Heat-shrinkable polyester films, each having a heat shrinkability of 30% or higher after treatment in hot water at 85xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds in the main shrinkage direction of the film, and 10% or lower after treatment in hot water at 85xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds in a direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction of the film, the resistance to tear propagation in the direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction after the film has been shrunk at 10% in the main shrinkage direction of the film being 1500 mN or smaller, exhibit excellent shrinkage finish with only rare occurrence of wrinkles, shrinkage spots and strains by shrinkage and have excellent cut properties along perforations; therefore, these films are suitable for full labels on bottles, particularly for full labels on PET bottles.

The present invention relates to heat-shrinkable polyester films and, in particular, to heat-shrinkable polyester films suitable for label use. More specifically, it relates to heat-shrinkable polyester films for labels on bottles, which films will cause only rare occurrence of wrinkles, shrinkage spots and strains by heat shrinkage.
For heat-shrinkable films, particularly heat-shrinkable films for labels on the barrels of bottles, there have mainly been used films made of polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene or other resins. However, for polyvinyl chloride, the evolution of a chlorine-containing gas in its incineration for disposal has become a problem, and for polyethylene, there is a problem that printing is difficult. Further, in the collection and recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, labels of resins other than PET, such as polyvinyl chloride or polyethylene, should be separated. For these reasons, attention has been paid to heat-shrinkable films made of polyesters involving none of these problems.
In recent years, for the recycling of PET bottles for beverages, labels fitted on the bottles have usually been printed. They without being treated are not suitable for recycling, and therefore, they are often removed before the recycling of the bottles. In this connection, as the means to do so, they may be provided with perforations in a direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction.
However, conventional heat-shrinkable polyester films have relatively high resistance to tear propagation in a direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction, and they have fault in the cutting properties along perforations when fitted on bottles. Depending on the shapes of bottles or the forms of perforations, labels may be difficult to cut along perforations and may therefore become difficult to remove with bare hands.
Thus, in the case of labels on bottles, the conventional heat-shrinkable polyester films have unsatisfactory cutting properties along perforations.
The present invention, which can solve the above problems, has been made for the purpose of providing heat-shrinkable polyester films for labels on bottles, particularly for labels on PET bottles, which films will cause only rare occurrence of wrinkles, shrinkage spots and strains by shrinkage as well as which films have excellent tear properties in a direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction of the films.
Thus the present invention provides heat-shrinkable polyester films, each having a heat shrinkability of 30% or higher after treatment in hot water at 85xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds in the main shrinkage direction of the film, and 10% or lower after treatment in hot water at 85xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds in a direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction of the film, the resistance to tear propagation in the direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction after the films has been shrunk at 10% in the main shrinkage direction of the film being 1500 mN or smaller.
The heat shrinkability as used herein is defined as follows:
A film is cut into a square shape of 10 cmxc3x9710 cm and heat shrunk by immersion under no load in hot water at a prescribed temperature xc2x10.5xc2x0 C. for a prescribed time and then measured for side lengths. The heat shrinkability is calculated in the respective directions from the measured values of side lengths by the following equation. The direction of either side corresponding to the larger value of heat shrinkability is referred to as the main shrinkage direction       Heat              xe2x80x83            shrinkability    =                                                                        Side                                                  xe2x80x83                                                length                                                  xe2x80x83                                                before                                                  xe2x80x83                                                shrinkage                            -                                                                          Side                                            xe2x80x83                                          length                                            xe2x80x83                                          after                                            xe2x80x83                                          shrinkage                                                  Side                          xe2x80x83                        length                          xe2x80x83                        before                          xe2x80x83                        shrinkage              xc3x97    100              xe2x80x83                  (      %      )
The resistance to tear propagation as used herein is defined as follows:
A film previously shrunk at 10% is cut into a size of 51 mm in the machine directionxc3x9764 mm in the transverse direction, and measured with a light-load tear tester available from TOYO SEIKI SEISAKU-SHO, LTD. The values read from the tester are regarded as the resistance to tear propagation. This measurement is carried out for 5 different samples of each film, and their average value is calculated and presented.
The perforations for label cutting provided on the labels of PET bottles are usually formed in the direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction of the labels. The present inventors have found that there is a relation between the cutting properties along perforations and the resistance to tear propagation that lower resistance to tear propagation in the direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction of films or labels made of the films will provide more excellent cutting properties along perforations. The control of this relation made it possible to attain the above purpose.
In preferred embodiments, the above heat-shrinkable polyester films are made of polyesters comprising thermoplastic resins incompatible with the polyesters, which is preferred in that regardless of the shapes of bottles or the forms of perforations, there can be provided films and labels made of the films, having excellent cutting properties along perforations.
The dicarboxylic acid components constituting polyesters used in the present invention may include aromatic dicarboxylic acids such as terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, naphthalenedicarboxylic acid and o-phthalic acid; aliphatic dicarboxylic acids such as adipic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid and decanedicarboxylic acid; and alicyclic dicarboxylic acids.
When aliphatic dicarboxylic acids (e.g., adipic acid, sebacic acid, decanedicarboxylic acid) are contained, their contents may preferably be lower than 3 mol %. For heat-shrinkable polyester films obtained by the use of polyesters containing these aliphatic dicarboxylic acids at 3 mol % or higher, their film stiffness in the high-speed fitting is insufficient.
The polyesters may preferably contain no three or more functional polycarboxylic acids (e.g., trimellitic acid, pyromellitic acid, their anhydrides). For heat-shrinkable polyester films obtained by the use of polyesters containing these polycarboxylic acids, their desired high shrinkability can hardly be attained.
The diol components constituting the polyesters used in the present invention may include aliphatic diols such as ethylene glycol, propanediol, butanediol, neopentyl glycol and hexanediol; alicyclic diols such as 1,4-cyclo-hexanedimethanol; and aromatic diols.
The polyesters used in the heat-shrinkable polyester films of the present invention may preferably be those having glass transition temperatures (Tgs) adjusted to 60-75xc2x0 C. by the incorporation of at least one diol of 3-6 carbon atoms (e.g., propanediol, butanediol, neopentyl glycol, hexanediol).
For the purpose of obtaining heat-shrinkable polyester films exhibiting particularly excellent shrinkage finish, neopentyl glycol may preferably be used as one of the diol components.
The polyesters may preferably contain neither diols of 8 or more carbon atoms (e.g., octanediol), nor three or more functional polyhydric alcohols (e.g., trimethylolpropane, trimethylolethane, glycerin, diglycerin). For heat-shrinkable polyester films obtained by the use of polyesters containing these diols or polycarboxylic acids, their desired high shrinkability can hardly be attained.
The polyesters may preferably contain none of diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol, if possible. In particular, diethylene glycol may easily be formed as a by-product component in the polymerization of polyesters and therefore may easily be contained in the polyesters. For the polyesters used in the present invention, the diethylene glycol contents may preferably be lower than 4 mol %.
When two or more polyesters are used in admixture, the acid component contents and the diol component contents of the mixed polyesters refer to the contents, relative to the total amount of all acid components and the total amount of all diol components, respectively, both of which are contained in the mixed polyesters, independently of whether or not transesterification has been carried out after the mixing.
Further, to improve the self-lubricating properties of heat-shrinkable polyester films, inorganic lubricants such as titanium dioxide, fumed silica, kaolin and calcium carbonate; or organic lubricants such as long-chain fatty acid esters may preferably be added. The heat-shrinkable polyester films of the present invention may further contain, if necessary, additives such as stabilizers, colorants, antioxidants, defoamers, antistatic agents and ultraviolet light absorbers.
The above polyesters can be prepared by polymerization according to the conventional methods; for example, the polyesters can be obtained direct esterification method in which dicarboxylic acids are directly reacted with diols or transesterification method in which dicarboxylic acid dimethyl esters are reacted with diols. The polymerization may be carried out in either of batch or continuous manner.
Further, to reduce the resistance to tear propagation, for example, at least one thermoplastic resin incompatible with the above polyesters should be incorporated in the films. The incorporation of polymers incompatible with the above polyesters forms a phase-separation structure in the films, thereby making it possible to attain films having good tear properties. Examples of the polymers incompatible with the above polyesters may include xcex1-olefin resins such as polypropylene and polyethylene, polystyrene resins, polymethylpentene resins, ionomer resins, acrylic resins, polycarbonate resins, and polysulfone resins.
The incompatible polymers may preferably have a melt flow rate (MFR) of 20 g/min. (at 260xc2x0 C.-5 kg) or lower, more preferably 15 g/10 min. (260xc2x0 C.-5 kg) or lower. When MFR is higher than 20 g/10 min. (260xc2x0 C.-5 kg), the phase-separation structure in the films will become insufficient, which is not preferred because of a decrease in the improvement of the cutting properties along perforations.
The amounts of thermoplastic resins to be incorporated, which are incompatible with the above polyesters, are preferably 15 wt % or higher, more preferably 18 wt % or higher, based on the total amount of the polyesters and the thermoplastic resins. When the thermoplastic resins are in amounts of lower than 15 wt %, the phase-separation structure in the films becomes insufficient, so that a reduction in tear resistance cannot come to a practical level, which is not preferred.
For the heat-shrinkable polyester films of the present invention, the heat shrinkability as calculated from the values of side length before and after shrinkage by treatment in hot water under no load according to the equation: heat shrinkability=((side length before shrinkagexe2x88x92side length after shrinkage)/side length before shrinkage)xc3x97100 (%) should be 30% or higher, preferably 35% or higher, after treatment in hot water at 85xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds in the main shrinkage direction of a film, and 10% or lower, preferably 6% or lower, after treatment in hot water at 85xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds, in a direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction of the film.
When the heat shrinkability after treatment in hot water at 85xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds in the main shrinkage direction of a film is lower than 30%, there will easily occur insufficient shrinkage when the film is used as labels on bottles, which is not preferred.
When the heat shrinkability after treatment in hot water at 85xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds in a direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction of a film is higher than 10%, labels made of such a film will easily cause deviation in height, which is also not preferred.
The resistance to tear propagation in a direction perpendicular to the main shrinkage direction of a film is 1500 mN or lower, preferably 1200 mN or lower, and more preferably 1000 mN or lower. This makes labels made of such a film after fitted on bottles have good cut properties along perforations. When the resistance to tear propagation is higher than 1500 mN, labels made of such a film will hardly be cut along perforations, easily resulting in the case where the labels become difficult to remove from bottles with bare hands.
For the heat-shrinkable polyester films of the present invention, the film thickness is not particularly limited, but may preferably be 10-200 xcexcm, more preferably 20-100 xcexcm, as the heat-shrinkable films for labels.
The process for producing the heat-shrinkable polyester films of the present invention will be explained below by a specific example; however, it is not limited to this production process.
The polyester raw materials used in the present invention are dried with a dryer such as a hopper dryer or a paddle dryer, or a vacuum dryer, and melt extruded into a film shape at a temperature of 200-300xc2x0 C. In the extrusion, any of the conventional methods may be employed, including T-die method and tubular method. After the extrusion, rapid cooling provides an unstretched film.
The resulting unstretched film is then stretched at a ratio of 3.0 or higher, preferably 3.5 or higher, in the transverse direction.
If necessary, the stretched film is then heat treated at a temperature of 70-100xc2x0 C. to give a heat-shrinkable polyester film.
The method of stretching may involve uniaxial stretching only in the transverse direction (TD) with a tenter, in which case the film can additionally be stretched in the machine direction (MD) to attain biaxial stretching. Such biaxial stretching may be achieved by any of the sequential or simultaneous biaxial stretching method, and the film may further be stretched, if necessary, in the machine or transverse direction.
For attaining the purpose of the present invention, the transverse direction (i.e., the direction perpendicular to the direction of extrusion) is practical as the main shrinkage direction of a film; therefore, the above explanation is for an example of the film formation when the main shrinkage direction of the film is taken as the transverse direction. However, the film formation in which the main shrinkage direction of the film is taken as the machine direction (i e., the direction of extrusion) can also be carried out substantially in the same manner as described above, except that the direction of stretching is turned 90 degrees around the line perpendicular to the film surface.
In particular, when at least one thermoplastic resin incompatible with the polyesters is incorporated, the following process of production is preferred.
The thermoplastic resins incompatible with the polyesters may preferably be mixed just before incorporation into an extruder, if possible. This process makes it possible to prevent the segregation of the polyesters and the incompatible thermoplastic resins, thereby attaining stable characteristics.


