aflatoxin, Amino Acid Analysis, amino acids, antioxidants, artificial perspiration, clean-up, deoxynivalenol, freestyle, glyphosate, GPC, immunoaffinity cleanup, mycotoxin, natural toxins, New Products, pickering, pickering laboratories, pinnacle pcx, post-column derivatization, Uncategorized

2013 Pickering Laboratories North American Catalog

August 13, 2013 Pickering Laboratories

Our latest Catalog for North America is now available!

Click on the link to download the latest product Catalog from Pickering Laboratories, Inc.

Pickering Catalog: http://pickeringlabs-retentiontimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/2013_PickeringLabs_Catalog_NorthAmerica_LowRes.pdf

Inside our catalog you will find a complete product listing for all instruments and consumables we currently have available. From Sample Cleanup to Post-Column Derivatization, to artificial Perspiration and Saliva, we hope you find something you will find useful!

Uncategorized

Iodine Clock

July 16, 2013 Pickering Laboratories

As part of our new blogging format, we’d like to share a video with you.
We have a new favorite YouTube channel: It’s the Periodic Table of Videos, and it’s produced by the University of Nottingham in the UK and features The Prof. We hope you enjoy this, and their other videos about general chemistry:

Iodine Clock

If only all chemistry classes could be so much fun…

artificial perspiration, sweat

Wicking – Don’t Sweat It

June 26, 2013 Pickering Laboratories

A Study of the Effect of Perspiration, Laundering, and Abrasion on Polyester Performance Fabric

By Tony Kedzierski

Abstract:

The purpose of this project was to determine if abrasion, perspiration, and laundering had an effect on the wicking ability of performance fabric. Wicking is the ability of fabric to move sweat away from the skin. It keeps athletes cool and dry during competition, helping them regulate their body temperature. Wicking depends on a fabric’s capillary action. Capillary tubes are areas found within the weave of material. Larger tubes will wick faster; narrow tubes will wick slowly. Longer tubes will wick farther; shorter tubes will wick a shorter distance.

A Vertical Wicking Apparatus was used to test these variables. The distance distilled water traveled up each sample was measured. Averages were compared to results of testing on untreated control samples. All three variables wicked farther than control samples. Viewed under a microscope, abraded fabric showed capillary tubes had gotten wider and narrower. Fibers had been broken, blocking tubes and making flow uneven or impossible. Dried perspiration left mineral build-up that slowed capillary flow. Surfactants in the laundry detergent reduced surface tension of the water, allowing it to spread further. Perhaps a finish had been applied to control samples, causing them to wick less than treated samples.

Knowing what variables affect the wicking ability of athletic wear can help athletes better prepare for competition. Abrasion will cause performance fabric to behave differently each time it is worn as weave and capillary tubes change. Proper washing to remove sweat is equally important. Understanding wicking properties of performance fabric gives athletes an edge.

Conclusions:

The original hypothesis stated that, over time, exposure to abrasion would negatively affect polyester performance fabric’s ability to wick. The hypothesis was based on the understanding and importance of capillary flow in a fabric’s ability to move liquid along its surface. Because capillary flow must happen in capillary tubes that provide a continuous and uninterrupted flow of liquid, any break in the flow, such as those caused by abrasion of the fabric, might slow or halt the flow. It was also assumed that as the fabric was abraded, the weave of the fabric would stretch and loosen, creating larger capillary tubes that would wick moisture quickly but at a shorter distance. The data collected, however, did not support the hypothesis. In fact, the opposite occurred.

After 30 minutes, the control samples wicked the water an average of 8.1 centimeters. The abraded samples wicked an average of 10.2 centimeters after 30 minutes. This is a difference of 2.1 centimeters. While polyester is made to be highly resistant to abrasion, it is not completely resistant to wear that might come from normal use, such as laundering and wearing while playing sports. There was visible evidence of wear on the abraded fabric strips. The edges were frayed and the fabric no longer felt smooth like the other samples tested. Despite the noticeable wear on the tested fabric, wicking was not impacted. In fact, abrasion resulted in a 26% increase in the wicking ability of the samples tested. Because wicking continued to occur between the 10 and 30 minute intervals, perhaps 30 minutes was not a long enough testing time for the fabric to wick to its peak distance and maximize its capillary effect.

