Cryogenic Technology Information Database Program

A Look at its Past Decade and a Gaze towards its Future. As the National Metrology Institute (NMI) for the United States, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), formerly the National Bureau of Standards, has provided measurement services, both calibrations and reference materials, for more than 100 years. Through these services, our customers have benefitted from our measurement capabilities and expertise in many areas, including amount of substance; dimensional metrology; electricity and magnetism; ionizing radiation; mass and related quantities; photometry and radiometry; thermodynamics; and time and frequency. NIST’s customers have also had access to some of the lowest measurement uncertainties available and a dependable way to establish traceability to the International System of Units (SI) [http://www.nist.gov/pml/wmd/metric/si-units.cfm].In response to the signing of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), NIST first established an institution-wide quality system for the measurement services 10 years ago [http://www.bipm.org/en/cipm-mra/objectives.html]. NIST’s Quality System for Measurement Services has advanced the quality of service and measurements we provide our customers by fostering an environment in which NIST management and staff work towards continual improvement in the development and delivery of NIST measurement services. This paper describes NIST’s Quality System for the Measurement Services and its relevance to international standards of quality, such as the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17025 standard and ISO Guide 34 [http://www.nist.gov/nistqs/]. It also provides a history of this quality system and a glimpse of future goals for improving its implementation.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), formerly the National Bureau of Standards, was established by the U.S. Congress in 1901 and charged with establishing a measurement foundation to facilitate U.S. and international commerce. NIST provides reference materials and reference instruments that are used to ensure the accuracy, metrological traceability, and comparability of measurement results in many diverse fields of science, industry, and technology. This document provides and explains the vocabulary used at NIST to describe the reference materials and reference instruments available to NIST s customers. This document also describes the methods used in developing NIST reference materials. The definitions and descriptions provided supersede those used in the original versions of this publication, NIST SP260-136 and SP260-136-2020.

Mass energy-transfer l^tr/P mass energy-absorption coefficients are tabulated in units of cm^/g for photon energies between 1 keV and 100 MeV for 29 elements (Z=l-92) , and 14 mixtures and compounds of general dosimetric interest. Cross sections for photo-effect, incoherent scattering, pair and triplet production are those compiled or generated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) , (formerly the National Bureau of Standards) . Corrections are included for in-flight positron annihilation, previously not applied in NIST calculations for energies above 10 MeV. Agreement with recently published data is good for energies above 1 MeV, but we find differences in mass energy-absorption coefficients in the low energy region of as much as 4% compared with the last NIST compilation, and as much as 9% when compared with other recent compilations A150 TE plastic

Recent Advances in Computational Design of Organic Materials for Corrosion Protection of Steel in Aqueous Media

The cost of chemical process equipment per ton of product depends strongly on the original choice of materials of construction, and on the proper application of these materials. Inappropriate material selection or improper fabrication methods raises the process cost because of the downtime and maintenance costs required to repair corrosion damage. Where processes involve hazardous chemicals, incorrect materials usage can also jeopardize the safety of plant workers. Computer-based intelligent information systems can provide relevant material selection and fabrication advice in a readily accessible format. If made available to plant personnel who are not materials specialists, such advice can contribute to reduced equipment costs and minimized safety hazards. The Materials Technology Institute of the Chemical Process Industries (MTI) with the support of the Nickel Development Institute is sponsoring a project at the NACE-NIST Corrosion Data Center in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), formerly the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), to develop expert systems concerning materials for handling hazardous chemicals. Expert systems are computer programs that provide expert advice within a specific domain. Useful not only by themselves, expert systems can also be incorporated within intelligent information systems which may include other expert systems, databases, full-text search and retrieval from technical articles, subroutines for calculations, and other types of computer programs. This paper will summarize expert system technology, describe an MTI-NACE-NIST system which provides advice on the use of materials for shipping, handling and storing concentrated sulfuric acid and oleum, and suggest other areas in which this technology may develop.

Concentration data on up to 90 individual constituents in USGS AGV‐1, GSP‐1, and G‐2 have been collected from 1270 journal articles and technical reports. These data are summarized in consensus (mean) values with uncertainties expressed as +/‐ one standard deviation. Mean values are also calculated as a function of analytical procedure and all raw data are given in the tables. Recommended values are proposed based upon data criteria used by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology, formerly the National Bureau of Standards or NBS).

Concentration data on 73 individual constituents in United States Geological Survey (USGS) Geochemical Exploration Reference Materials GXR‐1 to GXR‐6 have been collected from 131 journal articles and technical reports. These data are summarized as consensus (mean) values with uncertainties expressed as one standard deviation. Mean values are also calculated as a function of analytical procedure and all raw data are given in the tables. Recommended values are proposed based upon data criteria used by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology, formerly the National Bureau of Standards or NBS).

