Quality Assessment Strategies Research Articles

Strategies for Soil Quality Assessment Using Visible and Near‐Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy in a Western Kenya Chronosequence

Strategies for Soil Quality Assessment Using Visible and Near‐Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy in a Western Kenya Chronosequence

Strategies for Soil Quality Assessment Using Visible and Near‐Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy in a Western Kenya Chronosequence

Strategies for Soil Quality Assessment Using Visible and Near‐Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy in a Western Kenya Chronosequence

Assessment of storage effects in liquid preserved boar semen

Fertility of extended boar semen declines within the first 72 h of storage in vitro. Standard semen assessment, such as motility and membrane integrity, allows detection of lethal damage of spermatozoa. However, conventional sperm assessment often lacks standardization and does not allow identification of sub-lethal changes of sperm quality during the initial 72 h of storage. In the present brief review, recent strategies for quality assessment of liquid preserved boar semen are discussed and basic implications for experiments designed to detect storage effects are given.

MoniQA (Monitoring and Quality Assurance)—an EU-funded Network of Excellence (NoE) Contributing Toward a Harmonized Approach to Food Safety Management and Method Validation—Including Food Allergens

Reliable detection and quantification of allergens are essential in order to protect allergic consumers and to comply with labeling regulations. In recent years various allergen-detection methods have been published, and test kits have become commercially available. Due to the nature of the analytes (usually allergenic proteins, specific marker proteins, or specific DNA markers) and their susceptibility to various processing effects, reliability and comparability of results have posed a great challenge. Often processing and matrix effects hamper the extraction efficiency and the quantitative analysis of allergens or markers in food products. Both reference methods and reference materials are urgently needed in the field of allergen testing. The EU-funded Network of Excellence, MoniQA—Monitoring and Quality Assurance in the Total food Supply Chain (www.moniqa.org)—is working toward the harmonization of monitoring and control strategies for food quality and safety assessment and thus focuses on performance criteria for methods used to analyze foods and food products for safety and quality. MoniQA established various analyte-specific working groups: Microbiological Contaminants, Mycotoxins and Phycotoxins, Chemical Contaminants, Food Allergens, Food Additives and Processing Toxicants, Food Authenticity, and Emerging Issues. MoniQA’s Food Allergen Working Group (WG) is compiling information about the most important food allergens, identifying gaps, prioritizing requirements, and developing harmonization guidelines in collaboration with all stakeholder groups, which include industry, food authorities, consumers, and laboratories. The WG works on (1) harmonized validation protocols and certification criteria for allergen testing, (2) status recognition of allergen methods which underwent a validation trial, (3) reference/testing materials, (4) international ring trials for full validation of new reference/testing materials and analytical methods, and (5) the development of a reference method by supporting research toward the improved use of mass spectrometry in food allergen testing. Additionally training for research and industry in the areas of analytical method development, method validation and verification, allergen management, and risk communication and a database on available analytical methods, validation level, and legislation linked with the RASFF—EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed are provided.

Wine Quantity and Quality Variations in Relation to Climatic Factors in the Tokaj (Hungary) Winegrowing Region

The effects of climatic elements on wine quantity and quality for the winegrowing region of Tokaj-Hegyalja, Hungary, were analyzed. By applying the Makra test, significant breaks were detected in both the wine quantity and wine quality data sets. Analysis of the relationship between climatic variables and wine quantity and quality, using different statistical methods, confirmed that the most important factors of wine quantity are hours of sunshine in May, June, July, and August and precipitation in September. For wine qualilty, mean temperature, precipitation, and hours of sunshine in May and September play key roles in addition to precipitation in July and hours of sunshine in August. The role of climate in September is most important, since aszú (<i>Botrytis</i>) formation, as an important component of wine quality, depends largely on conditions during September. Results indicate that the significant variables obtained by factor analysis better explain linear relationships between climate and wine quantity and quality than those obtained by the χ² test. Seven objective vintage climate types were defined using the methods of factor and cluster analysis. Results show that the classification of vintage climate types is more effective in explaining variations in wine quantity than variations in wine quality. Overall, the research identifies the characteristics and importance of the climatic variables with significant relationships with wine quantity and quality in the region. The results are useful in applying quantity and quality assessment strategies for wine production in the region.

