A method of playing a Pai Gow poker wagering card game is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: a player placing a wager on a Pai Gow poker game; players placing a second wager against a pay table on a separate poker-type game that uses each player's best five-card hands; dealing seven-card hands from a set of cards to six player positions and to one dealer position; resolving the Pai Gow game and awarding bonuses to players who made the second wager and that have a best five-card hand that exceeds a predetermined rank; and awarding an additional bonus to players with hands that exceed the predetermined rank if the dealer's best five-card hand is equal to or less than a predetermined rank. An optional envy hand event may be included with the second wager or a special qualifying second or third wager.

Although the game of Pai Gow poker, frequently referred to as Asian Poker and double hand poker, has been around for many years, it has not received widespread play in gambling establishments throughout the United States. As is well known in the art, the game is played with either tiles or with a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards with one joker added. In some versions of the game, a joker is utilized to represent only a limited number of cards such as an ace or as part of a straight or flush. Rankings in Pai Gow poker are substantially the same as rankings in other types of poker games.
Pai Gow poker is typically played in a casino at a table much like that used for Blackjack, casino table poker variants, Baccarat, or the like, except that there is typically one fewer player position. That is, there is a dealer position and six player positions equally spaced around a perimeter of the table. The game is limited to six player hands and a dealer hand, using forty-nine cards, leaving four remaining cards. At each player position, there are normally markings or indicia for setting the dealer's and players' high and low hands (explained hereinafter) and a spot for each player to place his or her ante or bet wager.
The game is typically started by each player placing a bet. The dealer then deals seven cards to himself or herself and seven cards to each of the six player positions, using forty-nine of the fifty-three cards in the playing card deck. Each player, including the dealer, then forms two hands from the holdings of seven cards. One hand, referred to as the "low hand," consists of two of the dealt cards. The other hand, referred to as the "high hand," consists of the remaining five cards that were dealt to that player. The high hand must be higher in poker rank than the low hand. If the hand is a Pai Gow (no ranked hands possible higher than an ace high), then the highest ranked card must be present in the high hand.
The only requirement in forming or setting the high and low hands is that the low hand must be of a lower rank than the high hand. The ranking of the hands is similar to traditional poker with the exception, as pointed out above, that the joker can be used to represent an ace or to represent any one card of either a straight or a flush. Thus, the highest possible hand is five aces.
If the player's low hand and high hand are both higher in rank than the low and high hand of the dealer or banker, the player is a winner and the banker loses. However, if both of the dealer's or banker's hands are higher than the player's, the player is a loser and the banker wins. If only one of either of the player's high or low hands tie or lose to the comparable dealer's hand, the round is considered a push. Under some house rules, the banker's hand is normally considered to be the winner in the event of a tie in both hands, or even one hand, although this latter rule is rarely used in play.
If the player's low hand is of a higher rank than the banker's low hand but the player's high hand is of a lower rank than the banker's high hand, neither wins and the round is considered to be a push. Similarly, a push exists when a player's low hand is of a lower rank than the banker's low hand and the player's high hand is of a higher rank than the banker's high hand. There is, therefore, no winner when a push exists.
In some casinos, the banker and the dealer are one and the same person employed by the casino. The dealer is employed by the casino and deals the cards but is also a player. More frequently, however, the players are given an option, in turn, to be the banker while each of the other players plays against the banker/player. (The banker is the dealer or player who is responsible for paying or collecting from each of the players.) When this is done, the house, that is, the establishment operating the game, takes a commission by way of a percentage on all winning wagers or is paid a flat commission per round or per hour.
The house also takes a commission or ante from each player when he or she wins. The commission may be about 1% of the wager, such as taking $0.25 from a $25.00 wager, $0.50 from a $25.00 to $50.00 wager, and $0.75 from a $51.00 to $75.00 wager. There are numerous ways in which the house can collect on a player-banked game.
There are a few known special bonuses that can be won at Pai Gow poker. In some locations, there may be bonuses for specially ranked hands, such as a pair of aces and a four-of-a-kind or higher, and a special bonus or jackpot for a pair of aces as the low hand and a straight flush or royal flush for the high hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,302 to Boylan et al. describes a method of playing a Pai Gow poker game in which, in addition to the usual seven cards dealt to each player and the dealer, a single player tiebreaker card is dealt for all players and a single dealer tiebreaker card is dealt to the dealer. The ante bet of each player is then paid off for winning and losing hands in the usual manner of a Pai Gow game. However, with push hands (where only one of the two-card hand and five-card hand of the player has a higher poker rank than the respective two-card hand and five-card hand of the dealer), the winner is determined by the higher value of the player and dealer tiebreaker cards so that no push bets occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,472 to Ko describes an improved game of Pai Gow, as set forth, which includes offering the player an optional bonus wager. Should the tiles of the player's hand match any predetermined bonus outcome tile combination, the player receives a reward for his or her bonus wager regardless of whether or not the player has won his or her hand according to the rules of Pai Gow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,424 to Evers et al. describes a method, device, and system for playing a new game of Pai Gow poker. The method includes dealing seven cards to the dealer and to each player, the players and dealer each, from the seven cards dealt, assembling a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand. For the player to win his or her wager, both the player's high and low hands must outrank the dealer's hands according to the ranking of hands of poker. For a push the player's high hand must have a higher ranking the dealer's and must have a ranking of a pair of jacks or better. All other hands are losses. The method of the abovementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,424 provides for greater payoffs if the player has one of a plurality of payoff qualifying holdings. The device includes a processor programmed to play the game according to the method. The system provides for linking devices to amass a progressive jackpot payout should a player obtain a qualifying hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,876 to Ko describes an improved game of Pai Gow that includes offering the player an optional bonus wager. Should the tiles of the player's hand match any predetermined bonus outcome tile combination, the player receives a reward for his or her bonus wager regardless of whether or not the player has won his or her hand according to the rules of Pai Gow. The game also provides an option to make a tie wager.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,103 to Mostashari teaches a variation of Pai Gow poker known as "Dragon" poker. A player posts a wager and is dealt a first four of seven cards face down. A bank is dealt a first four of seven cards, three of which are dealt face up. The player is then given an option of surrendering and receiving a return of a portion of the wager. With the surrender, the player's participation in the game is at an end. A player who does not surrender is a "surviving" player who may be given an option of increasing the wager. The surviving player and the bank are each dealt three additional cards to enable formation of a player back hand and a player front hand and formation of a bank back hand and a bank front hand. After the hands are formed, the wager is resolved.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,041 to Boylan et al. describes a method of playing a Pai Gow poker wagering game in which an ante bet is initially wagered and a bonus bet is also wagered by at least one player. Seven cards are then dealt to each player and the dealer and are arranged into a two-card low hand and a five-card high hand. The ante bet of each player is then paid off to in the usual manner for Pai Gow poker. Thereafter, a best five-out-of-seven-card poker hand is arranged by the dealer for each player from the seven cards initially dealt to the player, and the bonus bet is paid off if the best poker hand has a poker rank equal to or better than a first predetermined rank (e.g., a straight) but less than a second predetermined rank (e.g., a royal flush or five-of-a-kind in a wild card game). Next, the dealer determines whether the best poker hand of each player has a poker rank better than or equal to the second predetermined rank so that an auxiliary game of chance, such as rolling three dice, is then played to determine whether the bonus bet is paid off at a first payoff rate, when the player is a loser, or at a second payoff higher than the first payoff rate, when the player is a winner, in an auxiliary game. In addition, the dealer then determines whether each player has made a bonus bet of a predetermined minimum (exceeding the betting minimum), which is then paid off if any other player has a best poker hand equal to or better than a third predetermined rank (four-of-a-kind) in an event called an "envy" bet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,078 to Leone et al. describes a version of the game of Pai Gow poker that allows a player to bet against the house and/or to bet against the other players. In addition to the conventional betting spot for placing an optional bet against the banker and/or other players, an additional betting spot is located in front of each of the players that allows the player to optionally bet against the house. This can be done whether or not the house is the banker. Thus, even if a fellow player has been designated as the banker, each other player can still choose to play against only the house. Each player can, of course, play against his or her fellow player/banker but is not required to do so. Each player can play against the house, against his or her fellow player/banker, against neither, or against both.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,486 to Franklin describes a method of playing a game of Pai Gow poker comprising: a player placing a first wager; a player placing a jackpot bet; and a dealer dealing seven cards to himself or herself and to the player. Each player arranges his or her cards into a low hand, including two of the seven cards, and a high hand, including five of the seven cards. Each player evaluates the cards and determines whether the cards comprise a predetermined jackpot card holding of a low hand pair and a high hand of one of (i) four aces and the joker, (ii) a royal flush, (iii) a straight flush, (iv) a four-of-a-kind, (v) a full house, (vi) a flush, or (vii) a straight. Players are paid a jackpot amount if the player has a jackpot holding. The winner of the first wager is determined by comparing a low hand of the dealer to the low hand of the player and a high hand of the dealer to the high hand of the player.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,061 to Kong describes a method of eliminating a push in a game of Pai Gow poker wherein a player and a banker are each dealt seven cards from a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards plus a joker, wherein the player and the banker each form a high hand and a low hand from the dealt cards. The method describes the steps of assigning a numerical value to each card; comparing a card in a player's hand to a corresponding card in a banker's hand; and designating a winner based upon whether or not the corresponding cards have total numerical values that are either both odd or both even.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,564 to Baranauskas describes a two-card poker game against a dealer in which a two-card dealer hand used in play is created from discarded cards from player hands. Players are initially dealt five cards each and are required to discard the highest card. The pool of discarded high cards is used to form the dealer's two-card poker hand. The game is played with a lower numerical ranking portion of a deck comprising the card ranks of two through eight of a typical fifty-two card poker deck. The game method includes the steps of each player placing an initial wager to participate in the game. If player positions are not occupied, the dealer retrieves the highest numerical ranking card from hands dealt to unoccupied positions and places those cards into the designated high card area in front of that unoccupied player position. Next, players decide which two cards of their remaining four cards they wish to hold and use to build their mandatory two-card hand. Players must place the two cards into an appropriate, depicted hold card area in front of that player position. Players must then discard the remaining two cards into an appropriate, depicted discard area in front of that player position. Each player then has the benefit of a two-card hand. The dealer chooses the house's two-card hand from the pool of high cards discarded by the players and placed in the designated area. The dealer indicates the choices by placing an indicator apparatus onto each of the two cards chosen. The dealer then informs the players of the house's two-card hand. Finally, all cards in each occupied player positions are shown, and the payouts to the winning hands and the collections of the losing hands wagers are resolved. The players play against the dealer and not against each other.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,481,719 to Webb and 6,012,719 also to Webb describe a card game that combines the play of blackjack ("21") with a three-card poker wager or side bet ("21+3"). Each player places a basic blackjack wager and an optional three-card poker wager before the cards are dealt. Each player is then dealt a card with the dealer receiving a face-up card. Each player is then dealt a second card. At this point, the outcome of each three-card poker hand is determined, wherein a three-card poker hand consists of the two-card hand dealt to that player and the dealer's face-up card. After settling the poker wagers, the game of blackjack continues in a typical fashion. The inventions advantageously retain all the features and advantages of blackjack as well as provide an additional opportunity to wager on a hand of three-card poker, without interfering with the card dealing sequence, for enhanced player anticipation and enjoyment.
Another known modification of the Pai Gow poker game has been played at "Harvey's Resort and Casino" in Stateline, Nev., near Lake Tahoe. In this modified game, a bonus bet is made (in addition to the ante bet in the usual game for the five-card hand and two-card hand ranks to be compared with those of the dealer). This bonus bet is won at odds if the player has any five cards (best five-card poker hand of the seven cards dealt), which together rank above a straight (with the odds increasing for increasingly ranked hands). In addition, if a player makes a bonus bet above $5 (5× the minimum), that player can additionally win a predetermined payoff if any other player has any best five-card hand that forms a poker rank above four-of-a-kind (with the payoff increasing for increasingly ranked hands). This type of payout is referred to in the industry as an "envy bonus." Envy bonuses are typically won on another player's hand, not on one's own hand.
Although Pai Gow poker has achieved a level of success such that it is present in most card rooms, it is desirable to provide additional features to the game that can make it even more attractive and successful.

