News From Lexis Nexis

LIVE AT 2010 ATX WEST Misumi USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Misumi Corporation, part of Misumi Group, Inc. (TOKYO:9962) announces that it will highlight a live booth demonstration of its new Single Axis Robot RS Series Actuators at Booth #4411 at ATX West in Anaheim, February 9th to 11th.

According to a study from Plymouth, the United Kingdom, "This paper seeks the optimal integrated ordering and production control in a supply chain by minimizing the expected sum of material and product holding costs and demand backordering costs subject to finite capacitated warehouses. With the assumptions of exponential replenishment lead-times, exponential processing-times, Poisson demand arrivals, and at most one outstanding order with its size changeable at any time, it is shown that the optimal integrated policy can be characterized by two monotonic switching curves."

Human augmentation systems - technologies that supplement human strength and durability, or which allow them to reclaim functions lost to illness or injury - have long been the stuff of fiction. However, recent significant strides in the materials sciences and in strength-enhancement and neural technologies are bringing elements of these systems to life, especially in the segments of powered exoskeletons, powered upper-limb prostheses, and ocular sensory-substitution devices.

"We consider in this article an urn and ball problem with replacement, where balls are with different colors and are drawn uniformly from a unique urn. The numbers of balls with a given color are independent and identically distributed random variables with a heavy tailed probability distribution-for instance a Pareto or a Weibull distribution," scientists in Le Chesnay, France report.

BrightView Systems today unveiled the InSight M Series, the world's first in-line process control and optimization tool developed specifically to address the challenges faced by thin-film solar cell manufacturers. The Wide Area Metrology (WAM) system provides continuous monitoring and whole-panel mapping of critical material and process parameters at full production throughput and for 100% of manufactured panels. Easily integrated at key steps in any thin-film production line including single-junction and multi-junction silicon, the system allows panel producers to implement process optimization solutions that enhance average panel efficiency, improve line productivity and verify full compliance with the strictest durability and quality requirements.

SHEC Energy has entered into a global agreement with Emerson Process Management, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), to help bring online new solar thermal facilities for power generation. A leader among Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) producers, SHEC's solar thermal plants have the advantage of using proven steam turbine technology that has been used in the power industry for decades. SHEC Energy selected Emerson's advanced automation services to maximize the efficiency and reliability of its planned renewable energy projects globally and to help SHEC bring the cost of solar power in line with conventional sources of electricity.

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:QTWW) announced that it has entered into a letter of intent with Fisker Automotive that outlines the terms of a production and licensing agreement for the Fisker Karma Program. Under the supply arrangement, Quantum will be the exclusive supplier of the Q-Drive(TM) hybrid control systems including the hybrid controller and Quantum's proprietary hybrid control software, the inverters and Quantum's proprietary motor control software, on-board charger and control systems, the DC-DC converter and the solar roof module, subject to Quantum meeting the required price, performance, quality and delivery specifications. Quantum would also receive a royalty payment on each Karma sold that incorporates Quantum's Q-Drive. The definitive supply agreement, once finalized, is subject to approval by the Department of Energy.

Thomas & Betts Corporation (NYSE:TNB) announced that it has agreed to acquire the net assets of JT Packard & Associates, Inc. the nation's largest independent service provider for critical power equipment used by industrial and commercial enterprises in a broad array of markets, for an estimated net purchase price of $22 million. The transaction is expected to close on January 26, 2010. In 2009, JT Packard sales were approximately $60 million.

Pentadyne Power Corporation (www.pentadyne.com), the world's leading manufacturer of flywheel energy storage systems, will save a data center facility of a software engineering company two million dollars in energy savings. The order for more than 3 megawatts of flywheel energy storage systems will be deployed at the company's Irvine, California, location.

DLT Solutions, a value-added reseller of information technology to public sector customers, announced it is now offering the Autodesk Algor Simulation family of products to government agencies. Autodesk Algor Simulation software, part of the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping, provides an extensive range of finite element modeling, computational fluid dynamics, and rigid- and flexible-body motion simulation tools to help designers and engineers study initial design candidates and accurately simulate the behavior of a digital prototype.

Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, announced that its technology enabled the development of more than 90 percent of the vehicles that top selling automakers are exhibiting at the North American International Auto Show. Siemens PLM Software's world leading technology was used to plan, evaluate and coordinate the development and manufacturing engineering of these vehicles. Siemens PLM Software satisfies the mission critical needs of leading automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEM's) for managed collaboration across complex engineering functions and throughout the extended supply chain. By breaking down barriers between engineering functions, providing real-time access to information and performing analysis and simulation, Siemens PLM Software has delivered double digit efficiency improvements.

