Author Archive

Analytical Methods Poster Prize: ICAVS-7 Conference, Kobe, Japan

Analytical Methods Poster Prize: ICAVS-7 Conference, Kobe, Japan

We are please to announce that the Analytical Methods Poster Prize from the recent ICAVS-7 Conference held in August 2013 in Kobe, Japan has been awarded to Satoko Tanimoto.

Satoko has just finished working at Imperial College London as the AHRC/ESPRC Science and Heritage programme post-doctoral fellow from October 2010. She previously completed a 3 year Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, British Museum, where she worked on a number of projects, using a range of analytical techniques, including the technical study of a large set of Italian Renaissance drawings that were included in the exhibition, Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance Drawings, which took place from April to July 2010. This was a collaborative project with the Gabinetto Disegno e Stampe degli Uffizi.
 
Satoko has a first degree from the Kobe Pharmaceutical University (Chemistry and Pharmacy/Pharmacology) in Japan and a MSc in Environmental Sciences and Management from the University of San Francisco. She also spent a year as an intern at the Getty Conservation Institute, before completing her PhD research at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. During her PhD, Satoko also spent several extended periods working in the Science Section at the Victoria and Albert Museum, as a tutor in the Conservation Department at the City and Guilds Art School and with the Courtauld Institute of Art on wall paintings in Ahhichatragarh Fort/Nagaur Fort, India.

Satoko is looking forward to pass on her experience and knowledge to MA students at the Conservation of Wall Paintings Department, the Courtauld Institute of Art in her next post.

Satoko’s recent AHRC/EPSRC Science and Heritage project at the Imperial College was to explore the application of micro ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging to cultural heritage samples from the collaborative partners, The National Gallery London and the British Museum, and to develop aspects of the methodology. 

Characterisation of the materials of cultural heritage collections is vital in understanding how they were made and used, their conservation history, origin and mechanisms of material decay, and how deterioration has affected appearance. Conventional FTIR microscopy is of proven value in this field, but as samples typically need to be in the form of tiny powdered scrapings, precise information about location of materials within the microstructure of an object is lost. Analysis of samples prepared as cross-sections is useful since the distribution of materials within the layer structure reflects the working practices of the artist/maker and helps to differentiate between original and later materials, as well as deterioration products. Reflectance FTIR imaging has been used for this purpose but the spatial resolution is generally not sufficient. The higher spatial resolution achieved with ATR-FTIR imaging has transformed the appeal of FTIR techniques for this type of sample, and has the potential to become routine for the simultaneous characterization of organic and inorganic materials directly on cross-sections.

Congratulations to Sakoto for her winning poster!

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

HOT Articles in Analytical Methods

Take a look at the new HOT articles just published in Analytical Methods! These papers will be free to read for the next three weeks. Enjoy!

Biosensor for determination of hydrogen peroxide based on Yucca filamentosa membrane
Huan Yue,  Jie He, Dan Xiao and Martin M. F. Choi  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 5437-5443
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40678D

A bacterial salt sensor created by multiplying phenotypes of GroE-depleted Escherichia coli
Kei Fujiwara, Keita B. Aoib and Shin-ichiro M. Nomura  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY41092G

Development of poly((3-acrylamidophenyl)boronic acid-co-N,N-methylenebisacrylamide) monolithic capillary for the selective capture of cis-diol biomolecules
Xin Wang, Yunchun Liu, Lianbing Ren, Hengye Li and Zhen Liu  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 5444-5449
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY41045E

Development of a simplified enhanced chemiluminescence enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ECL-ELISA) for the detection of phosmet, azinphos-methyl and azinphos-ethyl residues in vegetable samples
Bing Liu, Yu Ge, Yan Zhang, Yang Song, Yurun Chen and Shuo Wang  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40825F

Development and validation of a rapid turbidimetric assay to determine the potency of ampicillin sodium in powder for injectable solution
Eliane Gandolpho Tótoli and Hérida Regina Nunes Salgado  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40847G

Highly luminescent glutathione-capped ZnS:Mn/ZnS core/shell doped quantum dots for targeted mannosyl groups expression on the cell surface
Rui Ban, Jingjing Li, Juntao Cao, Penghui Zhang, Jianrong Zhang and Jun-jie Zhu  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY41189C

Advanced statistical analysis and discrimination of gunshot residue implementing combined Raman and FT-IR data
Justin Bueno and Igor K. Lednev  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40721G

Detection of methamphetamine in indoor air using dynamic solid phase microextraction: a supplementary method to surface wipe sampling
Elizabeth J. McKenzie,  Gordon M. Miskelly and Paul A. G. Butler  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 5418-5424
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40537K

Coffee origin discrimination by paper spray mass spectrometry and direct coffee spray analysis
Rafael Garrett, Claudia M. Rezende and Demian R. Ifa  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY41247D

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Web Themed Issue on Food and Packaging: Submissions open!

