Showing blog posts from 2016
Food Glorious Food!
Posted on December 22nd, 2016
Those of you that read my blog from February 2016, will know I am involved in the Royal Society of…
Agilent Environmental and Food User Meeting – 7th-9th February 2017, Manchester
Posted on December 22nd, 2016
This is always a brilliant meeting. This will be the 16th occasion that this meeting has gone ahead, and my…
We Always Thought it was a Brilliant Idea!!
Posted on December 14th, 2016
And it’s nice to be proved right!!! The Automated SIFT-MS began life as an informal development project with no specific…
High Resolution Accurate Mass GC-MS for Food Contact Studies
Posted on December 9th, 2016
It is important that packaging doesn’t contaminate the food it contains. Agilent have published an interesting video on YouTube that…
The More We Can Do for You the Better
Posted on November 25th, 2016
You may have noticed that, here at Anatune, we actively guide our customers towards our fully comprehensive support contract. What…
A New Twist: Free Acids and Phenols
Posted on November 22nd, 2016
Sensitive SBSE determination of free acids and phenols – along with the usual suspects. Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) and…
Lipidomics: Sample Prep with the GERSTEL MPS Dual Head WorkStation
Posted on November 17th, 2016
Metabolomics studies focus on the analysis of small molecules (MW<2000) in biological matrices, processing relatively large sets of samples to…
A History of European Mass Spectrometry
Posted on November 16th, 2016
We have managed to obtain 2 copies of a book ‘A History of European Mass Spectrometry’ which we would like…
Automated Liquid-Liquid Extraction Methodologies
Posted on November 10th, 2016
In October, Anatune attended the Diamond Jubilee Year ChromSoc meeting hosted by Syngenta Research Laboratories. The meeting was accompanied with…
Split-Second Support
Posted on November 8th, 2016
We are all busy people. If something goes wrong, we want it fixed now. Why wait if you don’t have…
Faster, Better, Cheaper, Greener
Posted on November 3rd, 2016
It is said that the majority of people are ready to do anything to save the planet – so long…
Why You Need to Look at Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Micro Extraction
Posted on November 1st, 2016
Automated DLLME using the GERSTEL MultiPurpose Sampler In analytical sample preparation, Liquid-Liquid Extraction (LLE) is as old as the…
Training at Anatune
Posted on October 20th, 2016
On Monday, I was fortunate enough to spend the day at Anatune, in Cambridge. I had emailed Dan Carrier, their…
Anatune Heads to Scotland for Distilled Spirits
Posted on October 19th, 2016
If you want authentic Scotch, you obviously go to Scotland and this meant there was only one place to host…
On the Road Again: Part 2 – Filling the Analytical Gaps
Posted on October 14th, 2016
Following our excursion to Eastbourne, we packed up the SIFT-MS and headed North to a customers site for a couple…
Introducing Eleanor Miller
Posted on October 12th, 2016
Anatune is pleased to welcome Eleanor Miller on board, as our Forensics Specialist and Accounts Manager for Scotland. Prior to…
A Lab on a Rail
Posted on October 7th, 2016
Recently I have been working on the automation of several workflows for metabolomics applications. As it usually happens in busy…
On the Road Again: Part 1 – Passive Drinking at BMSS 2016
Posted on October 4th, 2016
This September, we once again took our Voice200ultra SIFT-MS on the road, with visits to customers and conferences. The first…
A Picture Really is Worth a Thousand Words!
