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A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7

A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7

P012-E944

vol. 07

MECHANICAL INSPIRATION The ancient ’ vision of a geometrical Universe seemed to come out of nowhere. Could their inspiration have been the internal gearing of an ancient mechanism? NEW DIMENSION OF CHROMATOGRAPHY: FASTER, MORE SENSITIVE From infant care to sports to bioterrorism, Shimadzu Corporation’s chromatography instruments are enabling scientists to meet the challenges faced in an increasingly complex world.

Best Yet to Come for Shimadzu in Australasia News & Topics from Shimadzu This largest surviving piece of the mechanism contains some of its internal workings, including one of the major gearwheels and several smaller that have been crushed underneath. A Collection from and Shimadzu 2011 No.7

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Nature Vol.468 (496 – 498) / 25 November 2010 THE RESEARCH PROJECT Nature Vol.468 (496 – 498) / 25 November 2010 November /25 –498) (496 Vol.468 the Universitythe of Cardiff from device the ateam ledby astronomer Mike Edmunds of corroded massculminated inproposed reconstructions of radiographic hiddeninside studies the of gearwheels the Museum inAthens. of evermore Aseries sophisticated deep’)the and are now National heldinthe Archaeological vaged from ashipwreck ‘Celestial in1901(see mirror from geometric of view cosmosaft the Antikytheraas the mechanism Greeks’ didnotthe model ment of . It may well that be geared such devices forcing historians develop- inthe to period rethink acrucial an empire predating eraby this centuries. Th concluded that are they not Greek at all, but Babylonian — quintessentially inthis theories encoded Greek have device apparentas the pinnacle of Greek scientifi ancientthe world, and hascaptured public the imagination in 2006,it hasrevolutionized about ideas of technology the tiquity. Since areconstruction of hit device the headlines the technologically sophisticated from that artefact an- survives dubbed Antikythera the mechanism, isby far most the paths through sky. the could watch histiny tracetheirundulating celestialbodies on precisely marked dials.By turning ahandle, creator the that displayed motions the of , the and planets Universe. Th a that would workings the model of known the Two thousand years ago, aGreek mechanic out set to build Th Th Now, however, scientists delving into astronomical the eremains of Antikythera the mechanism were sal- e mechanic’s name isnow lost.But hismachine, eresult wasacomplex mechanism , UK,in2006 INSPIRATION MECHANICAL gearing ofan ancient mechanism? inspiration haveCould their internal beenthe seemedtocomeoutofnowhere.Universe The ancient Greeks’ visionofageometrical er all. Th 1 ,and from London- ey inspired ey it. c achievement. is fi nding is nding Nature Vl48(4648)/25November 2010 496-498 ( Vol.468 based mechanicbased and curator Michael Wright in2007 stars at diff appearances the described and disappearances of major asakindof acted index,linkingscale to inscriptions that of phase the Moon, the and letters marked on the revolving ball, painted halfblack and halfsilver, displayed Moon and probably fi the datethe aswell corresponding asthe position of Sun, the 360 degrees, wasmarked with 12signs the of zodiac. the vided into the365days of theother, theyear; divided into with names One, of inscribed scales. , the wasdi- On thefront wasalarge circular dialwith two concentric bronze and wascovered gearwheels with Greek inscriptions. metres by high 20centimetres wide, contained more than 30 box roughly inawooden wasenclosed century bc, 30centi- as powerful omens,as powerful hadidentifi empire’s priest-astronomers, saw who astronomical events derived by theBabylonians. Th noted that 235-and the 223- were cycles originally and type the timing of each event. , to and when expect user gave information about cycle. Symbols on its inscribed month divisions told the bottom spiral represented a223-month repeating distribution of new solar inthe year same. isthe Th calendar, popular because aft above other. the Th e top one showed arepeating 235-month Pointers moving around dialwere this thought to show Th backOn the of were device the two spiral dials,one Th e researchers didthe2006reconstruction who dates which edevice, from or second the early fi erent timesof year. the ve planets known at time. the A er 235months or 19years, the By Jo Marchant ed many such over cycles the at the wasto expected: be 2 . rst rst e 02 A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7 03 A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7 second century century second and madefamous by Greek the astronomer inthe eccentricthe Th model. tion that —using atheory wasmathematically equivalent to up and slow down sky, inthe but sometimes change direc- for movement the of planets not —which to speed only seem assumptionthe isplausible: Greek astronomers accounted probably planets, the too. Th similarused techniques path the to model of Sun the and that maker the of Antikythera the mechanism must have parchus’ lunar theory. Th itcolleagues as“a described mechanical realization” of Hip- displaced axis.In 2006 their that enabled to one drive another gearwheel around aslightly intothis practice perfectly, using apin-and-slot mechanism Th MISSING GEARS fi to put numbers into Greek the and models, to insist that they inspired hadbeen century bc, by Babylonians’ the precision such asHipparchus, worked second who inthe inRhodes time of Antikythera the