A scan format converter for converting a video format by bi-sigmoid interpolation. In the scan format converter, a memory controller has a look-up table at which first and second displacement values for pixel points of a video format to be converted are stored, controls transmission of color signals input from an external device, and reads the first and second displacement values for the pixel points of the color signals from the look-up table. A mode detector detects horizontal and vertical sync signals input from the external device and outputs a video format detection signal representing a mode of the currently input video format to the memory controller. A memory temporarily stores the color signals. A color signal logic circuit has a plurality of bi-sigmoid interpolation tables at which sigmoid interpolation values according to a color signal level difference between two pixel points are stored, and bi-sigmoid-interpolates the color signal levels of the input pixel points with respect to an x-axis and a y-axis according to the first and second displacement values input from the memory controller. A sync generator generates a sync signal to the color signal logic circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scan format converter for converting a video format, and in particular, to a method for making look-up tables of variables and interpolation values necessary for bi-sigmoid interpolation and a scan format converter for converting an input video format to another video format by using the look-up tables.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the popularization of personal computers (PCs), there are demands for a personal computer capable of displaying a video output thereof through a display unit of a home television or a projection television. In practice, however, since there is a discrepancy in the number of the scanning lines between the television set and the personal computer, it is impossible to output various formats (e.g., SVGA, XGA, VGA, etc) input from the personal computer to the display unit, as they are. Accordingly, it is necessary to convert the input video formats in conformity with the properties of the display unit. A scan format converter has been developed for that purpose.
However, the conventional scan format converter, utilizing bi-linear interpolation or zero-order interpolation, cannot display the high quality image of the personal computer to the display unit of the television set or the projection television.

Method for making look-up tables for video format converter using the look-up tables


An object of the present invention is to provide a rectifier circuit which can suppress loss of power due to parasitic capacitance or parasitic inductance of a semiconductor element. The rectifier circuit matches or mismatches impedance between a circuit of a previous stage and the rectifier circuit in accordance with the amplitude of an input AC voltage. When an AC voltage to be input has a smaller amplitude than a predetermined voltage, impedance is matched and the AC voltage is applied as is to the rectifier circuit. Conversely, when an AC voltage to be input has a larger amplitude than a predetermined voltage, impedance is mismatched, and the amplitude of the AC voltage is decreased by reflection and then the AC voltage is applied to the rectifier circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rectifier circuit having a function as a limiter. Further, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device which can communicate wirelessly with a voltage rectified by the rectifier circuit, and a driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technology by which a signal is transmitted and received without contact between media (tags) each incorporating an integrated circuit and an antenna (RFID: Radio Frequency Identification) has been put to practical use in various fields and has been anticipated to further expand the market as a new mode of information communication. As the shape of a tag used for an RFID, a card shape or a chip shape which is smaller than such a card shape are adopted in many cases; however, various shapes can be adopted in accordance with an application.
As for RFID, communication between a tag and a reader can be realized with a radio wave. Specifically, a radio wave generated from a reader is converted into an electric signal by an antenna in a tag, and an integrated circuit in the tag is operated in accordance with the electric signal. Then, the radio wave modulated in accordance with the electric signal output from the integrated circuit is output from the antenna, and thus a signal can be transmitted to the reader without contact.
It is to be noted that tags can be broadly categorized into two types: active tags and passive tags. An active tag incorporates a primary battery and does not generate electric energy in the tag.
Meanwhile, a passive tag can generate electric energy in the tag with the use of a radio wave from a reader. Specifically, after a radio wave received from the reader is converted into an AC voltage by an antenna, the AC voltage is rectified by a rectifier circuit and then supplied to each circuit in the tag. Therefore, since energy of a radio wave which can be received by the antenna is higher, higher electric energy can be generated. However, a prescribed intensity of a radio wave to be generated from a reader is set accordingly and thus, electric energy to be generated in a tag can generally be in a predetermined range.
However, when a radio wave from a reader includes a noise or unnecessary radiation is emitted from an electronic device other than the reader, the tag might be exposed to an intense radio wave which exceeds a predetermined level. In that case, such an excessively high AC voltage that deviates from a predetermined range is generated in an antenna. Accordingly, the value of a current to be supplied to a semiconductor element in an integrated circuit might be drastically raised, which results in destroying or deteriorating the integrated circuit due to dielectric breakdown.
In particular, in a case where communication is performed with the use of a radio wave with high frequency in order to extend a communication distance, a semiconductor element included in an integrated circuit tends to be miniaturized so that the integrated circuit can be operated more rapidly. However, when the semiconductor element is miniaturized, a withstand voltage becomes lower, and further, a tag is easily damaged due to an excess current.
In addition, when intensity of a radio wave in a case where a communication distance between a tag and a reader is short and that in a case where the communication distance between the tag and the reader is long are the same, electric energy generated in a tag increases as a communication distance between a tag and a reader shortens. Therefore, when the communication distance is short, excess electric energy might be generated.
It is very effective to provide a limiter having a function of discharging excess electric energy in an integrated circuit in order to improve reliability of a tag. A limiter has a function of controlling a voltage to be output to be lower than or equal to a set voltage (limit voltage) regardless of an input voltage. With such a limiter, the above-described deterioration or destruction of a semiconductor element due to an excess current is prevented.
In a case of a tag, a circuit of a semiconductor element which is most easily deteriorated or destroyed is a circuit to which an AC voltage is directly input from an antenna. A rectifier circuit is one of such a circuit, and a rectifier circuit provided with a diode functioning as a limiter on an input side is described in Patent Document 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2002-176141 (FIG. 1 in the page 6).
However, in a case where a limiter is provided between an antenna and a rectifier circuit, there is a problem in that the rectifier circuit is short-circuited with a ground (GND) side due to parasitic capacitance or parasitic inductance in the limiter and power is consumed by the limiter even when excess current is not generated.
FIG. 19A shows a general structure of an antenna 1901, a limiter 1902, and a rectifier circuit 1903. The limiter 1902 and the rectifier circuit 1903 correspond to part of an integrated circuit, and the limiter 1902 is connected to a terminal A1 and a terminal A2 of the antenna 1901. In addition, the rectifier circuit 1903 is connected to a next stage of the limiter 1902.
FIG. 19B shows an equivalent circuit diagram of the antenna 1901, the limiter 1902, and the rectifier circuit 1903 which are shown in FIG. 19A. Note that FIG. 19B shows a circuit diagram in a state where the terminal A2 is connected to GND. The antenna 1901 includes an inductor 1910 and a resonant capacitor 1911 which are connected in parallel. The limiter 1902 includes a switch 1912 which controls connection between the terminal A1 and the terminal A2. In addition, the rectifier circuit 1903 is connected to the terminal A1 and the terminal A2 in the next stage of the limiter 1902.
When a voltage lower than a prescribed voltage is applied between the terminal A1 and the terminal A2, the switch 1912 is opened and the voltage between the terminal A1 and the terminal A2 is applied to the rectifier circuit 1903 as is. Conversely, when a voltage with a larger amplitude than a predetermined voltage is applied between the terminal A1 and the terminal A2, the switch 1912 is short-circuited and thus an excess current flows to the terminal A2 (GND) side, so that a voltage to be applied to the rectifier circuit 1903 can be suppressed.
Incidentally, since the switch 1912 is generally formed using a semiconductor element such as a transistor or a diode, it includes parasitic capacitance or parasitic inductance. Therefore, when an AC voltage with high frequency is applied between the terminal A1 and the terminal A2, the AC voltage is applied to the terminal A2 side as well due to parasitic capacitance or parasitic inductance and thus power is lost even if the switch 1912 is open. The current situation is that an excess loss of power is desirably minimized because electric energy which can be generated in a tag is limited.

