A linear actuator comprises a motor for producing a bi-directional rotational output. A casing is connected to the motor at a proximal end, the casing having an inner cavity defining a joint surface. A threaded shaft is within the inner cavity of the casing and actuated by the motor for rotation. A sliding tube assembly has a sliding tube in sliding arrangement with the inner cavity of the casing for moving in translation in an axial direction relative to the casing. A pair of traveling nuts is connected to the sliding tube assembly for moving with the sliding tube in the axial direction, the traveling nuts being operatively engaged to the threaded shaft for converting a rotational motion of the threaded shaft into a translation of the sliding tube, the traveling nuts being on opposite sides of a member of the sliding tube assembly connecting the traveling nuts to the sliding tube.

In the video and televised entertainment industry, there is an increasing demand for enhancing the viewing experience of a viewer. Accordingly, there has been numerous innovations to improve the image and the sound of viewings. Motion simulation has also been developed to produce movements of a motion platform (e.g., a seat, a chair) in synchrony with sequences of images of a viewing. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,585,515 and 7,934,773 are two examples of systems that have been created to impart motion to a seat, to enhance a viewing experience.
Electro-mechanical linear actuators are commonly used in such motion platforms. These linear actuators must often be capable of producing low and medium amplitude outputs, at low or medium frequency, for a high number of strokes. Moreover, these linear actuators must support a portion of the weight of a platform and its occupant(s).
While the linear actuators expand in their axial dimension to raise a motion platform, the loads applied on the linear actuator are not limited to being in the axial direction, and may have other components, such as radial components, for instance, based on how the linear actuator is connected between the ground and the motion platform. Accordingly, linear actuators may be subjected to loads that could, over time and over cycles, lead them to failure. FIG. 1 shows a prior art driven group of a linear actuator, with a sliding tube piston 1 of the type slidingly received in a cylindrical casing, a threaded shaft 2 and a traveling nut 3 interfacing the threaded shaft 2 to the sliding tube piston 1. It is observed that the traveling nut 3 is secured to the sliding tube piston 1 so as to form an integral unit that moves together. A rotation of the threaded shaft 2 is converted into a translational motion of the sliding tube piston 1, in part because of the traveling nut 3. As loads are applied to the end of the sliding tube piston 1, such loads will be transmitted to the traveling nut 3. Non-axial loads may impact the life of the traveling nut 3 due to the leveraging effect of the sliding tube piston 1 on the traveling nut 3, for such non-axial loads.


A method of interpolating a signal output from an image sensor including a pixel array having an M×N matrix as a basic pixel block where M and N are integers is provided. The method includes selecting a target pixel signal from among pixel signals output from the basic pixel block; and converting a pattern of a pixel signal output from the pixel array into a Bayer pattern by converting a pixel signal output from the basic pixel block into the Bayer pattern through an operation on the target pixel signal and a neighboring pixel signal of the target pixel signal and interpolating an output signal converted into the Bayer pattern.

Example embodiments of present invention relate to an image interpolation method using Bayer pattern conversion, and more particularly, to a method of converting an output signal of a pixel array into a Bayer pattern and interpolating the Bayer pattern signal and a recording medium recording the method.
To represent a color image correctly, three color samples, i.e., red (R), green (G) and blue (B) samples may be needed for each pixel. However, if multiple color filters are mounted in each pixel to extract the three colors, the structure of a device will be complicated and it is not economical. For these reasons, digital image input devices, such as digital cameras and mobile phone equipped with cameras, use a color filter array (CFA), such as a Bayer filter, which extracts only a single color at each pixel to reduce the number of color samples and interpolate a Bayer color pattern output from an image sensor in an image signal processor (ISP) to generate a full-color RGB image.
One of the important purposes of the image interpolation is to obtain an image of high quality by effectively removing or reducing noise from the image. However, conventional image processing methods do not provide satisfactory resolution or photosensitivity and therefore do not provide clear images.

Image interpolation method using Bayer pattern conversion, apparatus for the same, and recording medium recording the method


A pseudo-random built in self test pattern generator is constructed of eight sequential D-flip flops and configured to output 10-bit wide pattern data which conforms to the 8B/1OB transmission protocol. The first and fifth D-flip flops of the array have their outputs split, with one leg of the split directly defining a character bit and the other leg of the split defining an inverted character bit. The outputs of the first, second, seventh and eighth D-flip flops are directed to a four input EXOR gate whose output is connected to the D input of the first D-flip flop of the array. Configured as a recirculating feed back loop, the pattern generator defines a sequence of 10-bit patterns in which no more than five sequential 1s or five sequential 0s are generated either within a pattern or on pattern boundaries. The pattern generator provides 255 Fiber Channel-type transmission characters to a Fiber Channel-type transceiver circuit which serializes the characters into a 1.06 GHz serial datastream and then deserializes the datastream into 10-bit transmission characters. The received transmission characters are analyzed and if they match with patterns transmitted, the transceiver circuit is deemed to be correctly operating at a 1.06 GHz characteristic frequency.

