Statistical techniques bivariate

The NAA method for the determination of firearm discharge residue has been generally accepted, but applications have been limited to just a few laboratories. In the process of establishing NAA capability for the State of Illinois crime laboratories we re-examined the standard techniques (10). In the course of our work it became clear that post-irradiation is the cause of several constraints which have discouraged a more widespread use of NAA. The inherent time limitation due to the 87 min. half-life of 139Ba necessitates fast manipulations of radioactive solutions which in turn requires an experienced radiochemist. In addition to an ever present danger of overexposure and contamination, typically only a dozen samples can be irradiated per batch, which makes the method quite expensive. The developed statistical bivariate-normal analysis (11) is convenient for routine applications. With this in mind, a method was developed which a) eliminates post-irradiation radiochemistry and thus maximizes time for analysis b) accommodates over 130 samples per irradiation capsule (rabbit) c) does not require a collection of occupational handblanks and d) utilizes a simplified statistical concept based on natural antimony and barium levels on hands for the interpretation of data. The detailed procedure will be published elsewhere (15). 

Catania (Italy) Author of more than 50 publications and of 18 international invited lectures. He is currently working in the field of characterization of polymers and copolymers. He is an editorial board member of Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. Research interests Structural characterization of polymers by mass-spectrometric techniques MALDI for the analysis of polymers and copolymers chain statistics applied to copolymer sequence analysis MonteCarlo simulations Bivariate distributions of chain size, and composition in high conversion copolymers. 

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