Flavio Antonio FranchinaUniversity of Ferrara | UNIFE · Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Agricultural Sciences
Flavio Antonio Franchina
PhD
About
69
Publications
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
June 2018 - April 2021
May 2016 - May 2018
January 2016 - April 2016
Chromaleont srl
Position
- GC, MS specialist
Publications
Publications (69)
In the present research, the potential of breath analysis by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC×GC-MS) was investigated for the discrimination between healthy and infected mice. A pilot study employing a total of 16 animals was used to develop a method for breath analysis in a murine model for studying...
Headspace GC is frequently used for aroma profiling thanks to its ability to naturally exploit the volatility of aroma compounds, and also to provide chemical information on sample composition. Its main advantages rely on simplicity, no use of solvent, amenability to automation, and the cleanliness of the extract. In the present contribution, the m...
In this review, we report on the latest (2020‐Early 2021) instrumental advances and applications of comprehensive two‐dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), including its hyphenation with novel upstream or downstream processes (sample preparation approaches or detection technologies). We also discuss software and analysis workflow developments nec...
The increased attraction of biological volatile compounds has opened the route to a wide variety of sampling techniques, amongst which trap tubes packed with adsorbent materials are commonly used. Many types of adsorbent materials are available and the choice of the adsorbent can impact the obtained results in untargeted analysis. Therefore, a prop...
Precision medicine is a new medical approach which considers both population characteristics and individual variability to provide customized healthcare. The transition from traditional reactive medicine to personalized medicine is based on a biomarker-driven process and a deep knowledge of biological mechanisms according to which the development o...
The retention behavior of small molecules and N-protected amino acids on a zwitterionic teicoplanin chiral stationary phase (CSP), prepared on superficially porous particles (SPPs) of 2.0 μm particle diameter, has shown that efficiency and enantioselectivity, and so enantioresolution, dramatically change depending on the employed organic modifier....
Water is a fundamental resource for living things, which is why its control is necessary. The widespread use of pesticides for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes has resulted in the presence of their residues in surface water and groundwater resources. Their presence in water is regulated through different directives, such as the Groundwate...
This review aims to provide a clear overview of the most important analytical development in aflatoxins analysis during the last decade (2013–2022) with a particular focus on nuts and nuts-related products. Aflatoxins (AFs), a group of mycotoxins produced mainly by certain strains of the genus Aspergillus fungi, are known to impose a serious threat...
One convenient strategy to reduce environmental impact and pollution involves the reuse and revalorization of waste produced by modern society. Nowadays, global plastic production has reached 367 million tons per year and because of their durable nature, their recycling is fundamental for the achievement of the circular economy objective. In closin...
In this contribution, we describe a novel modeling approach to predicting retention times (tr) in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-ToF-MS) with a particular emphasis on the second-dimension (2D) retention time predictions (2tr). This approach is referred to as a "top-down" approac...
The high potential of exhaled breath for disease diagnosis has been highlighted in numerous studies. However, exhaled breath analysis is suffering from a lack of standardized sampling and analysis procedures, impacting the robustness of inter‐laboratory results, and thus hampering proper external validation. The aim of this work was to verify compl...
The analysis of biological samples of clinical interest has certainly many analytical challenges. Among these, the preparation of samples for the determination of metabolites of interest is of paramount importance to avoid error propagation to the following separation/detection steps, but also to simplify data elaboration. Sample preparation repres...
Chapter 3 contains the information related to the use of the most suitable separation techniques used in metabolomics research, considering also sample preparation as an important sample pre-treatment step fundamental to perform the analytical separation. General principles of the most used extraction methods and analytical separation techniques ar...
Coffee, one of the most popular beverages in the world, attracts consumers by its rich aroma and the stimulating effect of caffeine. Increasing consumers prefer decaffeinated coffee to regular coffee due to health concerns. There are some main decaffeination methods commonly used by commercial coffee producers for decades. However, a certain amount...
Comprehensive multidimensional chromatography (GC × GC) has burst the separation capabilities of the classical monodimensional GC. Along with the enhanced separation power, the layers of information that can be extracted from a two-dimensional (2D) plot are significantly increased leading the handling of such complex datasets towards the metabolomi...
The advances in hardware components and software tools which characterized the youth of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC) are, as a natural evolution of a novel technique, more and more associated with application-oriented studies covering a wide range of fields. In addition, the high-selectivity and separation power of GC...
Species of Mycobacteriaceae cause disease in animals and humans, including tuberculosis and leprosy. Individuals infected with organisms in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) or non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) may present identical symptoms, however the treatment for each can be different. Although the NTM infection is considered less...
In the host, pathogenic microorganisms have developed stress responses to cope with constantly changing environments. Stress responses are directly related to changes in several metabolomic pathways, which could hamper microorganisms’ unequivocal identification. We evaluated the effect of various in vitro stress conditions (acidic, basic, oxidative...
