Search results for "Quality control"
showing 10 items of 180 documents
The EDNAP mitochondrial DNA population database (EMPOP) collaborative exercises: organisation, results and perspectives.
2003
This paper presents an overview of the organisation and the results of the collaborative exercises (CE) of the European DNA Profiling (EDNAP) Group's mitochondrial DNA population database project (EMPOP). The aim of the collaborative exercises was to determine whether uniformity of mtDNA sequencing results could be achieved among different laboratories. These were asked to sequence either the complete mtDNA control region or the two hypervariable regions HVI (16024-16365) and HVII (73-340) from DNA extracts, buccal swabs or bloodstains, proceeding in accordance with the protocol and strategies used in each individual laboratory. The results of the collaborative exercises were employed to id…
Automatic Quality Assessment of Cardiac MR Images with Motion Artefacts using Multi-task Learning and K-Space Motion Artefact Augmentation
2022
The movement of patients and respiratory motion during MRI acquisition produce image artefacts that reduce the image quality and its diagnostic value. Quality assessment of the images is essential to minimize segmentation errors and avoid wrong clinical decisions in the downstream tasks. In this paper, we propose automatic multi-task learning (MTL) based classification model to detect cardiac MR images with different levels of motion artefact. We also develop an automatic segmentation model that leverages k-space based motion artefact augmentation (MAA) and a novel compound loss that utilizes Dice loss with a polynomial version of cross-entropy loss (PolyLoss) to robustly segment cardiac st…
Multivariate data analysis of quality parameters in drinking water.
2001
The quality of water destined for human consumption has been treated as a multivariate property. Since most of the quality parameters are obtained by applying analytical methods, the routine analytical laboratory (responsible for the accuracy of analytical data) has been treated as a process system for water quality estimation. Multivariate tools, based on principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression, are used in the present paper to: (i) study the main factors of the latent data structure and (ii) characterize the water samples and the analytical methods in terms of multivariate quality control (MQC). Such tools could warn of both possible health risks rela…
Development of an Italian RM Y-STR haplotype database: Results of the 2013 GEFI collaborative exercise.
2015
Recently introduced rapidly mutating Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (RM Y-STR) loci, displaying a multiple-fold higher mutation rate relative to any other Y-STRs, including those conventionally used in forensic casework, have been demonstrated to improve the resolution of male lineage differentiation and to allow male relative separation usually impossible with standard Y-STRs. However, large and geographically-detailed frequency haplotype databases are required to estimate the statistical weight of RM Y-STR haplotype matches if observed in forensic casework. With this in mind, the Italian Working Group (GEFI) of the International Society for Forensic Genetics launched a collaborative ex…
Absence Ochratoxin A in soy sauce
2004
A method is described for the determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) in soy sauce using phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) extraction, an immunoaffinity clean-up, a liquid chromatographic determination with fluorescence detection (LC-FD) and confirmation with LC-FD after methylation of OTA. Recoveries of OTA spiked to soy sauce samples at 0.25 ng/ml level were 90% with relative standard deviations of 4%. The limit of detection was 0.01 ng/ml for OTA using the proposed method. Furthermore, the proposed method was applied to 60 soy sauce samples from China and Japan and none of them were found to contain OTA.
Quality control in the optical industry: From a work analysis of lens inspection to a training programme, an experimental case study
2007
A cognitive work analysis of quality inspection in the optical industry has been carried out in order to devise a training programme. The task concerned the inspection of high quality human eyeglass lenses. We conducted an experimental investigation of defect detection and acceptability decision-making tasks in 18 experts and novice inspectors. Detection and decision-making were investigated together and separately in two experimental sessions. We showed the effect of expertise on reaction times and errors, and we described the cognitive processes of novice inspectors. On the basis of the processing differences between the two groups, a training programme for new inspectors was devised and …
Changes in radiological protection and quality control in Spanish dental installations: 1996-2003.
2008
Introduction: The European Union has established specific directives concerning radiological protection which are obligatory for member States. In addition, all Spanish dental clinics with radiological equipment are required to have an annual quality control check. Objective: To analyze the effect of new European legislation on dental radiological practice in Spain and to determine whether it has resulted in lower doses being administered to patients. Material and Methods: A total of 10,171 official radiological quality control reports on Spanish dental clinics, covering 16 autonomous regions, were studied following the passing of Royal Decree 2071/1995 on quality criteria in radiodiagnosti…
Comparison of two partial least squares infrared spectrometric methods for the quality control of pediculosis lotions.
2006
Two vibrational spectroscopy procedures have been developed and compared for the direct and simultaneous determination of piperonyl butoxide and tetramethrin, the active ingredients of alcoholic capillary lotions, for hair pediculosis diseases. Nine lotions, purchased from the Spanish market, were analyzed using both, attenuated total reflectance (ATR) and transmission FT-IR measurements, and based on the use of partial least squares (PLS) multivariate calibration. A reduced set of 15 matched standards (11 for calibration and 4 for validation) was employed using both measurement modes. The spectral wave number ranges between 1757 and 1712 cm(-1) was selected to determine tetramethrin by bot…
Pollutant concentrations in placenta.
2011
Unborn children are exposed to environmental pollutants via the placenta, and there is a causal relationship between maternal intake of pollutants and fetal exposure. Placental examination is an effective way for acquiring data for estimating fetal exposure. We analyzed the concentrations of 104 congeners of persistent organic pollutants, seven organotin compounds, five heavy metals, and methylmercury in 130 randomly selected placentas. Additionally, we examined similarities between pollutant concentrations by analyzing correlations between their placental concentrations. Our results yield new information for conducting contaminant risk assessments for the prenatal period. Out of the 117 in…
Feature selection strategies for quality screening of diesel samples by infrared spectrometry and linear discriminant analysis.
2012
Abstract A rapid approach has been developed for the characterization of diesel quality, based on attenuated total reflectance – Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectrometry, which could be useful for diagnosing the sample quality condition. As a supervised technique, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was employed to process the spectrometric data. The role of variable selection methods was also evaluated. Successive projection algorithm (SPA) and genetic algorithm (GA) feature selection techniques were applied prior to the discriminative procedure. It was aimed to compare the effect of feature selection procedures on classification capability of IR spectrometry for the diesel sample…