Biomedical Sample Handling

Multi-axis X-Y linear motorized positioning stage

ABTech inc's Mini X-Y Linear Motor stage combines Copley Controls, Thrust Tube "Micro" series linear motors with non-contact linear encoders and precision mechanical guideway bearings to produce a unique lightweight, low mass and low profile, linear motor positioning stage.

This design incorporates the linear motors coil (forcer) as the stages workholding carriage while the linear mechanical guideway bearings provide load support, travel straightness and orthogonality for accurate positioning and repeatability.

The Thrust Tube linear motors are electrically identical to conventional brushless DC motors making them compatible to most third party brushless drives.

These mini X-Y stages are ideally suited for pick-and-place or point-to-point positioning applications such as biomedical sample handling or inspection.

ABTech's modular design approach and full engineering services can respond quickly to provide a solution to your O.E.M. needs for ultra-precision linear motion.
Features

* Thrust Tube "Micro" series brushless DC linear motors
* Precision linear mechanical guideway bearings
* Non-contact linear encoders
* Position accuracy & repeatability: ±0.000080" (±2.0µm)
* Motor drive amplifiers
* Motion controllers
* Custom bases
* Complete turn-key systems
* Modular design

Continue Reading »»

Eye-popping 57-story Apartment Tower

(CNN) -- On Malmo's waterfront, once the heart of the city's industrial base, an eye-popping 57-story apartment tower rises spectacularly, dominating the skyline.

The building, the Santiago Calatrava-designed Turning Torso, reflects the reinvention of the city from an industrial center on Sweden's Southern coast to a leader in modern architecture and environmental design.

Heavy industry once characterized Malmo, Sweden's third largest city. At one time, it boasted one of the largest shipyards in the world. But Malmo fell on hard times in the 1980s, when a recession devastated the city's industrial base.

Since then, Malmo has been on a mission to regenerate its urban landscape. The city's willingness to embrace change and look ahead to the future has made it a vibrant hub of the Oresund -- the area of Scandinavia that encompasses southern Sweden and eastern Denmark.

Driving the revitalization in the early part of this decade was the opening of the Oresund Bridge, an engineering feat that connects Malmo to Copenhagen. It takes a little more than half an hour to travel between the two cities by train, and traffic across the bridge has doubled over the past five years.

The bridge has spurred greater economic integration between the two cities and has become a symbol of the vibrancy of the transnational Oresund region. (Malmo belonged to Denmark until the 17th century, when it became part of Sweden. Today, the region still identifies with both Danish and Swedish cultures.)

Amid the regeneration drive, Malmo has positioned itself as a pioneer in eco-friendly living. Even by environmentally-conscious Sweden's standards, the drive to go green has been impressive. Lillgrund, the third largest wind park in the world, is located off Malmo. The city has also supported the development of environmentally friendly urban neighborhoods and was appointed Sweden's first "Fairtrade City" in 2006.

Although Malmo has rushed in the modern age, the city still manages to maintain a traditional feel. In the city's Old Town, you can meander down cobblestone streets and admire architecture from centuries long ago. Large swathes of greenery stretch across Malmo, which is also known as the City of Parks, beckoning residents as well as neighboring Danes.

Locals describe Malmo as a relaxed and open city, the sort of place where you can escape from it all but still find something new to rouse your interest. The city's cultural scene is rooted in a shared passion for music. Every summer, the city pulsates as music-loving throngs descend upon the city for the Malmo Festival -- an eight-day music extravaganza.

But the city's character is best reflected by its people. Immigrants flocked to Malmo after World War II, and the wave has not really waned since. Take a stroll through the Mollevangen neighborhood and you'll find Iranian supermarkets next to falafel stands and Thai restaurants.

Malmo takes pride in its ethnic diversity. The city's tourism office points out that more than 100 languages are spoken on its streets. But like much of the rest of Sweden, the rise in immigration has created social tension in Malmo. Segregation remains a problem, with many immigrant communities marginalized on the periphery of the city.

Nonetheless, there is hope that the redevelopment of the city's open spaces will help foster more cultural integration. There's no better sign of this happening than in the Western Harbor district. On a given day, you'll find the urban rich and recent immigrants on the long stretch of waterfront, drawn together by the seascape.