Special multiplier bonus game in Pai Gow poker variant


A method of recovering nickel from a nickel bearing sulphide mineral slurry which includes the steps of subjecting the slurry to a bioleaching process, supplying a feed gas which contains in excess of 21% oxygen by volume, to the slurry, and recovering nickel from a bioleach residue of the bioleaching process.

This invention relates to the recovery of nickel from nickel bearing sulphide minerals.
Commercial bioleach plants which are currently in operation treating sulphide minerals, typically operate within the temperature range of 40xc2x0 C. to 50xc2x0 C. and rely on sparging air to the bioleach reactors to provide the required oxygen. Operation at this relatively low temperature and the use of air to supply oxygen, limit the rate of sulphide mineral oxidation that can be achieved.
The use of high temperatures between 50xc2x0 C. and 100xc2x0 C. greatly increases the rate of sulphide mineral leaching.
The solubility of oxygen is however limited at high temperatures and the rate of sulphide mineral leaching becomes limited. In the case of using air for the supply of oxygen, the effect of limited oxygen solubility is such that the rate of sulphide mineral leaching becomes dependent on and is limited by the rate of oxygen transfer from the gas to the liquid phase.
The bioleaching of nickel sulphide bearing minerals is similarly problematic and to the applicant""s knowledge no commercial nickel bioleaching plants are in operation.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of recovering nickel from a nickel bearing sulphide mineral slurry which includes the steps of:
(a) subjecting the slurry to a bioleaching process,
(b) supplying a feed gas which contains in excess of 21% oxygen by volume, to the slurry, and
(c) recovering nickel from a bioleach residue of the bioleaching process.
If the slurry contains copper then preferably copper is removed from the bioleach residue before recovering nickel therefrom.
The method may include the step of recovering cobalt from the bioleach residue before recovering nickel therefrom.
Iron may also be removed from the bioleach residue before recovering nickel therefrom. The iron may be precipitated from the bioleach residue by the addition of limestone to the residue, or in any other suitable way. Carbon dioxide generated in the iron precipitation step may be fed to the feed gas of step (b) or directly to the slurry.
In step (c) nickel may be recovered using any appropriate technique. Use may for example be made of a solvent extraction and electrowinning process. In this instance oxygen generated during the nickel electrowinning step may be fed to the feed gas of step (b) or directly to the slurry.
It is also possible to recover nickel, in step (c), using a pressure hydrogen reduction process. In this case nitrogen, produced during the generation of the feed gas which is supplied to the slurry in step (b), may be used for purging autoclaves used for nickel powder production in the pressure hydrogen reduction process.
The introduction of pressure acid leaching (PAL) for the recovery of nickel from lateritic ores opens up additional opportunities for bioleaching of nickel bearing sulphides. The volumes arising down stream of PAL processes are roughly an order of magnitude higher than the mass of nickel sulphide concentrates arising from sulphide nickel mines (approximately 1-3 million tonnes per annum versus approximately 20-200 thousand tonnes per annum).
Since residues from both processes are similar in nature (low pH, solubilised nickel and iron) it is advantageous to treat the bioleach residue for nickel and cobalt recovery using the larger PAL downstream process equipment Thus feeding a nickel sulphide bioleach residue slurry into a PAL residue slurry and treating both streams together thereafter would bring about considerable economies of scale in terms of capital and operating costs.
Thus the invention also extends to operating the aforementioned method in parallel to a process for recovering nickel from lateritic ores by pressure acid leaching to produce a nickel laterite residue slurry and then adding the bioleach residue to the nickel laterite ore slurry before carrying out step (c).
As used herein the expression xe2x80x9coxygen enriched gasxe2x80x9d is intended to include a gas, e.g. air, which contains in excess of 21% oxygen by volume. This is an oxygen content greater than the oxygen content of air. The expression xe2x80x9cpure oxygenxe2x80x9d is intended to include a gas which contains in excess of 85% oxygen by volume.
Preferably the feed gas which is supplied to the slurry contains in excess of 85% oxygen by volume i.e. is substantially pure oxygen.
The method may include the step of maintaining the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry within a desired range which may be determined by the operating conditions and the type of microorganisms used for leaching. The applicant has established that a lower limit for the dissolved oxygen concentration to sustain microorganism growth and mineral oxidation, is in the range of from 0.2xc3x9710xe2x88x923 kg/m3 to 4.0xc3x9710xe2x88x923 kg/m3. On the other hand if the dissolved oxygen concentration is too high then microorganism growth is inhibited. The upper threshold concentration also depends on the genus and strain of microorganism used in the leaching process and typically is in the range of from 4xc3x9710xe2x88x923 kg/m3 to 10xc3x9710xe2x88x923 kg/m3.
Thus, preferably, the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry is maintained in the range of from 0.2xc3x9710xe2x88x923 kg/m3 to 10xc3x9710xe2x88x923 kg/m3.
The method may include the steps of determining the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry and, in response thereto, of controlling at least one of the following: the oxygen content of the feed gas, the rate of supply of the feed gas to the slurry, and the rate of feed of slurry to a reactor.
The dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry may be determined in any appropriate way, e.g. by one or more of the following: by direct measurement of the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry, by measurement of the oxygen content in gas above the slurry, and indirectly by measurement of the oxygen content in off-gas from the slurry, taking into account the rate of oxygen supply, whether in gas enriched or pure form, to the slurry, and other relevant factors.
The method may include the step of controlling the carbon content of the slurry. This may be achieved by one or more of the following: the addition of carbon dioxide gas to the slurry, and the addition of other carbonaceous material to the slurry.
The method may extend to the step of controlling the carbon dioxide content of the feed gas to the slurry in the range of from 0.5% to 5% by volume. A suitable figure is of the order of 1% to 1.5% by volume. The level of the carbon dioxide is chosen to maintain high rates of microorganism growth and sulphide mineral oxidation.
The bioleaching process is preferably carried out at an elevated temperature. As stated hereinbefore the bioleaching rate increases with an increase in operating temperature. Clearly the microorganisms which are used for bioleaching are determined by the operating temperature and vice versa. As the addition of oxygen enriched gas or substantially pure oxygen to the slurry has a cost factor it is desirable to operate at a temperature which increases the leaching rate by an amount which more than compensates for the increase in operating cost. Thus, preferably, the bioleaching is carried out at a temperature in excess of 40xc2x0 C.
The bioleaching may be carried out at a temperature of up to 100xc2x0 C. or more and preferably is carried out at a temperature which lies in a range of from 60xc2x0 C. to 85xc2x0 C.
In one form of the invention the method includes the step of bioleaching the slurry at a temperature of up to 45xc2x0 C. using mesophile microorganisms. These microorganisms may, for example, be selected from the following genus groups:
Acidithiobacillus (formerly Thiobacillus); Leptosprillum; Ferromicrobium; and Acidiphilium.
In order to operate at this temperature the said microorganisms may, for example, be selected from the following species:
Acidithiobacillus caldus (Thiobacillus caldus); Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans (Thiobacillus thiooxidans), Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (Thiobacillus ferrooxidans); Acidithiobacillus acidophilus (Thiobacillus acidophilus); Thiobacillus prosperus; Leptospirillium ferrooxidans; Ferromicrobium acidophilus; and Acidiphilium cryptum.
If the bioleaching step is carried out at a temperature of from 45xc2x0 C. to 60xc2x0 C. then moderate thermophile microorganisms may be used. These may, for example, be selected from the following genus groups:
Acidithiobacillus (formerly Thiobacillus); Acidimicrobium; Sulfobacillus; Ferroplasma (Ferriplasma); and Alicyclobacillus.
Suitable moderate thermophile microorganisms may, for example, be selected from the following species:
Acidithiobacillus caldus (formerly Thiobacillus caldus); Acidimicrobium ferrooxidans; Sulfobacillus acidophilus; Sulfobacillus disulfidooxidans; Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans; Ferroplasma acidarmanus; Thermoplasma acidophilum; and Alicyclobacillus acidocaldrius.
It is preferred to operate the leaching process at a temperature in the range of from 60xc2x0 C. to 85xc2x0 C. using thermophilic microorganisms. These may, for example, be selected from the following genus groups: Acidothermus; Sulfolobus; Metallosphaera; Acidianus; Ferroplasma (Ferriplasma); Thermoplasma; and Picrophilus.
Suitable thermophilic microorganisms may, for example, be selected from the following species: Sulfolobus metallicus; Sulfolobus acidocaldarius; Sulfolobus thermosulfidooxidans; Acidianus infernus; Metallosphaera sedula; Ferroplasma acidarmanus; Thermoplasma acidophilum; Thermoplasma volcanium; and Picrophilus oshimae.
The slurry may be leached in a reactor tank or vessel which is open to atmosphere or substantially closed. In the latter case vents for off-gas may be provided from the reactor.
