Postnova Analytics reports on how the inorganic analysis team within LGC (Teddington, UK) has been using the AF2000 Field Flow Fractionation system coupled to Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to characterise nanomaterials in complex food sample matrices. Nanomaterials are known to be present in over 1300 foods and commercial products....

Genevac reports on how its hydrochloric acid (HCl) resistant EZ-2 evaporator offers significant benefits to clinical labs tasked with analysing plasma, blood or urine samples for neonatal disorders. In new born infants, tandem Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) is a widely used analytical technique to identify metabolic neonatal disorders which include aminoacidemia’s, urea cycle disorders...

Fluorescence spectroscopy is regarded as a thorough and flexible technique which can be employed to study and characterize unique materials.

Fluorescence spectroscopy is often used in the life sciences as a means of examining cells and understanding the processes taking place within them. Continual breakthrough developments in the instrumentation used for fluorescence spectroscopy, along with the ongoing availability of new fluorescent materials....

Genevac has published an informative customer article that reviews the development of a new sample preparation method using its EZ-2 centrifugal evaporator to help simplify and accelerate the detection and quantitation of algal toxins in surface water.

Due to a warming global environment there has been a rise in occurrences of cyanobacteria blooms in lakes which can generate cyanotoxins. With surface water a major source of drinking water, the presence of cyano bacterial blooms pose a potential threat to human health. Using Ultra-high Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) researchers have been able to...

Metrohm is pleased to present an application for the straightforward determination of the herbicide glyphosate and its primary metabolite AMPA in drinking water by ion chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection.

With a detection limit of approximately 1 µg/L, the method is sensitive enough to comply with limit values in the US, Canada, Australia, and others. A free whitepaper provides more details on the method and its application. Glyphosate and its metabolite AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic acid) are usually determined by HPLC with post-column derivatization and subsequent fluorescence detection...

INTEGRA, in conjunction with DPX Labs LLC, has produced an application note that describes a novel high throughput semi-automated sample method for processing urine samples ready for drugs of abuse analysis by LC-MS/MS. 

Using an INTEGRA VIAFLO 96 electronic pipette with DPX mixed mode tips, a single 96-well plate loaded with samples can be extracted and ready for LC-MS/MS analysis in less than ten minutes eliminating the need for a time-consuming evaporation step. Sample preparation is required to remove matrix interferences from urine samples prior to LC-MS/MS analysis. This procedure is typically very time-consuming and is...

Wyatt Technology Corporation, the world leader in instrumentation for absolute macromolecular and nanoparticle characterization, has published a new whitepaper outlining how to evaluate the solution quality of biotherapeutic candidates prior to screening via Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) or Bio Layer Interferometry (BLI).

The DynaPro® Plate Reader II. Analyte quality is critical to obtaining accurate and meaningful measurements in order to select the most promising therapeutic candidates, so ensuring the quality of samples is a vital step in the screening process. The DynaPro high- throughput dynamic light scattering (HT-DLS) system provides an effective method of assessing sample materials using a non-invasive, non-pertubative optical technique...

A new technical poster from Haydale Ltd. describes a cost-effective and repeatable method for characterisation of functionalised carbon nanomaterials.

Two key, but independent, problems facing the graphene industry are the requirement for chemical functionalisation (essential for homogenous dispersion and application) and the pressing need for reliable, cost-effective, rapid, easy-to-use and accurate characterisation techniques to determine the type and extent of functionalisation present on graphene material. Current chemical characterisation techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy...

The unrivalled performance of OMNISEC, Malvern Instruments’ new gel permeation chromatography/size exclusion chromatography (GPC/SEC) system, is demonstrated in a series of recently released application notes which highlight the sensitivity of the system in synthetic polymer analysis. 

The OMNISEC platform brings together highly efficient and precise sample separation in the OMNISEC RESOLVE module with a fully integrated, high sensitivity multi-detector array in the OMNISEC REVEAL module. A complete OMNISEC system delivers the accurate molecular weight and molecular size measurements and detailed structural information needed to drive synthetic polymer research. The polymer industry is actively engaged in developing...

Study published in Nature outlines use of Wyatt’s Calypso II system to confirm the stoichiometry of αSNAP-SNARE complex

Wyatt Technology Corporation, the world leader in instrumentation for absolute macromolecular and nanoparticle characterization, is pleased to highlight a new study that describes the use of composition-gradient multi-angle light scattering (CG-MALS) for the characterization of complex protein-protein interactions. The study, entitled ‘Mechanistic insights into the recycling machine of the SNARE complex’, was published in the...

