Sample Preparation

Researchers from Hiroshima University (Hiroshima, Japan), Hiroshima Prefectural Police Headquarters (Hiroshima), Tokai University School of Medicine (Kanagawa, Japan), and GL Sciences Inc. (Saitama, Japan) developed a spin column device packed with octadecyl silane-bonded monolithic silica for extracting amphetamines and methylenedioxyamphetamines from urine.

Researchers from Universita degli Studi di Parma (Parma, Italy) used immunomagnetic beads to extract trace peanut allergen protein Ara h3/4 from breakfast cereals.

Scientists from Hoshi University (Tokyo, Japan) and the National Research Institute of Police Science (Chiba, Japan) employed stir-bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and thermal desorption gas chromatography?mass spectrometry (GC?MS) for analyzing 5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol, otherwise known as triclosan, in river water samples.

A research group from Yanbian University and the Key Laboratory of Organism Functional Factors of the Changbai Mountain (both Yanji City, Jilin Province, China) examined the effect of the vapor pressure of the extracting solvent on the enrichment factor in headspace liquid-phase microextraction.

Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark and (Lyngby, Denmark) and the Danish Meat Research Institute (Roskilde, Denmark) used a mixed-mode reversed phase?anion exchange cleanup method followed by LC-MS with electrospray ionization time-of-flight detection to analyze mycophenolic acid in dry-cured ham, fermented sausage, and liver pate.

Microchip Biotechnologies Inc. (Dublin, California) has won a $625,000 U.S. Army contract for development of technology to rapidly detect, identify, and diagnose biological threats.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Guangdong, China) used high-speed countercurrent chromatography to purify two benzoxazinoid glucosides from Acanthus ilicifolius L.

NuGEN (San Carlos, California) and the Hamilton Company (Reno, Nevada) have assembled an automated, total target preparation system for high-throughput processing of clinical samples for global gene expression analysis.

Researchers from the Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with headspace sorptive extraction-thermal desorption to analyze volatile compounds in wine vinegars.

Researchers at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), Ecole Nationale des Sciences Appliquees (Agadir, Morocco), and Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire Hassan II (Agadir, Morocco) developed a method for screening paraquat and diquat in olive oil samples.

Researchers from Edificio Anexo Marie Curie (Cordoba, Spain) used coacervates of decanoic acid reverse micelles to extract priority carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in waste and surface water for subsequent analysis by liquid chromatography-fluorimetry.

Scientists from various institutions in Taiwan collaborated on research to develop a derivatization method for preparing carbonyl compounds for analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

A research group from Kangwon National University (South Korea) set up a laboratory-scale test cooling bench with an airflow, temperature, and relative humidity controller and used it to simulate the unpleasant odor produced by an automobile air conditioner evaporator.

Researchers from Sao Cristovao and Salvador, Brazil employed a solid-phase microextraction (SPME-headspace gas chromatography (GC) method to analyze benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) in water released from a waste treatment plant.

Researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine and University of Vienna (Vienna, Austria) developed a selective method for analyzing a compound in corn, deoxynivalenol, based on immuno-ultrafiltration.

Chemists from Normal University and Wuhan University (both Wuhan, China) used an improved liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction method in the analysis of four phenolic compounds in water.

Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Leipzig, Germany) used the Chemcatcher aquatic passive sampling device to collect samples from a 1-day pulse contamination with the pesticide thiacloprid.

Scientists from the USDA';s Eastern Regional Research Center (Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania) analyzed 11 beta-lactam antibiotics in bovine kidney using a sample preparation method consisting of an acetonitrile-water extraction followed by a dispersive solid-phase extraction with a C18 sorbent, extract concentration, and filtration with syringeless filter vials.

A research group at Lund University (Lund, Sweden) fused a multifunctional peptide tag to the N-terminal ends of green fluorescent protein, lactate dehydrogenase, and human hemoglobin in preparation for separation via ion-exchange chromatography, immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography, and hydrophobic interaction chromatography.

Researchers from Waterloo University (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) developed a fast method for extracting and analyzing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and disinfection by-products in drinking water.

Chemists from Wuhan University (Wuhan, China) used a headspace sorptive extraction technique based on a coated glass bar to determine volatile organic sulfur compounds in water.

Researchers at the University of Cordoba (Cordoba, Spain) used dynamic liquid-phase microextraction with an ionic liquid as the acceptor phase to extract six nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs from human urine samples.

Researchers from Soochow University (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China) applied an in-syringe liquid-liquid microextraction technique to prepare a clenbuterol sample for analysis by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

A research group from the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) has used solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) to determine the mycotoxin ochratoxin A in human urine.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (Roorkee, India) prepared chiral dichloro- and monochloro s-triazines by nucleophilic displacement of chlorine atoms in s-triazine chloride and its 6-methoxy derivative with various amino acid amides.

Analysts from the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Cordoba (Cordoba, Spain) used ionic liquid-based, single-drop microextraction followed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection to analyze benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene isomers (BTEX) in water.

Researchers from Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Michigan) used headspace sampling with gas chromatography to analyze the concentration and identity of compounds in the vapor above six ionic liquids at a temperature of 100 ?C.

Chemists from the University of Cordoba (Cordoba, Spain) used a continuous ultrasound-assisted approach to extract nine haloacetic acids from vegetables and conversion to methyl esters for gas chromatography (GC) analysis.

Researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada) and McGill University (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada) used headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) in conjunction with gas chromatography?mass spectrometry (GC?MS) to measure flavor compounds in commercial cheddar cheese and enzyme-modified cheddar cheese.

A research group at the University of Oslo (Oslo, Norway) developed a method for electromembrane extraction of eight peptides from an aqueous acidic solution using a thin supported liquid membrane in a porous hollow fiber.