Author Archive

European Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry 2013 and Plasma Award

22 Feb 2013

As you already know if you are following us on twitter, the European Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry 2013 was held on February 10 – 15, 2012 in Krakow, Poland. The conference, chaired by JAAS Editorial Board member Joanna Szpunar and co-chaired by Pawel Koscielniak, was very successful, as approximately 500 participants presented 26 invited lectures, 100 oral contributions and more than 220 posters, while more than 25 companies participated in the exhibition. Moreover, several excellent workshops were organised.

Among the highlights of the conference, in addition to the excellent social events where all participants could appreciate the hospitality of Polish people, the Opening ceremony in which JAAS Editorial Board member Norbert Jakubowski received the 2013 European Award for Plasma Spectrochemistry has to be featured. The laureate presented his excellent work on Development of ICP-MS based methods for label free detection of (semi)metals in single cells. Congratulations, Norbert!

JAAS sponsored a poster Award consisting in one personal electronic subscription to JAAS, an iPod Nano and a certificate, and the winner was Georgia Sanabria for her work on an Alternative method for fast and precise Pb isotope ratio determination in crude oil, asphaltenes kerogen and sedimentary rocks by GC-MC-ICPMS, coauthored by Christophe Pécheyran, Sylvain Berail, Olivier F.X. Donard from CNRS / Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour. Congratulations!

We would like to remind you that there is a JAAS Themed Issue devoted to this conference. If you want to submit a work that was presented in Krakow, please remember that the deadline for submission is April 1st, 2013.

Finally, the next Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry will be hosted in Amelia Island (Florida), chaired by JAAS Advisory Board Member Ramon Barnes.

The Chair, Joanna Szpunar and JAAS Editor, May Copsey

Dr. Norbert Jakuboswki, Plasma Award laureate

JAAS poster Award

Night in Krakow

Hot plasma party

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SciX Final Program now Online-Late-Breaking Poster Submission Deadline is September 15

05 Sep 2012

The final program for the SciX 2012 Conference presented by the FACSS societies can now be found online: http://www.scixconference.org/index.php/program/final-program. The conference will be held in Kansas City, MO from September 30-October 5.

Attendees are encouraged to make their hotel arrangements soon. The SciX conference special hotel rate is set to expire on September 10, 2012. After that deadline, the conference cannot guarantee rooms in the conference hotel (Sheraton Crown Center) where the symposia and exhibition will be held. Take advantage of the reduced hotel rates now! Book online through the SciX website!

Authors have until September 15 to submit late-breaking poster abstracts online at http://www.scixconference.org. Poster abstracts will be included in a supplement to the final program- and late breaking posters are eligible for all poster awards!

Dr. Steven J Ray

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11th European Workshop on Laser Ablation and II Spanish Workshop on LA-ICP-MS

15 Jul 2012

The 11th European Workshop in Laser Ablation was held on June 19 – 22, 2012 in Gijón, Spain, organized by scientists from the University of Oviedo: JAAS Advisory Board Member Prof. Jorge Pisonero, Dr. Beatriz Fernández, Prof. Rosario Pereiro García and Dr. Nerea Bordel García. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the II Spanish Workshop on LA-ICP-MS was simultaneously organized.

The conference counted with the participation of 110 persons from Africa, America, Asia and Europe, who presented 24 Oral communications and 33 posters. In addition, several instrument demos and user meetings took place. JAAS Chair Prof. Frank Vanhaecke, former JAAS Chair Prof. Deflet Günther, Dr. Violeta Lazic, Prof. Rick Russo and Dr. Josephine Bunch were the Invited Lecturers. You can find some recent examples of these authors’ work below.

Of course, the organizers made sure that the participants had plenty of opportunities to taste the local sidra, which, in combination with the high quality of the works presented, made this workshop a most memorable event.

From right to left: Prof. Alfredo Sanz-Medel (Abc Editor), Prof. Detlef Günther (JAAS Chair), Andreas Riedo (Best Oral presentation), Rebeca Valledor (JAAS Poster Award), Reto Glaus (Abc Poster Award) and Prof. Jorge Pisonero (Chairman)

A pilot study on the use of laser ablation-ICP-mass spectrometry for assessing/mapping the distribution of a drug and its metabolites across the body compartments of rats, Andrei Izmer, Deepti Gholap, Kathleen De Houwer, Filip Cuyckens and Frank Vanhaecke, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 413-418

Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry using a double-focusing sector field mass spectrometer of Mattauch–Herzog geometry and an array detector for the determination of platinum group metals and gold in NiS buttons obtained by fire assay of platiniferous ores, Martín Resano, Keith S. McIntosh and Frank Vanhaecke, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 165-173

