Multivariate exploratory data analysis in chemical industry

Sizeable data bases are now being routinely generated in a variety of contexts in chemical industry. Statistical investigations of such data bases are aimed both at initially uncovering structure and eventually proposing models, in particular for predicting product quality by the mix or characteristics of the chemical compounds. Online Multivariate Exploratory Graphical Analysis (OMEGA) stands for a structured exploratory study of the relationships in a multivariate data set, where, rather than testing for one specific property, as many clues as possible for interesting structures are searched for by different dimension reductions and succeeding interactive graphical analyses. The stability of the projections obtained by the different dimension reduction methods is assessed by simulation producing graphical displays particularly supporting the identification of influential points. The variation of the predictions obtained by the different dimension reduction methods is assessed by cross-validation delivering misclassification rates or cross-validated R² values. The interpretation of the new coordinates corresponding to dimension reduction is supported by loading simplifications and graphical displays for judging its adequacy. The OMEGA strategy has been found to be an effective tool for routine searching for structure.     

Direct-scanning alpha-spectrometer for americium and plutonium contamination on highly-enriched uranium surfaces

Trace²³⁹Pu and²⁴¹Am contamination on a surface whose alpha count is dominated by²³⁵U and²³⁴U decay has been successfully quantified by counting swipes in external alpha-spectroscopy chambers. The swipe process, however, is labor intensive and subject to uncertainties in the swiping process as well as degraded spectral resolution due to the presence of the swipe material. A multichannel instrument for automated in situ measurements of interior and exterior contamination has been developed which incorporates a rotary table, 13 fixed ion-implanted silicon detectors, and spectroscopy electronics. Custom software was written to allow alpha-spectrometer to function as a virtual instrument in the LabView environment. This system gives improved speed and resolution as well as a complete log of the location of areas of high surface contamination, a feature not practical to obtain by other methods, and one which opens the possibility of long term studies such as Pu outgrowth evaluation employing the instrument. We present performance data as well as system integration, calibration, control, and dynamic geometric efficiency calculations related to the design of this and next generation systems.     

A gamma monitoring technique for estimating plutonium contamination around nuclear weapons facilities

The objectives of this study were to establish a ratio for²⁴¹Am to²³⁹Pu in soil at the Rocky Flats Plant and to compare²⁴¹Am concentrations obtained using in-situ and laboratory gamma spectroscopy measurements to concentrations determined with radiochemical analysis and alpha spectroscopy. Soil samples were collected for radiochemical and laboratory gamma spectroscopy analysis from vertical profiles in 3 cm layers to a depth of 21 cm at predetermined locations along transects oriented in the direction of prevailing winds. The origin for the transects was the center of the 903 Pad at the Rocky Flats Plant, which is believed to be the source for most of the²⁴¹Am and²³⁹Pu contamination. A 100 minute in-situ gamma spectroscopy measurement was made at each soil sample location with a portable HPGe detector. Soil samples were dried, passed through a 2 mm sieve, mixed, and split in two fractions. One fraction was analyzed radiochemically for²⁴¹Am and²³⁹Pu and the second was analyzed using laboratory gamma spectroscopy. The median ratio of²⁴¹Am to²³⁹Pu activities, which appears to be independent of soil depth and distance from suspected sources, was 0.17. There is a strong correlation between²⁴¹Am and²³⁹Pu concentrations determined using radiochemical analysis with alpha spectroscopy and concentrations determined with laboratory gamma spectroscopy. Results from in-situ gamma spectroscopy measurements were also correlated with the radiochemical analyses but exhibited greater variability than laboratory measurements. This on-going investigation has demonstrated that it is possible to indirectly measure²³⁹Pu concentrations in soil if the ratio of²⁴¹Am to²³⁹Pu can be established. The results indicate that judicious use of a combination of radiochemical analyses with laboratory and in-situ gamma spectroscopy measurements may provide a cost-effective approach for characterization of large sites where²⁴¹Am and²³⁹Pu contamination occur.     

An age-related model derived from ICRP 67 for plutonium dose calculation: Application to an updated case of contamination

The main innovative features of a new model developed for plutonium dose assessments are presented. The physiological assumptions and the improvement of model predictions for plutonium activity in biological samples are discussed. Preliminary results relating to dose calculations and sensitivity analysis are also presented. The model has been applied to a well documented case of contamination. This was the first opportunity to test the new features of the model in a practical case and to show how to apply sensitivity techniques to a complex data set of a contamination case.     

Charge conservation applied to experimental data for plutonium solutions

The principle of charge conservation in isolated systems is used to analyze data recorded for an academic thesis. The analysis reveals a gradual chemical reduction of the plutonium during studies of its behavior in dilute aqueous acids. The reduction effect is reproduced in several different studies. The effect was apparently unnoticed by the author.     