The past few years have seen a dramatic increase in the speed of data transmission capabilities among and between the various components of a computer system or between multiple computer systems connected together in a network configuration. Indeed, since the general acceptance of personal computer systems in the 1960's, data transmission speeds have grown with an almost power law dependence; about 1 MHz in the '60's, 10 MHz in the '70's, 100 MHz in the '80's and 1 GHz speeds being routinely achieved in the '90's.
The development of optical fibre for transmission of digital data streams has become a particular enabling technology for modern-day 1 GHz data transmission speeds and, in the computer industry, has given rise to a data transfer protocol and interface system termed Fibre-Channel. Fibre-Channel technology involves coupling various computer systems together with optical fibre or a fibre channel compatible electrically conductive (copper) cable and allows extremely rapid data transmission speeds between machines separated by relatively great distances.
However, because of the physical characteristics of Fibre-Channel-type cable, present day systems are only capable of serial-fashion data transmission (at least when only a single optical fibre or electrical cable is used to interconnect various computer systems). In contrast, computer systems are internally configured to almost universally handle data in parallel fashion on byte-multiple signal busses (8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit buses), making it incumbent on any data transmission system to provide some means for converting a 1 GHz serial data stream into a byte or byte-multiple parallel data stream. Conversely, since the Fibre-Channel protocol contemplates two-way data transmission, computer systems that typically operate with parallel data structures must have some means for serializing a byte or byte-multiple data stream into a 1 GHz data signal suitable for serial transmission down an optical fibre or an electrically conductive (copper) cable.
Parallel data is typically synchronously serialized for high speed transmission, i.e., the sequence of 1's and 0's making up the resulting serial data stream occurs with reference to a synchronized, uniform, single-frequency serializer clock signal. Encoding and transmitting the clock signal, together with data, would necessarily require an inordinate amount of valuable serial bandwidth and reduce the overall data transmission speed of a Fibre-Channel system. Even though some small degree of self-clocking is inherent in the serial data stream, some method of evaluating the data stream must be used in order that a transceiver or serial-to-parallel data recovery system may determine how to appropriately frame the serial data stream into bytes.
In accordance with the Fibre-Channel physical and signaling interface specification, defined in ANSI X3.230-1994, information to be transmitted over a fibre wire or cable is encoded, 8 bits at a time, into a 10-bit Transmission Character which is subsequently serially transmitted by bit. Data provided over a typical computer system's parallel architecture is encoded and framed such that each data byte (8-bits from the point of view of the computer system) is formed into a Transmission Character in accordance with the Fibre-Channel 8B/10B transmission code. The resulting 8B/10B character is then transmitted as 10 sequential bits at a 1.06 GHz data rate in accordance with the interface specification. Likewise, an incoming 8B/10B encoded transmission character must be serially received at a 1.06 GHz data rate and converted (framed) into the corresponding 10-bit transmission character. The 10-bit transmission character is then further decoded into an 8-bit byte recognizable by conventional computer architectures.
Pertinent to the 8B/10B transmission coding scheme is the fact that the number of sequential 1's and 0's in the resultant serial data stream is arbitrarily limited. In accordance with the Fibre-Channel physical and signaling interface specification, there may be no more than five sequential 1's and 0's in the serial data stream. It is important to realize that this limitation is applicable to the serial data stream as a whole and not to just a transmission character. A first transmission character comprising 1110001111 and a second transmission character comprising 1111001111 would violate the 8B/10B code limitation.
The reason for this limitation becomes evident when it is realized that the serial binary data stream is commonly transmitted in a "nonreturn-to-zero" (NRZ) format as illustrated in the exemplary waveform diagram of FIG. 1. As illustrated in the diagram, NRZ data is distinguished from "return-to-zero" (RZ) data in which the signal returns to a zero value between consecutive bits. In the NRZ case, each bit is defined by a "bit period", indicated in FIG. 1 as P.sub.b, and is statistically independent of any of the other bits. Fibre-Channel serial data is transmitted in an NRZ format because, for a given bit rate, NRZ data defines fewer transitions than RZ data making NRZ data preferable for transmission where channel or circuit bandwidth is costly. However, NRZ data comprises a particular attribute that makes the task of clock recovery difficult. Because of the relative absence of transition boundaries, NRZ data may exhibit long sequences of consecutive 1's or 0's, undifferentiated by a bit period marker, thus requiring a clock recovery circuit to "remember" the bit rate during such a sequential period. This means that in the absence of data transitions, the clock recovery circuit should not only continue to produce the clock but also incur negligible drift of the clock frequency. In order to minimize clock recovery circuit drift, the Fibre-Channel serial data stream is arbitrarily limited to five sequential bit periods comprising 1's and five sequential bit periods comprising 0's.
The most common clock recovery circuit is a phase-lock loop, which generates or regenerates asynchronous timing reference signal from a serial data stream and provides a timing reference to a data synchronizer or deserializer in order to mark in time the anticipated occurrence of a serial data bit. In effect, a phase-lock loop generates a synchronous stream of successive timing references, each timing reference representing, for example, a bit period T.sub.b with which a data bit may be associated. The phase-lock loop clock recovery circuit, accordingly, is an essential component in modern day GHz transceiver systems.
The frequency of clock signals recovered by, for example, a receiver phase-lock loop, is subject to a number of variations introduced by the electronic components of such systems. Typically, the electronic components in the data path introduce some elements of phase and frequency noise which are random in nature, and, more particularly, have dramatically varying bandwidth characteristics depending on the geometric and electronic variations in modern semiconductor manufacturing process parameters. Phase-lock loops such as comprises a 1.06 GHz to 106 MHz transceiver, must take these variations into account when attempting to deal with a 1.06 GHz serial data stream. Implementations of a 1.06 GHz to 106 MHz transceiver, including suitable phase-lock loop circuitry are described in co-pending U.S. Pat. applications Ser. Nos. 08/920,524, 08/924,009 and 08/924,028, all filed on Aug. 29, 1997 and commonly owned by the Assignee of the present invention, the entire disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
A particular feature of phase-lock loop system used in conjunction with a GHz serial data receiver is that such phase-lock loop systems may lose frequency or velocity lock in the event that the semiconductor manufacturing process used to implement the transceiver circuit causes the electronic characteristics of the PLL to inordinately drift such that the system exhibits a frequency deviation greater than the "lock range". The lock range is necessarily dependent on the bandwidth of the phase lock loop system but is commonly expressed as either a percentage of the mean frequency or some fixed value about the mean frequency. Since the operational frequency of a PLL corresponds to the VCO control voltage, in a fashion well understood by those having skill in the art, and since the VCO control voltage is, in turn, informed by the various semiconductor manufacturing process tolerances, it is easy to understand how semiconductor manufacturing tolerance drift is able to skew the operational frequency range of a phase-lock loop (PLL).
In order to determine whether a particular transceiver is functional with regard to operation at speed (1.06 GHz), it is necessary to exercise the transceiver circuit under operating conditions. Such an exercise is typically performed on a purpose-built semiconductor test apparatus which toggles the inputs of an integrated circuit in accordance with a pre-determined pattern and examines the pattern developed by the circuit output for conformance to a particular expected data pattern, or output mask. If the circuit's output pattern matches the expected data or mask pattern, the circuit is deemed to have "passed" meaning it is operational within its design performance parameters.
However, integrated circuit architectures are continually pushing the speed envelope, such that their inherent speed capabilities are almost always beyond the testing speed capabilities of integrated circuit testing apparatus. In the Fibre-Channel case, integrated circuit test apparatus are incapable of operationally exercising a 1.06 GHz integrated circuit at its operational data rate. Moreover, the large majority of integrated circuit test apparatus are incapable of exercising the 10-bit character bus at the required 106 MHz rate. Thus, some means must be implemented in the high-speed circuit itself to provide a measure of self-test capability such that the performance of the circuit may be evaluated at its operational 1.06 GHZ speed.
Previous high-speed integrated circuit designs have incorporated some means of internally generating test patterns useful for a built in self test (BIST) function, but prior-art integrated circuit data paths have typically been 8-bits wide and comprised no restriction to the number of sequential 1's or 0's generated by the pattern generator.
Pertinent prior art-type pattern generators suitably comprised an 8-bit linear feedback shift register (LFSR) which was able to pseudo-randomly generate a set of 255 patterns (out of a total of 256) at a data rate determined by a clock signal derived within the high-speed integrated circuit.
A typical prior art-type built in self test pattern generator using a linear feedback shift register is depicted in semi-schematic block diagram form in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the linear feedback shift register (LFSR) is implemented as eight sequential D-flip flops, each having a D input, a Q output, a clock (CLK) input and a set (SET) input. All of the clock inputs are tied to a clock signal CLK which is defined by the integrated circuit at issue and has a frequency equal to the operational speed of the chip. Each of the Q outputs of each of the D-flip flops are taken off to define an 8-bit wide bus with the righthand most Q output representing the least significant bit (LSB) and the left hand most Q output representing the most significant bit (MSB). The Q output of the LSB flip flop is directed to the input of the next-most significant bit D flip flop. Its Q output is, in turn, directed to the next-most significant flip flop, and so on down the string to the MSB flip flop. The output of the MSB flip flop is fed-back to the D input of the LSB flip flop through a 4-input exclusive OR (EXOR) gate. The other three inputs of the EXOR gate are taken from the Q outputs of the LSB flip flop, the next-most significant flip flop and the most significant-but-one flip flop.
The pattern result of such a configuration is depicted in the BIST pattern table of FIG. 3. At CLK time =0 (initialization) all of the D-flip flops are initialized to output 1's by strobing the SET inputs. As CLK toggles, the LFSR begins operation to generate the patterns depicted in the table of FIG. 3.
While able to shift data at high-speed rates, the LFSR of the prior art is unable to generate the unique patterns required for conformance to the Fibre-Channel 8B/10B transmission code. While the Fibre-Channel 8B/10B transmission code supports all 256 8-bit combinations, these combinations are expressed in 10-bit Transmission Characters. The Transmission Characters, themselves, are characterized by particular bit structure implementations such that, even for sequential Transmission Characters, no more than five sequential 1's and 0's may appear in the resulting serial data stream.
Accordingly, there is a demonstrated need for a built in self test system which operates in accordance with the frequency characteristics of a particular integrated circuit and is able to generate at least 255 out of 256 patterns representing valid transmission characters in accordance with 8B/10B encoding. Such a built in self test feature should be able to be easily implemented in a Fibre-Channel integrated circuit transceiver operating in accordance with a 1.06 GHz clock.

Serial/parallel GHZ transceiver with pseudo-random built in self test pattern generator


A packaging film comprises a dispersed-particle composition, which comprises a plurality of particles dispersed in a matrix medium of thermoplastic polymer. The particles comprise silicate platelets. Intercalating agent of one or more phospholipids is sorbed to the silicate platelets.

The present invention relates to dispersed-particle compositions comprising silicate platelets exfoliated from intercalated layered silicates, and also to packaging films incorporating such compositions.
Because of the toxic nature of many quaternary ammonium-based intercalating agents, it may be difficult to obtain government agency approval to utilize them in some end-use applications, such as food-contacting materials.

Film comprising silicate platelets of exfoliated from phospolipid-intercalated layered silicate


A system for supporting a plurality of solar panels includes elongated support members each having a first portion, a coextensive second portion, and a longitudinally extending mid portion between the first and second portions. The first and second portions each have a base for contacting a surface and an edge receiving area configured to receive an edge of a solar panel at a height above the base, with the heights placing one edge higher than the other. When installed, support members are disposed generally parallel to each other and spaced apart on a surface, with the edge receiving portions facing each other. The upper edge of a solar panel is received in the edge receiving area of the first portion of one of the support members and a lower edge of the solar panel is received in the edge receiving area of the second portion of the other support members.

