High-speed Analysis of Large Sample Sets – How Can This Key Aspect of the Omics Be Achieved?

High-speed analysis of large (prote)omics sample sets at the rate of thousands or millions of samples per day on a single platform has been a challenge since the beginning of proteomics. For many years, ESI-based MS methods have dominated proteomics because of their high sensitivity and great depth in analyzing complex proteomes. However, despite improvements in speed, ESI-based MS methods are fundamentally limited by their sample introduction, which excludes off-line sample preparation/fractionation because of the time required to switch between individual samples/sample fractions, and therefore being dependent on the speed of on-line sample preparation methods such as liquid chromatography. Laser-based ionization methods have the advantage of moving from one sample to the next without these limitations, being mainly restricted by the speed of modern sample stages, i.e. 10 ms or less between samples. This speed matches the data acquisition speed of modern high-performing mass spectrometers whereas the pulse repetition rate of the lasers (>1 kHz) provides a sufficient number of desorption/ionization events for successful ion signal detection from each sample at the above speed of the sample stages. Other advantages of laser-based ionization methods include the generally higher tolerance to sample additives and contamination compared with ESI MS, and the contact-less and pulsed nature of the laser used for desorption, reducing the risk of cross-contamination. Furthermore, new developments in MALDI have expanded its analytical capabilities, now being able to fully exploit high-performing hybrid mass analyzers and their strengths in sensitivity and MS/MS analysis by generating an ESI-like stable yield of multiply charged analyte ions. Thus, these new developments and the intrinsically high speed of laser-based methods now provide a good basis for tackling extreme sample analysis speed in the omics.

CCTV High-Speed Analysis Algorithm for Real-time Monitoring of Building Access

The most important information required to help people escape from disasters such as fires is knowing the number of people that are trapped in the building and their mobility situation. For this purpose, CCTV can be installed and used at entrances, but they do not need to rely on visual monitoring. This paper describes the system of automatically detecting access personnel information from video frame images collected from the CCTV in real time. We propose to improve the region growing method commonly used in the digital image processing field without the degradation of the recognition rate. The proposed method is based on a pyramid-type hierarchical area structure, and is designed to compress the resolution of the top layer to 1/16 of the bottom layer. In this hierarchical structure, the top layer is a casting that primarily serves as a trigger to decide whether to proceed with further analysis and, if necessary, a lower level analysis. In addition, CPU consumption time was reduced by ensuring that only areas related to the high-level triggered areas are processed at the lower-level layers. As a result of the experiment, the proposed layer area analysis method was able to reduce the execution time to 13.96% and the overall processing time to 69.92% over the existing one-layer analysis method.

Application of Advanced Electrochemical Methods with Nanomaterial-based Electrodes as Powerful Tools for Trace Analysis of Drugs and Toxic Compounds

Background: The new progress in electronic devices has provided a great opportunity for advancing electrochemical instruments by which we can more easily solve many problems of interest for trace analysis of compounds, with a high degree of accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and selectivity. On the other hand, in recent years, there is a significant growth in the application of nanomaterials for the construction of nanosensors due to enhanced chemical and physical properties arising from discrete modified nanomaterial-based electrodes or microelectrodes. Objective: Combination of the advanced electrochemical system and nanosensors make these devices very suitable for the high-speed analysis, as motioning and portable devices. This review will discuss the recent developments and achievements that have been reported for trace measurement of drugs and toxic compounds for environment, food and health application.