Rigorous Testing

Stumpf M, Dobbyn A J, Keller H-M, Hase W L and Schinke R 1995 Quantum mechanical study of the unimolecular dissociation of HO2 a rigorous test of RRKM theory J. Chem. Phys. 102 5867-70... 

Memory requirements for one-dimensional eontinuum dynamies ealeulations are minimal by the standards of eurrent hardware. Thus, sufTieiently fine zoning ean be used in sueh ealeulations to eapture details of material response and provide a rigorous test of fidelity for the numerieal models employed. The ability to use fine zoning also ensures that any diserepaneies between ealeulation and experiment ean be attributed, with eonsiderable eonfidenee, to Inadequaeies in the material response model. In faet, most desktop workstations have suffieient eomputing horsepower and memory to meet the eom-putating needs in one-dimensional material response studies. 

Equation 8 has not been rigorously tested on freely bubbling beds because of the difficulty of making precise independent measurements of Dg or Ug under such conditions. It has been verified for slugging beds, however, as is shown in Figure 3. In the case of slugging, the surface level of the bed oscillates considerably, and in this case, the maximum bed height is used for H in Equation 8. 

The PSS column certification procedure requires that all columns are rigorously tested individually as described earlier. After final testing, individual column quality certificates are issued in a three-step process. 

Pharmacological hypotheses are the most rigorously tested in all of biological science. A potential drug molecule... 

A much more rigorous test of the validity of J a detonation product s equation of state is pro- > vided by the comparison of observed and com-, 2 puted detonation temps (CJ temps), TCJ and/or detonation product compns which depend on TCj and to a lesser extent on P. Unfortunately, there are no exptl detonation product compns, and exptl Tq s are open to serious uncertainties, particularly so in the case of solid expls,... 

The results from the model were compared semi-quantitatively with experimental measurements to validate the model. Because of both the extremely long time constants in the system and the variations in the ambient conditions in the laboratory where the extruder was placed, it was not possible to rigorously test the model against experimental data. To conserve demands of time and materials for experiments on the extruder, numerical experiments were used to provide data for developing an optimal control system. The goal of the numerical experiments was to develop a reduced-order model suitable for optimizing the control system. 

Rapid methods have great appeal in microbial quality control and certain areas of research, but it should always be borne in mind, especially in quality control, that rigorous testing of the method should be carried out in comparison to accepted methods. 

One of the few phytochemicals that has been subjected to the rigorous testing procedures required by food safety authorities is P-carotene, a naturally-occurring carotenoid that is also a pre-cursor of vitamin A in humans. It is increasingly used as a food colour since the food product can be claimed to contain all natural ingredients. For this reason, detailed toxicological studies were undertaken that enabled the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee for Food Additives (JECFA) to set an ADI of 0-5 mg/kg/bw/day based on a NOAEL of 50 mg/day and the application of an uncertainty factor of 10 (JECFA, 1974). This low factor was used because it was argued that the compound occurred naturally in food, that its use as a food additive would not lead to a substantial increase in the total amount normally consumed, and that there had been no reports of adverse effects in humans. The ADI would correspond to an acceptable intake in humans of up to 350 mg/day. 

Given the absenee (or near absenee) of Mel in these reaetions, we sought to demonstrate the proeess on a eontinuous proeess. We purposely ehose to employ the same vapor take-off (vapor stripped) reaetor we used in om earher studies of the Rh/Mel co-catalyzed carbonylation of methanol (3) since the vapor stripping procedure used in the process would force any Mel formed in situ overhead where we could detect it in the effluent. This would represent the most rigorous test of the new non-Mel process we could contrive. 

Paired-data performance, involving comparison of predicted and observed values for exact locations in time and space. This may be a more rigorous test than needed for many purposes timing differences can have severe impacts on the statistical comparison. 

However this may have taken place, the end result is that a rigorous test of current is often overlooked. 

The view exists that natural products are inherently safer and healthier than synthetic materials. Curiously, any new synthetic ingredient has to be most rigorously tested before it is allowed in foods. Natural products, provided their use is traditional, are normally allowed without testing. There is a legal distinction applied between an ingredient and an additive. In the UK, additives generally need approval while natural ingredients, provided their use is traditional, do not. Periodically, some natural substance is tested and found to have some previously unknown potential risk. 

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