Vocabulary of terms in protometrology

Protometrology is a new term recently proposed to designate the science of observation. As any field of knowledge needs a terminological system, in this article a system of terms and definitions on protometrology, with examples belonging to clinical laboratory sciences, is presented. This terminological system starts with the definitions of the two primitive concepts “object” and “property”.

Metrology for chemical engineers

 The first full-semester course on Quality Assurance in Chemical Measurement was held at the Technical University of Denmark from September to December 1999. The course required sufficient knowledge of basic statistics to understand and apply the methods recommended in ISO 5725–1/6 Accuracy of Measurement Methods and Results. The main purpose of the course was, however, to familiarize PhD students with the BIPM philosophy, using the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Guide to Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement, which was accepted by IUPAC and other international scientific organizations in 1993. Chemists are notoriously reluctant to accept the BIPM philosophy, but the appearance of a new Draft Guide Quantifying Uncertainty in Analytical Measurement at the EURACHEM Workshop in Helsinki in June 1999 stimulated us to make an attempt to overcome such chemical prejudice. After thorough reading of the examples presented in the Draft Guide, each of the participating students had to prepare an uncertainty budget for their own particular project and present it to the other participants for discussion. Eventually the students learned how to verify their uncertainty budgets by means of experimental results; this invariably entailed a re-evaluation of the uncertainty components in the original budget. The revised budget was again verified, and this iteration was continued until the budget correctly predicted the uncertainty of individual results covering the whole range of applicability of the analytical method. The paper presents the detailed structure of this first course, as well as improvements in the next course scheduled for the year 2000.     

Metrology in Iceland: a status report

 The metrology system in Iceland has been reviewed and developed in the light of the increased needs of industry and other users of the system, in some cases to comply with the requirements of the agreement between the European Union and the European Economic Area which the Icelandic government signed in 1992. After a short historical review, the current legislation is explained, the metrological infrastructure is described, and the plans for the coming years are discussed. Received: 27 November 1995 Accepted: 18 December 1995     

Metrology in chemistry: Part II. Future requirements in Europe

 The paper (Parts I and II) reports the results of a survey carried out to assess the current situation in the field of metrology in chemistry within Europe and to identify future needs for work at the European level. Responses to a questionnaire covering 17 economic sectors and distributed to 17 countries plus the European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC JRC), together with input from a project group, EURACHEM and EUROMET, provided the basis of the study. Part I covers the protocol for the study and reports current activities. Part II reports suggestions for future work, a strategy for metrology in chemistry and recommendations for the EC Fifth Framework Programme.     

Metrology in chemistry: Part I. Current activities in Europe

 The paper (Parts I and II) reports the results of a survey carried out to assess the current situation in the field of metrology in chemistry within Europe and to identify future needs for work at the European level. Responses to a questionnaire covering 17 economic sectors and distributed to 17 countries plus the European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC JRC), together with input from a project group, EURACHEM and EUROMET provided the basis of the study. The questionnaire responses clearly indicated that only a minority of countries had clearly defined responsibilities for policy, funding and technical leadership. Similarly only a small number of countries was able to provide any information about levels of funding. Nonetheless, a variety of work is in progress and in some countries the effort is considerable. In other countries discussion is in progress and /or work is beginning. Part I covers the protocol for the study and reports current activities. Part II reports suggestions for future work, a strategy for metrology in chemistry and recommendations for the EC Fifth Framework Programme. Received: 11 January 1999 / Accepted: 4 January 2000     

1999-2016年期刊《绿色化学》载文的计量分析

绿色化学是新兴的学科交叉领域,了解其知识体系的发展及研究态势,有助于讨论当代学科的发展特点。本文选取该领域的权威期刊《绿色化学》(Green Chemistry)作为研究对象,运用Cite Space与VOSviewer等可视化工具对1999~2016年该刊载文进行了计量分析。研究表明,《绿色化学》自创刊以来,其影响因子与载文量快速增长,学术研究进展较快。目前,该领域的核心地区、机构、研究人员集中在美国、中国、英国、德国、荷兰等国家,国际合作十分频繁。绿色化学领域的研究热点包括离子液体、生物质、催化等主题。     

The Surface Analysis Working Group at the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance,Metrology in Chemistry and Biology: A successful initiative by Martin Seah

Dr Martin Seah, NPL, was the initiator, founder, and first chairman of the Surface Analysis Working Group (SAWG) at the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance, Metrology in Chemistry and Biology (CCQM) at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), the international organization established by the Metre Convention. This tribute letter summarizes his achievements during his chairmanship and his long-running impact on the successful work of the group after his retirement.     

