Enhanced Protein Structural Characterization Using Microfluidic Modulation Spectroscopy

By Eugene Ma, Libo Wang, Brent Kendrick

This article introduces a new IR technique, microfluidic modulation spectroscopy (MMS), that is designed to address the needs in biotherapeutics, and presents data from measurements of commercially available proteins.

Direct Determination of Oil Content in Binary Mixtures of Peanut and Canola Oils Using Partial Least Squares and Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

By Chloe Lewis, Ghalib A. Bello, Gerard G. Dumancas

This study presents a novel, time-efficient, and cost-effective procedure for determining the percentage of oil content in binary mixtures of peanut and canola oils.

Single-Cell ICP-MS Analysis: Quantifying the Metal Concentration of Unicellular Organisms at the Cellular Level

By Ruth Merrifield, Lauren Amable, Chady Stephan

Single-cell ICP-MS can accurately quantify the metal concentrations within individual cells, providing new information about the mean metal content and the variation within a cell population. This method is shown to be a vital tool for assessing the specific uptake of metals by ovarian cancer cells and fresh water algae.

Exploring the Applicability of Quantitative Models Based on NIR Reflectance Spectroscopy of Plant Samples

By Yuqing Yang, Li Ma, Guorong Du, Junhui Li, Yanjun Ma

The establishment of quantitative models based on the near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic analysis of plant samples plays an important role in improving both the scope of the models and the accuracy of prediction. This technique could provide a new method for tobacco quality management and provide a new discriminant method for other agricultural products.

FT-IR and Chemometric Strategies for Forensic Analysis

In a recent paper titled “Soft and Robust Identification of Body Fluid Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Chemometric Strategies for Forensic Analysis,” a team of researchers described the use of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) for the forensic analysis and identification of body fluids.

European Short Course on Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy Offered

PicoQuant, a research and development company specializing in optoelectronics and based in Berlin, Germany, is collaborating with Joseph R. Lakowicz from the Center of Fluorescence Spectroscopy (CFS) in Baltimore, Maryland, to offer a short course on the “Principles and Applications of Time-Resolved Fluorescence.”

New York–New Jersey SAS to Honor Students at Awards Banquet

The New York–New Jersey Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS) is inviting students, spectroscopists, and their colleagues to attend the NY–NJ SAS Annual Student Award Celebration Banquet on July 21, 2018 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Doubletree Hotel & Banquet Center, located at 180 Route 17, South Mahwah, NJ.

New Atomic Spectroscopy–Based Approaches in Geochronology: An Interview with the 2018 Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy

By Spectroscopy Editors

Geochronology is an exciting area of atomic spectroscopy and earth science research. One of the goals is to answer tectonic questions, and in particular, how the crust responds to continent–continent collision. John M. Cottle, a professor of earth science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is one of the scientists on that mission. Cottle and his research group are at the forefront of discovery in geochronology, combining both laboratory and field-based research. In particular, Cottle is a leader in the development of novel laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) measurements and their application to tectonic questions in convergent orogens, which are mountain ranges formed when a continental plate crumples and is pushed upwards.

Effective Removal of Isobaric Interferences on Strontium and Lead Using Triple-Quadrupole ICP-MS

By Daniel Kutscher, Simon Lofthouse, Simon Nelms, Shona McSheehy Ducos

Unresolved interferences can lead to biased results in ICP-MS analyses. Here we describe an approach for removing those interferences using reactive gases.

Our Daily Dose of Poison: A Look at Lead in the Food Supply

By Patricia Atkins

How much lead is in our daily lives? We take a look at current research concerning lead in the United States food supply and investigations using ICP-MS into the measurement of high concentrations of lead in food.

Mass Spectrometry Techniques to Unravel the Heterogeneity of Glycoproteins

By Asif Shajaha, Parastoo Azadi

Since glycans are responsible for bioactivity, solubility, immunogenicity, and clearance rate from circulation, it is vital to have a detailed map of glycans in therapeutic glycoproteins. Detailed glycoprotein structural analysis must be able to identify the peptide sequence where the glycans are attached as well as the structure of the glycan portion, including oligosaccharide sequence and glycosyl linkages. This article details methods for mass spectrometry experiments on both released glycans (“glycomics”), as well as on intact glycopeptides (“glycoproteomics”) using electron transfer dissociation, high-energy collision dissociation, and collision-induced dissociation fragmentation pathways, which are needed to fully elucidate the structure of glycoproteins.

Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Characterization of Vegetable Oil–Derived Potent Antimicrobial Agents

By Racha Seemamahannop, Prakash Wadhawa, Shubhen Kapila, Abha Malhotra

Under a suitable thermal oxidation regime, vegetable oils yield a mixture of volatile and semivolatile organics that exhibit very high antimicrobial activities against a variety of microbial species. Volatile and semivolatile products were characterized with GC–MS using electron ionization and chemical ionization. The thermal oxidation of vegetable oils resulted in the formation of an array of short and medium-chain acids, aldehydes, and ketones that act synergistically to yield a potent antimicrobial disinfectant.

Review of the 65th Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics

By Cindy Delonas

We present a brief review of this year’s ASMS conference, which took place June 4–8 in Indianapolis, Indiana.