Solar panels are often installed in arrays or rows on the roof of a building. The panels should be supported at an angle appropriate for the location of the building. For example, in the northern part of the United States, the appropriate angle may be approximately 10 degrees with respect to horizontal. Where solar panels are installed on a flat roof of a building, it is desirable to tilt the panels at 10 degrees with respect to the roof. Other angles may be appropriate or desirable, depending on the location and application.
Solar panels are typically rectangular in shape but come in a variety of dimensions. For example, the length of some panels is often in the range of 1635-1660 millimeters while the width often varies from 980-1020 millimeters and the thickness often varies from 40-46 millimeters. A variety of solar panel support frames are available. Typically, these support frames form a frame around the entirety of the solar panel and have downwardly extending portions for contacting a support surface such as a roof. Often these frames also extend underneath the solar panel such that the overall frame is a large, generally continuous body requiring a lot of material to form. Additionally, different support frames must be provided to accommodate different sizes of panels.
Solar panels, when installed on a roof, are exposed to a variety of forces. One force is wind load that may act to move or lift the solar panel. There have been various attempts to provide solar panel support frames that counter this wind load. Existing solar panel mounting systems often require anchoring to the roof, which may require penetrating the roof membrane. This may lead to leaks, and may violate various insurance covenants.
There remains a need for improved solar panel supports.


Disclosed are culture media, protocols and kits for diagnosis of toxigenic Clostridium difficile, where the culture medium comprises Cooked Meat Medium with glucose; yeast extract; taurocholate; cycloserine; and cefoxitin.

Throughout this application various publications are referred to in short form. Full citations for these references may be found at the end of the specification. The disclosures of these publications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the subject application to more fully describe the art to which the subject invention pertains.
Clostridium difficile, an anaerobic spore-forming bacterium, was found in the 1970s to be the cause of pseudomembranous colitis, and the major agent of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, causing about 20% of cases (Dubberke et al. 2009, Kelly, 2008). The diarrheal disease is due to expression of major toxins A and B by "toxigenic" C. difficile strains; other strains of this bacterium do not contain the genes for these toxins and are entirely non-pathogenic (Kelly, 2008). Infectious spores of C. difficile can survive in the environment for months, resist drying and many common disinfectants, and thus represent a major reservoir of this organism within hospitals (Dubberke et al. 2009). With the arrival of a new "hypervirulent" strain in the past decade, the incidence of C. difficile disease and its severity have increased dramatically (Kelly 2008, Dubberke et al. 2009). C. difficile is now the leading hospital-acquired infection in some regions of North America, affecting over 1 out of 100 hospitalized adults (APIC, 2008, Jarvis et al., 2009). There were an estimated 300,000 infections in acute care hospitals in the US annually in 2005 (Dubberke et al. 2009) and an equal number in long-term care facilities (Ohio DOH, 2007). While in the past these infections were merely a nuisance, the new C. difficile now has an attributable mortality of ˜7%, and contributes to death in another 7.5% of patients (Kelly 2008). A further problem is that current treatments are plagued by a 20-50% recurrence rate, with many patients continuing to relapse with this condition for years (Kelly 2008, Dubberke et al. 2009). The overall costs of C. difficile disease are estimated to be as high as $3.2 billion annually (Dubberke et al. 2009, Cohen et al. 2010).
Diagnosis of C. difficile: Clostridium difficile disease was initially identified by anaerobically growing the organism on selective culture media (George et al. 1979; Buggy et al. 1983)), which required 2 days and failed to distinguish between toxigenic and nontoxigenic strains. The presence of toxins needed to be confirmed from culture; this involved a 48 hr cytotoxicity assay using tissue cultured epithelial cells; specificity of cytotoxicity was demonstrated by its neutralization by Clostridia-specific anti-toxin. Alternatively, cytotoxicity could be detected directly in preparations of stool samples (George et al. 1979). However, due to the labor-intensive and technically complex nature of this assay, it was quickly replaced in the 1990s by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assays (EIAs or ELISAs) directed at the toxin A, or later toxin A & B antigens (Planche et al. 2008, Cohen et al. 2010). While in experimental settings, these assays had sensitivities reported to be over 90%, recent evidence shows that in day-to-day practice, their sensitivity was reduced to below 50% (Ticehurst et al. 2006, Reller et al. 2007, Fenner et al. 2008, Sloan et al. 2008, Stamper et al. 2009). Why this discrepancy occurs is not clear, though it may relate to the lability of C. difficile toxins in clinical samples, or possibly changes in antibody affinity for their epitopes. Failure to detect C. difficile, in the current epidemic is no longer acceptable, so alternative strategies for diagnosis are needed.
One approach involves identifying samples that contain C. difficile by using an EIA for an abundant, stable antigen, the glutatamate dehydrogenase (gdh) protein (Ticehurst et al. 2006, Fenner et al. 2008, Gilligan 2008). This test is rapid, much more sensitive than toxin A/B EIA, but fails to discriminate toxigenic from non-toxigenic strains. Thus, while its useful in eliminating patients without C. difficile (due to a high negative predictive value) (Reller et al. 2007, Kvach et al. 2010), its positive predictive value is low—about ⅓ of those positive by gdh EIA do not have toxigenic strains. Thus, those patients found to have a positive gdh EIA need to be assessed by alternate means, which could be an insensitive toxin EIA or the traditional 48 hr cytotoxicity tissue culture assay
Another approach for detecting toxigenic C. difficile involves amplification of the toxin B gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Commercial reagents for PCR directly from stool have been FDA-approved from several manufacturers in the past year, and these assays are rapid, sensitive and specific (Stamper et al. 2009, Kvach et al. 2010). However, they are costly (up to 10 times the cost of the EIA test), and require some technical expertise.
Finally, toxigenic culture remains the gold standard by which most diagnostic assays are judged, as acknowledged by recent national guidelines (Cohen, 2010). It has not been widely adapted due to i) the delay in getting results (2 to 7 days) and ii) the technical expertise and equipment required (often including an anaerobic chamber). Nonetheless, various modifications of toxigenic culture have consistently demonstrated the highest accuracy in detecting C. difficile infection. While most reported studies have focused on solid agar cultures, which allow colony morphology to guide identification, there have been several reports of liquid culture used for diagnosis. In the 1980s, chopped meat broth was utilized to maintain anaerobiosis, and accurate detection of C. difficile was reported within 24-48 hrs using gas liquid chromatography to detect the volatile amines characteristic of this organism (Buchanan 1984, Johnson et al. 1989). 225 of 226 strains were detected by this method; however, these included nontoxigenic strains (Johnson et al. 1989).
A modification of the basic CCFA agar was used to create a broth, but its performance was no better than the agar (Clabots et al. 1991). Recently, a re-examination of this broth, with incorporation of the bile salt taurocholate to promote germination of spores (Buggy et al. 1983), showed its utility for clinical and environmental isolates (Arroyo et al. 2005, Neranzdic et al. 2009). A commercial form of this broth exists (Anaerobe Systems AS-8216, Morgan Hill, Calif.), but it requires an anaerobic environment for culture, limiting its general applicability. Again, most forms of culture require confirmation of cytotoxin production, which has been usually done using the 48 hr cytotoxicity assay.
The present invention addresses the need for improved methods for diagnosis of toxigenic C. difficile.

Cultures and protocols for diagnosis of toxigenic


A compound of general Formula (I) having histone deacetylase (HDAC) and/or CDK inhibitory activity, a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound, and a method useful to treat diseases using the compound. (Formula should be inserted here) Formula (I)

Histones are protein components making up chromatin in association with DNA. Histones are subject to covalent modifications of various enzymes such as, for example, histone deacetylase (HDAC), histone methyltransferase (HMT) and histone acetyltransferase (HAT). Covalent modifications of core histones influence protein-protein interaction and protein access to DNA.
HDACs catalyze deacetylation of lysine residues on histones and other proteins. It is known that low levels of histone-acetylation are associated with repression of gene expression. Therefore, abnormal HDAC activities could destroy the delicate balance in cell regulation. The HDACs belong to four structurally and functionally different phylogenetic classes: class I (HDAC-1, -2, -3, and -8) compounds are closely related to yeast RPD3; class IIa (HDAC-4, -5, -7, and -9) and class IIb (HDAC-6 and -10) share domains with yeast HDAC-1; class IV, recently described (comprising HDAC-11), exhibits properties of both class I and class II HDACs. All the above HDACs are zinc dependent proteases. Class III HDACs have been identified on the basis of sequence similarity with Sir2, a yeast transcription repressor, and require the cofactor NAD+ for their deacetylase function. See, for example, Marielle Paris et al., Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors: From Bench to Clinic, JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY 51(11): 3330-3330 (2008).
It has been reported that HDAC activities play an important role in a variety of human disease states. Accordingly, an HDAC inhibitor can provide therapeutic benefits to a broad range of patients. Due to the therapeutic significance, various types of HDAC inhibitors have been developed to date. See, for example, Moradeli et al., Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Latest Developments, Trends, and Prospects, CURR. MED. CHEM.: ANTI-CANCER AGENTS 5(5):529-560 (2005).
Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are protein kinase enzymes controlling transcription and mRNA processing for the regulation of the cell cycle. CDKs belong to a group of serine/threonine kinases phosphorylating proteins on serine and threonine amino acid residues. A CDK is activated by association with a cyclin forming a cyclin-dependent kinase complex. The CDK family has been identified to include at least 9 members, i.e., CDK1, CDK2, CDK3, CDK4, CDK5, CDK6, CDK7, CDK8 and CDK9, and CDKs pair with a specific cyclin in the various phases of the cell cycle for the progression. CDKs are considered a target for anti-cancer medication since the enzymes are major control switches for the cell cycle.
WO 2005/092899 mentions a series of compounds useful for inhibiting HDAC enzymatic activity where the compounds are amino or hydroxyl substituted aniline derivatives attached to various cyclic groups.
There is a continued need to develop new inhibitors to provide appropriate therapy for a variety of disease conditions implicated in HDAC and/or CDK activity.