mechanism’s construction, scholars and philosophically pleasing rather than accurate. But by the in three-dimensional space, qualitative hadoriginally been spheres or motion circles the that of planets described the of models cosmos.Th the metrical conclusion Greeks’ the that embodied device the own geo- ofuse results. their centuries, and Greek astronomers oft of period this incorporates smallgear riding on larger ones to model have operated, Wright built aworking of model it. His device moving inalarger loop around Earth. circle calledan epicycle, centre whose wassimultaneously another that hadadiff Moon’s motion by superimposing one circular orbit onto circles, Hipparchusperfect so explained variation this inthe Greek philosophers that believed allheavenly orbits were to travelseems faster at some points inits orbit than others. Moon’s orbit around iselliptical rather Earth than circular, it motion varying the ofmodelled Moon. the the Because mechanism hiddenwithin device’s the clockwork directly such state-of-the-art geometrical theories. that device’s the display zodiac —its centrepiece —refl t with actual observations. Modern experts weret with Modern actualobservations. experts confi egearworkAntikythera inthe mechanism to seems put INSPIRATION MECHANICAL But didnot fact shake this researchers’ the central To demonstrate how Antikythera the mechanism could Supporting were idea this X-ray scans revealing that a AD , wasthat each planet travelled inasmall erent centre —the‘eccentric’ theory. e basic idea, which would which ebasic idea, refi be eteam and other scholars assumed erelevant gearing is missing, but Nature paper ese models, based on based models, ese 1 , Edmunds and his en made ected dent ned ned together founddegrees, they that marks zodiac are the actually closer of part dial,on the encompasses which surviving the 88 by Edmunds’ team to precisely measure division the widths that encircled it. X-ray But used they scans when provided apartfarther than 365divisions the on calendar the scale 360 divisions on sca zodiac the in Tacoma, Washington, and that hiscolleagues knew the astronomy James Evans at University the of Puget Sound of view turn mechanism the this on its head.Historian of astronomical into theory physical of wheels bronze. how ancient the Greeks hadtranslated mostfamous their mechanism astunning thusto be seemed demonstration of of speed Sun. the as well varying Th asthe epicyclesthe of Mercury, Venus, Mars, J toolboxes at same the time.” hesays.spirit “Th of period, the intimate mixof geometric and arithmetic approaches fi more interested inconvenience than consistency. Such an hypothesis seriously. He argues that Greek astronomers were for Study the of Ancient the World inNew York the istaking for Sun. the cally, yetan used abstract numerical to scheme same dothe Moon’s the thatidea modelled device the motion mechani- Sun and planets, uncomfortable” says heis“very with the to suggest that motions the modelled of the lonian just scheme acoincidence. Wright, fi wasthe who work by machine’s the creator, and its similarity to Baby- the couldof scale have zodiac the just result the been of sloppy through and through. state-of-theart Greek theories aft mechanism’s inthe encoded not gearwork does represent Babylonians, known asSystem A. is identical of Sun’s the to atheory movement by used the a ‘slow zone’ were they inwhich apart. farther Th degreethe markings were together closer than normal, and overall sizethat were divided diff constant around speed acircle split into two of sections equal “extremely likely” that its maker apointer used moving with aspreviously speed varying thought, Evans it believes is of using device epicyclic the gearing to drive apointer with represent Sun’s the unevenprogress through sky. the Instead have compensated somehow with awiderspacing. But now team anew hasnoticed that adetail could But astronomy historian Alexander Jones of Institute the Th If correct, interpretation this suggests that astronomy the Th eresearchers that believe wasdone this to on purpose is is a tough assertion to prove. isatough assertion Th 3 . Th emarks on vanished the must of parts scale the Nature ey were ey playing with diff erently: a‘fasterently: zone’ inwhich le should spacedslightly be Vol.468 (496 – 498) / 25 November 2010 November /25 –498) (496 Vol.468 er all. It isBabylonian eunevendivision upiter and Saturn, Saturn, and upiter e Antikythera is scheme ts the erent rst rst Nature Vol.468 (496 – 498) / 25 November 2010 November /25 –498) (496 Vol.468 more clues willcome from inscriptions on front the cover of talked about at time”. the heand Evans Both are hoping that he says it “makes in terms sense of how motion planetary was Babyloniansthe — noepicycles required. simple trains representing relations period derived by on dials could these have driven at been constant by speed fi or key events ineachplanet’s cycle, such aschanges of direction, would have more been interested inshowing timing the of planets’ positions sky. inthe He machine’s the thinks maker He dials didn’t addsthat these have necessarily to show the on individual ‘Cross-cultural smallerdials(see ’). otherthe bodies. it would nolonger accurate be for showing positions the of tweaked to of accommodatebeen speed Sun, the varying the around had But scale. scale same the zodiac zodiac ifthe positions of Sun, the Moon and planets were alldisplayed mechanism, too. Previously, scholars assumedthat the Evans’s hypothesis forces arethink of other of parts the KEY EVENTS rst and lastappearance night inthe sky. If so, pointers the

