A copy of the
survey is available on the World Wide Web at www.nist.gov/public_affairs/survey.htm
or by faxing a request to NIST Public and Business Affairs at (301)
926-1630. Small manufacturers wishing to use MEP’s service can
reach their nearest center by calling (800) MEP-4MFG (637-4634).
Media
Contact:
Jan
Kosko, (301) 975-2767
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Diagnostics
European Directive
on Medical Testing Demands Traceability
The
European Union’s In Vitro Diagnostics Directive, which
is expected to be implemented by December 2003, will require the calibration
of medical devices for measuring specific substances in IVD samples,
such as cholesterol or glucose, to be traceable to a national standard.
U.S. manufacturers, which produce more than 60 percent of the devices
sold in Europe, will need to comply with the directive in order to
do business in the EU member countries.
A
recent workshop at NIST marked the first time that stakeholders worldwide
gathered to discuss the issues raised by the impending regulation
and make recommendations for dealing with it. Traceability to a national
standard will help assure that an individual test achieves the same
results for the IVD sample, no matter which manufacturer’s device
is used. Today, many diagnostic tests have to be redone because of
inconsistent results.
As a follow-up
to the “Workshop on Measurement Traceability for Clinical Laboratory
Testing and In Vitro Diagnostic Test Systems,” NIST is
developing a database of currently available reference materials and
methods, which will be accessible on the NIST World Wide Web site
within the next few months. This information will help the IVD industry
by serving as a benchmark for developing individual diagnostic tests.
For more information
about the workshop and NIST’s IVD testing activities, contact
William Koch.
Media
Contact:
Pamela
A. Houghtaling, (301) 975-5745
Fire
Research
NIST Assesses
Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarette for FTC
In
May 2000, the Federal Trade Commission requested that NIST’s
Building and Fire Research Laboratory conduct tests to determine whether
a cigarette being test marketed at the time and made with a slower
burning paper would reduce the risk, if dropped or discarded, of starting
a fire. This “reduced ignition propensity” technology has
been more commonly, but incorrectly, called “fire-safe”
in the past. While NIST does not rou-tinely perform product tests,
it agreed to do so in this case, recognizing the important role of
the FTC in assuring the public of the veracity of product claims and
the high potential for reduced ignition propensity cigarettes to reduce
fire deaths and injuries.
NIST
staff purchased conventional and modified cigarettes from the market
and measured the relative ignition propensities of the two cigarette
types using laboratory procedures developed by NIST under the Fire
Safe Cigarette Act of 1990 and now being considered as an industry
standard by the American Society of Testing and Materials. Analysis
of the test data, acquired between June 2000 and September 2000, shows
that the modified cigarette has a lower relative ignition propensity
than its conventional version.
An
Adobe Acrobat format copy of the report, Relative Ignition Propensity
of Test Market Cigarettes (NIST Technical Note 1436), is available
on the World Wide Web at www.nist.gov/public_affairs/cigarette.htm.
Questions and answers about NIST’s work with reduced ignition
propensity cigarettes may be found at the same address. For technical
information, contact Richard
Gann.
Media
Contact:
Michael
E. Newman, (301) 975-3025
Building
Research
Virtual Lab Consortium
to Test Concrete and Cement Formulas
Construction
engineers routinely wait 28 days after a concrete building mixture
has been made to test its comprehensive strength. Such stringent quality
controls produce results that make cement and concrete a favorite
choice of builders. However, these tests can be costly. In addition
to construction delays caused by the long waiting period, companies
also pay for the raw materials, materials storage and curing space,
employees to prepare the material and test it, and the disposal of
the test batch. Some firms spend more than $500,000 yearly on these
materials quality tests.
NIST researchers
and industry partners intend to change that situation. They recently
launched the Virtual Cement and Concrete Testing Laboratory Consortium
to develop a computer-based or “virtual” laboratory that
could quickly evaluate cement and concrete mixtures. VCCTL consortium
members will collect data on relevant raw materials and concrete mixtures,
incorporate the information into computer models, and then use the
computer simulation of different cement-based mixtures for rapid quality
evaluations. Once material characteristics of different concrete and
cement mixtures are known, computer models could reveal their “28-day
strengths,” as well as other properties of interest, within hours.