An improved method for the potentiometric determination of plutonium using cerium/IV/ as an oxidant

An improved method for the determination of plutonium in an aliquot using cerium/IV/ as an oxidant is reported. Plutonium is oxidized quantitatively to plutonium/VI/ in nitric acid medium by cerium/IV/, the excess of which is chemically destroyed in a single step by hydrochloric acid. Plutonium/VI/ is then reduced to plutonium/IV/ with a known amount of Fe/II/, the excess of which is back titrated potentiometrically with standard dichromate. Results of analysis of 3–5 mg amounts of plutonium in aliquots containing standard plutonium nitrate solution are reliable within 0.2%. Effect of the presence of some relevant foreign ions has been studied. The application of the method for the analysis of mixtures containing various amounts of uranium and plutonium has been examined.     

Application of exploratory data analysis for the characterization of tubular wells of the North of Brazil

Roraima is located in the extreme North of Brazil, in the Western Amazon Region. The groundwater has an important role in the public supply of potable water on the Roraima State. The objective of this work is the application of PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and HCA (Hierarchical Cluster Analysis) for the characterisation of tubular wells of the Roraima State, as regards physical–chemical composition of water. The parameters analyzed in laboratory were the following ones: pH, electric conductivity, Total Hardness, Total Alkalinity, Bicarbonate, Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, Nitrate, Chloride, Total Iron. The physical–chemical analyses, were carried out during the months of September and October 2000 (winter, period of rains). The laboratory analysis was performed using classical methods (titrimetry and uv–visible spectroscopy), the samples were processed in agreement with the Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater.The physical–chemical analyses, were accomplished in September and October 2000. In physical–chemical terms, the groundwater samples analyzed do not indicate any restriction to human consumption and the two chemometric methods of exploratory data analysis: PCA and HCA are efficient for the discrimination of bicarbonated (tubular wells locateds in the South of the Roraima State) and not bicarbonated (tubular wells locateds in the North of Roraima) groundwater.     

Database and search techniques for two-dimensional gel protein data: a comparison of paradigms for exploratory data analysis and prospects for biological modeling

Two-dimensional (2-D) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis can detect thousands of polypeptides, separating them by apparent molecular weight (Mr) and isoelectric point (pI). Thus it provides a more realistic and global view of cellular genetic expression than any other technique. This technique has been useful for finding sets of key proteins of biological significance. However, a typical experiment with more than a few gels often results in an unwiedly data management problem. In this paper, the GELLAB-II system is discussed with respect to how data reduction and exploratory data analysis can be aided by computer data management and statistical search techniques. By encoding the gel patterns in a "three-dimensional" (3-D) database, an exploratory data analysis can be carried out in an environment that might be called a "spread sheet for 2-D gel protein data". From such databases, complex parametric network models of protein expression during events such as differentiation might be constructed. For this, 2-D gel databases must be able to include data from other domains external to the gel itself. Because of the increasing complexity of such databases, new tools are required to help manage this complexity. Two such tools, object-oriented databases and expert-system rule-based analysis, are discussed in this context. Comparisons are made between GELLAB and other 2-D gel database analysis systems to illustrate some of the analysis paradigms common to these systems and where this technology may be heading.     

Computational design of orthogonal nucleoside kinases

We report the computational enzyme design of an orthogonal nucleoside analog kinase for 3'-deoxythymidine. The best kinase variant shows an 8500-fold change in substrate specificity, resulting from a 4.6-fold gain in catalytic efficiency for the nucleoside analog and a 2000-fold decline for the native substrate thymidine.     

An incremental isoconversional method for kinetic analysis based on the orthogonal distance regression

The parameters obtained from a kinetic analysis of thermoanalytical data often exhibit a conversion‐dependent behavior. A novel incremental isoconversional method able to deal with this phenomenon is proposed. The kinetic model is directly fitted to the experimental data using nonlinear orthogonal least squares procedure. The data are processed without transformations, so their error distribution is preserved. As the objective function is based on a maximum likelihood approach, reliable uncertainties of the parameters can be estimated. In contrast to other methods, the activation energy and the pre‐exponential factor are treated as equally important kinetic parameters and are estimated simultaneously. Validity of the method is verified on simulated data, including a dataset with local nonlinearity in the temperature variation. A practical application on the nonisothermal cold crystallization of polyethylene terephthalate is presented. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Preparation and characterization of plutonium/IV/ phenyl acetate and plutonium/IV/ α-naphthyl acetate

Plutonium/IV/ compounds obtained in the reactions with phenylacetic acid and -naphthyl acetic acid in the pH range of 3.5–5.0 have been isolated and studied. Carbon, hydrogen and plutonium analyses have shown that plutonium/IV/ phenyl acetate and plutonium/IV/ -naphthyl acetate have the composition Pu/OH/₃/C₁₀H₇CH₂COO/, respectively. Infra-red and ultra-violet absorption spectral studies and thermogravimetric analysis have corroborated these chemical formulas.     