This contribution evaluates the performance of two predictive approaches in calculating temperature-programmed gas chromatographic retention times under vacuum outlet conditions. In the first approach, the predictions are performed according to a thermodynamic-based model, while in the second approach the predictions are conducted by using the temp...
Pediatric tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health crisis. Despite progress, pediatric patients remain difficult to diagnose, with approximately half of all childhood TB patients lacking bacterial confirmation. In this pilot study (n = 31), we identify a 4-compound breathprint and subsequent machine learning model that accurately classifies childr...
In this review, we consider and discuss the affinity and complementarity between a generic sample preparation technique and the comprehensive two‐dimensional gas chromatography process. From the initial technical development focus (e.g., on the GC×GC and solid‐phase microextraction techniques), the trend is inevitably shifting toward more applied c...
Sampling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has shown promise for detection of a range of diseases but results have proved hard to replicate due to a lack of standardization. In this work we introduce the ‘Peppermint Initiative’. The initiative seeks to disseminate a standardized experiment that allows comparison of breath sampling and data analy...
The present research reports on the development of a methodology to unravel the complex phytochemistry of cannabis. Specifically, cannabis inflorescences were considered and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) was used for the preconcentration of the metabolites. Analytes were thermally desorbed into a comprehensive two-dimensional (2D) gas chromat...
DOI: 10.1002/jssc.201900902
The cover picture shows the analytical workflow the authors used for the detailed aroma analysis of beers. The sample preparation step involved purge‐and‐trap, with analyte pre‐concentration in adsorption tubes. These were thermally desorbed in a (low‐)flow modulated comprehensive two‐dimensional gas chromatography syste...
Polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychloro-dibenzofurans (PCDFs), dioxin-like (DL), and non dioxin-like (NDL) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are currently regulated in food and feed within the European territory (EU 2017/644-771). The confirmatory methods of analysis for checking compliance with maximum levels (MLs) for these involve either...
Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) is one of the most extensively antibiotic-resistant pathogens encountered in the clinical setting today. A few studies to-date suggest that CRKP and carbapenem-susceptible K. pneumoniae (CSKP) differ from one another not only with respect to their underlying genetics, but also their transcriptomic a...
A number of reports have indicated a relationship between bacterial resistance to antibiotics and their lipid composition. In the present study, we characterized the lipid profiles of American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus and its correlation with antibiotic resistance and hydrophobicity. The following...
The analysis of bacterial volatile organic compounds has gained attraction as a non-invasive way to identify disease-causing organisms, given that bacteria have unique metabolisms and volatile metabolic byproducts. In the present research, different adsorbent materials (Carbopack Y, X, B, Carboxen 1000 and Tenax TA), packed singularly or in combina...
Introduction
The measurement of specific volatile organic compounds in breath has been proposed as a potential diagnostic for a variety of diseases. The most well-studied bacterial lung infection in the breath field is that caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Objectives
To determine a discriminatory core of molecules in the “breath-print” of mice du...
We present a QR code paper microfluidic colorimetric assay that can exploit the hardware and software on mobile devices, and circumvent sample preparation by directly targeting volatile biomarkers. Our platform is a printable microarray of well-defined reaction regions, which outputs an instant diagnosis by directing the user to a URL containing th...
Gas chromatography (GC) coupled with electron ionization (EI) mass spectrometry (MS) is a well-established technique for the analysis of volatile and semi-volatile compounds. The main advantage is the highly repeatable fragmentation of the compounds into the ion source, generating intense and diagnostic fragmentation when the ionization is performe...
Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease, and yet accurate diagnostics for the disease are unavailable for many subpopulations. In this study, we investigate the possibility of using human breath for the diagnosis of active TB among TB suspect patients, considering also several risk factors for TB for smokers and those with human immun...
In this study, the volatile molecule profile of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes was evaluated using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and two dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-TOFMS). Here, seven serotypes (6B, 14, 15, 18C, 19F, 9V, and 23F) were analyzed in an isogenic background. We identified 13 core mo...
In this pilot study, volatile molecules produced by cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were evaluated to determine whether they could be used to discriminate between uninfected and M. tuberculosis-infected macaques. Thirty seven of the culture biomarkers were detectable in macaque breath and were shown to discriminate between uninfected and inf...
The influences of various factors, including the symbiosis established with the roots of specific tree species, on the production of volatiles in the fruiting bodies of Tuber magnatum have not been investigated yet. Volatiles in T. magnatum fruiting bodies were quantitatively and qualitatively determined by both PTR-MS and GC-MS in order to compare...
Supporting Information
Untargeted metabolomics study of volatile organic compounds produced by different cell cultures is a field that has gained increasing attention over the years. Solid-phase microextraction has been the sampling technique of choice for most of the applications mainly due to its simplicity to implement. However, a careful optimization of the analytica...