Jones ismore cautious about suggestion, this although Evans that thinks thefi A. THORNDIKE & J. EVANS CROSS-CULTURAL COMPUTER as changes in direction. in changes as such cycle, planet’s each in events key of timing the shown have Might dials. byindividual shown – Saturn and Jupiter Mars, Venus, –Mercury, planets known Five PLANETARY DIALS Sun. the of speed apparent varying the represent slightly wider divisions to with (blue) zone ‘slow’ a and divisions narrower slightly with (red) zone a‘fast’ into Split zodiac. the of signs twelve the into dial divided 360-degree SCALE ZODIAC year. each for turn complete one Makes scale. zodiac the on sky the in position Sun’s the and scale, calendar the on date the Shows SUN POINTER Moon and planets. and Moon Sun, the describing theories Babylonian on display relied front its that suggests mechanism Antikythera the of reconstruction latest The ve planets were instead displayed Antikythera mechanism replicated variations cyclic the of realized how well epicyclic gearing such asthe indevices novation but amechanical one. OnceGreek astronomers arrangement. using gears,”theory hesays —and hit upon an epicyclic variations Moon’s inthe according speed to Babylonian the Babylonians.the “Perhaps amechanic to tried represent the tois closer amplitude the lunar inthe used algorithms of by inhiseccentric hepoints model, out, and by pin-and-slot the mechanism islarger than that used Greek geometry. Th Moonthe display may Babylonian model arithmetic, not planets to change seem direction. referenceswith several to ‘stationary the points’ at which deciphered mentions of Mars, Mercury and Venus, along at University the of . far two the So researchers have and Palaeography inAthens, and Yanis Bitsakis, aphysicist by Agamemnon Tselikas, director of Centre the for History painstakingly reconstructed and translated from X-ray scans mechanism’s battered and corroded remains, but it isbeing mechanism.the Th In other words, epicycles were not aphilosophical in- Evans argues that clearly eventhe epicyclic gearing of e surviving lettering ishiddeninside esurviving the eamplitude of variation the encoded white ball shows its phase. its shows ball white black-and- revolving The scale. zodiac the on sky the in position Moon’s the Shows MOON POINTER use at the time. the at use calendarGreek–Egyptian in to according period, extra a5-day plus months 30-day twelve into Divided year. a365-day Represents CALENDAR SCALE 04 A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7 CELESTIAL MIRROR FROM THE DEEP Where did the Antikythera mechanism come from?

Sinope

GREECE Kythera Athens Antikythera Syracuse Mediterranean Sea

In 1900, when a crew of The Antikythera mechanism and her colleagues, who are using the Mediterranean sponge divers took was initially thought to have been order of events listed in the device’s shelter from a storm by the tiny made on Rhodes, where the ship had star calendar to work out the latitude island of Antikythera (see inset map), almost certainly stopped, and where at which it was intended to be used. they found an ancient wreck full of the Greek astronomer Hipparchus Wherever it originated, the statues, jewellery, weapons, furniture had worked. But the month names on mechanism ended up in the East. and other treasure — including an the device are most closely related to Historian Attilio Mastrocinque at the odd-looking clockwork device: the those used in colonies established by University of Verona, Italy, thinks it Antikythera mechanism. the city-state of Corinth in northwest was looted from Mithridates’ capital Scholars have been trying to re- and Sicily4. And a four-year of Sinope on the southern shore of construct its story ever since. Studies dial on the device displays the timing the Black Sea5. According to the of the wreck suggest that the vessel of the Olympics and various other geographer , he was Roman and had sailed from the games — including ‘Naa’, a small notes, the Roman general Lucullus eastern Mediterranean around 70–60 athletic event of interest only near seized a mysterious “Globe of Bil- BC (see main map). The Romans in northwestern Greece. This larus” when he conquered Sinope in were fighting King Mithridates IV of suggests an origin (or a customer) 72–71 BC. This globe was never heard Pontus in Asia Minor at the time, so in that vicinity. Confirmation may yet of again. Mastrocinque believes that the sunken ship may well have been come from Magdalini Anastasiou at this is because it sank to the bottom carrying spoils from that war. the University of Thessaloniki, Greece, of the sea at Antikythera. J.M.

