A back illuminated imaging device 1 comprises a plurality charge blocking regions 19 which are arranged on a front surface 12 side, embedded in CCD charge transferring paths 21, and in which a first thickness T1 measured from the front surface 12 of first portions 19a extending along the CCD charge transferring paths 21 is larger than a first thickness T2 of second portions 19b extending along channel stops 20.

Back-illuminated imaging devices are known wherein an incident beam such as visible light is irradiated on to a surface (back surface) opposite to a surface (front surface) where electrodes and the like of a chip are arranged (see patent document 1). The back illuminated imaging device is provided with a converting portion for each pixel (for example a photoelectric converting portion if the incident beam is incident light) on the back surface of the chip and on the front surface of the chip is provided a portion (a charge processing portion) that in some manner processes signal charges, examples being an A/D converter and a signal storage portion.
Since the back illuminated imaging device can achieve an aperture ratio of nearly 100%, it is able to offer extremely high sensitivity. Consequently, the back illuminated imaging device is frequently used in applications requiring high sensitivity such as in the fields of astronomy and electron microscopy. Furthermore, back illuminated imaging devices that have high sensitivity are also suited for high speed imaging in which the exposure time for a single image is short.
The present inventors have developed an in-situ storage image sensor (ISIS) provided with linear signal storage portions inside or in the vicinity of pixels (for example, see patent document 2, non-patent document 1, and non-patent document 2). Furthermore, the present inventors have developed a back illuminated imaging device in which a principle of the in-situ storage image sensor is applied (see patent document 3).
FIG. 30 and FIG. 31 show an in-situ storage type back illuminated imaging device. A plurality of pixels 203 are arranged two-dimensionally on an incident surface (back surface) 202 of a back illuminated imaging device 201. For simplification, FIG. 30 shows only 12 (4 lines×3 rows) of the pixels 203, but the number of lines and number of rows of the pixels 203 may be two or more respectively. Furthermore, for simplification, FIG. 30 does not show a photoelectric converting layer 205 and a charge collecting layer 206, which are described later.
As shown in FIG. 31, a p-photoelectric converting layer 205 is provided on the incident surface 202 of a chip 204. And an n-charge collecting layer 206 is provided adjacent to a front surface 208 of the photoelectric converting layer 205. Further still, an n-type input region 209 is provided on the front surface 208 for each of the pixels 203. An n-charge accumulation portion 207 is provided extending from the charge collecting layer 206 to the input region 209 for each of the pixels 203.
A signal storage CCD 211, which extends diagonally downward in FIG. 30, is connected to each of the input regions 209. A CCD (a vertical reading CCD 212) is provided extending in a vertical direction (row direction) in the drawing for each row of the input regions 209. Further still, a drain line 227 is provided adjacent to each of the vertical reading CCDs 212. And further still, a CCD (a horizontal reading CCD 125) is provided extending in a horizontal direction (line direction) in the drawing.
The signal storage CCDs 211 and the vertical reading CCDs 212 are embedded in p-type charge blocking regions 213 that are provided on the front surface of the chip 204. A concentration distribution of p-type impurities in the charge blocking regions 213 is constant. Furthermore, as indicated by symbol T in FIG. 31, the thickness of the charge blocking regions 213 as measured from the front surface 208 of the chip 204 is constant. P+ channel stops 214 are provided between two adjacent signal storage CCDs 211 and between the signal storage CCD 211 and the vertical reading CCD 212. Numeral 215 indicates an electrode for driving the signal storage CCD 211 and numeral 216 indicates an electrode for sending the signal charges from the input region 209 to the signal storage CCD 211.
Electrons (signal charges) produced by the photoelectric converting layer 205, which are caused by irradiation of light onto the incident surface 202 as indicated by arrow A, are moved to the charge collecting layer 206 as indicated by dashed line B. Furthermore, the electrons move horizontally in the charge collecting layer 206 in FIG. 31 and reach the charge accumulation portions 207, then are sent from the input region 209 to the signal storage CCDs 211.
With reference to FIG. 32 also it is evident that the electric potential distribution of the n-charge collecting layer 206 is affected by having the n-type signal storage CCDs 211 and the vertical reading CCDs 21 and the p+ channel stops 214 embedded alternately in the p-type charge blocking regions 213. In more detail, closed regions having low electric potential are produced as indicated by arrow C in FIG. 32. Thus, on dashed line D, where portions having the highest electric potential are linked horizontally (movement direction of electrons), unevenness is produced in the electric potential distribution as shown in FIG. 33. It is necessary for electrons to cross this unevenness in electric potential distribution and move through the charge collecting layer 206. Consequently, due to the unevenness in electric potential distribution, the movement speeds at which the electrons move through the charge collecting layer 206 is lowered. For example, when a gap E in the unevenness of electric potential distribution is 0.3 V or more, some of the electrons become trapped and produce an afterimage when viewed at short time intervals even under room temperature, and therefore the time resolution is reduced. When the diffusion movement speed of the electrons is low, such as in low temperatures, electrons become trapped by unevenness in the electric potential distribution even with lower voltages. Symbol 217 in FIG. 33 conceptually shows electrons trapped in the unevenness of the electric potential distribution. The movement speed of electrons becomes extremely slow by electrons being trapped in the unevenness of the electric potential distribution and therefore afterimages are produced when the time interval between frames is narrowed, thereby reducing the time resolution. Similarly, in high sensitivity imaging where the number of photoelectrons is small such as in the use of electron microscopes, the movement speed of the electrons becomes extremely slow by electrons being trapped in the unevenness of the electric potential distribution and therefore afterimages are produced when the time interval between frames is narrowed, thereby reducing the time resolution.
Due to the presence of unevenness in the electric potential distribution in the charge collecting layer 206, the movement speed of electrons in the charge collecting layer is reduced, which incurs reductions in time resolution, that is, reductions in imaging speed. Consequently, the unevenness in the electric potential distribution in the charge collecting layer 206 presents a serious problem in achieving ultra high sensitivity imaging at ultra high speeds.
[Patent document 1] JP H9-331052 A
[Patent document 2] JP 2001-345441 A
[Patent document 3] JP 2004-235621 A
[Non-patent document 1] Takeharu ETOH et al. "A CCD Image Sensor of 1M frames/s for Continuous Image Capturing of 103 Frames," Digest of Technical Papers, 2002 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, 2002, Vol. 45, p. 46 to 47
[Non-patent document 2] Takeharu ETOH and four others: "An In-situ Storage Image Sensor of 1M frames/s with Slanted Linear CCD Storage," Journal of the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers, the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers, 2002, Vol. 56, No. 3, p. 483 to 486.


A neutral buoyancy device, (NBD), includes a lift volume container, load suspension straps, control mechanism, handle, self-closing intake and exhaust valves and valve actuators. A high pressure air source is provided by attaching a pressure cylinder to the NBD or from the surface. The handle is attached to the control mechanism, which is positioned between the lift volume container and load. The control mechanism senses any net difference in lift and load forces and causes the intake valve to open automatically when the load increases, (or as the air volume and lift decrease during descent), and the exhaust valve to open automatically when the load decreases, (or as the air volume and lift increase during ascent). Both valves are self-closing. The user grasps the handle and is able to load or unload the NBD, or transport the load up, down or sideways underwater while neutral buoyancy is automatically maintained.

This invention relates to sub-surface lifting methods for transporting or salvaging loads underwater. It provides significant practical and safety improvements over conventional lift bags and surface cranes.
Conventional lift bags employ an exhaust valve near the top of the bag which the user must manually vent when reducing lift or ascending. During ascent, if the exhaust valve does not vent the expanding air fast enough, (air expands, quadrupling in volume between 100 feet seawater and the surface), the load can accelerate upward out of control. By automatically venting the expanding air, the neutral bouyancy device, (NBD), eliminates any guesswork by the user, allowing him/her to concentrate solely on a controlled ascent, resulting in a safer operation. In addition, a conventional lift bag used by a scuba diver is often inflated by using the divers mouthpiece regulator and his/her own breathing air supply. The NBD precludes the risk of the diver removing the mouthpiece regulator from his/her mouth and conserves the limited supply of breathing air.
Lifting a submerged load with a surface crane presents practical problems which are overcome by use of the NBD. If the crane platform, (e.g. a boat or barge), is affected by surface swell, this movement is transmitted to the load. This situation often leads to sudden and dangerous loading and unloading of the crane as well as danger to the diver from sudden load movement. The NBD eliminates movement from these surface effects, even in shallow water. In addition, a crane must be positioned directly above the load. The NBD allows the user to transport the balanced load, both sideways and vertically, around and under obstructions. Expensive marine equipment time is also saved by not having to re-locate and re-anchor the crane platform.