We are pleased to announce the first web collection of Analytical Methods on Food and Packaging:

This web themed issue covers a range of topics, including a mixture of both fundamental advances and exciting new applications. The issue aims to encourage research on the analytical developments in food analysis combined with biological, nutritional and toxicological evaluations. Analytical research on food components arising from changes during food processing, packaging and storage will also be considered.

Guest Edited by Don Clarke, Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA).

Do you work in the area of food analysis? Contribute to this web theme and submit your work now! New articles will be added to this collection as they are published. Email us at METHODS-RSC@rsc.org for more information.

Here are the first six papers of the Food and Packaging web theme free for you to read for the next four weeks. To read the full articles, please click on the links below:

Highly sensitive determination of Orange II based on the dual amplified electrochemical signal of graphene and mesoporous TiO2
Tian Gan, Junyong Sun,  Zuomin Lin and Yuling Li  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 2964-2970
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40250A

Carotenoids extraction and quantification: a review
Héctor Arvayo-Enríquez, Iram Mondaca-Fernández, Pablo Gortárez-Moroyoqui, Jaime López-Cervantes and Roberto Rodríguez-Ramírez 
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 2916-2924
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY26295B

Lopez-Gutierrez et al., Anal. Methods, 2013, 5, 3434-3449

Analysis of triphenylmethane dyes in seafood

Analysis of triphenylmethane dyes in seafood products: a review of extraction methods and determination by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry
Noelia López-Gutiérrez, Roberto Romero-González, José Luis Martínez Vidal and Antonia Garrido Frenich  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 3434-3449
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40485D

Preparation of Fe3O4@TiO2/graphene oxide magnetic microspheres for microchip-based preconcentration of estrogens in milk and milk powder samples
Miaomiao Tian, Wei Feng, Juanjuan Ye and Qiong Jia  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 3984-3991
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40662H

Determination of bisphenol-A, 2,4-dichlorophenol, bisphenol-AF and tetrabromobisphenol-A in liquid foods and their packaging materials by vortex-assisted supramolecular solvent microextraction/high-performance liquid chromatography
Yingtang Li, Yang Jiao, Yuhong Guo and Yaling Yang  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 5037-5043
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40586A

Proficiency test results for PAH analysis are not method-dependent
Mark Sykes, Martin Rose, Joe Holland, Thomas Wenzl, Janet Kelly and   Dominic Anderson
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 5345-5350
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40850G

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Looking behind Dalí’s paintings

A new technique for assessing the condition of work of arts without taking samples from them has emerged from a research collaboration between conservators, curators and scientists.

Paintings undergo little mechanical stress hanging in a gallery, but are often transported between exhibitions. It is not easy to assess by eye whether they are strong enough to withstand handling and travel, and taking samples from them is not a desirable option.

The risk of paint degradation is increased if the painting’s canvas is in a poor condition, but so far more attention has been given to understanding paint layers than the supports behind them. Reductions in heritage funding make accurate scientific evidence crucial for optimising the environment and handling of paintings.

To read the full article, please visit Chemistry World.

Looking beneath Dalí’s paint: non-destructive canvas analysis
Marta Oriola, Alenka Možir, Paul Garside, Gema Campo, Anna Nualart-Torroja, Irene Civil, Marianne Odlyha, May Cassar and Matija Strlič  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY41094C

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Advances in GC IV, Cheshire

Advances in GC IV
30th October 2013 (First Announcement)
LGC Ltd, The Heath Business Park, Runcorn, Cheshire

Joint meeting organised by The Chromatographic Society and the North West Region of the Analytical Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

After the success of the 2011 meeting we are pleased to announce another follow up meeting in the series.
GC is still technique of choice for analysing both volatile and semi volatile compounds, but as we move to more difficult matrices, more is being asked of the technique in terms of separation and limits of detection. The meeting sets out to both give an overview of current GC technologies and methodologies, information on newer detection/separation solutions and case studies from all the main user areas.
 
In parallel to the full meeting program will be an Instrument exhibition with representatives from all the major GC Instrument and Consumables Suppliers.
 
