The present invention relates to the production of cookies which exhibit a cookie crumb-like structure and structural integrity using a cooker extruder to mix and heat ingredients comprising flour and oil to promote browning and flavor development. The dough-like mixture produced in the extrusion cooker is leavened and further browned using post-extrusion baking, such as microwave, dielectric radio frequency, infrared conductive, or convection baking, frying, or a combination thereof. The shortening or fat content of the dough-like mixture may be from about 12% by weight to about 40% by weight, preferably from about 20% by weight to about 30% by weight, based upon the weight of the dough-like mixture. Separation of oil from the remaining mass and extruder surging and starch gelatinization are avoided preferably by admixing water into heat-treated ingredients comprising flour and oil after and during substantial cooling of the heat-treated ingredients. The extruder is operated at low pressures, generally less than about 20 bars absolute, preferably less than about 10 bars absolute. The relative amount of solid, crystalline or granulated sugar, such as sucrose, subjected to the heat treatment may be used to control the tenderness and crunchiness of the final product.

In the production of a high oil content farinaceous composition by extrusion cooking, mobility and immiscibility of the water and oil phases generally increase with increasing temperature. Additionally, the mechanical action of extruder screws tends to increase separation of oil from the remaining mass. The tendency for the oil to separate is at locations within the extruder at which the components are subjected to the highest pressure. Exemplary of high pressure locations in a twin screw extruder are: (1) the space between the extruder screw tips and the die orifice, and (2) the narrowest or more restricted passageways between the left and right hand screw elements.
Oil separation under system pressure (screw or die pressure) can be manifested in extruder surging or uneven mass flow rates from the die. Upon extrusion from the die, separated oil may: (1) appear as a coating on the remaining dough mass, or (2) periodically discharge separately from the remaining dough mass. Non-homogeneous dough production and discontinuous extruder operation may thus result from oil separation. The problem of oil separation increases with increasing oil levels.
Water separation from flour, up to the boiling point of water, is generally not a problem because of the more hydrophilic properties of flour components such as gluten and starch. As flour and water temperatures are raised, increased migration of water into starch granules, protein (e.g. gluten) denaturization, and starch gelatinization tend to occur. The binding or reaction of water with flour components may promote separation of oil: (a) by making the flour components more polar or hydrophilic and (b) by creating a greater mass of hydrophilic components.
Conventional cookie production involves forming cookie dough preforms or pieces followed by baking of the pieces. Low temperatures, typically at about room temperature, are used to form the dough. The low temperature mixing generally avoids separation of shortening or fat from hydrophilic dough components While baking temperatures in a conventional oven, such as a band oven, may promote oil separation, there is no mixing or pressing action performed at the baking temperatures. Any oil separation which may occur in such ovens does not generally interfere with continuous operability of the cookie production process as it would in a continuous cooker/extruder process.
In addition to high temperature mixing and high system pressure, the presence of sugar in a cookie dough may also increase oil and water separation. Solubilization of sugars in water increases the relative amount of the hydrophilic mass. This in turn may tend to promote oil separation.
In the process of the present invention, cookie products are produced using an extrusion cooker to promote Maillard browning and flavor development without the problems caused by the separation of oil from the remaining cookie dough mass. The extruded cookies or cookie-like products of the present invention have a cookie crumb or crumb-like structure and texture and exhibit structural integrity.

Production of cookies with extrusion and post extrusion baking


A vein image capture device includes an illumination device, an image capture device, and a support device. The image capture device captures an image of a vein pattern of a body part by receiving light reflected by the body part. The support device is arranged between the body part and the image capture device to transmit at least apart of the reflected light and support the illumination device at the body part side. The image capture device is separated from the support device by the distance at which the image capture device may receive the reflected light.

With the recent development of biometric technology, provided are various types of devices for personal identification by recognizing the physical characteristics of a body part of a person by capturing, for example, the fingerprints of limbs, the retina of an eye, the face, the blood vessels, etc. of a person.
Especially, since the blood vessels of a palm or a finger, and palm prints provide a relatively large amount of personal characteristic data, they are appropriate for personal identification with reliability. Furthermore, the pattern of blood vessels (vein) is not changed throughout one's lifetime after it is determined in the womb, that is, unique throughout the world, which is appropriate for personal identification.
As a concrete method of capturing a vein image, an illumination device emits near-infrared light to the palm, the near-infrared light reflected by the palm is captured by a camera provided with an image sensor (patent documents 1 and 2). Since the hemoglobin in the red blood cells absorbs the near-infrared light, the quantity of the reflected near-infrared light from the vein parts decreases when the near-infrared light is emitted to the palm. Therefore, the camera may shoot the position of the vein on the palm based on the strength level of the near-infrared light.
There may be restrictions on the installation of a vein image capture device designed as a unitary construction of an illumination device and a camera. For example, when the vein image capture device is to be installed on the door of an apartment, the vein image capture device requests the thickness for the device to be embedded in the door.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-249615    Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-30569


The present invention provides a method of producing 2-alkyl-3-aminothiophene derivative represented by Formula (4), the method comprising oxidizing a compound represented by the following Formula (1) to produce a compound represented by the following Formula (3) and reducing the compound represented by the following Formula (3):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing 2-alkyl-3-aminothiophne, and intermediates for producing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a method of producing 2-alkyl-3-aminothiophene, a method of reacting a 3-aminothiophene derivative with a carbonyl compound to produce a 2-alkenyl-3-aminothiophene derivative, and then reducing the same, is disclosed (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2008-120710).
Further, as a method of producing 2-alkyl-3-mitrothiophene, a method of reacting 3-nitrothiophene with a Grignard reagent, and then oxidizing the same, is disclosed (for examples, refer to Tetrahedron, Vol. 44, No. 20, (1988), p. 6435).
Moreover, as a method of producing 3-nitrothiophene, a method of nitrating thiophene is disclosed (for example, refer to Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie, Vol. 501, (1933), p. 174).
However, due to the instable nature of a 3-aminothiophene derivative and the difficulty in handling the same, the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2008-120710 requires a process of attaching/removing a protective group for the amino group, such as an acyl group or a carbamate group. Therefore, the method is still to be improved in terms of operability and cost efficiency.
On the other hand, since it is known that a nitro group can be converted to an amino group through a reduction reaction, as represented by catalytic hydrogenation, it is expected that a 3-amino-2-allylthiophene derivative can be produced by reducing a 2-alkyl-3-nitrothiophene derivative. However, due to the difficulty in producing the 3-alkyl-2-nitrothiophene derivative, no reports have been made concerning the method of producing a 2-alkyl-3-aminothiophene derivative by reducing a 2-alkyl-3-nitrothiophene derivative.
In the method of producing 2-alkyl-3-nitrothiophene described in Tetrahedron, Vol. 44, No. 20, (1988), p. 6435, there is room for improvement in that the production of 3-nitrothiophene, which is a starting material used in this method, is difficult.
In the method described in Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie, Vol. 501, (1933), p. 174, the yield of the resulting product is low since it is obtained as a mixture of position isomers, and a process of separating these isomers is necessary. Therefore, the method is still to be improved in terms of operability and cost efficiency.

