You’ve bought your mass spectrometer. You’ve installed all your hardware. You’ve got your operating software set up. You’ve mastered your software workflow modules to optimize quantitative and qualitative data processing. That’s it, right? Even though your system is...
Tags
6 Signs it’s time for a new vendor
A lab’s success depends on many factors from instrument quality to efficient operations, including being partnered with the right vendor. A vendor is more than just a supplier. They should provide you with a high-level quality of support in maximizing the lifespan and performance of your systems, reducing downtime, enhancing ROI and more. How do you know if you’re partnered with the right one? Here are six signs it might be time to find someone new.
Selecting an LC-MS system for quantitation of pharmaceutical drug development
We understand you are busy, needing to prioritize running instruments, reporting results and managing your laboratory to meet deadlines. We created a solution guide to explain how SCIEX systems fit in the drug development pipeline to save you time evaluating options.
Celebrating customer experience: Insights from SCIEX leaders
Introduction Customer Experience Day (CX Day) is a special occasion for SCIEX, celebrated every first Tuesday in October. It’s a day dedicated to recognizing the incredible value of our customers and the relentless dedication of our associates who strive to make...
PFAS analysis in food: a robustness study in sensitivity and stability
The combination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) testing, trace-level regulatory requirements and complex MS applications can be intimidating. In a recent webinar, now available on demand, SCIEX PFAS expert Craig Butt demonstrated how the new SCIEX 7500+ system can help make PFAS testing easier.
Your success and voice go a long way!
At the heart of everything we do is ensuring that your workflows and team are empowered to achieve optimal results with your SCIEX instruments, software, consumables, and services. Every interaction with SCIEX is designed to support your success through the dedication...
LC-MS system replacement: Are you ready?
Meeting deadlines in a bioanalysis laboratory can be a big challenge. Older, less sensitive and less reliable LC-MS systems make it even more difficult. Even the disruption caused by the installation and validation can be disconcerting and delay decisions. Does this sound familiar?
Understanding technical debt: the hidden cost of ignoring problems
In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, businesses heavily rely on software and IT systems to drive their operations. However, the pursuit of efficiency and speed often leads to the accumulation of what is known as technical debt. Technical debt refers to the implied cost incurred when businesses choose quick but limited solutions over better approaches that may take more time to implement. This blog post will delve into the concept of technical debt, its implications for businesses and how to avoid falling victim to its detrimental effects.
Optimized rolling collision energy curves for IDA and SWATH DIA for peptides
During data dependent acquisition (DDA or IDA) or SWATH acquisition, the collision energy can be automatically adjusted according to the mass/charge and charge of the peptide. This dependency has been well characterized on our QTOF systems. By selecting rolling...
Rescheduling a Schedule I substance, and the Delta-8 controversy
Did you know that in the US, drugs and other chemicals are classified into 5 distinct categories depending on the drug’s acceptable medical use and its potential for abuse or dependency? Drugs federally classified as Schedule I substances by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are considered to have the highest potential for abuse and for creating severe psychological and/or physical dependence. In addition to heroin, LSD and MDMA (ecstasy), cannabis is classified as a Schedule I substance in the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, which means it has no approved medical usage.
sMRM Pro Builder template tutorial
The sMRM Pro Builder template is an Excel-based tool that can help you implement large panels of analytes in your lab. The Excel sheet will take your preliminary experimental results and compute retention times, retention time window widths and dwell time weighting to optimize your targeted assay.
Confidently Screen For Your Usual Suspects—Plus Those That May Be Lurking Within Your Food Sample
The demand on labs throughout the world to run their triple quadrupole mass spectrometers to maximum capacity is ever increasing. Instruments are often operated continuously to ensure regulatory screening requirements are satisfied for targeted pesticides, mycotoxins, and veterinary drugs. Whether you are a commercial lab or a food manufacturer, the quality of the data you acquire is vital to your business. You must be certain that the last batch of strawberries you tested conform to pesticides regulations—your targeted list of usual suspects.