Posted on September 21st, 2016
When we perform your next instrument install or upgrade, we will probably ask permission to take a photo of it…
Showcasing SIFT-MS Webinars
Posted on September 7th, 2016
Syft Technologies are holding a live Webinar on September 15th – ‘Forget Chromatography: Comprehensive Instant Analysis with SIFT-MS’. In this…
Anatune at BMSS 2016
Posted on August 31st, 2016
The 37th BMSS Annual Meeting is being held on the 13th-15th September, at the Winter Gardens in Eastbourne and Anatune…
TPD – Analysis of e-Liquids and Emissions
Posted on August 24th, 2016
On the 7th July, we held a Webinar on the analysis of e-liquids and emissions to meet the requirements of…
The Analysis of Distilled Spirits – Chromatography Sample Preparation & Automation
Posted on July 22nd, 2016
On Tuesday, 4th October and Wednesday, 5th of October, Anatune is running two one-day workshops on chromatography sample preparation and…
Seminar: The Analysis of Biomarkers in Breath and Body Fluids by SIFT-MS
Posted on July 21st, 2016
The composition of human breath varies depending primarily upon physiological and pathophysiological state, diet, exercise and environmental factors. A great…
Automated Analysis of Fire Debris Samples using MIDI Sherlock GC-MS
Posted on July 19th, 2016
The Field Arson accounts for significant financial losses each year, as well as substantial loss of life. According to The…
Acrylamide in Food
Posted on July 12th, 2016
What is Acrylamide and why is it a Problem? Acrylamide is a chemical that is produced naturally during cooking at…
SIFT-MS: Unsurpassed Real-Time Selectivity
Posted on July 5th, 2016
There are eight SIFT-MS reagent ions (H3O+, NO+, O2+, O–, O2–, OH–, NO2–, and NO3–) for rapid, comprehensive gas analysis. There…
Agilent 7200 GC/Q-TOF Interest Group Meeting
Posted on July 5th, 2016
The date of this one day meeting is Wednesday 7th September 2016, and is being hosted by the National Centre…
Metabolomics 2016 Dublin
Posted on June 23rd, 2016
Anatune will be at Metabolomics 2016 next week in Dublin. We will be demonstrating high throughput, just-in-time, metabolomics sample preparation…
Automating Amino Acid Analysis
Posted on June 23rd, 2016
Why do we measure Amino Acids? Amino acids are both key metabolites in primary metabolism and the structural building blocks…
The Tobacco Products Directive – the Analysis of e-Liquids and Emissions Webinar
Posted on June 14th, 2016
Anatune will be holding a Webinar on Thursday 7th July at 2pm (GBT) on the analysis of e-liquids and emissions…
Advances in the Chemical Analysis of Food
Posted on June 8th, 2016
I have been involved with the Royal Society of Chemistry Food group for several years and this year, we organised…
Shaken, not Stirred?
Posted on June 1st, 2016
Manual sample preparation of solid and viscous samples such as vegetative matter, tissues or viscous liquids can be a time…
Workshop – The Latest in SIFT-MS
Posted on May 25th, 2016
The technology of SIFT-MS is developing rapidly in ways that are expanding what it can do still further. SIFT-MS offers…
The Inventor of SIFT-MS visits Anatune
Posted on May 24th, 2016
Patrik Spanel and David Smith with Anatune’s Ray Perkins and Mark Perkins, above. On Tuesday 17th May, we were…
Cannabinoid Automation
Posted on May 19th, 2016
A recent article published in Journal of Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry (DOI 10.1007/s00216-016-9537-5) details the automation of a liquid-liquid extraction…
Harmony in Gas Chromatography
Posted on May 12th, 2016
Great gas chromatographers create elegant methods, in the same way that great composers create elegant music. In GC and in…
The Fiehn Protocol in Metabolomics
Posted on May 10th, 2016
The Early History of Metabolomics Back in 1997, reliable, modern LC-MS systems were science fiction: ion traps were the only…
SIFT-MS – On the Road
Posted on May 5th, 2016
There are many things you can do with a Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometer that would be impossible (or…
When Food Leaves a Bad Taste
Posted on May 3rd, 2016
Off-flavours and odours in foods now constitute the most common complaint in the consumer food industry. According to food and…
The Renaissance of GC-MS as an Analytical Platform for Metabolomics
Posted on April 28th, 2016
What is Metabolomics? Metabolomics (also known as metabonomics or metabolic phenotyping) is core discipline in modern bioscience. Metabolomics involves the…
Identifying Aldehydes, Ketones via Automated Desorption
Posted on April 26th, 2016
There are many methods for identifying ketones and aldehydes in building and other materials. Whilst formaldehyde is used for producing…
Automated Characterization of Phospholipid Fatty Acids in Soil Samples using MIDI Sherlock
Posted on April 20th, 2016
The Field The soil microbiota is responsible for many ecosystem functions such as plant growth regulation, nutrient cycling and carbon…
Your GC Column Matters!