Rectifier circuit, semiconductor device using the rectifier circuit, and driving method thereof

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


Disclosed is a method of controlling a robot, comprising: switching to a surrounding environment concentration mode according to a sound of surrounding environment in a display off mode; searching a user in the surrounding environment concentration mode and switching to a user concentration mode when the user is searched; switching to a user conversation mode from the user concentration mode according to a sound received from the user; and entering the display off mode again after passing through a play alone mode, when the user is not searched in the surrounding environment concentration mode. Accordingly, the robot can operate in an optimal mode according to the change of the surrounding environment by setting various modes of the robot.

Conventionally, home appliances, e.g., a washing machine, an air conditioner, a cleaner, and the like used in a certain space such as a home or an office, individually perform their own functions and operations.
For example, a refrigerator stores food, a washing machine treats laundry, an air conditioner adjusts room temperature, and a cooking appliance serves to cook food.
In recent years, with the development of various communication technologies, a number of home appliances are networked by wired/wireless communication.
Home appliances constituting a network may transmit data from one device to other device, and may check information of other device by one device.
In addition, by configuring a network including a smart device such as a portable terminal, a user can check and control information of home appliances anytime, anywhere by using his smart device.
The network of devices inside home may be referred to as a smart home.
The related art (Korean Application No. 10-2003-0093196, filed Dec. 18, 2003) in related with the smart home technology constitutes a home network including a washing machine, and the like.
In the related art, when a certain time is elapsed after washing is terminated, the washing machine itself communicates with a user based on the presence of laundry and the humidity, and subsequent action is performed according to the result. Therefore, damage due to long-term neglect of laundry can be prevented.
That is, after the laundry is terminated, the washing machine transmits information on neglect of laundry and an inquiry message asking whether to proceed with subsequent action, and when a response is received, the subsequent action is performed according to the response.
Like the related art, the conventional smart home technology is remained at the level of providing or controlling information of a specific device to the user through the portable terminal even when the user is in the home. In addition, there is an inconvenience that the user should operate the portable terminal every time.
Meanwhile, robots have been developed for industrial use and have been a part of factory automation. In recent years, the application of robots has been further expanded, and medical robots, aerospace robots, and the like have been developed, and home robots that can be used in general homes have also been manufactured.
Such home robots are intended to drive a variety of home appliances.
However, such a home robot is not easy to detect and determine the current state of the user, and scenarios for various situations are not formed.
Therefore, sense of distance or repulsion may occur when the user desires to be friendly with the home robot.

Artificial intelligence (AI) robot and control method thereof


The invention discloses 4-(arylamino)selenophenopyrimidine derivatives of formula (I), hydrates, solvates, isomers, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof; process for their preparation and methods of treating or inhibiting or controlling a cell proliferative disorders, particularly cancer using said compounds. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising 4-(arylamino)selenophenopyrimidine derivatives of formula (I) are useful for the treatment, inhibition, or control of cancer.

Cancer is a disease resulting from an abnormal growth of tissue. Certain cancers have the potential to invade into local tissues and also metastasize to distant organs. This disease can develop in a wide variety of different organs, tissues and cell types. Therefore, the term "cancer" refers to a collection of over a thousand different diseases. Over 4.4 million people worldwide were diagnosed with breast, colon, ovarian, lung, or prostate cancer and over 2.5 million people died of these devastating diseases. In the United States alone, over 1.25 million new cases and over 500,000 deaths from cancer were in 2005. The majority of these new cases will be cancers of the colon (−100,000), lung (−170,000), breast (−210,000) and prostate (−230,000). Both the incidence and prevalence of cancer is predicted to increase by approximately 15% over the next ten years, reflecting an average growth rate of 1.4%.
Cancer treatments are of two major types, either curative or palliative. The main curative therapies for cancer are surgery and radiation. These options are generally successful only if the cancer is found at an early localized stage. Once the disease has progressed to locally advanced cancer or metastatic cancer, these therapies are less effective and the goal of therapy aims at symptom palliation and maintaining good quality of life. The most prevalent treatment protocols in either treatment mode involve a combination of surgery, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy.
Cytotoxic drugs (also known as cytoreductive agents) are used in the treatment of cancer, either as a curative treatment or with the aim of prolonging life or palliating symptoms. Cytotoxics may be combined with radiotherapy and/or surgery, as neo-adjuvant treatment (initial chemotherapy aimed at shrinking the tumor, thereby rendering local therapy such as surgery and radiation more effective) or as adjuvant chemotherapy (used in conjunction or after surgery and/or localized therapy). Combinations of different drugs are frequently more effective than single drugs: they may provide an advantage in certain tumors of enhanced response, reduced development of drug resistance and/or increased survival. It is for these reasons that the use of combined cytotoxic regimens in the treatment of many cancers is very common. Cytotoxic agents in current use employ different mechanisms to block proliferation and induce cell death. They can be generally categorized into the following groups based on their mechanism of action: the microtubule modulators that interfere with the polymerization or depolymerization of microtubules (e.g. docetaxel, paclitaxel, vinblastine, vinorelbine); anti-metabolites including nucleoside analogs and other inhibitors of key cellular metabolic pathways (e.g. capecitabine, gemcitabine, methotrexate); agents that interact directly with DNA (e.g. carboplatin, cyclophosphamide); anthracycline DNA intercalators that interfere with DNA polymerase and Topo-isomerase II (e.g. doxorubicin, epirubicin); and the non-anthracycline inhibitors of Topoisomerase activity (e.g. topotecan, irinotecan, and etoposide). Even though different cytotoxic drugs act via different mechanisms of action, each generally leads to at least transient shrinkage of tumors. Cytotoxic agents continue to represent an important component in an oncologist's arsenal of weapons for use in fighting cancer. The majority of drugs currently undergoing late Phase II and Phase III clinical trials are focusing on known mechanisms of action (tubulin binding agents, anti-metabolites, DNA processing), and on incremental improvements in known drug classes (for example the taxanes or the camptothecins). A small number of cytotoxic drugs based on novel mechanisms have recently emerged. Modes of action for these cytotoxics include inhibition of enzymes involved in DNA modification (e.g. histone deacetylase (HDAC)), inhibition of proteins involved in microtubule movement and cell cycle progression (e.g. kinesins, aurora kinase), and novel inducers of the apoptotic pathway (e.g. bcl-2 inhibitors).
Even though cytotoxic agents remain in the forefront of approaches to treat patients with advanced solid tumors, their limited efficacy and narrow therapeutic indices result in significant side effects. Moreover, basic research into cancer has led to the investigation of less toxic therapies based on the specific mechanisms central to tumor progression. Such studies could lead to effective therapy with improvement of the quality of life for cancer patients. Thus, a new class of therapeutic agents has emerged, referred to as cytostatics. Cytostatics direct their action on tumor stabilization and are generally associated with a more limited and less aggravating side effect profile. Their development has resulted from the identification of specific genetic changes involved in cancer progression and an understanding of the proteins activated in cancer such as tyrosine kinases and serine/threonine kinases.
EGFR over expression occurs frequently in human epithelial malignancies and its activation plays a significant role in the development and progression of human cancers, since EGFR signaling pathways are associated with cell proliferation, survival promotion and apoptosis inhibition. Therefore, EGFR is a very attractive molecular target for cancer therapy. Over the past 20 years, numerous small molecular inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies targeting EGFR have been successfully developed. The 4-anilinoquinazolines derivatives, Iressa (Gefitinib) and Tarceva (Erlotinib (FIG. 1), are two selective EGFR inhibitors approved by the FDA in 2003 and 2004 respectively for locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) therapy. Clinical data show that 10-20% of all NSCLC patients partially respond to these two EGFR inhibitors, but only Erlotinib prolongs the survival of patients with recurrent NSCLC. Moreover, most of the patients who responded to initial treatment eventually developed resistance to the EGFR inhibitors. Thus there is an urgent unmet medical need to design and develop new, broad therapeutic index and more potent anti-tumor active compounds.

