Peaks of Interest
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
National Institute of Standards and Technology Makes Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Structure Index Publicly Available
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has made a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) structure index database publicly available on-line (http://pah.nist.gov/). A by-product of hydrocarbon fuel combustion, PAHs can have significant adverse health and environmental impacts. The website contains data on more than 650 PAH compounds, with more to be added in the future.
According to NIST, the Chemical Informatics Research Group of NIST's Material Measurement Laboratory created the site to provide standard reference data to industry, academia, and the US public, and builds on NIST Special Publication 922: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Structure Index (SP922) by Lane C. Sander and Stephen A. Wise of NIST. Publication SP922 indexed a large number of PAH structures and provided parameters for estimating retention indices for liquid chromatography using a simple model. The new database expands on this by providing data from further experimental data including a collection of thermochemical data on gas-phase PAH compounds, and UV–visible spectra.
Duke Molecular Physiology Institute Receives Agilent Grant
Agilent Technologies (Santa Clara, California) has awarded a grant to the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) to support research into the metabolic and physiological aspects of major chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. The institute researchers perform a range of analytical chemistry techniques, including liquid chromatography and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, to characterize molecular pathways in disease.
The group is headed by Christopher Newgard, a professor at Duke University School of Medicine's Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology and director of the Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center and the Institute for Molecular Physiology.
"The Duke Molecular Physiology Institute seeks to combine strong genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics platforms with computational biology, clinical translation, and basic science expertise to gain new insights into the mechanisms of cardiometabolic disease," Newgard said, adding "We thank Agilent for supporting our research and look forward to collaborating to advance the understanding of cardiovascular and undiagnosed metabolic diseases."
GC–TOF-MS Finds 250 Volatile Compounds in E-Cigarette Liquids
November 1st 2024A study has used gas chromatography coupled to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer to build an electron ionization mass spectra database of more than 250 chemicals classified as either volatile or semi-volatile compounds. An additional, confirmatory layer of liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis was subsequently performed.
AI and GenAI Applications to Help Optimize Purification and Yield of Antibodies From Plasma
October 31st 2024Deriving antibodies from plasma products involves several steps, typically starting from the collection of plasma and ending with the purification of the desired antibodies. These are: plasma collection; plasma pooling; fractionation; antibody purification; concentration and formulation; quality control; and packaging and storage. This process results in a purified antibody product that can be used for therapeutic purposes, diagnostic tests, or research. Each step is critical to ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of the final product. Applications of AI/GenAI in many of these steps can significantly help in the optimization of purification and yield of the desired antibodies. Some specific use-cases are: selecting and optimizing plasma units for optimized plasma pooling; GenAI solution for enterprise search on internal knowledge portal; analysing and optimizing production batch profitability, inventory, yields; monitoring production batch key performance indicators for outlier identification; monitoring production equipment to predict maintenance events; and reducing quality control laboratory testing turnaround time.
Multivariate Design of Experiments for Gas Chromatographic Analysis
November 1st 2024Recent advances in green chemistry have made multivariate experimental design popular in sample preparation development. This approach helps reduce the number of measurements and data for evaluation and can be useful for method development in gas chromatography.