Continue Reading »»

KYC compliance

KYC compliance

Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance regulation has proved to be one of the biggest operational challenges banks, accountants, lawyers and similar financial service providers worldwide have had to overcome.

World-Check, the industry standard KYC compliance solution, provides an overview of KYC compliance and its origins, and outlines the compliance mandate as applicable to banks, accounting firms, lawyers and other regulated financial service providers – not just in the UK, Europe and the USA, but all around the world. Relied upon by more than 3,000 institutions worldwide, this KYC database solution provides effective legal and reputational risk reduction.

Why “Know Your Customer?”


The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre revealed that there were sinister forces at work around the world, and that terrorists activities were being funded with laundered money, the proceeds of illicit activities such as narcotics and human trafficking, fraud and organised crime. Overnight, the combating of terrorist financing became a priority on the international agenda.

For the financial services provider of the 21st century, “knowing your customers” was no longer a suggested course of action. Based on the requirements of legislative landmarks such as the USA PATRIOT Act 2002, modern Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance mandates were created to simultaneously combat money laundering and the funding of terrorist activities.

What is Know Your Customer (KYC)?


Know Your Customer, or KYC, refers to the regulatory compliance mandate imposed on financial service providers to implement a Customer Identification Programme and perform due diligence checks before doing business with a person or entity.

KYC fulfils a risk mitigation function, and one its key requirements is checking that a prospective customer is not listed on any government lists for wanted money launders, known fraudsters or terrorists.

If preliminary KYC checks reveal that the person is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), for example, Advanced Due Diligence must be done in order to ensure that the person’s source of wealth is transparent, and that he or she does not pose a reputational or financial risk in terms of their finances, public positions or associations. Beyond customer identification checks, the ongoing monitoring of transfers and financial transactions against a range of risk variables forms an integral part of the KYC compliance mandate.

But to understand the importance of KYC compliance for financial service providers better, its origins need to be examined.

Origins of Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance


The arrival of the new millennium was marred by a spate of terrorist attacks and corporate scandals that unmasked the darker features of globalisation. These events highlighted the role of money laundering in cross-border crime and terrorism, and underlined the need to clamp down on the exploitation of financial systems worldwide.

Know Your Customer (KYC) legislation was principally not absent prior to 9/11. Regulated financial service providers for a long time have been required to conduct due diligence and customer identification checks in order to mitigate their own operation risks, and to ensure a consistent and acceptable level of service.

In essence, the USA PATRIOT Act was not so much a radical departure from prior legislation as it was a firmer and more extensive articulation of existing laws. The Act would lead to the more rigorous regulation of a greater range of financial services providers, and expanded the authority of American law enforcement agencies in the fighting of terrorism, both in the USA and abroad.

In October 2001, President George W. Bush signed off the USA PATRIOT Act, effectively providing federal regulators with a new range of tools and powers for fighting terror financing and money laundering. During July 2002, the US Treasury proceeded to introduce Section 326 of the PATRIOT Act, a clause that removed some key burdens for regulators and added significant enforcement muscle to the Act.

What 9/11 changed, in essence, was the extent to which existing legislation was being implemented. Using the provisions of the earlier anti-terrorism USA Act as a foundation, it included the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act, which allowed for federal jurisdiction over foreign money launders and money laundered through foreign banks. Significantly, it is this anti-terror law that would make the creation of an Anti Money Laundering (AML) programme compulsory for all financial institutions and service providers.

Section 326 of the USA PATRIOT Act dealt specifically with the identification of new customers (“CIP regulation”), and made extensive provisions in terms of KYC and the methods employed to verify client identities.

In accordance with this piece of updated KYC legislation, federal regulators would hold financial institutions accountable for the effectiveness of their initial customer identification and ongoing KYC screening. Institutions are required to keep detailed records of the steps that were taken to verify prospective clients’ identities.

Although current KYC legislation does not yet demand the exclusion of specific types of foreign-issued identification, it recommends the usage of machine-verifiable identity documents. The ability to notify financial institutions if concerns regarding specific types of identification were to arise, combined with a risk-based approach to KYC, proved to provide a robust mechanism for addressing security concerns.