The technical problem to be addressed in the present disclosure may therefore be seen in providing alternative compounds having good anti-cancer activity or an inhibitory activity on EGFR tyrosine kinases or other kinases, thus offering new therapeutic options for the treatment of diseases, in particular cancer and other proliferative disorders.

Substituted 4-(arylamino) selenophenopyrimidine compounds and methods of use thereof

Kasina Laila Innova Pharmaceuticals Private Limited


A system and method for accessing health care data are disclosed. A data retrieval service module is coupled to a client device and to one or more data sources, such as medical data sources, a master patient index or additional data retrieval service modules. The data retrieval service module receives a data request from the client device and transmits the data request to the one or more data sources. The data retrieval service module then receives data associated with the data request from die one or more data sources and generates catalog by aggregating data from multiple data sources. The catalog is then transmitted from the data retrieval service module to the client device, allowing the client device to access data obtained from various data sources.

1. Field of Art
The present invention generally relates to the field of medical information, and more specifically, to accessing medical records.
2. Description of the Related Art
Providing quality health care and related services (e.g., pharmaceutical services, medical services) depends on having the ability to reliably access various types of records. In the case of patients, information regarding a particular patient may be needed by various different types of health care related entities. For example, any one of a hospital, a health care organization, a clinic, a clinical or hospital lab, an insurance company, or a pharmacy may need access to particular computerized patient information. Such information retrieval generally occurs by querying a database associated with the health care related entity performing the query. The database typically contains all or part of what is referred to as a "Master Patient Index" (MPI), which is a collection of patient information and identifiers. Particularly, an MPI is a collection of indexed patient records, where each record contains information about a particular patient. In practice, user and system-level applications submit known or believed patient information to the database, which then uses the MPI patient matching logic to match the incoming data with information stored in the database. If a match is found, the record (or pointer thereto) is returned to the querying entity. If the patient cannot be matched, the MPI creates a new patient record.
While a typical database is designed to work within or for a particular health care related entity, such as a particular hospital or a particular medical group, including among disparate information systems across the health care related entity, the increased mobility of individuals throughout the overall health care system and the constant evolution of health care makes retrieval of patient information by one or more different local, state, regional, or national health care related entities more common. However, accessing medical information stored in different health care related entities is complicated by the presence of political issues among entities, the lack of cooperation between competing entities and the storage of medical information in different formats by different health care related entities.
Because different health care related entities generally have different ways of configuring, storing, submitting, searching for, and handling medical information, such as patient information. For example, one health care related entity could have policies in place or be configured to enter all '1's in a social security field of a query when the social security number of a patient is unknown, whereas another health care related entity could have policies in place or be configured to enter '123-45-6789' for an unknown social security number. Thus, when configuring a centralized database, algorithm adjustments aimed to improve a matching accuracy for one health care related entity could come at the expense of reducing matching accuracy for another health care related entity or requiring multiple health care related entities to drastically reconfigure their data storage and/or retrieval methods. Accordingly, because of such a "win/loss" effect and the overhead of modifying existing medical information storage by health care related entities, otherwise offsets the potential benefits of using a centralized database.
Another way to "share" medical information between multiple health care related entities involves the use of an electronic data interchange (EDI). EDI allows entities to transfer data according to prescribed business standards. However, although EDI can be used to share certain medical information, EDI is not helpful for determining the identity of a patient based on incomplete or ambiguous information. In other words, EDI poorly supports, if at all, reliably matching queries with patient records.


The disclosure encompasses methods for the screening of small molecules or nucleic acids that may reverse the inhibition of growth of the unicellular yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe by rotenone. The use of a yeast as the screening target allows for the high-throughput screening of small molecule and nucleic acid libraries for candidates that may then be screened in animal models as therapeutic agents for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The plant-derived isoflavonoid, rotenone, while only moderately inhibitory to S. pombe cell growth on complex rich medium, is highly inhibitory to growth on synthetic minimal medium. S. pombe cells carrying a deletion in the gene pmk1 are hypersensitive to rotenone. S. pombe, therefore, provides a model for elucidating complex 1-independent targets of rotenone, and can serve as a screening tool for identifying compounds or oligonucleotides potentially able to reverse the effects of rotenone or Parkinson's disease in animal or human subjects.

Rotenone is a five-ring rotenoid compound found in the roots of several different plant species (Soloway (1976) Environ. Health Perspect. 14: 109-117). Likely used for centuries by indigenous peoples as a piscicide (fish poison) in the form of crude plant extracts and first purified more than a century ago, rotenone exhibits potent insecticidal, piscicidal, and pesticidal activities and is frequently used for these purposes (Ambrose & Haag (1936) Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 28: 815-821; Geoffroy (1895) Ann. Inst. Colon. Marseille 2: 1-86; Soloway (1976) Environ. Health Perspect. 14: 109-117). Rotenone is listed as an active ingredient in more than forty commercially available pesticides approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
It has been appreciated for some time that agricultural workers subjected to frequent pesticide exposure develop Parkinson's disease at a statistically higher rate than the general population, fueling suspicions that pesticides and other environmental toxins might contribute to the onset of this debilitating neurodegenerative disease, which afflicts as many as 1.5 million individuals in the United States alone (DeLong & Juncos (2005) In Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, D. Keal, ed. (New York, McGraw-Hill), pp. 2406-2418; Uversky (2004) Cell Tissue Res. 318: 225-241). It has also been shown that rats chronically treated with rotenone develop behavioral symptoms and pathophysiologies remarkably similar to those characteristic of human Parkinson's disease patients (Betarbet et al., (2000) Nat. Neurosci. 3: 1301-1306).
Rotenone is a specific inhibitor of complex 1 of the mitochondrial electron transport chain found in animal cells, which accounts for its pesticidal potency (Yagi et al., (1998) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1364: 125-133). Dopaminergic neurons of rotenone-treated rats have been shown to exhibit mitochondrial abnormalities similar to those detected in the brains of deceased Parkinson's disease patients, including indications of complex I inhibition, and significant oxidative stress damage (Greenamyre et al., (2003) Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. 9 (Suppl 2): S59-64; Schapira, (2008) Lancet Neurol. 7: 97-109). While correlative evidence supports the notion that complex I inhibition might be at least partially responsible for dopaminergic cell death in idiopathic Parkinson's disease patients, evidence directly supportive of such a link has not been obtained. However, it has been shown that rotenone can induce dopaminergic neuron death independently of complex I, indicating the potential of complex I-independent mechanisms of rotenone-induced mitochondrial perturbation and cytotoxicity (Choi et al., (2008) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105:15136-15141).
Mitochondrial dysfunction is a primary or contributory factor in a broad range of neurological disorders and other human diseases, including Friedreich's ataxia, MALAS syndrome, and Barth syndrome, and is strongly implicated in the etiology of Parkinson's disease, a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that afflicts millions of individuals worldwide. It is strongly suspected that most cases of sporadic Parkinson's disease, by far the most common form, arise from a combination of genetic predispositions and environmental factors, in particular exposures to pesticides and other environmental toxins. Supporting this hypothesis, it has been shown that prolonged treatment of rats with the widely used pesticide, rotenone, induces Parkinson's disease-like symptoms and pathophysiologies, including the mitochondrial dysfunction that is characteristic of the disease. While the rat-rotenone model now serves as an important tool for investigating the pathophysiology and potential treatment of Parkinson's disease, the system is not well suited for large-scale screens for identifying neuroprotective genes and drugs.
The fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are species of fungi that do not possess the complex I components characteristic of animal cell mitochondria (Kerscher, (2000) Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1459: 274-283). S. cerevisiae utilizes distinct NADH dehydrogenases, one exposed to the mitochondrial intermembrane space (NdeI) and the other to the mitochondrial matrix (NdiI), which allow for the oxidation of cytoplasmic and mitochondrial matrix NADH, respectively (Kerscher, (2000) Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1459: 274-283). The S. pombe genome also encodes homologs NdeI and NdiI and it is presumed that they play roles analogous to their counterparts in budding yeast (Chiron, (2007) Methods Mol. Biol. 372: 91-105). Previous studies dating back to the early 1970s suggested that rotenone has little or no effect on mitochondrial function in either S. pombe or S. cerevisiae and it has since been largely accepted as dogma that both organisms have rotenone-resistant mitochondrial function (Chiron et al., (2007) Methods Mol. Biol. 372: 91-105; Kerscher, (2000) Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1459: 274-283). While this dogma is supported by experimental evidence in the case of S. cerevisiae, the same cannot be claimed for S. pombe. The effects of rotenone on growth and mitochondrial function in this organism have been described only once (Heslot et al., (1970) J. Bacteriol. 104: 473-481), which showed that NADH dehydrogenase activity in this yeast is unaffected by relatively high concentrations of rotenone.

