Media
Contact:
Philip
Bulman, (301) 975-5661
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Computer Security
NIST Helps
Health Care Industry Develop IT Security Standards
National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) computer security experts
are teaming up with a health care standards organization to identify
the best practices for information security in health care.
The
Security Health Care Certification and Accreditation Workgroup is
reviewing draft security guidelines recently published by NIST and
the new security rules being phased in under the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) of 1996. NIST is teaming
on this effort with Washington, D.C.-based URAC (also known as the
American Accreditation HealthCare Commission), which accredits managed
care organizations.
Initially,
the group is reviewing and discussing all relevant standards for
computer security in health care information technology systems.
Included will be reviews of two draft NIST Special Publications:
800-37 (Guidelines for the Security Certification and Accreditation
of Federal Information Technology Systems; see http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts.html
for the text) and 800-53 (Minimum Security Controls for Federal
Information Systems; due on the previously listed Web site in the
spring of 2003) for possible use in the health care sector. Ultimately,
the workgroup hopes to develop a common set of health care security
standards that will cover security policies, procedures, controls
and auditing practices.
URAC-accredited
organizations provide health care services to more than 120 million
Americans.
More
information is available at www.urac.org.
Media
Contact:
Philip
Bulman, (301) 975-5661
Chemistry
NIST Experiment’s
Data Acquired Before Space Shuttle Tragedy
National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists used an experiment
aboard the STS-107 mission of the space shuttle Columbia to look for
a particular type of flow behavior—never before seen in a pure
liquid—that may have practical applications in products ranging
from paints and plastics to foods and pharmaceuticals. Almost all
of the data from the experiment—sent by telemetry to the ground
during the mission—were acquired before the tragic loss of the
shuttle orbiter and its seven-member crew on Feb. 1, 2003.
The
“Critical Viscosity of Xenon-2” (CVX2) experiment, measured
the changes in viscosity (resistance to flow) of a xenon sample as
it was stirred rapidly and approached the “critical point.”
Xenon, an inert gas, exhibits unusual behavior near its critical point,
at which it turns into a milky fluid with properties between those
of a liquid and a gas. The experiment was conducted in the microgravity
of orbit because the changes in viscosity that take place in the critical
state cannot be measured accurately in Earth’s gravity.
The
experimental data should reveal whether xenon exhibits “shear
thinning,” meaning its usual resistance to flow is weakened by
a large shear rate. Although predicted for decades, shear thinning
has never been observed near the critical point of any pure fluid.
Xenon, a pure fluid with a very simple structure and a critical temperature
just below room temperature, is convenient for such experiments. The
data may help scientists better understand shear thinning in complex
fluids such as paints and foods (e.g., whipped cream), which need
to flow easily during application and stand firm afterwards.
The
latest results will expand on those gathered during a 1997 NIST space
shuttle experiment, which accurately measured the viscosity of xenon
and revealed a viscosity increase of 37 percent—double the best
measurements on Earth. That experiment also showed that xenon, when
close to the critical point, is partly elastic; that is, it can “stretch”
as well as flow.
For
technical details on the CVX2 experiment, contact Robert Berg, (301)
975-2466, robert.berg@nist.gov;
or Michael Moldover, (301) 975-2459, michael.moldover@nist.gov.
Additional information is available at http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/cvx2.
Electromagnetics
NIST Reaches
Quarter-Volt Output for Josephson Voltage Standard
N
ational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers have
developed the first intrinsic quantum standard for alternating current
(AC) voltage, making possible far more precise measurements and comparisons
with existing power-detection-based AC voltage standards.
The
researchers demonstrated a direct current (DC) and AC Josephson voltage
standard system that produces output voltages of up to one-quarter
volt. Attaining one-quarter volt permits the system to be used in
making precise calibrations for the first time.
Commercial
and defense standards laboratories, as well as electronic instrumentation
facilities, will be able to use the new standard for precision measurements
requiring accurate and stable AC voltages. The development, for example,
enables meaningful measurements with thermal transfer standards. Until
now, such measurements have used power ratio comparisons, although
measurement uncertainties increase as frequencies change.
This
latest NIST achievement of the quarter-volt output is 40 times higher
than the lab's starting point of six millivolts when work began six
years ago. The team, however, is striving to attain output voltages
of a half volt to one volt in the next year or two. That would reduce
uncertainties in ac voltage measurements by three to four orders of
magnitude, similar to today’s DC volt standards that are based
on quantum effects.
The
research is funded by NIST, the Department of Defense (DoD) Office
of Naval Research (ONR) and ONR’s Calibration Coordination Group.
For more information, contact Sam Benz, (303) 497-5258, benz@boulder.nist.gov.