Like abrasion, perspiration had a positive effect on the performance fabric’s ability to wick when compared to the control samples. After 30 minutes, the control samples averaged 8.1 centimeters of wicking distance. The perspiration samples wicked, on average, 10.3 centimeters of wicking distance. This is a difference of 2.2 centimeters, or an increase of 27% wicking capability. As the perspiration dried on the fabric strips, the water portion of the perspiration evaporated leaving the mineral solids on the fabric. There was even visible evidence of the build-up of solids on the fabric because there was a dark line at the top of the fabric’s wicking peak. The mineral left on the fabric might have affected the wicking capability by clogging or narrowing the capillary tubes in the fabric.

Like abrasion and perspiration, laundering improved the polyester ‘s ability to wick. The control samples averaged a wicking distance of 8.1 centimeters. The laundering samples averaged a wicking distance of 18.8 centimeters after 30 minutes. This is an improvement of 10.7 centimeters, or 132% increase of wicking capability. Perhaps, surfactants, surface active agents, in the detergent caused the wicking ability to improve. Surfactants reduce surface tension of water and allow it to spread further across material during laundering. These surfactants might have helped the distilled water move further along the surface of the fabric during testing.

After the 15^th trial, treated fabric samples were examined under a 130X microscope camera. The pictures of the abraded fabric showed that some of the capillary tubes became narrow while others were larger. This variation in the weave creates inconsistency in the wicking rate across the fabric. In addition, abrasion creates differences in wicking performance each time the fabric is worn, as rubbing will occur with regular wear and laundering. The pictures also showed fraying and breaking of fibers in the abraded fabric. This would also contribute to uneven wicking. The pictures of the samples soaked in perspiration showed a build-up of minerals on the fabric that could clog the capillary tubes, giving the appearance of a dull white crust on the material. The pictures of the laundered samples showed little difference when compared to the control sample.

It is unclear why the untreated control samples wicked less than the samples treated with perspiration, abrasion, and laundering. One possible explanation is that there was a finish applied to the performance fabric before it was shipped out to stores. A finish is something that can be applied to fabric during or after manufacture to enhance the way it feels, looks, or performs. These finishes can create a fabric that more easily releases soil, is waterproof, fire retardant, odor-resistant, and even softer. Because there was no labeling of the test fabric indicating that it was any more than a wicking fabric, was the finish one that was applied so it had a better appearance in retail stores? Did the abrasion rub a finish off that was applied after manufacture? Did the perspiration dilute the finish? Did the laundering wash it off? Finally, had more time been added to the wicking trials in this study, would the results have been different? Would extra time have allowed the untreated control, perspiration, laundering, and abrasion samples to maximize their capillary effect and reach an equal wicking distance?

Editor’s Note:
The above experiment design, text and photos were copied (with permission) verbatim from a report received from Tony. We were so excited that Tony won so many awards with his project, that we just had to share with our readers. Pickering Laboratories supplied only the Aritificial Persipration; Tony is not related to Pickering in any way. In April, 2013, Tony sent us the following letter:

—————————————————————————————————————-

Dear Ms. George,

My name is Tony Kedzierski. Several months ago you very generously sent me two bottles of your artificial perspiration for use in my science fair project, WICKING: Don’t Sweat It: A Study of the Effect of Perspiration, Laundering, and Abrasion on Polyester Performance Fabric. I have completed my project and have attached my results and conclusions for you to look at. Through this project I learned a lot about the effects of everyday wear and use on performance fabric, as well as the importance of capillarity on this fabric’s ability to wick and keep an athlete dry and comfortable.

In our school district’s science fair (Sci://Tech Exposition), I placed 2nd in the 7th grade
chemistry division. At the regional science fair (Science and Engineering Fair of Houston) I placed first in the junior division for 7th and 8th graders. In addition, I received the Naval
Science Award from the Office of Naval Research, the Most Outstanding Exhibit in Materials Science Award from The ASM Materials Education Foundation, and the Award of Excellence from The Krishen Foundation for Arts and Sciences. Last week, I went to San Antonio, Texas for the Exxon Mobil Texas Science and Engineering Fair. There I placed first in the chemistry division and was nominated to participate in the Broadcom MASTERS national science, technology, engineering, and math competition for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.