Yeast-based methods of identifying nucleic acids and compounds for treating neurodegenerative diseases


An integrated circuit driver for high and low lines in a bus. The driver comprises first and second current sources connected to high and low voltage sources, respectively, and first and second transistor circuits for blocking voltage spikes higher or lower than the voltages provided by the high and low voltage sources. The first current source and the first transistor circuit are series connected between the high voltage supply and the high line, and the second current source and the second transistor circuit are series connected between the low voltage source and the low line.

A bus for handling the transmission of serial data typically employs two complementary, high and low lines. A first digital data bit ("1" or "0") is defined when the lines assume the same voltage, sometimes referred to as the "common mode voltage". A second digital data bit is defined when the voltage difference between the two lines, referred to as the "differential mode voltage", is driven above a threshold potential.
In one type of transmission bus, the common mode voltage is a value midway between high and low voltage sources. When the lines are driven to the differential mode voltage by a driver, a receiver connected to the bus will sense this differential mode voltage and interpret it as a digital bit. It is particularly critical when driving the lines to the differential mode voltage that the common mode voltage is the reference midpoint about which the high and low lines symmetrically swing. If the midpoint is disturbed to the extent that the differential mode voltage bumps up against the high or low voltage sources, the differential mode voltage can shrink. If the differential mode voltage is too small , the receiver may not be able to accurately read it.
Some transmission buses are designed for multiple users, i.e., buses which have a number of transmitting entities or drivers which may compete for the bus at the same time. If the transmitting entities are connected to such a bus and have priority on a first come, first serve basis, there is a possibility of one entity creating electrical interference with another. For example, each transmitting entity is tied to a high and low reference voltage. If one of these reference voltages is "lost", the internal control voltages of that entity may vary widely with respect to the common mode and differential mode voltages appearing on the bus. This may result in the common mode and/or differential mode voltages appearing as positive or negative voltage spikes with respect to the internal control voltages within the entity. If the entity were to sink or otherwise create a leakage path for such voltage "spikes," the common mode voltage could be easily disturbed. This can result in data being transmitted in error.

Integrated circuit driver for serial bus having output overvoltage protection


A memory management process monitors a communication channel for messages comprising allocation data corresponding to a first discrete memory region and receives a message comprising the allocation data. The memory management process executes a memory management decision for the first discrete memory region based on the allocation data, wherein the first discrete memory region is not addressable by the processing device.

A large and growing population of users enjoys entertainment through the consumption of media items, including electronic media, such as electronic books (also referred to herein as ebooks), electronic newspapers, electronic magazines, digital audio and digital video. Users employ various electronic devices to consume such media items. Among these electronic devices are electronic book readers, cellular telephones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable media players, tablet computers, netbooks, desktop computers, notebook computers, and the like.

Memory management in a system with discrete memory regions


The present disclosure relates to an electric vehicle rapid charger equipped with a sensor for controlling an automatic pull-out of a charging cable. The electric vehicle rapid charger according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a main body including a connector holder provided on one side of the main body and a cable connection part provided at a first predetermined height; a cable inlet/outlet part including a plurality of rotating rollers and fixedly coupled to the main body at a second predetermined height; a charging cable having a leading end portion in which a connector connected to a connection inlet of an electric vehicle is provided, a rear end portion fixedly coupled to the cable connection part, and an intermediate portion coupled to the cable inlet/outlet part to be inserted between the plurality of rotating rollers; and a control part configured to control a driving of the cable inlet/outlet part according to a charging request signal or a charging stop signal. The cable inlet/outlet part includes guide pins arranged on a front side or a rear side of the plurality of rotating rollers to guide the charging cable to move between the plurality of rotating rollers at a normal position, and is configured to continuously discharge or collect the charging cable by a driving of the plurality of rotating rollers.

In recent years, with the global trend of strengthening environmental regulations and reducing energy costs, the demand for an environmentally friendly electric vehicle is increasing. In order to widely provide such an electric vehicle, it is indispensable to build a charging infrastructure that may charge a battery of the electric vehicle.
An electric vehicle charger is an apparatus for feeding electrical energy supplied from a power source to the battery of the electric vehicle, which includes an electric charging control device configured to feed the electrical energy supplied from the power source to the battery of the electric vehicle, a charging guide display for monitoring a charging state of the electrical energy, and a charging cable for connecting the electric vehicle charger to the battery of the electric vehicle.
In such an electric vehicle charger, when a charging connector provided at an end portion of the charging cable is connected to a connecting inlet installed in the electric vehicle, the electric energy is fed to the battery of the electric vehicle. The charging cable has a length of about 3 to 7 meters. In general, the charging cable is arranged and held while being wound around or placed on a holder provided at one side of the charger. To charge the electric vehicle, the user draws out the charging cable wound around the holder.
At this time, a portion of the middle portion of the drawn-out charging cable may be brought into contact with the ground due to its drawn-out length. The portion in contact with the ground may be worn out or damaged as the charging cable is repeatedly used. In addition, the charging cable may be contaminated by contaminants on the ground. When the damaged portion of the charging cable as described above is repeatedly left on the ground, an electrical safety accident may occur. In addition, there is a matter that the user may feel discomfort due to the contaminated portion.
As an approach for solving the aforementioned matters, Korean Registration Patent No. 10-1608380 (Patent Document 1) discloses a charging control module. In the charging control module disclosed in Patent Document 1, a charging cable wound around a rotation shaft of a cable reel is configured to be discharged while being unwound from the rotation shaft, and to be collected while being wound around the rotation shaft again.
However, the charging control module disclosed in Patent Document 1 may be applied merely to a slow charging device in which a thin cable is used. In order for the cable to be easily wound around a circular reel, the cable needs to have a small diameter of about 10 mm or less. However, a cable to be applied to a rapid charging device has a relatively large diameter of 30 mm or more. This makes it difficult for the cable to be smoothly wound around the circular reel.
In addition, in recent years, as the use of ultra-rapid or rapid charger increases, a charging cable uses a thick power line suitable for large power transmission, and an additional cooling line for cooling the power line is also provided inside the charging cable. As described above, since the charging cable applied to the ultra-rapid or rapid charger has a thick diameter and a heavy weight, it requires considerable effort and force to draw out the charging cable from the charger and return the same to its original position after use. In particular, in recent years, in a situation in which the number of female drivers or elderly drivers is increasing, it is difficult for the drivers to handle such a thick and heavy charging cable. This causes a matter that makes the widespread use of ultra-rapid or rapid charger difficult.
Further, as an approach for preventing a charging cable of a rapid charger from coming in contact with the ground or dragging on the ground, Korean Utility Model Publication No. 20-20180001337 (Patent Document 2) discloses an automatic reel apparatus for electric vehicle charger. The automatic reel apparatus for electric vehicle charger disclosed in Patent Document 2 is configured such that a charging cable is held by a main body structure while being connected to a spring balance (wire) and is discharged or collected by virtue of a tensile force of the spring balance.
However, in the automatic reel apparatus for electric vehicle charger disclosed in Patent Document 2, since the charging cable is discharged using the spring balance, the user needs to pull the charging cable with a force stronger than the tensile force of the spring balance in addition to the weight of the charging cable itself. For that reason, it may be difficult for the elderly and weak person to handle the charging cable. In addition, the charging cable using the spring balance is continuously pulled by the spring balance during charging. As a result, the charging cable may be easily damaged and a connection error between a connector and a connection inlet may occur frequently. In severe cases, the risk of damage to the connection inlet is very high.
Therefore, there is a great demand for a rapid charger which is capable of being easily used even by an elderly driver while preventing a charging cable from coming in contact with the ground, securing safety of use of the charging cable, and easily storing and arranging the charging cable.

Electric vehicle rapid charging apparatus having sensor for controlling automatic pull-out of charging cable


The present application describes an organic light emitting device including a first layer, a second layer, and a third layer between a cathode and a light emitting layer or between light emitting units, in which the first layer includes an n-type organic material or metal oxide, the second layer includes a barrier material, and the third layer includes an n-type dopant.

An organic light emitting device injects electrons and holes into an organic material layer from two electrodes to convert a current into a visible ray. The organic light emitting device may have a multilayer structure including two or more organic material layers. For example, the organic light emitting device may further include, in addition to a light emitting layer, if necessary, an electron or hole injection layer, an electron or hole blocking layer, or an electron or hole transport layer.
Recently, according to diversification of the purpose of the organic light emitting device, research on materials that can improve performance of the organic light emitting device has been actively conducted.


A magnetically controllable, or guided, carrier composition and methods of use and production are disclosed, the composition for carrying biologically active substances to a treatment zone in a body under control of a magnetic field. The composition comprises composite, volume-compounded paclitaxel-adsorbed particles of 0.2 to 5.0 .mu.m in size, and preferably between 0.5 and 5.0 .mu.m, containing 1.0 to 95.0% by mass of carbon, and preferably from about 20% to about 60%. The particles are produced by mechanical milling of a mixture of iron and carbon powders. The obtained particles are placed in a solution of a biologically active substance to adsorb the substance onto the particles. The composition is generally administered in suspension. Magnetic carrier particles having therapeutic quantities of adsorbed paclitaxel, doxorubicin, Tc.sup.99, and antisense-C Myc oligonucleotide, an hematoporphyrin derivative, 6-mercaptopurine, Amphotericin B, and Camptothecin have been produced using this invention. Magnetic carrier particles having diagnostic quantities of adsorbed Re.sup.186 and Re.sup.188 have also been produced using this invention.

