Test Identification Numbering System

There are three general types of data contained in three data files. These are illustrated for the exterior hardboard exposure system in Table III. The first file contains the information about the substrate. This includes an identification number for the panel, the date, the location and type of exposure to which the panel was subjected, the manufacturer of the substrate, the trade name, and the results of a series of standard test to evaluate the properties of the substrate. This information allows correlations to be made between the performance of the coating and the particular properties... 

Cyclic nitramines such as RDX or cyclotetra-methylenetetranitramine (HMX) are widely used in military composites such as Composition B (TNT and RDX) and Composition C-4 (US) or PE-4 (British) and in commercial blasting explosives such as Semtex (a Czech-made mining explosive). HMX is present as a by-product in RDX made by the Bach-mann process and has applications in explosives to be used in high-temperature environments. Chemical tests for RDX include the J-Acid and thymol tests. A number of TLC systems for RDX and HMX have been reported. With adequate sample, IR identification of the pure material in a micro-potassium bromide pellet is simple. If a diamond anvil sample holder or microscope attachment is available, excellent spectra of pure samples of milligram size or even of single crystals are easily obtained. When HMX is observed in RDX-based explosives, its concentration may suggest the national origin of the explosive. 

Samples logged into the system are assigned a unique number which is often physically attached to the sample using a bar-code label. The testing protocol is contained in the LIMS and is based on the point in the process from which the sample was taken. This information and the identification of the type of sample enable the LIMS to schedule the testing of the material. 

To ensure microbial strains are viable and pure a suite of morphological, biochemical, and cytochemical tests are used to confirm characteristics specific to their taxons. A number of commercially available rapid identification kits are also employed for some common genera. In addition to these taxon specific tests, many of the cultures are tested for their fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles using the commercial MIDI system. The FAME profiles can be compared to the MIDI database for species identification/confirmation purposes. The Biolog system, which yields a metabolic fingerprint of an organism, is another alternative for rapid identification. 

A variety of commercial kits and automated systems are available to test the abilities of bacteria to assimilate, ferment, decarboxylate, or cleave selected organic compounds.46 Their reliability for species identification is usually greater with cultures from clinical samples, where a limited number of bacteria are commonly encountered, and less with environmental soil and water samples, where a great many uncommon or previously unidentified species not in the database are likely to be present.29,45 Additional tests beyond those found in the commercial kits may be necessary for example, the hydrolysis of various nitriles and amides is useful for identifying Rhodococcus spp.47 Some commercial kits for clinical use feature antimicrobial susceptibility testing.21... 

If the identity of the analyte is genuinely unknown, a further problem is encountered. In contrast to GC, there are no HPLC systems, combinations of mobile and stationary phases, that are routinely used for general analyses. Therefore, there are no large collections of k values that can be used. For this reason, retention characteristics are often used for identification after the number of possible compounds to be considered has been greatly reduced in some way, e.g. the class of compound involved has been determined by colour tests or UV spectroscopy. 

A description of the test system used. Where applicable, the final report shall include the number of animals used, sex, body weight range, source of supply, species, strain and substrain, age, and procedure used for identification. 

Detecting redundancy in a chemical communication system requires more rigorous testing of blends than is common in pheromone identifications. Typically, such identifications focus on the minimum number of compounds to duplicate the behavioral response stimulated by a female moth. A subtraction bioassay that documented no adverse effect of deletion of a compound could lead to the conclusion that the compound is not a pheromone component. Clearly redundant components could be overlooked in this way. Perhaps for this reason, very few cases of redundancy have been documented (but see Linn et al., 1984 Rhainds et al., 1994 King etal, 1995). 

All test and reference items should be identified with a Chemical Abstracts Service registry number or other unique code. Where test items are novel compounds supplied by the sponsor of the study, there should be an agreed-upon identification system to allow the item to be tracked through the study. The composition and concentrations of prepared solutions should be known and recorded. A sample for analytical purposes of each batch of test item should be retained for all except short-term studies. This requirement has the potential to overload storage facilities very quickly, and some sensible arrangement must be made to archive samples of importance, while not giving an inspector cause to worry about inappropriate disposal of items. 

---