While International Science and Engineering Fair rules did not permit me to acknowledge
Pickering Laboratories on my science fair display board, I was able to mention Pickering
Laboratories Artificial Eccrine Sweat in my materials list/research plan and in the protocol
papers submitted prior to each science fair. Without your generous contribution I do not think my project would have been possible, so I thank you so much for supporting me.

Sincerely,
Tony Kedzierski
———————————————————————————————

We’re so glad we could help! Congratulations, Tony! And Best of Luck for the future!

elisa, ergot alkaloid, lctech, mycotoxin, natural toxins, pickering laboratories

Analysis of Total Ergot Alkaloid Amount in Various Grain Samples by ELISA

June 25, 2013 Pickering Laboratories

By Dr. Frederik Wuppermann and Dr. Uwe Aulwurm

Introduction:

Ergot alkaloids are mycotoxins produced by fungi (Claviceps sp.) on various grain species with a highly toxic impact on the health of consumers (Figure 1). The toxins provoke symptoms summarized as ergotism.

ergot wheat — Figure 1: Sclerotia grown on crop

The toxins are characterized by two different isomers, which occur under different pH conditions, they are named –ines and –inines. The main toxins found are ergocristine, -inine, ergometrine, -inine, ergosine, -inine, ergocryptine, -inine, ergotamine, -inine, ergocornine, -inine. The assessment of toxin amount becomes necessary due to the toxic effects of ergot alkaloids. For this purpose an ELISA was developed to detect all ergot alkaloids in various crop material and the detected amounts of ergot alkaloids were correlated with LC-MS data.

Method

The sample is extracted by 40/60 methanol / 0.25% phosphoric acid as described by Ware et al. 2000. After centrifugation the sample was diluted with sample dilution buffer and filtered again. The filtered sample was applied in the ELISA plate and compared with a standard solution (enclosed in the ErgoREAD kit). The enzyme immune reaction is performed as depicted in Figure 2.

Results:

Analysis of wheat samples:

Analysis of Rye Samples:

Comparative Analysis of Naturally Contaminated Samples:

The samples showed good correlation between 0 to 10 ppm, indicating that the ELISA is suitable for the screening of various crop material for the presence of ergot alkaloids. The partially over quantification in the comparative analysis could be due to the cross reactivity of the ELISA against various ergot alkaloids which were not monitored by the LC-MS or HPLC analysis.

The ELISA shows significant cross reactivity against various ergot alkaloids e.g. ergonovin (ergometrine or ergocristine) and can be used to determine the qualitative stuatus of a crop sample concernig the sum of ergot alkaloids.

Conclusion:

The ErgoREAD ELISA is an appropriate tool for screening wheat, rye and triticale samples for presence of ergot alkaloids. The range of measurement is from 0 to 5 ppm. Due to the readout as the sum of all reactive ergot alkaloids, the cutoff for critical samples is 0.4 ppm. All shown ELISA samples are correlated with HPLC. The total amount of samples which need to undergo LC-MS analysis could be dramatically reduced.

More information about this kit and other Mycotoxin analysis products can be found on LCTech’s Website. The original poster can be downloaded here.

Pickering Laboratories is proud to bet the distributor for LCTech in North America. For more information about our long-time relationship with LCTech, check out our blog entry on Pickering’s Company & Product Offerings in 2013.

AcceCLEAN, aflatoxin, amino acid, Amino Acid Analysis, amino acids, antioxidants, AOAC, AOAC's Laboratory of the Year Award, artificial perspiration, carbamate, Chromatography, clean-up, column, deoxynivalenol, detector, dietary supplements, DON, Dr. Pickering, elisa, eluvac, ergot alkaloid, freestyle, GARD, glyphosate, GPC, Guard, HPLC, immunoaffinity cleanup, Multi-residue Mycotoxin Analysis, mycotoxin, natural toxins, New Products, Ninhydrin, ochratoxin, paralytic shellfish toxin, Physiological Fluids, pickering laboratories, pinnacle, pinnacle pcx, Post-column, post-column derivatization, psp, sweat, syringe pump, Trione, UVE, vector

Pickering Laboratories in 2013

June 25, 2013 Pickering Laboratories 1 Comment

By Wendy Rasmussen

In recent years, we have released several new products and applications, and with still more on the horizon, it occurred to me that now would be a great time to summarize the Pickering of today – our mindset and our wide variety of products & applications.

