Adaptable Radiation Monitoring System and Method
Daniel E. Archer, Brock R. Beauchamp, G. Joseph Mauger, Karl E. Nelson, Michael B. Mercer, David C. Pletcher, Vincent J. Riot, James L. Schek, David A. Knapp
U.S. Patent 7,064,336 B2
June 20, 2006
This portable radioactive-material detection system can detect radioactive sources moving at high speeds. The system has at least one detector that can detect gamma radiation coupled to a multichannel analyzer (MCA). The MCA can collect spectral data in time bins of less than about 150 milliseconds. A computer processor connected to the MCA determines whether a triggering event has occurred. Spectral data are stored on a data storage device, and a power source supplies power to the detection system. The system may be adapted for various radiation detection scenarios. In one embodiment, the computer processor operates as a server that receives spectral data from other networked detection systems and communicates the collected data to a central data reporting system.

Radiation Detection System for Portable Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy
Mark S. Rowland, Douglas E. Howard, James L. Wong, James L. Jessup, Greg M. Bianchini, Wayne O. Miller
U.S. Patent 7,064,337 B2
June 20, 2006
A portable apparatus has a gamma-ray detector encapsulated by a compact isolation structure with at least two volumetrically nested enclosures, at least one of which is a thermal shield. The enclosures are suspension-mounted to each other to successively encapsulate the detector without structural penetrations through the thermal shields. A low-power cooler can cool the detector to cryogenic temperatures without consuming cryogens. The heat load is reduced by the isolation structure and the reduction in power requirements of the cooler. The apparatus also includes a lightweight portable power source, which reduces the device’s weight to enable portability and handheld operation.

Aerodynamic Drag Reduction Apparatus for Gap-Divided Bluff Bodies such as Tractor-Trailers
Jason M. Ortega, Kambiz Salari
U.S. Patent 7,073,845 B2
July 11, 2006
This apparatus reduces the aerodynamic drag of a bluff-bodied vehicle in a flow stream, such as a tractor-trailer with a leading portion, a trailing portion, and a gap between the two defining a recirculation zone. The apparatus is preferably a baffle assembly, such as a vertical panel, adapted to span the gap between the leading and trailing portions and thus impede cross flow through the gap. The span of the baffle assembly adjusts automatically for variations in the gap width when the leading and trailing portions pivot relative to each other.

Photothermal Imaging Scanning Microscopy
Diane Chinn, Christopher J. Stolz, Zhouling Wu, Robert Huber, Carolyn Weinzapfel
U.S. Patent 7,075,058 B2
July 11, 2006
Photothermal imaging scanning microscopy produces a rapid, thermal-based, nondestructive characterization apparatus. In addition, a photothermal characterization method can distinguish the surface and subsurface features of meter-size optical materials with micrometer- and nanometer-scale spatial resolution.

High-Throughput, Dual Probe Biological Assays Based on Single Molecule Detection
Christopher W. Hollars, Thomas R. Huser, Stephen M. Lane, Rodney L. Balhorn, Olgica Bakajin, Christopher Darrow, Joe H. Satcher, Jr.
U.S. Patent 7,076,092 B2
July 11, 2006
This apparatus has the sensitivity to detect and identify single target molecules through the localization of dual, fluorescently labeled probe molecules. A target can be attached to a surface or in a two-dimensional flowing fluid sheet that is approximately 0.5 × 100 × 100 micrometers. This device offers 10³ to 10⁴ greater throughput than previous one-dimensional microstream devices with interrogation volumes of 1 cubic micrometer. It would allow for the first time immunoassays and DNA assays at femtomolar concentrations to be performed in short periods (about 10 minutes). Novel labels such as metal or semiconductor nanoparticles may be used to extend the sensitivity, possibly into the attomolar range.

Passive Magnetic Bearing for a Motor-Generator
Richard F. Post
U.S. Patent 7,078,838 B2
July 18, 2006
Conductive lap windings are interleaved with conventional loops in the stator of a motor–generator. The rotor provides magnetic induction lines that, when rotated, cut across the lap windings and the loops. When the rotor is laterally displaced from its equilibrium axis of rotation, its magnetic lines of induction induce a current in the interleaved lap windings. The induced current interacts with the rotor’s magnetic lines of induction in accordance with Lenz’s law to generate a radial force that returns the rotor to its equilibrium axis of rotation.

Amphiphilic Mediated Sample Preparation for Micro-Flow Cytometry
David S. Clague, Elizabeth K. Wheeler, Abraham P. Lee
U.S. Patent 7,081,227 B2
July 25, 2006
This flow cytometer includes a flow cell with an oil phase and a water phase, an oil–water interface between the two phases, and a device for detecting the sample at the oil–water interface. A hydrophobic unit is connected to a sample and placed in an oil and water combination. The sample is detected at the interface between the two phases.

Diode Pumped Alkali Vapor Fiber Laser
Stephen A. Payne, Raymond J. Beach, Jay W. Dawson, William F. Krupke
U.S. Patent 7,082,148 B2
July 25, 2006
This apparatus produces near-diffraction-limited laser light, or amplifying near-diffraction-limited light, in diode-pumped alkali vapor photonic-band-gap fiber lasers or amplifiers. Laser light is both substantially generated and propagated in an alkali gas instead of a solid, to circumvent the nonlinear and damage limitations of conventional solid-core fibers. Alkali vapor is introduced into the center hole of a photonic-band-gap fiber, which can then be pumped with light from a pump laser and operated as an oscillator with a seed beam. The fiber also can be configured as an amplifier.

Dedicated Heterogeneous Node Scheduling Including Backfill Scheduling
Robert R. Wood, Philip D. Eckert, Gregg Hommes
U.S. Patent 7,082,606 B2
July 25, 2006
This system is designed to perform job backfill scheduling of dedicated heterogeneous nodes in a multinode computing environment. Heterogeneous nodes are grouped into homogeneous node subpools. For each subpool, a free node schedule (FNS) is created so that the number of free nodes can be charted over time. For each prioritized job, the FNS indicates the subpools that have nodes usable by a particular job and then determines the earliest time range (ETR) that a job can be run. Once ETR is determined for a particular job, the job is scheduled to run. If the ETR for a lower priority job (LPJ) is earlier than that for a higher priority job (HPJ), the LPJ is scheduled in the ETR provided that doing so would not disturb the anticipated start times of any HPJ previously scheduled for a future time. Thus, efficient utilization and throughput of such computing environments may be increased by using resources that would otherwise remain idle.

Nano-Ceramics and Method Thereof
Joe H. Satcher, Jr., Alex Gash, Randall Simpson, Richard Landingham, Robert A. Reibold
U.S. Patent 7,087,544 B2
August 8, 2006
This method produces ceramic materials using the solgel process. Intimate homogeneous dispersions of materials can be prepared while controlling the size of one component within another. The method also can be used to prepare materials that will densify at reduced temperature.

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