Application Notes

For a very large number of the global population (approximately 50%) rice is the primary foodstuff. People in Asia and Africa virtually exist only on rice. As a result of this there are incredibly large rice crop areas especially in Asia.

 In the application discussed here, the 6775 Freezer/Mill® was used for grinding compact synthetic (pellets, webbing fabric, textiles, etc. ) as well as polymer yarns, fleece material, filaments (polypropylene (PP), polyethylene or polyester). Grinding was required for accurate qualitative and quantitative analysis of additives contained in synthetic materials (e.

With kind permission of IBU-tec GmbH & Co. KG   Domestic waste presents a very inhomogeneous mix made up of very different substances. Apart from polymer synthetics and organic substances like cork, wood, and paper there may be inorganic materials and metals present.

The object of the study was to determine if there is a connection between the seriousness of arthritic diseases, especially of the knee joint and certain genes. To this end the expression profile of various genes in the tissue of healthy and diseased probands was compared. Total RNA was isolated from cartilage tissue and the activity of certain genes was analyzed via PCR or micro array analysis.

Any plant or animal tissue can be ground in a SPEX Freezer/Mill, and this includes all bone: fresh or aged, wet or dry. Freezer/Mill grinding vials are immersed in liquid nitrogen (LN) before and during grinding, first to make the sample brittle enough to grind, and then to keep it brittle during the actual grinding. The actual grinding is done by a rod-shaped steel impactor that is magnetically shuttled back and forth between two steel end plugs.

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directives of the European Union were introduced to minimize the accumulation of hazardous waste in landfills from the disposal of electrical and electronic equipment. The concentrations of hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium VI, polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) are restricted in electrical and electronic products and/or components. RoHS/WEEE states that if the component can be mechanically separated, then each component is subject to the RoHS limits.

Introduction   Cement industries, as well as other types of factories that make products made of raw materials, need to meet more stringent quality controls. The physical properties of the final products can be influenced if the composition changes for any reason in the fabrication process. To ensure maximum quality of the final product, standards are available that help to ensure minimal variations in the analytical process.

One goal in materials research is to develop new synthetic materials with characteristics that cannot be accomplished by the usual smelting process, as the polymers tend to separate during the heating process.   Pure Polymer  Trials to introduce permanent changes in polymers by means of Cryogenic Mechanical Milling (CMM) with the Freezer/Mill® were started with two polymers; isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and syndiotactic polystyrol (sPS). After melting and re-crystallization, both cryogenically ground (i.

Within the framework of a TILLING project (Targeting Induced Local Lesions In Genomes) nucleic acids from leaf material are to be isolated from potential mutants. First a representative range of EMS (Ethyl methane sulfonate)-mutants is produced from 2000-5000 M2 plants and identified through TILLING. TILLING technology is a new and very effective method of reverse genetics for the production and identification of loss/gain of function-mutations of commercially valuable genes without genetic modification.

  Experiment The harvested plant material (up to about 300 mg) is pre-weighed into 5ml polycarbonate vials (SPEX SamplePrep cat no. 2240- PC) suitable for use in Geno/Grinder® instrument. The tubes are then capped and placed immediately into liquid nitrogen (the time from harvest to freezing should be as short as possible) NB: Plant material can be harvested and frozen in any cryo-vial, then transferred to the Geno/Grinder tubes just before grinding if necessary.

Introduction Recent genomic efforts on toxigenic and nontoxigenic Aspergillus species have advanced our understanding of the biology and genetics of these filamentous fungi. However, it is clear that these complex experiments suffer greatly from the variability in the quality of RNA between each replicate and it is critical to establish a platform to isolate high quality RNA for use in both microarray and qRT-PCR. In that context we describe here RNA isolation of A.

Ocean Alliance is dedicated to the conservation of whales and the ocean environment through research and education. Ocean Alliance recently completed a five-year research voyage around the world known as the Voyage of the Odyssey (2000 to 2005). The Voyage of the Odyssey was launched to address the need for a globally integrated dataset allowing a consistent analysis of exposure to, and potential effects of, persistent organochlorines and other pollutants in marine life.