Method of producing 2-alkyl-3-aminothiophene derivative

Abstract: wherein in Formula (1), Formula (3), and Formula (4), R represents an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, or a bicycloalkyl group; and X represents a hydroxyl group, a halogen atom acyloxy group, an alkylsulfonyl group, or an arylsulfonyl group.


A method of applying a protective film to a construction panel comprising: (a) selectively applying an adhesive composition to a peripheral region of a surface of the construction panel; and/or selectively applying an adhesive composition to a peripheral region of a surface of the protective film; and (b) applying a protective film to the surface of the construction panel to bond the protective film to the construction panel. A construction panel comprising a protective film layer on a surface of the panel and a peripheral adhesive composition layer located between said surface of the panel and the protective film layer, wherein the peripheral adhesive composition layer extends from an edge of the panel and across from about 0.1% to about 25% of the width of the surface.

Construction panels are commonly used to construct flooring and roofing in new buildings. During construction of the new buildings, the flooring is often installed early on in the building process to enable construction workers to walk around the construction site safely. This means that the construction panels are installed, as flooring, before the windows and walls of the building are installed. Similarly, the roofing of new buildings may be installed during the early stages of a construction project to provide coverage of the construction site. In both situations, damage can be caused to the construction panels due to the ingress of rain, wind and general exposure to the surrounding environment. In addition, prior to installing the floor or roof, the construction panels may be stored in the open for a prolonged period during which time they may suffer from weathering damage.
To overcome these issues, it is possible to apply a protective film or layer to a surface (e.g., top/bottom surface) of the construction panels to protect the panels from damage, at least, whilst the construction of the building is ongoing. The application and reliable securing of protective films to a construction panel surface comes with its own problems. Since construction panels are not necessarily flat or planar, the protective films can suffer from lifting (e.g., peeling away) at the edges of the construction panels' surface. The lifting or peeling away of the protective film along the edges of a construction panel surface may occur for variety reasons. For example, adhesives used to seal joints (e.g., tongue and groves joints) located between construction panels can expand and spread out of the joints towards the top/bottom surfaces of the construction panel. The expanding or overflowing adhesives then force the protective film up and away from the edge of the panel's surface. The resulting raised protective film can lead to trip hazards when the construction panels are installed as flooring. Water ingress into the now exposed surface underneath the raised protective film of the construction panel can then cause damage also. This can have major cost implications for the builders and the construction industry as a whole.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate these problems with prior art construction panels.
The present invention seeks to mitigate the above problems by providing construction panels and a method of manufacturing such panels wherein an adhesive composition is selectively applied to a peripheral edge of the construction panels and/or selectively applied to a peripheral region of the protective film

Film application method and construction panel


A wrinkled adhesive surface is prepared by swelling a laterally confined elastomer layer with a polymerizable monomer composition. Swelling the elastomer layer spontaneously produces a wrinkled surface, and the wrinkles are then stabilized by polymerizing the polymerizable monomer composition. The stabilized wrinkled surfaces prepare by the method can exhibit substantially enhanced adhesion relative to smooth surfaces of the same material. The stabilized wrinkled surfaces can also exhibit adhesion that is repeatable through many cycles of contact with and separation from another surface. The adhesive characteristics of the stabilized wrinkled surfaces can be tailored by manipulating the size of the wrinkles.