Posted on April 19th, 2016
In liquid chromatography, changing column to improve the selectivity of your separation is a no brainer. In fact, it’s a…
Automated Sample Preparation for Drinking Water Labs
Posted on April 15th, 2016
Sample prep automation gives valuable advantages: Greater productivity Improved data quality Faster sample turnaround We introduced our Lunch and Learn…
Analytical Chemistry Demystifying Genetically Modified Food
Posted on April 14th, 2016
No longer satisfied with counting calories and grams of fat, today’s consumers want to know that their food is free…
Twelve Months On…
Posted on April 7th, 2016
How time flies…! A year has passed since I began working for Anatune, and in many ways, the last twelve…
Once Upon a Time You Had a Great Idea…
Posted on April 5th, 2016
The GERSTEL MultiPurpose Sampler (MPS) automates your GC and LC sample prep. You designed the sample prep method You got…
Automated Analysis of Edible and Marine Oils using MIDI Sherlock
Posted on March 31st, 2016
The Field Edible oils are vegetable-based oils extracted from olives, corn, peanuts and other sources that are used in a…
Automated GC-MS Metabolomics Workshops
Posted on March 24th, 2016
Metabolomics usually requires the preparation of extensive sample sets to allow successful differentiation between sample types. Hence, good analytical data…
2016 GC/Q-TOF Interest Group Meeting
Posted on March 22nd, 2016
The date for this years’ GC/Q-TOF Interest Group Meeting has been set for Wednesday 7th September, and will be hosted…
Gas Chromatography – The Past or the Future?
Posted on March 15th, 2016
As a technique, Gas Chromatography is very well established, but that’s not to say there is lack of new developments….
SIFT-MS – Try Before you Buy
Posted on March 11th, 2016
Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometry is a powerful new technology that offers the potential for great improvements in the…
High Resolution Accurate Mass GC-MS – Try Before you Buy
Posted on March 1st, 2016
Having use of a high resolution, accurate mass GC-MS, such as the MultiFlex GC/Q-TOF offers a much greater ability to…
Automated Tedlar Bag Sampling using SIFT-MS
Posted on February 25th, 2016
Tedlar bags are a convenient and cost-effective option for sampling volatile organic compounds, for example, toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) in…
With Pinot Noir it’s all about the Nose
Posted on February 22nd, 2016
As an avid reader of The Economist, I was interested to come across this article concerning new technology being applied…
What Can the RSC Do For You?
Posted on February 18th, 2016
To be, or not to be??….. No… not that RSC!! I have been a member of the other RSC (Royal…
A Better Way for VOCs in Soils?
Posted on February 16th, 2016
Virtually every lab (at least in Europe) running volatile organic compounds in soils does so by static headspace. Over the…
A Little Lunchtime Viewing
Posted on February 11th, 2016
At the end of January, Syft Technologies’ Dr Barry Prince delivered a webinar on ‘SIFT-MS and its Use in Environmental…
Grevy or Burchell’s Zebra?
Posted on February 4th, 2016
For those that read our blog post this week, the Horse vs Zebra tail now has an extra dimension. Following…
Do You See a Horse or a Zebra’s Shadow?
Posted on February 2nd, 2016
Things aren’t always what they seem! Last month in the lab, we have been working on taint application that has…
Anatune’s 20th Anniversary
Posted on February 1st, 2016
Today, Monday 1st of February is Anatune’s 20th Birthday. The team are all in the office and today we are…
The Significance of Automated Centrifugation
Posted on January 29th, 2016
In the automation of sample preparation methods, there are a few things that only a centrifuge can do properly: Separate…
Bristol 2016 – The Best Agilent Meeting Ever?
Posted on January 27th, 2016
I have attended many Agilent events over the years and they are always worth attending. The priority given to presentations…
What is in an Air Freshener?
Posted on January 21st, 2016
An interesting article on the BBC News website – ‘Is there a danger from scented products?’. I don’t think I…
Introducing Camilla Liscio to the Anatune Team
Posted on January 12th, 2016
Our newest recruit of 2016, we would like to welcome you to Camilla Liscio, who has joined our applications team…