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Many businesses have recently adopted the federal government guidelines for drug testing of employees created by NIDA (The National Institute on Drug Abuse) and SAMSHA (The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) as a result of federal legislation or drug related accidents and deteriorating work performance.

Waters Corporation (Milford, Massachusetts) has acquired Thar Instruments (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), a supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) manufacturer.

Researchers from Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada) developed porous polymer capillary columns with varied flurous content for chromatography of tagged analytes.

There are a host of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in sea salt that originate from several sources such as the surrounding plants, algae, bacteria and environmental pollution. A team of scientists from the University of Aveiro, one region where sea salt is produced, reasoned that the combination of VOC from the different local sources could be sufficient to create a unique fingerprint of the salt.

Rapid Sample Preparation Technique for the Extraction of Dioxins and Furans from Animal Tissue and Animal Feed Using Pressurized Fluid Extraction Jennifer Peterson and Bruce Richter Multi-residue Pesticide Analysis in Foods Using Modified QuEChERS Extraction and Ion Trap GC–MSn Analysis David Steiniger, Jessie Bulter and Eric Phillips Quantification of Protein Phosphorylation Using Chip-based LC–MS Ning Tang, Christine Miller and Keith Waddell A New Perspective on the Challenges of Mass Spectrometry Gary Impey, Christie Hunter and Andre Schreiber News More on the acetonitrile shortage, olive oil to combat breast cancer, detecting carbohydrates and determining lactose in milk. Incognito Going Bio? With the increasing drive towards biopharmaceutical technology and the use of "larger molecules", Incognito asks if there is still space for the "small molecule" chromatographer. Market Trends and Analysis Market Profile: Laboratory Information Management Systems Glenn Cudiamat Tips and Tricks: GPC/SEC Do's and Don'ts in GPC/SEC Light Scattering Daniela Held Q&A Rapid Dynamic Light Scattering The Column spoke to Sigid Kuebler from Wyatt Technology about the newly launched DynaPro plate reader, which was developed to address the growing need for rapid, automated and reliable dynamic light-scattering (DLS) measurements.

Calendar

This column completes the multipart MS primer with a list of terms derived from common usage throughout various industries.

Short Courses

Some things never change.

Columnist Ron Majors discusses some of the practical considerations in the successful application of the popular yet age-old technique of solvent extraction (also known as liquid–liquid extraction, or LLE). After a brief review of the basics, guidelines on the selection of the appropriate extraction solvents and how to use acid–base equilibria to ensure efficient extractions of ionic and ionizable compounds are provided. Problems in LLE and the solutions to these problems are highlighted. A newer technique called dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction is introduced.

The chance to have everyone you might e-mail or call on the phone in one place makes this conference critical

The concept of the limit of detection (LOD) has been, and still is, one of the most controversial in analytical chemistry. The multiple definitions and calculation methods proposed have contributed to this situation. Although in the last years, several international organizations, such as ISO or IUPAC, have tried to reach a consensus in their definitions and have issued guidelines for the estimation of this important parameter in chemical analysis, the subject is still a matter of scientific debate. In this article, we try to clarify the definition and provide guidelines to estimate LOD in chromatographic methods of analysis.

Recent development of the instrumentation for asymmetric flow field flow fractionation (FFF) brings new possibilities for the characterization of synthetic and natural polymers with several advantages over traditionally used size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The main difference of asymmetric flow FFF compared to SEC is that the polymer separation takes place in an entirely empty channel, which eliminates undesirable SEC effects such as shearing degradation of polymers with ultra high molar mass, anchoring of branched macromolecules in SEC column packing, and enthalpic interactions of polymer molecules with a stationary phase.

Digital Update

PITTCON 2009

Using a fixed length-variant of the kinetic plot method, it is illustrated how an analysis that is performed near the optimal flow-rate of a given commercial column can, in many cases, be performed between 50–200% faster by switching to a longer column and operating it at a higher pressure - at least, if the available instrument pressure admits so. The present article aims to show that short columns are not always the best choice to get the fastest separation.

Various modes of capillary electrochromatography (CEC) for the separation of enantiomers on immobilized cyclodextrin derivatives are described. The following techniques have been used: (i) open-tubular electrochromatography (o-CEC), (ii) packed electrochromatography (p-CEC) and (iii) monolithic electrochromatography (rod-CEC). Three different strategies to prepare enantioselective cyclodextrin-coated chiral monoliths are described. The advantages and disadvantages of the various methods are outlined.

Markes International has enhanced its online shop, increasing the number of products offered to include the majority of the thermal desorption (TD) instrument spares, accessories and consumables found in its new catalogue.

Hichrom will be sponsoring a series of HPLC workshops led by world-renowned HPLC trainers including John Dolan, Mel Euerby and Tom Jupille. The workshops are running throughout 2009 at sites across the UK including Reading, Manchester and London.

Markes International has enhanced its online shop, increasing the number of products offered to include the majority of the thermal desorption (TD) instrument spares, accessories and consumables found in its new catalogue.

Hichrom will be sponsoring a series of HPLC workshops led by world-renowned HPLC trainers including John Dolan, Mel Euerby and Tom Jupille. The workshops are running throughout 2009 at sites across the UK including Reading, Manchester and London.

Waters reported fourth quarter 2008 sales of $418 million, a decrease of 4% from sales of $437 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. In the quarter, the effects of foreign currency translation were responsible for the reduced sales growth rate.

Proxeon has announced that it will join 12 other partners in a research consortium, PROSPECTS (PROteomics SPECification in Time and Space). The collaborators come from leading proteomics laboratories and companies.

A rapid and sensitive method for the determination of ropinirole in human plasma has been developed. The method achieves a S/N of over 100:1 at the required LLOQ of 0.005 ng/mL.

Restek has announced the purchase of outstanding corporate shares in a move to 100% employee ownership under an Employee Stock Ownership Programme (ESOP) structure.

Joining us for this discussion are Troy Purvis and Chad Ostrander of Hitachi High Technologies America; Thomas J. Waeghe of MAC-MOD Analytical; Dr. Roy Eksteen of Tosoh Bioscience, LLC.; and Thomas E. Beesley of Sigma-Aldrich/Supelco.

The 23rd International Forum for Process Analytical Technology (IFPAC-09) will be held at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, located within Baltimore's Inner Harbor, from January 25 through January 28, 2009.

The fourth European Award for Plasma Spectrochemistry is to be awarded to Dr Annemie Bogaerts, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.