Fundamental studies on the ablation behaviour of carbon in LA-ICP-MS with respect to the suitability as internal standard, Daniel A. Frick and Detlef Günther, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 1294-1303

Visualization, velocimetry, and mass spectrometric analysis of engineered and laser-produced particles passing through inductively coupled plasma sources, Luca Flamigni, Joachim Koch, Helmar Wiltsche, Robert Brogioli, Sabrina Gschwind and Detlef Günther, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 619-625

Rapid bulk analysis using femtosecond laser ablation inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass Spectrometry, Jhanis J. González, Dayana D. Oropeza, Henry Longerich, Xianglei Mao and Richard E. Russo, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012, Advance Article

A novel calibration strategy for analysis and imaging of biological thin sections by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass Spectrometry, J. A. T. Pugh, A. G. Cox, C. W. McLeod, J. Bunch, B. Whitby, B. Gordon, T. Kalber and E. White, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2011,26, 1667-1673

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50-jarig jubileum in Tilburg

19 Jun 2012

A symposium celebrating 50-years of Atomic Spectroscopy in The Netherlands was held on June 7 2012 in Tilburg (The Netherlands). The conference was organized by the Atomic Spectroscopy Working Group (WAS), chaired by JAAS Advisory board member Prof. Margaretha de Loos-Vollebregt, following the success of previous events (e.g., 40 and 45-year celebrations). 130 attendees from the academia and the industry gathered in the nice venue selected for the occasion (Villa de Vier Jaargetijden in Tilburg), where the Invited Speakers Jean-Michel Mermet, Martín Resano, Leo de Galan, Jochen Vogl, Michael Sperling, Ralph Sturgeon and Joris Dik presented their latest work. You can find some recent examples of these authors’ work below.

Great to see that Atomic Spectroscopy is still in very good shape in The Netherlands!

Invited speakers sharing dinner in Tilburg

Universal calibration for metal determination in fuels and biofuels by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry based on segmented flow injection and a 350 °C heated chamber

Raquel Sánchez, José Luis Todolí, Charles-Philippe Lienemann and Jean-Michel Mermet, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 937-945

Direct determination of sulfur in solid samples by means of high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry using palladium nanoparticles as chemical modifier

Martín Resano and María R. Flórez, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 401-412

Development and validation of a single collector SF-ICPMS procedure for the determination of boron isotope ratios in water and food samples

Jochen Vogl, Martin Rosner and Wolfgang Pritzkow, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2011,26, 861-869

Speciation analysis of the antirheumatic agent Auranofin and its thiol adducts by LC/ESI-MS and LC/ICP-MS

Anastasia Albert, Christine Brauckmann, Franziska Blaske, Michael Sperling, Carsten Engelhard and Uwe Karst, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 975-981

Some speculations on the mechanisms of photochemical vapor generation

Ralph E. Sturgeon and Patricia Grinberg, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 222-231

Optimization of mobile scanning macro-XRF systems for the in situ investigation of historical paintings

Matthias Alfeld, Koen Janssens, Joris Dik, Wout de Nolf and Geert van der Snickt, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2011,26, 899-909

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5 papers to read before you cite

19 Jun 2012

Everybody love lists and I have been told than JAAS readers are no different. Thus, I decided to make a very short list of recent JAAS papers I enjoyed, just for the sake of discussion. In no particular order, here are five 2012 JAAS papers I recently read and liked:

1. Considerations for measurement of individual nanoparticles or microparticles by ICP-MS: determination of the number of particles and the analyte mass in each particle

John W. Olesik and Patrick J. Gray, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 1143-1155

2. Graphite tubes with small internal diameters tailored for high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

Mao Dong Huang, Helmut Becker-Ross, Michael Okruss, Sebastian Geisler and Stefan Florek, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012, 27, 982-988

3. Depth dependent element ratios in fluid inclusion analysis by laser ablation ICP-MS

Marcel Guillong and Thomas Pettke, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012, 27, 505-508

4. Pulsed glow discharge time of flight mass spectrometry for the screening of polymer-based coatings containing brominated flame retardants

Claudia González de Vega, Lara Lobo, Beatriz Fernández, Nerea Bordel, Rosario Pereiro and Alfredo Sanz-Medel, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012, 27, 318-326

5. Improving acquisition times of elemental bio-imaging for quadrupole-based LA-ICP-MS

Jessica Lear, Dominc Hare, Paul Adlard, David Finkelstein and Philip Doble, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012, 27, 159-164

And you? Which papers did you particularly like? Please let us know!

