We claim:
1. A high-throughput sample mounting and alignment system comprising:
a. a sample mounted on a sample assembly;
b. a sample positioner attached to a frame;
c. a sample gripper attached to the frame by a gripper stage; and
d. a sample repository with a plurality of the sample assemblies arrayed in a pattern, the sample repository mounted to the frame by a sample repository stage;
e. whereby:
1. the sample assembly is selected and removed by the sample gripper from the sample repository pattern by movement of the sample gripper and the gripper stage,
2. the sample assembly is mounted on said sample positioner by movement of the gripper stage and the sample gripper,
3. the sample is addressably positioned at a predetermined point in space by the sample positioner,
4. the sample is rotated essentially about said predetermined point in space for data collection by the sample positioner, and
5. the sample assembly is dismounted by said sample gripper back to said sample repository pattern by movement of the sample gripper and the gripper stage.
2. The high-throughput sample mounting and alignment system of claim 1 wherein the sample repository further comprises:
a storage Dewar attached to the sample repository stage, wherein the sample assemblies in the sample repository pattern are cryogenically frozen within the storage Dewar.
3. The high-throughput sample mounting and alignment system of claim 2, wherein the sample positioner further comprises:
a. a goniometer attached to the frame, the goniometer rotating about an axis,
b. a two axis stage mounted on the goniometer for linear movement in two independent directions, and
c. a linear stage with a mounting post attached to the two axis stage and essentially orthogonal to the two axis stage.
4. The high-throughput sample mounting and alignment system of claim 3, wherein the sample repository stage further comprises:
a. a linear stage attached to the frame, and
b. a rotary stage mounted to the linear stage,
c. whereby the storage Dewar is removably mounted on the rotary stage, and by operation of the linear stage and the rotary stage, one of the sample assemblies in the sample repository pattern in the storage Dewar can be addressably positioned.
5. A sample assembly comprising:
a. a sample base,
b. a sample tube, wherein one of two ends of the sample tube is affixed to the sample base;
c. a sample loop affixed to the other end of the sample tube, wherein
d. a sample is affixed by the sample loop.
6. The sample assembly of claim 5 wherein said sample base is ferromagnetic.
7. The sample assembly of claim 6 wherein said sample base is essentially axisymmetric.
8. An apparatus for transporting cryogenically frozen biological crystal samples comprising:
a. a cryogenic transport container, and
b. a cassette carrier with a plurality of shelves retained by a sheet, the cassette carrier removably securing a plurality of sample cassettes within the cassette carrier unit, with each of the sample cassettes independently secured,
wherein the cassette carrier is packaged in the cryogenic transport container for shipping at cryogenic temperatures.
9. The apparatus for transporting cryogenically frozen biological crystal samples of claim 8 wherein the sample cassette further comprises:
a. a cassette base with at least one through opening for loosely receiving a sample assembly;
b. a magnet inserted into a recess in the cassette base, the magnet containing an opening aligned with, and opened to the corresponding cassette base through opening;
c. at least one keyed shaft mounted in the cassette base; wherein said cassette base can loosely accept one of the sample assemblies in each cassette base through opening and is removably retained by said magnet; and
d. a cassette cover with
1. a keyed opening to accept the cassette base keyed shaft to substantially prevent rotation, and
2. a recess corresponding to each cassette base through opening, wherein each of said recesses positively retains the corresponding sample assembly and protects the sample attached to the sample assembly.
10. The cassette base of claim 9 wherein said cassette base is ferromagnetic.
11. The cassette base of claim 10 wherein said magnet is further comprised of a flexible machinable magnetic material.
12. A sample repository comprising:
a. a storage Dewar, with an external referencing feature substantially immovably attached to said Dewar;
b. an internal referencing feature substantially immovably attached to the storage Dewar;
c. wherein said internal referencing feature is substantially aligned with said external referencing feature such that a translation and rotation of said external referencing feature produces in the internal referencing feature a known movement substantially the same as said translation and rotation.
13. A sample gripper comprising:
a. a retractable split collet with a collet actuation surface, a collet interior, and a collet recess;
b. an inner tube, mounted to a gripper flange, which compresses the collet actuation surface upon retraction of the split collet, causing the collet recess to contract upon a sample assembly, thus forcibly retaining the sample assembly;
c. a shroud tube of larger diameter than the inner tube, forming an outer shroud area between the inner tube and the shroud tube; and
d. a plurality of small openings in the gripper flange connecting to a port, communicating a flow from the port to the inner shroud area; wherein a warm dry gas can be applied to the port to keep frost from forming on the inner tube and the split collet, and a gage vacuum can be applied to the port to force liquid nitrogen into the collet interior when the outer shroud area is immersed in liquid nitrogen.
