2 HarvestPlus Technical Monographs are designed to provide a forum for HarvestPlus research outputs. Technical Monographs can be of two kinds: • state-of-the-art reviews that help to establish and define HarvestPlus research questions or • " gold standard " procedures to be followed in HarvestPlus research. HarvestPlus technical monographs are written by recognized experts in the field and are externally peer reviewed prior to publication.

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HarvestPlus Handbook for Carotenoid Analysis.

Computer Solution of Linear Algebraic Systems. By G. Forsythe and C. B. Moler. Pp. xi, 148. 1967. (Prentice-Hall.)

Recent reviews by researchers from academia, industry, and government have revealed that the criteria used by the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants under the United Nations Environment Programme are not always able to identify the actual bioaccumulative capacity of some substances, by use of chemical properties such as the octanol–water partitioning coefficient. Trophic magnification factors (TMFs) were suggested as a more reliable tool for bioaccumulation assessment of chemicals that have been in commerce long enough to be quantitatively measured in environmental samples. TMFs are increasingly used to quantify biomagnification and represent the average diet-to-consumer transfer of a chemical through food webs. They differ from biomagnification factors, which apply to individual species and can be highly variable between predator–prey combinations. The TMF is calculated from the slope of a regression between the chemical concentration and trophic level of organisms in the food web. The trophic level can be determined from stable N isotope ratios (δ15N). In this article, we give the background for the development of TMFs, identify and discuss impacts of ecosystem and ecological variables on their values, and discuss challenges and uncertainties associated with contaminant measurements and the use of δ15N for trophic level estimations. Recommendations are provided for experimental design, data treatment, and statistical analyses, including advice for users on reporting and interpreting TMF data. Interspecies intrinsic ecological and organismal properties such as thermoregulation, reproductive status, migration, and age, particularly among species at higher trophic levels with high contaminant concentrations, can influence the TMF (i.e., regression slope). Following recommendations herein for study design, empirical TMFs are likely to be useful for understanding the food web biomagnification potential of chemicals, where the target is to definitively identify if chemicals biomagnify (i.e., TMF > or < 1). TMFs may be less useful in species- and site-specific risk assessments, where the goal is to predict absolute contaminant concentrations in organisms in relation to threshold levels. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2012;8:64–84. © 2011 SETAC

Trophic magnification factors: Considerations of ecology, ecosystems, and study design

The sediment quality triad approach to determining pollution-induced degradation

Molecularly imprinted polymers were used as specific binding matrices for the solid phase extraction and cleanup of biological sample extracts. To demonstrate this, an anti-atrazine polymer was used to cleanup organic extracts of beef liver. Atrazine retention on the columns was greatest in chloroform. The binding capacity of the polymer in chloroform was 19 μmol of atrazine per gram. Purified and unpurified beef liver extracts were analyzed by both reversed-phase HPLC and ELISA. The use of molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) improved the accuracy and precision of the HPLC method and lowered the limit of detection (0.005 ppm). Atrazine recovery as determined by HPLC from beef liver homogenates spiked to levels from 0.005 to 0.5 ppm averaged 88.7% following MISPE and 60.9% for the unpurified extracts. Atrazine recovery as determined by ELISA averaged 92.8% following MISPE and 79.6% for the unpurified extracts. Crude tissue sample extracts interfered with both the HPLC and ELISA methods. Ho...

Molecularly Imprinted Solid Phase Extraction of Atrazine from Beef Liver Extracts

This document is a revision to the ''Guidelines for Data Acquisition and Data Quality Evaluation in Environmental Chemistry''. The guidelines presented are organized according to a general operational model for conducting analytical measurements of environmental samples. Elements needed to obtain reliable data as well as factors that have been shown to produce unreliable measurements, are identified. The principles described include planning, quality assurance and quality control, verification and validation, precision and accuracy, sampling, measurements, and documentation and reporting. Differing degrees of reliability, dictated by the objectives, time, and resources available, influence the protocol chosen to meet the requirements of a given problem. Advances in analytical methodology continue to lower the concentration levels at which reliable measurements can be made, and requirements for increased sensitivity provide an incentive for advances in analytical procedures. 4 figures, 1 table.

Principles of environmental analysis

Fair districting requires more than compact, contiguous equal-sized districts; namely, sets of districts should also possess certain features. Specifically, they should be neutral (treat all parties alike) and responsive to changes in votes. In order to establish the extent to which these goals can be achieved, we give a precise definition to the concept of neutrality and expand the notion of responsiveness into three characteristics: the range in actual votes over which a districting plan is responsive; the degree of responsiveness in the vicinity of the “normal vote” (i.e., competitiveness); and the constancy of the swing ratio (i.e., the rate at which vote changes yield seat changes) over a range of votes. We show that while all possible values for these features are readily attainable when considered individually, certain combinations of values cannot be achieved. Finally, we identify the nature of the compromises required and the properties that the compromises possess, and show the kinds of trade-offs that result in reasonably fair districting plans.

A Theory of Political Districting

A technique for fabricating novel infrared (IR) lenses can enable a reduction in the size and weight of IR
imaging optics through the use of layered glass structures. These structures can range from having a few thick
glass layers, mimicking cemented doublets and triplets, to having many thin glass layers approximating graded
index (GRIN) lenses. The effectiveness of these structures relies on having materials with diversity in refractive
index (large Δn) and dispersion and similar thermo-viscous behavior (common glass transition temperature, ΔTg
= 10°C). A library of 13 chalcogenide glasses with broad IR transmission (NIR through LWIR bands) was
developed to satisfy these criteria. The lens fabrication methodology, including glass design and synthesis,
sheet fabrication, preform making, lens molding and surface finishing are presented.

Layered chalcogenide glass structures for IR lenses

In ordinary least squares regression analysis the desired property of unbiasedness in estimated coefficients is contingent upon the correspondence of the fitted model with the true underlying data generating process. This paper focuses on developing a systematic characterization of the error forms resulting from model misspecification in single equation models. The consequences of model misspecification, for the error forms identified, are also evaluated.

The Consequences Of Model Misspecification In Regression Analysis.

In this probabilistic generalization of the Deegan-Packel power index, a new family of power indices based on the notions of minimal winning coalitions and equal division of pay offs is developed. The family of indices is parameterized by allowing minimal winning coalitions to form in accordance with varying probability functions. These indices are axiomatically characterized and compared to other similarly characterized indices. Additionally, a dual family of minimal blocking coalition indices and their characterization axioms is presented.

John Deegan

Papers

Principles of environmental analysis

A Theory of Political Districting

Layered chalcogenide glass structures for IR lenses

The Consequences Of Model Misspecification In Regression Analysis.

An axiomated family of power indices for simple n-person games