Abstract: A screwdriver 1 includes a hook 7 which is configured to fit in an accommodating recess 20 grooved in a motor housing 4 and a handle cover 5. The hook 7 includes an extending portion 8 for being accommodated in a first groove 21 and a base block 9 for being accommodated in a second groove 22. The base block 9 is provided with a pair of slide plates 10 which in turn includes retainer flanges 11 at its free ends. To draw out the hook 7, it is manually pulled up at the top end of the extending portion 8 and slid rearward so that the retainer flanges 11 of the slide plates 10 enter support slots 27 provided at the rear of the second groove 22. Simultaneously, a support plate 12 of the base block 9 abut the top wall 5a of the handle cover 5. In this drawn-out position, as the retainer flanges 11 interfere with the edges of the support slots 27, the hook 7 is prevented from slipping out the screwdriver 1 and secured on the handle cover 5 outside the accommodating recess 20.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for the preparation of a wide range of primary arylamines. The arylamines are prepared in two efficient, straightforward transformations: 1) an activated aryl group and an imine group are combined, in the presence of a transition metal catalyst, under conditions wherein the transition metal catalyst catalyzes the formation of a carbon-nitrogen bond between the activated carbon of the arene and the imine nitrogen; and 2) the resulting N-aryl imine is transformed, via any of a number of standard protocols, to the primary arylamine. The method of the invention may also be exploited in the preparation of vinylamines.

Abstract: Biodegradable terephthalate polymers are described comprising the recurring monomeric units shown in formula I: wherein R is a divalent organic moiety; R′ is an aliphatic, aromatic or heterocyclic residue; x is ≧1; and n is 0-5,000, wherein the biodegradable polymer is biocompatible before and upon biodegradation. Processes for preparing the polymers, compositions containing the polymers and biologically active substances, articles useful for implantation or injection into the body fabricated from the compositions, and methods for controllably releasing biologically active substances using the polymers, are also described.

Abstract: A sample testing system has a chamber sealing, apparatus adapted to receive a chamber containing a fluid sample material and to seal portions of a chamber into segments. A reagent injector cartridge actuator is adapted to receive a reagent injector cartridge having at least one needle in fluid communication with a reagent reservoir, and to move a reagent injector cartridge to inject a quantity of reagent into a segment of a chamber. In certain preferred embodiments, a flow control device induces a flow of sample in a segment. A sensor generates a signal corresponding to a condition of the mixture.

Abstract: In a position control system for monitoring the position of a valve, a signal transmitter for generating a signal indicative of a valve position includes a shaft coupled to the valve and rotatable to an azimuth angle indicative of the valve position. The signal transmitter includes a signal flag mounted on the shaft in either a calibration state or an operating state. In the calibrating state, a signal-flag adjuster sets the azimuth angle of the signal flag independently of the shaft or of any other signal flags. In the operating state, the signal flag rotates with the shaft.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods and compositions, i.e. synthetic libraries of candidate compounds, useful in the discovery and optimization of compounds which catalyze at least one chemical transformation. In certain instances, the subject compounds catalyze a chemoselective, regioselective, stereoselective or enantioselective transformation.

Abstract: The subject invention is directed to the discovery of a protein involved in regulation of cell-cycle progression, and includes reagents and methods related thereto.

Abstract: A media player for playing broadcast material and associated supplemental information includes a receiver configured to receive broadcast material from a broadcast service provider. The broadcast material includes program segments and program data related to one or more of said program segments. The player plays program segments of said received broadcast material on a user's terminal. An information retrieval module forwards an item of program data related to a given one of the program segments to a first server enabling the server to retrieve parameters identifying one or more items of supplemental material for said given program segment. The information retrieval module forwards the parameters to a second server to retrieve supplemental materials from said second server based on the parameters, and providesteh supplemental materials to the player for playback with a given program segment of broadcast material.

Abstract: Novel meta substituted arylalkylamine compounds are disclosed. These compounds can be administered as small molecule drugs to treat diseases or conditions associated with insufficient serotonin mediated nerve transmission (e.g., depression and obesity).

Abstract: There is disclosed an NMR probe including a body defining an internal chamber. This chamber is adapted for supporting a vacuum and the body is of a non-magnetic material. A conduit extends through the chamber in the body. The conduit has a first portion in communication with second portions, the first portion being intermediate the second portions, with the first and second portions of non-magnetic materials with substantially equal thermal expansion coefficients. An RF coil is positioned along at least a substantial portion of the first conduit portion. It is preferred that this device also include a field or frequency lock unit in the chamber, as well as a getter, to allow for degassing in the chamber to maintain the preferred high pressure vacuum. A method of using this NMR probe for NMR analysis is also disclosed.

