Problem Solving in Analytical Biochemistry

Part 1 Assessment of quantitative methods: a comparison of the analytical performance of two methods; the use of quality control charts; an investigation into the specificity of an immunoassay; selection of an appropriate quantitative method on the basis of analytical performance; assessment of the precision of an HPLC method. Part 2 Molecular spectroscopy: an investigation of the absorption and fluorescent characteristics of a compound; calculation and use of molar absorption coefficient; the determination of a suitable wavelength for ultraviolet detection in HPLC; the use of molar absorption coefficient in the quantitation of mixtures. Part 3 Atomic spectroscopy: the determination of optimal instrument settings for atomic absorption spectroscopy; quantitation by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Part 4 Gas liquid chromatography: the determination of optimal gas flow in GLC; a study into the effect of column temperature on separation of GLC; quantitative analysis byGLC using a calibration graph and an internal standard; the comparison of flame ionization and electron capture detectors in GLC; quantitative analysis by GLC using a single internal standard. Part 5 High performance liquid chromatography: the selection of a mobile phase for reverse phase HPLC; quantitative analysis by ion-exchange chromatography using a single internal standard; the determination of relative molecular mass using gel permeation chromatography; selection of the operating voltage for electrochemical detection in HPLC; quantitative analysis by HPLC using an external standard; assessment of the efficiency of separation by HPLC. Part 6 Ionic separations: determination of pKa values by titration; the selection of separation conditions for ion-exchange chromatography; the determination of relative molecular mass using SDS electrophoresis; the determination of pI values using iso-electric focusing; a study of the effects of variation in electrophoretic conditions; the determination of size of nucleic acid fragments using agarose electrophoresis. Part 7 Radioisotopes: the use of a radioactive tracer to assess the efficiency of an extraction procedure; the use of isotope dilution analysis for quantitation; the calculation of half-life of a radioisotope; the use of isotope dilution analysis for determining blood volume. Part 8 Enzyme assays: the optimization of assay conditions of a coupled kinetic enzyme assay; the development of a fixed time enzyme assay; the calculation of enzyme activity; the calculation of the specific activity of an enzyme; comparison of the purity of two enzyme preparations. Part 9 Automated flow analysis: the design of a manifold and flow diagram for air-segmented continuous flow analysis; the assessment of carry-over in air-segmented continuous flow analysis; the design of a manifold for flow injection analysis.