celestial bodies, they could have incorporated the concept purely one way, but maybe there was more of an interplay.” into their own geometrical models of the cosmos. In other words, when that Greek mechanic shaped the An- “It is a new possibility,” says Jones. “I am quite attracted tikythera mechanism’s complex gear trains, he created more to it.” Th ere is little evidence for who came up with the idea than a model made of bronze. He helped to forge a view of of epicycles, although it is oft en ascribed to third-century-BC the Universe that would hold sway for nearly 2,000 years. Greek geometer . Intriguingly, gears and epicycles seem to have arisen at about the same time, with gears perhaps a little earlier. Also in the third century Jo Marchant is a London-based writer and author of BC, used simple gears to change the size of an Decoding the Heavens, a book about the Antikythera mechanism. applied force. Some two centuries later, the Roman politician and author wrote that Archimedes built a bronze 1. Freeth, T. et al. Nature 444, 587–591 (2006). astronomical device that might have been similar to the 2. Wright, M. T. Interdiscipl. Sci. Rev. 32, 27–43 (2007). Antikythera mechanism. 3. Evans, J., Carman, C. C. & Th orndike, A. S. J. Hist. Astron. 41, 1–39 (2010). 4. Freeth, T., Jones, A., Steele, J. M. & Bitsakis Y. Nature 454, 614–617 (2008). “Maybe we need to rethink the connection between 5. Højte, J. M. (ed.) Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom 313–320 mechanics and astronomy,” says Evans. “People think of it as (Aarhus Univ. Press, 2009). A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7

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Nature Vol.468 (496 – 498) / 25 November 2010 MORE FASTER, CHROMATOGRAPHY: OF DIMENSION NEW sophisticated Th devices. progress ismade, greater the scientists’ demands for evenmore provide conclusive and reliable results. Th are fastenough of to be and practical use sensitive enough to face thetwinchallenge of fi measuring devices. It devices. measuring hassucceededinits mission by to consistent meeting this demand for better performance fundamental approach new screening. to drug rangenew of designersteroids by used athletes isforcing a increasing complexity of subject the matter. For example, the not identifi cannot produced be main ifthe odor-active compounds are fi can willnot mostfragrantthe unlessperfumers sell perfume by athletes to enhance performance. their Th growing number of natural and synthetic doping agents used strainterial from another. Sports regulators must monitor the precise knowledge of subtle the features that separate one bac- to pinpoint origin the of biological agents, requires which a blame and fi not tolerate milkneedto fi biochemical substances. fi to share few professional concerns. But many within these professional watchdogs sports at might seem, fi Counterterrorism and pediatricians, perfumers, experts, in an increasingly complex world. world. complex increasingly an in enabling scientists are Shimadzu Corporation’s instruments chromatography to meet the challengesFrom infant faced care to sports to bioterrorism, gure out how to root out allergens the inside, and aperfume elds faceacommon challenge: needto the analyze complex Scientists recruited to wide-ranging aid inthese endeavors Kyoto-based Shimadzu Corporation hasdevoted itself For example, pediatricians, caring for infants that can- ed and quantifi and ed nd substitutes. Counterterrorist struggle experts ey are oft ed. nding separation techniques that gure protein which exactly isto enforced to by doso the SENSITIVE emore technological emostalluring, rst glance, rst approach problems. these instruments—are to change set way the we about think and liquid-gas chromatography (GC×GC,LC×LC and LC×GC) and LC) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas,liquid or particularly its fastgasand liquid chromatography (GC Th able to build that devices can fi be problemsthe and needsfrom the inside, the and have been collaborations, Shimadzu Corporation engineers understand working directly with Th scientiststhem. use who with Mass Spectrometry,with another entitled Chromatography, hascome which to defi authored on abook separation techniques, Multidimensional techniques. Aside from hishundreds of articles, in2002,he Mondello aleading hasbecome light fi inthe With more than 20years fi inthe of experience from collaboration innovation, innovation born Collaboration bornin e latest progress inits chromatography devices—and Comprehensive Chromatography Combined University of Messina School of Pharmacy Farmaco-chimico Department Professor Luigi Mondello which will be printed which will be in2011.Th nely tuned toendeavor. each fi ne the eld of separation rough such eld, Luigi eld, ed and eld, anks anks