Certain embodiments present a system for navigating medical images of a patient file stored in an image database. An image labeler labels medical images based upon whether the images have previously been displayed on an interface. The system also provides an image search engine that searches the images based on the labels. The image search engine generates a subset of images from a larger group of medical images within a database based upon the labels. The interface includes a graphical meter that corresponds to medical images that have not previously been displayed on the interface. The graphical meter may enumerate the quantity of images that have not previously been displayed. The graphical meter may also illustrate the proportion of images that have not previously been displayed. The graphical meter may include a hyperlink that points to an image that has not previously been displayed. The graphical meter may also include a hyperlink that points to a location containing the images that have not been previously displayed.

Certain embodiments of the present technology relate to viewing medical images (e.g. X-ray images, CT images, MRI images) of a patient file stored in an image database. More particularly, certain embodiments relate to methods and apparatuses for navigating to images that have not previously been viewed or seen.
In radiology, the digitization of medical imaging has resulted in great increases in the quantity of medical images available per patient file. It is difficult for medical practitioners, such as radiologists, to recall or remember which images he or she has already viewed when reviewing a patient file. As a result, medical practitioners may sometimes inadvertently fail to view one or more images of a patient file. This results in a failure of information being communicated from an image database to a medical practitioner.
Therefore, there is a need for methods and apparatuses for medical practitioners to more easily and more accurately navigate to images that have not previously been viewed and to know when all images have been viewed.

Method and apparatus for navigation to unseen radiology images


The subject brake block comprises a cup shaped metal component and an elastomeric component formed in a two part mold. The method involves using the metal component of each brake block as one of the parts used in molding the elastomeric component of the brake block. This decreases the accuracy required in making and aligning the mold parts. The metal component is shaped so that the elastomeric component is mechanically locked in place in it when the elastomeric component is formed.

1. Field
The subject invention is in the field of processes for manufacturing small articles and assemblies and the articles produced. In particular it is in the field of processes for manufacturing small assemblies which comprise metal and elastomeric components and, more particularly, manufacturing bicycle brake blocks and the blocks. Such blocks are assemblies which each comprise a metal stud, for mounting the block, a metal stiffener, referred to as the skeleton, and an elastomeric component.
2. Prior Art
There are two basic types of commercially available bicycle brake blocks, each type being characterized by the process used in its manufacture. In one type the molded elastomeric component is shaped to fit into the metal component and is held in place by an adhesive and/or by further forming of the metal component. In the second type the elastomeric component is molded in place around the metal component. In both types the elastomeric component is molded in a two part mold, the parts of which must be made very accurately and used in very accurate machinery in order to produce components which are smooth and even at the parting line and do not require removal of flashing, i.e. material which extrudes into any cavity or space between the mold parts.
Achieving the necessary and desired accuracy is relatively expensive and, if the components are not accurately molded, removing the flashing produced with inaccurate parts is prohibitively expensive. The primary objective of the subject invention is to provide a method for less expensive manufacturing of bicycle brake blocks. The blocks produced by such a method have specific design features which result from the use of the method.

Method of manufacturing a bicycle brake block and the block


A sealed motor-fan system for a cleaner is disclosed in which a two piece gasketed housing is disposed around the motor-fan system to seal it. The two piece housing forms a joint in assembled condition and the gasket is disposed in this joint.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to vacuum cleaners and, more specifically, to a motor and fan mounting arrangement in such a cleaner.
2. Summary of the Prior Act
Vacuum cleaners which place the motor-fan system on a horizontal axis to provide a lower contoured cleaner and improved air flow as compared to a vertical axis disposition of these same elements is old and well known. It is also known to provide a sealing arrangement with or without an auxiliary housing for at least the fan of the motor-fan system to insure that the cleaner air flow is properly directed through the cleaner. These housing-sealing arrangements, however, have not been designed for automatic assembly of their cleaners.
Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide that a motor-fan system and its related components being adaptable to automatic assembly.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a motor-fan system and its related components that can be assembled vertically to aid in automation.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a new and improved housing arrangement and sealing mechanism for a motor-fan system for a vacuum cleaner.


The disclosed systems and methods are for performing digital separation of teeth. The method includes: (i) obtaining a 3D digital model of two adjacent teeth, wherein the 3D digital model includes a first set of elements comprising first tooth elements and second tooth elements, (ii) generating a separation plane relative to the two adjacent teeth by: obtaining a second set of elements associated with a separation zone, identifying a third set of elements which are a subset of the second set of elements, and determining the separation plane, (iv) performing the digital separation by generating a first cutting plane and a second cutting plane, and (v) updating the 3D digital model by removing the first tooth elements and the second tooth elements which are between the first and second cutting planes, and (vi) storing the updated 3D digital model in a memory.

In the field of orthodontic treatment, an orthodontic practitioner may need to physically remove enamel from tooth surface(s) of adjacent teeth as part of an orthodontic treatment, such as to avoid collisions between the teeth during orthodontic treatment, correct crowding, or reshape the contact area between the adjacent teeth. This is known as Interproximal Reduction (IPR). The IPR may be needed in one or more steps of the orthodontic treatment.
Teeth which have had enamel removed therefrom through IPR will have altered external surfaces. Digitally modelling the altered external surfaces of the teeth may be useful in planning subsequent steps of the orthodontic treatment, or for providing assistance to the orthodontic practitioner in executing the IPR.
Therefore, there is a need to model such a process and more specifically to recreate tooth geometries of the adjacent teeth in a tooth model after the IPR. Thus, there is an interest in developing an efficient process of determining and performing digital teeth separation.
Certain prior art approaches have been proposed to address the technical problem of removing enamel from tooth surface(s).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,689,398-B2 issued on Mar. 30, 2010, assigned to Align Technology, Inc, and entitled "System and method for modeling and application of interproximal reduction of teeth" discloses system and method for modeling and application of interproximal reduction (IPR) of teeth to facilitate orthodontic treatment. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a system and method for modeling and application of IPR are configured within a treatment methodology that initially determines whether stripping is needed for two neighboring teeth. If stripping is necessary, the exemplary method for modeling and application of IPR is conducted. In an exemplary embodiment, a stripping plane or other surface is constructed to determine the amount and region of stripping for two neighboring teeth, in other words, the volume to be removed between two neighboring teeth. After stripping of the tooth, the tooth geometry can be reconstructed to enable application of the IPR tooth model, such as enabling the clinician to utilize the IPR tooth model for teeth movement planning.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,761-B1 issued on Apr. 16, 2002, assigned to Align Technology, Inc, and entitled "Flexible plane for separating teeth models" discloses a computer-implemented method that separates first and second portions of a tooth by defining a cutting surface intersecting the first and second portions; and applying the cutting surface to the tooth to separate the tooth into two portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,504-B1 issued on Jun. 25, 2002, assigned to Align Technology, Inc, and entitled "Manipulating a digital dentition model to form models of individual dentition component" discloses a programmed computer used to create a digital model of an individual component of a patient's dentition. The computer obtains a 3D digital model of the patient's dentition, identifies points in the dentition model that lie on an interproximal margin between adjacent teeth in the patient's dentition, and uses the identified points to create a cutting surface that separates portions of the dentition model representing the adjacent teeth.

System and method for performing digital separation of teeth


Disclosed is a packaging sleeve for a full complement needle roller bearing, wherein the packing sleeve is adapted to accommodate at least one set of needles of a full complement needle roller bearing, and wherein the packaging sleeve comprises an outer cylindrical sleeve, wherein a shoulder is arranged on an inner surface of the outer cylindrical sleeve so that the set of needles abut against the shoulder when being arranged in the outer cylindrical sleeve. Furthermore, a packaging sleeve arrangement including such a packaging sleeve and a method for mounting a packaging sleeve are disclosed.

The present invention relates to needle roller bearings, and more particularly to a packaging sleeve for a full complement needle roller bearing.
When transporting full complement needle roller bearings, which consist of at least one set of needles, two or more bearings may be stacked together. During transport, it is necessary to ensure that the needles are not damaged or get lost. For this purpose, the full complement needle roller bearings may be arranged within a cylindrical sleeve which substitutes the outer ring of the full complement needle roller bearing. However, for mounting the bearings in their final position, the needles need to be removed from the sleeve which may be difficult without losing any of the needles. Further, the needles need to be secured by any fixing means to not fall out of the sleeve.


