Importance of REP values when comparing the CALUX bioassay results with chemoanalyses results Example with spiked vegetable oils

Differences between chemical activated luciferase gene expression (CALUX) bioassay and chemoanalyses results are observed.This paper shows that calculations of the TEQ values using REP values instead of WHO TEF values give different results. The REP values do affect the results obtained by the CALUX technique. These differences are more marked for the dioxin like PCB compounds (CALUX TEQ values are lower than WHO TEQ values) than for the dioxin compounds (CALUX TEQ values are higher than WHO TEQ values).The CALUX results were compared with the concentrations of the congeners’ spiked into the oil.     

Classifying Structural Characteristics to Enhance Computation of Enthalpy of Formation of Halohydrocarbons

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are made and least squares calibration performed for various halohydrocabons, which were 27 straight‐chain alkyl halides, 20 branch‐chain alkyl halides and 19 aromatic halides, to determine their enthalpies of formation (ΔH_f). The mean absolute error (M. |A.E.|) in ΔH_f across 66 molecular computations was only 7.8 kJ/mol (1.9 kcal/mol). Grouping the molecules by their structural characteristics improved M. |A.E.| of ΔH_f by 0.2–2.2 kJ/mol over that obtained using corresponding modified data for the same 66 unclassified molecules.     

Quality assurance and statistical control

In scientific research laboratories it is rarely possible to use quality assurance schemes, developed for large-scale analysis. Instead methods have been developed to control the quality of modest numbers of analytical results by relying on statistical control: Analysis of precision serves to detect analytical errors by comparing thea priori precision of the analytical results with the actual variability observed among replicates or duplicates. The method relies on the chi-square distribution to detect excess variability and is quite sensitive even for 5–10 results. Interference control serves to detect analytical bias by comparing results obtained by two different analytical methods, each relying on a different detection principle and therefore exhibiting different influence from matrix elements; only 5–10 sets of results are required to establish whether a regression line passes through the origo. Calibration control is an essential link in the traceability of results. Only one or two samples of pure solid or aqueous standards with accurately known content need to be analyzed. Verification is carried out by analyzing certified reference materials from BCR, NIST, or others; their limited accuracy of 5–10% make them less suitable for calibration purposes.     

氮中二氧化硫标准气体定值方法的研究

介绍用脉冲荧光分析仪对氮中二氧化硫标准气体定值的分析方法,对方法的精密度、准确度及定值的不确定度进行了考察。该方法的定值结果与重量法的配制值相一致。用该法对荷兰国家计量院制备的氮中二氧化硫标准气体进行比对试验,取得了良好的等效性。     

A new approach for the sequential injection spectrophotometric determination of the total antioxidant activity

A sequential injection system based on the ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic-acid) methodology was developed. The proposed method, incorporating a mixing chamber in the side port of the selection valve, was evaluated to measure the total antioxidant activity of several beverages and foods.The ABTS⁺ is generated by oxidation of ABTS with potassium persulfate and is reduced in presence of hydrogen-donating antioxidants converting into a colourless product. The applicability of the developed method was tested by measurement of the antioxidant activity of pure compounds as well as by analysing complex food and beverage samples. The antioxidant activity was presented as l(+) ascorbic acid equivalence. The values obtained by this methodology were not significantly different from the results obtained by the original spectrophotometric ABTS assay. For most of the studied antioxidants, antioxidant activity varied with pH and dilution. The proposed SIA system is suitable for screening direct or diluted total antioxidant activity of pure compounds or food samples.     

Evaluation of measurement uncertainty for analytical procedures using a linear calibration function

In the EURACHEM/CITAC draft ”Quantifying uncertainty in analytical measurement” estimations of measurement uncertainty in analytical results for linear calibration are given. In this work these estimations are compared, i.e. the uncertainty deduced from repeated observations of the sample vs. the uncertainty deduced from the standard residual deviation of the regression. As a result of this study it is shown that an uncertainty estimation based on repeated observations can give more realistic values if the condition of variance homogeneity is not correctly fulfilled in the calibration range. The complete calculation of measurement uncertainty including assessment of trueness is represented by an example concerning the determination of zinc in sediment samples using ICP-atomic emission spectrometry. Received: 9 February 2002 Accepted: 17 April 2002     

Evaluation of the calibration errors on cooling of a differential scanning calorimeter using different sets of standard metals

The temperature calibration on cooling of thermal analysis instruments is important for the accurate study of the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of semi-crystalline polymers. In previous works, a methodology was proposed for performing the calibration on cooling of differential scanning calorimeters (DSCs) with standard metals, and the calibration errors were checked using transitions of high-purity liquid crystals. In this work, alternative, physically meaningful, procedures for carrying out the calibration on cooling are analyzed and validated. The calibration errors are evaluated also with liquid crystalline transitions, when the calibration is performed with standard metals, in a wide temperature range, and when due account is taken for the need of isothermal corrections to the temperature measurements. It is shown that any pair of standard metals may be used to calibrate on cooling, that the calibration errors increase for wider working temperature ranges and that, providing that certain conditions are fulfilled, both calibration procedures yield similar results.     

测定水性聚氨酯树脂平均相对分子质量及其分布的高效凝胶渗透色谱法

选用HP PL gel MIXED-B柱双柱串联，四氢呋喃作流动相，紫外吸收检测器测定了水性聚氨酯树脂的平均相对分子质量及其分布；通过一系列的条件试验，确定了最佳的凝胶色谱（GPC）条件，结果令人满意；该研究有助于了解水性聚氨酯树脂性能，有效地指导工艺生产和基础研究。     

Removal of major interference sources in aqueous near-infrared spectroscopy techniques

This work describes a hybrid procedure for eliminating major interference sources in aqueous near-infrared (NIR) spectra, that include aqueous influence, noise, and systemic variations irrelevant to concentration. The scheme consists of two parts: extension of wavelet prism (WPe) and orthogonal signal correction (OSC). First, WPe is employed to remove variations due to aqueous absorbance and noise; then OSC is applied to remove systemic spectral variations irrelevant to concentration. Although water possesses strong absorption bands that overshadow and overlap the absorption bands of analytes, along with noise and systematic interference, successful calibration models can be generated by employing the method proposed here. We show that the elimination of major interference sources from the aqueous NIR spectra results in a substantial improvement in the precision of prediction, and reduces the required number of PLS components in the model. In addition, the strategy proposed here can be applied to various analytical data for quantitative purposes as well.     

原子簇P12（D3d）的理论研究

利用Ｇａｕｓｓｉａｎ－９２程序在６－３１Ｇ基组下优化Ｐ１２（Ｄ３ｄ）构型，研究了３Ｐ４（Ｔｄ）→Ｐ１２（Ｄ３ｄ）的相对能量，计算结果为△Ｅ＝Ｅｐ１２（Ｄ３ｄ）－３Ｅｐ４（Ｔｄ）＝－７９．８４４ｋＪ／ｍｏｌ，优化Ｐ１２（Ｄ３ｄ）获得的Ｐ－Ｐ键键长接近于实验测得的Ｐ－Ｐ单键键长，并进一步在该基组下计算了Ｐ１２（Ｄ３ｄ）原子簇的振动频率，得到的全部为正频率，表明原子簇Ｐ１２的Ｄ３ｄ构型是位能面上的稳定点