According to a different aspect of the invention there is provided a method of recovering nickel from a slurry containing nickel bearing sulphide minerals which includes the steps of bioleaching the slurry using a suitable microorganism at a temperature in excess of 40xc2x0 C., controlling the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry within a predetermined range, and recovering nickel from a bioleach residue.
The said dissolved oxygen concentration may be controlled by controlling the supply of oxygen to the slurry.
The oxygen may be supplied to the slurry in the form of oxygen enriched gas or substantially pure oxygen.
The said operating temperature is preferably above 60xc2x0 C. and may be in the range of 60xc2x0 C. to 85xc2x0 C.
The invention also extends to a method of enhancing the oxygen mass transfer coefficient from a gas phase to a liquid phase in a nickel bearing sulphide mineral slurry which includes the step of supplying a feed gas containing in excess of 21% oxygen by volume to the slurry.
The feed gas preferably contains in excess of 85% oxygen by volume.
The invention further extends to a method of bioleaching an aqueous slurry containing nickel bearing sulphide minerals which includes the steps of bioleaching the slurry at a temperature above 60xc2x0 C. and supplying gas containing in excess of 21% oxygen by volume to the slurry to maintain the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry in the range of from 0.2xc3x9710xe2x88x923 kg/m3 to 10xc3x9710xe2x88x923 kg/m3.
The invention is also intended to cover a plant for recovering nickel from a nickel bearing sulphide mineral slurry which includes a reactor vessel, a source which feeds a nickel bearing sulphide mineral slurry to the vessel, an oxygen source, a device which measures the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry in the vessel, a control mechanism whereby, in response to the said measure of dissolved oxygen concentration, the supply of oxygen from the oxygen source to the slurry is controlled to achieve a dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry within a predetermined range, and a recovery system which recovers nickel from a bioleach residue from the reactor vessel.
The plant may include an installation for recovering nickel from lateritic ores by pressure acid leaching to produce a nickel laterite residue slurry which is combined with the said bioleach residue from the reactor, and the combined slurry and residue are fed to the said recovery system.
Various techniques may be used for controlling the supply of oxygen to the slurry and hence for controlling the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry at a desired value. Use may for example be made of valves which are operated manually. For more accurate control use may be made of an automatic control system. These techniques are known in the art and are not further described herein.
As has been indicated oxygen and carbon dioxide may be added to the slurry in accordance with predetermined criteria. Although the addition of these materials may be based on expected demand and measurement of other performance parameters, such as iron(II) concentration, it is preferred, however, to make use of suitable measurement probes to sample the actual values of the critical parameters.
For example use may be made of a dissolved oxygen probe to measure the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry directly. To achieve this the probe is immersed in the slurry. The dissolved oxygen concentration may be measured indirectly by using a probe in the reactor off-gas or by transmitting a sample of the off-gas, at regular intervals, to an oxygen gas analyser. Again it is pointed out that measuring techniques of this type are known in the art and accordingly any appropriate technique can be used.
A preferred approach to the control aspect is to utilise one or more probes to measure the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry, whether directly or indirectly. The probes produce one or more control signals which are used to control the operation of a suitable valve or valves, e.g. solenoid valves, automatically so that the supply of oxygen to an air stream which is being fed to the slurry is varied automatically in accordance with real time measurements of the dissolved oxygen concentration in the slurry.
Although it is preferred to control the addition of oxygen to a gas stream which is fed to the slurry a reverse approach may be adopted in that the oxygen supply rate to the reactor vessel may be maintained substantially constant and the rate of supply of the sulphide mineral slurry to the reactor vessel may be varied to achieve a desired dissolved oxygen concentration.
The invention is not limited to the actual control technique employed and is intended to extend to variations of the aforegoing approaches and to any equivalent process.
Nickel bearing sulphide flotation concentrates frequently contain violarite and pyrrhotite and the method of the invention is of particular benefit, because both pyrrhotite and violarite have a high leaching rate, even at typical mesophile operating temperatures, which is further increased at the higher temperatures used with moderate and extreme thermophiles. Thus the benefits of the invention, including a high specific reactor sulphide oxidation duty and reduced specific power requirement for oxidation, will be obtained during the bioleaching of nickel bearing sulphide concentrates, even at mesophile operating temperatures.
Nickel may be recovered from solution by any appropriate process, for example by solvent extraction applied to the solution or by resin-in-pulp applied to the slurry, followed by electrowinning. The route adopted by Anaconda Nickel for treatment of leach liquors arising from nickel laterites at Murrin Murrin is also relevant i.e. by precipitation of a sulphide (using hydrogen sulphide) and refining of the sulphide precipitate by re-leaching, purification and hydrogen reduction. The route adopted by Preston Resources on a similar solution to that produced at Murrin Murrin at the Cawse project is also applicable, by precipitating a hydroxide (with magnesia), re-leaching, purification using solvent extraction and then electrowinning. Lastly the same process used at Cawse but with the production of a nickel carbonate from the solvent extraction strip liquor, would be most suitable for the production of nickel rondelles by methods established by Queensland Nickel Limited.
If electrowinning is selected as the production method for nickel, the oxygen generated at the anode in the electrowinning process may be used to supplement that used in the bioleach process, reducing the capital and operating costs required for oxygen production.

Recovery of nickel from nickel bearing sulphide minerals by bioleaching


A cooling device for a motor vehicle, including a cooling circuit configured to cool an engine assembly using a liquid coolant circulated by at least one variable-flowrate pump, the flowrate of each pump being controlled by a control system. The control system is configured to control the flowrate of each pump in a closed-loop regulating system as a function of the temperature of the liquid coolant and of a setpoint temperature.

The subject of the invention is a cooling device for an automotive vehicle, comprising a cooling circuit capable of cooling an engine assembly using a coolant circulated by at least one variable flow rate pump. The invention applies advantageously to electric automotive vehicles.
In an internal combustion engine, the repeated combustions overheat the parts that are in contact, such as, for example, the pistons, the cylinders, and the valves, and are transmitted to all the mechanical parts of the engine. It is therefore necessary to cool them otherwise there is a risk of destruction. For correct operation, explosion engines thus need an even and suitable temperature.
In the case of a vehicle with electrical propulsion, it is also necessary to cool the various elements of the drive system.
It is known practice to use a cooling system comprising one or more pumps for circulating a coolant through the engine, and a radiator, which is a heat exchanger used to cool the liquid. In this case, the coolant flow rate is dependent on the engine speed, and is in particular zero when the engine is stopped.
It seems desirable to have a cooling device that makes it possible to optimize the operation of the pumps, and in particular to limit their wear and their energy consumption.
BRIEF SUMMARY
The device according to the invention makes it possible to achieve this objective.
The subject of the invention is thus a cooling device for an automotive vehicle, comprising a cooling circuit capable of cooling an engine assembly using a coolant circulated using at least one variable flow rate pump, the flow rate of each pump being controlled by a control system.
In the device according to the invention, the control system is able to servo-control the flow rate of each pump in a closed-loop regulation system according to the temperature of the coolant and a setpoint temperature.
Thus, the servo-controlling of the flow rate of each pump in closed loop mode makes it possible to limit its wear and its energy consumption.
The setpoint temperature may be predetermined according to the temperature outside the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle.
The automotive vehicle may be an electric vehicle and the engine assembly may include an electronic driver system.
The electric vehicle may include a battery charger assembly, and the cooling circuit is advantageously capable of cooling the charger assembly and the engine assembly.
In this case, the device may include a first pump capable of selectively supplying coolant to the engine assembly and a second pump capable of selectively supplying coolant to the charger assembly.
To this end, the device may include a first valve capable of preventing a flow of coolant in the charger assembly and a second valve capable of preventing a flow of coolant in the engine assembly.
The device may also include a hydraulic restriction for maintaining a minimum flow rate of coolant in the engine assembly.
The closed-loop regulation system may include a corrector of proportional-integral type.
The corrector may include a saturation block capable of limiting the correction between a minimum value and a maximum value.