Embodiments of the present application disclose a secondary battery including an electrode assembly, a packaging bag and an electrode lead. The packaging bag includes a first packaging film and a second packaging film, the electrode assembly is disposed between the first packaging film and the second packaging film. The first packaging film and the second packaging film each include a main body portion, two extending portions and two connecting portions, the main body portion is located on one side of the electrode assembly in a thickness direction, the two connecting portions are respectively located on two sides of the electrode assembly in a transverse direction, the two extending portions respectively extend from two ends of the main body portion in the transverse direction and are respectively connected to the two connecting portions. Each extending portion includes a first arc region, an inclined region and a second arc region.

With the rapid development of portable electronic devices, requirements for battery energy density are getting higher and higher. In a secondary battery, a packaging bag made of an aluminum plastic film or a steel plastic film may be used to replace a metal housing to reduce weight of the battery and increase energy density.
An electrode assembly of the secondary battery is housed in the packaging bag, and edges of the packaging bag may be connected in a sealing manner by thermal compression. To achieve charging and discharging of the electrode assembly, the secondary battery further includes an electrode lead, and the electrode lead is connected to the electrode assembly and extends to an outside of the packaging bag.
In the known technology, there is usually a gap between the electrode assembly and the packaging bag. If the gap is too large, when the secondary battery vibrates, the electrode assembly shakes easily in the packaging bag, and the electrode assembly pulls the packaging bag through the electrode lead, which results in sealing failure easily. In addition, the electrode assembly will expand in charging and discharging processes. If the gap is too small, when the electrode assembly expands, the electrode assembly easily applies an acting force to the packaging bag, which results in sealing failure easily.

CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED


Roller brushes for a cleaning and/or care devices, for example, for cleaning and/or care of floor coverings in the form of tiles, natural, artificial, blocks of concrete or wood, with a rotationally symmetrical cylinder which comprises a cylinder surface. At least one first plurality of a first bundle of bristles with a first brush and a second plurality of a second bundle of bristles with a second brush may be arranged on the cylinder surface. The first bundle of bristles may be different from the second bundle of bristles.

Horizontally mounted, rotating brushes are currently preferably used in large cleaning devices, which are used in particular in communal areas. Smaller, preferably hand-held cleaning devices with rotating brushes are used for applications in the household, preferably to free floor surfaces from dirt. Common to all of these devices is that they function like rotating brooms and the cleaning functions essentially to sweep the flooring surface. However, it is not possible to clean heavily soiled surfaces, in particular in the exterior area, or footpaths and terraces with lightly structured surfaces with these types of hand-held cleaning devices or large cleaning devices. In particular, cleaning of concrete, natural stone, smooth tile surfaces, and wooden decks in the exterior area cause problems during the cleaning of the surfaces.
To clean or remove contaminants, like dirt, moss, algae, or even paint from surfaces, e.g., wood, a mechanical floor processing is often required. To clean individual areas of the floor, e.g. the joints, or even areal processing of floor surfaces, it is necessary to work or clean the floors with different processing devices or cleaning and maintenance devices.
It is thus known, for example, that a joint brush may be used for cleaning joints. The joint brush is then, however, designed as an individual device so that processing an area, for example, flooring areas, is not possible for cleaning purposes.
Alternatively to cleaning with a joint brush, cleaning the joints might also be carried out using a high-pressure cleaning. This has the disadvantage, however, that joints may be damaged by the high pressure, water may penetrate into the joints, and dirt particles, like weeds or fibers may be churned up by the high pressure and spray out of the joints.
High-pressure cleaners with a protective cover are known as deck cleaners. These do not damage the wood surfaces; however, the cleaning effect in the grooves of wooden deck profiles is insufficient. In addition, dirt, algae, slime, and impurities are flooded into the joints of adjacent boards along with the sprayed water.
Rotating brushes are known from the prior art for processing surfaces. These have the disadvantage, however, on large surfaces which impede or even completely prevent the penetration of the brushes into irregularities in exposed concrete floors.
As previously described, paths, surfaces, and terraces in the house and garden may be cleaned in various ways. This includes the removal of weeds from joints, as well as moss and stubborn dirt from surfaces. The roller brushes known from the prior art may only sweep the surface dirt together. Sweeping machines are additionally used, which also have rotating circular brushes with an axis of rotation perpendicular to the surface for cleaning the surface. In these systems, the penetration depth is very low, since the brush lies completely on the surface. Joints are not able to be cleaned with such devices.
Using high-pressure cleaners known for joint cleaning, joints and surfaces may be simultaneously processed; however, the joints are completely washed out by the water jet, which is not desired when removing weeds. Furthermore, permanently cast joints are partially washed out be the hard water jet so that seeds may subsequently establish in the joints. A further disadvantage is the contamination of the environment by dirt particles loosened from the joints. Covers may be used to counter this; however, it is then no longer visible how far the jet washes out the joints. In addition, the water consumption is high.
Hand-held electric devices exist for mechanical cleaning of joints, which are generally equipped with a motor arranged at a right angle to a guide rod and a small disk brush, and are known for example from DE 203 21 268 U1 and DE 299 14 790 U1. However, these systems function with a speed of approximately 3000 rpm.
Another relevant document is DE 603 16 021 T2.
The systems functioning at high speeds have the disadvantage that the systems do not allow for a gentle cleaning.
An electrically driven gardening device is known from WO 2006/056313 A, which is used predominantly for cleaning the joints between laid slabs, for cleaning the slabs themselves, and for scarifying. The device shown in WO 2006/056313 A comprises at least one scarifying attachment and a brush wheel which is primarily used for joint cleaning. The scarifying attachment and the brush wheel are screwed onto a shaft and may be exchanged. A brush, in particular a roller brush with rotating brushes, is not shown in WO 2006/056313 A, nor is there any indication in WO 2006/056313 A how flooring surfaces, for example, paths and terraces, may be cleaned.
DE 90 00 712 U1 discloses a weed tiller for cleaning joints. The weed tiller known from DE 90 00 712 U1 is a hand-held cleaning device with a narrow wire brush which is mounted transversely and engages into the joints to be cleaned of weeds. The narrow wire brush, mounted transversely, is driven by a motor fixed on the guide rod. Neither an exchangeability nor a roller brush is shown in DE 90 00 712 U1.
DE 10 2008 006 318 B3 describes a joint cleaning machine for paved surfaces comprising a housing and a rotor located on an axis. Furthermore, the machine comprises an electric motor with a shaft for driving a disk brush and a strut with a handle assigned to the housing. The shaft of the electric motor is arranged in a direction transverse to the vertical plane and inclined in such a way to the drive direction of the machine that the disk brush fixed on the shaft may have a specified inclined position to the joints of the paved surface. The electric motor is mounted on the housing to be movable in the direction of the vertical plane. A roller brush for cleaning areas is likewise not shown in DE 10 2008 006 318 B3.
DE 195 05 156 A1 describes a hand-held motorized universal device, which is particularly suitable for floor cleaning, for removing leaves and snow in the area of the garden and for yard care. It comprises an internal combustion or electric motor and a rod or strut, equipped with handles, which supports a transmission on the lower end which may be equipped with exchangeable tools, rotating around their horizontal axis, in particular with cutting tools and with rotating brooms. The different rotational orientations of the tools required for the various operations are achieved by pivoting the rod or by rotating the rod or the transmission about an angle of 180° to the rod axis.
The broom known from DE 195 05 156 A1 is, however, not comparable to a roller brush, as it may remove loose dirt from a surface, however, it may not clean it. In particular, it is not possible to remove, for example, moss or algae from a wood floor with a broom