Nature has demonstrated that surface patterns can enhance adhesion. For example, the attachment devices of geckos and some insects are decorated with fibrillar structures called setae that provide temporary attachment and controlled release. See, e.g., K. Autumn, W.-P. Chang, R. Fearing, T. Hsieh, T. Kenny, L. Liang, W. Zesch, and R. J. Full, "Adhesive force of a single gecko foot-hair", Nature, 2000, volume 405, number 6787, pages 681-685; K. Autumn, M. Sitti, Y. A. Liang, A. M. Peattie, W. R. Hansen, S. Sponberg, T. W. Kenny, R. Fearing, J. N. Israelachvili, and R. J. Full, "Evidence for van der Waals adhesion in gecko setae", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2002, volume 99, number 19, pages 12252-12256; S. N. Gorb, "Attachment devices of insect cuticle", 2001, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, page 305; S. N. Gorb and M. Scherge, "Biological micro and nanotribology: Nature's solutions", 2001, Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Previous work has focused on the development of fibrillar array-type patterned adhesives, where the fibril diameter and aspect ratio is designed to tailor the adhesion of the material. See, e.g., A. K. Geim, S. V. Dubonos, I. V. Grigorieva, K. S. Novoselov, A. A. Zhukov, and S. Y. Shapoval, "Microfabricated adhesive mimicking gecko foot-hair", Nature Materials, 2003, volume 2, number 7, pages 461-463; N. J. Glassmaker, T. Himeno, C-Y Hui, and J. Kim, "Design of biomimetic fibrillar interfaces: 1. Making contact", Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 2004, volume 1, number 1, pages 23-33; C. Y. Hui, N. J. Glassmaker, T. Tang, and A. Jagota, "Design of biomimetic fibrillar interfaces: 2. Mechanics of enhanced adhesion", Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 2004, volume 1, number 1, pages 35-48; A. J. Crosby, M. Hageman, and A. Duncan, "Controlling polymer adhesion with 'pancakes'", Langmuir, 2005, volume 21, number 25, pages 11738-11743; S. Kim and M. Sitti, "Biologically inspired polymer microfiber with spatulate tips as repeatable fibrillar adhesives", Applied Physics Letters, 2006, volume 89, 261911; B. Aksak, M. P. Murphy, and M. Sitti, "Adhesion of biologically inspired vertical and angled polymer microfiber arrays", Langmuir, 2007, volume 23, number 6, pages 3322-3332; C. Greiner, A. del Campo, and E. Artz, "Adhesion of bioinspired micropatterned surfaces: Effects of pillar radius, aspect ratio and preload", Langmuir, 2007, volume 23, number 7, pages 3995-3502; M. Lamblet, E. Verneuil, T. Vilmin, A. Buguin, P. Silberzan, and L. Léger, "Adhesion enhancement through micropatteming at polydimethylsiloxane-acrylic adhesive interfaces", Langmuir, 2007, volume 23, number 13, pages 6966-6974; R. J. Full, R. S. Fearing, T. W. Kenny, and K. Autumn, "Adhesive microstructure and its fabrication based on the adhesive mechanism of the Gecko", International Patent Application Publication No. WO 01/49776 A2, published 12 Jul. 2001; and K. Autumn, "Adhesive microstructure and method of forming same", U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0124312 A1, published 3 Jul. 2003. Existing approaches to develop these patterned adhesives are based primarily on top-down fabrication approaches. Specifically, lithography, imprinting, and soft lithography are the primary technologies used in the fabrication process. However, there are two limitations in current design of patterned adhesives. First, the design of fibrillar arrays as patterned polymer adhesives typically leads to non-repeatable adhesive performance over the course of multiple attachment/detachment cycles. See, e.g. A. K. Geim, S. V. Dubonos, I. V. Grigorieva, K. S. Novoselov, A. A. Zhukov, and S. Y. Shapoval, "Microfabricated adhesive mimicking gecko foot-hair", Nature Materials, 2003, volume 2, number 7, pages 461-463; N. J. Glassmaker, T. Himeno, C-Y Hui, and J. Kim, "Design of biomimetic fibrillar interfaces: 1. Making contact", Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 2004, volume 1, number 1, pages 23-33; C. Greiner, A. del Campo, and E. Artz, "Adhesion of bioinspired micropatterned surfaces: Effects of pillar radius, aspect ratio and preload", Langmuir, 2007, volume 23, number 7, pages 3995-3502; and M. Lamblet, E. Verneuil, T. Vilmin, A. Buguin, P. Silberzan, and L. Léger, "Adhesion enhancement through micropatteming at polydimethylsiloxane-acrylic adhesive interfaces", Langmuir, 2007, volume 23, number 13, pages 6966-6974. Second, the fabrication technologies listed above are inefficient and non-scalable fabrication approaches. These limitations restrict the commercial application of the respective materials.

Wrinkled adhesive surfaces and methods for the preparation thereof


The present invention relates to a cleaning preparation, namely to a cleaning, disinfecting, sanitizing and sterilizing preparation. Said preparation comprises a mixture of cationic microbiocides and non-ionic surfactants.

There are known cleaning techniques that involve high temperatures that may be detrimental to the particular equipment or that involve powerful chemical reagents such as oxidants like peracetic acid that also adversely affect not only the primary medical devices but also the equipment used to clean the devices.
It is well known that transient supramolecular organisation of amphoteric molecules form micelles. The transitional quality of such organized groups is believed to provide an explanation of the enhanced activity of microbiocides when combined in certain cleaning preparations as reported in literature.
There is a known detergent action, namely the gathering together of surfactant molecules to form micelles. Such micelles are also alluded to in known theories explaining the observed biological action of cationic biocides such as quaternary ammonium compounds. Molecules of this type interact fleetingly with the phospholipids and peptidoglycan parts of cytoplasmic membranes of micro-organisms, which interaction causes these membranes to become disturbed and then to explode, leading to the death of the cell.
Up to the present time, an overabundance of inventions for preparations for disinfecting and sterilising materials and surfaces contaminated with bacteria and bacterial spores have come about through empirical observations of biological action.
All of these inventions require some form of microbiocidal fluid which is brought into contact with the contaminated material or surface long enough to be able to disinfect and sterilise said contaminated material or surface.
Prior Art provides several cleaning preparations as follows:
Baugh et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,919 describes a microbiocidal solution which can range from a simple solution of a single component such as aqueous formaldehyde to complex mixtures of microbiocides and various adjuncts including microbiologically active components such as germination promoters or other inert material that displays surfactant properties. The microbiocidal properties of cationic surfactants such as quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) and biguanidinium salts are well known and authenticated.
Spooner et al WO9820738 describes microbiological activity which was found to be enhanced when bis(biguanide) microbiocides were combined with polymeric biguanides in contact lens cleaning solutions.
Van Buskirk et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,290 describes the combination of QAC and N-alkylpropylenediamine microbiocides with a mixture of non-ionic surfactants which was observed to lead to a noticeable improvement in microbiocidal efficacy.
Lehman et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,100 describes bactericidal alcohols and carboxylic acids which were also observed to demonstrate potentiated effects when mixed with certain non-ionic surfactants.
Biermann et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,158 describes potentiation in dental cleaning applications of mixtures of chlorhexidine salts and alkylpolyglucosides.
Toshuki et al JP57009717 describes synergistic germicidal activity in mixtures of chlorhexidine salts or polyhexamethylenebiguanide and polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers in the proportions 1:1:W3 which has been reported.
EP05252443.6 suggests the formation of a transient intermediate to explain the observed improvement in minimum inhibitory concentration data for chlorhexidine salts when mixed with various non-ionic surfactants, and until that time a mechanism explaining the origin of such improved microbiocidal efficacy had not been defined.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,557 uses biocides and surfactants which differ from those of the present invention, does not include the aliphatic alcohol and requires the presence of sequesterants and amphoteric surfactants to achieve its enhanced microbiocidal activity.
Moreover, there are known U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,814,088, 7,082,951 and 7,094,741 which are for aqueous compositions for treating a surface. However said patents are for preparations which afford superior filming/streaking and shine retention whilst providing disinfecting/antimicrobial benefits. The preparations/compositions of said patents are different from that of the present invention inter alia in that they exclude the component QAC (Quaternary Ammonium Compound), being a cationic microbiocide, which is an essential component of the present invention.
Another known U.S. Patent is U.S. Pat. No. 7,166,563. Said patent is different from the present application as it differs in that QAC are absent from the mixture which may contain PHMB and APG together with other components not used in the present invention.
As noted from the above, none of the above Prior Art gives a solution for the most efficient cleaning, sanitising and sterilising preparations.
It has been observed in some formulations that the activity of particular microbiocides is compromised and considerably diminished by the presence of certain surfactants. It is the recognition of such behaviour by means of empirical observation and the subsequent development of an explanatory theorem which has brought about the formulation of the present invention.