Cooling device for an automotive vehicle


A surface acoustic wave filter device, having a balanced-to-unbalanced conversion function, in which input/output impedances are different and in which the in-band degree of balance is satisfactory, is obtained. The surface acoustic wave filter device has a balanced-to-unbalanced conversion function, in which the spacing of input/output IDTs of a second surface acoustic wave filter element is larger by approximately half the wavelength of the surface-acoustic wave than that of a first surface acoustic wave filter element so that the phase is inverted, wherein the total of the electrostatic capacitance values of a plurality of IDTs of the second surface acoustic wave filter element is larger than the total of the electrostatic capacitance values of a plurality of IDTs of the first surface acoustic wave filter element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface acoustic wave filter device, for use as, for example, a band-pass filter provided in, for example, portable telephones. More particularly, the present invention relates to a surface acoustic wave filter device in which the characteristic impedance on the input side differs from the characteristic impedance on the output side and which has an unbalanced-to-balanced conversion function.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, to decrease the size of portable telephones, composite components in which the number of component parts and the sizes thereof are reduced and which have multiple functions have been developed.
In such a surface acoustic wave filter used in the RF stage of a portable telephone, one having an unbalanced-to-balanced conversion function has been used.
In a portable telephone, the portion from the antenna to the surface acoustic wave filter as a band-pass filter is defined by an unbalanced circuit, and generally has a characteristic impedance of 50 xcexa9. In contrast, an amplifier used in a later stage of the surface acoustic wave filter has a balanced terminal and often has an impedance of 150 xcexa9 to 200 xcexa9. Therefore, a surface acoustic wave filter device having a balanced-to-unbalanced conversion function that converts an unbalanced input of 50 xcexa9 into a balanced output of 150 xcexa9 to 200 xcexa9 has been used.
An example of this type of surface acoustic wave filter is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-117123. Referring to FIG. 19, this conventional surface acoustic wave filter device is described below. In a surface acoustic wave filter device 500, surface acoustic wave filters 511 and 512 are connected to an unbalanced input terminal 500a. The surface acoustic wave filter 511 is configured such that the surface acoustic wave filters 511a and 511b are cascaded in two steps. Similarly, the surface acoustic wave filter 512 is configured such that the surface acoustic wave filters 512a and 512b are cascaded in two steps. The output ends of the surface acoustic wave filters 511 and 512 are provided as balanced output terminals 500b and 500c, respectively.
In the filter having a balanced-to-unbalanced conversion function, there is a demand for the transmission characteristics in the pass band between an unbalanced terminal and one of the balanced terminals to have an equal amplitude and a phase which is inverted by 180xc2x0 with respect to the transmission characteristics in the pass band between the unbalanced terminal and the other balanced terminal. Such relationships of amplitude and phase between two transmission characteristics are called xe2x80x9cdegree of amplitude balancexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdegree of phase balancexe2x80x9d, respectively.
The above-described degree of amplitude balance and degree of phase balance are expressed by the following equations when a filter device having balanced-to-unbalanced input/outputs is a device of three ports and when the unbalanced input terminal is denoted as xe2x80x9cport 1xe2x80x9d and the balanced output terminals are denoted as xe2x80x9cport 2xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cport 3xe2x80x9d:
Degree of amplitude balance=|A|
where A=|20xc3x97log S21|xe2x88x92|20xc3x97log S31|, and where S21 represents the amplitude of the transmission characteristics between port 1 and port 2, and S31 represents the amplitude of the transmission characteristics between port 1 and port 3.
Degree of phase balance=|Bxe2x88x92180|
where B=|∠S21xe2x88x92∠S31|, and where ∠S21 represents the phase between port 1 and port 2, and ∠S31 represents the phase between port 1 and port 3.
Ideally, in the pass band of the filter, the degree of amplitude balance is 0 dB and the degree of phase balance is zero degrees. However, in practice, the degree of amplitude balance only needs to be 1.5 dB or less, and the degree of phase balance only needs to be 20 degrees or less. Preferably, the degree of amplitude balance is 1.0 dB or less, and the degree of phase balance is 10 degrees or less.
In the conventional surface acoustic wave filter having a balanced-to-unbalanced conversion function, such as the above-described Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-117123, to invert the phase of the transmission characteristics between an unbalanced terminal and one of the balanced terminals with respect to the transmission characteristics between the unbalanced terminal and the other balanced terminal, a method in which the polarity of an IDT (Interdigital Transducer) is inverted or a method in which, when the wavelength of the surface wave is denoted as xcex, the IDT-to-IDT spacing is widened by 0.5xcex, is used. As a consequence, a difference occurs in the electrical characteristics due to the difference between the configuration between an unbalanced terminal and one of the balanced terminals and the configuration between the unbalanced terminal and the other balanced terminal. Therefore, the degree of amplitude balance and the degree of phase balance in the pass band are often unsatisfactory.
Furthermore, in the surface acoustic wave filter device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-117123, to prevent the deterioration of the above-described degree of balance, four surface acoustic wave filter devices 511a, 511b, 512a, and 512b are used, and each of the surface acoustic wave filter devices 511 and 512 has a two-step configuration. As a result, the size of the surface acoustic wave filter device 500 is substantially increased, and thus, size reduction is difficult. Furthermore, since the number of surface acoustic wave filter devices which can be manufactured from one wafer is decreased, the manufacturing costs substantially increase.
In order to overcome the above-described problems, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a surface acoustic wave filter device which has a balanced-to-unbalanced conversion function, in which input and output impedances are different, which has a satisfactory degree of amplitude balance and degree of phase balance, and having a greatly reduced size and cost.
According to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, a surface acoustic wave filter device includes a first surface acoustic wave filter element having a plurality of IDTs provided along the propagation direction of a surface-acoustic wave on a piezoelectric substrate and having first and second terminals, and a second surface acoustic wave filter element having a plurality of IDTs arranged along the propagation direction of a surface-acoustic wave on a piezoelectric substrate, the spacing between input/output IDTs is greater than that of the first surface acoustic wave filter element by approximately half the wavelength of the surface-acoustic wave, and having first and second terminals, the first terminals of the first and second surface acoustic wave filter elements being commonly connected to an unbalanced terminal, and the second terminals of the first and second surface acoustic wave filter elements being connected to a balanced terminal, wherein the total of the electrostatic capacitance values of the plurality of IDTs of the second surface acoustic wave filter element is greater than the total of the electrostatic capacitance values of the plurality of IDTs of the first surface acoustic wave filter element.
In the surface acoustic wave filter device in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the total of the electrostatic capacitance values of the plurality of IDTs of the second surface acoustic wave filter element is denoted as C2 and when the total of the electrostatic capacitance values of the plurality of IDTs of the first surface acoustic wave filter element is denoted as C1, the condition C1 less than C2 less than 1.20(C1) is preferably satisfied.
When the amount of electrode coverage in the plurality of IDTs of the first surface acoustic wave filter element is denoted as M1, the electrode finger crossing width is denoted as W1, the total number of pairs of the electrode fingers of the plurality of IDTs is denoted as N1, the amount of electrode coverage in the plurality of IDTs of the second surface acoustic wave filter element is denoted as M2, the electrode finger crossing width is denoted as W2, the total number of pairs of the electrode fingers of the plurality of IDTs is denoted as N2, the condition M1xc3x97W1xc3x97N1 less than M2xc3x97W2xc3x97N2 less than 1.20xc3x97M1xc3x97W1xc3x97N1 is satisfied, and more preferably, the condition 0.93xc3x97M1 less than M2 less than 1.05xc3x97M1 is preferably satisfied.
The first and second surface acoustic wave filter elements have reflectors on both sides of the area where the IDTs are located, when the spacing between the reflector of the first surface acoustic wave filter element and the IDT adjacent to the reflector is denoted as GR1, and when the spacing between the reflector of the second surface acoustic wave filter element and the IDT adjacent to the reflector is denoted as GR2, the condition 0.96GR1 less than GR2  less than 1.02GR1 is preferably satisfied.
According to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, a surface acoustic wave filter device includes a first surface acoustic wave filter element having a plurality of IDTs arranged along the propagation direction of a surface-acoustic wave on a piezoelectric substrate and having first and second terminals, and a second surface acoustic wave filter element having a plurality of IDTs arranged along the propagation direction of a surface-acoustic wave on a piezoelectric substrate, the spacing between input/output IDTs is greater than that of the first surface acoustic wave filter element by approximately half the wavelength of the surface-acoustic wave, and having first and second terminals, the first terminals of the first and second surface acoustic wave filter elements being commonly connected to an unbalanced terminal, and the second terminals of the first and second surface acoustic wave filter elements being connected to a balanced terminal, wherein, in at least one of the first and second surface acoustic wave filter elements, at least one IDT-to-IDT spacing is different from the other IDT-to-IDT spacings by an integer multiple of the wavelength of the surface-acoustic wave.
In the first surface acoustic wave filter element, at least one IDT-to-IDT spacing is different from the other IDT-to-IDT spacings by an integer multiple of the wavelength of the surface-acoustic wave, and in the second surface acoustic wave filter element, a plurality of the IDT-to-IDT spacings are greater than the smallest IDT-to-IDT spacing of the first surface acoustic wave filter element and are less than the largest IDT-to-IDT spacing of the first surface acoustic wave filter element.
In the first surface acoustic wave filter element, at least one IDT-to-IDT spacing is different from the other IDT-to-IDT spacings by approximately one wavelength of the surface-acoustic wave, and in the second surface acoustic wave filter element, the plurality of IDT-to-IDT spacings have substantially the same value and are greater by approximately half the wavelength of the surface-acoustic wave than the smallest IDT-to-IDT spacing of the first surface acoustic wave filter element.
In the surface acoustic wave filter device in accordance with the first and second preferred embodiments of the present invention, the surface acoustic wave filter device further includes surface acoustic wave resonators which are connected in parallel or in series on at least one of the balanced terminal side and the unbalanced terminal side.
In the surface acoustic wave filter device in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, the surface acoustic wave filter device also preferably includes surface acoustic wave resonator-type filters which are cascaded on at least one of the balanced terminal side and the unbalanced terminal side.
A communication device in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a surface acoustic wave filter device according any of the preferred embodiments of the present invention described above.
In the surface acoustic wave filter device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, in a configuration in which the second surface acoustic wave filter element is arranged such that the spacing between input/output IDTs is greater than that of the first surface acoustic wave filter element by approximately half the wavelength of the surface-acoustic wave, and the phase characteristics are inverted, the difference in the impedance characteristics, which occurs as a result differing the IDT-to-IDT spacing, is corrected by making the total of the electrostatic-capacitance values of the second surface acoustic wave filter elements greater than the total of the electrostatic-capacitance values of the first surface acoustic wave filter elements.
Therefore, a surface acoustic wave filter device having a balanced-to-unbalanced conversion function, in which the in-band degree of amplitude balance is satisfactory, is provided. As a result, a surface acoustic wave filter device is provided which has a balanced-to-unbalanced conversion function, in which the degree of balance is satisfactory and in which input and output impedances are different.
In particular, when the total of the electrostatic capacitance values of the plurality of IDTs of the second surface acoustic wave filter element is denoted as C2 and when the total of the electrostatic capacitance values of the plurality of IDTs of the first surface acoustic wave filter element is denoted as C1, the degree of amplitude balance is effectively improved when the condition C1 less than C2 less than 1.20(C1) is satisfied. In a similar manner, when the amount of electrode coverage in the plurality of IDTs of the first surface acoustic wave filter element is denoted as M1, the electrode finger crossing width is denoted as W1, the total number of pairs of electrode fingers is denoted as N1, the amount of electrode coverage in the plurality of IDTs of the second surface acoustic wave filter element is denoted as M2, the electrode finger crossing width is denoted as W2, the total number of pairs of electrode fingers of the plurality of IDTs is denoted as N2, the degree-of-balance is effectively improved similarly when the condition M1xc3x97W1xc3x97N1 less than M2xc3x97W2xc3x97N2 less than 1.20xc3x97M1xc3x97W1xc3x97N1 is satisfied, and the degree-of-balance is further improved when the condition 0.93xc3x97M1 less than M2 less than 1.05xc3x97M1 is satisfied.
Furthermore, the degree of phase balance is also effectively improved when the spacings GR1 and GR2 between the reflectors in the first and second surface acoustic wave filter elements and the IDT adjacent to the reflector are set such that 0.96GR1 less than GR2 less than 1.02GR1.
In the surface acoustic wave filter device in accordance with the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, since the IDT-to-IDT spacing of the first surface acoustic wave filter element differs by one wavelength between the right and left, and the IDT-to-IDT spacing of the second surface acoustic wave filter element is greater by approximately half the wavelengths than the smallest one of the IDT-to-IDT spacing of the first surface acoustic wave filter elements between the right and left, the difference in the impedance characteristics due to the IDT-to-IDT spacing is averaged. Therefore, the impedance characteristics of the first and second surface acoustic wave filter elements substantially match each other, and the degree of amplitude balance is effectively maintained. As a result, according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, a surface acoustic wave filter device has a balanced-to-unbalanced conversion function, in which the degree of balance is satisfactory and in which input and output impedances are different.
In the present invention, when surface acoustic wave resonators are connected in parallel or in series on at least one of the balanced terminal side and the unbalanced terminal side, the amount of out-of-band attenuation is greatly increased without deteriorating the in-band insertion loss. Similarly, in a case where surface acoustic wave resonator-type filters are connected on at least one of the balanced terminal side and the unbalanced terminal side, the amount of out-of-band attenuation is greatly increased.
Other features, elements, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings.