Effectively, the risk-based approach to customer due diligence grants regulated institutions a certain degree of flexibility to determine the forms of identification they will accept, and under which conditions.

KYC compliance: Implications for banks, lawyers and accounting firms


The KYC compliance mandate, for all its positive outcomes, has burdened companies and organisations with a substantial administrative obligation. Additionally, KYC compliance increasingly entails the creation of auditable proof of due diligence activities, in addition to the need for customer identification.

Continue Reading »»

Technology

30 years ago, Bill Gates and a group of friends enjoyed working with computers. Today, Microsoft is a multibillion dollar company and rides the crest of the internet wave.

It is hard to broach the subject of the birth of Microsoft without mentioning the name of Bill Gates, the founder and leader of Microsoft Corporation. Bill Gates was born William Henry Gates III on October 28, 1955. He was born to a family that was successful in business, living a comfortable upper middle class life in Seattle, Washington.

Early in his elementary school days, Bill Gates quickly shot to the head of the class, consistently outscoring his peers in most subjects, but especially math and science. His parents soon enrolled him in Lakeside Prep School, where the atmosphere was intellectual enough to stimulate the young Gates. This move to Lakeside would prove historic, for it was here, in the spring of 1968, that he was introduced to computers.

At that time, computers were still too large and expensive for the school to purchase one of its own. Over the next ten months or so, the school struck agreements with various corporations who allowed the students to use their computers. Bill Gates, his buddy Paul Allen and a handful of others quickly took to computing. In fact, they began to skip classes, opting instead to stay in the computer room and write programs, read computer books and find out exactly how these machines worked. They soon learned to hack the system, and altered and crashed valuable files until they were banned from the computer. Soon, however, Bill and his friends were actually hired by the computer company to find bugs and explore weaknesses in the system, which kept causing the computers to crash. Instead of paying the boys for their time, they were granted something even better--unlimited computer time.

Gates has been quoted as saying that that was the time when he got into computers fulltime. "I mean, then I became hardcore. It was day and night," he said. The boys used their time eating, drinking and breathing computers. They studied manuals, explored the system, and hounded the employees with questions until they had formed a base of knowledge that would eventually lead to the formation of Microsoft.

The computer company that was hiring the group went out of business in 1970, and the boys had to find alternate sources for computer time. They were soon hired by Information Sciences Inc. to write a program for payroll. This time they actually earned money as well as enjoying the unlimited computer time. It was during this time that the group gained notoriety for their skill in computer programming. They were hired or contracted by various organizations to find bugs and fix them. Each job helped Gates and his friends learn their skill and delve ever deeper into the world of programming

In the fall of 1973, Gates left for Harvard University. He enrolled as a prelaw student, but spent most of his time in the campus computer center, programming away. He stayed in touch with Paul Allen and they continued to talk about future projects and the possibility of one day having their very own business. Allen even moved to Boston to be closer to Gates, so they could continue working on projects. Allen continually urged Gates to quit school and work with him full-time, and Gates was unsure of what he wanted to do. This was soon to change.

One year later, Paul Allen saw the first microcomputer on the cover of a magazine. He bought the magazine and went immediately to show it to Gates. They realized the time was right. The home PC business was about to explode and someone would need to provide software for the machines. By stretching the truth somewhat, Gates arranged for a meeting with the Altair manufacturers. He had called them to let them know he had a program written for them. After the appointment was made, Gates and Allen stayed up for nights, feverishly writing the program he had promised. It worked perfectly at the meeting, and everyone was impressed. They sold the program, and saw that this was something they could do for real. Within a year, Gates had dropped out of Harvard and Microsoft was formed.

The company went through some rough first years, but eventually were able to license MS-DOS to IBM. The IBM PC took the public by storm, and its success signaled the success of Microsoft. Microsoft continued writing software, for businesses as well as the consumer market. In 1986, the company went public, and Gates became a 31-year old billionaire. The next year, the first version of Windows was introduced, and by 1993 a million copies per month were being sold.

In 1995, Gates knew that the Internet was the next area of focus, and the course of Microsoft shifted dramatically. The popular Internet Explorer browser soon became a bestseller. Today, Microsoft software is everywhere, and indeed, is almost synonymous with the terms "computer" and "Internet."

Continue Reading »»