06 A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7 07 A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7 ongoing on of use the donkey milkasasubstitute. on studies,LC×LC-MS. these clinicalare trials Based now accountmost detailed yet of triacylglycerols the init using fat content to human milk,and Mondello’s team provided the reactions. Donkey milkismuch more similar inits protein and some 2%of children, bovine milkinduces vomiting or allergic holdspotentialwhich global asasubstitute for bovine milk.In sample by focusing on unique their fatty lipid profi GC×GC-MS test present to identifybacteria the inagiven Atlantic Treaty Organization, histeam created a30-minute scents to fi ers to cut through “forest the of compounds” newest intheir workedalso with some of world’s the largest design- perfume processes that took two hours to two or three minutes. He has With chromatography new the Mondello devices, hasreduced separate Kerosene fuels. hasfrustratingly long analysis times. samples,” hesays. revealing complexity unsuspected the of many real-world well asinnovative soft and introduction of multidimensional instrumentation, as environmental substances. “In particular, development the chemicals, pharmaceutical and cosmeticproducts to various samples ranging from plant products, food extracts, petro- I could not have achieved allof this,” says Mondello. exclusively from Shimadzu Corporation. “Without Shimadzu Euro laboratory, fully stocked with that devices are almost work, and henow hasa1000-square-meter, multi-million Chromatographic in2008. Society to theDevelopment of Separation Sciences” given by Th the “Silver Jubilee Medal for hisConsiderable Contribution of hyphenated chromatographic techniques” in2006and for mostoutstanding the and innovative work fi inthe to hisrichpublication record, hereceived “HTC-Award the GCxGC/qMS analysiswithHigh-SpeedPerformance GC×GC-MS System Mondello works closely with Shimadzu to develop these Mondello’s analyzing team been hasalso donkey milk, For example, Mondello works with to petrol the industry Mondello applies instruments the to analysis the of Funding agencies have recognized importance the of his nd the allergens.nd the Under auspices the of North the ware, hascontributed greatly toward les. eld e devices fordevices and speed selectivity. It niceand avery hasbeen market.the “We tested, and advised validated powerful these prototypes. to makefor those Shimadzu models used then developed soft laborations. Shimadzu provided instruments. Mondello’s team solving problems–slowly but with excellent results.” instruments,” hesays, adding, “I like Japanese also the way of entirely instrumentations. new Th technology. “In lastten the years Shimadzu hasdeveloped ofbecause company’s the willingness to completely rethink result isanother order of specifi columns, for eachselecting adiff force samples the through two stage separation by linking two separation power. Th components, conventional techniques donot have enough raphy. When asample hashundreds, or athousand even of sive two-dimensional and multidimensional gaschromatog- analyzed or immediate answers are needed,” says Mondello. Th “Th oft are without losing information. Fast gaschromatography units allows usersto perform analyses ingreatly reduced times tools. He on now ultra-fast focuses gaschromatography that is is very useful when a high number ahigh when of useful samples isvery needsto be istranslates into possibility the of getting real timeresults. Th Mondello says working hestarted with Shimadzu Mondello and Shimadzu are upgrading also comprehen- en linked with massspectrometers analysis. for further e working relationship developed into formal col- 5.044 4.684 5.405 4.324 GCxGC/qMS analysisofafragranceextract ware, modifi ware, 69.006 Luigi MondellowiththeShimadzuLCMS-IT-TOF massspectrometer etwo-dimensional automatically devices -xs eeto ie o eodsprto nscns) inseconds y-axis: retentiontimesforsecondseparation( -xs eeto ie o is eaain(i iue ) inminutes x-axis: retentiontimesforfirstseparation( 72.292 Courtesy ofProf. LuigiMondello, UniversityofMessina hardware,ed the and sent back city. erent characteristic. Th ey didnot ey just remake old 75.578 attheUniversityofMessina 78.864 e end 82.150 GCxGC/qMS analysis with High-Speed Performance

Classifi cation of Gas Chromatography

Retention Time 2 Retention Time 2

MDGC Heart-Cutting the interesting portions –Superior in separation and quantitation –Target analysis

GC×GC Rete Rete ( ) Ret ntion Time nti Comrehensive GC enti on Time 1 2-dimensional separation on Time 1 for the entire region 1-Dimensional GC : 2-Dimensional GC : –Excelent at identifi cation Usual GC or GC/MS High-end GC or GC/MS. Suited for Complex mixtures –The case users have no clear target compounds.

