Analyses remote laboratory

The remote laboratory has the advantages of providing carefully controlled temperature, humidity, ventilation, and background conditions with adequate space and utilities to support a large array of major analytical instrumentation and a staff of skilled analytical chemists and technicians working in a convenient, comfortable, and safe environment. The major disadvantage is that environmental samples must be carefully preserved, shipped, and stored prior to analysis. Furthermore, the analytical results may not be available for several days or weeks because of the time required to transport the samples to the laboratory, incorporate the analyses into work schedules, and service the multiple clients of a remote laboratory. 

Real-time, autonomous, fluid monitoring eliminates the need for sampling and remote laboratory analysis, thus providing timely data at reduced costs. IR sensors are already in service by the US military [23]. The sensors shown in Fig. 16.5 are a ferrous/non-ferrous metal sensor, a miniaturized dispersive IR spectrometer... 

Several research groups have reported antibodies for aflatoxins and other mycotoxins (27). Commercial kits for aflatoxin detection in various substrates have been announced. The introduction of such kits will permit on-site detection of aflatoxins to be confirmed immediately rather than having to wait for analytical results from a remote laboratory following detection of fluorescing materials in a commodity. Since aflatoxins and other microbial toxins have a number of structural variations, the antibodies used in their analysis must be carefully selected to assure that the proper compounds are being detected and accurately measured. 

Process analysis is defined simply as a measurement taken, and a result generated in time for the data to be used to impact on the process. This means process analysis is not exclusive to techniques that require that a sample is taken. In 1987, Callis [1] defined five categories of process analysis, defined as off-line, at-line, on-line, in-line and non-invasive, as is shown in Fig. 9.1. The simplest and the most widespread example of process analysis is when samples are taken from the process stream and analysed off-line in a remote laboratory. This process is slow, samples are taken with low frequency, and there are often substantial delays between sample submission and analysis. However, the off-line method does allow for analysis by expert analysts using many of the techniques described in previous chapters of this volume. 

Because of the need for centrifugation, which has well-recognized microbiological safety hazards, and because the flame-based analysis is both potentially noisy and inevitably causes significant heating of the environment, it has not proved practicable to carry out lithium analysis on site in the interview room in the presence of the patient. Present practices have meant that results of blood estimations frequently are not available to the patient and psychiatrist until some time after the psychiatric interview because of the need to send samples to a remote laboratory for estimation. The consequent delay of despatch and receipt of the report may result in poor patient compliance. 

There is a need to improve some of the diagnostic medical techniques. At present, blood samples are sent to a remote laboratory for analysis. This laboratory may be far from the patient and the physician and there are bound to be delays or even unintentional errors in the clinical chemical results. There is a concentrated effort to use miniaturized electronic devices as sensors that could perform chemical analysis inside the body, in real time. Fiberoptics offers an alternative method for performing medical diagnostics inside the body of a patient. In principle, this method may prove to be sensitive, reliable, and cost effective. 

It is becoming more and more desirable for the analytical chemist to move away from the laboratory and iato the field via ia-field instmments and remote, poiat of use, measurements. As a result, process analytical chemistry has undergone an offensive thmst ia regard to problem solviag capabihty (77—79). In situ analysis enables the study of key process parameters for the purpose of definition and subsequent optimization. On-line analysis capabihty has already been extended to gc, Ic, ms, and ftir techniques as well as to icp-emission spectroscopy, flow iajection analysis, and near iafrared spectrophotometry (80). 

Hereia optical spectroscopy for laboratory analysis, giving some attention to remote sensing usiag either active laser-based systems (13—16) or passive (radiometric) techniques (17—20), is emphasized. 

Microwave spectroscopy is used for studyiag free radicals and ia gas analysis (30). Much laboratory work has been devoted to molecules of astrophysical iaterest (31). The technique is highly sensitive 10 mole may suffice for a spectmm. At microwave resolution, frequencies are so specific that a single line can unambiguously identify a component of a gas mixture. Tabulations of microwave transitions are available (32,33). Remote atmospheric sensing (34) is illustrated by the analysis of trace CIO, O, HO2, HCN, and N2O at the part per trillion level ia the stratosphere, usiag a ground-based millimeter-wave superheterodyne receiver at 260—280 GH2 (35). 

The transfer of an automated analysis from the laboratory to the plant will often require special precautions for instance, while turbidities in a process stream can cause a loss of selective absorptivity in a spectrophotometric measurement, in potentiometric methods fouling of the electrodes, potential leakage in metal containers or tubing and loss of signal in remote control may occur (see later). 

Sampling sites are also referred to as station locations. For water column work, depth profiles are constructed from seawater samples collected at representative depths. Temperature and salinity are measured in situ with sensors. Remote-closing sampling bottles deployed from a hydrowire are used to collect water for later chemical analysis, either on the ship or in a land-based laboratory. The standard chemical measurements made on the water samples include nutrients (nitrate, phosphate, and silicate), dissolved O2, and total dissolved inorganic carbon (TDIC) concentrations. 

Alternative methods are possible the three regional pharmacopeias (United States, European, and Japanese) allow an individual laboratory able to do the official method to validate an alternative method of analysis. The latter is chosen usually for speed, eonvenience, or expense but also to incorporate an existing database when a new or revised pharmaeopeial method is adopted. Under those provisions, a laboratory ean validate a method from another pharmacopeia, thereby avoiding duplication of routine work. In all three cases, only the official method could be used in eompli-ance or contest. One point of harmonization is to avoid even the more remote in-stanees of duplieative testing in addition to international produet registration. 

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