Today I arrived at CERES at 7:45 and left at 6:30.
Anna and
I immediately began quntitating samples. Additionally, while she was
quantitating samples, I changed out the injection port liners. However, one of
the glass liners broke in the back detector injection port and I had to take
some extra time righting the situation. However, just as Anna and I were
getting going, Markfousse and consultants from the UN showed up for interviews.
In total, their visit lasted for ~3 hours and brought sample analysis to a
halt. Specifics of this meeting can be discussed in another forum if desired.
Anna and I got back to sample analysis immediately after the
UN folks departed CERES. However, I found that the CSV macro writer that Ted
Haigh (OSU) sent me for data compilation was not working correctly; it only
imported retention time and area information for each sample – it did not
import quantitated values!!! Upon this discovery, I had Anna bring up the previously
saved window snapshots for each of the samples we had already quantitated and had
her save results to Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. This is the best I have at
the moment. Argggg AGILENT!!!!!!!
While Anna was creating Excel files, I analyzed a CCV to
verify that the instrument was up and operational… it was not. Peaks on the
front column were jagged and noisy. I tightened the injection port retaining
nut, saw an improvement in the resting baseline shot a CCV, and found that
chromatography improved. Anna then set up the next batch of PSD extracts to run
on the instrument. While these were running, she finished analyzing the first
batch of samples… All said, Anna evaluated 5 samples today which is a marked
improvement over yesterday. The largest gains were made early in the morning
and at the end of the day when most CERES staff were absent. I see her progress
today as a success and will encourage this type of effort tomorrow.
Interestingly, the last few storms combined with steady high temperatures have served the CERES fly population well - they were everywhere today; in the lab, on the staff, on the instruments, in the fume hoods, on pipettes, on glassware.... literally everywhere. This was a new challenge in patience for me and a challenge that CERES staff took in stride.
Interestingly, the last few storms combined with steady high temperatures have served the CERES fly population well - they were everywhere today; in the lab, on the staff, on the instruments, in the fume hoods, on pipettes, on glassware.... literally everywhere. This was a new challenge in patience for me and a challenge that CERES staff took in stride.
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