fruitful collaboration,” says Mondello. accessible, both in hardware and soft ware terms, then the Th anks in large part to Shimadzu, both fast GC tech- impact will be a great one,” says Mondello. niques have become routine over the past fi ve to ten years. “When I fi rst started my collaboration with Shimadzu, the use of fast GC and GC-MS was barely employed due to the Seeing the whole fi eldd lack of commercial instrumentation. Now, fast methods are routinely employed in many industrial and academic fi elds,” J. Th omas Brenna says Mondello. Professor Division of Nutritional Sciences Th e same can be said for multidimensional chromatog- Cornell University raphy methods. In fact, comprehensive two-dimensional gas, liquid and liquid-gas chromatography hardware and soft ware have been developed and are now exploited by a great number In a sporting world in which athletes are using ever more of analysts across the world. GC×GC methods are making sophisticated illegal drugs to enhance their capabilities, how greater inroads in the analysis of fatty acid methyl esters in can a regulator keep up? Th e answer is by coming up with food and biological samples, of pesticides and petrochemicals, better screening techniques. Cornell University’s J. Th omas as well as fl avours and fragrances, while LC×LC, linked with Brenna has set himself on that task. mass spectroscopy, is increasingly useful for a range of tests Brenna and his research group have been funded for two related to health, biology and nutrition, including proteomics, decades by the US National Institutes of Health and private lipidomics, and food antioxidant analysis. LC×GC methods sources for development of molecular, elemental, and isotopic have a demonstrated eff ectiveness for food contaminant mass spectrometry. His group has also been at the forefront of analysis (e.g., mineral oil in vegetable oils). “In short, analytical human polyunsaturated fatty acid nutrition and related lipid horizons have been extended,” says Mondello. metabolism research. With that background, he and his colleagues Mondello is not one to stay complacent. He plans to are developing advanced techniques to help anti-doping laboratories continue developing instrumentation for fast GC, with detect use of illegal performance-enhancing substances. attention focused on the injection system, and to develop Scientists have made major strides in distinguishing natural more simple and eff ective modulators for comprehensive occurring testosterone from pharmaceutically derived versions. chromatography. He also plans to engage in the development But the tests are pushed to the limits. Offi cial doping control tests of soft ware for multidimensional chromatography and in MS screen some 300 drugs and metabolites for each sample, and the spectra libraries, which will make compound identifi cation number of necessary determinations is reaching impractically a simpler and more reliable task. “Our main common goal, large numbers with the increasing number of samples that need to namely the evolution of chromatography-mass spectrometry be tested and the increasing number of potential illicit drugs. technology, will be achieved within the context of our intense Th e major concern now for Brenna—and for sports collaboration with Shimadzu,” says Mondello. regulators as well—is the threat of designer steroids which Th e upshot will be far reaching. “Ten years from now, do not even have a naturally occurring counterpart. Th ese the comprehensive chromatography methods we are work- are notoriously hard to fi nd. Until now, the use of designer ing with, such as LC×LC, GC×GC and LC×GC, will have drugs was only discovered when a whistleblower turned in a a revolutionary eff ect on the chromatography community. syringe with the substance in it. Otherwise testers wouldn’t

If we succeed in making these powerful technologies more know where to start to look. A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7

08 09 A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7 Two differenttypesofcolumns, modulatorandspecialsoftwareforanalysisarerequiredGCxGCsystem. the 200-millisecond-wide peaks as they emerge,” asthey 200-millisecond-widethe peaks hesays. “Th device. three-dimensional mountains,” says Brenna. two-dimensional profithe les, voluminous data appear like looked nearly same from the one vantage point. “Instead of is much better separation substances evenbetween that separates again them using adiff collects fi separation column process, continuously secondary the ogy, thefi while estate isneededalong baselines,” those hesays. wherebaseline unusual compounds might appear. More real to resolvespace between peaks themall, letalone leave blank of ahundred chemicals. Beyond or so, there isnot enough “Normal separation techniques work for a limited number Shimadzu’s GCMS-QP2010 Plus and its GC×GCcapabilities. Brenna chromatographic needsapowerful He device. found it in is what we’re driving for.” steroids or that other drugs have previously. seen not been Th are not supposed to appear,” says Brenna. “Th only are where peaks supposed to appear but where also they not there. supposed to be Th you know there, what you tobe issupposed can for look what’s normallythe present steroids urinary and other metabolites. If a multidimensional map with many Th peaks. arebyurine chromatography dispersed and by massto make “Imagine that steroids and other metabolites of an athlete’s testthe sample against allrelevant, normally present steroids. heasks. suspect?” How doyou develop tests to screenfor we molecules don’t you can’t dothat with you’ve amolecule before. neverseen tocol, validate protocol, the and test addthe then to alist.But Fast analysis Separating chemicalsbytheirpolarity Non-polar column 2 Accumulating effl uents from1 Modulator boiling pointsSlowanalysis Separating chemicalsbytheir Non-polar column 1 and injectingsampleinto2 a certaintime, thenremobilizing, focusing GCxGC/qMS analysiswithHigh-SpeedPerformance nd st Column Column Th But to achieve that kindof comprehensiveness and specifi “Th When asample running inShimadzu’s GC×GCtechnol- Th Brenna’s answer isacomprehensive screenthat willmatch e key to the speed isShimadzu’s ekey to speed the patented quadrupole fi e device gives edevice Brenna theseparation spaceheneeds. eproblem isthat inatypical test, we develop apro- eirquadrupole can scan rapidly enough to keep up with ve-second to ten-second slicesfrom fi the rst column its is running normal 30minute nd column st columnfor at is,we intend to establish not 1 1 st st columnand2 Column Sample Inlet erent chemistry. Th nd columnare seriallyconnectedviamodulator. enwe can identify ey represent all Modulator e result rst and rst ltering ltering city, at at Detector 2 nd Column eff isdeveloped,”method hesays. But with Shimadzu’s ongoing plenty of room for development, before ‘perfect’ the GC or LC “I have an answer issimply which to this, no. Th level of separation power, selectivity, sensitivity and speed? but yielding far more specifi structural competitive with conventional electron impact ionization, ionization can gases produce with specialized sensitivity not available inTOFs. “We have already found that chemical Plus capability hasthe for chemical ionization is (CI),which to TOF massspectrometers at cost. halfthe in principle possibility hasthe to achieve similar sensitivity (TOF) massspectrometry. Brenna says Shimadzu’s GC×GC tages over competing technologies, such astime-of-fl and perhaps unexpected steroids,”and perhaps unexpected hesays. many able tobe see more steroids previously than possible separation spaceavailable with GC×GC-qMS. “We to expect tourine quantify steroids, advantage taking high of very the Brennaillegal drugs. isalready analyzing of extracts crude even better data,” hesays. upgraded version, theGCMS-QP 2010Ultra. “We’ll anticipate hardware and soft and hardware more room isthere for development LC inthe both and GC its end. Mondello himself question: the poses how much given us aweapon that Ididn’t to have.” expect space of GC×GC-qMS,” says Brenna. He adds:“Shimadzu has muchtask more diffi wouldwhich thus hidden from be view. We hope to make that separation properties to anormal, endogenous compound, doping test isto designanovel similar illegalsubstance with very will bediffi ing something with anabolic activity that would undetectable be orts, that goal willalways coming be closer. It won’t to easy fi be More importantly for scientists, GCMS-QP2010 the Th Th Brenna anxiously awaits imminent the arrival of the Despite progress, this chromatography hasnot reached efastquadrupole provides defi several at won’t welcome be for news designing new those cult. “In principle, arational strategy to defeat a ware fi cultusing vastly greater the separation Chromatogram nd away around test. Design- new this eld? Have we reached maximum the 2-Dim Chromatogram city,” says Brenna. ovrin] Conversion [ nitive advan- nitive ere’s still ight Best Yet to Come for Shimadzu in Australasia Shimadzu’s sister subsidiaries Down Under are using leading edge technology to strengthen brand image and keep on top of their markets

