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The UK Department of International Trade (DIT) has awarded Markes International with a trade accolade in recognition of its success in exporting scientific instrumentation.

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Event Preview: SCM-9

The 9th SCM symposia (SCM-9) will take place from 30 January to 1 February 2019, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Focusing on the separation and characterization of natural and synthetic macromolecules, SCM is the place where academia is challenged by industry to help solve real problems using analytical tools.

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The best troubleshooting is proactive; problems are much more easily prevented then solved. Proactive troubleshooting involves anticipating problems before they start, and stopping them before they disrupt your workflow. It also ensures a long operational lifetime for instruments. Unlike many other instruments, a gas chromatograph (GC) has several components, each of which must be properly maintained and optimized for the full instrument to operate properly. This instalment of “GC Connections” focuses on simple proactive steps that users of a gas chromatograph can take to ensure that instruments will operate correctly over time.

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This is the final part of a trilogy looking at the impact of the new USP on analytical instrument qualification (AIQ) on data integrity in a regulated chromatography laboratory. This part will focus on the performance qualification (PQ) portion of the 4Qs model and, specifically, monitoring and requalification of chromatographs.

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Confusion exists on the quantitative nature of headspace sampling, because it is an equilibrium-based technique when done in the static mode, but not necessarily in the dynamic mode. To aggravate matters further, the concentrations of headspace compounds in common applications, like foods, flavours, or petroleum distillates, can easily vary by an order of magnitude or more. Thus, what defines quantitative may depend largely on the goals of the analysis. This month we’ll take a look at headspace sampling and its quantitative nature.

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LCGC Europe spoke to Alina Muscalu from the Organic Contaminants Section at Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) in Toronto, Canada, about the practical advances in environmental analysis using comprehensive GC×GC for targeted and nontargeted analysis, the role of GC×GC in routine analysis, and the benefits of using a micro-electron capture detector (μECD) for environmental analysis.

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We look at problems in LC that can be traced to contaminated solvents or reagents, and how sample solvent effects can lead to poor performance in HILIC

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The occurrence of additives like plasticizers in plastic food packaging has been documented, but information on their potential migration into foods is limited. In this pilot study, 2D GC–MS was used to identify chemicals extracted from a common stretch plastic film with a series of organic solvents. In total, 91 compounds were tentatively identified, including five PCBs.

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Biotherapeutics have become the hottest topic in pharmaceutical research over the past decade. With the increased interest in biotherapeutics, there has been a concomitant increase in new analytical methods for characterizing these large, complex molecules. This installment of “Column Watch” discusses advances in “bottom-up” analysis of monoclonal antibodies, while highlighting the role and importance column chemistry still plays in developing highly selective high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods for peptides.