A method of scanning neighboring target RATs (Radio Access Technology). The method according to one embodiment includes transmitting a message including a field indicating whether or not the mobile station supports the inter-RAT handover while performing a network entry process; transmitting a request for information about another RAT only if the inter-RAT handover is supported by the mobile station; and, in response to the request, receiving information about a recommended RAT from the base station. The information about the recommended RAT is selected based on the location information. The method according to the embodiment further includes performing the scanning of the neighboring target RATs using the information about the recommended RAT; and reporting a result of the scanning. The performing of the scanning is triggered when channel quality falls below a certain threshold. The receiving information is in response to, both, the transmitted message, and the transmitted request.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobility between an IEEE 802.16m cell and a non-802.16m cell, and more particularly, to a method of, at a mobile station, scanning neighbor base stations of heterogeneous cells using recommended cells decided by a base station on the basis of location based service (LBS) information of the mobile station.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
An IEEE 802.16m system supports communication between a homogeneous cell and a heterogeneous cell, but the existing IEEE 802.16e system supports only communication between homogeneous cells.
FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a process of performing cell selection at a mobile station in the IEEE 002.16e system.
When the mobile station is powered on, the mobile station receives downlink/uplink (DL/UL) map and downlink channel descriptor/uplink channel descriptor (DCD/UCD) messages from a current cell, acquires UL/DL parameters, and performs synchronization with a base station. The mobile station performs an initial ranging process and measures a channel state (a carrier to interface and noise ratio (CINR) and a received signal strength indication (RSSI)) of the current cell after performing the synchronization with the base station. If the channel quality of the current cell measured by the mobile station is decreased to a specific threshold value or less, the mobile station scans neighbor cells. If it is determined that a neighbor cell having channel quality higher than that of the current cell is present by the scanned result, a neighbor cell having a highest channel quality is selected. After moving to a new cell, the mobile station performs synchronization with a base station and performs an initial ranging process, similar to the previous cell.
In order to enable the mobile station to perform cell selection between heterogeneous cells, a process of scanning the heterogeneous cells should be first performed. Unlike the cell selection between homogeneous cells, since several heterogeneous cells should be scanned in order to support the cell selection between the heterogeneous cells, a time consumed for scanning is increased and latency of handover and cell selection is increased.

Method of scanning cells based on LBS information and selecting heterogeneous cells


This invention relates to novel protein conjugates, in particular, to novel pegylated proteins, and their methods of making and use. One aspect of the present invention relates to pegylated-erythropoietin having greater clinical efficacy and stability during shipment and storage than current erythropoietin formulations.

In recent years, non-antigenic water-soluble polymers, such as polyethylene glycol ("PEG"), have been used for the covalent modification of polypeptides of therapeutic and diagnostic importance. PEG is a polymer that is nontoxic, nonimmunogenic, highly water soluble, and readily cleared from the body. PEG has many applications and is commonly used in foods, cosmetics, beverages, and prescription medicines. Pharmaceutical grade PEGs are approved for use in the United States by the FDA and are widely used as biopharmaceutical carriers, given their high degree of biocompatibility. PEGylation can modify certain characteristics of biopharmaceuticals without altering their function, thereby enhancing the therapeutic effect.
Generally, polyethylene glycol molecules are connected to the protein via a reactive group found on the protein. Amino groups, such as those on lysine residues or at the N-terminus, are convenient for such attachment. PEG can be coupled to active biopharmaceuticals through the hydroxyl groups at the ends of the chain using a variety of chemical methods. For example, covalent attachment of PEG to therapeutic polypeptides such as interleukins (Knauf, M. J. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 1988, 263, 15,064; Tsutsumi, Y. et al., J. Controlled Release 1995, 33, 447), interferons (Kita, Y. et al., Drug Des. Delivery 1990, 6, 157), catalase (Abuchowski, A. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 1977, 252, 3, 582), superoxide dismutase (Beauchamp, C. O. et al., Anal. Biochem. 1983, 131, 25), and adenosine deaminase (Chen, R. et al., Biochim. Biophy. Acta 1981, 660, 293), has been reported to extend their half life in vivo, and/or reduce their immunogenicity and antigenicity.
PEG molecules have been attached through amino groups on polypeptides using methoxylated PEG ("mPEG") having different reactive moieties. Such polymers include mPEG-succinimidyl succinate, mPEG-succinimidyl carbonate, mPEG-imidate, and mPEG-cyanuric chloride. Alternatively, site-specific pegylation at the N-terminus, side chain and C-terminus of a potent analog of growth hormone-releasing factor has been performed through solid-phase synthesis (Felix, A. M. et al., Int. J. Peptide Protein Res. 1995, 46, 253). Site specific pegylation at the N-terminus has also been performed using aldehyde-activated PEG; however such reactions require long reaction times and are heavily dependent on pH. For example, the reaction requires from 18 to 36 hours and is generally specific only at acidic pH, becoming random at neural or higher pH (see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,077,939 and 5,985,265, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). This limits the available peptides to those that can withstand prolonged acidic conditions.
An additional method used involved attaching a peptide to extremities of liposomal surface-grafted PEG chains in a site-specific manner through a reactive aldehyde group at the N-terminus generated by sodium periodate oxidation of N-terminal threonine (Zalipsky, S. et al., Bioconj. Chem. 1995, 6, 705). However, this method is limited to polypeptides with N-terminal serine or threonine residues.
Enzyme-assisted methods for introducing activated groups specifically at the C-terminus of a polypeptide have also been described (Schwarz, A. et al., Methods Enzymol. 1990, 184, 160; Rose, K. et al., Bioconjugate Chem. 1991, 2, 154; Gaertner, H. F. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 1994, 269, 7224). Typically, these active groups can be hydrazide, aldehyde, and aromatic-amino groups for subsequent attachment of functional probes to polypeptides.
Site-specific mutagenesis is a further approach which has been used to prepare polypeptides for site-specific polymer attachment. WO 90/12874 describes the site-directed pegylation of proteins modified by the insertion of cysteine residues or the substitution of other residues for cysteine residues. This publication also describes the preparation of mPEG-erythropoietin ("mPEG-EPO") by reacting a cysteine-specific mPEG derivative with a recombinantly introduced cysteine residue on EPO. Similarly, interleukin-2 was pegylated at its glycosylation site after site-directed mutagenesis (Goodson, R. J. et al., Bio/Technology 1990, 8, 343).
Glycoproteins provide carbohydrates as additional target sites for modification. The enzyme peroxidase has been modified with PEG-diamine through its carbohydrate moiety (Urrutiogoity, M. et al., Biocatalysis 1989, 2, 145). WO 94/28024 describes the methods for preparing mPEG-EPO through periodate-oxidized carbohydrate. The chemistry involved was hydrazone formation by reacting mPEG-hydrazide with aldehyde groups of the carbohydrate moiety on EPO. This type of modification generates reactive aldehyde groups through an oxidation step, which potentially can oxidize various types of sugar residues in the carbohydrate moiety and some amino acid residues in the polypeptide, such as methionine.
Erythropoietin
An exemplary protein that demonstrates the need for improved pegylation methods is erythropoietin. Erythropoiesis is the production of red blood cells, which occurs to offset cell destruction. Erythropoiesis is a controlled physiological mechanism that enables sufficient red blood cells to be available for proper tissue oxygenation. Naturally occurring human erythropoietin (hEPO) is a polypeptide produced in the kidney and is the humoral plasma factor which stimulates red blood cell production (Carnot, P and Deflandre, C (1906) C.R. Acad. Sci. 143: 432; Erslev, A J (1953 Blood 8: 349; Reissmann, K R (1950) Blood 5: 372; Jacobson, L 0, Goldwasser, E, Freid, W and Plzak, L F (1957) Nature 179: 6331-4). Naturally occurring EPO stimulates the division and differentiation of committed erythroid progenitors in the bone marrow and exerts its biological activity by binding to receptors on erythroid precursors (Krantz, B S (1991) Blood 77: 419).
Erythropoietin has been manufactured biosynthetically using recombinant DNA technology (Egrie, J C, Strickland, T W, Lane, J et al. (1986) Immunobiol. 72: 213-224) and is the product of a cloned human EPO gene inserted into and expressed in the ovarian tissue cells of the Chinese hamster (CHO cells). The primary structure of the predominant, fully processed form of hEPO is illustrated in SEQ ID NO:1. There are two disulfide bridges between Cys7-Cys161 and Cys29-Cys33. The molecular weight of the polypeptide chain of EPO without sugar moieties is 18,236 Da. In the intact EPO molecule (molecular weight of about 33 kD), approximately 40% of the molecular weight is accounted for by the carbohydrate groups that glycosylate the protein at glycosylation sites on the protein (Sasaki, H, Bothner, B, Dell, A and Fukuda, M (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262: 12059).
Because human erythropoietin is essential in red blood cell formation, the hormone is useful in the treatment of blood disorders characterized by low or defective red blood cell production and other diseases for which expansion of red blood cell production would be beneficial to the patient. For example, EPO has been used in the treatment of anemia in chronic renal failure patients (CRF) (Eschbach, J W, Egri, J C, Downing, M R et al. (1987) NEJM 316: 73-78; Eschbach, J W, Abdulhadi, M H, Browne, J K et al. (1989) Ann. Intern. Med. 111: 992; Egrie, J C, Eschbach, J W, McGuire, T, Adamson, J W (1988) Kidney Intl. 33: 262; Lim, V S, Degowin, R L, Zavala, D et al. (1989) Ann. Intern. Med. 110: 108-114) and in AIDS and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy (Danna, R P, Rudnick, S A, Abels, R I In: M B, Garnick, ed. Erythropoietin in Clinical Applications—An International Perspective. New York, N.Y.: Marcel Dekker; 1990: p. 301-324).
However, the bioavailability of commercially available protein therapeutics such as EPO is limited by their short plasma half-life and susceptibility to protease degradation. These shortcomings prevent them from attaining maximum clinical potency and generally require more frequent treatments or administration of greater amounts of drug which can result in increased frequency and severity of side effects and lack of patient compliance with the treatment schedule. Proteins, including native EPO and its derivatized and modified forms, are also generally formulated with albumin (HSA or serum), and stored and transported at reduced temperature to help maintain product stability through use. HSA serum-containing formulations are undesirable because of the risk of contamination by human infectious agents and the high costs associated with pharmaceutical grade HSA and related bioassays.
ARANESP® (darbepoietin alfa) is a commercially available EPO derivative. It is a 165-amino acid protein that differs from recombinant human erythropoietin in containing 5 N-linked oligosaccharide chains, whereas recombinant human erythropoietin contains 3 chains. The two additional N-glycosylation sites result from amino acid substitutions in the erythropoietin peptide backbone. The additional carbohydrate chains increase the approximate molecular weight of the glycoprotein from 30,000 to 37,000 daltons. ARANESP® is supplied in two formulations with different excipients, one containing polysorbate 80 and another containing albumin (HSA), a derivative of human blood.
Pegylated proteins, e.g., EPO derivatives, have been disclosed (U.S. Publication Nos. 2002/0115833, 2003/0120045 and 2003/0166566) However, the processes used to make these compositions are difficult to implement and control, costly, use toxic compounds in the synthesis, or have other quality control problems. Moreover, they are not known to generate polypeptide conjugates that have biological activity greater than natural function of the unmodified polypeptide.
As such, there remains an acute need for a pegylated composition, and/or method of production thereof, that is easier and less costly to implement and, most importantly, easier to control in order to produce a predictable and consistent product.
With particular respect to EPO, formulations are required that have improved plasma half-lives, increased activity, and decreased susceptibility to protease degradation relative to currently available formulations. Moreover, such formulations should optimally be able to be packaged, shipped, and stored in protein-free formulations and/or under standard conditions.
All scientific publications including patent documents cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.