The wealth of information generated from years of biochemical, genetic, and molecular analyses has made yeasts both model biological systems and tools for biopharmaceutical scientists. Consequently, yeast are a popular host for gene expression studies and for the production of recombinant proteins. Though many yeast species are in use, including Pichia, Hansenula, and Debaryomyces, the most popular yeast continues to be Saccharomyces.

Sample Collection, Preparation and Tissue Grinding  Fresh samples of animal tissue were collected, trimmed to approximately 50 – 100 mg of wet weight, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen, and stored at –80oC. The animals were human, dog, cat, mouse, cow, and horse, as well as fish and clams; see Table 1. Before DNA and/or RNA extraction, the tissues were transferred frozen to a deep-well titer plate standing on a block of dry ice.

ABSTRACT Since its introduction in 2003 by Anastassiades and Lehotay et al, the QuEChERS method1 (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe) has proven to be effective and convenient for analysis of multiple pesticides in agricultural products. Increasing concern over the health effects of residual pesticides on fruits and vegetables has led to increased testing of these products to determine the levels of pesticides on produce when it goes to market. The QuEChERS method has allowed analysts to process a greater number of samples in a shorter period of time than with previous methods.

Introduction Pesticide residues in agricultural food sources are widely considered to cause adverse health effects when consumed by humans.  In particular, much of the produce sold in the U. S.

ABSTRACT  DNA extractions can be a very time consuming and tedious process.  Finding a quick method in which DNA could be extracted and used for PCR is essential.  Described below is a quick “dirty” method that produces a high enough concentration of DNA that can be used for PCR.

Neonicotinoids are a relatively new class of insecticide that were introduced as an alternative to organophosphate, carbamate and pyrethroid insecticides. Their novel mode of action works by irreversibly binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, resulting in paralysis and death of insects. Since their introduction in the 1990s the neonicotinoids have been used extensively in crop protection.

Organochlorine (OC) pesticides are hydrocarbons with multiple chlorine substitutions. They are primarily used as insecticides. OC pesticides do not break down easily as the chlorine-carbon bonds are very strong.

The use of pesticides in agriculture and households is widespread. To ensure food safety and prevent the unnecessary exposure of consumers to pesticides it is important to test for these residues in surveillance plans. While the greatest source of pesticide exposure comes from residues that remain in final food products, they can also be found in environmental samples such as water and soil.

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, partly due to the stimulation effect of its caffeine content. Like most crops, the application of pesticides in coffee cultivation is a common practice in order to increase production yields. To ensure food safety it is important to test pesticide residues in coffee.

With kind permission of Sanofi-Aventis Germany GmbH   The mechanical homogenization for extraction of fatty acids is traditionally performed with an Ultra-Turrax in a buffer solution. However, both the purification and the slow sample preparation process in the analytical laboratory are labour-intensive. This method is no longer suitable for high sample throughput.

Analyzing particle size effects in nanocrystalline materials requires a technique in which one can adjust the particle size. In this study various nano-crystalline materials were produced using a ball mill (8000M Mixer/Mill®, SPEX SamplePrep; equipped with alumina and zirconia vials). Ball milling is particularly suitable for this task as it is easy to use and allows the grinding of a relatively large amount of material as well as a large variety of different materials.

The mite Varroa destructor is largely responsible for the catastrophic reduction inviable colonies of the Dark Northern European honey bee Apis mellifera mellifera. Furthermore, introgression from imported southern sub-species is thought to havealtered the genetic integrity of this bee to the point where it is now consideredextinct across most of Europe, but Ireland remains a stronghold (Hassett et al. , 2018,Henriques et al.

Principle Lipids are recovered by simultaneous milling and extraction with hexane in a sealed ball mill vial. Scope The method is applicable to feedstuffs, corn germ and other components derived from the milling of corn (Note 1). Special Apparatus 1.

Bead beating is an effective process used to disrupt a wide range of biological samples. It is achieved by rapidly agitating samples with grinding media (balls or beads) in a bead beater. Samples can be processed with or without buffer or solvent at room temperature or cryogenically.

