hamishs.bsky.social
Analyzer evangelist and mass spectrometry enjoyer. Read about the Astral analyzer:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.analchem.3c02856
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As soon as the pipeline of ghastly projects that started in the
QE/peak-cultural revolution era have all crashed and burned, we might hope that the AAA publishers' new owners might encourage a different path.
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If one was imagining that the shift to low loads would give temporary relief to the eternal challenge of dynamic range...
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This stretches my example beyond my intent.
Let's instead take Orbitrap mass spectrometry, I'm sure that was rapidly adopted in titles as the method name, but few are writing "Thermo Scientifc LTQ Orbitrap mass spectrometry."
Orbitrap Astral is a descriptive method name as well as an instrument.
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This is a consequence of highly differentiated technologies with single suppliers. If 5 vendors made timstofs (like triple quadrupoles), no one would question the title saying so.
One day progress will slow, and this will settle.
Search "Illumina" to see what real naming penetration looks like.
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They saw his recent Enoch Powell tribute act and assumed it was sincere.
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What does dwell time mean in the method? 6.7ms implies 10 trap shots (0.67ms each at 1500 Hz), but out of sync to the 641 Hz spectral acquisition (1.56ms).
Is each spectrum then an average of 2 shots, plus some other overhead on top?
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Eye like a hawk!
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The key 2003 LECO (Verentchikov/Yavor) IP covers lens arrays between the ion mirrors, that Thermo doesn't use.
MR-TOF with elongated mirrors goes back to Nazarenko in 1989. The more recent IP focus is drift control and ion injectors.
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Interestingly, the Stepwave ion guide is built in a somewhat similar way and user serviceable.
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I had one of these last year and reported them.
They rely on one assuming they're somehow related to the organisers, without committing overt fraud.
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There are still people who watch/read the BBC? Shame.
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Aye, really the Ascend Tribrid development was what persuaded me. That has a bespoke solution with a cell between the quadrupole and C-trap.
The Stellar parallelisation is similar to our original plan for the Astral ion processor, before we added the extra IRM trapping stage.
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Cheers!
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This research is very separate from commercial development. Started with one of my little side projects.
I believe it makes a good case for the potential of the technique though.
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Thanks! PhiSDM had pretty monstrous requirements and dedicated processing boxes, though they were made some years ago.
Perhaps easier with new hardware.
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There's indeed an Astral internal calibrant step every 5 minutes whether Orbitrap Easy IC is set or not.
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That's a strange failure mode.
If no experimental oddity like unstable internal calibrant or desperate need to recalibrate, I'd suspect a damaged Orbitrap power supply.
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They'll put Ryan Gosling in it instead.
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We could go so much further...
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We should sell covers with custom decals.
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Looks like it's already worked.
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Yeah about that...
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It's very load dependent. Once down to ~10ng or so, background suppression becomes more and more important.
Some groups use FAIMS routinely at higher loads though, to reduce instrument maintenance.
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The opposite of masculinity surely?
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They've made building things illegal, and the liberalisation required to even approach France, let alone China, turns the stomachs of the political class.
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Decline.
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I think the objection to the Orbitrap name (the trajectory ions follow around distinctive electrode structures) was very comparable. ...and it seems an absurd objection to those looking back on it today.
Can't claim that we're better at naming today. Orbitrap is an awesome name.
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That's the argument anyway, and I think it's a fair justification. Every academic group gives their innovations interesting names and acronyms.
Sure we could've chosen some other name. There was even some debate.
Originally, I called it the tilted mirrors analyzer.
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Because this analyzer is of a unique form (converging "asymmetric" mirrors with supporting trans-axial electrodes) that generates a distinctive ion trajectory (asymmetric track) not common to any extant multi-reflection analyzer.
Lossless comes from the (also distinctive) near 100% transmission.
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I don't think the C-Trap being mentally split off from the Orbitrap has any bearing here.
The Orbitrap (orbital trapping) analyzer had pushback because it was "just" an FT analyzer. It is! but distinctive aspects justify a good name.
No real difference to Astral (ASymmetric TRAck Lossless)
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The Orbitrap name initially had a lot of similar pushback, but soon became universally accepted.
The Astral name will follow the same path.
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There were instructions online up to the stepwave at least, which involved a sonic bath (terrifying for pcb devices imo) and a mixture of soft surfactants.
It'll be hard to find details further in, but the quad is at least pretty normal.
support.waters.com/Select/AMST_...
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There are Mag-Net Astral results from 2023 which seem very positive.
doi.org/10.1021/acs....
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SABOTAGE!
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Aye! I understand that for complex spectra it becomes very computationally challenging, may be why it isn't yet 100++ Hz.
Presumably the minimum number of ions for a reliable peak becomes critical for sensitivity & dynamic range.
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It was always a question whether orbitraps with much higher maximum resolution should be available.
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One might hope for similar ballpark efficiency to a standard qToF if the Encoded Frequent Pulsing method is working properly.
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It's impressive to maintain tight control with such a large analyzer.
Question is to what application this has advantage to...