No longer are we simply the “Post-Column Company”. We are the “Automated-Sample Antioxidants” company. Think of us as the new “super fruit.” The Acai berry, or perhaps the new Chia Seeds (incidentally, we do have a post-column application for the identification & quantitation of Antioxidants in a variety of matrices).

We are still very active, and we as a company plan to be here for many years to come. We are still the company founded on chemistry and a desire to to teach, to spread our technical expertise, to support our customers.

It’s been a few years now since Pickering began distributing and supporting our LCTech Product line. The products have shown an ever increasing interest here in the US and in Canada (our official Sales Territory for this product line). We are very proud to offer these products and we hope we can develop it further in the future.

Historically, we have provided the back-end of an analysis (post-column derivatization). Nowadays, we can provide the front-end of analysis as well (the sample-cleanup).

In thinking about our product offerings, I realized that a simple list does not effectively show the scope of the products we have to offer in 2013 – primarily because we have a lot of overlap between products and product lines. We’re not a vertical company in that regard. I suppose one could say our product offerings are more circular in that many do not fall into a single distinct category. I am a very visual person, and for me, a Venn diagram and our overall “product scale” really helped to understand and clarify our products:

General "Product Scale" for Pickering Offerings — General “Product Scale” for Pickering Offerings

For those of who like lists, you can find one Here, on Pickering’s website, and on LCTech’s Website

For any Questions, please feel free to contact us:

Pickering Laboratories, Inc.
Mountain View, California
Email: sales@pickeringlabs.com
Phone: (direct) 650-694-6700 or (toll-free) 800-654-3330

Image of Acai Berries: http://acaiberryeducation.com/

Dr. Pickering, Michael Pickering, Random Tangent

Caltrans, the Blunder Lizard

June 25, 2013 Pickering Laboratories

By Michael Pickering

The largest known dinosaur was the Brontosaurus, literally the thunder lizard. Its brain, estimated as the size of a fist, was too small to manage the whole beast. Instead, it used a distributed intelligence in the form of neuro-bodies called ganglia. Since they had only one neural system, the decision nodes were in constant, real-time communication. This form of committee decision is the initial model for Caltrans management. However, unlike the dinosaur, Caltrans adds an orthogonal system of decision node ganglia. Not only is there a multiplicity of decision nodes within Caltrans, but other state agencies are nodes as well. The dinosaur’s decisions were planar while Caltrans is a volume, both horizontal and vertical.

In the last century, during my early teens, perhaps middle or high school, I heard a Q/A joke:

Q: What’s orange and sleeps four?

A: A Caltrans van.

Caltrans was founded in 1895 as the Bureau of Highway. Today it owns and operates ~15,000 miles of the California State Highway System. Its annual budget is in excess of six billion dollars and it has more than 20,000 employees.

Because of the amount of public moneys involved and the scale of their projects, Caltrans regularly makes front-page news. Unfortunately, it is always bad ink: delivery deadlines missed by years, budget overruns by many zeros.

In 1993, in order to address these common failures, Caltrans Director Van Loben Sels issued a charter to hold a peer review of the project management implementation plan. The study group included Bechtel Corp., the U.S. Corps of Engineers, and the US Department of the Navy. Some of their findings include the lack of:

realistic goals and objectives linked to civil service constraints;
communication, with specific roles and responsibilities not uniformly understood;
consistent management support with different district agendas; and
authority, with micromanagement by headquarters.

Similarly, in 1994 SRI International evaluated project management in response to Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 72.

bay bridge new span 2013 — Eastern Span of Bay Bridge in 2013
Photo: Michael Macor, The SF Chronicle

The study found that Caltrans remains “rule driven” rather than “product driven” due to its longstanding bureaucratic culture. SRI concluded that the Caltrans culture, not the organizational structure, was the culprit. At the time, news analysts across the state described the audit as “scathing.”