Roller brush, in particular for a cleaning and/or maintenance device and a cleaning and/or maintenance device


A lighting device with high emission efficiency and directivity is provided with the use of an organic EL element and a light-emitting diode. The lighting device includes a light-emitting diode whose emission wavelength peak is greater than or equal to 400 nm and less than or equal to 500 nm, a planar organic EL light-emitting body which emits light having a complementary color of that of light from the light-emitting diode, and a planar reflector. The organic EL light-emitting body and the reflector face each other to form a cone having an open end to which light is emitted. The light-emitting diode is provided in a space between a plane including a light-emitting surface of the organic EL light-emitting body and a plane including a reflecting surface of the reflector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting device, for example, a lighting device which emits light by luminescence.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, light-emitting devices including organic electroluminescence (hereinafter also referred to as EL) elements as self-luminous elements have been actively researched. In the basic structure of an organic EL element, a layer including a light-emitting organic compound (hereinafter referred to as a light-emitting layer) is provided between a pair of electrodes. By voltage application to this element, light emission from the light-emitting organic compound can be obtained.
Since an organic EL element can be formed in a film form, planar light emission can be easily obtained. This is a feature which is difficult to obtain in point light sources typified by an incandescent lamp, or line light sources typified by a fluorescent lamp and the like. Specifically, since an organic EL element is a surface light source, lighting with less glare of the light source which enters the field of view can be provided.
In an organic EL element, a plurality of light-emitting layers are provided and light is emitted from each light-emitting layer, whereby light emission in which plural types of light emission are mixed can be obtained. For example, light-emitting layers which emit light of respective colors of red, green, and blue, or light-emitting layers which emit light of complementary colors are overlapped with each other (or stacked), whereby an organic EL element which emits white light can be obtained.
A lighting device including an organic EL element, which makes use of these characteristics, is disclosed (see Patent Document 1).
As a technique which is often compared with an organic EL element, an LED (also referred to as a light-emitting diode) can be given. An LED is a point light source having high directivity. In recent years, an LED has been showing rapid growth in market share for lighting owing to a significant increase in a lifetime. Some LED lamps have a lifetime of more than a hundred thousand hours and such LED lamps are employed for traffic lights, streetlights, and the like to make use of the characteristic of resistance for long-term use. Accordingly, the frequency of replacement of a lamp is significantly reduced, which leads to drastic retrenchment, conservation of resources, and the like. Note that an LED in this specification refers to, in particular, a point light emitting element among semiconductor elements which emit light when forward voltage is applied.
There are a variety of methods of manufacturing white lighting using an LED. As a device structure which has been mainly considered, a structure in which a blue LED and a phosphor emitting yellow light or the like are combined can be given. In this structure, the phosphor is provided around the blue LED. A white light source is realized by a mixture of light: light obtained when the phosphor absorbs light from the blue LED and performs conversion, and blue light which passes through the phosphor without being absorbed (see Patent Document 2).

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A delta-sigma modulator is disclosed which has a filter comprising a filter input, two LC resonators (LC1-1, LC1-2), and two switches (CBT/CGT). An input of each one of the two switches is connected to the filter input and a corresponding output of each one of the two switches is connected to a corresponding one of said LC resonators. Each one of the two switches is individually controllable for selectively connecting the corresponding one of the LC resonators with the filter input. The invention also relates to a method for changing the mode of operation of a delta-sigma modulator.

Delta-sigma modulators are increasingly used in receivers for mobile communication. Many different standards exist for mobile communication: GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000 etc. Many of these operate at different frequency bands and with different bandwidths. Especially for the receiver part of a mobile telecommunications system this typically means that specific receivers have to be designed for one frequency range and one bandwidth, because of the analogue nature of the received signal. Although it would be possible to completely digitise the analogue signal, this is usually too elaborate for normal applications. It is more efficient to do some analogue filtering first, and then proceed to analogue-to-digital conversion. This is, in principle, what a continuous-time band pass delta-sigma modulator (CT BP DSM) does. The analogue part of the delta-sigma modulator achieves some bandwidth reduction around the centre frequency of interest, and the feedback action of the DSM provides an efficient error reduction, so that at the digital output of the delta-sigma modulator a digital representation of the analogue payload can be expected.
Unfortunately, analogue filters, such as LC resonators or so called tanks, cannot be easily re-tuned to different frequency bands during operation. US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0237233 A1 proposes a programmable loop filter for use with a sigma-delta analog-to-digital converter and method for programming the same. The loop filters shown in this document comprise resistor-capacitor networks (RC networks) wherein the values of the resistors and the capacitors can be varied. However, accuracy usually suffers so that an exact frequency selection is difficult to achieve. Moreover, the ranges of variation of variable resistors or capacitors are usually not very large (or else accuracy is further degraded). Thus it appears that the programmable loop filter proposed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0237233 A1 could still be improved. The entire disclosure of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0237233 A1 is hereby included by reference into the description.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0119491 A1 describes a dual-mode delta-sigma modulator analogue-to-digital converter system and method that supports two modes of operation. The digital converter system includes a selection unit for permitting the high-frequency resonator circuit and the low-frequency resonator circuit to be employed in a first mode of operation. The system also permits the high-frequency resonator circuit and the feed forward path from the final integrator in the high-frequency resonator circuit to the summer (near the DSM input) to be disabled in a second mode of operation. The digital converter system in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0119491 A1 has a time discrete configuration on its analogue side as opposed to a continuous time configuration. The loop filter is a time discrete filter, as well, that does not contain inductances L or capacitances C. Rather, the loop filter is in the form of a digital filter. The entire disclosure of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0119491 A1 is hereby included by reference into the description.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,693,573 discloses a sigma-delta modulator which utilises Micro Electro Mechanical Systemicro electro mechanical system (MEMS) technology coupled with an on-chip LC networks. The MEMS switches of U.S. Pat. No. '573 are used to switch individual ones of capacitors and inductors in and out of the LC network to alter the centre frequency and tuning range of the sigma-delta modulator.

Reconfigurable bandpass delta-sigma modulator


An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus, comprising a radio frequency switch capable of using tunable dielectric capacitors as the switching element. The apparatus may further comprise a cross connector connecting a plurality of ports and wherein at least one of the tunable dielectric capacitors may placed between the cross connector at and least one port, thereby enabling impedance variations between the cross connector and the ports. Further, an embodiment of the present invention may provide at least one T connector between the cross connector and at least one of the plurality of ports, wherein at least one tunable dielectric capacitor may be associated with the T connector to vary the impedance in at least one node of the T connector.

RF and microwave switches have widespread applications in microwave systems. They typically may use semiconductor active devices as the switching element. Semiconductor switches, however, cannot be used for applications that require high power handling as they will generate unwanted harmonics and distortions in the signal due to intermodulation effects. Although there are semiconductor RF switches that can handle up to several watts, they usually suffer from high insertion loss. An alternative may be to use mechanical switches with very high power handling, but those switches are bulky, heavy and consume a lot of power.
Therefore, there is a need for small, low loss, and linear RF switches that may be used in a wide range of RF and microwave frequencies, with high power handling capability.

Apparatus, system and method capable of radio frequency switching using tunable dielectric capacitors


A non-contact thickness measuring sensor is disclosed which determines the thickness of an overlying material on a substrate. The sensor includes two non-contact separation distance measuring devices which may be utilized to measure the distance from the first device to a portion of the interface between the substrate and the overlying material, while the second device determines the distance from the second device to a portion of the surface of the overlying layer. The difference in the measured distances is related to the thickness of the overlying material. In one embodiment, two lasers are used to measure the separation distances. In another embodiment, the two measured distances are coincident. Because of the coincident geometry of these two measurements, the thickness measuring sensor of this embodiment is substantially insensitive to misalignment of the sensor from the normal to the surface of the overlying layer being measured.