Cleaning, sanitising and sterilising preparations


An enclosed metering and protective electrical apparatus includes an enclosure, a meter socket within the enclosure structured to input a power circuit and to engage a power meter, and a circuit interrupter within the enclosure including an operating handle and a trip mechanism. The circuit interrupter is structured to output the power circuit from the meter socket to a load and to interrupt the power circuit. A neutral current sensor within the enclosure is structured to detect a ground fault operatively associated with the power circuit and responsively cause the trip mechanism of the circuit interrupter to interrupt the power circuit. A disconnect handle substantially external to the enclosure includes linkage extending within the enclosure and cooperating with the operating handle of the circuit interrupter to open and close the circuit interrupter.

1. Field
The disclosed concept pertains generally to enclosed electrical apparatus and, more particularly, to enclosed metering and protective electrical apparatus.
2. Background Information
It is believed that known devices for electric vehicle chargers do not include a meter and a circuit breaker with various options, such as tap lugs, neutral current sensing devices and surge protection devices in a single enclosure. The known devices might include a raintight loadcenter (or residential panelboard) that connects with additional external conduit and wiring to an external single meter socket device. With both of these devices being their own separate specific entities, field installers would employ the two externally connected devices to meet the need for electric vehicle charger applications. Furthermore, a low profile, circuit breaker toggle would likely be under a cover or door. This would not allow for external operation without the use of tools or additional removal of fasteners. Generally, this requires opening the cover or door and exposing the operator to live parts as well as the internal device components to the external environment. Additionally, a neutral current sensor, tap lugs, surge protection, and other options would only be available for field installations. This requires the field installer to either purchase and/or maintain stock of the appropriate components specifically for electric vehicle charger applications or face delays until they secure the additional components.
An external disconnect handle is known to be used in applications such as safety switches.
Fire or rescue personnel need to disconnect distribution power quickly in many cases. Activating or de-activating a circuit breaker at its operating handle is extremely difficult when wearing heavy duty gloves and continues to be an issue for fire and rescue personnel. For example, most circuit breaker operating handles are usually of a relatively low profile and are made for bare hand access. Operating a circuit breaker operating handle with these types of gloves is not generally easy and may require removal of protection that the rescue personnel need.
There is room for improvement in metering or protective electrical apparatus.

Enclosed metering and protective electrical apparatus including an external disconnect handle


Fully monolithic gimbal-less micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) devices with large static optical beam deflection and fabrications methods are disclosed. The devices can achieve high speed of operation for both axes. Actuators are connected to a device, or device mount by linkages that allow static two-axis rotation in addition to pistoning without the need for gimbals, or specialized isolation technologies. The device may be actuated by vertical comb-drive actuators, which are coupled by bi-axial flexures to a central micromirror or device mount. Devices may be fabricated by etching an upper layer both from the top side and from the bottom side to form beams at different levels, The beams include a plurality of lower beams, a plurality of full-thickness beams, and a plurality of upper beams, the lower, full-thickness and upper beams That form vertical combdrive actuators, suspension beams, flexures, and a device mount.

A MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System) device is a micro-sized mechanical structure having electrical circuitry fabricated together with the device by various microfabrication processes mostly derived from integrated circuit fabrication methods. The developments in the field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) allow for the bulk production of microelectromechanical mirrors and mirror arrays that can be used in all-optical cross connect switches, 1×N, N×N optical switches, attenuators etc. A number of microelectromechanical mirror arrays have already been built using MEMS production processes and techniques. These arrays have designs that fall into approximately three design categories. A desirable component of many MEMS devices is an actuator that provides for either tip-tilt (2 degrees of freedom) or tip-tilt-piston (3 degrees of freedom) actuation.
Utilizing gimbaled structures is the most common method of implementing two-axis (two degrees of freedom, 2 DoF) rotation, although packaging-based methods are utilized as well. However, to implement 2 DoF gimbaled micromirrors without cross talk between driving voltages, electrical isolation and mechanical coupling is necessary. Backfilling of isolation trenches by depositing an additional dielectric layer and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has been used to achieve the electrically isolated mechanical coupling. However, the additional deposition and CMP steps significantly increase complexity and cost. Another viable method is to leave part of the handle wafer unetched beneath the gimbal structure. In all cases, complex fabrication has been required, and relatively low frequencies have been achieved due to the gimbals' slow outer axis. In applications where high speed static scanning is required the previous methods do not provide adequate solutions.

Gimbal-less micro-electro-mechanical-system tip-tilt and tip-tilt-piston actuators and a method for forming the same


A method and device, for a vehicle that at times is automatically guided by an autonomous guidance in which an intervention by the driver is not required, includes a continual checking of whether the automatic vehicle guidance is able to be maintained in the future or whether it must be terminated. In the event that the automatic vehicle guidance must be terminated, the vehicle is transitioned into a stopping procedure. A standstill position of the vehicle in the stopping process is pre-calculated and a warning triangle mounted on the vehicle is launched, so that the warning triangle is positioned at a predefined minimum distance from the standstill position.

An emergency system for motor vehicles is known from the document DE 102 20 782 A1, in which a driver-monitoring system identifies a driver's unfitness to drive, which is forwarded to a control unit for the controlled deceleration of the vehicle in a case of an identified unfitness to drive. The control unit is combined with a driver-assistance system that includes a sensor system for sensing a traffic environment.