For more information please contact Alan Handley.
Tel 01928 513681

Mobile 07917416529
E-mail: alan.handley@lgcgroup.com
 
Advances in GC IV – Topics and Speakers

09:15- 09:50        Registration ,Coffee and Exhibition
 
09:50-10:00         Opening and Welcome
                              Alan Handley (LGC Ltd)
 
10:00-10:40         Sample Preparation solutions for Gas Chromatography
                               Ray Perkins (Anatune)
 
10:40-11:20         Column Selection – there more to life than a boiling point column
                               Jaap de Zeeuw (Restek)
                                               
11:20 –12:00       Demystifying Comprehensive GC
                               Prof Jean-Francois Focant (University of Liege)
 
Exhibition and Lunch
 
14:00 -14:40        A fresh approach to managing GC in your Laboratory
                               Greg Johnson (Thermo Fisher)
 
14:40 – 15:20       Exploring the extra dimension – Getting more out of your GC Analysis
                                Ken Brady (Agilent)
 
15:20 – 15:35       Coffee
 
15:35 – 16:05       What has Deconvolution ever done for us?
                                Neil Owen (Givaudan UK Ltd)
                                                               
16:05 – 16:35       Are GC techniques comparable to the human nose?
                                Lewis Jones (Mars Waltham)
 
16:35                     Close of meeting
 
Registration (Includes all sessions, exhibition and lunch)
 
Members of either The Chromatographic Society, RSC or BMSS                 £60
 
Non Members                                                                                                          £80
 
Students* and Retired                                                                                            £10
*Student bursaries for travel are available please contact Alan Handley

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Keeping lipstick evidence in the bag

A new study shows it is possible to distinguish between types of lipstick on crime scene evidence without needing to remove it from the evidence bag, helping forensic scientists avoid sample contamination or destruction.

Lipstick marks can link someone to a crime scene. They can also establish physical contact between individuals for cases of violent crime.

Current forensic lipstick analysis relies on techniques such as microspectrophotometry, high performance liquid chromatography and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. These techniques, however, are not ideal for forensic investigations as they are either destructive or require a level of human opinion.

To read the full article, please visit Chemistry World.

Application of Raman Spectroscopy for the Differentiation of Lipstick Traces
Fatma Salahioglu, Michael J. Went and Stuart J. Gibson
Anal. Methods, 2013, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY41274A

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

HOT Articles in Analytical Methods

Take a look below at the new HOT Articles just published in Analytical Methods. All these papers are free for you to read for the next three weeks.

A novel gold nanorod-based spectrographic method for evaluating the curcumin inhibitory action on HepG2 cells
Yanjuan Tang, Guimin Sun, Jiye Cai and Peihui Yang  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40249E

Rapid determination of preliminary thalassaemia screening indicators based on near-infrared spectroscopy with wavelength selection stability
Tao Pan, Jinming Liu, Jiemei Chen, Guopeng Zhang and Yan Zhao 
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 4355-4362
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40732B

A novel test strip for toxicity assessment using luminescent bacteria in hydrogel
Xiaodong Nie, Jinling Zhang, Xiran Jiang, Sixiu Liu, Haisong Cui, Pengyuan Yang and Guodong Sui  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 4386-4390
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40766G

 Classification of Raman spectra of single cells with autofluorescence suppression by wavelength modulated excitation
Sebastian Dochow, Norbert Bergner, Christoph Krafft, Joachim Clement, Michael Mazilu, Bavishna B. Praveen, Praveen C. Ashok, Rob Marchington, Kishan Dholakia and Jürgen Popp  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40193F

Development and optimization of an ELISA based method to detect Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157 in fresh vegetables
Marina Cavaiuolo, Spiros Paramithiotis, Eleftherios H. Drosinos and Antonio Ferrante  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40893K

Preliminary studies into the effect of environmental degradation on the characterisation of automotive clear coats by attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy
Georgina Sauzier, Mark Maric, Wilhelm van Bronswijk and Simon W. Lewis 
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40458G

An emergent optimal precision in chemical measurement at low concentrations
Michael Thompson  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 4518-4519
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40557E

Effect of hydrogen peroxide oxidation systems on human urinary steroid profiles
Unnikrishnan Kuzhiumparambila and   Shanlin Fu*a  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 4402-4408
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40181B

Dynamic solid phase microextraction analysis for airborne methamphetamine: quantitation using isotopically substituted methamphetamine
Elizabeth J. McKenzie, Gordon M. Miskelly and Paul A. G. Butler 
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 4391-4396
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40536B

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

HOT Articles in Analytical Methods

Take a look below at the new HOT Articles just published in Analytical Methods. They will be free to read until August 16th. Enjoy!

