Traceable measurements in clinical laboratories

 Reliable, traceable and comparable measurements provide the rational basis for evaluation of the quality of a result and the starting point for recognized laboratory accreditation in any national area. Modern medical diagnostics and treatment involve rapidly rising numbers and types of clinical laboratory measurements, that are reliable. Therefore, the basic principles to be followed to assure the traceability of clinical measurements as required by the Romanian Laws of Metrology are reviewed. Main sources affecting the quality of the unbroken chain of calibrations that relate the measurements back to appropriate measurement standards are discussed. Examples of how to achieve traceable measurements in clinical laboratories are presented. Details of specific uses of reference materials, measuring instruments and standard measurement methods are also discussed. Received: 8 January 1998 · Accepted: 21 April 1998     

Vapor pressure measurement for water,methanol, ethanol,and their binary mixtures in the presence of an ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dimethylphosphate

Vapor pressure data were measured for water, methanol and ethanol as well as their binary mixtures with an ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dimethylphosphate ([EMIM][DMP]) at varying temperature and IL-content ranging from mass fraction of 0.10–0.70 by a quasi-static method. The vapor pressure data for the IL-containing binary systems were correlated using NRTL equation with average absolute relative deviation (ARD) within 0.0076, and the binary NRTL parameters was used for predicting the vapor pressure of the IL-containing ternary systems with reasonable accuracy. In addition, the infinite activity coefficients of solvents in [EMIM][DMP] and isobaric vapor–liquid equilibrium for IL-containing ternary systems at 101.325 kPa and mass fraction of IL being 0.5 were predicted with the regressed NRTL parameters. The results indicate that ionic liquid [EMIM][DMP] can depress the volatility of the solvents of water, methanol and ethanol but to a varying degree, leading to the variation of relative volatility of a solvent and even removal of azeotrope for water–ethanol mixture.     

The application of the measurement uncertainty concept to in-process control in pharmaceutical development

 Any analytical data is used to provide information about a sample. The "possible error" of the measurement can be of extreme importance in order to have complete information. The measurement uncertainty concept is a way to achieve quantitative information about this "possible error" using an estimation procedure. On the basis of the analytical result, the chemist makes a decision on the next step of the development process. If the uncertainty is unknown, the information is not complete; therefore this decision might be impossible. The major problem for the in-process control (IPC) procedure is that not only the repeatability but also the intermediate precision (which expresses the variations within laboratories related to different days, different analysts, different equipment, etc.) has to be good enough to make a decision. Unfortunately, the statistical information achieved from one single analytical run only gives information about the repeatability. This paper shows that the estimation of the measurement uncertainty for IPC is a way to solve the problem and gives the necessary information about the quality of the procedure. An example demonstrates that an estimate of uncertainty based on the standard deviations of an analytical method gives a value similar to one based on the standard deviations obtained from a control chart. Therefore, the estimation is both a very useful and also a very cost-effective tool. Though measurement uncertainty cannot replace validation in general, it is a viable alternative to validation for all methods that will never be used routinely. Received: 24 May 1996 Accepted: 10 August 1996     

Improved quantification limits in chiral capillary electrochromatography by peak compression effects

The peak compression effect has been applied to improve quantification limits in chiral capillary electrochromatography (CEC). A stationary phase based on the chiral selector vancomycin (Chirobiotic V) was used for separations of the enantiomers of mianserin. By adding solvents with a low dielectric constant, e.g. 2-propanol or tetrahydrofuran, to the sample solution, peak compression could be induced. The plate numbers for the minor enantiomer increased from approximately 100,000 to 1.4-1.6 million plates/m, when the composition of the mobile phase was adjusted so that the analyte eluted within either one of two system zones originating from the sample solution. A 10-fold improvement in the quantification limit for the minor enantiomer was obtained compared to elution under non-focused conditions.     