Staff gathering outside Sydney headquarters

Staff of the Melbourne office

Shimadzu’s subsidiaries in Australasia service a region stretching from When Mascoulis was appointed general manager of Shimadzu Perth in Western Australia to as far away as New Zealand, and takes Medical, he conducted a customer survey and found that although in the Pacifi c such as Fiji along the way. Th at’s a geographic company products were rated highly for reliability and performance, sweep of some 5,300 kilometres, making it larger than any other ter- marketing presence left something to be desired. “As one customer told ritory covered by the Kyoto-based parent company Shimadzu Corp., me: ‘Shimadzu is the world’s best kept secret,’” says Mascoulis. including its USA and Europe markets. Th e organisation is made up To improve brand image he has overseen the creation of a new web of two subsidiaries: Shimadzu Scientifi c Instruments (Oceania) Pty site (http://www.shimadzu.com.au) as well as launching an e-newsletter. Ltd. and Shimadzu Medical Systems (Oceania) Pty Ltd. And from 2011 all service engineers will wear a new Shimadzu uniform. “Given the size of the region, we maintain offi ces in Sydney, Th e company is also turning product launches into media events, “to Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth in Australia, and in Auckland better inform our customers of Shimadzu’s leading edge technology,” and Palmerston North in New Zealand,” says John Hewetson, director explains Mascoulis. “We have already seen success from this with quick and general manager of Shimadzu Scientifi c. “We share a number of orders for our newly released Digital Radiographic products.” these offi ces with Shimadzu Medical to our mutual advantage.” A good example of Shimadzu’s technology edge is illustrated by Shimadzu Scientifi c sells and services analytical and measuring the recently introduced LCMS-8030 Triple Quadrupole Mass Spec- instrument such as gas and liquid chromatographs, spectroscopy trometer. Th is ultra-high-speed user-friendly system can be used for equipment and various materials-testing instruments. “Roughly 60 a variety of analytical processes, from detection of drugs in biological percent of our business is with government-funded institutions such specimens to environmental contaminants and pesticides in food. as universities and hospitals, the rest with private industry,” says “We’ve taken a diff erent approach to our competitors by focusing Hewetson. “Our market share in all major product areas has been over on speed and sample throughput with this system,” says Hewetson. “In 25 percent for many years now.” fact, the LCMS-8030 is the fastest system of its kind in the world. So we Sister company Shimadzu Medical also provides sales and service believe it will improve the effi ciency of analysis in high-throughput labs support in all six Australian states, New Zealand and the Pacifi c Islands. in the clinical, forensic, food and metabolomics industries.” Equipment segments for medical diagnosis and treatment cover an- By off ering customers products that are more productive and giography, fl uoroscopy, mobile X-ray and radiography products. reliable, the two companies have been able to withstand the eff ects of “With the launch of our MobileArt mobile X-ray products in the the global economic turndown and the strong yen, and still remain Australian market, Shimadzu has been the market leader since 2000 with profi table. “Th e market is taking much more notice of us now,” says a share ranging between 60 to 90 percent,” says Nick Mascoulis, general Mascoulis. Our competitors are starting to copy our products and manager of the subsidiary. “And in the past decade we’ve also led in supplying features. Th is is why I believe the best of Shimadzu is yet to come.” general X-ray rooms, boasting a market share greater than 50 percent.” Major milestones for both companies were establishing direct sales, marketing and service operations: Shimadzu Scientifi c in Australia in SHIMADZU SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS (OCEANIA) PTY LTD. 1991 and in New Zealand in 1995, well ahead of its competitors. “We Phone: (02)9684-4200 Fax: (02)9684 4055 have our own service engineers to cover directly all states in Australia, SHIMADZU MEDICAL SYSTEMS (OSEANIA) PTY LTD. New Zealand and the Pacifi c Islands,” says Hewetson. “In addition, we Phone: (02)9698-2444 Fax: (02)9698- 0818 have specialists in chromatography and mass spectrometry providing Unit F, 10-16 South Street, Rydalmere, New South Wales 2116 Web: http://www.shimadzu.com.au close customer support.” For its part, Shimadzu Medical set up its direct A Collection from Nature and Shimadzu 2011 No.7 operations in 1996. 10 LCMS-8030 Tandem Quadrupole LC/MS/MS GCMS-QP2010 Ultra is a Premium Model that System Permits Ultra Fast Quantitation of Trace Improves Laboratory Productivity and Reduces Levels of Multiple Analytes Environmental Impact