Surface acoustic wave filter device with an unbalanced-to-balanced conversion function


A frame deformation control apparatus to be used for a frame being constructed of a plurality of sub-frames, the frame deformation control apparatus has a joint unit connecting adjoining sub-frames, the joint unit allows the adjoining sub-frames to turn around the joint unit, a detector measuring a bending moment to be added to the joint unit, and a brake unit restricting the turn around the joint unit of the adjoining sub-frames.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frame deformation control apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus which can surely cause an axial deformation on a frame by controlling an active deformation of the frame.
2. Description of Relevant Art
Conventionally, to deform a frame of vehicle (vehicle frame) in a longitudinal direction thereof while restricting a bending deformation on middle of the frame has been required, in order to absorb a collision energy caused by a collision. Here, a longitudinal direction's deformation without bending deformation of the frame is called as "axial deformation".
As an example of these kinds of technique, the technique disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2000-168624 has been discovered. In this patent publication, a special bracket, which connects a power unit, such as a transfer or an engine disposed in the middle of a vehicle body, with side-frames, which hold the power unit from both sides thereof, is disclosed. By using this special bracket, a bending moment to be added to the side-frame can be cancelled.
As the other example, the technique disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. H10-129521 has been discovered. In this patent publication, a side-frame, onto which a pair of non-parallel slots is formed, is disclosed. In this side frame, if a collision had occurred, since a bending moment is intentionally induced at the region in the vicinity of the non-parallel slots, the bending moment caused by the collision is cancelled by the bending moment to be caused by slots.
In these conventional techniques, however, the bending moment to be caused on the region near the bracket or slots is cancelled with a reverse moment, which acts in a reverse direction with respect to the direction of the bending moment and which is caused as a result of the occurrence of the bending moment caused by the collision.
That is, in these conventional techniques, since the bending moment due to the collision is cancelled with the passively-caused reverse moment, the reverse moment does not necessarily correspond to the bending moment.
In case of the frame adopting a conventional technique, therefore, it is difficult to cause an axial deformation (crush) prior to the bending deformation of the frame, and thus the bending deformation of the frame may be caused prior to the axial deformation.
In case of the frame adopting a conventional technique, in which the bending moment is cancelled with the passively-caused reverse moment, the stiffness of the frame can not be changed in compliance with parameters, such as a collision rate and the position of an occupant.
In case of the frame adopting a conventional technique, furthermore, as the length of the frame becomes longer, it is difficult to cause only the axial deformation (crush) of the frame without causing the bending deformation.
This is because of the following reason. In case of the conventional technique, the position where the bracket or the slot is provided is determined in anticipation of the region where the bending moment to be caused by a collision is concentrated. Thus, as the frame becomes long, since the bending moment tends to be applied locally to another region where the bracket or the slot is not provided, the frame may cause the bending deformation on this region.
If the bending deformation arises on the frame, the efficiency of energy absorption of the collision energy as a whole becomes worse.
Therefore, a frame deformation control apparatus, which can surely cause an axial deformation on the frame prior to the bending deformation even if the length of the frame becomes longer, and can control the stiffness of the frame in compliance with parameters, such as a collision speed (rate) and the position of an occupant, has been required.


