Information theory makes it possible to judge and evaluate methods and results in chemical analysis. The obtained information can be expressed in different ways. One way is to define information as the decrease of uncertainty after analysis. Conditional probabilities are therefore considered when evaluating the information provided by qualitative analyses. However, the use of other information measures, such as the information gain, is often preferable. In multicomponent analysis the translation of information from signals to the amounts of the analytes has been investigated along with the relevance of individual components. Information theory can also be applied to find the optimum experimental conditions. The evaluation of the properties of analytical methods by information theory has been proposed.
Negentropy is defined, which characterizes both the precision and the correctness of normally distributed results of quantitative analyses; its properties are discussed and its practical use is proposed in judging and optimizing analytical results.
Tightening of norms for air protection leads to a development of new and significantly more effective techniques for removing particulate matter, SOx and NOx from flue gas which originates from large solid fuel combustion. Recently, it has been found that combinations of these environmental technologies can also lead to the reduction of mercury emissions from coal power plants. Now the greatest attention is paid especially to the coal power plant in Opatovice nad Labem, close to Hradec Kralove. Its system for flue gas dedusting was replaced by a modern type of cloth fabric filter with the highest particle separation efficiency which belongs to the category of BAT. Using this technology, together with modernization of the desulphurisation device and increasing of nitrogen oxides removal efficiency, leads also to a reduction of mercury emissions from this power plant. The University of Hradec Kralove, the Opole University and EMPLA Hradec Kralove successfully cooperate in the field of toxic metals biomonitoring almost 20 years. In the Czech-Polish border region, comprehensive biomonitoring of mercury in bioindicators Xerocomus badius in 9 long-term monitored reference points is done. The values of mercury concentration measured in 2012 and 2016 were compared with values computed by a dispersion model SYMOS´97 (updated 2014). Thanks to modern methods of dedusting and desulphurisation, emissions of mercury from this large coal power plant are now smaller than before and that the downward trends continues. The results indicate that Xerocomus badius is a suitable bioindicator for a long-term monitoring of changes in mercury imissions in this forested border region. This finding is significant because it shows that this region is suitable for leisure, recreation, and rehabilitation.
It is shown that the use of the divergence measure for expressing the information content of the results of a quantitative analysis is justified only then if we need not to expect the rise of a systematic, i.e., statistically significant mean error. However, unless we can exclude the rise of a systematic error we have to adopt the information measure I(r, p, p0) proposed earlier; then of course every even statistically insignificant mean error has effect upon the information content. It is studied the relationship of this measure to another information measure used in a specific case for expressing the information content of biased results of a quantitative analysis.
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