Standards provide critical benefits across a wide variety of contexts, including safety and health, environmental protection, and quality of products and services. However, while these benefits are generally acknowledged, estimating the social and economic value of standards and determining how specific entities and activities influence their development require careful analysis. In October of 2018, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) asked the RAND Corporation to estimate the benefit of NIST’s research contributing to particular fire safety standards. The original objectives of the project were to (1) document the role of the NIST in the standards development process, (2) estimate the value these standards provide to society, and (3) thereby inform the economic value of NIST’s contribution to these standards. This report presents results for the first two objectives. Given that NIST’s contribution is one of several inputs combining to create these standards, NIST’s share of the credit for their value could not be quantified. Our analysis focused on case studies in standards for home smoke alarms and for protecting structures at the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Our analysis draws on a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to holistically describe the impacts of these standards and NIST’s role in their development. The intended audience of this report includes those who work on fire safety research, fire safety standards, building codes, and technology transfer. The conclusions presented here may also be of interest for broader resource allocation and federal budget justification purposes. Finally, this report was written to be accessible to any interested members of the general public.

The Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) which was published in the Federal Register on May 18, 2005, requires that calibration of mercury continuous emissions monitors (CEMs) be performed with NIST-traceable standards. Western Research Institute (WRI) is working closely with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to facilitate the development of the experimental criteria for a NIST traceability protocol for dynamic elemental mercury vapor generators. The traceability protocol will be written by EPA. Traceability will be based on the actual analysis of the output of each calibration unit at several concentration levels ranging from about 2-40 ug/m{sup 3}, and this analysis will be directly traceable to analyses by NIST using isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ID ICP/MS) through a chain of analyses linking the calibration unit in the power plant to the NIST ID ICP/MS. Prior to this project, NIST did not provide a recommended mercury vapor pressure equation or list mercury vapor pressure in its vapor pressure database. The NIST Physical and Chemical Properties Division in Boulder, Colorado was subcontracted under this project to study the issue in detail and to recommend a mercury vapormore » pressure equation that the vendors of mercury vapor pressure calibration units can use to calculate the elemental mercury vapor concentration in an equilibrium chamber at a particular temperature. As part of this study, a preliminary evaluation of calibration units from five vendors was made. The work was performed by NIST in Gaithersburg, MD and Joe Rovani from WRI who traveled to NIST as a Visiting Scientist.« less

Authors

During the 1920s, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) greatly expanded the kinds of activities it undertook, leading to a sense that the agency was ubiquitous. Some of the agency’s new activities were quasi-regulatory: they sought to shape markets and make products safer. The bureau was a part of the Department of Commerce, and its expansion of market-shaping activities took place when Herbert Hoover was Commerce Secretary. In Ellis Hawley’s influential, oft-repeated interpretation of the bureau’s actions during this period, Hoover pioneered an “associational” mode of governance that emphasized industry self-regulation and rational coordination via conferences, trade associations, and other gatherings. In this essay I show how the NBS under Hoover went well beyond fostering industry self-regulation, thus suggesting the need to revise Hawley’s interpretation. This essay is divided into two main sections: the first section examines the thinking of George K. Burgess, who rose to head the NBS in the early 1920s and who put forth an ambitious vision for the bureau’s role in society, particularly around its potential to improve products on the market. The second section then examines one case of the agency’s proliferation of new organizational routines, namely those around the automobile. A close consideration of Burgess and the NBS’s new routines indicates that the NBS extended its reach far beyond its traditional bounds. Most of these novel efforts were aimed at increasing the market’s virtues.

As cybersecurity issues surge, it highlights the pressing need for increased awareness. In our digitally interconnected world, where information technology underpins the lives of individuals, businesses, and even national security, the threat of cyberattacks looms large. To enhance national cybersecurity preparedness, there is a critical call to action: we must promote public awareness of cybersecurity issues and bolster the ranks of trained cybersecurity professionals. This research introduces a novel cybersecurity awareness model based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Its primary goal is to make NIST accessible to secondary school students pursuing ICT courses and their invaluable resource, the school counselling units. The model aims to instil cybersecurity awareness in secondary school students and guide them in choosing the most suitable higher education paths, particularly in the ICT and cybersecurity fields. The study comprises three phases. In the first phase, a systematic literature review (SLR) examines globally applicable cybersecurity education models. The second phase investigates the implementation of cybersecurity education for secondary school students in Malaysia. This includes interviews with school counselling units responsible for guiding students toward higher education and surveys of students in grades four and five enrolled in ICT courses. The third and pivotal phase focuses on developing the proposed model. It involves analysing and implementing the results of the SLR, mapping them to the NIST framework, and incorporating themes from interviews and surveys. As a tangible representation of the model, a mobile application prototype has been developed. The Cybersecurity Awareness Model empowers school counselling units to seamlessly integrate career exploration with career decision-making for secondary students at any stage of their development. Moreover, it offers a means to create strategies for after-school programs, particularly in the dynamic field of cybersecurity. This model is expected to guide students in exploring academic majors and careers, preparing for higher education post-high school, initiating internships or job searches, and adapting to a world in constant flux. In doing so, it not only empowers individuals but also strengthens the nation's resilience in the face of cybersecurity challenges.

