Abstract: The invention provides an apparatus and methods for conducting ball milling operations in a high throughput manner. Also provided are devices and methods for high throughput screening of alloys and other materials to identify those that have desired gas storage properties.

Abstract: An inductive proximity sensor comprises: a housing including an opening on one side; an inductive core including two legs, each core leg including a foot portion; an inductive coil wound bobbin disposed about each leg of the core, each bobbin including an integral ledge cantilevered from an inside surface of the bobbin for forming a pocket under the integral ledge at a bottom of the bobbin for containing the foot portion of the corresponding core leg; a thruster element including a top surface and two legs, each thruster leg disposed into a respective bobbin resting on the integral ledge thereof, the core, wound bobbins and thruster element disposed in the housing; a spring element disposed on the top surface of the thruster element at the housing opening; and a housing cover disposed over the housing opening for compressing the spring element against the thruster element which renders the core and wound bobbins in a fixed relationship to each other in the housing.

Abstract: The present invention provides grasping mechanisms, gripper apparatus/systems, and related methods. Grasping mechanisms that include stops, support surfaces, and height adjusting surfaces to determine three translational axis positions of a grasped object are provided. In addition, grasping mechanisms that are resiliently coupled to other gripper apparatus components are also provided.

Abstract: The invention provides efficiently automated incubation devices that reduce the number of powered moving parts in the devices and the amount of air transfer between environments that are internal and external to the devices. Related systems are also provided.

Abstract: High throughput compound profiling systems, and related devices and sub-systems that can be used to perform various compound profiling processes are provided. These systems typically include work perimeters that are organized for optimum efficiency and processing accuracy. Further, these systems are readily adaptable for performing a wide array of assays, as many different system components are easily incorporated or interchangeable in a particular system. System components that are provided by the invention include cell culture dissociators, which can be used, e.g., to effect cell wetting, dissociation, and/or agitation applications. In some embodiments, these cell culture dissociators are included as components of automated cell culture passaging stations. Dispensing devices that permit on-the-fly fluid temperature regulation are also provided. In addition, various compound profiling methods, cell dissociation methods, uniform cell concentration dispensing methods, among other processes, are also provided.

Abstract: The present invention provides fluid removal heads and related multi-well container processing systems for the efficient removal of fluids from multi-well containers. Methods of removing fluid from multi-well containers are also provided.

Abstract: A drain filter device includes a body formed from wire mesh having a plurality of side edge portions integral with each other and forming a substantially square shape. The body further has substantially planar top and bottom surfaces and includes a plurality of elongated support rods having opposed end portions extending along the plurality of side edge portions respectively. The device further includes a top section having a substantially cylindrical shape and connected to the body. The top section is adaptable to be positioned substantially centrally about drain and for filtering out particulate materials suspended in water entering the drain. Advantageously, the top section traps and maintains particulate materials about a perimeter of a drain and not directly above same.

Abstract: The present invention provides modular object storage devices that include object storage modules and support elements that include object storage module receiving areas that are structured to receive the object storage modules. The modular object storage devices also include position adjustment components that are structured to move the object storage modules into contact with elevated alignment surfaces of the object storage module receiving areas to align the object storage module in desired positions. The invention also provides systems and related methods of positioning object storage modules.

Abstract: The present invention provides dispensing systems that include peristaltic pumps and other pressure sources for the efficient delivery of accurate volumes of fluidic materials into the wells of multi-well containers or onto substrate surfaces. These systems are typically configured to dispense volumes of fluid having substantially uniform densities. Related computer program products and methods of dispensing fluidic materials are also provided.

Abstract: The present invention provides grasping mechanisms, gripper apparatus/systems, and related methods. Grasping mechanisms that include stops, support surfaces, and height adjusting surfaces to determine three translational axis positions of a grasped object are provided. In addition, grasping mechanisms that are resiliently coupled to other gripper apparatus components are also provided.

Abstract: A system for inserting and extracting a plug-in module into and from an electronic equipment subrack is disclosed. In certain embodiments, the system includes an actuation device, an arm including a first guiding surface, and a second guiding surface on the module. At least a portion of the actuation device is located proximate a front edge of the module, while the arm is located proximate a rear edge of the module along which connectors are positioned. As the actuation device is moved in one direction, the arm is forced toward the module, causing the guiding surfaces to interact so that the arm engages a retaining component on the subrack. Opposite movement of the actuation device causes the arm to push away and disengage from the module. The actuation device in certain embodiments includes a lever and a drag link, or a push-pull rod coupled to a drag link.

Abstract: This invention provides material conveying systems that are configured to convey substantially uniform quantities of material to and/or from the material sites and to minimize periodic variation among the conveyed quantities of material. Related computer program products and methods are also provided.

Abstract: This invention relates to providing nail-art systems for improved fingernail and/or toenail decoration. The nail-art nail system comprises flexible, computer-printed nail-art appliqués used to decorate fingernails and/or toenails. They are preferably cut from self-adhesive vinyl film of the sort commonly used in the art of sign-making. They are preferably computer-printed with decorative designs, and computer-cut into the correct nail shapes. Metallic nail-art appliqués of the nail-art system are also preferably manufactured, preferably from self-adhesive metallized sign-lettering film. Gold, silver, aluminum, and other metals may be used. A business systems, kits, and methods of manufacture are also disclosed.

Abstract: The present invention provides material removal heads and devices for noninvasively removing materials from the wells of multi-well plates. The material removal heads of the invention are structured to prevent cross-contamination among wells of multi-well plates as materials are removed from the plates. The invention also provides dispense heads and devices that include angled dispensers. Related systems, kits, and methods are additionally provided.

Abstract: A lightweight row transfer protocol is described that can be easily handled by thin clients, such as JAVA™ applications using CORBA. The lightweight row transfer protocol serves to reduce bandwidth requirements by applying compression techniques to reduce the number of column lengths in a “result set” of rows that are transmitted from one computer to another.

Abstract: An approach is described for improved security during data replication, in which a refresh program runs in the security domain of a trusted user. The refresh program first checks to see if the requesting user actually owns the snapshot before reconciling differences in refreshing a snapshot. Untrusted users are granted only connect privileges and the ability to run a refresh program.

Abstract: An ultrasonic transducer is disclosed comprising a layer of piezoresonator material capable of transmitting from a top surface thereof an ultrasonic pulse into a tank of liquid and receiving at the top surface reflections of the transmitted pulse from the liquid; and a matching layer of pure crystalline Boron Nitride disposed on the top surface. The pure crystalline Boron Nitride layer is operative to match the acoustic impedances of the piezoresonator material and the tank liquid about the operational frequency passband of the ultrasonic pulse. The ultrasonic transducer may be disposed in an assembly for measuring a quantity of liquid in the tank.

Abstract: Replication for front office automation involves the use of snapshots that are instantiated on laptops, in which refreshing the snapshots is driven from a master site with a high-performance protocol. All of the necessary snapshot metadata for performing the snapshot refreshes is stored at the master site, so that the laptop only needs to send a single refresh request. In response to the refresh request, the master site reconciles the differences between the master tables and the laptop's snapshots and transmits the differences to the laptop, reducing the necessary network traffic for updating a snapshot to a single round trip.

Abstract: Apparatus for detecting relative displacement includes a first magnet for producing a first magnetic field along an axis; a second magnet for producing a second magnetic field along the axis; the first and second magnetic fields interacting to produce a position-dependent magnetic field along the axis; a sensor disposed for detecting the position-dependent magnetic field; and a movable element for causing relative displacement between the position-dependent magnetic field and the sensor. In a preferred embodiment, the sensor is a magneto-optic sensor.