Metallic carrier compositions used in the treatment of various disorders have been heretofore suggested and/or utilized (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,849,209 and 4,106,488), and have included such compositions that are guided or controlled in a body in response to external application of a magnetic field (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,501,726, 4,652,257 and 4,690,130). Such compositions have not always proven practical and/or entirely effective. For example, such compositions may lack adequate capacity for carriage of the desired biologically active agent to the treatment site, have less than desirable magnetic susceptibility and/or be difficult to manufacture, store and/or use.
One such known composition, deliverable by way of intravascular injection, includes microspheres made up of a ferromagnetic component covered with a biocompatible polymer (albumin, gelatin, polysaccharides) which also contains a drug (Driscol C. F. et al. Prog. Am. Assoc. Cancer Res., 1980, p. 261).
It is possible to produce albumen microspheres up to 3.0 .mu.m in size containing a magnetic material (magnetite Fe.sub.3 O.sub.4) and the anti-tumoral antibiotic doxorubicin (Widder K. et al. J. Pharm. Sci., 68:79-82 1979). Such microspheres are produced through thermal and/or chemical denaturation of albumin in an emulsion (water in oil), with the input phase containing a magnetite suspension in a medicinal solution. Similar technique has been used to produce magnetically controlled, or guided, microcapsules covered with ethylcellulose containing the antibiotic mitomycin-C (Fujimoto S. et al., Cancer, 56: 2404-2410,1985).
Another method is to produce magnetically controlled liposomes 200 nm to 800 nm in size carrying preparations that can dissolve atherosclerotic formations. This method is based on the ability of phospholipids to create closed membrane structures in the presence of water (Gregoriadis G., Ryman B. E., Biochem. J., 124:58, 1971).
The above compositions require extremely high flux density magnetic fields for their control, and are somewhat difficult to produce consistently, sterilize, and store on an industrial scale without changing their designated properties.
To overcome these shortcomings, a method for producing magnetically controlled dispersion has been suggested (See European Patent Office Publication No. 0 451 299 A1, by Kholodov L. E., Volkonsky V. A., Kolesnik N. F. et al.), using ferrocarbon particles as a ferromagnetic material. The ferrocarbon particles are produced by heating iron powder made up of particles 100 .mu.m to 500 .mu.m in size at temperatures of 800.degree. C. to 1200.degree. C. in an oxygen containing atmosphere. The mixture is subsequently treated by carbon monoxide at 400.degree. C. to 700.degree. C. until carbon particles in an amount of about 10% to 90% by mass begin emerging on the surface. A biologically active substance is then adsorbed on the particles
This method of manufacturing ferrocarbon particles is rather complicated and requires a considerable amount of energy. Because the ferromagnetic component is oxidized due to the synthesis of ferrocarbon particles at a high temperature in an oxygen containing atmosphere, magnetic susceptibility of the dispersion obtained is decreased by about one-half on the average, as compared with metallic iron. The typical upper limit of adsorption of a biologically active substance on such particles is about 2.0% to 2.5% of the mass of a ferromagnetic particle.
The magnetically controlled particle produced by the above method has a spheroidal ferromagnetic component with a thread-like carbon chain extending from it and is generally about 2.0 .mu.m in size. The structure is believed to predetermine the relatively low adsorption capacity of the composites and also leads to breaking of the fragile thread-like chains of carbon from the ferromagnetic component during storage and transportation.
Further development in this field could thus still be utilized.

Magnetically responsive compositions for carrying biologically active substances and methods of production and use


The invention relates generally to disulfide drug conjugates wherein a linker comprising a sulfur-bearing carbon atom substituted with at least one hydrocarbyl or substituted hydrocarbyl is conjugated by a disulfide bond to a cysteine sulfur atom of a targeting carrier, and wherein the linker is further conjugated to a drug moiety. The invention further relates to activated linker-drug conjugates suitable for conjugation to a targeting carrier by a disulfide bond. The invention further relates to methods for preparing hindered disulfide drug conjugates.

Conjugates comprising a selective carrier-linker-drug structure (e.g., an antibody-drug conjugate, or ADC), are attractive selective chemo-therapeutic molecules, as they combine ideal properties of selectivity to a target cell and cytotoxic drugs. Selective carriers include proteins, peptides and antibodies. By directing potent cytotoxic drugs to a target cell, the desired therapeutic effect may be enhanced in the target cell while minimizing the effect on non-targeted cells. Successful selective carrier-linker-drug conjugate development for a given target cell depends, among other factors, on optimization of carrier selection, linker stability in the bloodstream, sufficient linker immolation in the cell for release of an effective amount of the drug, cytotoxic drug potency and mode of linker-drug conjugation to the antibody. More particularly, effective carrier-drug conjugates are characterized by at least one or more of the following: (i) a carrier-drug conjugate formation method wherein the antibody retains sufficient specificity to a target and wherein the drug efficacy is maintained; (ii) carrier-drug conjugate stability sufficient to limit drug release in the blood; (iii) sufficient cell membrane transport efficiency (endocytosis) to achieve a therapeutic intracellular carrier-drug conjugate concentration; (iv) sufficient intracellular drug release from the carrier-drug conjugate sufficient to achieve a therapeutic drug concentration; and (v) drug cytotoxicity in nanomolar or sub-nanomolar amounts.
Problematically, effective blood stream stability and effective intracellular drug release from the carrier-drug conjugates are typically coupled and inversely related for selective carrier-drug conjugates known in the art such that conjugates that exhibit blood stability also exhibit poor intracellular drug release.
A need therefore exists for efficacious selective carrier-linker-drug conjugates that are stable in the bloodstream and that provide for effective intracellular drug release.


A medical drug devices for transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS) comprising a novel iontophoretic polymeric microneedle device and its use in administration of drugs.

The present invention is in the field of medical drug devices and concerns transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS). Provided is a novel iontophoretic microneedle device and its use in administration of drugs via transdermal delivery drugs for prophylaxis and therapy.
Oral administration of biological and pharmaceutical drug products is limited by poor drug absorption and/or first pass effect metabolism in gastrointestinal tract or liver. The most common alternative is drug administration through subcutaneous/intramuscular injections or intravenous infusion. However, the use of hypodermic needles has several drawbacks including the pain associated with injection, required trained personnel to administer drug, cost of drugs and sterility. Another disadvantage is that these drug administration routes (except for intravenous infusion) lead to fluctuations in concentration of drug in blood plasma which can lead to toxic effects or ineffective treatment.
For example, sumatriptan succinate or sumatriptan, one very attractive active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), is considered the gold standard in prescription anti-migraine therapy. Currently, sumatriptan is delivered in several dosage forms, including intranasal and oral, but also subcutaneous and iontophoretic means. However, each method has its own limitation that may greatly reduce the patient's willingness to comply with the treatment. For example, the subcutaneous injection is difficult to administer when an individual is already incapacitated by a migraine headache. Oral tablet and nasal spray generally have low bioavailability of not more than 15% and 14%, respectively, and are likely accompanied by side effects of nausea and vomiting.
An attractive minimally invasive alternative may be the use of transdermal systems (TDDS), so called transdermal patches, which can be self-administered and allow to deliver drugs through the skin in a controlled and yet reliable rate. Transdermal technology is currently limited to APIs of small, lipophilic molecules due to the skin's strong epidermal barrier. Several physical and chemical permeation methods, e.g. chemical enhancers, iontophoresis or microneedles, have been studied to increase diffusion and drug uptake through the skin. These methods mostly aim to disrupt the lipid bilayer structure of the skin's stratum corneum to increase permeation and promote the systemic absorption of drug. These methods have shown promise in lab studies but yield limited clinical and commercial success.
Microneedles (MNs) were developed as minimally invasive transdermal systems and are expected to also deliver APIs of macromolecules or hydrophilic compounds through the skin. Such microneedles can effectively bypass the stratum corneum and epidermis and reach beyond it to achieve systemic uptake of drug in the underlying dermis. They are normally designed with an array of micro sized needles used to puncture the epidermis with micron-sized 'holes' and create channels for the drug to flow into directly into the underlying dermis which is rich of capillaries and provide for instant systemic circulation of the drug.
The individual microneedles are designed with heights of approx. 50 to 900 μm and a surface density of approx. 2000 needles/cm2 or less. These dimensions allow the needles to puncture and penetrate the stratum corneum and dermis, but not to extend to nerve fibers and blood vessels.
Known microneedles are fabricated from materials such as silicon, metal or polymer and are formed in geometries such as cones, pyramids or cylinders, and arranged in arrays of circular, triangular or square shape.
Currently, five different types of microneedle arrays (MNs) are under development: solid MNs, coated MNs, dissolvable MNs, hollow MNs, and hydrogel MNs. For example, influenza vaccination using hollow MNs is currently in widespread clinical use.
Dissolving microneedles (DMN) are made of water-soluble biodegradable polymers that incorporate the API within the microneedle array. The needles are inserted into the epidermis where they dissolve in minutes, releasing the API into the skin and dermis layers for rapid distribution into the body fluid. No sharp medical waste is left for disposal after use. It has been shown that the skin punctures, created in the process, are painless and heal within 3 days.
The combination of iontophoresis and microneedle technologies has been shown to increase uptake of macromolecules through the skin while modulating the drug delivery rate. Iontophoresis is a techniques of introducing charged particles into the body through the skin by applying a local electrical current.
In vitro experiments with poly(methyl vinyl ether-maleic acid) (PMVE/Ma) microneedles loaded with a macromolecule (e.g. bovine insulin) demonstrated increased delivery through porcine skin compared to microneedle or iontophoresis alone (Garland, Martin J., et al. "Dissolving Polymeric Microneedle Arrays for Electrically Assisted Transdermal Drug Delivery." J. of Controlled Release 159(2012), 52-59). An in vitro study using maltose microneedles combined with iontophoresis on hairless rats showed a 25-fold increase in delivery of the methotrexate (Vemulapalli, V. et al. "Synergistic effect of iontophoresis and soluble microneedles for transdermal delivery of methotrexate." J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 60(2008), 27-33). Nevertheless, these combined technologies are limited and only applicable in a scale for basic research.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,226,439 Describes a microneedle device which uses hollow microneedles for delivery of drugs across biological tissue by compressing a reservoir containing drug above the microneedles.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,437,189 B2 describes an iontophoresis device capable of delivering ionizable drug of high-molecular weight to a living body using low current or voltage conditions.
US 2009/0082713 A1 describes a method where skin is microporated using microneedle device and then, following microporation, a peptide molecule is administered through microporated skin using iontophoresis.