The present invention relates to the field of thickness measuring devices, and more particularly to non-contact thickness measuring sensors such as a non-contact sensor for measuring the thickness of a sheet of calendered material.
In many fields of industry and science, it is desirable or necessary to measure the thickness of a dielectric layer or other sheet material overlying a substrate, without physically contacting either the sheet or the substrate.
One such thickness measuring device for use only with an electrically conductive substrate is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,992 to W. W. Woods, which is incorporated herein by reference. In the device disclosed in this patent, a cylinder is disposed perpendicular to a dielectric layer, with the open end of the cylinder spaced by a relatively short distance from the layer surface. The column of air within the cylinder is periodically pressurized with a vibrating loudspeaker-type diaphragm mounted over the end of the cylinder opposite the dielectric surface. The velocity of the pressurized air is measured as the air moves toward the open end of the cylinder. Since this velocity is related to the distance between the surface of the dielectric layer and a reference plane defined by the open end of the cylinder adjacent to the surface of the dielectric layer, the air velocity provides an indication of the separation distance to be gauged.
Woods' device also determines, using a mutual inductance gauge, the separation distance between the reference plane and the interface of the underlying conductive substrate with the dielectric layer. The operation of the mutual inductance gauge is explained in the Woods patent. As disclosed in that patent, the mutual inductance gauge includes a primary coil disposed adjacent to the cylinder on the reference plane defined by the open end of the cylinder, and a secondary coil magnetically linked to the primary coil by a mutual inductance factor which is proportional to the spacing between the primary coil and the substrate/dielectric interface. Consequently, the secondary coil output is indicative of the distance separating the primary coil, or reference plane, from the substrate surface at the interface with the dielectric layer.
As just explained, in the Woods device, the air cylinder gauge measures the distance from the reference plane to the exposed surface of the dielectric layer, while the inductance gauge determines the distance between that same reference plane and the interface between the conductive substrate and the overlying dielectric layer. By determining the difference in distances measured by these two gauges, Woods' thickness measuring device can determine the thickness of the dielectric layer. However, according to Woods' disclosure, the air cylinder gauge and the inductance gauge are disposed adjacent to each other along the surface of the layer whose thickness is to be measured. As a result, the accuracy of the overall device requires that both the air cylinder gauge and inductive gauge measure the respective distances from the same reference plane. Unfortunately, however, in many practical situations, it may be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to precisely align the inductance gauge with the reference plane of the air cylinder gauge. Alternatively, the substrate may have some intended or inadvertant curvature. Since the air cylinder and inductance gauges do not measure the respective distances at the same location, such misalignment or substrate curvature may lead to substantial error in the thickness measurement.
Moreover, the thickness measuring device may be subject to vibrations such that, at any instant during its operation, the air cylinder may be relatively closer or further away from the surface under test than the inductive gauge. As a result, error will be induced in the resulting measured thickness, since, as previously mentioned, the operation of the device assumes that both the inductance gauge and air cylinder gauge sides of the device are exactly disposed along the same reference plane, and that the substrate remains parallel to the reference plane.
Also, because one of the distance measuring gauges utilizes an electromagnetic coil to determine the distance from the reference plane to the substrate, Woods' apparatus is limited to use with electrically conductive substrates. Accordingly, such a thickness measuring device may not be completely satisfactory under many circumstances where the substrate is nonconductive.

Non-contact sensor and method using inductance and laser distance measurements for measuring the thickness of a layer of material overlaying a substrate


A separation module and method are disclosed for processing a liquid sample and providing high conversion by operating a single-pass tangential-flow process without a recirculation loop. In one embodiment, the separation module includes three reservoirs and has at least one long, thin channel with a large ratio of channel membrane area to: channel void volume; volume of a sample feed reservoir; and volume of the feed sample. In another embodiment, the separation module includes an external feed reservoir, an external retentate reservoir fluidly and a first vacuum source adapted to apply a first vacuum to the separation element disposed within the housing. The single-pass TFF separation element and single-pass process provides high conversion while operating with relatively low pressure sources. Certain embodiments disclosed herein can be used for the separation of blood.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a sample preparation modules and methods and more specifically to single-pass tangential flow filtration modules for the concentration of liquid samples.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ultrafiltration (UF) and microfiltration (MF) membranes have become essential to the separation and purification in the manufacture and research of biomolecules. Biomolecular manufacturing and laboratory sample preparation, regardless of the scale, generally employ one or more processing steps including filtration (UF or MF). The attractiveness of these membrane separations rests on several features: including, for example, high separation power, and simplicity (e.g., requiring only the application of a pressure differential between the feed sample and the final product permeate). This simple and reliable one step separation of the sample into two fractions makes membrane separation processes a valuable approach to separation and purification of the final product.
In one class of membrane separations, the species of interest is that which is retained by the membrane, and the objective of the separation is typically to remove smaller contaminants, to concentrate the desired product in the retained solution, or to affect a buffer exchange. In another class of membrane separations, the species of interest is that which permeates, and the objective is typically to remove the larger contaminants from the starting sample. In MF, the retained species are typically particulates, organelles, bacteria or other microorganisms, while those that permeate are proteins, colloids, peptides, small molecules and ions. In UF the retained species are typically proteins and, in general, macromolecules, while those that permeate are peptides, ions and, in general, small molecules.
The ability to maintain a reasonably high flux is essential in the practice of membrane processes. Low flux can result in long filtration times or large modules, resulting in increased cost and large hold-up volumes (i.e., the volume including the retained species remaining in the module). The filtration process itself induces the creation of a highly concentrated layer of the retained species on the surface of the membrane, a phenomenon called "concentration polarization" (or simply "polarization"), which reduces the flux from an initial value obtained immediately at the start of filtration. In the absence of counter measures the accumulation of "polarized" particles or solutes results in vanishingly small fluxes and bringing the processes to a stand-still. One conventional approach to overcoming the effects of concentration polarization is to run the separation in "tangential flow filtration" (TFF) mode.
TFF modules are devices having flow channels formed by the membrane through which the feed stream flows tangentially to the surface of the membrane. The tangential flow induces a sweeping action that removes the retained species and prevents excessive accumulation, thereby maintaining a high and stable flux. Because higher tangential velocities produce higher fluxes, the conventional practice of TFF calls for the use of high velocities in the flow channels, which in turn result in very high feed rates. These high feed rates result in low conversion, typically less than 10% and often less than 5%. Low conversion means that the bulk of the feed stream exits the module without having been substantially separated from the permeate.
One commercially important area for UF separations and purification is at the preparation of analytical samples (e.g., sample volumes less than 500 ml). The application of conventional TFF processes to sample preparation at the analytical scale is generally believed not to be practical due to the complications in the use of pumps and recirculation loops which are normally required for TFF processes. As a result, UF separations at these scales are practiced almost exclusively in a "dead-ended" mode, resulting in an inherently low flux due to concentration polarization. Centrifugal UF devices have been developed for this scale to mitigate the low flux of dead-ended UF separations. However, while these have become the dominant format for analytical scale UF, they typically require centrifuges capable of exposing the UF device to accelerations as high as 14,000 g. Furthermore, in spite of these accelerations, many separations still require long times, often one hour or more. Finally, the recovery of the retentate presents special difficulties in these approaches since it may be spread as a thin film over the surface of the membrane.
One prior art device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,230, Pacheco, et al., includes first and second housing sections with a flow channel extending therebetween. A membrane filter forms one boundary of the flow channel. A pair of reservoirs, one for feed and the other for permeate collection, are integrally formed with the first housing section. A fluid communication path is established from the first section to the second section and then through means of a deformable chamber to the flow channel. The deformable chamber is adjacent to a rigid surface that is integral with one of the housing sections and in this manner is adapted to pump fluid through the system when interfacing with a pump. This device also operates in a continuous recirculation mode during concentration of batch samples and includes a recirculation loop.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,692,702, Burshteyn, et al. and 6,692,968, Burshteyn, et al, teach a method for utilizing a filtration device for removing interferants from a sample containing cells in an automated apparatus is disclosed. The filtration device includes a microporous hollow fiber membrane having a plurality of pores sized to retain cells while allowing smaller diameter interferants to pass through the membrane. The apparatus also includes a means for moving the sample from a sample container to and from the filtration device. The disclosed method utilizes a vacuum source to aspirate the sample into a lumen of the hollow fiber membrane so that the sample is retained in the lumen space until expelled into an analysis container or transported to an analyzer.
Filtration technology (microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF)) is one of the most powerful bioseparation technologies available and, although well-known and practiced in many laboratories, it remains a fringe technology in the preparation of whole blood, plasma or serum samples. The main reasons are that existing MF/UF devices require a centrifuge, take a considerable amount of time to process samples, and in the case of whole blood, they do not work at all. Furthermore, centrifugation is costly and makes it difficult to process multiple samples at the same time.
None of the prior art devices and methods provide rapid, controlled conversion without the use of numerous venting valves, recirculation loops and pumps in addition to simple construction and operation. Thus, the need exists for devices and processes suited for sample preparation in life science and diagnostics laboratories which are able to yield high reliable flux and high conversion without the need of recirculation loops, numerous valves and intermediate pumps, and that can be readily driven by the low-pressure differentials and which are simple to control. It would also be desirable to operate a bio-processing separation at the sample preparation scale in a single-pass mode while providing a high conversion with a relatively low hold up volume and effective recovery of the separation products.
Furthermore, while ultrafiltration membranes are capable of separating small molecule drugs and hormones from large and abundant species (e.g. albumin, among others), conventional centrifugal UF devices are not capable of processing whole blood. Although the existing (UF) centrifugal devices are capable of fractionating plasma or serum, it takes a very long time to fractionate solutions with protein concentrations greater than about 0.5%, far exceeding the fast turn-around demands of a clinical laboratory. For that reason, centrifugal UF devices have found little use in clinical laboratories for free drug/hormone assays.
In particular there is a need for a blood sample collection device that fractionates blood at the time of collection and makes it immediately ready for subsequent tests. Such a device would make it possible to significantly reduce the time required for typical clinical assays. Also, with the use of UF membranes such a device would allow the collection of a fraction containing only free drugs/hormones, thereby enabling direct determination which is difficult or not even possible in a many clinical settings.