A multiplexer receives multiple differential signals, selects one differential signal, and outputs, via an output port, the differential signal thus selected. The multiple differential signals are respectively input to multiple differential input ports. Multiple buffers are respectively provided to the multiple differential input ports. Each buffer includes a differential input terminal connected to a corresponding differential input port, and a differential output terminal connected to an output port. Each buffer is configured to be capable of switching states, according to the control signal, between an enable state in which a differential signal that corresponds to a differential signal input to the differential input terminal is output, and a disable state in which current consumed by the buffer becomes substantially zero, and the differential output terminal thereof is set to a high-impedance state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multiplexer and a parallel/serial converter for differential signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in order to transmit a video signal or an audio signal between multiple electronic devices, high-speed differential interfaces such as HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) or DVI (Digital Visual Interface) are employed. For example, a TV includes multiple HDMI input ports, selects one of the signals input to these HDMI input ports, and displays the signal thus selected on a display panel. In order to select one differential signal from among multiple differential signals, a multiplexer (multiple input, single output selector) is employed.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are circuit diagrams each showing an example configuration of a five input, one output multiplexer. A multiplexer 500 includes five input ports Pi1 through Pi5, a single output port Po, and two input, one output selectors (switches) 5021 through 5026 connected in tournament form. The selectors 5021 through 5026 each include two differential input terminals D1 and D2, and a single differential output terminal Do. When a corresponding control signal sel is high level, each selector 502 selects a differential signal input to the first input terminal D1. When the corresponding control signal sel is low level, the selector 502 selects a differential signal input to the second input terminal D2. Each selector 502 outputs the signal thus selected via the output terminal Do.
One of the signals input to the input ports Pi1 through Pi5 is output via the output port Po according to the combination of the values of the control signals sel0 through sel5. The selectors 5023 and 5024 do not perform any substantial selection operation, but are each arranged to make the propagation delay amounts uniform over all the paths.


An atomic absorption spectroscopy photometer comprising: sample atomizing means for heating to atomize a sample; a plurality of light sources disposed at a like number of light flux incidence positions for causing light having required wavelengths to enter the atomized sample; means for measuring the degrees of light absorption of a plurality of elements contained in the sample by detecting the fluxes of light which have passed through the atomized sample; a plurality of holder means for holding the plurality of light sources, the plurality of light sources being larger in number than the plurality of the light flux incidence positions; and means for setting required ones of the light sources of the plurality at the corresponding light flux incidence positions by moving the holder means.

The present invention relates to atomic absorption spectroscopy photometers and more particularly to photometers which simultaneously analyze a multiplicity of elements contained in a sample.
In simultaneous atomic absorption analysis of a multiplicity of elements, a group of elements optimal or more suitable for simultaneous measurement is determined depending on various conditions such as the kind and purpose of a sample to be used or temperature conditions up to atomization of the respective elements contained in the sample. In atomic absorption spectroscopy, a light source comprising a hollow cathode lamp corresponding to each of elements to be analyzed is required. Thus, hollow cathode lamps which are the same in number as the elements to be analyzed simultaneously are required to be provided in a light source section.
Conventionally, such a light source section includes a group of four hollow cathode lamps used simultaneously and disposed fixedly at positions where fluxes of light enter the sample, as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication JP-A-63-292040.
In the above conventional techniques, a combination of elements to be simultaneously measured changes depending upon various conditions. For example, (1) in the case of canned drinks, a combination of elements to be measured simultaneously changes depending on the field of the sample; for example, four elements of aluminum, iron, copper and zinc (For Sanitation Act); in the case of a photoresist solution, a combination of three elements, namely, sodium, iron and potassium. (2) A combination of elements to be simultaneously measured changes depending on heating temperature. A combination of aluminum and lanthanum which are atomized at a high temperature of about 3000.degree. C.; a combination of cadmium and mercury which are atomized at 1500.degree. C. (3) A combination of elements to be simultaneously measured changes depending on the difference in density between elements contained in a sample to be measured. (4) A combination of elements to be simultaneously measured changes depending on the presence of various additives; namely, an additive for preventing bumping of a sample during heating or oxidants and sublimators for obtaining better absorption signals at atomization. The conventional techniques do not allow for provision and disposition of hollow cathode lamps corresponding to respective elements depending on various changes in the conditions.
Thus, when a combination of and conditions of elements to be simultaneously measured are to be changed, the hollow cathode lamps and holders, which supply electric currents to the corresponding lamps, used so far are required to be replaced manually with appropriate ones.

Atomic absorption spectroscopy photometer


In a parallel computer, a method for controlling a debugging process includes the steps of registering identifiers of plural processors into an execution waiting queue in a predetermined order; executing a corresponding program by each of the processors in an order until it is brought into either a waiting state or an end state; registering the identifier of the processor of the waiting state as a last element of the execution waiting queue; and repeating the executing step until there are no executable processors. A program having a bug is determined from the identifiers left in the execution waiting queue. Further, the debugging-process control method further includes outputting trace data during execution of the executing step, the program having the bug is determined from this trace data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a parallel computer system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a debug method for eliminating bugs peculiar to a parallel processing operation from a user program for each processor element, and to a system for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
To improve calculation speed, various parallel computer systems for simultaneously operating plural processor elements have been developed. In such conventional systems, there are two types of parallel computer systems. In one type of parallel computer system, all processor elements are connected to a shared memory via which data is transferred. In the other type of parallel computer system, each processor element has a local memory unit and directly transfers data to other processor elements via a network. In the former, synchronization control is performed for controlling an order accessing to the shared memory upon transmission and reception of the data, and in the latter, data transmission and reception control is performed for controlling an order of transmission of data by another processor element and reception of the data by the processor element.
The conventional computer languages such as a FORTRAN language, or specific computer languages are prepared as user interfaces in the parallel computer systems. Bugs peculiar to the parallel processing operation may be introduced into a program when the program is coded by utilizing such a computer language. These bugs, peculiar to the parallel processing operation, are usually faults of the synchronization control, e.g., lack of a control statement that the plurality of processor elements simultaneously define or use the same address of a shared memory and faults of the data transmission and reception control or errors of an algorism introduced into a program when the program is rewritten for a distributed memory system. In particular, when a parallel processing operation is performed without the synchronization control, an execution order of respective processing sub-operations is not insured so that the execution order is different every time the parallel processing operation is carried out, and hence the reproducibility cannot be insured.
Although there is no definitely complete debugging method for such parallel computer systems, several debugging methods have been so far proposed in order to eliminate these bugs from the programs. One product named as "Pdbx Parallel Debugger" is commercially available from SEQUENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS INC. The debugging method of this debugger is described in a leaflet "Pdbx Parallel Debugger for Balance Computer Systems" thereof. In this product, there is a means for causing an operator to recognize a situation of the parallel processing operation by outputting trace data on the synchronization control of "post/wait" during a performance of the parallel processing operation. In addition, the product has a function for interrupting the parallel processing operation on the way. In order to debug programs including faults of synchronization control as bugs in a stable and reproducible state, the bugs are desirably detected from trace data produced by sequential execution of the programs, not parallel execution. A method for sequentially performing the debug processing is disclosed in the reference JP-1-106234. However, in the reference, the debug processing is performed once in parallel to output trace data and the order of the debug processing to be then sequentially performed is determined by use of the trace data. Thus, in this conventional method, the debug processing must be performed in parallel before this processing is sequentially performed.
In general, since execution statements on the data transmission and reception or the synchronization control are described in subprograms of a user program for a parallel computer system, when these subprograms are sequentially executed, the parallel computer system is brought into a data waiting state in which a processor element in the system is left waiting for data that is not being transmitted so that the processor element cannot proceed an operation. As a result, there is a problem in that the execution of the user program cannot be proceeded regardless of the user program having no bug.

