 

WVGES has not had analytical laboratory facilities since the 1970 s so contract geochemical analyses are a necessity. After considering a variety of sources for analytical work including both university and government laboratories, we decided to use a commercial lab, located in Ontario, which specializes in analyses for the mineral exploration industry (they have since expanded into the environmental field as well). For the sake of consistency, each sample is analyzed using the same set of techniques, a combination of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Selective Extraction-Ignition Coupled Plasma spectroscopy that yield results for 49 elements - Au, Ag, As, Ba, Br, Ca, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Hf, Hg, Ir, Mo, Na, Ni, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sn, Sr, Ta, Th, U, W, Zn, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Yb, Lu, Cu, Pb, Mn, Cd,... 

In his editorial, entitled "War Chemistry and the Alleviation of Suffering," Herty pointed out that in the area of medicinal chemistry the chemist cannot work alone. He must rely on the pharmacologist and the physiologist to determine the therapeutic potential of a product. Cooperation between the chemist and the biologist was thus essential. Herty complained that universities often lacked the funds and the necessary spirit of cooperation to undertake such studies, that most manufacturing establishments had inadequate facilities for these purposes, and that government laboratories suffered from insufficient appropriations for research. Certain privately-endowed institutions, most notably the Rockefeller Institute, provided the appropriate environment for such cooperative research, but there were few such institutions and their capacity for work was necessarily limited. 

Some of these government agencies and private companies, because of the nature of their business, will utilize the services of an analytical chemistry laboratory as part of their overall need to assure the required quality operation. For example, municipal governments will employ the use of an analytical chemistry laboratory to test their water supply on a regular basis to make sure it is free of toxic chemicals. The pharmaceutical company will house an analytical chemistry laboratory within its facility to routinely test the products it produces and the raw materials that go into these products to make certain that they meet the required specifications. A fertilizer plant will utilize an analytical chemistry laboratory to confirm that the composition of its product meets the specifications indicated on the individual bags of fertilizer. Companies that produce a food product, such as snack chips, cheese, cereal, or meat products, will have an analytical chemistry laboratory as part of their operation because they want to have the assurance that the... 

What statements in the GLP regulations give the government the right to enter and inspect a laboratory facility ... 

Clearly, the commercial or consultancy laboratory that tests sub-samples of a marketed product worth millions of pounds, or assesses the purity of pharmaceuticals, or analyses forensic samples, must have far higher levels of both accuracy and verifiability than student practical classes. There should, however, always be an effort to produce the most accurate and reliable results within the constraints of the laboratory facilities available, otherwise a lax attitude will produce work of doubtful interpretation that could mislead others, as well as giving little job satisfaction. Several books, which are more suited to the commercial sector, have been written on the quality of laboratory analysis, however some quality assurance practices could be beneficial in the smaller laboratory. A useful open-learning style book on basic concepts of quality in the analytical laboratory has been co-authored by staff at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (Crosby et ai, 1995). 

Some of the funding for facilities, centers, and experiments has flowed to universities, while other funding has gone to government laboratories. For example, the Center for Functional Nanomaterials was established at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. Work done in this laboratory by Mathew Maye and Oleg Gang has been discussed earlier in this chapter. 

Inspection. It shall be conducted as described in Specification MIL-A-2550A, Amend 5 (Feb 1969) The supplier is responsible for the performance of all inspection requirements. He may utilize his own or any other inspection facilities. When reqd, the supplier shall submit samples to a Government approved laboratory for examination tests. 

Small production units without access to laboratory facilities should seek the help of feed suppliers in carrying out periodic analysis of ingredients. Other agencies such as government, university or commercial laboratories may have to be used. 

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