Abstract: A reciprocating saw includes a hexagonal head bolt (11) for releasably tightening a guide shoe (6) and a manually-operated bolt-tightening lever (15) fitted over the bolt (11). The bolt-tightening lever (15) includes a lock plate (17) which has at its front end a socket hole (22) that can fit around the head (14) of the hexagonal head bolt (11) and has a serrated edge with twelve notches each having an interior angle of 120 degrees. The lock plate (17) has at its rear end four engaging teeth (23) at intervals of four degrees around axis O of the hexagonal head bolt (11). The shape of the outer portion (18) is such that the outer portion can cover the lock plate (17). Moreover, the outer portion (18) has on its top side a circular hole (24) in which the head (14) of the bolt (11) can be fitted.

Abstract: One aspect of the present invention relates to novel ligands for transition metals. A second aspect of the present invention relates to the use of catalysts comprising these ligands in transition metal-catalyzed carbon-heteroatom and carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions. The subject methods provide improvements in many features of the transition metal-catalyzed reactions, including the range of suitable substrates, reaction conditions, and efficiency.

Abstract: A lock washer (24) presses balls (21) and pins (23) against a clutch cam (18) with protrusions (19) formed on its front face. A rear end (25a) of a spring holder (25) abuts on the inner edge of the front face of the lock washer (24) while the half of the front end surface of each pin (23) abuts on the rear face of the outer edge of the lock washer (24). Furthermore, the compression spring (26) also abuts on the lock washer (24) with its outer edge approximately aligned with the outer edge of the lock washer (24). Therefore, if a large load is instantaneously applied to a spindle (11) at the end of screw tightening, the outer edge of the lock washer (24) deforms forward. This in turn causes the balls (21) to ride over the protrusions (19) of the clutch face, thus allowing a slight rotation of the internal gear (10c). This clutch operation lessens the impact that occurs at the end of screw tightening, serving to protect the tool mechanism and to reduce the shock to the operator's hand.

Abstract: The invention comprises, inter-alia, endoprosthetic implants for treating vascular defects, including abdominal aortic aneurysms. Implants according to the invention have a short main body that can be positioned within a patient's aorta at a position above the renal end of an aortic aneurysm. The short main body includes a proximal, or renal, face that redirects the flow of blood into the openings of channels that can carry blood past the aneurysm. In this way, the flow of blood through the aorta is diverted into the two passageways and through the main body of the implant. Fluid exiting the implant can be carried by leg extensions and delivered to a healthy part of the patient's aorta or the iliac arteries. Accordingly, the implant provides a system for allowing blood traveling through the aorta to be carried by a vascular graft that spans an aortic aneurysm, thereby relieving fluid pressure on the thin wall of aortic aneurysm, and reducing the risk of death caused by a ruptured aneurysm.

Abstract: The invention provides nucleic acids encoding Pitx3 polypeptides, fragments thereof and homologs thereof and Pitx3 polypeptides encoded thereby. Pitx3 polypeptides play an important role in development of eye structures, e.g., the lens, and was shown herein to be associated with the formation of cataracts and Anterior Segment Mesenchymal Dysgenesis (ASMD). Thus, the invention provides methods for predicting whether a subject has or is at risk of developing cataracts or other disease associated with an aberrant Pitx3, by determining, e.g., whether the subject has a genetic lesion in a Pitx3 gene, such as a 17 bp insertion, characteristic of cataract development and ASMD or a base pair substitution at codon 13. Methods for treating cataracts or diseases or conditions associated with an aberrant Pitx3, e.g., by administering to the subject a Pitx3 therapeutic, are also disclosed, as well as assays for identifying Pitx3 therapeutics.

Abstract: The invention includes assay cassettes that can be employed during rapid flow-through binding assays. The assay cassettes can be disposable units suitable for one-time use and readily assembled to include a filter membrane carried between an upper plate and a lower plate. A pattern of channels can extend through the top plate to allow a fluid sample to be applied through the top plate and onto the filter. The bottom plate can include a plurality of channels that are aligned with the channel of the top plate and which will allow a negative pressure to be applied to the underside of the filter membrane to draw the sample through the filter. In one embodiment, the cassette includes a frangible section that allows the cassette to be divided into a first and second component.

Abstract: A dental article coated with a friction-reducing coating and methods for coating dental articles are disclosed. In one embodiment, the dental device first is coated with an adhesion layer, followed by application of a friction-reducing coating. The friction-reducing coating is selected to create a hard, inert, friction-reducing layer on the device. The presence of the continuous outer coating of on the device reduces adhesive wear and friction on the device, and significantly improves its frictional properties.