Method for debugging in a parallel computer system and system for the same


Described herein are features pertaining to generating and presenting a log entry based upon configuration data received from a monitoring service of an electronic health record application (EHR) executing at a server computing device. A monitoring application can receive configuration data from the server computing device that hosts a feature of an EHR that is implemented in a healthcare enterprise, wherein the configuration data comprises an indication of a modification to the server computing device, and further wherein the monitoring application is configured to facilitate presenting the modification to an EHR support engineer. Exemplary modifications to the server computing device can be: a hardware change to the server computing device (e.g., replacement of a processor, addition of RAM, etc.), an upgrade to a feature hosted by the EHR on the server computing device, etc.

Electronic health record applications (EHRs) are robust applications that are utilized in medical facilities across a variety of aspects of a medical practice. For example, and not by way of limitation, an EHR can include features related to managing patient data, supplementing patient care, referring patients, etc. Generally, when an EHR provider initially implements an EHR in a healthcare enterprise (e.g., hospital environment, physician's office, etc.), components that host features of the EHR are installed and executed among a plurality of networked computing devices, thereby allowing end users at client computing devices of the healthcare enterprise to access the features of the EHR. At the initial implementation of the EHR within the healthcare enterprise, the EHR provider can manually document configuration settings of the networked computing devices (e.g., hardware specifications, software specifications, network addresses, etc.) in a configurations file. Based upon the configurations file, the EHR provider can provide troubleshooting, hardware upgrades to a networked computing device, software updates to the EHR, etc., to the healthcare enterprise.
Oftentimes, the aforementioned configurations file becomes inaccurate as modifications to computing devices (in the plurality of networked computing devices) of the healthcare enterprise occur, wherein the computing devices host features of the EHR. Exemplary modifications to the computing device include: a hardware change to the computing device (e.g., replacement of a processor, addition of RAM, etc.), an upgrade to the feature hosted by the EHR, etc. Further, networked computing devices can be added or removed over time, may be upgraded to different software versions, and so forth. The approach of manually documenting configuration settings is associated with numerous problems, including but not limited to individuals improperly documenting configurations, the lack of guarantee that manually documented information is correct, etc., which negatively impacts support and upgrade teams for the EHR.

System and method for dynamically monitoring a configuration of a server computing device


An electronic control unit includes a controller configured to interrupt a failsafe relay for a predetermined time period while an external load, such as an electric servo motor, is in a non-operating state and to perform a diagnosis of a short-circuit fault, which may occur at a load power supply line, based on a difference between a first voltage applied to a positive power supply line and a second voltage applied to the load power supply line.

In a vehicle having a regenerative brake function, a drive motor doubles in function as a motor for traveling the vehicle and a generator for regeneration. When the vehicle is in deceleration, the drive motor converts deceleration energy into electric power to thereby generate a regenerative braking force. More specifically, recovery of electricity begins from the moment the driver releases its foot from an accelerator pedal. When a brake pedal is stepped on or operated, deceleration of the vehicle is enhanced and a greater amount of electricity is created and charged into an on-vehicle battery. In order to realize a regenerative brake function, the vehicle is equipped with an electric servo brake system which cooperates with a drive electronic control unit (drive ECU) in performing regenerative control.
In an electronic control unit having a motor load, such as the electric servo brake system having a regenerative brake function, an electrolytic capacitor for removing ripples is provided, with one end grounded, in a load power supply line connected to a positive terminal of the on-vehicle battery. Also connected to the load power supply line is a failsafe relay which interrupts electric power from the on-vehicle battery in case of emergency. Upon operation of the failsafe relay, the motor load is separated from the on-vehicle battery with the result that a load circuit is protected from a fault such as an overcurrent fault.
The electronic control unit may encounter a ground fault which occurs at an arbitrary part or position of the load power supply line. The load power supply line is used herein to refer to a power supply line which extends from a downstream end of the failsafe relay to the motor load. When a ground fault occurs at an arbitrary part or position of the load power supply line, a constant resistance component is set between the arbitrary position of the load power supply line and the grounded vehicle body. Conventionally, a current flowing in such ground-fault position is detected by monitoring with a special current detecting device such as a shunt resistance or a Hall element, as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication (JP-A) No. 2000-108887. According to another known ground-fault detection method, a voltage drop at the ground-fault position is monitored.
However, the conventional ground-fault detection method using a current detecting device requires a dedicated circuit having a current detecting function and, hence, is disadvantageous in terms of the cost and component packaging density. Furthermore, the ground-fault detection method relying on voltage monitoring at the ground-fault position involves a reduction in detection performance when a voltage drop resulting from a ground-fault does not reach a prescribed detection threshold value.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electronic control unit which is capable of improving detection performance against a ground-fault having a resistance component without requiring a dedicated current detecting circuit.


A device for moving bulk flow material is provided. The device includes an idler sprocket assembly and a drive sprocket assembly. The drive sprocket assembly is engaged with a motor, which turns the drive sprocket assembly. Endless loop drive chains are functionally engaged on the idler sprocket assembly and the drive sprocket assembly. Spacer bars are positioned perpendicular to and attached to the endless loop drive chains. A conveyor belt is received loosely on the endless loop drive chains, covering the endless loop drive chains and leaving slack in the conveyor belt. A method for moving bulk flow material is also provided. According to the method, the motor turns the drive sprocket assembly, advancing the drive chains. The weight of the bulk flow material presses the conveyor belt against the chains, creating friction which advances the conveyor belt.

In the agriculture industry, it is common to load agricultural products such as potatoes into a trailer for transport from the field to a storage facility. Most conventional agricultural trailers are open on top, so that produce can be loaded easily by automated picking equipment. There are various means known for emptying the contents of an agricultural trailer. One common method is to employ a chain driven belt to carry the contents to the rear of the trailer, where they are discharged out a rear gate. In a typical arrangement, a conveyor belt affixed to a pair of endless drive chains extends along the floor of the trailer. The chains are received by a pair of freely turning sprockets at the front end of the trailer, and a second pair of sprockets at the rear end of the trailer. The second pair of sprockets are turned by a motor, pulling the upper run of the drive chains from the front of the trailer to the rear, and the lower run of the drive chains from the rear of the trailer to the front.
While functional, the currently known chain driven belt discharge device is problematic. When used to unload agricultural products such as potatoes, which are mixed with dirt, mud, and/or rocks when harvested, the chain drive can be damaged by debris which slips under the belt and becomes caught in the chain. Attempts have been made to avoid this problem by using a belt made up of a plurality of relatively lightweight overlapping flaps. Each flap is affixed to the chain drive at the flap leading edge, and its trailing edge is unattached. A spacer bar affixed between the drive chains supports each flap. The flaps form a flat surface on the upper run of the chain drive. As the belt is advanced to the rear of the trailer and the produce is offloaded, each flap rotates around to the lower run of the chain drive. The unattached trailing edge is free to hang vertically from the chain drive. Thus, any debris which may have entered the belt drive apparatus is free to fall through to the ground without causing damage to the chain drive. While somewhat effective at reducing problems associated with rocks, dirt and mud damaging the chain drive, the flap-belt device is expensive to manufacture, and adds unwanted weight to the trailer due to the many spacer bars required. Additionally, the flap belt device requires more maintenance than a conventional conveyor belt design.
Another problem with the currently known chain driven belt discharge device is that when the belt becomes worn or damaged, it must be detached from the chain drive for replacement. This process can be time consuming, especially when the belt has been affixed to the chain drive every 12 to 18 inches. To avoid this problem, attempts have been made to use a relatively thin belt that relies on tension between two or more rollers to hold it in position. However, such a design has been proven to be problematic, requiring high maintenance and frequent replacement to keep the belt in position.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to have a chain driven belt discharge device which does not require that the belt be affixed to the chain drive or held in place by tension between two rollers.
It would also be desirable to have a chain driven belt discharge device which is relatively lightweight.
It would further be desirable to have a chain driven belt discharge device which permits relatively rapid and simple change of worn or damaged belts.

