Abstract: A traffic preemption system is described that includes onboard equipment located on a vehicle and a fleet management center in communication with the onboard equipment. The fleet management center is also in communication with a traffic management center that is in communication with at least one intersection controller, which controls the signals displayed at a traffic intersection. In one embodiment, the invention includes a vehicle equipped with an onboard computer system capable of capturing diagnostic information, estimating the location of the emergency vehicle using information provided by a GPS receiver connected to the onboard computer system and transmitting the captured diagnostic information and estimated location using a wireless transmitter connected to the onboard computer system via a first wireless network.

Abstract: A loading and unloading module for optical disk drives includes a track plate, a moving plate, a guiding plate, a guiding arm and three rollers for three-point anchoring to achieve the functions of retrieving a disc, conveying the disc and ejecting the disc to substitute for conventional tray loading type or leaf-actuation loading type designs. The optical module is prevented from being scraped or damaged, and space utilization is improved. It also is adaptable for handling different sizes of discs.

Abstract: The present invention provides compositions of ATR nucleic acids and proteins, as well as methods of using said compositions in screening assays. The invention further provides antibodies and transgenic animals based on the ATR compositions.

Abstract: The present invention provides a microfluidic device for synthesizing an array of compounds and methods for using the same. In particular, the microfluidic device of the present invention comprises a solid support base, an elastomeric layer attached to the solid support, and a plurality of flow channels located within the interface between the solid support and the elastomeric layer. In addition, the solid support comprises a functional group for forming a bond with a reactive reagent. In some embodiments, the microfluidic device further comprises a second plurality of flow channels that intersect the first plurality of flow channels. A plurality of control channels are also present in the microfluidic devices of the present invention. The control channels can be actuated to regulate flow of fluids within the flow channel(s).

Abstract: An invention for polymerizing or crosslinking a prepolymer using a water soluble, thermal polymerization initiator is disclosed. The prepolymer mixed with the initiator is injected or placed into an animal's body, and heat is applied over the site of the injection to polymerize the polymer. This transdermal thermal polymerization system can be used for drug delivery of bioactive agents in tissue engineering applications in which living cells are delivered.

Abstract: Demyelinated axons were remyelinated in the demyelinated rat model by collecting bone marrow cells from mouse bone marrow and transplanting the mononuclear cell fraction separated from these bone marrow cells.

Abstract: A novel promoter is provided which has an expression activity specific to any pistil tissue. The promoter has any one of the DNA sequence from position 1 to 2595 of SEQ ID NO. 1, the DNA sequence from position 1 to 2322 of SEQ ID NO. 2, and the DNA sequence from position 1 to 2012 of SEQ ID NO. 3, and a part thereof. A method for producing a plant having a modified trait by introducing a heterogenous gene operatively linked to the promoter into a plant, and a plant having a modified trait produced by the method are further provided.

Abstract: A direct optical modulation (DOM) type wavelength converter is provided. The provided wavelength converter is a gain-clamped semiconductor optical amplifier (GC-SOA), which does not require a continuous wave (CW) signal, or a semiconductor laser in itself, and reduces a coupling loss between the GC-SOA or the semiconductor laser and an optical fiber while improving an emission threshold of a laser. Therefore, the provided wavelength converter converts a wavelength of an input signal beam having a low intensity by controlling the intensity of the input signal.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a UV-cured multi-component polymer blend electrolyte, lithium secondary battery and their fabrication method, wherein the UV-cured multi-component polymer blend electrolyte, comprises: A) function-I polymer obtained by curing ethyleneglycoldi-(meth)acrylate oligomer of formula 1 by UV irradiation, CH2?CR1COO(CH2CH2O)nCOCR2?CH2 (1) wherein, R1 and R2 are independently a hydrogen or methyl group, and n is an integer of 3-20; B) function-II polymer selected from the group consisting of PAN-based polymer, PMMA-based polymer and mixtures thereof; C) function-III polymer selected from the group consisting of PVdF-based polymer, PVC-based polymer and mixtures thereof; and D) organic electrolyte solution in which lithium salt is dissolved in a solvent.

Abstract: A client-side computer-implemented system and method for performing validations across multiple control elements on a web-based form. The form includes an array of web-based control elements for acquiring responses from a user. Trans-control element rules contain validation rules that are based upon state information from a plurality of the web-based control elements. A control element handler modifies a property of a control element within the array after using the trans-control element rules to examine the state information contained within the array.

Abstract: Described herein is the self-assembly of amphiphilic peptides, i.e., peptides with alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues, into macroscopic membranes. The membrane-forming peptides are greater than 12 amino acids in length, and preferably at least 16 amino acids, are complementary and are structurally compatible. Specifically, two peptides, (AEAEAKAK)2 (ARARADAD)2, were shown to self-assemble into macroscopic membranes. Conditions under which the peptides self-assemble into macroscopic membranes and methods for producing the membranes are also described. The macroscopic membranes have several interesting properties: they are stable in aqueous solution, serum, and ethanol, are highly resistant to heat, alkaline and acidic pH, chemical denaturants, and proteolytic digestion, and are non-cytotoxic.