Metrology in service of society: the role of proficiency testing

A sound system of competent measurements, underpinned by standards and accreditation, is an essential component of the infrastructure of any modern society. Proficiency Testing is an indispensible tool for developing and maintaining this infrastructure. It is used to verify compliance with standards, for ongoing monitoring of laboratory performance, for demonstration of competence, and for evaluating the performance of measurement procedures; it is used to indicate performance problems that might not be detected otherwise; and it is used as a tool for education and self-improvement. The new International Standard, ISO/IEC 17043, contains requirements and recommendations to make optimal use of this important tool.     

Metrology for Chemical Measurements and the Position of INAA

Metrology systems are being established by various countries for the worldwide comparability of data related to trade, industrial products, health, and the environment. This has in turn led to an increased interest in methods that have the highest possible accuracy and precision. The relevance of instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for metrological science has been evaluated. It is concluded that INAA is a suitable technique for method validation, proficiency testing, development of reference materials and reference methods. Moreover, it is concluded that INAA may comply with the CCQM definition of a definitive or primary ratio method provided that the uncertainty in the results is reduced to much lower levels compared to those currently encountered in most NAA laboratories.     

Approaching target uncertainty in proficiency testing schemes: experience in the field of water measurement

Good correspondence between evaluations of the proficiency testing data for water measurements according to different scoring schemes was found as a result of implementation of the measurement quality according to the target uncertainty defined in the Drinking Water Directive. The accuracy of the evaluation is determined by the uncertainty of the assigned value, and this uncertainty should be in correspondence with the target uncertainty. Modification of the zeta-score by the thorough application of the target uncertainty is presented. It is convenient for generalised presentation of the proficiency testing data. The allowed bias is included as a linear term on the measured value scale, as it is treated in uncertainty analysis. The importance of implementation of the target measurement uncertainty in other fields of the routine measurements is indicated.     

Chemical measurement and the law: metrology and quality issues

To facilitate just and sound decisions legal measurements must be reliable. The aim of this paper is to explore how this is currently achieved and how it might be better done. It considers the different types of legal proceedings, the role of chemical measurement, level of proof, the different types of chemical measurement, measurement units, the role of government, the chemical measurement industry and its control, legal metrology and the development of a measurement system based on metrological principles. It is argued that recent developments provide the basis for a robust support system, that but more needs to be done. It is also argued that the conventional approach to legal metrology has little place in chemical measurement, but that some controls are needed in some areas. In particular, a harmonised approach to international measurement standards is advocated. Received: 29 December 2000 Accepted: 8 January 2001     

CITAC Award 2009: the three most interesting papers in Metrology in Chemistry

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CITAC Award 2009: the three most interesting papers in Metrology in Chemistry     

Simple principles for metrology in chemistry: identifying and counting

We examine the problem of quantitative chemical measurement for well-identified substances, discuss the quantity called ‘amount of substance’, the means of expressing it, and its physical SI unit the mole. The everyday quantity which is a number of entities may be measured by the performance of two operations (identification and counting), the results of which may be communicated with two items of information (their name and the number of entities). We distinguish nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales of measurement and apply these to counting, referring to ordinal and cardinal numbers and Helmholtz’ analysis of measurement. Counting may be by direct serial numeration, direct parallel numeration, or comparative numeration. We discuss the limitations of serial numeration, the possibilities of parallel numeration, and the advantages of comparative numeration where a unit for counting in multiples (such as the analyst’s mole) may be used to define a scale on which equal numbers of objects correspond to equal values of some other physical quantity. We conclude that the numeration of very large numbers of objects is readily achieved but with unavoidable uncertainty, using operations which compare numbers of entities either to numbers of other entities or to some other quantity which accurately models numbers of entities.     

Conformity assessment and metrology: update on the state of affairs

A couple of years ago, ISO CASCO launched a major project of transforming all the existing ISO Guides on conformity assessment to a comprehensive series of ISO standards 17000 being now in various stages of development. As the concept of traceability underpinning all measurements has been a basic mission of metrology, a number of these standards have a direct bearing on metrology. The series is logically based on a definition standard, ISO 17000, giving, among others, a guidance which activities fall under conformity assessment. The fact that calibration does not, might have important consequences which must yet be assessed. A controversial discussion on some issues has been in progress concerning ISO 17011 on accreditation bodies which touches both on national metrology institutes (NMIs) with an accreditation function and on calibration labs at large. ISO 17040 on peer review could be used with an advantage to support mutual recognition arrangements among a limited number of bodies of a specialized expertise (e.g., CIPM MRA among NMIs under the Metre Convention). ISO 17025 has been the most important standard for the metrology community and has undergone a major overhaul taking on board the uncovered requirements from ISO 9001:2000. In general, the paper will give an update on the developments outlined above and discuss the consequences and further steps from the viewpoint of metrology.     

第12届全国大学生化学实验邀请赛情况和实验笔试题解析

介绍了第12届全国大学生化学实验邀请赛实验笔试题的命题思路,对参赛选手的答题情况和反映出的问题进行了总结分析。