Anabolic steroids are drugs structurally related to the cyclic steroid ring system and behave similarly to testosterone in the body. Anabolic steroids are used therapeutically to stimulate muscle growth and appetite, induce male puberty and treat chronic wasting conditions, such as cancer and AIDS [1]. Ergogenic uses of anabolic steroids include bodybuilding, sport doping, and animal fattening.

11-nor-9-Carboxy-THC, also known as THCA or carboxy-THC, is the main secondary metabolite of THC (the active component of marijuana) formed in the human body [1]. THCA is excreted in urine in the form of glucuronide conjugates. THCAis not psychoactive but has a long half-life up to several days or evel weeks in very heavy users, thus determination of THCA in urine plays an important role in confirmation of marijuana consumption.

A simple, high-throughput modified QuEChERS screening method for the analysis of 136 pesticides in highly fat rich avocado is described. The average recoveries for 79 pesticides by LC-MS/MS at 10, 50, and 200 ng/g fortifying levels were 86% or better (with maximum RSD at 9. 2%).

This application describes a simple, fast, and cost-effective method for the determination of multi-class pesticides in bananas including one of the most difficult compounds, pymetrozine. The method employs the AOAC version of the QuEChERS procedure, in which 15 g of the homogenized banana sample is hydrated with 5 mL of reagent water to give a sample with > 80% water content. The hydrated sample is extracted by 15 mL of acetonitrile (MeCN) with 1% (v/v) acetic acid (HAc), followed by the addition of 6 g anhydrous magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) and 1.

SPEX SamplePrep 8000-series Mixer/Mills are routinely used for pulverizing rocks, minerals, sand, cement, slag, ceramics, catalyst supports, and hundreds of other brittle, often hard samples. Typically, samples are ground  then blended with binder before being pressed into sample discs for XRF analysis, or dissolved into solution for ICP analysis. The vigorous motion of the clamp is also excellent for making emulsions, such as paints, inks and pharmaceuticals.

Cannabis testing laboratories have the challenge of removing a variety of unwanted matrix components from plant material prior to running extracts on their LC-MS/MS or GC-MS. The complexity of the cannabis plant presents additional analytical challenges that do not need to be accounted for in other agricultural products. Up to a third of the overall mass of cannabis seed, half of usable flower, and nearly all of extracts can be contributed to essential oils such as terpenes, flavonoids and actual cannabinoid content (1).

The ability to effectively homogenize biological tissues and disrupt cells is essential to produce sufficient quality and quantity of nucleic acids for DNA and RNA studies. In addition, many samples require homogenization or particle size reduction to create representative samples usually due to their overall heterogeneous nature or state as received by a laboratory. Homogeneity is the state of being of uniform composition throughout the sample, whereas heterogeneity lacks uniformity in one or more characteristics.

The Freezer/Mill ® a cryogenic mill is useful where other grinding procedures fail. Flexible materials like synthetics and biological samples are embrittled at Liquid Nitrogen temperatures. The sample is hermetically sealed and cross contamination is impossible.

ABSTRACT  Mechanical cell lysers are used for effective extraction of genomic DNA from samples containing plant or animal tissue. However, all mechanical lysers do not provide the same outcome. The Geno/Grinder® was compared with a competitive cell lyser (Competitor A) for extraction of DNA from fresh basil.

The isolation of nucleic acids from intact seeds requires mechanically disrupting the seed followed by the extraction and subsequent purification of the nucleic acid.  The mechanical disruption is often performed manually with a mortar and pestle, an approach that is not practical for high throughput screening of seeds as manual grinding is slow and reuse of mortar and pestles may lead to cross-contamination.  Alternatively, nucleic acids can be isolated from seeds in a microwell plate format using a ball mill that mechanically disrupts the seeds.

The Geno/Grinder was tested to determine if this technology could be used to lyse bacterial cells. Standard 96-well titer plates were used with 400-600 μl silica grinding beads (Molecular Biology Grade, cat. no.

