Section 3-General Operation
Application Modules
The NanoDrop software has been tailored to meet the life scientist’s needs. It includes the following application modules:
•
Nucleic Acid
– concentration and purity of nucleic acid
•
MicroArray
– dye incorporation concentration and purity of nucleic acid
•
UV-Vis
– general UV-Vis measurements
•
Cell Cultures
– “absorbance” (light scattering) measurement of suspended microbial cells
•
Protein A280
– concentration and purity of purified protein
•
Proteins & Labels
– concentration of dye-labeled proteins, conjugates, and metalloproteins
•
Protein BCA –
protein concentration using the BCA assay
•
Protein Bradford
– protein concentration using the Bradford assay
•
Protein Lowry –
protein concentration using the Modified Lowry assay
User Preferences
Each user has the option to configure a number of settings in the various application modules. Some key preference
options available for each of the User Preference tabs are as follows
•
Archiving
In addition to the primary data storage of archive files at c:\nanodrop data, users may elect to save their data to an
additional location. This option can be chosen under the ‘Archiving.’ tab by selecting the ‘Duplicate data storage?’ box
and then choosing the file path by clicking on the file folder icon under ‘Duplicate Data Folder’. Save the alternative
path by clicking on the ‘Save and Exit’ button before exiting the User Preferences module. The user may also elect to
deselect an automatic prompt to close the Data Viewer whenever a module is closed. The Data Viewer must be
closed if a different module is opened before data can be reviewed.
•
Reports
Users may choose to select the ‘Auto Reporting’ option for any of the application modules. The auto reporting option
allows data to automatically be saved to the report for all samples. Users may choose this option under the Report tab
by selecting the corresponding box next to the modules listed under ‘Auto Reporting’. Save the auto reporting
functions by clicking on the ‘Save Preferences’ button before exiting the User Preferences window.
Note: User preferences are stored in a ‘.log’ file. When upgrading to a newer version of the software, this file should be
preserved. If after upgrading to a new software version the user preferences do not appear correctly, the .log file
should be manually copied to the proper directory. See “Passwords. log’” for more detail.
•
Nucleic Acids
The default setting is DNA-50. Other options include RNA-40, ssDNA-33, and Other with a variable constant setting.
•
UV/Vis
The default settings for the two cursors used to monitor specific wavelengths are 300 nm for
λ
1 and 700 nm for
λ
2. The
user may elect to have the HiAbs on (automatic utilization of the 0.2 mm path). An additional option is to elect to
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