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FACSS Extends Abstract Deadline for the SciX Conference

03 May 2012

The SCIX program committee has extended the deadline for abstract submission to the SCIX conference to May 15, 2012 for those papers wishing to be considered for an oral presentation. Abstracts for poster presentations can be submitted until July 31, 2012. All abstracts can be submitted online at http://www.scixconference.org.

Dr. Steven J. Ray

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Tomas Hirschfeld and FACSS Student Award Submission Deadline Nearing

26 Apr 2012

The submission deadline for the Tomas Hirschfeld Award and FACSS Student Award is May 15, 2012. Both awards recognize excellent graduate students based upon the entirety of their research as they progress towards their degree, and multiple recipients for each award are possible.

In order to be considered for either award, graduate students must submit an abstract to the SciX conference (http://www.scixconference.org) and note their intention to be considered for the award on the abstract submission webpage. The applicant must then assemble a dossier and forward required information to the FACSS office. More information is available at: http://www.scixconference.org/index.php/awards/facss-2012-student-award-and-tomas-a-hirschfeld-award

Please contact the FACSS office with any questions (FACSS@FACSS.ORG). Remember, application packets must be postmarked (or emailed) no later than May 15.

Dr. Steven J. Ray

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Dr. Ralph E. Sturgeon receives Lester W. Strock Award

17 Apr 2012

JAAS Advisory Board member Dr. Ralph E. Sturgeon of National Research Council Canada (Institute for National Measurement Standards) has been named recipient of the 2012 Lester W. Strock Award. The Lester W. Strock Award is given by the New England Section of the Society of Applied Spectroscopy in recognition of a selected publication of substantive research in/or application of analytical atomic spectrochemistry in the fields of earth science, life sciences, or stellar and cosmic sciences. More details on the award and on Dr. Sturgeon career are available in the SCIX website, since the award will be presented during the SCIX 2012 conference.

Have a look at the most recent articles published by Dr. Sturgeon in JAAS!

Some speculations on the mechanisms of photochemical vapor generation,

Ralph E. Sturgeon and Patricia Grinberg,

J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012, 27, 222-231

UV photochemical generation of volatile cadmium species,

Joaquim A. Nóbrega, Ralph E. Sturgeon, Patricia Grinberg, Graeme J. Gardner, Christine S. Brophy and Edivaldo E. Garcia,

J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2011, 26, 2519-2523

Congratulations Ralph!

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SCIX 2012

20 Feb 2012

The former FACSS conference is now renamed SCIX (for SCIentific eXchange). The conference, still organized by FACSS, will take place in Kansas City this year starting on September 30 until October 5. JAAS Advisory board member Steven Ray will be the Program Chair and there will be many sessions devoted to Atomic Spectroscopy, such as Metallomics: The Vibrant Role of BioMetals in Biology, Speciation Analysis: Progress in Trace Metal Speciation, Isoscapes: Redefining the Landscape in the Archaeological and Geological Sciences with High Fidelity Isotope Ratio Analysis, Fundamental Aspects of Plasma Spectrochemistry: Using What We Learn to Improve Analytical Atomic Spectroscopy, Chemistry in Arts and Archaeology, New Plasmas, New Instrumentation, and New Approaches at the Frontier of Atomic Spectrometry, Atomic Spectrometry and the Analysis of Nanomaterials, Novel Sample Introduction Techniques and Tools for Atomic Spectroscopy, in addition to many contributing lectures.

The website is already up and running. As usual, RSC will be involved in the organization of some special sessions. Stay tuned for more information!

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Prof. Gary M. Hieftje receives ACS award

15 Feb 2012

JAAS Editorial Board member Professor Gary M. Hieftje of Indiana University has been named recipient of the 2012 ACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Analytical Chemistry, sponsored by Waters Corporation. More information is available in http://www.analyticalsciences.org/

Congratulations Gary!

photo by Jocelyn Bowie

Read the latest contributions of Prof. Hieftje in JAAS:

Glow discharge imaging spectroscopy with a novel acousto-optical imaging spectrometer
M. Voronov, V. Hoffmann, T. Wallendorf, S. Marke, J. Mönch, C. Engelhard, W. Buscher, S. J. Ray and G. M. Hieftje
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012, 27, 419-425
DOI: 10.1039/C2JA10325G

Perspective : Ambient mass spectrometry: Approaching the chemical analysis of things as they are
Jacob T. Shelley and Gary M. Hieftje
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2011, 26, 2153-2159
DOI: 10.1039/C1JA10158G

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