Turning up the Speed on Forensic Toxicology Screening and Quantitation
Working in a forensic lab means technicians want super high-quality data in ultra-fast time. Yet, how do you go about detecting an unlimited number of analytes without re-injecting the sample all while new targeted compounds are being added to the screened panel? In the following application note, “Ultra-Fast Forensic Toxicological Screening and Quantitation in Under 3 Minutes Using SCIEX X500R QTOF System and SCIEX OS 1.0 Software,” researchers set out to achieve a fast method that could detect an unlimited number of analytes with all information afforded mass accuracy, LC retention time, and MS/MS spectral library matching.
What Food Safety Trends are Coming This Year?
As we settle into 2017, I can’t help but reflect on the previous year’s food safety. Take for example the legislative changes meant to contain contamination outbreaks like those happening in places like China, Singapore, and New Zealand. Over the past year, we have developed new methods that detect antibiotics in poultry feed, LC-MS/MS Analysis of Emerging Contaminants, and help set food standards in China. All the while developing more sophisticated technology to keep up with testing demands.
Never Stop Learning with SCIEX University
Did you know that when you log into SCIEXUniversity, you have 24/7 access to educational tools? Simply click on the Support from SCIEX.com and select SCIEXUniversity. Here you will find more than 100 newly revamped courses developed by in-house experts, scientists, and researchers who, just like you, are interested in the next scientific breakthrough. Whether you are a beginner mass spec user or have years of experience, these online and on-site courses are designed with you, the user, in mind. What is more is that the course catalog offers self-paced training and certification programs to help you get better acquainted with software, instrumentation, and workflows
Fast and Simultaneous Analysis of Ethanol Metabolites and Barbiturates
While most analytes in forensic applications analyze well with positive ionization, there are analytes that show better ionization efficiency with negative ionization, for example, acidic compounds. These analytes include ethanol metabolites such as ethyl glucuronide (ETG), ethyl sulfate (ETS), and the barbiturates such as amobarbital, butabarbital, butalbital, pentobarbital, phenobarbital, and secobarbital.
It’s a Point and Click World with the X500B QTOF System for Biologics Characterization
Did you know the X500B QTOF system makes point and click workflows for Biologics Characterization possible on your mass spectrometer? The newly-designed SCIEX OS software interface brings to life fluid navigation and ease of use so you can keep moving forward on your scientific discoveries. In fact, it’s so simple to learn and operate that you and your team can be up and running faster than you might expect.
PPCP Detection in Drinkwater is no Match for the QTRAP® 5500
SCIEX is no stranger to drinking water analysis, and the Environmental Compendium once again addresses the topic in an application note which covers LC-MS/MS with Fast Polarity Switching. Using the QTRAP® 5500, researchers were able to detect a large panel of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCP’s) while performing fast positive/negative switching all from a single injection. Method details go the distance in this application note, as five experiments were called into action for comparison.
From Extraction to Cleanup—Measuring Mycotoxins from Cornmeal Products
When we look at emerging food trends for this coming year, you may be surprised to find that the US cornmeal market is making headlines as it is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of two percent by 20201. This is the type of news that excites us, scientists, as it reminds us why we test for things like mycotoxins in cornmeal and the impact such analysis has on farmers and food manufacturers.
See How Easy It Can Be to Get Expert Results for Biologics Characterization
Learning a new mass spec system can be a daunting task. Aside from the opportunity costs of training new users, you might face the hassle of downtime, and the wait to get expert help when needed. The X500B QTOF system puts a new spin on biologics characterization workflows because it is so easy to learn and operate that you can be up and running much faster than you expect. Powerful new software tools dramatically streamline method development and data processing, to enable everyone in your lab to get expert results. It’s fast because it’s easy, even for new users.
Getting a Clean Match in Forensic Toxicology using LC-MS/MS
As a forensic scientist, what holds you back in the lab? It’s a question we often ask ourselves here at SCIEX, as product development depends on customer wants, needs, satisfaction, and ease of workflow. Ensuring evidence can withstand forensic scrutiny, for example, correlates with the integrity of testing procedures. Knowing this, how do you convince your staff to be confident in results, or convey technical data to a non-technical courtroom audience? If you have been left wondering how to get to the bottom of topics like these, check out the following toxicology toolkit. It’s a bundle of resources at your fingertips that includes a webinar led by Tania A. Saski Ph.D., Northwest Physician Laboratories, Bellevue, Using QTRAP® Technology to Provide Accurate Identification and Confirmation Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, and so much more
Looking to Quantify and Identify Pesticides in your Food Samples?