Benzodiazepines (Benzo) are psychoactive drugs widely prescribed for treating anxiety, insomnia, agitation, seizures, muscle spasms, and alcohol withdrawal. Benzos are deemed safe and effective for short term use. However, frequent use of these drugs may lead to dependence and abuse.

This application describes a cost-effective and easy to use method for the determination of antibiotics boivine liver using the QuEChERS method.  The analytical method allows the determination of 11 quinolone antibiotic residue in bovine liver: pipemidic acid, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, lomefloxacin, enrofloxacin, sarafloxacin, cinoxacin, oxolinic acid, nalidixic acid, and flumequine.     This application note was authored by Agilent.

Summary The high-throughput analysis of pesticides has been hindered by the slow and laborious sample preparation stage. Using traditional clean-up procedures, over twenty steps are required to get the sample in a convenient form for analysis, which limits sample throughput to typically 8 samples per day. This study evaluates a new approach using an innovative laboratory tissue homogenizer, to extract various pesticide residues from different kinds of plant materials and to identify and quantitate the active ingredients by LC/MS/MS.

ABSTRACT  Fly ash is a waste product from the combustion of coal and is comprised of the mineral particles that rise with the flue gases. Recovered fly ash is used as a component in certain cement mixes and improves the durability and strength of concrete.   In this study, a sample of fly ash was pulverized and blended, and then fused into two sets of glass beads using a Katanax Kl electric fusion fluxer.

Medical marijuana has been legalized in multiple states across the USA [1]. As a result, many testing labs are seeking fast and reliable analytical methods to determine the cannabinoid potency in marijuana and cannabis infused foods (more informally known as edibles) [2]. This application utilizes the advantages of the QuEChERS technique to extract cannnabinoids in marijuana and cannabis containing foods.

Mycotoxins are toxic natural metabolites produced by several species of fungi on agricultural commodities in the field or during storage. To date more than 300 mycotoxins, possessing varying degrees of toxicity, have been identified, although only a relatively few of these are widely accepted as presenting a significant food or animal feed safety risk [1]. Mycotoxins are chemically stable and cannot be destroyed during food processing and heat treatment, thus, monitoring these compounds in food is an important health, agricultural production, food processing and trade concern.

This application describes a cost-effective and easy to use method ofr the determination of pesticide residues in whole milk. This method employs the AOAC version of QuEChERS. This procedure provides better analytical results than either the original or EN versions of the QuEChERS procedure in extracting a few sensitive pesticides; such as pymetrozine and hexazinone (Velpar).

Agilent Bond Elut Enhanced Matrix Removal—Lipid (EMR—Lipid) is the next generation of sample preparation product, and is available for convenient dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE). The material is highly selective towards coextracted matrix, especially from fatty samples (fat content > 5%) without negatively impacting analyte recovery. This study demonstrates the application of this novel product for the analysis of 30 representative veterinary drugs in bovine liver.

APPLICATION Food Fraud is a global problem with a long heritage. With global food supply chains growing in complexity, fraudulent food labelling has become an ever increasing risk. Consumers are becoming more aware and concerned with how and where their food products originate.

A crucial part of geological studies is the analysis of rocks, minerals and other solid samples. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is regularly utilized for the elemental analysis of solid geological samples. Proper sample preparation is vital to ensure that XRF results are accurate and reproducible.

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Sample preparation is the process where a representative piece of material, chemical or substance is extracted from a larger amount, bulk or batch for subsequent analysis. Representative samples are selected to accurately reflect the larger group and represent the characteristics of the whole material. Ideally representative samples are homogeneous or similar in nature, but when that is not possible, the best attempts must be made to achieve samples which represent the majority of the characteristics of the larger grouping.

Sample preparation is the process where a representative piece of material, chemical or substance is extracted from a larger amount, bulk or batch for subsequent analysis. Representative samples are selected to accurately reflect the larger group and represent the characteristics of the whole material. Ideally representative samples are homogeneous or similar in nature, but when that is not possible, the best attempts must be made to achieve samples which represent the majority of the characteristics of the larger grouping.