Estimation of uncertainty in routine pH measurement

A procedure for estimation of measurement uncertainty of routine pH measurement (pH meter with two-point calibration, with or without automatic temperature compensation, combination glass electrode) based on the ISO method is presented. It is based on a mathematical model of pH measurement that involves nine input parameters. Altogether 14 components of uncertainty are identified and quantified. No single uncertainty estimate can be ascribed to a pH measurement procedure: the uncertainty of pH strongly depends on changes in experimental details and on the pH value itself. The uncertainty is the lowest near the isopotential point and in the center of the calibration line and can increase by a factor of 2 (depending on the details of the measurement procedure) when moving from around pH 7 to around pH 2 or 11. Therefore it is necessary to estimate the uncertainty separately for each measurement. For routine pH measurement the uncertainty cannot be significantly reduced by using more accurate standard solutions than ±0.02 pH units – the uncertainty improvement is small. A major problem in estimating the uncertainty of pH is the residual junction potential, which is almost impossible to take rigorously into account in the framework of a routine pH measurement.¹ Received: 11 August 2001 Accepted: 22 February 2002     

测量散射参数的交互换位双信号方法及其应用

叙述了外内向功率波复数比的测量方法,给出了散射参数测量的交互换位双信号测量线方法。用此方法测量了双栅ＧａＡｓＭＥＳＦＥＴ适用散射参数,并用它设计Ｓ波段混合集成双栅ＧａＡｓＭＥＳＦＥＴ可控增益放大器。测试结果与设计吻合。     

基于UVM的PCI Express总线控制器验证平台

针对高速外设部件互连(Peripheral Component Interconnect Express,PCIe)总线控制器数据格式复杂、链路状态繁多的特点,提出了基于System Verilog语言的通用验证方法学(Universal Verification Methodology,UVM)验证平台。相较于传统定向验证方法,该验证平台中的验证用例使用受约束的随机方式对PCIe模块进行充分验证,能自动进行结果比对,并在回归测试中自动收集覆盖率数据。结果表明,该验证平台可以快速定位设计缺陷,在兼顾较好的可重用性和可配置性的同时,实现覆盖率验证目标,大大提高验证效率。     

Measurement scheduling for recursive team estimation

We consider a decentralized LQG measurement scheduling problem in which every measurement is costly, no communication between observers is permitted, and the observers' estimation errors are coupled quadratically. This setup, motivated by considerations from organization theory, models measurement scheduling problems in which cost, bandwidth, or security constraints necessitate that estimates be decentralized, although their errors are coupled. We show that, unlike the centralized case, in the decentralized case the problem of optimizing the time integral of the measurement cost and the quadratic estimation error is fundamentally stochastic, and we characterize the -optimal open-loop schedules as chattering solutions of a deterministic Lagrange optimal control problem. Using a numerical example, we describe also how this deterministic optimal control problem can be solved by nonlinear programming.This research was supported in part by ARPA Grant N00174-91-C-0116 and NSF Grant NCR-92-04419.     

Including correlation effects in an improved spreadsheet calculation of combined standard uncertainties

A spreadsheet method allowing rapid calculation of combined standard uncertainties is described. The model used allows explicitly for correlation effects, and requires a user to enter only the parameters, the calculation used to obtain the final result (including relevant influence factors), the individual standard uncertainties for the parameters, and estimates of correlation coefficients where necessary. The estimation of correlation coefficients in common cases is discussed, and it is shown that correlation is likely to be practically significant only when the correlated contribution to individual standard uncertainties is significantly over about 30% of the relevant standard uncertainty, leading to correlation coefficients |r| greater than 0.1. The implementation includes a more robust differentiation algorithm than previously reported for spreadsheet use, and initial preparation of the spreadsheets has been automated. The principle is illustrated with a simple example. Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.

A way of establishing quality of measurements in gas analysis—national and international aspects

Standardising quality of measurements at both the national and international level results in a unity in measurement that may be regarded a synonym of traceability. In gas analysis, the key issue in achieving this aim is production of gaseous reference materials. Establishing a network of secondary measurement standards at gaseous CRM producers’ sites in Ukraine might be interesting for those involved in gas analysis activities. Inevitably, problems concerning the recognition of measuring capabilities of both national metrological institutes and local CRM producers are now an international issue. Thus, the problems of national adoption of international standards, as well as harmonisation between different international documents are currently relevant, and Ukrainian experience may be useful to others in this field. Presented at the 3rd International Conference on Metrology, November 2006, Tel Aviv, Israel.