Chain driven belt discharge apparatus and method


A speaker mounting member for a display apparatus including:                one or plurality of mounting plates configured to be laid on a back surface of a display apparatus;        a linking member configured to be crosswise linked to the mounting plate at a predetermined position in a first direction along a longitudinal direction of the mounting plate;        a movable member configured to be linked to the linking member movably along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and        a speaker mounting panel configured to be attached to the movable member and to be able to mount a speaker.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speaker mounting member for a display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, display apparatuses of television receivers or the like have become highly functional. The display apparatus uses a speaker to output audio. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-109382 discloses a technique in which external speakers are mounted on both sides of display apparatus. In addition, the display apparatuses have become thinner. As the display apparatuses have become thinner, they can be hung and mounted on a wall. On the other hand, a user can also set a thinned display apparatus on a base or the like in a manner in related art, so that the user can choose various setting methods in accordance with his or her own preference. A technique of a wall-hanging member for a display apparatus for hanging and using a display apparatus on a wall as described above is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-268578.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-268578 discloses a technique of a speaker mounting member for a display apparatus in which the above described wall-hanging member for a display apparatus and a mounting bracket for mounting an external speaker are integrated.

Speaker mounting member for display apparatus


A tactile switch on a mobile electronic device having a housing is provided. The tactile switch is comprised of a pressure sensitive interface on an exterior portion of the housing, a switch mechanism, and at least one pathway coupled to the pressure sensitive interface and extending from the pressure sensitive interface to the switch mechanism. The switch mechanism is at a remote location from the pressure sensitive interface. The pathway is formed in an interior portion of the housing. The tactile switch further includes a viscous fluid substantially filling the pathway. The tactile switch is configured such that when pressure is applied to the pressure sensitive interface, the viscous fluid exerts pressure on the switch mechanism, causing the switch to make an electrical contact.

Generally speaking as electronic devices become more mobile, portable, and smaller, these handheld electronic devices employ touch screens and touch gestures to operate features of the device. However, the need for traditional tactile button, or mechanical approach has not completely been eliminated.
Implementing traditional mechanical approach presents challenges. Often, an electronic device's internal components are competing for space which makes the mechanical approach particularly difficult to implement. The positioning of the input tactile buttons can lead to additional challenges such as RF interference or decreased durability.
Therefore, a need exists for tactile buttons for human input on handheld and portable electronic devices which have flexible positioning with respect to the switch or operation of the button controls, and which are efficient in the space they occupy within the device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Tactile switch for a mobile electronic device


An ergonomically designed pipette tip that can be securely mounted to a barrel of a pipetter yet is designed to substantially reduce the axial force necessary to install and eject the pipette tip from the pipetter. An improved pipette tip that includes the addition of an elastomeric material and cooperative means for insuring uniform interference and depth of penetration of the pipetter barrel as successive barrels are inserted and ejected. Also disclosed is an improved multiple-tip configuration with similar features that can be mounted to multiple barrels of a multi-pipetter as one tip instead of 8 or 12 individual tips. The addition of the elastomeric material allows for better sealing and eliminates alignment issues, high installation and ejection requirements while reducing the hand and thumb forces that due to repeated use will sometimes result in repetitive stress injury.

Air displacement pipetters with disposable pipette tips have been used in the medical and laboratory industries for many years. The main reason for such continual acceptance comes from the fact that after each use the pipette tip has traditionally been disposed of thereby limiting the possibility of cross contamination between samples. However as tests become more critical and the need to perform many tests from a limited amount of sample quantity became important, laboratory technicians have begun to have problems. These problems or errors could be contributed to operator use or fatigue, which often causes splashing of the sample. The sample could also aerosol during aspiration of the fluid, or the fluids contaminated gases can flow through the pipette tip upward into the calibrated barrel in the form of air borne contaminates. Even the smallest amount of dispensing error causing volume discrepancy or particles left behind on the barrel of the pipetter from previous tests can invalidate, or skew the evaluations of new test samples causing hours or even days of laboratory research to be wasted.
Users of porous plastic filter tips have also encountered problems with the accuracy of the amount of sample drawn into the pipette tip, arising from the requirements of the plastic sintering and molding process. Sintering does not produce a consistent size pore, such plugs are identified by an average or median pore size, a theoretical void volume within the filtered plug. Due to these variations, each pipette tip will have a different draw rate of fluid, which introduces inaccuracies into the amount of sample drawn into these types of filtered pipette tips. A researcher's work requires a high degree of volume consistency between samples and when hundreds of filtered or unfiltered pipette tips are used in just one procedure or test, the work may be invalid because of the inaccuracies in these sample volumes due to the precision and accuracy of the volumes dispensed. This is sometimes due to operator fatigue because of the excessive amount of force required to install and replace the disposable pipette tips.
Usually, in mounting a pipette tip on a mounting shaft of a pipetter, a user, exerting a downward force of between twelve and fifteen pounds, drives the mounting shaft axially into the pipette tip a distance which to the user seems sufficient to create a fluid tight seal. On occasion, in a mistaken attempt to improve the seal, a user will exert a downward insertion force from eighteen to twenty-five pounds. Since most pipette tips are formed of a relatively rigid plastic material such as polypropylene, the annular stretching of the pipette tip required to accommodate movement of the pipette tip onto the pipetter barrel is minimal. The inner surface and side walls of the proximal portions of most pipette tips are axially tapered at a one to one and a half degree greater angle than the distal end of the pipette tip mounting shaft and form an axially elongated frusto-conical annular sealing band. The sealing band is dimensioned to stretch outwardly ("hoop stretch") as the distal end of the elongated generally conical pipetter barrel mounting shaft is forced into the proximal end of the pipette tip to firmly seat the tip on the barrel and to create an axially elongated annular fluid tight seal between the sealing band and the pipetter Barrel. The axial forces which must be exerted on a conventional pipetter to achieve such a positioning of the pipette tip on the pipetter barrel mounting shaft normally exceed twelve and may be as great as twenty pounds, which is difficult for many pipette tip users to generate. Of course, with most pipette tip designs, the greater the axial force exerted in seating a pipette tip on a pipetter barrel, the greater the force required to eject the tip from the barrel-mounting shaft.
In addition, the more firmly a pipette tip is mounted or wedged on the barrel of the pipetter, the greater the axial force which a pipetter user must generate by thumb and hand action to eject the pipette tip from the barrel when a tip replacement is desired. In practice, it is not uncommon for axial forces exceeding twelve pounds to be generated by the pipetter users thumb and hand in driving a pipette tip from a mounting shaft. Over several and repeated ejection operations, particularly with multi-channel pipetters where substantially greater axial ejection forces are required, the thumb and hand of the user become physically stressed often resulting in repetitive stress injury to the thumb and hand and in extreme cases, carpal tunnel syndrome. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved ergonomically designed disposable pipette tip which will easily and stably mount onto a pipetter barrel mounting shaft which may be subsequently ejected by a substantially reduced pipetter tip ejection force than existing standard disposable pipette tips in the market place today.
There also exist the need to accommodate the use of existing pipette tips in the marketplace with an ergonomic solution. Because pipette tips have been in existence for about 30 years there in lies a huge investment into injection mold tooling and capital equipment that helps produce hundreds of millions of many different size pipette tips with different configurations for many applications. These pipette tips have worked well over the years but now need to be modified and or updated to address the increase usage and fatigue problems found in the industry. This of coarse becomes cost prohibitive due to the high cost of tooling replacement for these multi-cavity tools that can easily cost upwards of $100,000.00 for one size only and can take over 4 months to produce.
As samples have become smaller and more valuable there exist a need to aspirate these sample liquids from the bottom of narrow neck containers or small diameter tubes. Examples of such containers are centrifuge tubes or test tubes where pipette tips are utilized to aspirate sample volumes for further evaluations. As such a pipette tip is inserted into such a tube, the end of the pipetter to which the pipette tip is mounted and the tip ejector mechanism of the pipetter are moved adjacent to and often contact a sidewall of the tube. This results in the undesired transfer of fluids or other contaminates from the sidewall to an outer surface of the tip ejector mechanism or pipetter barrel. Such transfer can result in contamination of the pipetter and cross contamination of subsequent samples if the tip ejector and outer surface of the pipetter are not cleaned and/or sterilized before reuse. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved ergonomically designed barrel adapter that will also extend the overall pipette tip length and will easily and stably mount onto a pipetter barrel mounting shaft which may be subsequently ejected by a substantially reduced pipetter tip ejection force.
For a better understanding of the invention and how this new ergonomic pipette tip and adapters overcome these disadvantages, reference is made to the following Summary, Description of Drawings and the Detailed Description of Invention.


An electric automobile comprises a wheel driving motor (8, 10, 15, 21, 50, 80) and a refrigerating system for air-conditioning the interior of an electric automobile. The refrigerating system has a compressor (7, 22, 57), an outdoor heat exchanger (6, 25, 53), an expansion valve (3a, 3b, 13, 27, 28, 55, 58), and an indoor heat exchanger (4, 29, 54) connected in series by a refrigerant pipe. The wheel driving motor (8, 10, 15, 21, 50, 80) is provided within the refrigerating system, and the wheel driving motor is cooled directly by the refrigerating system.