The maturity method is a technique to account for the combined effects of time and temperature on the strength development of concrete. The method provides a relatively simple approach for making reliable estimates of in-place strength during construction. The origin of the method can be traced to work on steam curing of concrete carried out in England in the late 1940s and early 1950s. As a result of technology transfer efforts by the Federal Highway Administration, there is renewed interest in the method within the United States. The purpose of this paper is to review of the basic concepts underlying the method and to explain how the method is applied. The review focuses on work carried out by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly the National Bureau of Standards).

ATOMIC IMAGING H einrich Rohrer and Gerd Binnig were not the first to spy on the world of atoms when the two IBM scientists invented the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in the early 1980s. In the late 1950s, for example, Erwin Mueller at Pennsylvania State University had invented an atom-resolving device called the field ion microscope. In a vacuum chamber, a strong electric field tore charged atoms from the surface of a sample, sending them careening into a detector in positions that reflected their arrangement in the sample. Field ion microscopy, however, was limited to metal samples drawn into very sharp points. But in the late 1960s, one of Mueller's former students invented a device that could have anticipated the STM directly—if only he had completed it. Russell Young, then at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology), called his instrument the “topografiner,” after a Greek word meaning to describe a place. And to STM aficionados, its basic scheme has a familiar ring. Piezoelectric elements scanned its fine metal tip across a surface, with feedback and control systems maintaining the tip at a constant height. Young and colleagues John Ward and Fredric Scire even measured tunneling currents—the basis of the STM—when they brought the topografiner's tip sufficiently close to a metal sample. They published reports claiming that the effect could, in principle, be used to measure a surface position to within about 0.3 nanometer, or about atomic resolution. “One can honestly say that the instrument developed [at NBS] and the instrument that achieved atomic resolution [at the IBM Zurich Research Center] looked very similar,” says Roland Wiesendanger of the University of Hamburg. But Young ran into technical and bureaucratic difficulties. Vibrations and other perturbations were preventing the topografiner from seeing atoms. In a 1972 paper in the Review of Scientific Instruments , the NBS researchers gave some sense of the difficulties by pointing out that they were able to achieve tunneling currents only by running experiments during odd hours when their building's air conditioner was off and by operating the instrument remotely so that their own movements would not generate resolution-killing disturbances. Binnig and Rohrer later solved these problems with multitiered isolation systems. Young never had a chance to try. In 1971, NBS management took him off the topografiner project in a resource-allocation decision. But Young never forgot that he was once on the verge of seeing atoms—and neither did the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In awarding the 1986 Nobel Prize in physics to Binnig and Rohrer, the Nobel committee acknowledged Young's close approach to the STM and blamed his failure to beat Binnig and Rohrer on “exceptionally large experimental difficulties.”

In the fall of 2019, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) funded threes studies to better understand equity and inclusivity. This report documents phase two of a three phased sequential, exploratory mixed methods study designed to provide an in-depth look at the population of NIST federal employees to identify factors, attitudes, and processes that might result in gender- specific barriers at NIST. Phase 1 analyzed human resources demographic data, compensation data, and performance data of NIST federal employees from 2011 to 2019 to determine any relevant trends. Phase 1 informed the development of an in-depth interview protocol designed to identify the differences, if any, in the ways in which men and women experience work at NIST. A total of 40 (36 female and 4 male) participants were interviewed. Three interconnected themes emerged in the data: 1) a culture at NIST that creates a Chilly Climate for women; 2) gendered experiences that contribute to and are outcomes of that chilly climate; and 3) gendered outcomes that influence women s experiences in the organization. The culture has evolved from NIST s scientific roots, scientific excellence, a strong belief in meritocracy, and as a Federal agency. Each of these characteristics contribute to a gendered social structure and the perception that change is not needed. This backdrop sets the stage for the characterizations of NIST from the interviews as a Boys Club and an Elitist environment. The radically different perspectives of men and women based in the culture result in experiences and outcomes that provide advantages and opportunities for men while erecting barriers to survival for women, including isolation and possibly exclusion. These barriers result in consequences of discrimination as well as lack of trust and resignation. Participant quotes are used as exemplars to provide details related to each of these themes. Overall, the interviews demonstrate that women and men experience a very different NIST.