• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.152-158
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• 2009

In this study, we made a new discharge source improving previous SPI source to ionize softly organic compounds. The new SPI source consists of two electrodes as a hollow mesh cathode of half cylindrical shape and a hollow anode. We optimized the geometrical parameter of the SPI source by investigating the I-V curves at the various distance between the cathode and the anode. As the results, we found stable conditions of the soft plasma on broad range of the current and the voltage. The new SPI source attached to quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS), and we obtained the mass spectra of dichloromethane (DCM). The fragment patterns of DCM appeared similarly with the pattern of electron ionization (EI).

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1221-1227
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• 2011

Ethyl pyruvate (EP) is known as a scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the body through its role in the donation of diketone groups to metals to form an EP-metal complex. In order to develop a method for the quantification of EP in biological media, a sensitive and specific, high-performance liquid chromatographyelectrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI/MS) method is used to determine the EP-alkali metal ion binding species. The analyte was separated on a ZORBOX SB-C8 ($3.5{\mu}m$, $30mm{\times}2.1mm$ I.D.) column and analyzed in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode with a positive ESI interface using the m/z 255 $[2M + Na]^+$ ion. The method was validated over the concentration range of $0.5-60.0\;{\mu}g$/mL under 1/9 (v/v) of acetonitrile/methanol solvent system with flow rate 0.05 mL/min. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was $0.5{\mu}g$/mL.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.65-68
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• 2011

The effects of column length and particle size on the efficiency of separation and characterization of phospholipids (PLs) are investigated using nanoflow liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (nLC-ESI-MS-MS). Since PLs are associated with cell proliferation, apoptosis, and signal transduction, it is of increasing interests in lipidomics to establish reliable analytical methods for the qualitative and quantitative profiling of PLs related to biomarker development in adult diseases. Due to the complexity of PLs, the preliminary separation of PLs is necessary prior to MS analysis. In this study, length of capillary column and the particle size of reversed phase ($C_{18}$) packing materials are varied to find a reliable condition for the high speed and high resolution separation using 8 PL standard mixtures. From experiments, it was found that a capillary column of nLC-ESI-MS-MS analysis for PL mixtures can be minimized to a 5 cm long pulled tip column packed with 3 ${\mu}m$ $C_{18}$ particles without losing resolution.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.2143-2147
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• 2013

Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) is a very effective method for lipid mass fingerprinting. However, MALDI MS suffered from spectral complexities, differential ionization efficiencies, and poor reproducibility when analyzing complex lipid mixtures without prior separation steps. Here, we aimed to find optimal MALDI sample preparation methods which enable selective or class-wide mass fingerprinting of two totally different lipid classes. In order to achieve this, various matrices with additives were tested against the mixture of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and cerebrosides (Cers) which are abundant in animal brain tissues and also of great interests in disease biology. Our results showed that, from complex lipid mixtures, 2,4,6-trihydroxyacetophenone (THAP) with $NaNO_3$ was a useful MALDI matrix for the class-wide fingerprinting of PC and Cers. In contrast, THAP efficiently generated PC-focused profiles and graphene oxide (GO) with $NaNO_3$ provided Cer-only profiles with reduced spectral complexity.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.41-51
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• 2020

Microbes influence many aspects of human life from the environment to health, yet evaluating their biological processes at the chemical level can be problematic. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) enables direct evaluation of microbial chemical processes at the atomic to molecular levels without destruction of valuable two-dimensional information. MSI is a label-free method that allows multiplex spatiotemporal visualization of atomic- or molecular-level information of microbial and microberelated samples. As a result, microbial MSI has become an important field for both mass spectrometrists and microbiologists. In this review, basic techniques for microbial MSI, such as ionization methods and analyzers, are explored. In addition, we discuss practical applications of microbial MSI and various data-processing techniques.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.77-80
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• 2018

The focus of this paper is to present techniques to overcome certain difficulties in quantitative analysis with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS). The method is based on conventional solid-phase extraction, followed by reversed-phase ultra high performance liquid chromatography of the extract, and mass spectrometric analysis. The target compounds included atenolol, atrazine, caffeine, carbamazepine, diclofenac, estrone, ibuprofen, naproxen, simazine, sucralose, sulfamethoxazole, and triclosan. The matrix effects caused by high concentrations of organic compounds in wastewater are especially significant in electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy. Internal-standard calibration with isotopically labeled standards corrects the results for many matrix effects, but some peculiarities were observed. The problems encountered in quantitation of carbamazepine and triclosan, due to nonlinear calibration were solved by changing the internal standard and using a narrower mass window. With simazine, the use of a quadratic calibration curve was the best solution.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.244-252
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• 2023

The timeliness and accuracy of test results are crucial factors for clinicians to decide and promptly administer effective and targeted antimicrobial therapy, especially in life-threatening infections or when vital organs and functions, such as sight, are at risk. Further research is needed to refine and optimize matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS)-based assays to obtain accurate and reliable results in the shortest time possible. MALDI-TOF MS-based bacterial identification focuses primarily on techniques for isolating and purifying pathogens from clinical samples, the expansion of spectral libraries, and the upgrading of software. As technology advances, many MALDI-based microbial identification databases and systems have been licensed and put into clinical use. Nevertheless, it is still necessary to develop MALDI-TOF MS-based antimicrobial-resistance analysis for comprehensive clinical microbiology characterization. The important applications of MALDI-TOF MS in clinical research include specific application categories, common analytes, main methods, limitations, and solutions. In order to utilize clinical microbiology laboratories, it is essential to secure expertise through education and training of clinical laboratory scientists, and database construction and experience must be maximized. In the future, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is expected to be applied in various fields through the use of more powerful databases.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.104-109
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• 2023

Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are used illegally to enhance muscle development and increase strength and power. In this study, a reliable, and sensitive quantitative method was developed and validated using heptafluorobutyric acid anhydride (HFPA) derivatives for the simultaneous detection of prohibited AAS (testosterone [TS], boldenone [BD], 5α-estrane-3β,17α-diol [EAD]) using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). For processing the samples, solid phase extraction, methanolic hydrolysis, and liquid-liquid extraction were used. For detection using mass spectrometry, the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode was used with the electron ionization (EI) positive mode. The method was evaluated for selectivity, linearity, lower limit of quantification, intra- and inter-day precision, accuracy, and stability. The results showed that the method was accurate and reproducible for the quantitation of the three steroids. The developed method was finally applied to the analysis of a suspect gelding urine sample received from the Asian Quality Assurance Program (AQAP).

• Ceramist
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.249-269
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• 2018

In conventional MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, analyte molecules are known to be ionized by mixing with organic matrix molecules. As the organic matrix molecules are made into small fragments, they generate unreproducible mass peaks such that MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is nearly impossible in the low mass-to-charge (m/z) range (< 1000). Additionally, the dried sample mixed with matrix were made as inhomogeneous crystal on metal plate. When the laser radiation was made on the sample crystal, the amount of generated sample ion was observed to be quite different according to the radiation point. Therefore, the quantitative analysis was very difficult even for the sample spots at the same concentration for the conventional MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. In this work, we present laser desorption/ionization (LDI) mass spectrometry based on solid-matrices for the quantitative analysis of small molecules in the low m/z range by using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry: (1) Carbon based nanostructures; (2) Semiconductor based nanomaterials; (3) Metal based nanostructures.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.2383-2385
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• 2010