Th e LCMS-8030 is the ideal instrument for the quantitation of trace Th e GCMS-QP2010 Ultra boasts a novel mass spectrometer design to level analytes in complex matrices, such as the measurement of residual deliver the highest sensitivity and analysis speed in its class, making it pesticides in foods, analysis of contaminants discharged into the environ- the ideal instrument for Fast GC/MS or GC×GC/MS analysis. It not only ment, measurement of drug concentrations in blood, and the screening of signifi cantly improves laboratory effi ciency, but it also off ers an industry-fi rst drugs and toxic compounds. In the face of increasing numbers of target Ecology Mode that cuts power consumption and carrier gas consumption compounds and analytes, the LCMS-8030 off ers ultra fast quantitation of to minimize its environmental impact. a huge number of trace components and provides highly reliable data with excellent reproducibility. LCMS-8030 GCMS-QP2010 Ultra

X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer Optimized Development of Transparent and High Barrier Thin for RoHS/ELV Screening Film Fabrication Technology for Encapsulation of Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Displays Th e EDX-LE off ers all the features necessary to screen the elements regulated by the RoHS and ELV directives. Th is new product incorporates a detector Shimadzu has succeeded in obtaining transparent (absorption coeffi cient that does not require liquid nitrogen to reduce operating costs and simplify < 20 cm-1) SiNx fi lms with a water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of less maintenance, while enhancing ease-of-operation and improving the reliability than 1x10-5 g/m2/d by using an improved microwave-excited surface wave of analysis results. plasma chemical vapor deposition (SWP-CVD) system. Th is transparent barrier fi lm prepared under low temperature conditions, protects OLEDs from the invasion of oxygen and water moisture, which can cause them to easily deteriorate.Th is technology will enable applying a simple and low-cost encapsulation layer for next-generation large scale OLEDs. Th is EDX-LE study was partially supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

Collaborative Research Contract Signed with New R&D Center for Analytical and Measuring Center for iPS Cell Research and Application Instruments in Shanghai, China (CiRA), Kyoto University In January this year, Shimadzu completed a new development center for CiRA and Shimadzu will undertake joint research into the safety of iPS analytical and measuring instruments in Shanghai, China. Th is center will be cells and to search for biomarker indicators for evaluating whether iPS responsible for developing new chromatographs and new spectrophotometers cells grow according to a specifi c purpose, such as for heart, muscle or instruments, core Shimadzu product categories, that are tailored to local nerves. Th e joint project involves the proteomic analysis and identifi cation requirements. It will provide new mid-priced products for the environmental of biomarkers of iPS cells established by CiRA, by using Shimadzu Advanced and pharmaceuticals markets, which are expected to continue growing in Mass Spectrometry System. the future.

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