Abstract: Techniques for the delivery of metered amounts of liquid material include the use of a pin, such as an optical fiber. A sample of the liquid material may be placed on the tip of the pin for delivery to a target area, such as a specific location on a microarray, in a contactless manner. Light transmitted through the pin may be detected to facilitate accurate measuring of the pin's position.

Abstract: A processor implements conditional vector operations in which, for example, an input vector containing multiple operands to be used in conditional operations is divided into two or more output vectors based on a condition vector. Each output vector can then be processed at full processor efficiency without cycles wasted due to branch latency. Data to be processed are divided into two groups based on whether or not they satisfy a given condition by, e.g., steering each to one of two index vectors. Once the data have been segregated in this way, subsequent processing can be performed without conditional operations, processor cycles wasted due to branch latency, incorrect speculation or execution of unnecessary instructions due to predication. Other examples of conditional operations include combining one or more input vectors into a single output vector based on a condition vector, conditional vector switching, conditional vector combining, and conditional vector load balancing.

Abstract: A resonator structure is presented comprising a closed loop resonator having a distributed Bragg reflector for confining the light within the guiding core. In one embodiment the light is confined from both the internal and the external sides of the device forming a guiding channel (defect) or just by the external side forming a disk resonator. Although the perfectly circular shape is generally preferred, the resonator could be of any closed loop shape such as an ellipse, etc. Although not mentioned explicitly throughout the text, the Bragg reflectors can of any type of distributed reflector such as, for example, a photonic bandgap crystal where the Bragg reflector is constructed by series of holes in a dielectric material. The resonator structure can be used in various applications, such as optical filters, lasers, modulators, spectrum analyzers, wavelockers, interleave filters, and optical add drop multiplexers.

Abstract: A thermoelectric device formed of nanowires on the nm scale. The nanowires are preferably of a size that causes quantum confinement effects within the wires. The wires are connected together into a bundle to increase the power density.

Abstract: Surfactants useful for enhancing the electrical conduction of electrodes attached to the surface of a patient. The surfactants are also useful in transport of materials in and out of the body of a patient (animal or human) and in the measurement of disease states. Typical surfactants particularly useful in the invention are broadly represented by protein/fatty acid based compounds. The protein/fatty acid compounds may be lipopolypeptides. In some embodiments the lipopolypeptides may be acyl peptides. Typical acyl peptides are Lamepon S™, MayTein C™ and MayTein CT™.

Abstract: A gravity-driven apparatus and method control the flow order of reactants in microfluidic devices which are employed in a microfluidic chip. The gravity-driven apparatus flow order control mainly comprises a plurality of reactant chambers arranged at different heights, a plurality of flow-control microchannels, and a reaction chamber having a winding collection microchannel. Each reactant chamber has an air-in vent. Each pair of neighboring flow-control microchannels has a U-shaped structure connecting the pair of neighboring flow-control microchannels. To activate the microfluidic device, the device is placed in an inclining or standing position and the air-in vents are unsealed. This method enhances the reliability of flow order control for multiple reactants. It can be built in a microfluidic chip, and does not use any actuating power or element. Therefore, it is low in energy-consumption, low in manufacturing cost and free of pollution.

Abstract: This invention relates to the expression of improved polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences encoding for eukaryotic enzymes, particularly oxidase enzymes. The enzymes are advantagoeusly produced in conventional or facile expression systems. Various methods for directed evolution of polynucleotide sequences can be used to obtain the improved sequences. The improved characteristics of the polypeptides or proteins generated in this manner include improved expression, enhanced activity toward one or more substrates, and increased thermal stability. In a particular embodiment, the invention relates to improved expression of the galactose oxidase gene and galactose oxidase enzymes. GAO mutants that are highly active and/or thermostable are disclosed.

Abstract: New, efficient methods for making novel platform molecules and polymerizable mesogens are provided, as well as the novel mesogens and methods of using same.

Abstract: A specimen for atom probe analysis is prepared by providing a slab of material from which the specimen will be taken; defining a plurality of posts in the slab by in the slab; removing at least one post from the slab; and mounting the post. The post is shaped to a tip shape suitable for use in the atom probe, such as by focused ion beam milling the post to a tip shape. Grooves are cross cut into the slab. If needed, each groove is filled with a supporting material prior to cutting a parallel or intersecting groove thereto. The invention is also defined as a source of specimens for use in atom probe sampling comprising a slab of material from which the specimen will be taken, which has been defined into a plurality of posts and from which slab at least one post is removed from the slab and mounted.