Method and device for automatically stopping a motor vehicle that is at least intermittently automatically guided on a route


A device for holding a plurality of spoon and fork eating utensils in stabilized stacked relation, which provides a stacking slot for each of the utensil stacks and provides stability for the stack both by lateral stabilizing elements as well as permitting the bottommost utensil of a stack to engage the table top surface both under the utility and handle ends thereof.

In the past, it has been a problem to provide silverware on a buffet or serving table in a neatly arranged and attractively displayed fashion. A number of different organizers have been provided, mostly for the storage of silverware, such as silverware chests and the like and also carrying devices which serve as storage organizers; however, these do not maintain a neat arrangement of the silverware on a table. Some of these are relatively complicated and are large and cumbersome units which detract from the display if used on a the table. None of these has proved to be satisfactory to solve the problem solved by the present invention.


A polarizing lens including a polarizing polyvinyl alcohol film arranged between two pieces of a lens base material, where the polarizing polyvinyl alcohol film includes a hydrophobic region having higher hydrophobicity than other regions at least at a partial region of an outer periphery part including an edge surface thereof and the hydrophobic region is exposed at least at a part of an edge surface of the lens.

A polarizing lens has a light-shielding function and thus is often used as a lens for sunglasses (including fashion glasses) without prescriptions for protection of eyes. The use of a polarizing lens is not limited thereto but also includes a spectacle lens with a prescription.
Polarizing lenses described in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 include a polarizing film buried therein and is manufactured by injecting a curable composition around the polarizing film and heating to allow for curing thereof.
Meanwhile, in FIG. 5 and more of Patent Literature 3 also disclose a swimming goggle including a polarizing lens including a polarizing film buried therein, more specifically, a polarizing lens where a polarized filter film is interposed between two layers of plastic or the like.
Meanwhile, frames of eyewear have various designs such as a full-rim type, rimless type with no rim at an edge surface of a lens (including a rimlon type), and a goggle type. Generally, a polarizing lens is formed into a round shape, subjected to edging processing to process into a lens shape of a frame, and attached to the frame; however, the lens may be formed to fit the lens shape of the frame in advance. In either case, in a polarizing lens including a polarizing film buried therein, an edge surface of the polarizing film is usually exposed at an edge surface of the lens.
Patent Literature 1: JP 2007-316595 A
Patent Literature 2: JP 2007-523768 W
Patent Literature 3: U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,257
The entire descriptions of Patent Literature 1 and English patent family member US2009/091825A1, Patent Literature 2 and English patent family member US2007/098999A, U.S. Pat. No. 7,767,304, and Patent Literature 3 are hereby specifically incorporated as disclosures.

Polarizing lens, eyewear, and method for manufacturing polarizing lens


A modular, wall-mounted shelf and furniture system which utilizes the combination of wood, plastic, and metal materials to provide space saving advantages and increased storage and functional utility by using multi-function support brackets.

The prior art of furniture and shelf systems includes a design commonly referred to as a "wall unit", which is typically a large cabinet constructed with shelves which are either exposed or enclosed behind glass doors. The shelves and cabinets are generally not readily interchangeable in location. The entire unit is either pre-assembled or is provided as a "knockdown" kit for user assembly. Heavy construction is common to most wall units.
An alternative to the "wall unit" design is a wall-mounted set of shelves supported from vertical posts or racks which are affixed to the wall. A set of support brackets are provided, and these are designed so that one end of each bracket engages the rack, the other end extending under the shelf. Other wall-mounted designs may include cabinets for interior storage of items, but support brackets are generally not used to support the cabinets. The shelves are a lightweight construction.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an easily assembled wall-mounted shelf and furniture system providing shelf and cabinet locations which are readily interchangeable, and which satisfied space-saving and storage requirements.


The present invention relates to compositions and methods for detecting motor neuron-specific miRNAs in a population of cells or subject. More particularly, the invention relates to detecting motor neuron-specific miRNAs to detect and treat motor neuron diseases associated with dysregulation of motor neuron-specific miRNAs, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded, non-coding RNAs that regulate transcription and translation of coding RNAs (mRNA). Since their discovery in 1993, miRNAs have emerged as key regulators in numerous physiological and pathological processes. miRNAs are highly conserved and are about 18-25 nucleotides in length. Typically, miRNAs direct translational repression by binding to the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of mRNAs. Because only partial complementarity is required for miRNA-mRNA interactions, a single miRNA can potentially regulate hundreds of mRNA transcripts.
Motor neuron diseases are those involving progressive loss of structure or function of motor neurons, including death of motor neurons. Such diseases include Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), primary lateral sclerosis, progressive muscular atrophy, progressive bulbar palsy and pseudobulbar palsy. Most motor neuron diseases have no cure and available therapeutics are targeted at improving symptoms, relieving pain, and slowing degeneration. Motor neuron diseases, such as ALS, need novel, innovative approaches to drug development since many traditional therapeutics have failed or only shown marginal benefits. Further, there are no specific tests to diagnose motor neuron diseases. Early diagnosis or detection of motor neuron disease may facilitate earlier treatment thus slowing degeneration. Thus, in addition to novel drugs, there is a need for early, accurate detection of motor neuron disease.
While miRNAs are known regulators of physiological and pathological processes, little is known about their involvement in motor neuron conditions or diseases. Further, knowledge of motor neuron-specific miRNAs may enhance the detection and treatment of motor neuron diseases. Compositions and methods exploiting motor neuron-specific miRNA regulation in motor neuron conditions or diseases are needed to further medical research and provide diagnostic and therapeutic resources for such conditions and diseases. The present invention provides compositions and methods for detecting and treating conditions and diseases associated with aberrant motor neuron-specific miRNA regulation.

Methods to detect motor neuron disease comprising micro-RNAs


A holder for supporting a bag having handles in an open position is disclosed. The holder includes a mounting member to removably mount the holder to a support structure, and a pair of support arms which interlock with the handles of the bag during use. The support arms extend from the mounting member, include a pair of notches on an upper edge thereof, and a pair of cutout portions on the bottom coners of each support arm. In use, the handles of the bag are disposed from an inner surface of an adjacent support arm, outwardly through the upper notches, extend downwardly over an outer surface of either arm, and are secured within the lower corner cutout portions of each arm. The interlocking of the handles and the arms allows the bag to maintain an open position, while providing sufficient support for items placed within the bag.

