Gas Analyzer Pinpoints Types and Origins of CO2 Emissions
March 30th 2008Piccaro, Inc. announced an ultra-trace gas analyzer for precisely measuring isotopic CO2, a marker of the type of CO2, and its origin. The instrument is based upon cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) technology, exclusively licensed from Stanford University, Stanford, California and further enhanced at Piccaro.
Ask the Editor: Centrifugal Partition Chromatography
March 10th 2008What is centrifugal partition chromatography, and what are its main applications? Steve Brown: Briefly, in centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) one liquid acts as the stationary phase and a second solvent, containing the analytes, passes through it. Separation is achieved by partition of the solute between the two immiscible solvents comprising the mobile and stationary phases.
Chromatographic Society Spring 2008 Meeting
March 1st 2008The meeting, being held 21–22 May, will review the latest developments in stationary phase technologies for liquid chromatography. It will also include lectures on emerging stationary phase chemistries, specialised functional phases and small particle size packings The event will be of interest to all practitioners of separation science, but in particular those using liquid chromatography for problem solving and method development.
LC–MS-MS Determination of Malachite Green and Leucomalachite Green in Fish Products
March 1st 2008Although not currently used in U.S. or European aquaculture, malachite green (MG) is still an effective and inexpensive fungicide that is used in other countries, particularly in Asia. During metabolism, MG reduces to leucomalachite green (LMG) (Figure 1), which has been shown to accumulate in fatty fish tissues. Trace levels of MG and LMG residues continue to be found in fish products. In a 2005 report, MG was found in 18 out of 27 live eel or eel products imported from China to Hong Kong local market and food outlets, resulting in a government recall and destruction of all remaining products (1).
Protein Identification in Complex Mixtures: A Comparison of Accurate-Mass Q-TOF and Ion-Trap LC–MS
March 1st 2008Because it is extremely rapid, biomarker discovery and identification using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS), including both ion-trap and triple-quadrupole LC–MS, is well established. Fractionation of complex samples before LC–MS-MS analysis might be necessary to identify the proteins, greatly increasing the number of analyses required. In this case, there is ongoing debate regarding knowing whether the protein is identified correctly, knowing how much prior fractionation is needed to reduce complexity to the point where low-abundance proteins can be detected reliably, and balancing specificity with sensitivity.
MS Device Selected in Groundbreaking Research in Disease Treatment and Prevention
February 22nd 2008A mass spectrometer from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. has been chosen by the Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal (ICRM) for use in their proteomics research approach that could impact the current understanding of the human proteome.