Thermo Finnigan is now offering the LCQ Deca XP Plus ion trap mass spectrometer. The new instrument has improved ion optics for greater sensitivity, and introduces a counter current gas to aid in desolvation and reduce chemical noise, the company said. Of note for proteomics and metabolism researchers, these advantages provide lower limits of quantification and higher coverage using data dependent scanning, Finnigan said.
Micromass is sponsoring a short course from July 2-5 at the Manchester Conference Centre, UK, to provide a practical introduction to analyzing proteins by mass spectrometry, the company said. The course is organized by UMIST, a university based in Manchester, and consists of a three-day program of lectures and seminars presented by tutors from UMIST and other UK universities.
The featured topics are: introductory MS for biochemists/introductory biochemistry for mass spectrometrists; MS techniques for peptide and protein analysis; sample preparation; principles of tandem MS; use of enzymes and other selective reagents; introduction to database searching; post-translational modifications; and other special topics including higher order structure, non-covalent associations, new instrument developments, and cross species homology analysis.