[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 14, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57037-57038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-28337]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


National Institute of Standards and Technology; Notice

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of government-owned inventions available for licensing.

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SUMMARY: The inventions listed below are owned in whole or in part by 
the U.S. Government, as represented by the Department of Commerce. The 
Department of Commerce's interest in the inventions is available for 
exclusive or non-exclusive licensing in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 
and 37 CFR part 404 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results 
of federally funded research and development.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Technical and licensing information on 
these inventions may be obtained by writing to: National Institute of 
Standards and Technology, Office of Technology Partnerships, Building 
820, Room 213, Gaithersburg, MD 20899; Fax 301-869-2751. Any request 
for information should include the NIST Docket number and title for the 
relevant invention as indicated below.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NIST may enter into a Cooperative Research 
and Development Agreement (``CRADA'') with the licensee to perform 
further research on the inventions for purposes of commercialization. 
The inventions available for licensing are:

NIST Docket Number: 97-022US.

    Title: Immobilized Biological Membranes.
    Abstract: The invention is jointly owned by the U.S. Government, as 
represented by the Department of Commerce, and Health Research, Inc. 
The Department of Commerce's ownership interest is available for 
licensing. A composition comprising an immobilized biological membrane 
is provided. The functional immobilized biological membrane consists of 
a support structure, a metal layered onto a surface of the support 
structure, and alkanethiol monolayer assembled onto the metal, and a 
biological membrane deposited on the alkanethiol monolayer. Also 
provided is a method of producing the immobilized biological membrane, 
wherein the method involves contacting an alkanethiol with a metal 
surface of a support structure in forming an alkanethiol monolayer 
assembled onto the metal, and depositing a biological membrane onto the 
alkanethiol monolayer such that the biological membrane becomes 
associated with the alkanethiol monolayer. Uses of the biological 
membrane include as a sensing indicator in a biosensor, as an adsorbent 
in a chromatography system, and as a coating for medical devices.

NIST Docket Number: 95-051US.

    Title: Diode Laser Vibrometer Using Feedback Induced Frequency 
Modulation.
    Abstract: The invention is jointly owned by the U.S. Government, as 
represented by the Department of Commerce, and the University of 
Colorado. The Department of Commerce's ownership interest is available 
for licensing. A diode laser vibrometer has been developed which is an 
inexpensive, sensitive sensor for measuring target position, velocity 
and vibration based on optical feedback-induced fluctuations in the 
operating frequency of a diode laser. The sensor comprises a diode 
laser, an optical frequency discriminator to measure the laser 
operating frequency, and an electronic signal analyzer to obtain the 
modulation frequency of the laser operating frequency. This invention 
further includes two calibration mechanisms for vibration amplitude 
measurement. In a first calibration mechanism, the diode laser is 
mounted on a laser vibrator, which vibrates the laser relative to the 
target. In a second calibration mechanism, a frequency modulator is 
coupled to the diode laser to modulate the operating frequency.

NIST Docket Number: 98-023US.

    Title: An Apparatus Available for Health Assessment and Diagnostics 
of Conductive Materials.
    Abstract: The invention is jointly owned by the U.S. Government, as 
represented by the Department of Commerce, and Colorado School of 
Mines. The Department of Commerce's ownership interest is available for 
licensing. The invention is a device for diagnosing the integrity of 
conductive materials (e.g. copper ground riser and transmission lines). 
The device integrates advances in electro-magnetic acoustic technology 
(EMAT) with artificial neural networks. The described advances enable 
field engineers and maintenance crews to loosely clamp the device to a 
bare section of conductor, transmit and receive a VHF acoustic signal, 
analyze the signal and determine the existence and location of any 
conductivity losses.

NIST Docket Number: 98-030US.

    Title: Process for the Removal of Carbonyl Sulfide from Liquid 
Petroleum Gas.
    Abstract: This invention is jointly owned by the U.S. Government, 
as represented by the Department of Commerce, and the University of 
Colorado. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is an important fuel and 
chemical feedstock. It is generally derived from two primary sources: 
the refining of crude oil, and as a by-product of the production of 
natural gas. The primary constituent of commercial LPG is propane, 
although other organic constituents are present as well. Many sources 
of LPG contain organic sulfur compounds. Some of these, such as 
hydrogen sulfide, must be removed (to a level of 5 ppm or lower) to 
make the LPG merchantable. Other sulfur compounds such as carbonyl 
sulfide (COS) were once considered to be relatively innocuous, but are 
now recognized as being problematic for a variety of reasons. This 
invention provides a method for the removal of COS from LPG.

NIST Docket Number: 93-021US.

    Title: Optical Cooling of Solids.
    Abstract: A device and method for laser cooling of a solid to 
extremely low temperatures is disclosed, the device including an active 
cooling structure

[[Page 57038]]

having a high purity surface passivated direct band gap semiconductor 
crystal of less than about 3 microns thick and a transparent 
hemispherical body in optical contact with the crystal. The crystal is 
itself cooled when illuminated with a laser beam tuned to a frequency 
no greater than the band gap edge frequency of the crystal. Cooling is 
caused by emission of photons of higher energy than photons entering 
the crystal, the additional energy being accounted for by a process of 
absorption of thermal phonons from the crystal lattice.

    Dated: November 1, 2001.
Karen H. Brown,
Deputy Director.
[FR Doc. 01-28337 Filed 11-13-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P