Method and apparatus for the filtration of biological samples


A driving member for a timepiece movement comprises two superimposed coaxial barrels (1, 11) coupled in series, each barrel including a spring provided in a cylindrical housing rotatingly mounted on a common shaft (20). The respective housings (2, 12) of the barrels are positioned opposite each other and do not include a lid, and the springs (7, 17) are separated only by a separation washer (26) or a gap. This arrangement can be used for increasing the height (H) of the springs, and thereby the amount of energy and the power reserve of the watch for an identical global volume of the driving member, or for reducing the total height of the driving member. Such a driving member is particularly intended for watches with a high power reserve.

The present invention relates to a spring-loaded driving member for a timepiece movement comprising two coaxial barrels coupled in series, each barrel having a rotatable cylindrical housing provided with an outer tooth arrangement and a base, and a spring rolled up inside the housing and having an outer end coupled to the housing and an inner end coupled to a core, wherein the respective cores of the barrels are interdependently rotatable and the respective bases of the barrels are located axially opposite one another. In other words, the two barrels are superposed and face one another, an arrangement that is represented in particular in patent applications EP 1 115 040 (with two groups of two barrels) and EP 1 657 604.
In the field of mechanical watch movements it is well known to replace the usual driving member comprising a single barrel fitted with a spring by a group of two barrels coupled in series in order to store a sufficiently large amount of potential energy to assure a power reserve greater than the usual 40 hours or so without having an effect on the chronometric performances of the watch or the efficiency of the mechanism. A detailed explanation of the functional characteristics of such a driving member may be found in the Swiss patent CH 610 465 which provides a superposed arrangement and a side-by-side arrangement of the barrels as examples. In the present case, it is the superposed arrangement that is selected because the moment can be transmitted from one barrel to the other directly via a common shaft, which prevents losses of space and efficiency as a result of the transmission gearing that is necessary in the side-by-side arrangement.
However, the coaxial and superposed arrangement of the usual barrels, as may be seen in the abovementioned patents, results in the driving arrangement having a relatively large space requirement in axial direction, i.e. in the direction perpendicular to the main bottom plate of the timepiece movement. In fact, the total height of the device is not only made up of twice the respective heights of the base, spring, cover and internal clearance of each barrel, but additionally a minimum gap between the two covers that face one another and must not touch one another, since they rotate at different speeds. Consequently, the total height of an arrangement with superposed barrels always gives rise to a relatively large thickness of the watch movement and this constitutes a disadvantage in most cases. Since the number of expansion turns of a barrel spring cannot be increased without reducing its efficiency, if the manufacturer wishes to reduce the height of the barrels and therefore of the springs, he automatically reduces the energy that can be stored and thus also the power reserve of the watch.

Spring loaded driving member for timepiece movement


A method and an apparatus for adjusting a first hearing device based on adjustments of a second hearing device are disclosed. The method comprises the steps of converting an acoustic test signal into an electric test signal by a microphone of the second hearing device, of converting an acoustic signal generated by a receiver of the second hearing device into an electrical signal, of analyzing the electrical signal in an analyzing unit, and, finally, of adjusting the first hearing device based on results obtained in the analysis performed in the analyzing unit. By the present invention, an especially suitable procedure for performing the initial adjustment of a new hearing device is achieved. The method according to the present invention quickly leads to spontaneous user acceptance of the newly adjusted (i.e. fitted) hearing device, whilst considerably reducing the required fitting effort compared with today's state of the art techniques.

When an experienced hearing device user replaces a hearing device, he or she has been used to, with a new hearing device, the new hearing device is adjusted (i.e. "fitted") to the user's specific hearing impairment according to the same method as employed for a first time user, i.e. the hearing device settings are determined based on measurements of the corresponding user's personal audiogram. In practice, however, it has been shown that, especially for longtime users, the desired hearing device settings—such as gain, compression, limiting, knee-point or time constants—often deviate heavily from those derived from measurements of the user's audiogram. With the transition to a new hearing device, the experienced user would like to have the new hearing device adjusted in such a way that the settings match those of his or her old hearing device as closely as possible. In particular for users with a profound hearing loss, the required gain can depart by up to 20 dB from the target value calculated on the basis of the person's audiogram. In such cases a different approach for pre-adjusting the hearing device is desirable, namely one that is not based solely on the user's audiogram.
Reports from actual experience have revealed that adjustment of a new hearing device according to the settings of a user's prior hearing device represents a very effective and successful method of pre-adjustment, which Is often superior to schemes based solely on the user's audiogram.
Presently, no automated procedure is known which supports the above-mentioned method for pre-adjusting a new hearing device. One possible approach could consist of using a designated measurement apparatus to apply a test signal with various input levels to the user's old hearing device and record its response. Subsequently, these measurement results would have to be manually transferred to the fitting software required to appropriately adjust the new hearing device. This process would be very tedious and error-prone.
The object of the present invention is thus to provide a simple and efficient method to adjust a first hearing device based on the settings of a second hearing device.

Method for adjusting a hearing device as well as an apparatus to perform the method


A method and system may display real-time aerial images of insured properties in a neighborhood captured from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a manned aerial vehicle (MAV), or from a satellite device. For example, a neighborhood which has been affected by a catastrophe and has a large concentration of properties which are insured by a particular insurance provider may be identified. Aerial images of the entire neighborhood may then be received from the UAV, MAV, or the satellite device. As a result, the property owner may receive a notification that a catastrophe has impacted her neighborhood. The notification may also indicate that real-time images of the owner's property may be viewable by logging in to a customer account. Moreover, the real-time images may be transmitted via a web page to the property owner's web-enabled device after the property owner logs in to the customer account.

During and/or after a catastrophe, property owners may worry about the safety of their families as well as the condition of their homes and/or other properties. In situations where the property owner is out of town or away from his home for another reason, he may not know about the condition of his property for several days. Moreover, if the neighborhood is evacuated in anticipation of the catastrophe, the property owner may have no one to give him a report on the condition of his property.
Even if the property owner receives a report from a neighbor, it may be difficult for the neighbor to describe the extent of the damage and the amount of repairs necessary to restore the property.

Method and system for generating real-time images of customer homes during a catastrophe

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY


A contact assembly and an LSI chip inspecting device using the same are disclosed. The contact assembly is mounted between an electronic device to be tested and a circuit inspecting device to electrically connect them. The contact assembly includes contacts, each of which includes vertical type probes and a ribbon-shaped resin film to which the vertical type probes are mounted apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the ribbon-shaped resin film, a position determining member for overlapping the contacts in a thickness direction of the contact such that the contacts are separated from each other, and fixing the contacts, and a guide block which is formed with an opening for receiving the contacts. The guide block is formed with a recess in which the position determining member is seated, so that terminals of the vertical type probes protrude above and below surface planes of the guide block, perpendicularly thereto. The position of the contacts, which are arranged with a predetermined angle with respect to an X-axis of arrangement of terminals mounted on XY perpendicular coordinates, can be retained very accurately, and an assembling process is facilitated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a contact assembly, and more particularly to a contact assembly which is used for a circuit inspection of a semiconductor integrated circuit chip having electrodes (pads) and a liquid crystal device, and used in a socket for a CSP (Chip Size Package) on which circuit terminals are arranged in a lattice shape. The present invention also relates to a retaining structure for retaining highly-accurate position of contacts. The present invention further relates to an LSI (Large-scale integrated) chip inspecting device and a circuit inspecting device of the CSP or the like using the above contact assembly and the contact retaining structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A contact assembly of a prior art is disclosed in FIG. 3 of Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2002-296295. The contact assembly of the prior art includes plural contacts, which have a thin plate shape and input and output parts. An elastic deforming part (a curved part), which is elastically deformed by an external force, is formed between the input part and the output part of each contact. In order to cope with narrow-pitched arrangement of chip pads mounted on a wafer, the contacts are arranged with a predetermined angle without interference therebetween, with respect to an X-axis of the arrangement of terminals mounted on XY perpendicular coordinates (hereinafter, this arrangement structure will be called the contact assembly).
In general, in order to determine and retain accurate position of the contacts in, e.g., a connector, connecting parts (which are typically called a terminal) are forcibly inserted through supporting holes formed at a rigid body. However, it is difficult to form the supporting holes at the rigid body which is generally manufactured by a molding, corresponding to the narrow-pitch arrangement.
The above contact assembly of the prior art is disclosed in FIG. 29 (FIG. 5 of Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2002-296295). FIG. 29 is a front view showing the prior art contact assembly retaining instrument. As shown in the drawing, contacts 1 are supported by a sheet-shaped body 27 in such a manner that output terminals 6 of the contacts 1 are inserted through supporting holes formed at the body 27. And, input terminals 5 of the contacts 1 are inserted through guide holes formed at a guide sheet 28 which is located on the contacts 1. The above components are fixed by connecting posts 25 and supporting posts 26, so as to electrically connect an electronic device to be tested to an inspecting circuit board. However, such a supporting structure of the contact assembly is of no practical use.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a contact assembly and an LSI chip inspecting device using the same capable of retaining highly accurate position of contacts of a contact assembly, which are arranged in parallel with each other without interference and arranged with a predetermined angle with respect to an X-axis of arrangement of terminals mounted on XY perpendicular coordinates.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a contact assembly and LSI chip inspecting device using the same, an assembling process of which can be facilitated.