N-(alkanoyl)aminoalkanoyloxybenzensulfonate bleach activators are prepared in an improved process using amine catalyst and/or amido solvents.

Salts of acyloxybenzenesulfonic acids are known for use as bleach activators in laundry detergents; see EPA 0 355 384 A1 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,534,642 and 5,414,099. As noted in the references cited hereinafter, various syntheses for such materials have been disclosed in the art. However, as can be seen from an inspection of these references, product yields are sub-optimal and the overall process can be complicated. As with any process which is conducted on a commercial scale, there is a continuing search for means to increase product yields and to otherwise facilitate plant operations. The present invention provides simple, yet effective, means for improving the process for manufacturing these bleach activator compounds.

Process for the preparation of N-(alkanoyl) aminoalkanoyloxy benzenesulfonates


An automatic wire threading method for a wire-cut electric discharge machine is provided, which is capable of permitting a wire electrode to pass through a fine-diameter machining start hole using of a simple arrangement. After an upper wire supporting portion on the wire supply side of a wire transportation system is moved, along with a cut wire, toward a workpiece disposed in alignment with the upper wire supporting portion, so that the leading end of the wire is in a machining start hole, the upper wire supporting portion is moved away from the workpiece, while keeping the wire end in the hole, and the wire is then transported to the wire delivery side of the wire transportation system, thus completing wire threading.

The present invention relates to an automatic wire threading method for a wire-cut electric discharge machine, and more particularly, to a method of this type in which a wire electrode (hereinafter referred to as the wire) can be passed through a fine-diameter initial hole for machining using a simple arrangement.
A wire-cut electric discharge machine is provided with a device for automatically connecting a wire, which is artificially cut when one machining cycle is replaced by another or snapped during machining work, while the wire is being transported from the wire supply side of a wire transportation system to the wire delivery side thereof, so that the electric discharge machine is capable of automatic continuous operation. The performance of the electric discharge machine greatly depends on the probability of success in the automatic wire threading.
Conventionally, therefore, various methods and apparatuses for automatic wire threading have been proposed. Meanwhile, in precision machining, an initial hole for machining or a machining start hole, which allows the wire to be passed through a workpiece in the initial stage of the machining, has a very small diameter of, e.g., 0.8 mm or thereabout. In such a case, the probability of success in the automatic wire threading by means of the conventional methods and apparatuses is not always high, and the arrangement is relatively complicated.
An apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 55-164437, for example, is constructed so that a receiving member is introduced beyond a wire guide and a workpiece when the wire is to be cut, and the receiving member is returned after the supply- and delivery-side ends of the wire are coupled by means of the member. This apparatus requires an introducing device for the receiving member and mounting means for connecting the introduced receiving member and the wire.
According to a method and an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 56-9134, moreover, that portion of a wire which corresponds to an electric discharge machining region is hardened by heating and straightened. After this wire is cut at a position below a workpiece, the straight portion is drawn out temporarily from the workpiece, the workpiece is horizontally moved, and the straight portion is then passed again through a machining start hole. This arrangement, therefore, requires means for ensuring the straightness of the wire.
In a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 56-52135, moreover, a linear or rod-shaped guide is previously passed through a machining start hole in a workpiece, and the guide and the wire are connected when the wire is passed through another machining start hole. This arrangement requires the trouble of previously passing the guide through each machining start hole. It is difficult to apply this arrangement to automatic wire threading by means of a fine-diameter machining start hole, even though an electrode used for the formation of the machining start hole is employed directly as the guide.
In an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 56-82133, furthermore, a pipe for guiding a wire is inserted into a machining start hole of a workpiece so that it reaches a lower guide position, at the time of automatic wire threading. It is also difficult to apply this arrangement to the case using a fine-diameter machining start hole.
Further, there is an alternative arrangement in which a narrow water current with a diameter of about 1 to 2 mm is ejected from a sub-nozzle, in intimate contact with a guide, after a wire is cut in the vicinity of a wire supporting portion on the supply side of a wire transportation system, and a wire feed device is driven as the wire is guided to the delivery side by means of the water flow. This arrangement, however, requires a machining start hole greater in diameter than the water flow and a quantity of water large enough to guide the wire. Accordingly, it is difficult to apply this arrangement to automatic wire threading by means of a fine-diameter machining start hole.


A method and apparatus according to the present invention enable wafer chips to be configured with a single power on and off sequence and further enable a chip parameter to be adjusted during a wafer test without utilizing that sequence. In particular, each wafer chip under test is assigned a unique programmable identification. Once each chip has been assigned a corresponding identification, the chips may each be individually accessible by that identification to provide parameter values to chip registers to configure that chip. The configured chips may be subsequently tested in parallel to evaluate the parameter settings. In addition, the present invention enables chips to share data I/O pins or lines, thereby reducing the quantity of testing machine pins utilized for each chip and enabling a greater quantity of chips to be tested in a parallel fashion.

1. Technical Field
The present invention pertains to testing of semi-conductor wafers. In particular, the present invention pertains to selective access and configuration of individual chips of a semi-conductor wafer for wafer level testing.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Generally, semi-conductor wafers include a plurality of chips or circuits (e.g., a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) wafer may include five-hundred chips) that are tested prior to packaging and implementation. Each chip may temporarily adjust internal voltages and other settings by altering values in corresponding chip registers. Once the register settings are optimized, the values may be permanently stored in the registers by disabling corresponding metal fuses that enable adjustment of the register values.
During wafer level testing (e.g., prior to permanent storage of the register settings), the internal voltages or other settings of the chips may be adjusted and parametric or functional tests may be performed. Each chip typically receives the same register settings since the chips are tested in a parallel fashion. The parameter adjustment allows for testing of the chip with the same conditions encountered after the permanent storage. However, various characteristics (e.g., measured internal voltages, etc.) of the chips may vary due to process variation. For example, one chip may have an internal voltage of 1.0 V while another chip may have an internal voltage of 1.1V.
In order to minimize the variation, each chip should have an individual adjustment or setting. However, since the chips are tested in a parallel fashion as described above, each chip receives the same register settings, thereby preventing individual adjustment of each chip to mitigate the variation.
The related art has provided a technique to enable the individual wafer chips to receive different register settings in an attempt to overcome this problem. Initially, the wafer level test may utilize various test mode commands that are recognized by the chips to initiate and control testing of the chips. These commands are typically issued from a wafer testing machine. For example, a mode register set (MRS) command may be employed to enable a value to be stored in a chip register. Further, an activate command may be utilized to place a chip in an active state (e.g., non-test mode state), where the chip ignores mode register set and other test mode commands (e.g., the chip registers may not be adjusted while the chip is in the active state).
In order to adjust settings of individual chips, each chip is initially powered down. A first chip is selected and power is enabled to that chip. A mode register set command is issued for the first chip with corresponding register settings. Since the remaining chips are powered down or disabled, the selected chip is configured with the desired settings. The first chip is subsequently issued an activate command to enter an active state. This enables the configured chip to ignore subsequent mode register set commands configuring other chips as described above. The remaining chips are configured in substantially the same manner described above, where a selected chip receives the desired settings via a mode register set command. The other chips that are either in an active state (e.g., previously configured) or are disabled due to lack of power (e.g., not yet configured) ignore the mode register set commands for the selected chip, thereby enabling configuration of a single chip at one time. Once each of the chips have received desired settings, parametric measurement or function tests may be performed on the chips in a parallel fashion to evaluate the settings.
The related art suffers from several disadvantages. In particular, the related art technique depends upon the powering on and off of a chip. In other words, the chip is required to power off and power on prior to setting of each parameter for performing a test, thereby increasing the time and complexity of performing wafer tests.
In addition, chips are typically tested in a parallel fashion to reduce testing time and enhance throughput. Although addresses and commands may be shared by all chips in this type of testing mode, test information (e.g., pass/fail, etc.) is unique to each chip, thereby requiring each chip to have a dedicated Input/Output (I/O) line. Since a wafer testing machine has a fixed quantity of available contacts to engage chip I/O lines for testing, the dedicated I/O line for each chip increases usage of available testing machine contacts and limits the quantity of chips that may be tested in parallel.

