6 Historic Boston Plays Host to the Fifth Symposium
Tecan recently hosted the fifth annual Tecan Symposium in the picturesque surroundings of Boston, Massachusetts, visiting the US for the first time. Held at the beautiful Taj Boston hotel, this year’s symposium explored the topic of ‘Mass spectrometry – the expanding role in life sciences and diagnostics’ and gave delegates an insight into the exciting opportunities and new developments in this fast-moving field.
With mass spectrometry (MS) becoming increasingly popular throughout the life sciences sector, from fundamental research to medical diagnostics, the 2012 Tecan Symposium covered a diverse range of MS applications with four main themes: the use of MS in diagnostics and applied markets; the role of MS in basic research; the collection, preparation and storage of samples for MS; and emerging trends and technologies in MS. Prominent speakers were invited from academia and industry, including Imperial College London and Quest Diagnostics, and spoke on subjects as diverse as medical diagnostics, the value of MS in space science and identifying traces of chocolate on ceramics recovered from archeological sites. With a wealth of expertise in so many different fields, they provided practical insights into current applications of MS, and discussed the technique’s potential for future applications. As in previous years, the main scientific program was complemented by a series of social events, including a tour of the Freedom Trail and an evening dinner in Boston Public Library, that allowed delegates to network in an informal atmosphere, contemplating the vast array of MS applications while hailing the success of the fifth Tecan Symposium.
To find out more about the Tecan Symposium, visit
www.tecan.com/symposium. MORE INFO. 15
New Article on Bioanalysis of Dermorphin in Equine Urine with VIP Heated- ESI Technology
Laboratory Reagents and Fine Chemicals
Loba Chemie was a venture started over 35 years ago to deal in Biochemical’s and Reagents for life science research and other specialty chemicals. Loba Chemie today is one of the forerunners in the Indian chemical industry. In a matter of years Loba Chemie through its teamwork and efficiency, not forgetting its superior products, has been able to establish a strong market share throughout India. At present Loba Chemie is among the top 5 chemical companies in India. With a state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing facility providing a range of over 4500 products to meet international customer demand, the range of products include: reagents ACS/GR/AR, fine chemicals, HPLC solvents, inorganic salts, biological stains and dyes, indicators, buffers, dry solvents, CVS, ion pairing, essential oils, perchloric acids, bromine, AAS and ICP standards, BP/USP/Ph. Eur and more.
An article examining the difficult bioanalysis of thermally labile peptides performed on the recently launched Bruker EVOQ™ liquid chromatography mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS) is described. The article entitled ‘Bioanalysis of Dermorphin, an Opioid Peptide in Equine Urine: Benefit of the VIP Heated-ESI Technology for the Quantitative Analysis of Thermally Labile Molecules’ from the Bruker CAM division, has been published in the November/December issue of Chromatography Today. Authored by product specialists from Bruker’s liquid chromatography mass spectrometry group the article explores the quantification of Dermorphin in equine urine using solid phase extraction cleanup. The linear dynamic range of the assay was 0.5-1000ng/mL and this was easily obtained on the EVOQ Elite™ LC-TQ.
Dermorphin is a naturally occurring hepta-peptide derived from the skin secretions of South American frogs (Phyllomedusa sauvegei). It is a unique analgesic 30-40 times stronger than morphine, containing D- alanine making it highly resistant to protease degradation, thus making it a very effective analgesic. Dermorphin use as a horse racing performance enhancing drug came to the public fore as an illicit drug, when it was found to be used to push racehorse performance beyond natural limits, often injuring the horse. Dermorphin has since been reclassified as a Class 1 prohibited substance as decreed by the American Association of Racing Commissioners International Model Rules and this practice has largely been adopted worldwide.
The quantification of Dermorphin in equine urine has been a challenge on several fronts because of the complex matrix of equine urine, a lack of stable labelled internal standards and the peptide is thermally labile during LC nebulisation. Crucially, the EVOQ’s novel vacuum insulated probe heated electrospray ionisation (VIP-HESI) technology delivers the greatest heat at the tip of the ESI probe at the point of ionisation, protecting it from over heating and degradation. By efficiently ionising thermally labile molecules, such as peptides and metabolites, at conventional flow rates the VIP-HESI enables the analysis of real-world samples. Even with no isotope labelled industry standard the EVOQ accurately quantified dermorphin in equine urine between the ranges of 0.1-1000ng/mL.
MORE INFO. 18
Loba Chemie is a global supplier for its high quality products and has been able to develop its market share with customer satisfaction and its quality products in many corners of the world. At present Loba Chemie is doing business with over 80 countries, to name a few UK, Germany, Belgium, France, USA, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and many more. Loba is also a provider for Bulk Packs and OEM Services.
MORE INFO. 16
Winner of 2013 Young Investigator Award Announced
Ocean Optics has named Christian F. Gainer of the University of Arizona as winner of the 2013 Ocean Optics Young Investigator Award. Gainer was honoured for his work with his advisor, Marek Romanowski, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona, presented in the paper ‘Multiphoton imaging of three-dimensional cancer models using upconverting lanthanide nanoparticles’. Their work describes the use of multiphoton scanning microscopy for three-dimensional modelling of colon and ovarian cancer.
Ocean Optics has sponsored the Young Investigator Award since 2008, part of a long tradition of supporting young scientists and educators from around the world. “We are energised and inspired by the efforts and discoveries of researchers early in their careers,” said Michael Allen, Ocean Optics Director, Marketing and Product Development. “Our support for these young men and women underscores our commitment to the vision of changing the world for the better through optical sensing.”
MORE INFO. 17
Launch of New Benchtop Scientific Spectroscopic Ellipsometer
Horiba Scientific, a global leader with over 20 years of experience in phase modulation Ellipsometry technology, is pleased to announce the launch of the UVISEL 2, a new generation of scientific spectroscopic ellipsometers. The UVISEL 2 is a fully automated platform that provides a patented vision system, 8 computer selectable, achromatic spot sizes, and fast scanning, high-resolution monochromators, making it an unique solution for efficient and rapid thin film characterisation over a broad spectral range of 190-2100nm.
The UVISEL 2 is a highly automated instrument providing automatic goniometer, automatic XYZ stage, automatic sample adjustment and automatic microspot optics. Microspots, combined with a real-time vision system, allows straightforward and accurate spot positioning on a sample. A selection of eight achromatic spots (down to 35µm) allows the user to perform measurements on a broad spectral range even with a small spot size. This unique system always allows an image to be obtained, whether on rough, smooth, transparent or reflective surfaces.
A robust phase modulation control with the new electronics makes the UVISEL 2 the most sensitive and accurate spectroscopic ellipsometer on the market. It is capable of characterising advanced optical and material properties (e.g., anisotropy, gradient), detecting very thin layers (e.g., graphene) and can follow ultra fast kinetic phenomena at up to 1ms per point. The detection systems in VIS-FUV and NIR have also been enhanced to provide very low stray light and faster acquisition.
The powerful DeltaPsi2 software controls the UVISEL 2, offering the largest range of data acquisition and advanced modelling features. New automatic troubleshooting facilitates the diagnosis of problems. And our new automatic calibration procedure using integrated reference samples ensures easy calibration. The user interface is intuitive and customised to meet the requirements of both experienced scientists and newcomers.
MORE INFO. 19
INTERNATIONAL LABMATE - MARCH 2013
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