Monitoring standard protocols

In the early 1980s, the whole-body dosimeter (WBD) was introduced as a superior method for passive dermal dosimetry monitoring. A standard protocol was described by the World Health Organization (1982), and Abbott et al. (1987) described some additional options. Chester (1993) reported refinements that permitted exposure estimation by passive dermal dosimetry and biological monitoring simultaneously. 

For standardised instrumental analytical methods, i.e. biomarkers, biosensors and bioassays, there are well-established standard protocols on the national level, e.g. under Association Francaise de Normalisation (AFNOR), British Standard Institute (BSI), DIN (German Organisation for Standardisation), etc., and all those standards are formed by ISO-Working Groups and by validation studies into ISO - and CEN - Standards. Normal accredited and well-qualified laboratories should be able to perform the monitoring. 

Documentation is critical for assessment. Standard protocols provide directions for what must be documented and how the documentation is to be done, including how to record information in notebooks. For labs that rely on manuals of standard practices, it is imperative that tasks done to comply with the manuals be monitored and recorded. Control charts (Box 5-1) can be used to monitor performance on blanks, calibration checks, and spiked samples to see if results are stable over time or to compare the work of different employees. Control charts can also monitor sensitivity or selectivity, especially if a laboratory encounters a wide variety of matrixes. 

Internal mixers must be ran in a full or nearly full condition, so a batch recipe is calculated to provide an appropriate volume. If not filled, the ingredients will not be properly sheared and heat transfer will be compromised. Typical commercial mixers have a batch size of at least 100 pounds of compound. A mixer of this size will have a drive motor of no less than 75 horsepower. Proper dispersive mixing is a balance between proper shear, sequence of addition of ingredients, and thermal stability. Mixers have extensive monitoring instrumentation that provides continuous feedback about thermal conditions, rotor torque, and rotor speed. Once a mixing process has been developed, a standard protocol is followed for preparation of the compound. 

Monitoring could be required to be undertaken at a variety of scales, both spatial and temporal, and for a very wide range of variables. Indeed, a significant amount of routine environmental monitoring is already undertaken by several operators in the Antarctic, but it is clear that a lack of standard protocols makes it difficult to compare data from different research groups. 

It has to be noted that the standard protocols for biotesting and chemical analysis originally developed for the use of wastewater and water monitoring are being proposed and used for testing elutriates of soil, waste and sediment samples. 

Validation of the electrochemical sensors approaches to environmental pollutants monitoring, applying approved standard protocols... 

Safety of CVC use is to be regarded as a complex issue starting with proper entry examination of the patient (to discover preexisting risk factors), over selection of the insertion site and CVC type (to avoid anatomically knotty areas), prophylactic care, monitoring of both CVC status and patient condition up to CVC removal. Experienced staff, appropriate instrumentation, and standardized protocols are key safety factors. 

Assessment of the VA is the key to determine the usability for cannulation with a minimal risk for complications and the ability to deliver the prescribed blood flow during dialysis. After creation, the VA should be monitored on a regular basis for maturity by a thorough physical examination of the fistula according to a standardized protocol (table 1). 

Agosti, D. and Alonso, E. (2000). The ALL protocol a standard protocol for the collection of ground-dwelling ants. In Ants standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity, D. Agosti,... 

Environmental monitoring based on whole-organism bioassays and biological early warning systems (BEWS) is lately considered to replace standard expensive chemical analysis. The tests must accomplish some basic conditions like to be simple, based on standardized protocols, predictive, low cost, and applicable to species, populations, and communities. They also need to be sensitive to a wide range of chemicals with minimal matrix effects. ... 

In this way, the operational range of the Kolbe-Schmitt synthesis using resorcinol with water as solvent to give 2,4-dihydroxy benzoic acid was extended by about 120°C to 220°C, as compared to a standard batch protocol under reflux conditions (100°C) [18], The yields were at best close to 40% (160°C 40 bar 500 ml h 56 s) at full conversion, which approaches good practice in a laboratory-scale flask. Compared to the latter, the 120°C-higher microreactor operation results in a 130-fold decrease in reaction time and a 440-fold increase in space-time yield. The use of still higher temperatures, however, is limited by the increasing decarboxylation of the product, which was monitored at various residence times (t). 

---