The invention relates generally to a holder for a bag, and more particularly to a device for retaining a bag having handles in an open, supported position. The invention is particularly adapted to the type of plastic bag commonly used in supermarkets and the like.
Various devices for holding bags, such as plastic supermarket bags, in at least a partially open position are well known in the art. These holders take any of a number of forms, including for example the holders disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,706 to Sedlik; U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,694 to Barteaux; U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,791 to Lanzen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,748 to Nguyen; U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,407 to McKenzie; U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,408 to O""Grady; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,521 to O""Hanlon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,706 to Sedlik discloses a bag holder including a back and two spaced forwardly projecting arms having notches to retain the bag handle, and top edges to maintain the bag in a fully open condition. The arms extend from the back and each include top handle notches. Each of the top handle notches includes a central tab. A pair of bag upper edge notches are also formed in each arm. In use, the handles of the bag are positively retained around their corresponding central tabs. The handles are looped around the central tabs and rest on an inside portion of the arms. The front and rear edges of the bag are held in place by the bag upper edge notches.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,694 to Barteaux discloses a bag holder having a support frame and a pair of collapsible swing arms connected on opposed ends of the support frame. Adjustable and lockable mounting brackets are provided for removably mounting the support frame on a support surface, for example, a drawer. The bag is retained in an open position on the swing arm by looping the handles of the bag around retention posts and slots. The bag holder further includes a deflection plate used to deflect refuse into the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,791 to Lanzen discloses a bag holder including a base attachable to a vertical surface, and a pair of hinged arms which are hingedly connected to the base and constructed to support a bag having handles in an open position. Nestable spaces for the arms are provided within the surface of the base, and hinges connecting the arms to the base permit the arms to be turned from the nested position to the open or useful position. The handles of a bag are looped over spaced notches formed in the upper edge of each arm such that the central portions of the handles lay on an outside surface of the arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,748 to Nguyen discloses a device for supporting a bag with handles within a receptacle. The bag supporting device is positioned over the ends of the receptacle and each include a bag supporting portion for receiving the handles of the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,407 to McKenzie discloses a holder or stand used to hold shopping bags having handles for reuse as refuge containers. The stand includes a shallow base pan which provides a platform for the bag, and also includes taper side risers, each side riser having a tapered neck riser over which the plastic bag handles are placed in order to hold the bag in an open position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,408 to O""Grady discloses a bag holder having a back panel which is securable to an interior surface of a kitchen cabinet door, and a pair of side panels which are pivotally coupled to the back panel. The pair of side panels each include a horizontal upper edge having a pair of small arcuate recesses formed therein in spaced relation and dimensioned to receive opposing sides of the handles of bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,521 to O""Hanlon discloses a bag holder including a body having a pair of open ended slots which open onto an upper side of the body. In use, the handles of the bag are received within the slots. The holder further includes a hook element which can be positioned over a cabinet door or the like, and an expander, used to expand the diameter of the bag.
All of the bag holders disclosed in the above-identified patents are designed to hold a bag in at least a partially open position, the bag including a pair of handles which are utilized to removably secure the bag to the holder. While bag holders of the aforementioned type are useful in holding bags with handles, they do not always do so in a reliable manner capable of providing sufficient support for items placed in the bag. In addition, some of the holders are relatively complex in their design both in terms of manufacture and use. Therefore, there is a continued need in the art for a holder which can provide support to a bag with handles in order to maintain the bag in an open position, which is easy to use and manufacture, and which provides sufficient support when filled.
It is an object of the bag holder disclosed herein to provide a device which can be used to recycle plastic bags having handles so that they may be used again in an efficient manner, for example to hold items such as refuse. The holder is simple in both construction and use, and provides support to the bag in an open position, even when the bag is full. The holder includes a mounting member designed to removably mount the holder to a support structure, for example, a cabinet door or drawer. A pair of support arms extend from either side end of the mounting member and are supported thereon, the handles of the bag being removably interlocked with the support arms during use. The support arms preferably include a pair of notches on an upper edge thereof, along with a pair of cutout portions on the corners disposed between the lower and side edges of each of the support arms. The holder may also include a reverse flange or hook extending from a top edge of the mounting member, the hook being designed to removable mount the holder over the top edge of the support structure. In one embodiment, the holder is constructed as a single unitary device. In use, the handles of the bag are interlocked through the upper notches, extend over an outer surface of either arm, and are secured within the lower corner cutout portions of each arm. The interlocking of the handles and the arms allows the bag to maintain an open position, while providing sufficient support for items placed within the bag during use.


A multichip module including a frame having contacts suitable for making an electrical connection with an article, preferably a printed wiring board or similar, which is the next level of packaging, a multilayer thin film structure mounted to the frame, and semiconductor devices mounted to the thin film structure with at least one semiconductor device on each of two opposed sides of the thin film structure. The thin film structure includes arrays of pads on opposed surfaces of the thin film structure for connecting the thin film structure to the semiconductor devices and the frame. The thin film structure further includes wiring for chip to chip connectivity and for connecting to the frame.