So here we are in June of 2013. Caltrans is front-page news because the replacement Bay Bridge span is years overdue and seriously over budget. (Does anybody even remember that the reason for building the new span is that the old span is damaged and unsafe?). The headlines are “Who Picked the Bad Bolts?” The federal government is investigating California, the California legislature is investigating Caltrans, Caltrans is investigating vendors and other State agencies, and vendors are professing that all products were produced to the ordered specifications. Although the bolts were made to spec (we hope; the jury is still out on this point), using them in this particular bridge design was inappropriate.

Eastern Span of Oakland San Francisco Bay Bridge 2005 — Eastern Span of Bay Bridge 2005
Photo: Wendy Rasmussen

The news reports of the multiplicity of investigations will drift off of the front page. No little brain will be found, no ganglia identified. Nothing will be revealed in real time. The volume of decision nodes will hide all culpability. The last report will be silence.

Editor’s Note:

The dinosaur which many of us know as Brontosaurus never really existed. The paleontologist who assembled the beast mistakenly placed the head of camarasaurus on the body of an apatosaurus. NPR has a fun story on this topic: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/09/166665795/forget-extinct-the-brontosaurus-never-even-existed

So does the UnMuseum http://www.unmuseum.org/dinobront.htm

Images:

http://dinoanimals.pl/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Apatozaur-Apatosaurus-Brontozaur-Brontosaurus-1.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pasta-Brontosaurus.jpg

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Broken-bolts-may-delay-Bay-Bridge-opening-4390299.php#photo-4385726

carbamate, Chromatography Quiz, pickering laboratories, post-column derivatization

Chromatography Quiz No. 13

June 24, 2013 Pickering Laboratories

Chromatography Quiz #12 Results

We would like to congratulate our grand prize winners of our last newsletter’s Amino Acid Analysis Chromatography Quiz: Luiz Paulo Mousinho from Chemetric in Brazil, Helene Lachance from Shur-Gain Nutreco in Canada, and Narjes Ghafoori from the LA County Environmental Toxicology Laboratory!!!

They have each won and will be receiving: a $100 gift card from Amazon.com! We would like to thank all of you for your submissions.

The correct answer for the modified Amino Acids chromatogram: the back pressure regulator on the outlet of the detector stopped functioning properly. This was indeed another hardware troubleshooting quiz! The pattern of noise seen in the customer’s baseline is characteristic to this problem, and a new back pressure regulator eliminated the noise.

Thank you!
Pickering Labs

Chromatography Quiz #13:
Identify the error made when running the Carbamate chromatogram below and win a prize! Simply email your answer as well as your full contact information to Rebecca at rlsmith@pickeringlabs.com by August 30, 2013 in order to win. You will receive email confirmation that your submission has been received. The troubleshooting answer and winner congratulations will be published in the next issue (to be anonymous, please notify Rebecca in submission).

Carbamate Analysis for US EPA Method 531.1

Pickering Standard: 1700-0063 Carbamate Test Mixture, 2.5 µg/mL, 10 µL injection

Pickering Column: 1846250 Carbamate Column, C₁₈, 4.6 x 250 mm

Normal Operating Conditions: (for reference only, condition changes may be reflected in chromatogram)

Column Temperature: 42 °C

Flow rate: 1 mL/min

Eluent Gradient:

TIME	WATER	MeOH %
0	85	15
1	85	15
44	25	75
44.1	0	100
49	0	100
49.1	85	15
57	85	15

Post-column conditions:

Reagent 1: Hydrolysis reagent CB130

Reagent 2: 100 mg of OPA, 2 g Thiofluor™ in 950 mL of CB910

Reactor 1: 100 °C, 0.5 mL

Reactor 2: ambient. 0.1 mL

Reagent flow rates: 0.3 mL/min

Detection: Fluorometer ex 330 nm, em 465 nm

Troubleshooting Chromatogram:

Reference Chromatogram:

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For those of who like lists, you can find one Here, on Pickering’s website, and on LCTech’s Website

Editor’s Note:

Thank you! Pickering Labs

Guaranteed Chemistry

Thank you!
Pickering Labs