Application of plutonium radiochronometry to the analysis of plutonium age dating reference materials

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Radiochronometry is an important tool for nuclear forensic analysis. Plutonium has a wide array of parent/progeny pairs that can be measured to...     

The dynamic movement of plutonium in an underground nuclear test with implications for the contamination of groundwater

Summary The recent discovery of the migration of plutonium in groundwater away from underground nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site has spawned considerable interest in the mechanisms by which plutonium may be released to the environment by a nuclear explosion. A suite of solid debris samples was collected during drilling through an expended test cavity and the overlying collapse chimney. Uranium and plutonium were analyzed for isotope ratios and concentrations using high precision magnetic sector inductively coupled mass spectrometry. The data unequivocally shows that plutonium may be dispersed throughout the cavity and chimney environment at the time of the detonation. The ²³⁹Pu/²⁴⁰Pu ratios are also fractionated relative to initial plutonium isotope ratio for the test device. Fractionation is the result of the volatilization of uranium and production of ²³⁹Pu by the reaction ²³⁸U(n,γ). We conclude that for the test under consideration plutonium was deposited outside of the confines of the cavity by dynamic processes in early-time and it is this plutonium that is most likely transferred to the groundwater regime.     

Statistical design of data handling in environmental analysis

In environmental analysis, owing to the huge number of analytical data, statistical evaluation is inevitable and must be carefully designed. Though the appropriate statistical test system is basically depending on the given analytical task, some general principles of the statistical design can be outlined, namely: i) before calculating mean value and standard deviation (SD), a preliminary test series must be performed for trend, distribution and outliers; ii) while the trueness of the measured mean values can be tested using appropriate certified reference materials (CRMs), even for a correct test, use of SD reference values are also necessary; iii) as the distribution may differ from the normal one, alternative non-parametric tests must be also built into the test system. The fulfillment of these requirements necessitates a flexible, adaptable statistical software, such as the DATAPRO 2.0 software recently developed.     

An algorithm for data processing in neutron activation analysis

An algorithm for processing NAA data is described. Input data are the output data from a multichannel pulse-height analyzer with a microprocessor. This algorithm permits to calculate the concentrations of the analyzed elements (using a standard or a standard curve), the error of concentrations in the analysis of one or several parallel samples and the sensitivity of the analysis according to Currie's criteria in counts, g and g/g. Some other intermediate data (e.g. corrected net area of the peaks, parameters of the standard curve) may have individual importance in differenct cases.     

正交试验法优化合成环己酮Vc缩酮

缩醛或缩酮是一类具有广泛用途的高档新型香料[1].近年来,国内不少学者对环己酮缩酮的合成作过一些报道,主要工作是探讨催化剂对环己酮缩酮合成反应的影响,所用的醇大多为乙二醇[2-6].     

正交设计和均匀设计用于硒-金膜修饰电极制备条件的选择

硒代胱氨酸在硒 金(Se Au)膜修饰玻碳电极上产生两个灵敏的氧化还原峰:峰II(-500mV左右)和峰III(-327mV左右),以峰II的峰电流作为评价指标,采用正交设计与均匀设计相结合的方法对Se Au膜修饰电极的制备条件进行优化得到最佳优化条件:底液0.1mol LKCl;沉积电位为-850mV;沉积时间为60s;SeO2浓度为8.3×10-3mol L;AuCl3浓度为8.9×10-4mol L。均匀设计的数据应用Matlab计算机软件处理。依此制备的Se Au膜修饰电极性能稳定,用于硒代胱氨酸伏安特性研究有良好的重现性。     

Interaction of humic acid with plutonium/III/

The stability constants of the complex of Pu/III/ with a humic acid at pH 2.9 and 5.0 were measured using solvent-extraction technique. The organic extractant was dinonyl naphthalene sulphonic acid in sodium form /NaD/ in benzene while the humate aqueous phase had a constant ionic strength of 0.5M /NaClO₄/. The total carboxylate capacity of the humic acid was determined by direct potentiometric titration to be 6.201 Meq g^–1. The apparent pKa increased as the degree of ionization // increased. The 1g ₁ values of the complex of Pu/III/ with humic acid have been determined to be 2.8 and 3.11 at pH 2.9 and 5.0, respectively.