Six companies
have joined the VCCTL consortium so far. Further private-sector membership
is invited. Version 1.0 of the VCCTL software is available at http://vcctl.cbt.nist.gov.
For more information,
contact Dale
P. Bentz, or go to http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/862/vcctl
on the World Wide Web.
Media
Contact:
John
Blair, (301) 975-4261
Physics
Two NIST-Funded
Experiments Testing Fundamentals of Reality
Two
new experiments that will test important aspects of our fundamental
understanding of the nature of matter have been launched under the
NIST Precision Measurement Grants program. Both experiments—one
to look for the hypothetical electron electric dipole moment, and
one to test the charge, parity and time symmetry of reality—are
expected to be at least a thousand times more sensitive than previous
efforts.
David P. DeMille
of Yale University is leading an effort to measure the electric dipole
moment of electrons in lead oxide (represented by the symbol PbO)
under special conditions. In a molecule (such as water) or an atomic
particle where there is a difference between the centers of the positive
charge and the negative charge, the electric dipole moment is a measure
of how strong the charges are and how far apart their centers are.
Despite many attempts, no one has ever measured an electric dipole
moment for the electron, and in fact, the standard model of elementary
particle physics says that it should be too small to be observable.
DeMille’s experiment takes advantage of particular properties
of PbO that should allow him to achieve a measurement 10,000 times
more sensitive than the previous best.
The experiment
under way by Michael V. Romalis of the University of Washington involves
the construction of a novel atomic spin magnetometer to test the so-called
charge-parity-time symmetry of nature. CPT symmetry is a fundamental
property of most models of physical reality; if you simultaneously
invert the electrical charge, parity (upside-down mirror image), and
direction of time of basic particles, all the equations of physics
remain the same. There are no known examples of the violation of CPT
symmetry. Romalis’s instrument will simultaneously measure the
precession of potassium and helium-3 atoms as the Earth rotates on
its axis and moves through the field of cosmic microwave background
radiation. If the precession frequency of the atoms changes with the
same period as the Earth’s daily rotation, this will imply a
CPT violation. However, if such an effect exists it will be extraordinarily
small. Romalis’s magnetometer is expected to be 1,000 times more
sensitive than previous experiments along these lines.
NIST Precision
Measurement Grants are awarded annually to faculty members of U.S.
universities or colleges for significant, primarily experimental research
in the field of fundamental measurement or the determination of fundamental
constants. For more information, go to http://physics.nist.gov/pmg
on the World Wide Web.
Media
Contact:
Michael
Baum, (301) 975-2763
Advisory
Committees
Reports Praise
NIST for 2000 Accomplishments
The
Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology, NIST’s primary private-sector
advisory board, has released its annual report that evaluates the
agency’s fiscal year 2000 performance of its mission to work
with U.S. industry to promote economic growth. The report, which is
submitted to the Secretary of Commerce for transmittal to Congress,
reviews and makes recommendations regarding the general policy, organization,
budget and programs of NIST.
In the report,
the VCAT stated that it “finds NIST to be a significant national
asset, unquestionably the world’s leading measurement and standards
organization.” The VCAT also recognized the success and value
of NIST’s extramural programs, saying that “ ... the Manufacturing
Extension Partnership, Advanced
Technology Program and Baldrige
National Quality Program furnish key support to small companies,
to the development and commercialization of new technologies, and
to the quality-based competitiveness of all U.S. organizations.”
A second private-sector
steering group, the Advanced Technology Program Advisory Committee,
also recently issued a report—this one evaluating and praising
the FY 2000 activities of NIST’s program that provides co-funding
for new and innovative industrial research projects that are technically
challenging but hold the promise of important economic or social benefits
for the nation.
Single copies
of the VCAT and ATP Advisory Committee 2000 Annual Reports are available
by faxing a request to NIST Public Inquiries, (301) 926-1630, or sending
an e-mail message to inquiries@nist.gov.
Media
Contact:
Michael
E. Newman, (301) 975-3025
Go back to NIST News Page
Editor:
Michael E. Newman
Date
created: 2/20/01
Last updated:
2/20/01
Page maintained by Crissy Robinson