Visit our offices on any given day, and you are likely to discover researchers putting mass spectrometry to the test. The hum of the mass spectrometer is as common as conversations as scientists are tasked with developing methods that can be applied in real-world lab scenarios. In this case, André Schreiber SCIEX, Concord, Ontario, Canada, detailed, Comprehensive Quantitation and Identification of Pesticides in Food Samples Using the SCIEX UltraLC 100* and the SCIEX QTRAP® 4500 System.
Discover the New X500B QTOF System, the Simpler, Faster Path to Biologics Characterization Answers
Have you ever wished for a compact instrument that delivers expert-level answers to your most complex biotherapeutic characterization challenges faster and easier than what you are doing now? At SCIEX, we recognize that even expert users want easier ways to perform daily characterization tasks and get great results every time. That’s why we set out to develop the X500B QTOF system: a robust and reliable new instrument and software solution that reduces complexity and simplifies biologics characterization workflows so every scientist can get expert-level results
How to Achieve Higher Sensitivity with Hybrid Immunoaffinity LC-MS Assays
Protein-based biotherapeutics, including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a growing component of pharmaceutical companies’ drug pipelines. The growth of ADCs in particular is due to their ability to selectivity target and deliver a potent molecule to a cancer cell based on a specific tumor marker. In order to support this growing class of new drug molecules, robust and reliable bioanalytical methods are required. While ligand binding assays (LBAs) like ELISA have been the most popular platform for biotherapeutic quantitation, bioanalytical scientists have been increasingly adopting hybrid LBA/LC-MS methods in this area.
The Application of Research Grade MetabolitePilot™ Software for the Determination of the Catabolic Peptide Products of Exenatide
The stability of peptide and protein biotherapeutics directly impacts their pharmacokinetic profile, efficacy, and safety. It is therefore essential to characterize the stability of a given bio-therapeutic including both in-vivo and in-vitro catabolism, thereby...
LC-MS/MS Screening of 64 New Psychoactive Substances Using Dried Blood Spots
There is a lot you can tell from a droplet of blood as it’s snapshot of what could be present in a body at any given moment. In the following application note, LC-MS/MS Screening of 64 New Psychoactive Substances Using Dried Blood Spots, researchers did just...
LC-MS/MS Analysis of Emerging Food Contaminants
Ever wish you had access to the most up to date application methods but don’t know where to find them? The Food and Beverage Compendium is your one-stop resource for research notes ranging from pesticides, allergens, and antibiotics to mycotoxins, vitamins, and...
Is Your Beverage Truly 100% Fruit Juice?
There is nothing like the flavor of fruit juice whether freshly squeezed or made from concentrate to clench your thirst, except when it’s not 100 percent juice after all. As the following tech note, “Authenticity Assessment of Fruit Juices using LC-MS/MS and...
Superbugs, Antibiotic Resistance, and the QTRAP® 6500+ System
‘Superbugs’, or bacteria that have developed antibiotic resistance as a result of adapting to the drugs used in their treatment, are dangerous infections that doctors struggle to stop from spreading. Even common infections such as urinary tract infections and...
It’s Time to Enhance Your Food Testing
Are you looking for ways to up the ante on your LC-MS/MS when it comes to food testing? Researchers here have developed a method for the analysis of approximately 400 pesticides in food samples, and their work is available for viewing in this year’s compendium.
Top Five Misconceptions about Mass Spectrometry
Do you work in a lab handling precious samples yet, hesitant to make the move to mass spectrometry? Many laboratories just like yours continue to conduct sample analysis using ELISA assays, PCR scans, and amino acid tests because of their effectiveness. These processes work, so why change? Well, these type of analytical experiments can report false positive and negative results. You have trained your staff, know the process, and fingers crossed, not too many user errors have compromised analysis.