Detection of drugs in latent fingermarks by mass spectrometric methods
Angelina Yimei Lim, Frederick Rowell, Cheryl Grace Elumbaring-Salazar, Jason Lokee and Jan Maa  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40538A

Mobile Raman spectroscopy analysis of ancient enamelled glass masterpieces
Maria Cristina Caggiani, Philippe Colomban, Claire Valotteau, Annarosa Mangone and Pierre Cambon 
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40648B

Platinum nanoflower-based catalysts for an enzyme-free electrochemical immunoassay of neuron-specific enolase
Xiaohong Fu, Rong Huang, Jiexue Wang and Xueru Feng  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40844B

Recent developments in electromembrane extraction
Astrid Gjelstad and Stig Pedersen-Bjergaard  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40547H

Rapid determination of trace sulfonamides in fish by graphene-based SPE coupled with UPLC/MS/MS
Linyao Chen, Tao Zhou, Yanping Zhang and Yanbin Lu  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40523K

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Protein analysis unlocks museum mysteries

Animal soft tissues feature regularly in cultural artefacts but it can be difficult to pinpoint their origin. Visual identification of these tissues relies on the skill of the examiner and the condition of the material. Analytical techniques, like gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, can detect and broadly classify proteins but give no answers as to their source. Precise identification of the sinews used for stitching is often impossible. Now, researchers in the US and UK have shown that peptide mass fingerprinting can be used to determine the animal species of collagen-based materials in a diverse range of museum objects.

Peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) uses enzymes to digest proteins to produce a mixture of peptides. The mass spectrum of this mixture will have characteristic marker ions – called a peptide mass fingerprint – which are compared to a database of species-specific markers to identify the proteins.

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, #69-30-10/1619 © President and Fellows of Harvard College, US

To read the full article please visit Chemistry World.

Identification of collagen-based materials in cultural heritage
Daniel P. Kirby, Michael Buckley, Ellen Promise, Sunia A. Traugerd and T. Rose Holdcraft  
Analyst, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AN00925D

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Top ten most accessed articles from April – June 2013

During the months April – June, the following articles are in the Top Ten most accessed:-

Selective screening of trace trazine herbicides in tomato samples employing dummy molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction coupled with liquid chromatography 
Fang Wang, Hongyuan Yan, Ruijun Wu, Tianyu Cai, Kun Han and Zhao Li  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 2398-2405 
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40145F     

Electrochemical sensing and biosensing based on square wave voltammetry 
Aicheng Chen and Badal Shah   
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 2158-2173 
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40155C     

Photocatalytic reduction of CO2: a brief review on product analysis and systematic methods 
Jindui Hong, Wei Zhang, Jia Rena and Rong Xu  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 1086-1097 
DOI: 10.1039/C2AY26270C     

Heat-shock transformation of Escherichia coli in nanolitre droplets formed in a capillary-composited microfluidic device 
Jun Sha, Yaolei Wang, Jianchun Wang, Wenming Liu,  Qin Tu,  Ajing Liu, Lei Wang and Jinyi Wang 
Anal. Methods, 2011,3, 1988-1994 
DOI: 10.1039/C1AY05189J     

Facile and sensitive paper-based chemiluminescence DNA biosensor using carbon dots dotted nanoporous gold signal amplification label 
Yanhu Wang, Shoumei Wang, Shenguang Ge, Shaowei Wang, Mei Yan, Dejin Zang and Jinghua Yu   
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 1328-1336 
DOI: 10.1039/C2AY26485D     

Analytical techniques for single-liposome characterization 
Chaoxiang Chen, Shaobin Zhu, Tianxun Huang, Shuo Wang and Xiaomei Yan  
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 2150-2157 
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40219C     

Copper oxide nanoleaves decorated multi-walled carbon nanotube as platform for glucose sensing 
Zhiyu Yang, Jinsheng Feng, Jinshuo Qiao, Yiming Yan, Qiyao Yu and Kening Sun  
Anal. Methods, 2012,4, 1924-1926 
DOI: 10.1039/C2AY25283J     

Rhodamine and BODIPY chemodosimeters and chemosensors for the detection of Hg2+, based on fluorescence enhancement effects 
M. J. Culzoni, A. Muñoz de la Peña, A. Machuca, H. C. Goicoechea and R. Babiano   
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 30-49 
DOI: 10.1039/C2AY25769F     

Experimental design and optimisation (4): Plackett–Burman designs 
Analytical Methods Committee 
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 1901-1903 
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY90020G     

Non-enzymatic glucose sensor based on three dimensional nickel oxide for enhanced sensitivity 
Chunyan Guo, Yinmei Wang, Yongqing Zhao and Cailing Xu 
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 1644-1647 
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY00067B     

Why not take a look at the articles today and blog your thoughts and comments below.

Fancy submitting an article to Analytical Methods? Then why not submit to us today or alternatively email us your suggestions.

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)