In general, an electric automobile has a wheel driving motor. This type of an electric automobile has lately attracted considerable attention, because such an electric automobile is said to solve greenhouse effect problems and air pollution problems caused by exhaust gases containing carbon dioxide from current internal combustion engine type automobiles.
However, both the power and the torque of an electric automobile are considerably less than those of the internal combustion engine type automobile. Furthermore the distance range of the electric automobile per one charge cannot be said to be sufficient because of the low efficiency of the wheel driving motor and the small capacity of the battery of the electric automobile.
As the power output of the wheel driving motor increases, the quantity of heat generated by the wheel driving motor also is increased, so that coils of the wheel driving motor may burn because of an abnormal temperature rise of the motor and the motor efficiency of the wheel driving motor may decrease because of magnetization reduction of the magnet. Accordingly, the efficient cooling of the wheel driving motor in order to maintain the efficiency of an electric automobile has been a great problem.
A new cooling apparatus for cooling the wheel driving motors of an electric automobile has been developed. This cooling apparatus uses cool air generated by an air conditioner of the automobile. Such an air conditioner uses a refrigerant.
The cooling apparatus has an air pipe, a damper and a fan, which convey one part of the cool air for cooling the interior of the automobile to the front and rear wheel driving motors.
In this cooling apparatus, the sufficiently cool air may be conveyed to the front wheel driving motor, because the air conditioner is generally provided at the side of the front wheel of the automobile. However, the cool air conveyed to the rear wheel driving motor may be heated before reaching the rear wheel driving motor, because of the length of the air pipe to the rear wheel driving motor. Therefore, the rear wheel driving motor cannot be sufficiently cooled.
Both the front and rear wheel driving motors also cannot be sufficiently cooled when the cool air cools only the surfaces of the front and rear wheel driving motors. Furthermore, the cooling apparatus is in need of a large fan having a large volumetric delivery in order to convey the cool air to the rear wheel driving motor, which causes problems in that a large power consumption is required.


Systems and methods for providing half duplex user equipment in a packet based radio frequency signaling communication system. User equipment with half duplex receiver and half duplex transmitter on IC providing a transceiver capability performs a cycle of receiving downlink messages for a predetermined number of sub frames, shifting to a transmit mode, transmitting uplink messages for the predetermined number of sub frames, shifting to a receive mode, and repeating the cycle of half duplex sub frames. A discontinuous reception function performs a DRX protocol wherein power is reduced to the transceiver for a period of time. A determination is made at the end of the discontinuous reception period to see if the half duplex cycle is at an uplink sub frame; if so, the end of the discontinuous reception is shifted by the user equipment to a downlink sub frame by adding a delay.

As wireless communication systems such as cellular telephone, satellite, and microwave communication systems become widely deployed and continue to attract a growing number of users, there is a pressing need to accommodate a large and variable number of communication subsystems transmitting a growing volume of data with a fixed resource such as a fixed channel bandwidth accommodating a fixed data packet size. Traditional communication system designs employing a fixed resource (e.g., a fixed data rate for each user) have become challenged to provide high, but flexible, data transmission rates in view of the rapidly growing customer base.
The third generation partnership project long term evolution ("3GPP LTE") is the name generally used to describe an ongoing effort across the industry to improve the universal mobile telecommunications system ("UMTS") for mobile communications. The improvements are being made to cope with continuing new requirements and the growing base of users. Goals of this broadly based project include improving communication efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum opportunities, and achieving better integration with other open standards and backwards compatibility with some existing infrastructure that is compliant with earlier standards. The project envisions a packet switched communications environment with support for such services as VoIP ("Voice over Internet Protocol") and Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services ("MBMS"). MBMS may support services where base stations transmit to multiple user equipment simultaneously such as mobile television or radio broadcasts, for example. The 3GPP LTE project is not itself a standard-generating effort, but will result in new recommendations for standards for the UMTS.
The UTRAN includes multiple Radio Network Subsystems (RNSs), each of which contains at least one Radio Network Controller (RNC). However, it should be noted that the RNC may not be present in the actual implemented systems incorporating Long Term Evolution (LTE) of UTRAN (E-UTRAN). LTE may include a centralized or decentralized entity for control information. In UTRAN operation, each RNC may be connected to multiple Node Bs which are the UMTS counterparts to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) base stations. In E-UTRAN systems, the e-Node B may be, or is, connected directly to the access gateway ("aGW," sometimes referred to as the services gateway "sGW"). Each Node B may be in radio contact with multiple UEs (generally, user equipment including mobile transceivers or cellphones, although other devices such as fixed cellular phones, mobile web browsers, laptops, PDAs, MP3 players, gaming devices with transceivers may also be UEs) via the radio Uu interface.
The wireless communication systems as described herein are applicable to, for instance, 3GPP LTE compatible wireless communication systems and of interest is an aspect of LTE referred to as "evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network," or E-UTRAN. In general, E-UTRAN resources are assigned more or less temporarily by the network to one or more UEs by use of allocation tables, or more generally by use of a downlink resource assignment channel or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). LTE is a packet-based system and, therefore, there may not be a dedicated connection reserved for communication between a UE and the network. Users are generally scheduled on a shared channel every transmission time interval (TTI) by a Node B or an evolved Node B (e-Node B). A Node B or an e-Node B controls the communications between user equipment terminals in a cell served by the Node B or e-Node B. In general, one Node B or e-Node B serves each cell. A Node B may be referred to as a "base station." Resources needed for data transfer are assigned either as one time assignments or in a persistent/semi-static way. The LTE, also referred to as 3.9G, generally supports a large number of users per cell with quasi-instantaneous access to radio resources in the active state. It is a design requirement that at least 200 users per cell should be supported in the active state for spectrum allocations up to 5 megahertz (MHz), and at least 400 users for a higher spectrum allocation.
In order to facilitate scheduling on the shared channel, the e-Node B transmits a resource allocation to a particular UE in a downlink-shared channel (PDCCH) to the UE. The allocation information may be related to both uplink and downlink channels. The allocation information may include information about which resource blocks in the frequency domain are allocated to the scheduled user(s), the modulation and coding schemes to use, what the size of the transport block is, and the like.
One service supported by E-UTRAN UEs and E-Node Bs is discontinuous reception ("DRX"). In discontinuous reception, the UE is arranged to conserve its power consumption (typically, the UE is battery powered and the battery life is a critical aspect of the convenience of the equipment). The UE enters (or may be instructed to enter by the e-Node B) a DRX sleep or standby period for a determined period and at the end of the period, the UE checks the DL channel to determine if resources are allocated to the UE in the present sub frame. If no resources are allocated the UE may again enter a DRX standby cycle. During standby cycles as much of the receiver and transmitter circuitry in the UE as possible is powered down to conserve battery power. The e-Node B is arranged to be aware of the operation of the UEs that are connected to it and is aware that they are performing DRX.
The lowest level of communication in the e-UTRAN system, Level 1, is implemented by the Physical Layer ("PHY") in the UE and in the e-Node B and the PHY performs the physical transport of the packets between them over the air interface using radio frequency signals. In order to ensure a transmitted packet was received, an automatic retransmit request ("ARQ") and a hybrid automatic retransmit request ("HARQ") approach is provided. Thus whenever the UE receives packets through one of several downlink channels, including command channels and shared channels, the UE performs a communications error check on the received packets, typically a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC), and in a later sub frame following the reception of the packets, transmits a response on the uplink to the e-Node B or base station. The response is either an Acknowledge (ACK) or a Not Acknowledged (NACK) message. If the response is an NACK, the e-Node B automatically retransmits the packets in a later sub frame on the downlink or DL. In the same manner, any UL transmission from the UE to the e-Node B is responded to, at a specific sub frame later in time, by a NACK/ACK message on the DL channel to complete the HARQ. In this manner, the packet communications system remains robust with a low latency time and fast turnaround time.
The types of UEs the e-UTRAN environment can accommodate are many. One type of UE that is presently proposed to be supported in e-UTRAN systems is a half duplex FDD UE. This type of UE can only receive (be in downlink mode) or transmit (be in uplink mode) at a particular time but cannot be in both modes simultaneously, unlike a full duplex UE. The half duplex UEs proposed will also have DRX services. The need to accommodate a half duplex UE in the environment poses several problems for the system. A need thus exists for methods and apparatus to support half duplex UEs in the e-UTRAN environment. The addition of support for half duplex UEs must have a minimum impact on the efficiency and operation of the remaining services in the environment, the other UEs, the e-Node B devices, and mobile management entities ("MMEs").