The present invention generally relates to semiconductor device packaging and, more particularly, to multichip packages and the interconnecting of the chips within the package using thin films.
There is a need in the semiconductor packaging industry for high performance, low cost, small size, and lightweight multichip packaging technology. Applications such as high performance gaming platforms up through super computers will require multichip packages to optimize performance, cost and overall package size and weight. Such package optimization becomes especially important where multiple processor chips and cache memory interact.
Current solutions such as organic chip carriers, ceramic chip carriers or silicon chip carriers all have limitations related either to size, weight, performance, cost or a combination thereof with respect to these applications. Ceramic multichip modules tend to be large in area, thickness and weight. Organic packages can reduce the size and weight but do not have the same level of circuit interconnect capability so performance suffers. Silicon packages with thin film wiring provide both weight and size savings with a high level of interconnect capability but are costly to produce. And, all three of the previous solutions cannot provide close chip packaging in order to minimize the chip to chip wiring net lengths and therefore maximize performance.
In order to maximize chip to chip performance on multichip packages, it is necessary to bring the chip to chip interconnects as close together as possible. Conventional solutions using ceramic, organic, silicon or a combination thereof, with or without thin films, place the chips side by side with power, ground and signals traveling up from the bottom of the carrier (i.e., the interface to the xe2x80x9coutside worldxe2x80x9d) and chip to chip interconnects traveling across the carrier between chips. The result is a long path between chips which adversely impacts performance. Solutions with chips on both sides of the chip carrier reduce path length but do not optimize it. Solutions incorporating direct chip to chip connections, either face to face or on top of each other (e.g., three dimensional packaging) cannot meet high power or cooling requirements for high performance processors.
Various solutions have been proposed to maximize chip or chip to chip performance on multichip packages.
Beddingfield et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,071, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a conventional single chip or multichip package in which wiring extends vertically between the chip or chips on the top of the package and the input/output connections on the bottom of the package and horizontally for power, signal and ground functions.
Prasad et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,281,452, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses the formation of a multilayer thin film structure on a carrier which is then transferred to a permanent substrate, e.g., a ceramic substrate. This particular reference discloses an interposer between the multilayer thin film structure and the permanent substrate.
Brown et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,232, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses multiple stacked printed circuit boards as a three dimensional method for densely packaging passive and active components. The arrangement shown is a relatively thick, low density package and does not address closely coupled, low inductance, high performance packaging requirements.
Pushpala al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,951, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a semiconductor substrate having integrated circuits on two sides but does not address interconnecting the integrated circuits on one side to the integrated circuits on the other side.
Leedy U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,834,334 and 5,985,693, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein, disclose the fabrication of semiconductor devices on a thinned semiconductor substrate covered by a thin membrane of silicon dioxide or silicon nitride which is held by a frame. In an alternative embodiment, conventional chips are mounted on the membrane. These references do not address two sided mounting of chips or providing wiring for power and ground requirements.
The foregoing references fail to provide a multichip package design that improves on the size, weight, chip to chip interconnectivity (i.e., performance) and cost of the multichip package.
Accordingly, it is a purpose of the present invention to have a multichip package which is small in size, light in weight, has chip to chip interconnectivity and reasonable in cost.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to have a multichip package which additionally has adequate power and ground distribution and cooling capability.
These and other purposes of the present invention will become more apparent after referring to the following description of the invention considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The purposes of the invention have been achieved by providing, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a multichip module comprising:
a frame having contacts suitable for making an electrical connection with an article;
a multilayer thin film structure mounted to the frame; and
a plurality of semiconductor devices mounted to the thin film structure with at least one semiconductor device on each of two opposed surfaces of the thin film structure;
the thin film structure comprising (i) a first array of pads on a first surface of the thin film structure for connection to at least one semiconductor device, (ii) a second array of pads on an opposed surface of the thin film structure for connection to at least a second semiconductor device, (iii) a third array of pads on a surface of the thin film structure and proximate to the periphery of the thin film structure for connection between the thin film structure and the frame and (iv) wiring within the thin film structure for connecting between the first and second array of pads and for connecting between the thin film structure and the third array of pads.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of forming a multichip module comprising the steps of:
forming a thin film structure on a temporary carrier;
attaching an electrically insulating frame to a first surface of the thin film structure;
attaching at least one semiconductor device to the first surface of the thin film structure;
removing the temporary carrier; and
attaching at least one semiconductor device to a second surface of the thin film structure, wherein the first surface is opposed to the second surface and wherein there is interconnectivity through the thin film structure between the semiconductor devices and the frame.

Multichip module having chips on two sides

International Business Machines Corporation


The printed image on a major face of a flexible food packaging film is covered by a shellac barrier coating.

This invention relates to food packaging materials in the form of flexible films bearing printed images.
In order to provide food packaging films with improved barrier properties, multi-layer films of two or more synthetic resins are normally used. Examples include coextruded polyethylene/polypropylene ("coex") laminated to polyethylene terephalate (PET), PET laminated to LDPE (low density polyethylene), and metalized PET laminated to coex. Other such multi-layer food packaging films can be formed from nylon, metal foil, and ethylene vinyl acetate polymers and copolymers.
Where it is desired to provide such laminated packaging films with printed images, the image is normally printed on the outside of the film, i.e., on the major face of the film not facing the food in the package. When transparent or translucent packaging films are used, the image can be printed on the inside of the film instead.
To protect these printed images from damage due to rubbing, flexing, abrasion and heat sealing, these printed images are often covered with a suitable barrier coating or "trap-print film." See, U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,882 to Mossbrook et al., the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. If so, these trap-print films are normally made from materials suitable for direct food contact ("food compatible material"), even if the image is printed on the outside face of the packaging film. Because most packaging films are supplied in the form of large rolls, trap-print films on the outside face of a film contact the film's inside face when the film is wound up upon itself in forming the roll. Therefore, even if the packaging film is printed on its outside face, the trap-print film will normally be made from a food compatible material to prevent contamination of the inside, food contacting face of the same film.
Trap-print films can be applied to printed packaging films by any conventional technique. For example, trap-print films can be applied by extrusion coating, if desired. However, because of the time needed to set up the extruder and the considerable waste generated when the extruder is started and stopped, extrusion coating usually requires long production runs to be economically viable.
Trap-print films can also be applied by laminating with adhesive bonding. However, this approach limits the inks that can be used for printing to those which retain very low levels of solvent so as not to adversely affect the bond strength of the subsequently applied adhesive. These adhesives exhibit generally low bond strengths before cure, which may result in undesirable bubble formation and/or "tunneling." In addition, full cure of these adhesives can be slow, which often requires these films to be stored before processing is complete, which in turn increases capital costs. In those situations where two component adhesives are used, these adhesives must be discarded if not applied quickly enough, which also increases costs.
In order to avoid these problems, it has also been proposed to form such trap-print films from electron beam activated coatings. However, election beam curing equipment is not widely available in the food packaging industry. Moreover, this equipment, as well as the materials used in electron beam coating in general, are expensive.

Printed flexible film for food packaging


Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: performing an active gateway election to determine whether the provider edge device will be an active gateway for a connection; if the provider edge device will be the active gateway for the connection, indicating to a customer edge device that no fault is currently associated with a link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device; and if the provider edge device will not be the active gateway for the connection, indicating to the customer edge device that a fault is currently associated with the link between the customer edge device and the provider edge device.