Contact assembly and LSI chip inspecting device using the same


A magnetic head slider disposed opposite to a surface of a magnetic disk, includes a slider main body, a magnetic head element that reads and reproduces data from the magnetic disk, and a vibration absorbing unit that absorbs vibrations generated due to contact between any portion of the slider main body and the surface of the magnetic disk, and that is provided on the slider main body at a predetermined position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic head slider that prevents a magnetic head element from degrading over a long period by suppressing transmission of vibrations to the magnetic head element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a magnetic disk apparatus is utilized as a storage device that reads and writes information repeatedly in various systems such as a computer, a personal computer, and a server. A magnetic head slider that is used to read information from a magnetic disk in the magnetic disk apparatus, usually has a magnetic head element configured of a GMR (giant magneto resistive) element and utilizing a giant magneto-resistance effect, or configured of a TMR (tunneling magneto resistive) element and utilizing a ferromagnetic tunneling effect.
Such a conventional magnetic head slider will be briefly explained below with reference to FIG. 14. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a positional relationship between a magnetic disk DK and a magnetic head slider 9. As shown in FIG. 14, a slider main body 11 of the magnetic head slider 9 is supported by a suspension 12. A magnetic head element 13 is positioned at a distal end (the right side in FIG. 14) of the slider main body 11 to record and reproduce data recorded on the magnetic disk DK, which rotates at a high speed.
In the magnetic head slider 9 having the above configuration, when the magnetic head element 13 is used over a long period, the GMR element or the TMR element constituting the magnetic head element 13 degrades, and an output thereof gradually reduces due to the degradation, thereby leading to a data read error.
As shown in FIG. 14, the magnetic head slider 9 is slightly levitated from the magnetic disk DK. Recently, however, a gap t between the magnetic head slider 9 (the magnetic head element 13) and a surface of the magnetic disk DK is being gradually reduced to increase a recording density.
Specifically, a recording density of a recent magnetic disk is high, and a levitation amount of a magnetic head is about 10 nanometers. Although a magnetic disk is desirably flat, its face is actually finely undulated. When a levitation amount is reduced to about 10 nanometers, the magnetic disk and the magnetic head come in contact with each other, due to fine undulation on the magnetic disk, at a time of reading data from the magnetic disk, thus the former receives an impact from the latter. Consequently, even if a magnitude of the impact due to the contact between the magnetic head and the magnetic disk is minute, the life (degradation) of the magnetic head element is affected by vibrations due to the contact.
The present inventor has found that, when a magnetic head slider equipped with such a magnetic head element as a GMR element is used under a condition of receiving vibrations, an output from the magnetic head element gradually reduces after prolonged use of the magnetic head slider. The inventor has disclosed a quantitative evaluating method based on prediction of a life of a magnetic head element (see Japanese Patent Application Specification No. 2004-335080).
According to the evaluating method, a magnitude of an impact due to contact between the magnetic head element and the recording medium (a magnetic disk DK) is detected, and a life of the magnetic head is predicted based on the magnitude of the impact detected. Therefore, the life of the head can be predicted properly even when the head and the recording medium frequently come in contact with each other due to reduction in a levitation amount of the head.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-322713 discloses a conventional technique regarding the degradation of a thin film magnetic head element. According to this technique, a face opposite to a GMR element is covered with a crystallization preventing film made of a shield layer, to thereby prevent degradation of the magnetic head element.
In the life predicting method for a head as described in Japanese Patent Application Specification No. 2004-335080, life of a magnetic head element can be predicted properly, but actually, when the magnetic head element is used over a long period, it is necessary to avoid or reduce a drawback due to contact with a magnetic disk DK (degradation clue to vibrations).
In the countermeasure of covering the face opposite to the GMR element with the crystallization preventing film made of a shield layer, described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-322713, when the magnetic disk DK and the magnetic head slider actually come in contact with each other, propagation of vibrations to the magnetic head element due to the contact can not be prevented effectively. Accordingly, degradation of the magnetic head element over a long period cannot be prevented.

Magnetic head slider for absorbing vibrations


A mechanical prosthetic heart valve assembly for the provision of surface anticoagulation by generating an electrostatic field of a plurality of negatively charged ions thereon, acting as neo-endothelium on the mechanical prosthetic heart valve, referred as Surface Anticoagulation by Electrical Neo-endothelialization (SAEN). The mechanical prosthetic heart valve assembly comprises a mechanical prosthetic heart valve housing; a pair of mechanical prosthetic heart valve discs; a mechanical prosthetic heart valve sewing ring; an implantable pulse generator serving as a source of electricity for generating the electrostatic field of the plurality of negatively charged ions thereon the surface of the mechanical prosthetic heart valve; a pulse generator bipolar lead connected to the outer surface of the mechanical prosthetic heart valve housing, using an electrode; and a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft sutured to margins of a fenestration on the mechanical prosthetic heart valve sewing ring.

Medical science and technological development associated therewith have witnessed a phenomenal advancement in recent years. In spite of tremendous efforts, the anticoagulation related problems like bleeding or thrombosis are considered to be some of the challenging problems that medical professionals and technologist have been attempting to solve.
According to various prior art disclosures, oral anticoagulation in patients who receive mechanical heart valve implantation is associated with problems of valve thrombosis if anticoagulation is suboptimal or bleeding complications if prothombin time (PT) and international normalization ratios (INR) are high. Prior art literature illustrates a number of approaches for such problems. Mechanical prosthetic heart valve implantation in humans requires anticoagulation postoperatively to prevent thromboembolic events. The traditional method disclosed by the prior art of oral anticoagulation is using warfarin and it requires periodic blood testing to check prothrombin time (PT) and International normalized ratio (INR) to achieve optimal therapeutic levels of PT, INR to prevent thrombosis or bleeding. Also, patients who are on anticoagulation have restricted physical activities, avoiding contact sports that limit lifestyle to the young patients and in female patients going through pregnancy.
In addition, prior art also discloses that the implanted mechanical prosthetic heart valves are thrombogenic because of the accumulation of more positively charged ions at the site of implantation. Prior art also discloses that healthy human arteries, veins or other blood and tissue interfaces carry a negative surface charge of approximately 0.3 volt which is necessary to prevent coagulation of blood. However prior arts do not disclose the utilization of such surface charge to prevent adherence of platelets and adsorption of fibrinogen as of now.
Thus, in the light of the above mentioned background art, it is evident that, there is a need for a mechanical prosthetic heart valve assembly for the provision of surface anticoagulation, which could generate an electrostatic field of negatively charged ions thereon the surface of the housing and discs of the mechanical prosthetic heart valve. There is also a need for a mechanical prosthetic heart valve assembly for the provision of surface anticoagulation, wherein the generated electrostatic field of negatively charged ions thereon the surface of the housing and discs of the mechanical prosthetic heart valve could potentially acts as a neo-endothelium to prevent adherence of activated platelets and adsorption of fibrinogen on to the surface of the prosthetic heart valve. A mechanical prosthetic heart valve assembly for the provision of surface anticoagulation thereon is desired.

Mechanical prosthetic heart valve assembly for the provision of surface anticoagulation thereon