A new whitepaper from Malvern Instruments provides detailed guidance on the analytical technologies that help to accelerate oral solid dosage (OSD) product formulation to a successful conclusion.

‘Analytical techniques with a place in the oral solid dosage formulation toolkit’ reviews the regulatory and QbD framework associated with OSD formulation and demonstrates how Malvern systems can be used to generate the data required. The goal of formulation is to incorporate an identified drug substance into a successful pharmaceutical product. The regulatory framework for OSD products highlights the need to comprehensively...

The globalization of the food chain has meant that the focus on food safety is greater than ever before and as a result, food manufacturers are facing increasingly stringent regulatory requirements.

One area that is receiving a growing amount of attention is mycotoxin intake from contaminated food and feed which causes mycotoxin intoxication. Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites that are typically produced by fungi growing on grains and fruit during shipment or storage. When ingested, mycotoxins may cause acute or chronic disease and it has been shown that repeated exposure to low level mycotoxin ingestion can affect...

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed an ion chromatography method with suppressed conductivity detection for sensitive determination of inorganic anions and carboxylic acids (fluoride, acetate, formate, mesylate, chloride, nitrate, succinate, malonate, sulfate, and oxalate) in airborne particulate matter (PM_2.5).

Application Note 1107: Determination of Anions and Carboxylic Acids in Urban Fine Particles (PM_2.5) demonstrates that this new method can determine more analytes relevant to air contamination than either of the two standard methods currently in use. The determination is performed using a high-pressure ion chromatography system, the Thermo Scientific^™ Dionex^™ ICS-5000⁺ Reagent-Free^™ HPIC^™ system, equipped with a...

In collaboration with scientists from the European Union Reference Laboratory for Dioxins and PCBs in Feed and Food, Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed a simple, reliable and robust method for detecting and confirming low levels of dioxins in food and feed samples using a triple quadrupole gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS/MS) system equipped with an autosampler.

Application Note 10406: Validation of GC-MS/MS for Detection and Confirmation of Low-Level Dioxins illustrates the excellent selectivity and sensitivity of this GC-MS/MS System for low levels of dioxins, even in complex matrices. Dioxins are a group of chemically-related compounds, including polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and some dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These compounds are...

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed two robust methods to identify uronic acids in acid-hydrolyzed wood samples, with each method using a different specialized anion-exchange column as demonstrated in Application Note 1091: Determination of Uronic Acids and Wood Sugars in Wood-Based Hydrolysates.

Method 1 is a single high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection method that uses a mono- and disaccharide column, the Thermo Scientific^™ Dionex^™ CarboPac^™ PA20 column, for wood sugars and uronic acids. Method 2 is a faster method that uses an oligosaccharide column...

In collaboration with scientists from the European Union Reference Laboratory for Dioxins and PCBs in Feed and Food, Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed a simple, reliable and robust method for detecting and confirming low levels of dioxins in food and feed samples using a triple quadrupole gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS/MS) system equipped with an autosampler.

Application Note 10406: Validation of GC-MS/MS for Detection and Confirmation of Low-Level Dioxins illustrates the excellent selectivity and sensitivity of this GC-MS/MS System for low levels of dioxins, even in complex matrices. Dioxins are a group of chemically-related compounds, including polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and some dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These compounds are...

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed an efficient and simple high-performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of dicyandiamide in milk powder using an ion-exclusion chromatography column that is capable of rapidly analyzing polar compounds such as aliphatic organic acids and alcohols in complex and high-ionic-strength samples.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed a pH-gradient-based method that provides excellent resolution for monoclonal antibody (MAb) charge variants.

Application Note 1092: Separation of Intact Monoclonal Antibody Sialylation Isoforms by pH Gradient Ion-Exchange Chromatography demonstrates that this approach is more convenient and straightforward than the isoelectric focusing method routinely used for protein sialylation profiling. This new method uses a cation-exchange protein column on a biocompatible analytical liquid chromatography system; a separate project is...

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed an efficient high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using a mixed-mode column, the Thermo Scientific^™Acclaim^™ Mixed-Mode WAX-1 column, with ultraviolet detection for a rapid and sensitive determination of acesulfame in vinegar.

Application Note 1104: Rapid and Sensitive Determination of Acesulfame in Vinegar demonstrates that this approach offers the advantages of simple sample preparation, good method reproducibility, and a wide linear calibration range. This new method also achieves a detection limit much lower than that specified by the Standardization Administration of China. Acesulfame is extensively used as a sugar substitute in foods and...