Method and apparatus for selectively accessing and configuring individual chips of a semi-conductor wafer


In a power transmission utilizing a bushingless roller chain, the inner links of the chain have chain guide-contacting backs that have a convex arcuate shape, and the outer links are shaped so that they do not contact the chain guides. The rollers are wider than the sprocket teeth that they engage, and widthwise gaps between the ends of the rollers and the outer link plates allow the inner link plates to move in the widthwise direction. The gap between the inner surfaces of the rollers and the outer surfaces of the connecting pins of the chain is larger than the gap between the inner surfaces of the holes in the inner link plates and the outer surfaces of the connecting pins that extend through them.

In known chain transmissions including a bushingless roller chain engaged with sprockets, the chain is composed of outer and inner link plates, connecting pins and rollers. Pairs of inner link plates and pairs of outer link plates are disposed in an alternating, overlapping arrangement along the direction of travel of the chain. The pins are fixed to the outer link plates and extend through pin holes in the inner link plates and through the rollers in such a way that the inner link plates can articulate relative to the outer link plates and the rollers can rotate on the pins. Teeth on the sprockets engage with the rollers. A chain transmission using a bushingless roller chain is described Japanese patent application 1991-0349922, laid open under no. Hei 5-164196 on Jun. 29, 1993. A similar bushingless roller chain, having sets of multiple link plates in widthwise rows, is described in Japanese patent Application No. 1999-0310336, laid-open under No. 2001-124149 on May 8, 2001.
Unlike conventional roller chains, these roller chains have no bushings fixed to inner link plates and interposed between rollers and connecting pins. The rollers therefore contact the connecting pins directly. A large impact force acts on the rollers, the connecting pins, and the inner link plates when the rollers start to engage a sprocket tooth, reducing the durability of the rollers, the connecting pins and the inner link plates and generating excessive noise.
If the chain transmission incorporating a bushingless roller chain includes chain guides, an additional problem arises. If the outer and inner link plates of the chain conform to the surface of the chain guide the contact area between the chain and the guide becomes large, and results in a high frictional loss and decreased power transmission efficiency.
Accordingly, there is a need for a chain transmission utilizing a bushingless roller chain, in which the inner link plates, connecting pins and rollers have improved durability, in which power transmission efficiency is improved, and in which noise generated as the rollers engage sprocket teeth is reduced.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In an image filing system including an image scanner having at least a color mode and a monochrome mode as image input mode, for inputting document images; a key device for designating the image input mode of the image scanner, an image file for storing document image data inputted from the image scanner and a display screen on which the document images are displayed, a background corresponding to the image input mode is outputted when the document image inputted for the image scanner is displayed on the display screen. If a monochrome document is inputted for processing in a full color or multicolor mode, a monochrome input image and the background which is specific to the full color or the multicolor mode are outputted. Accordingly, a user which looks at the display notices that he or she should change the input mode and inputs the document image again prior to registration of the inputted image in a file.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document image filing system and in particular to a document image filing system having an input color mode selecting capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Document image filing systems using optical disks are currently widely used as means of documentary management. The optical disks have a high capacity of storing data and are capable of recording a large quantity of image data. Accordingly, the optical disks are widely used as means for storing images of documents such as design drawings, contract documents and account books. If a document image is inputted into such a document image filing system, scanning operation is usually commenced after input mode information including paper size of a document to be inputted, line density, input density, designation information on whether the document is a character document or a half tone document has been set by an entry device such as an operation key provided on the scanner or a keyboard for document retrieval. The input image read by the scanner is displayed on a display screen. A user confirms the state of the document image on the display screen and determines whether or not the image is appropriate for registration on the file.
When a document image is registered in a file, it is necessary to confirm the input mode information such as paper size and line density which were preset for inputting the image as well as the picture quality of the document image which is actually inputted. Confirmation of the input mode has heretofore been made by confirming the state of the operation key of a scanner or a character array such as "A4. high definition" displayed in a given position of a display as is described at page 9 of an instruction manual for optical disk filing system of Hitachi Ltd. (Manual No. 2250-10-012-20).
Document image filing systems which are capable of storing color document images have recently been demanded to cope with the diversification of inputted document images. Generally, a color image requires the amount of data which is several to several ten times as much as that of a binary monochrome image. For example, if a document image is inputted in an RGB multivalued mode having 256 gradations, the amount of data would be 24 times as much as that in case where the document image is inputted in the binary monochrome mode. Accordingly, selection of a mode whether the inputted image is stored as a color data or a monochrome data gives a great influence upon the number of document images which can be stored in a memory medium such as optical disk.
A method of confirming the input mode based upon the state of the operation key of a color scanner or a character array such as "FULL COLOR MODE" displayed in a given position of a display has a high possibility of mistaking of the current input mode when confirmation whether an input image is appropriate or not is made prior to the registration of the document image.
If the last user of the filing system has inputted the image data in the full color mode in which a large capacity of memory is used, there is the possibility that the next user inputs document images in the previous input mode which has been preset by the previous user without changing the mode to an appropriate mode and registers them in a file. Even if the document to be inputted which is a monochrome document at this time is mistakingly inputted in the full color mode, the inputted image displayed on the display is, of course, a monochrome image. Accordingly the user who is devoted to the inputted image displayed on the screen after completing the scanning operation only checks whether or not the image has been scanned without skew when the inputted monochrome image is displayed on the screen. There is the possibility that he or she registers the image data in a file without noticing the wrong selection of the input color mode.

Document image filing system having input color mode selecting capability


Described is a method of separating and recovering metal values from a waste stream containing metal hydroxides comprising the steps of providing an aqueous waste stream containing metal values including chromium; subjecting the waste stream to an oxidation process to convert the chromium to chromium (VI); precipitating the other metal values in the aqueous stream by adjusting the pH of the stream to cause the precipitations; and separately recovering the chromium (VI) from the remaining metal values. The process described pertains to separating and recovering metal values such as those from an electroplating process or an electroless process wherein the metals may be iron, cobalt, zinc, cadmium, nickel, copper, silver, aluminum and chromium. The chromium recovery step is performed by oxidizing chromium (III) to chromium (VI) preferably in the presence of a manganese catalyst and preferably utilizing ultrasound waves. The remaining metal values are separated by the use of a chelating ion exchange resin.

This application pertains to the field of separating and recovering metal values from a waste stream. In particular, the waste stream is that which is generated during the course of depositing metals onto a substrate such as electrolytic deposition of metals onto a substrate or the electroless deposition of metals onto a substrate. Due to substantial environmental concerns of metals that are present in waste streams, it is deemed desirable to recover such metals and to reuse them in an economically designed process.
Regenerating spent electrolytic baths containing chromium by oxidizing undesirable ions, separating formed oxides and concentrating the solution is discussed in Japanese patent application No. 123033, filed Oct. 31, 1973 and published June 16, 1975 as Japanese publication No. 50/72834. A rinsing waste solution from hard chromium plating containing chromium (VI) and iron ions with a pH of 2.3 was subjected to ultrasound source (1.35 MHz 30-W). An increase in chromium (VI) was obtained with a decrease in iron ions.
Japanese patent application No. 74/101528 filed Sept. 3, 1974 and published Mar. 10, 1976 discloses chromate in a waste water solution which is reduced and precipitated as chromium hydroxide. An alkali is added to the chromium hydroxide and the mixture is treated ultrasonically under oxygen atmosphere. The chromic acid is obtained by passing the resulting solution through a hydrogen ion type ion exchange resin.
The oxidation of chromium (III) ions by manganese dioxides is discussed in The Journal of Inorganic Nuclear Chemistry, 1977, Vol. 39 pages 1081-1084, Basak et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,892 teaches a method for ultrasonically activating chemical reactions requiring the presence of a catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,100 describes a method for enhancing chemical reactions in a constantly flowing stream of liquid which contains air as an oxidant which in turn is subjected to ultrasonic cavitation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,166 teaches a method of producing an adherent smooth depositive chromium on a ferrous substrate. Ultrasonic energy is used to remove nodular ferrous nodules from the substrate prior to electroplating chromium thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,270 describes a method of processing waste solutions containing metal salts or complex involving applying ultrasonic vibrations to a container in which the solution is placed to mist the water and subsequently capturing the water vapor discharge from the container, exhausting the vapor through a filter to capture any heavy metals in the water vapor.
The references do not suggest a technique for commencing with a waste stream containing a variety of metal values, and subjecting the waste stream to a multiplicity of processing steps to separate and recover the metal values present in the waste stream. The references likewise do not suggest the obtaining of these metal values without undesirable waste streams which likewise need to processed so as not to generate significant environmental concerns.

Process of separating and recovering metal values from a waste stream