System and method for efficient half duplex transceiver operation in a packet-based wireless communication system


An apparatus for polishing or lapping an aspherical surface of a work piece comprises a tool rotatable about an axis, the working surface area of the tool being smaller than the work piece, and an arrangement by means of which the tool and the work piece are adjustable relative to each other in all three directions in space, by means of which the orientation of the tool relative to the work piece is adjustable about at least two axes, and by means of which the work piece is rotatable about an axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for polishing or lapping an aspherical surface of a work piece comprising a tool rotatable about an axis, the working surface area of the tool being smaller than the work piece.
2. Description of the Related Art
In WO 97/00155 A1 there is described a method and an apparatus for optical polishing. The tool used in this method has a flexible working surface and means for selectively varying the pressure applied on the work piece by different regions of the tool working surface. Thereby the effective area of contact between the tool and the work piece can be varied.
The problem of this known apparatus as well as of many other similar apparatus is the complicated and time consuming movement of the tool along the surface of the work piece due to its aspherical shape.
Another apparatus for lapping and/or polishing an aspherical surface is known from EP 0 835 722 A1. The tool used for working the surface is ball-shaped, so that there is only minimal contact between the tool and the work piece, leading to an increase of the operating time.
DE 201 02 684 U1 describes a grinding wheel containing a support made of metal and an outer grinding part containing e.g. diamond as grinding material. Between these two parts there is located a distance ring serving as vibration damper.
Concerning further documents representing the state of the art in the field of polishing or lapping of surfaces using tools, reference is made to JP 09109034 A and JP 09085613 A.
It is an object of the present invention to decrease the time necessary for polishing or lapping the aspherical work piece as well as to increase the accuracy of the process.
This object is solved by an apparatus for polishing or lapping an aspherical surface of a work piece comprising a tool rotatable about an axis, the working surface area of the tool being smaller than the work piece, and an arrangement by means of which the tool and the work piece are adjustable relative to each other in all three directions in space, by means of which the orientation of the tool relative to the work piece is adjustable about at least two axes, and by means of which the work piece is rotatable about an axis.
The advantage of the apparatus according to the invention is its very high flexibility making it possible to adjust and orientate the tool and the work piece relative to one another in six axes, including the axis of rotation of the work piece. This allows the correction of shape defects of the work piece and makes it possible to obtain the exact aspherical surface as necessary. Apart from the higher speed made possible by the invention, the accuracy of the process is also enhanced.
Another aspect of the invention concerns a method of polishing or lapping an aspherical surface of a work piece with a tool rotating about an axis, the working surface area of the tool being smaller than the work piece, adjusting the tool and the work piece relative to each other in all three directions in space, adjusting the orientating of the tool relative o the work piece about at least two axes, and rotating the work piece about an axis.
With this method, work pieces with aspherical surfaces can be polished or lapped quicker and more accurate.
Possible improvements and advantageous embodiments of he invention are given in the dependent claims.

Method and apparatus for polishing or lapping an aspherical surface of a work piece

Carl Zeiss Semiconductor Manufacturing Technologies, AG


The present invention is an apparatus and method for detecting the motion characteristics of particles in a flow channel. The apparatus includes first and second electrode groups, each having a pair of electrodes, which are arranged to be spaced apart from each other in a flow channel. The pair of electrodes function as both a drive electrode and a sensing electrode for directly applying voltage and measuring impedance between the electrodes. An operation control unit measures variation in electrical pulses generated in the first and second electrode groups, thus detecting motion characteristics of the particles. The present invention is advantageous in that it does not require complicated optical measuring instruments or analyzing instruments, and in that it can be used to easily detect the motion characteristics of particles in a flow channel merely by analyzing variation in electrical pulses without requiring preliminary information.

The detection of the motion characteristics of particles is frequently conducted for characterizing the physical properties of various particles such as metal, polymer, and ceramic particles, and so on. The detection of the motion characteristics of particles in a flow channel is also used as an important means for characterizing biological cells. As an example, many researchers have analyzed the flow of red blood cells, white blood cells, and sperms in microfluidic chips, thus characterizing the oxidative states, chemotaxis properties, and motilities of the biological cells, respectively. [the red blood cell characterization: M. Zborowski, et al., "Red blood cell magnetophoresis, Biophys. J., Vol. 84 (2003) pp. 2638-2645, the white blood cell characterization: D. Irimia, et al., "Microfuidic system for measuring neutrophil migratory responses to fast switches of chemical gradients, Lab. Chip., Vol. 6 (2006) pp. 191-198, and the sperms characterization: B. S. Cho, et al., "Pssively driven integrated microfluidic system for separation of motile sperm, Anal. Chem., Vol. 75 (2003) pp. 1671-1675.]
Further, since the detection of the motion characteristics of particles in a flow channel allows the flow characteristics, such as the flow rate and velocity profile of a fluid, containing particles, in a flow channel, it is a very important technology for measuring a flow rate, diagnosing the internal state of the flow channel, and visualizing flow [flow visualization: D. Sinton, Microscale Flow Visualization, Microfluid Nanofluid, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2004) pp. 2-21.]. In particular, in microfluidic devices, a system, which is sufficiently cheap to be integrated into a single chip and makes it simple to detect the motion characteristics of particles in the flow channel, is urgently required.
Methods of detecting the motion characteristics of particles in a flow channel which are frequently used these days, include particle image velocimetry, fluorescent image tracking velocimetry, laser scattering and dispersion analysis, electrical impedance analysis (particle impedance analysis), etc.
Particle image velocimetry and fluorescent image tracking velocimetry are methods of acquiring the flow image of a typical particle or a fluorescent particle having a fluorescent material attached thereto in a flow channel, analyzing the image, and detecting the motion characteristics of the particle in the flow channel, and are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,124,071 and 5,333,044, respectively. These method are advantageous in that they can analyze the motion of particles having a complicated flow in the flow channel, but are disadvantageous in that, since a microscope, an imaging device and a computer for image data processing are required, high costs are incurred, and since the structure of the system is complicated, it is difficult to implement the microfluidic devices. Further, the method using fluorescent particles is also disadvantageous in that it additionally requires a procedure of attaching fluorescent materials to particles.
The laser scattering and dispersion analysis is a method of radiating laser light onto a flow channel through which particles flow, measuring the degree of optical scattering and dispersion of the laser, appearing when the particles pass through the flow channel, and detecting the motion characteristics of particles in the flow channel, and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,867,410. This method does not require a procedure for separately attaching fluorescent materials, but is disadvantageous in that a laser light source, a plurality of optical sensors, and complicated optical instruments are required, so that the system is expensive and has a complicated structure, and thus it is difficult to implement the microfluidic devices. Further, the method has limitations in that particles in a flow channel must have optical characteristics that enable the efficient scattering and dispersion of laser light. Moreover, all of the above optical methods also have limitations in that, since they use optical principles, the material used to make the flow channel must be transparent in order to minimize optical loss.
The particle impedance analysis is a method of measuring the electrical impedance occurring when particles pass through a measurement region of an electrode, and of counting the particles in a flow channel or measuring the size of the particles, the location of the flow of the particles, and the flow rate of the particles, and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2003-0102854. The method, proposed in U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2003-0102854, is implemented in order to determine the relative location of the flow of the particles in the flow channel on the basis of the fact that the magnitude of the electrical signal varies according to the location of the particles, which pass through a region between electrodes forming a pair, relative to the electrodes. This method is advantageous in that, since an electrical measurement method is used, optical equipment is not required, and since the system thereof has a simple structure, the system can be implemented in the microfluidic devices. However, the measurement of the particles is limited to the measurement of a relative location, rather than an absolute location. The magnitude of the electrical signal is also influenced by the size of the particles, variation in the impedance (spectral impedance) of particles according to measurement frequency, and the conductivity of a fluid containing the particles, as well as the location of the particles between electrodes. Accordingly, in order to precisely measure the location of the flow of the particles in the flow channel, preliminary information, such as the size of the particles, spectral impedance of the particles, and the conductivity of the fluid containing the particles, must be known. Further, this method is disadvantageous in that, when the conductivity of the fluid containing the particles is dynamic, when particles have large differences in size and spectral impedance despite being the same type of particles, or when different particles having various sizes and various spectral impedances are mixed together, it is difficult to measure the motion characteristics of the particles.

Apparatus and method for detecting motion characteristics of particles in flow channel

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)


Tympanic temperature measurements are obtained from the output of a thermopile mounted in an extension from a housing. The housing has a temperature display thereon and supports the electronics for responding to sensed radiation. The thermopile is mounted in a highly conductive can which includes a radiation guide and thermal mass. The guide provides a narrow field of view due to a fairly high emissivity. Electronics determine the target temperature as a function of the temperature of the hot junction of the thermopile determined from the cold junction temperature and a thermopile coefficient. The tympanic temperature is adjusted to provide an indication of core temperature.

Radiation detectors which utilize thermopiles to detect the heat flux from target surfaces have been used in various applications. An indication of the temperature of a target surface may be provided as a function of the measured heat flux. One such application is the testing of electrical equipment. Another application has been in the scanning of cutaneous tissue to locate injured subcutaneous regions. An injury results in increased blood flow which in turn results in a higher surface temperature. Yet another application is that of tympanic temperature measurement. A tympanic device relies on a measurement of the temperature of the tympanic membrane area in the ear of an animal or human by detection of infrared radiation as an alternative to traditional sublinqual thermometers.

Radiation detector having improved accuracy