The ceiling board of the cabinet of a disc drive apparatus has an abutment projection arranged at a position located vis-à-vis and projecting toward the turntable. The main surface of the abutment projection opposite to the main surface located vis-à-vis the turntable is supported by a top surface supporting section formed on the frame. With this arrangement, when the turntable is raised to the chucking position, the optical disc is pressed by the abutment projection of the ceiling board supported by the protruding section of the top surface supporting section at a part thereof surrounding the center hole of the optical disc so that the engaging projection is engaged with the center hole of the optical disc and the optical disc is held on the turntable in a state where the optical disc is anchored by a plurality of anchoring sections at a part thereof surrounding the center hole of the optical disc.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc drive apparatus for recording information signals on and/or reproducing information signals from an optical disc, a frame for holding such a disc drive apparatus, a disc drive apparatus set comprising such a disc drive apparatus and a frame and an electronic appliance mounted by such a disc drive apparatus.
This application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-064713, filed on Mar. 8, 2004, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical discs including CDs (compact discs) and DVDs (digital versatile discs) and magneto-optical discs are known. Various disc drive apparatus corresponding to such optical discs are also known.
Meanwhile, there is a strong demand for downsized, thin and lightweight electronic appliances mounted by such disc drive apparatus such as note-type personal computers. Accordingly, disc drive apparatus of the type under consideration are also required to be downsized, thin and lightweight than ever.
To meet the demand, there have been proposed a disc drive apparatus adapted to fasten an optical disc to a turntable by means of a chucking action of raising the turntable so as to press an optical disc against and hold it to the ceiling board of a cabinet in place of conventional disc drive apparatus adapted to hold an optical disc by means of a clamp member (see, inter alia, Patent Document 1: Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-352497).
Such a disc drive apparatus can reduce its thickness by that of the clamp member because it does not comprise a clamp member. However, for such a disc drive apparatus to be reliably fastened to a turntable, the ceiling board of the cabinet is required to be sufficiently rigid. Then, the ceiling board needs to be made thick and heavy to meet the requirement of rigidity.
Thus, it is difficult to make disc drive apparatus of the type under consideration further downsized, thin and lightweight if the ceiling board needs to be provided with a sufficiently high rigidity. Particularly, a problem of tradeoff arises when such a disc drive apparatus has to be made to show a thickness of about 9.5 mm, or equal to that of a hard disc drive (HDD) unit, because there is not any member that can take part in reducing the thickness of the apparatus and the thickness of the ceiling board of the cabinet has to be raised if the ceiling board satisfies the requirement of rigidity. If the thickness of the ceiling board is reduced, the rigidity of the ceiling board falls to make it difficult to reliably fasten the optical disc to the turntable by means of a chucking action.

Disc drive apparatus with disc chucking arrangement


Disclosed are compositions of a fused filament fabrication (FFF) composite filament having embedded functional materials in a thermoplastic matrix. Methods of making the composite filaments are also disclosed. In one example, a FFF composite filament incorporates a MOF, in an amount greater than 10% by mass, dispersed in a matrix polymer. One example of a method of synthesizing FFF composite filaments involves mixing a suspension that has a MOF with a matrix polymer solution to yield a polymer-MOF mixture. The mixture is cast and dried into a solid composite material, which is formed a FFF composite filament having the MOF in an amount greater than 10% by mass.

Many materials offering high surface areas and/or advantageous chemical or electrical functionality are not widely utilized because they are difficult to handle and/or are not convenient to manufacture into usable forms. For example, with their remarkably high theoretical surface areas (14,600 m2/g) and vast potential for structural tunability, metal-organic frameworks (MOF) and their functionalized analogues can exhibit truly unique adsorption properties for gas/vapor systems, including high capacities and tailored selectivity. Applications can include toxic gas storage/separation, chemical sensing, catalysis, energy storage, heating and cooling, water management, efficient contrast imaging agents (acoustic, MRI etc.) and targeted extraction of critical metals from geothermal brines. However, conventional synthesis strategies for MOFs generally result in the formation of either dry powder products, with exceptionally low density, or colloidal suspensions. These inconvenient forms have limited their use to niche application spaces. More widespread industrial use of MOFs will continue to be limited given the poor mechanical strength and the difficulties faced with handling and processing these powders into useable form factors. Attempts to address the challenge have typically compromised the advantageous material properties that make MOFs attractive. Accordingly, there is an explicit and growing need for feedstock compositions and methods of making same that enable the production of engineered forms of MOF-based materials so that 3D objects of any desired shape or geometry can be realized.

Polymer composites for fused filament fabrication and methods of making the same


An apparatus for generating view images for a scene comprises a store (101) which stores three dimensional scene data representing the scene from a viewing region. The three dimensional scene data may e.g. be images and depth maps captured from capture positions within the viewing region. A movement processor (105) receives motion data, such as head or eye tracking data, for a user and determines an observer viewing position and an observer viewing orientation from the motion data. A change processor (109) determines an orientation change measure for the observer viewing orientation and an adapter (111) is arranged to reduce a distance from the observer viewing position relative to the viewing region in response to the orientation change measure. An image generator (103) generates view images for the observer viewing position and the observer viewing orientation from the scene data.

The variety and range of image and video applications have increased substantially in recent years with new services and ways of utilizing and consuming video being continuously developed and introduced.
For example, one service being increasingly popular is the provision of image sequences in such a way that the viewer is able to actively and dynamically interact with the system to change parameters of the rendering. A very appealing feature in many applications is the ability to change the effective viewing position and viewing direction (the viewing pose) of the viewer, such as for example allowing the viewer to move and "look around" in the scene being presented.
Such a feature can specifically enable a virtual reality experience being provided to a user. This may allow the user to (relatively) freely move about in a virtual environment and dynamically change his position and where he is looking. Typically, such virtual reality applications are based on a three-dimensional model of the scene with the model being dynamically evaluated to provide the specific requested view. This approach is well known from e.g. game applications for computers and consoles, such as in the game category of first person shooters.
It is also desirable, in particular for virtual or augmented reality applications, that the image being presented is a three-dimensional image. Indeed, in order to optimize immersion of the viewer, it is typically preferred for the user to experience the presented scene as a three-dimensional scene. Indeed, a virtual reality experience should preferably allow a user to select his/her own position, camera viewpoint, and moment in time relative to a virtual world.
A major issue in supporting various services based on, in particular captured three dimensional, representations of a scene is that a large amount of data is required. This results in high resource requirements, such as a need for large storage resources.
In order to support many such new applications and services, it is desirable that a scene can be accurately captured. In contrast to traditional applications in which a single viewport for a single viewpoint is typically sufficient (e.g. traditional video sequences), it is desirable if the full 3D information in the scene can be accurately captured.
For example, with 6DoF (six degrees of freedom, corresponding to three degrees of freedom for the position of the viewpoint and three degrees of freedom for the orientation) virtual reality camera based capture, a scene is typically captured from multiple positions in multiple directions in order to capture accurate and complete information about the whole scene. During playback of 6DoF content from such a capture, a viewer can in many applications freely move within the scene with views dynamically being synthesized to correspond to the current virtual pose of the viewer. The presented views may e.g. be interpolated views that are synthesized from nearby originally captured views using suitable algorithms. This enables smooth transitions and/or reduces the required amount of captured light field data. Typically for such view interpolation, depth information is used for the synthesis with the depth information typically being captured directly or estimated from stereo images. Another example may be to use the captured views to develop a three-dimensional model of the scene.
In many applications, a static scene may be captured by moving a handheld camera. After the capture, the camera positions and viewing directions for the captured images are derived and used as base images for view synthesis or to generate a three-dimensional model for the scene.
However, in order for such a representation based on captured images to be sufficiently accurate, it is necessary that a sufficient amount of relevant information is captured by the images. This tends to require a relatively high spatial capture frequency/density which again leads to high resource requirements (e.g. storage and communication).
In some applications, such issues may at least partly be addressed by providing a more limited representation of the scene. For example, many virtual reality applications may provide a user with views of a scene which allows only restricted movement and orientation changes and which does not provide full freedom to move around in the scene. For example, a virtual reality application may be aimed at users that are relatively static (e.g. sitting or standing in a confined area, such as in front of a screen).
For such applications, the representation of a scene may be reduced to be based on captures from a relatively small region (or indeed from a single view position). For example, a scene may be captured from say, 25 positions arranged in a regular 5×5 grid with a total size of often less than 50 cm. Such a capture may provide a good capture of a scene for viewpoints within the capture region but also allows for generation of views for viewpoints that are at some distance thereto (e.g. up to a meter or less depending on the characteristics of the scene).
However, the quality of the generated view images tends to degrade with the distance from the capture region and e.g. artefacts, distortions, and errors resulting from de-occlusions and depth imperfections at the desired view point become increasingly significant. The problem is that it is not always easy or obvious for the user to know in which direction to move in order to be in the 'sweetspot' again. This will in practice tend reduce the perceived quality of the experience, which may result in the movement of the virtual observer being restricted by the application.
Hence, an improved approach for generating view images would be advantageous. In particular, an approach that allows improved and/or facilitated operation or implementation, improved user flexibility and freedom, reduced capture requirements, improved image quality, an improved user experience, and/or improved performance would be advantageous.

Apparatus and method for generating view images


A system for controlling the functionality of a mobile communications device based upon geographic location is provided. The system includes a location determining unit to determine a geographic location of the mobile communications device. The system further includes a location database in communication with the location determining unit. The location database contain one or more data elements designating one or more geographic locations as communications-limited zones within which the mobile communications device is precluded from performing one or more predetermined functions.