Source apportionment of particulate matter (PM 2.5) in an urban area using dispersion, receptor and inverse modelling

Air pollution emission inventories are the basis for air quality assessment and management strategies. The quality of the inventories is of great importance since these data are essential for air pollution impact assessments using dispersion models. In this study, the quality of the emission inventory for fine particulates (PM 2.5) is assessed: first, using the calculated source contributions from a receptor model; second, using source apportionment from a dispersion model; and third, by applying a simple inverse modelling technique which utilises multiple linear regression of the dispersion model source contributions together with the observed PM 2.5 concentrations. For the receptor modelling the chemical composition of PM 2.5 filter samples from a measurement campaign performed between January 2004 and April 2005 are analysed. Positive matrix factorisation is applied as the receptor model to detect and quantify the various source contributions. For the same observational period and site, dispersion model calculations using the Air Quality Management system, AirQUIS, are performed. The results identify significant differences between the dispersion and receptor model source apportionment, particularly for wood burning and traffic induced suspension. For wood burning the receptor model calculations are lower, by a factor of 0.54, but for the traffic induced suspension they are higher, by a factor of 7.1. Inverse modelling, based on regression of the dispersion model source contributions and the PM 2.5 concentrations, indicates similar discrepancies in the emissions inventory. In order to assess if the differences found at the one site are generally applicable throughout Oslo, the individual source category emissions are rescaled according to the receptor modelling results. These adjusted PM 2.5 concentrations are compared with measurements at four independent stations to evaluate the updated inventory. Statistical analysis shows improvement in the estimated concentrations for PM 2.5 at all sites. Similarly, inverse modelling is applied at these independent sites and this confirms the validity of the receptor model results.

Simplified Methodology to Estimate Emissions from Mobile Sources for Ambient Air Quality Assessment

Vehicle emissions from mobile sources are major contributors to air pollution and air quality degradation in the United States. The inventory of these emissions is a key component in ambient air quality assessment and air pollution abatement strategies. Procedures for preparing the mobile source emission inventory require complex data processing and calculations. This paper presents a simplified methodology for estimating vehicle emissions based on key parameters of vehicle model year, average vehicle speed, and air temperature, which have major effects on emission rates. Simplified multiple linear regression equations are developed from a database of the EPA’s MOBILE6 computations to calculate emission factors. The coefficient of determination (R2) values of the models range from 0.82 to 0.99. The methodology has been implemented in Mississippi and validated for rural areas in Ohio. The methodology is applicable to other areas in comparable geographical regions with similar traffic volume and fleet mix. The results of vehicle emissions show good correlation with daily ground-level ozone variations and can be effectively used for ozone modeling and air quality assessment.

Soil Quality Assessment of Tillage Impacts in Illinois

Successful soil quality assessment strategies are needed to improve our ability to manage soils sustainably. Our objective was to use a multivariate data set to determine whether recent adoption of no‐tillage (NT) practices had altered soil quality in Illinois. In 1995 and 1996, we sampled thirty‐six farm fields under conventional tillage (CT) or NT practices and relatively nondisturbed (ND) areas. Soils were Mollisols or Alfisols. Tillage or region affected 20 of the 23 parameters characterized. Soil chemical parameters were less variable than biological or physical measures. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to assess soil quality overall. Principal component 1 (PC1) scores, which explained 39% of the total variance of the overall data set, were affected by tillage (ND &gt; NT &gt; CT) and increased with particulate and organic C and total N, biological activity, mineralizable N, and wet aggregate stability, and decreased with bulk density and dry aggregate mean weight diameter. The only significant factor contributing to PC2 was penetration resistance; PC2 explained 13% of the variance and decreased as follows: NT ≥ ND &gt; CT. Multivariate assessment of soil quality indicated use of NT practices improved the biological and physical condition of the soil (0–15 cm) despite increased consolidation. It also showed that those biological and physical aspects of soils influenced by organic matter were the properties most altered by agronomic practices. Particulate organic matter (POM) was identified as a promising soil quality measure. A next step is to determine the biological and environmental relevance of a refined set of soil quality measures in conjunction with soil processes of regional concern.

National and regional surface water quality assessment in the Republic of South Africa

Concern over the deteriorating quality of South African surface water resources in the past several decades has resulted in a number of fundamental changes in the approach to national water quality management, the most significant being a shift from a point-source control approach to a more complex and information-intensive receiving-water-quality based strategy. These changes highlighted the urgent need for a new focus on the development of a balanced and integrated strategy for the national and regional assessment of water quality and aquatic ecosystem health. An overview of the current developments, direction and strategies for water quality assessment of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, is presented.

Performance indicators and quality assessment in European higher education

AbstractThe role of PIs at the national level in European countries appears to be on the decline at the same time that institutions are moving toward more broad‐based quality assessment strategies.

New strategies for quality assessment and Control of insects produced in artificial rearing systems

Quality assessment and control of artificially reared insects has been traditionally linked to how well the insects perform in their “intended role” or their “fitness for use”. This paper suggests that quality should be defined more in terms of success in survival and colonizing ability. It is argued that the rearing facility should be regarded as an “ecological habitat”. Differences between wild and artificially reared insect populations are therefore due to the different effects and demands placed on the insects by the two habitats. Assessment of quality and its subsequent control should be based on biological parameters that are constant in the two habitats like the larval critical weight (Lcw).