The first description of a comprehensive two‐dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) elucidation of an essential oil appeared in 2000 (J. High Resol. Chromatogr. 2000;23:208‐214); since then,
a variety of investigations have been published also involving complex samples related to essential oils, such as perfumes. In many instances, there was no mis...
Introduction:
Microorganisms catabolize carbon-containing compounds in their environment during growth, releasing a subset of metabolic byproducts as volatile compounds. However, the relationship between growth media and the production of volatile compounds has been largely unexplored to-date.
Objectives:
To assess the core and media-specific co...
The present research is based on the development of an effective, environmentally-friendly and low-cost method for investigation of minor components in vegetable oils, exploiting the advantages of a miniaturized solid-phase extraction (SPE) and the potential of flow modulation (FM) comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC?GC), coupled t...
Aims:
The purpose of this study was to identify the volatile molecules produced by the pathogenic Gram-negative bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 13883) during in vitro growth using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS).
Methods and results:
K. pneumoniae ATCC 13883 was inc...
The present short review (based on research performed by the authors reported above) describes recent evolution (2011-2016 period) of flow modulation (FM) comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), within the context of mass spectrometry (MS) hyphenation. Specifically, it will be shown how intensive research on an FM model has enable...
The main objective of the herein described research was focused on performing satisfactory flow modulation (FM), in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC × GC-MS), using an MS-compatible second-dimension gas flow of approx. 4 mL min−1. The FM model used was based on that initially proposed by Seeley and co-workers (...
The present research is based on the development and use of a flow-modulation (FM) comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC×GC- qMS) method for the determination of recently-highlighted (by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety) fragrance allergens (54) in cosmetics. FM GC×GC-qMS conditions were finely...
The present research is focused on the evaluation of a recently-developed high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer (HR ToF MS), under the challenging conditions of a flow-modulation comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (FM GC×GC) experiment. The HR ToF MS instrument was operated at a spectral generation frequency of 30 Hz and a...
The present paper contains research data relative to an approach herein defined as flow-modulation (FM) low-pressure comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, abbreviated as "GC×LP GC". The abbreviation LP is positioned before the second GC abbreviation because LP conditions were generated across a mega-bore second-dimension column (10m×0.5...
The present contribution is focused on the evolution and current trends of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC × GC-MS), with respect to a review that described this specific methodology published at the beginning of 2008 (Mondello et al., 2008). In fact, since then there has been considerable evolution in the MS...
This article is focused on the detailed qualitative analysis of the fatty acids and the unsaponifiable constituents of a vegetable oil derived from a food-industry waste product, namely lemon seeds. The seed oil was subjected to two sample preparation processes, the first enabling the formation of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), and the other the...
The present research description is focused on the evaluation of a high-speed triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (QqQ MS), carried out under moderately-fast GC conditions. The MS device is capable of operation under high-speed GC conditions, in both full-scan (maximum scan speed: 20 000 amu/s) and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) modalities. Fur...
The present contribution is focused on the measurement of the analytical sensitivity attained in untargeted/targeted MS/MS experiments, performed using flow-modulator comprehensive 2D and 1D GC. The comprehensive 2D experiment was performed by diverting part of the high flow (circa 80%) to flush the accumulation loop (about 28 mL/min) to waste, to...
The present research description is focused on the evaluation of a high‐speed triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, carried out under moderately fast gas chromatography conditions (analysis time: 17 min). The mass spectrometric system is capable of operation under high‐speed GC conditions, in both full‐scan (maximum scan speed: 20 000 amu/s) and mul...
The present investigation is focused on the development of a comprehensive two-dimensional GC (GC × GC) method, with dual MS/FID detection, for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the entire unsaponifiable fraction of vegetable oils. The unsaponifiable fraction forms a minor, highly specific part of a vegetable oil, and can be used as an i...
The present manuscript reports a comparative study between conventional and split-flow comprehensive GC×GC-MS. Conventional GC×GC-MS was performed by using a single GC oven, and with a widely employed apolar (30 m × 0.25 mm id)-polar (1 m × 0.10 mm id) column combination. Split-flow GC×GC-MS experiments were carried out by using the same first and...
The present contribution describes an investigation directed towards the use of a rapid heart-cutting multidimensional LC-GC-FID method for the analysis of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH), contained in different types of homogenized solid baby food (fish, meat and fruit products). The fish and meat products all contained vegetable oil (su...
The present investigation is focused on the development of a flow-modulator (FM) comprehensive 2D GC (GC×GC)-quadrupole mass spectrometry (qMS) approach, for the analysis of fatty acids. A recently developed flow modulator interfaced an apolar-polar column set, and was used for the first time with a mass spectrometer. Method development was achieve...
Questions
Question (1)
Do you have a good reference dealing specifically with the optimization of the thermal desorption process?