The persistent pace of development in wireless communications technology continues to add to the capability and functionality of mobile communications devices. Mobile communications devices now allow device users to transmit and receive voice, data, pictures, and even video using the radio-frequency spectrum rather than more conventional fixed, physical connections of metal wire or fiber optic cable. Advances in wireless communications technology, accordingly, have provided tremendous flexibility as to where and when mobile device users can transmit and receive various forms of information.
Continuing improvements in wireless communications are expected to further add to the capability and functionality of mobile communications devices. Current mobile communications devices are able to transmit and receive at relatively low rates, around 100 kbps, over second-generation (2G) networks using various digital encoding protocols, such as the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) protocol, the Digital-Advanced Mobile Phone Service (D-AMPS) protocol, a time division multiple access (TDMA) protocol, and a code division multiple access (CDMA) protocol. Mobile communications devices, meanwhile, are becoming ever more sophisticated, with many such devices having the capability to provide high-resolution displays and to perform as integrated cameras. Many experts believe that in the near future mobile communication devices will be able to receive and transmit at broadband speeds around 2 mbps, and even greater speeds with the eventual adoption of fourth-generation (4G) devices. Such devices are expected to be able to transmit and receive not only pictures, but high-speed video and high-fidelity audio as well.
Despite the undeniable benefits conferred by such advances in mobile communications devices, they also give rise to a new challenge, namely, how to adequately protect content providers like producers of concerts and plays, sponsors of sporting events, and performing musicians. These content providers face the risk that an enhanced-capability mobile device can be used as a medium to widely broadcast, for example, a sporting event or concert without the consent of the content provider. As yet, there are no effective ways to mitigate this risk.
Conventional technology further fails to fully provide opportunities for content providers to capture the gains that could otherwise be generated by wireless communications devices having enhanced capabilities. Content providers who would not want a mobile device user to use the device to impermissibly broadcast content such as video images or audio signals relating to a sporting event or concert might nonetheless welcome the chance to charge a fee for such a broadcast. With fourth-generation (4G) devices and networks, consumers might be equally eager to transmit and receive broadcasts of such content, especially since such devices and networks are likely to have the capability to transmit and receive high-fidelity audio as well as broadcast video. Few if any mechanisms yet exist, however, that would allow content providers and potential consumers of content to efficiently allocate property rights governing the transmission and receipt of content via wireless communications devices.

Selective enablement and disablement of a mobile communications device based upon location

International Business Machines Corporation


A computed tomography system corrects image errors resulting from misalignment of the fan beam as a result of placement of the x-ray tube, thermal drift of the x-ray tube anode of mechanical stresses of the gantry or x-ray tube. Misalignment is determined alternately by means of a z-axis offset detector which detects movement of the exposure area of the CT fan beam or a predictive model that calculates thermal drift of mechanical deflection of the focal spot of the x-ray tube based on previous use. The system includes a collimator with a controllable z-axis position which may be controlled to reduce z-axis offset of the fan beam exposure area or to make the fan beam more parallel with the imaging plane of the CT system.

This invention relates to x-ray collimators for use in computed tomography systems and the like and specifically to a collimation system for correcting errors in the x-ray fan beam location and angle of incidence with the detector mechanism resulting from misalignment of the position of the x-ray tube focal spot.
Computed tomography systems, as are known in the art, typically include an x-ray source collimated to form a fan beam directed through an object to be imaged and received by an x-ray detector array. The x-ray source and detector array are orientated to lie within the x-y plane of a Cartesian coordinate system, termed the "imaging plane". The x-ray source and detector array may be rotated together on a gantry within the imaging plane, around the image object, and hence around the z-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system. Rotation of the gantry changes the angle at which the fan beam intersects the imaged object, termed the "gantry" angle.
The detector array is comprised of detector elements each of which measures the intensity of transmitted radiation along a ray path projected from the x-ray source to that particular detector element. At each gantry angle a projection is acquired comprised of intensity signals from each of the detector elements. The gantry is then rotated to a new gantry angle and the process is repeated to collect an number of projections along a number of gantry angles to form a tomographic projection set.
Each acquired tomographic projection set may be stored in numerical form for later computer processing to reconstruct a cross sectional image according to algorithms known in the art. The reconstructed image may be displayed on a conventional CRT tube or may be converted to a film record by means of a computer controlled camera.
The x-ray source is ordinarily an x-ray "tube" comprised of an evacuated glass x-ray envelope containing an anode and a cathode. X-rays are produced when electrons from the cathode are accelerated against a focal spot on the anode by means of a high voltage across the anode and cathode. The voltage applied across the anode and cathode, the current flowing between the anode and cathode, and the duration of the exposure, for a given x-ray procedure, is termed the "exposure technique".
The efficiency of energy conversion in generating x-rays is low, and as a consequence, considerable heat is developed in the anode of the x-ray tube. For this reason, the anode may be rotated at high speeds so that the focal spot constantly strikes a new and cooler area of the anode. Even so, the surface temperature of the anode may rise as high as 2000.degree. C. during the acquisition of the projections for a series of tomographic projection sets and the anode supporting structure including the shaft on which it rotates may rise to 400.degree. C. or more.
As the x-ray source heats up, thermal expansion of the anode supporting structure results in movement of the focal spot relative to the glass envelope of the x-ray tube and movement of the fan beam. The focal spot may move as much as 0.25 mm (0.01 inch) due to thermal expansion during the acquisition of a series of tomographic projections.
The anode shaft is aligned with the z-axis, about which the gantry rotates, to prevent gyroscopic torques from acting on the rotating anode during movement of the gantry. Thermal expansion of the anode support structure therefore tends to move the focal spot along the z-axis. With a fixed collimator position, movement of the focal spot in the z-axis sweeps the fan beam in the opposite direction along the surface of the detector array.
Another source of motion of the focal spot is mechanical stress of the gantry and rotating anode as the gantry rotates. This stress results from the changing angle of gravitational acceleration and the changing magnitude of centripetal acceleration as a function of the rotational velocity of the gantry, acting on the gantry and anode. These resulting forces contribute up to 0.25 mm (0.01 inch) of additional focal spot motion.
The detector array may be an ionization type detector or solid state detector as are known in the art. Both detector types exhibit changes in their sensitivity to x-rays as a function of the position of the fan beam along their surface. Accordingly, movement of the fan beam as a result of thermal drift or mechanical deflection of the x-ray source focal spot may change the strength of the signal from the detector array. Such changes in signal strength during the acquisition of a tomographic projection set produce ring like image artifacts in the resultant reconstructed image.
With a fixed collimator position, movement of the focal spot in the z-axis also affects the alignment of the fan beam with the imaging plane. The mathematics of image reconstruction assumes that each acquired projection is taken within a single plane. Lack of parallelism of the fan beam with the imaging plane will also produces shading and streak image artifacts in the reconstructed image. Also, for small slice widths, the misalignment due to motion induced stress on the gantry and anode may significantly enlarge the effective slice width of images reconstructed from opposing but misaligned views. This motion induced misalignment will reduce contrast resolution for small imaged objects, such as lesions, making them harder to detect. In addition, the spatial resolution of the CT imaging system will be reduced for high frequency features at oblique angles to the slice.

Collimation apparatus for x-ray beam correction


The present invention provides a kit or device for the detection of biliary tract cancer, and a method for detecting biliary tract cancer. The present invention relates to a kit or device for the detection of biliary tract cancer, comprising a nucleic acid capable of specifically binding to miRNA in a sample of a subject, and a method for detecting biliary tract cancer, comprising measuring the miRNA in vitro.

The biliary tract refers to the entire route of excretion of bile secreted from hepatic cells into the duodenum, and is broadly divided into the intrahepatic bile duct inside the liver and the extrahepatic biliary tree outside the liver. The extrahepatic biliary tree is broadly divided into 3 areas: the extrahepatic bile duct through which the bile is transported from the liver to the duodenum; the gallbladder which temporarily stores and enriches the bile; and the duodenal papilla or the papilla which is an opening site of the bile duct and the main pancreatic duct at the duodenal lumen.
A great majority of biliary tract cancer cases are caused by the malignant transformation of biliary epithelial cells that surround the lumen, and respond, merely weakly, to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Thus, surgical resection based on early detection is only one radical cure for such biliary tract cancer. However, early biliary tract cancer lacks subjective symptoms. For example, this cancer manifests subjective symptoms such as jaundice or itch only after the bile duct is obstructed with the progression of the cancer so that the bile flows back into a blood vessel. Therefore, biliary tract cancer is often detected in an advanced cancer state. As for intrahepatic bile duct cancer, because the extrahepatic bile duct is rarely obstructed, the disease often progresses asymptomatically without symptoms of jaundice. According to the 2011 statistics of cancer type-specific mortality in Japan disclosed by the Center for Cancer Control and Information Services, National Cancer Center, the number of biliary tract cancer deaths climbed to 18,186 people, and 5-year relative survival rates by cancer type in 2003 to 2005 were in the second lowest position following pancreatic cancer with 22.5% for males and 19.9% for females. Since the biliary tract is closely related to important organs such as the liver and the pancreas, biliary tract cancer is responsible for poor prognosis resulting from its metastasis to these organs.
The biliary tract cancer is broadly divided into three types, extrahepatic bile duct cancer, gallbladder cancer, and papillary cancer, depending on sites of origin. The extrahepatic bile duct cancer is further divided into four types: a cancer that develops in the hepatic portal region which serves as the entrance of the liver (hilar cholangiocarcinoma); a cancer that develops in the upper region from the hepatic portal region to the gallbladder (upper bile duct cancer); a cancer that develops in the middle region from the gallbladder to the pancreas (middle bile duct cancer); and a cancer that develops in the distal region from the pancreas to the duodenal papilla (distal bile duct cancer). A bile duct cancer that develops closer to the liver is known to be more difficult to operate and to have poorer prognosis.
The UICC (Unio Internationalis Contra Cancrum) stages of progression of extrahepatic bile duct cancer, gallbladder cancer, and papillary cancer are defined in "Classification of Biliary Tract Cancer, the 5th edition" (edited by the Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, KANEHARA & Co., LTD., 2003, p. 109) and classified into stages 0, IA, IB, IIA, IIB, III, IVa, and IVb according to lymph node metastasis, metastasis to extraperitoneal distant organs, macroscopic spread around the bile duct, etc. The UICC stages of progression of intrahepatic bile duct cancer are defined in "TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours, the 7th edition, Japanese version" (UICC Japan National Committee, translated by TNM Committee, KANEHARA & Co., LTD., 2012, p. 110) and classified into stages I, II, III, IVa. and IVb according to lymph node metastasis, metastasis to extraperitoneal distant organs, macroscopic spread around the bile duct, etc.
Limitedly invasive biochemical examination of blood, tumor marker tests, and abdominal ultrasonography are generally used in the initial diagnosis of biliary tract cancer (Non-patent Literature 1). The biochemical examination of blood for the detection of biliary tract cancer employs, for example, alkaline phosphatase, γ-GTP, or bilirubin, which is elevated due to hepatic dysfunction. For example, CEA, CA19-9, DUPAN-2, CA195, CA242, and IL-6 are known as the tumor markers for the detection of biliary tract cancer. As for how to use these tumor markers, a subject is suspected of having a cancer % when their concentrations in blood are higher or lower than predetermined reference values. For example, as described in Non-patent Literature 2, the reference value of CEA is set to 5 ng/mL, and the reference value of CA19-9 is set to 37 U/mL. A subject is suspected of having a cancer including biliary tract cancer when their concentrations exhibit these values or higher.
There are reports, albeit at a research stage, on the detection of biliary tract cancer using the expression levels of proteins or genes in biological samples including blood.
Patent Literature 1 describes a method for detecting biliary tract cancer using the expression levels of proteins in biliary tract tissues.
Patent Literature 2 describes a method for diagnosing digestive organ cancers including biliary tract cancer using mRNA genes extracted from cells (mononuclear cells, etc.) in blood.

