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Dr Perdita Barran from the University of Edinburgh has won the coveted Desty Memorial Award for Innovation in Separation Science. Her work involved the use of ion mobile mass spectrometry (IM–MS) to analyse proteins and peptides and involved custom-building an ion mobility mass spectrometer. The findings of the research could be useful in helping to develop new classes of antibiotics and drugs to treat diseases of the reproductive system.

Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled to light-scattering, viscometer and refractive index detectors is a common technique used for the characterization of polymers. In this article the solution conformations of two chimeric IgG3 antibodies were studied using this coupled triple detection technique. Conclusions indicate that the results allow hydrodynamic modelling of the antibody structures.

News All the news from November 2005 Opinion Safety versus Innovation: Zosimus reminisces on past chromatography innovators and wonders whether modern health and safety concerns are hampering today's scientists. Market Trends & Analysis Glenn Cudiamat reports on the laboratory information management system industry. Ultra fast gas chromatography: a viable solution for the separation of essential oil samples Riccardo Facchetti and Andrea Cadoppi Country focus The Column focuses on technology, events and companies making the news in Eastern Europe. Q&A Dr Perdita Barran talks to The Column about her work on ion mobility-mass spectrometry, which recently won her the 'Desty Memorial Award for innovation in Separation Science.' Supplies & services

There is growing evidence that blueberries have powerful disease-fighting properties. Here the authors explore the research being done in this area, describing the use of a magnetic seector GC-MS SIM method to determine the presence of phenolic antioxidants in blueberries.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year in the United States, 76 million people get sick, 325000 are hospitalized and 5000 die from food-related illnesses. Food-borne illness is a serious public health problem. -National Library for the Environment, Food Safety Issues in the 107th Congress, 2001, Donna U. Vogt.

Conventional pyrolysis can cause defunctionalization of polar structural moieties carrying functional groups, which leads to biased results.

The Eighth International Symposium on Advances in Extraction Techniques (ExTech) highlights new extraction technologies for chemical and biochemical analysis in laboratory and on-site settings. Generally, the series focuses on solvent-free sample preparation including methods for rapid and selective enrichment prior to analysis and micro-sample preparation. Major emphasis will be placed on the fundamental understanding of extraction processes that result in greater selectivity and efficiency in method development and a rationalization of method selection for specific applications. On-site environmental methods and biomedical applications will be covered. The ExTech symposium series was initiated in 1999 by Professor Janusz Pawliszyn. The 2006 edition will focus especially on passive sampling methods, use of molecular imprinted polymers, biologically modified sorbents, novel coatings and sorbent material and will take place on 6–8 February at the Moat House Hotel, York.

A new combination of analytical chemistry and mathematical data analysis techniques allows the rapid identification of the species, strain and infectious phase of a potential biological terrorism agent. Coxiella burnetii causes the human disease Q fever, which can cause serious illness and even death.

Whether in industrial nations or developing countries, an international harmonized method for drug residue monitoring in animal products is needed.

News All the news from October 2005 Opinion Zosimus questions whether marketing hype has infiltrated into scientific advertisements and taken over from the science. Market Trends & Analysis Glenn Cudiamat provides an overview of the UV/visible spectroscopy market. Comparison of HPLC-Chip/MS with nanoflow LC-MS for proteomic analyses Experts from Agilent Technologies offer a comparison of these two techniques. Country focus This month we take a look at developments within the German and Austrian analytical markets. Q&A Jean-Christophe Mifsud, CEO of Alpha MOS, talks to The Column about the company's range of analytical instruments for organoleptic analysis. Supplies & services

One of the biggest problems facing researchers involved in pharmacogenomics is analysing the recombinant proteins of interest to monitor if they are in a folded state. This article describes a rapid and economical method using asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation combined with multi-angle light scattering (AF4–MALS) to characterize refolded proteins, which overcomes some of the disadvantages associated with other techniques.

This method describes an attempt to identify the source of licit Indian opium based on the fatty acid profile. The analysis was based on gas chromatography (GC) with flame ionization (FID) and mass spectrometric detectors (MS). A total of 124 Indian opium samples were collected and fingerprinted for the presence of various fatty acids. Qualitative analysis of fatty acids indicated the acids such as behenic, stearic and lignoceric were significant biochemical markers, making it a useful method to identify the source of opium for forensic purposes.

The authors take a look at three recently published documents in the validation literature from groups working to (hopefully!) clear up some of the potential for confusion.