The Column-12-04-2013

Residues of chili pepper (Capsicum) have been found on pottery dating back 2000 years in southern Mexico, according to a study published in PLOS ONE.1 The New World Archeological Foundation (NWAF) first excavated the pottery (thought to date from 400 BCE–300 CE) from Chiapa de Corzo between 1955 and 1963.

A selective review of companies who launched products in 2013.

Oxycodone and its metabolites were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS) using a diisobutyl stable bond column. This article discusses the results.

The variance in the toxic effects of designer cannabis drugs marketed throughout Europe and the USA as "K2" or "Spice" could be the result of stereoselective metabolism of enantiomers by lung and liver enzymes, according to a study published in Analytical Chemistry.

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are thinking smaller in the development of detectors for military use - from the detection of explosives and chemical weapons to humans. Scientist Ron Manginell from the laboratories spoke to The Column about the on-going research in this area.

The ancient Egyptians embalmed meat mummies as an afterlife snack in the same way as their dead, according to the findings of a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis.

This article describes the analysis of fluorescently labelled N-glycans released from proteins by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS).

Shoulders in gel permeation/size-exclusion chromatograms (GPC/SEC) can be a result of sample characteristics or down to the wrong choice of columns or column combinations. Proper selection helps to measure true results.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) evades clearance by the immune system by hijacking the very traps it produces, transforming these same traps into a toxic compound according to a paper published in Science.1 Scientists from the University of Chicago (Chicago, USA) used high performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS) to identify the toxin as 2"-deoxyadenosine (dAdo).