Biliary tract cancer detection kit or device, and detection method


A reprogrammable testing circuit for testing different types of valves may obtain a direction limit for a valve; obtain a test direction input for the valve; determine whether the direction limit of the valve has been reached or when there is an attempt to exceed it based on a current position of the valve, the test direction input, a valve test procedure; run a customized test on the valve in a direction of the direction input based on determining that the direction limit has not been reached; actively comparing the current position of the valve with the direction limit while running the customized test; and discontinue the customized test when the current position of the valve reaches the direction limit.

Electronic testing circuits may be used to test the functionality of valves and/or valve motors, such as hot air trim valves used in aircrafts for temperature and pressure control. Different types of valves for different applications have various design constraints. For example, different types of valves may have different number of input bits, rotation steps, and open/close limits, e.g., the maximum angle at which the valve can open or close in either clockwise or counterclockwise directions.
Specialized electronic testing equipment is usually designed to test a particular type of valve with consideration to the design constraints for the particular valve. The design of testing equipment is usually encapsulated into a large analog circuit. However, testing equipment for one particular valve may not be suitable to test other types of valves, e.g., since different types of valves have different constraints, such as number of input bits, rotation steps, and open/close limits, etc.

Reprogrammable testing circuit for testing multiple types of valves

KING ABDULAZIZ CITY FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


The invention provides a grease composition for constant velocity joint containing the components (a) to (g) below and a constant velocity joint containing said composition.

In the field of automobile industry, FF-car production has recently been increasing for the purpose of reducing weight and expanding living space. 4WD car production is also growing due to their functionality. These FF and 4WD cars realize a power transmission and steering by the front wheels, and therefore, it is necessary to secure a smooth power transmission, even when the steering wheel is fully turned, and the constant velocity joint is inevitable as a part to transmit a rotational movement at a constant velocity in response to the changes in crossing angles between the crossing two axes.
Because performance of cars has recently been improved further and the production of high-power cars is increasing, constant velocity joints are exposed to greater stresses and severer lubrication condition.
Meanwhile, there is a tendency that an improvement of riding comfort in a car is also required at a higher level. The improvement of the riding comfort is demanded in any climate regions, for example, from extreme hot regions to extreme cold regions.
In extreme cold regions, the car may be started at an extreme low temperature. In such a condition, the rotational resistance may vary upon rotating due to the difference in frictional resistances among parts composing the constant velocity joint. Variation in rotational resistance may generate stick-slip sounds which may then lead to deteriorate the riding comfort.
There have been proposed grease compositions for constant velocity joints wherein a mineral oil is used as a base oil and a molybdenum compound is used as an additive (see e.g. Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, these grease compositions for constant velocity joints are incapable of sufficiently reducing variation in rotational resistance when different factors become combined at an extreme low temperature, therefore an improvement for more stable performance is required.    Patent document 1: JP-A-H10-273692    Patent document 2: JP-A-2003-165988

Grease composition for constant velocity joint and constant velocity joint

Abstract: (a) a diurea thickening agent having the following formula (1):R1NH—CO—NH—C6H4-p-CH2—C6H4-p-NH—CO—NHR2  (1)wherein R1 and R2 may be the same or different and represent C8-C20 alkyl groups, (b) an ester synthetic oil, (c) a mineral oil and/or a synthetic hydrocarbon oil, (d) a molybdenum dialkyldithiocarbamate, (e) molybdenum disulfide, (f) a polytetrafluoroethylene, and (g) a zinc dithiophosphate compound. The grease composition of the invention reduces variations in rotational resistance of the constant velocity joint at a low temperature.


Fluorescent nanosensors for extracellular ion concentration measurements are disclosed herein. More specifically, a fluorescent nanosensor for extracellular ion measurements comprising a photoluminescent nanostructure disposed on a substrate surface is disclosed. The photoluminescent nanostructure comprises a fluorescent metallic core-silica shell containing nanoparticle, wherein the fluorescent silica shell comprises a fluorophore dispersed therein. The nanosensor emits a fluorescence emission in function of the extracellular ion concentration.

Quantitative measurements of physiological ions at proximity of biological membranes are crucial methods to investigate metabolic processes and to identify unhealthy cells. In fact, the variation in concentration gradients is still predominant in medical studies—pH in cancer cells[1], calcium ions and neurotransmitters in neurons[2,3], or sodium and potassium in various excitable cells.[4-6] Current methods focus mainly on fluorescent markers to react to these environmental changes by a modification in their emissive properties in different conditions. However, these markers have often shown a certain cytotoxicity[7,8], which limits their use for long-term analyses and raises many questions concerning the stress induced during these tests.
Because of its intrinsic analytical advantages—namely, minimal photophysical stress induction, high sensitivity to minute signal variation, and adaptability on multiple biomedical platforms—fluorescence spectroscopy continues to be a dominant technology in various fields. Moreover, it has been found that dipole-dipole coupling with conductive electrons of a metallic surface can improve the optical properties of organic fluorophores.[9-11] This collective oscillation, termed "surface plasmon", is induced by specific electromagnetic wavelengths and can be localized on nanometric conductive domains. Metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) is therefore influenced by the position of the molecule in the resulting electric field, and this distance dependency is well documented on metallic surfaces with a thin silica spacer.[9] In recent years, the development of MEF core-shell nanoparticles has been the subject of multiple studies and is now a whole theme in itself.[12-15] Easily dispersible in most solvents, various diagnosis applications have arisen from this type of highly-luminescent nanoparticular architecture.[16,17]
Although showing multiple advantages for homogeneous sensing in aqueous solutions, core-shell nanoparticles have also been shown to be functional on two-dimensional substrates to create fluorescent chip-based sensors with a higher surface ratio than continuous metallic films. The covalent grafting of nanoparticular sensors on transparent matrices, e.g. silica coverslip, is particularly valuable for bio-characterization using fluorescence microscopes. This methodology allows for multiple emitters on the same device without undesirable FRET and better control of the fluorophore-plasmonic core distance, whereas deposited metal surfaces are limited in these aspects. Furthermore, the development of planar devices allows for high-throughput and rapid analysis of liquids by microfluidic spectrofluorimetry[18], while also inhibiting the formation of plasmonic aggregates, which results in a highly homogeneous fluorescent biochip.
The grafting of proteins on the surface of metallic nanoparticles by click chemistry has been described in the literature.[19] The "click" method has also been used on lamellar silica substrates in order to add antibodies and polysaccharides for surface sensing.[20-23]
The present disclosure refers to a number of documents, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Fluorescent nanosensors and uses thereof


A cigar opener assembly (10) includes a cover (12) and blade housing (14) having a blade (16) therein. The cover (12) and blade housing (14) rotate relative to each other so that openings (22, 24) through the cover (12) align with a channel (38) within the blade housing (14). After use, the cover (12) may be rotated relative to the blade housing (14) so that the blade is no longer accessible.

The present invention relates generally to a cutting tool, and more specifically, to a tool suitable for opening a cigar.
In recent years, cigars have become increasingly popular. Often times, cigars come in large sizes. Many times a cigar smoker does not smoke the entire cigar. Cigars can also be relatively expensive. Therefore, it is not desirable to waste even a portion of the cigar.
Another trend for cigar smokers is to roll their own cigars with their own rolling papers. Rolling papers come in a variety of styles and flavors to enhance the flavor of the cigar. To avoid waste, the cigar owner may find it desirable to open the cigar and divide the tobacco inside between a number of different and appropriately sized cigars.
To open a cigar, a knife may be used. A knife is typically not a very portable instrument due to the sharp blade associated therewith. Carrying a knife may pose a risk of injury a risk of injury may also present itself while using the knife to open the cigar.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a device for opening a cigar that is suitable for portability as well as reduces the potential for injury to the user.