14. A sample gripper comprising:
a. a grasping means for retractably capturing a sample assembly,
b. a cooling means for drawing liquid nitrogen up and around the sample assembly, and
c. a flowing means for sheathing the sample assembly from direct contact with ambient moist air.
15. A method of positioning a sample at a predetermined point in space comprising:
a. establishing a focused video display of a backlit sample with an electronic camera,
b. establishing a software reference for a predetermined point in space through which an x-ray beam passes,
c. aligning a cursor to the apparent center of the backlit sample on the video display,
d. moving the backlit sample to the software reference point,
e. rotating the backlit sample through an axis non-collinear with the x-ray beam,
f. repeating said aligning, moving and repeating sequence until the backlit sample undergoes rotations essentially about the software reference point.
16. The method of positioning a sample at a predetermined point in space of claim 15 further comprising:
a. positioning the sample to the predetermined point in space,
b. illuminating the sample with x-ray beam photons, and
c. imaging a diffraction resulting from the illumination step to produce a diffraction data image at a particular rotation, the diffraction data image stored on a computer.
17. The method of positioning a sample at a predetermined point in space of claim 16 further comprising:
a. imaging of the sample at a plurality of rotations to produce a plurality of diffraction data images stored on a computer at each rotational angle.
18. The method of positioning a sample at a predetermined point in space of claim 17 further comprising:
a. ceasing the illumination of the sample with x-ray beam photons after the plurality of diffraction data images stored on a computer at each rotational angle has been completed, and
b. computing a crystal composition and atomic placement from the plurality of diffraction data images.
19. The method of positioning a sample at a predetermined point in space of claim 17 further comprising:
a. cooling the sample at all times to a temperature not in excess of 150 K.
20. The method of positioning a sample at a predetermined point in space of claim 17 further comprising:
a. cooling the sample at all times to a temperature not in excess of 80 K.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for designing a human interface of a system comprising:
establishing guidelines for avoiding sensory overload conditions of a human interacting with a system;
identifying an event associated with the system producing a potential sensory overload condition; and
generating a human interface design solution based on the guidelines for modifying an operation of the system to help alleviate the potential sensory overload condition associated with the event.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the design solution comprises an instruction to change a presentation of information by the system effective to reduce a likelihood of an operator experiencing sensory overload in response to the event.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the design solution comprises an instruction to convert a first sense stimulus resulting in the event into a second sense stimulus effective to reduce a likelihood of an operator experiencing sensory overload in response to the event.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first sense stimulus is directed to at least one of a visual, an auditory, and a haptic sense.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying an event comprises characterizing event information associated with the event.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein characterizing event information comprises organizing the event information into one or more task categories.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the task categories comprise at least one of a task type, a type of cognitive demand on the user for the task, a timing of the task, a display mode used for the task, an input mode required by the task, and a priority of the task.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning a cognitive processing value to the event.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the cognitive processing value is assigned according to at least one of an attention demand requirement placed on an operator during the event, an attention demand conflict in a same sensory channel of the system, and an attention demand conflict in different sensory channels of the system.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising using the human interface design solution to modify the operation of the system while the system is being used.
12. A computer system having a processor, a memory, and an operating environment, the computer system configured for executing the method recited in claim 1.
13. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.
14. A method for predicting a performance capability of a human subject interacting with a system comprising:
determining a first parameter indicative of an intelligence of a human subject;
determining a second parameter indicative of a multiple sensory input memory capacity of the human subject;
determining a third parameter indicative of an interactive monitoring capacity of the human subject; and
using the first, second, and third parameters to generate an overall parameter indicative of a performance capacity of the human subject responsive to a work overload condition when the human subject is interacting with a system.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a second parameter comprises assessing the subject’s ability to remember information provided to the subject via different sensory channels.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein assessing the subject’s ability comprises:
presenting a plurality of different sensory stimuli to the subject; and
testing the subject’s ability to recall the stimuli presented.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the stimuli are selected from the group consisting of visual, text, picture, speech, spatialzed tones, and spatialzed haptic cue stimuli.
18. The method of claim 14, further comprising using the overall parameter to identify operators having a desired performance capacity.
19. A computer system having a processor, a memory, and an operating environment, the computer system configured for executing the method recited in claim 14.
20. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 14.