KALAMAZOO, Mich., Feb. 4 -- Western Michigan University issued the following press release: Eaton Corp. has entered into a five-year agreement with Western Michigan University to invest in and jointly staff a 1,000-square-foot testing lab to focus on hybrid drive systems for commercial and military vehicles. A memorandum of understanding, finalized in late December, calls for Cleveland-based Eaton to invest $350,000 for lab startup, and then about $300,000 annually to maintain the facility at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences on WMU's Parkview Campus. Research at the lab will involve Eaton's hybrid electric drive business group and WMU researchers in the University's Center for Advanced Vehicle Design and Simulation--CAViDS.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued the text of the following delegated order: In Reply Refer to:

YPRES, Belgium, February 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Melexis, a leading supplier of RFID transceivers, is proud to announce that the MLX90109, its single chip, low frequency (125kHz) RFID transceiver was selected by Somfy for use in a security application for homes and buildings. Originally designed for an automotive immobilizer application, the MLX90109 fits also industrial requirements in access control or pet identification. Although the big trend in contactless authentication is High Frequency RF communications (13.56MHz), there are applications where low power, robustness and space constraints call for Low frequency contacless authentication. In all these cases, the MLX90109 is the key element for an optimum solution.

Strengthening the Automation Business DALLAS, TX and MONTREAL--(Marketwire - February 04, 2010) - The global engineering and construction company M+W Group (formerly M+W Zander) strengthens its business in the US and in Canada. Today the company announced that its subsidiary, M+W Americas, Inc. purchased 100 percent of Global Automation Partners (GAP). GAP is headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut (US), and Montreal, Quebec (Canada) with further offices in Greenville (South Carolina), Indianapolis (Indiana), Fairfield (California) and in San Juan, Puerto Rico. With the acquisition, M+W Americas will expand its competencies for customers of FDA regulated industries like Pharmaceutical, Biotech, Food&Beverage, as well as Specialty Chemicals and other process industries. The purchase price was not disclosed.

TEL-AVIV, Israel, February 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Waterfall Security Solutions Ltd (Waterfall) reported today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued Patent 7,649,452 to the company, effective January 19, 2010.

TAINAN, Taiwan, Feb. 4, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. ("Himax" or "Company") (Nasdaq:HIMX) today introduces its unique 2D to 3D conversion technology, which can convert any 2D image into 3D format in real time. This innovative technology is co-developed by Himax Media Solutions, Himax's subsidiary specializing in video processing technologies, and the Perceptual Video Lab of National Taiwan University, one of the most prestigious research institutes in Taiwan. As shown at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, 3D technology is widely-regarded as one of the next big things for the world's flat panel display industry, making long-term growth opportunities for hardware and software companies in the 3D eco-system. However, the currently scarce 3D content may be delaying consumer adoption. Himax's innovative 2D to 3D conversion solution, first of its kind utilizing human visual perception characteristics, can be applied to TVs, Notebook PCs, monitors, digital photo frames, digital cameras, projectors, cell phones, STBs and game consoles. The resulting abundant and high quality 3D content will be one of the catalysts triggering wide adoption of 3D displays, devices, and applications.

As utilities around the world have initiated major smart grid infrastructure upgrades over the past several years, cyber security has become a critical priority. Security measures are designed to protect the electrical grid from attacks by terrorists and hackers, as well as strengthening its resilience against natural disasters and inadvertent threats such as equipment failures and user errors.

Taipei, Taiwan-Moxa is pleased to release the ICF-1170I series, a new line of CAN-to-fiber converters that secure data transmission by using fiber optic transmission to provide complete isolation and protection against EMI. The unique "Fiber Test Mode" feature of ICF-1170I is a time-saving way to test transmissions status that simply activates a DIP switch and then displays signal status with LEDs.

ProSoft Technology's new Industrial Frequency Hopping Ethernet radios are license-free and are available for both the 900 MHz (RLX-IFH9E) and the 2.4 GHz (RLX-IFH24E) bands. Frequency hopping radios use a proprietary signal that hops from channel to channel, which provides the wireless network with an extra layer of security, allowing it to avoid interference with existing wireless networks.