Many computer networks, the most noteworthy of which is the Internet, are implemented as geographically-distributed, multi-tiered, and multi-technology associations of computing devices. To enable communication between two devices, traffic may pass through numerous intermediate devices according to many different protocols. For example, in the case of the Internet, local traffic may be exchanged according to the Ethernet protocol while traffic crossing the backbone of the network may be passed according to the multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) protocol. As such, various mechanisms have been developed to manage such multi-technology handovers and thereby ensure end-to-end connectivity.
While handover mechanisms may be sufficient to enable communication in ideal network conditions, conditions in practice are rarely ideal, Intermediate routing devices and the links connecting these devices may become overloaded or inoperable for various reasons and may render a particular communication path broken. Many networks, however, provide a robust mesh of connections, affording multiple communication paths between any two devices. Thus, if one communication path is severed, communication may be switched to a different path, thereby preserving the connection between the two devices. To provide such functionality, various redundancy mechanisms have also been developed.


A gravity operated animal feeder, including, a reservoir area defined by at least two vertically sloped upper sides projecting upward and away from each other at distal ends. And, a dispensing area located under and: (i) in feeding communication with the reservoir area, and (ii) including at least two vertically sloped lower sides projecting downward and toward each other at proximal ends. And also, a vertical frame spaced from at least one of the at least two vertically sloped lower sides and defining an animal feeding region located adjacent to the dispensing area between the vertical frame and the vertically sloped lower sides. The feeder further includes a feeding trough area located under and: (i) in feeding communication with the dispensing area, and (ii) including a bottom located directly under and spaced from the proximal ends of the vertically sloped lower sides.

The feeding of animals, and in particular livestock like cattle, presents several challenges to the farmer or rancher undertaking the task. Feeding is a costly and time-consuming operation. The economics of, for example, the beef cattle or dairy industry could be greatly improved if the manpower required in performing the feeding task and/or the amount of waste normally associated with feeding could be minimized.
One of the main reasons for the necessity of feeding pre-cut dried fodder or hay to livestock relates to climactic conditions. While the requirements for feeding pre-cut feed are dependent upon climate, almost all locations in the U.S. require that cattle and other livestock be fed at least part of the year. In northern states, such as Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as other planes states, feeding may be required as much as nine months of the year.
One of the simplest feeding methods illustrates some of the inherent difficulties of any livestock feeding process. For example, in the feeding of cattle, merely placing a large hay bale in a pen containing a group of cattle leads to significant amounts of waste which can be as much as one-half of the bale or more. This is because the animals tend to break up the bale in order to pick the best parts from the bale. In so doing the other parts of the bale become trampled into the ground and soiled and are not eaten by the cattle.
Attempts to minimize the manpower required and reduce waste and feed losses in performing the feeding task have employed large, stationary feeding "pavilions". Many such devices have been introduced, such as large feeding troughs, conveyor devices, and the like. However, in general, these devices have had inherent drawbacks. First, many are mechanically complicated, making the use of such devices for the small rancher almost prohibitive in terms of initial purchase as well as maintenance and upkeep. Second, they require that a large number of cattle be fed in a very confined area which leads to sanitary and disease problems. Third, huge quantities of feed are placed in these devices where the cattle, even when restrained by stanchions, have almost unrestrained access to the loose fodder. Thus, just as when a large bale of hay is placed in a pen area, the feeding cattle broadcast or spill or otherwise dump a large fraction of the feed on the ground where it is trampled and soiled. The trampled and soiled feed cannot be eaten and is therefore wasted.
Smaller cattle feeders are available and consist generally of a head-level rack for storing hay, either loose or baled, and a trough in the area below the rack. The purpose of the trough is to catch any hay that falls from the rack. The cattle eat both from the rack and from the trough. These conventional cattle feeders also have rather high rates of hay waste, sometimes as much as 30% or more, through scattering of the hay and the hay being blown away or trampled.
Not only do cattle pick through the hay bale as discussed above, they do not eat neatly, which further contributes to the generation of waste during the feeding process. The main manner in which the waste occurs begins with the cow tearing a tuft of hay out of the bale. The cow then draws the tuft of hay out of the bale, and aside, before starting to eat the mouthful of hay. Inevitably, a proportion of hay falls from the cow's mouth or from the bale of hay during the tearing, drawing out and subsequent eating of the hay by the animal.
Another disadvantage of portable feeders is that livestock, especially large livestock such as cattle, bump and push against the portable feeders during feeding. After a period of time, the portable feeders become bent or deformed due to the contact with the livestock and must be repaired or discarded. This represents a substantial cost and inconvenience. The livestock often must be fed manually in the interim when the feeder is being repaired or replaced, which results in greater feed waste and increased labor costs.
Also, when portable or movable feeders are located in the pasture, the feeder must be easily accessible by vehicles used for loading the feeder with hay bales or transporting the feeder. This vehicle access may be hampered by feeders that are accessible from all sides because the livestock trample the ground around the entire feeder, often making the ground around the feeder unstable due to the formation of mud and loose soil. The unstable ground may not only prevent the feeder from being loaded or moved, it may also present a safety hazard to the operator of a loading vehicle such as fork lift, especially a fully loaded fork lift carrying a hay bale weighing on the order of 500 pounds to 2000 pounds. It is generally undesirable to operate on or have a fork lift travel over unstable ground, especially a loaded fork lift. The fork lift may become stuck, may slide or skid, and also may, under certain circumstances, tip over. Injury to the operator and/or livestock, equipment damage, hay waste, lost time and manpower are all possible consequences of attempting to load a feeder having unstable ground surrounding it. Often the feeder may not be used unless it is loaded by hand in the pasture. This is often the case until the ground stabilizes and the feeder can be approached with a vehicle to load or move it.
Thus, there is a need to address one or more of the deficiencies in the art to better aid in achieving more desirable requirements and avoiding negative ones, for livestock feeders, and preferably in a way that is more consistent and reliable for such devices. For example, it would be desirable to have a livestock feeder design which may be used either for a permanent installation or a movable livestock feeder. Advantageously, such a feeder would have a high feeding efficiency, by preventing the cattle from easily removing feed to a location outside of the trough and also by having a feeder design which results in essentially complete consumption of the feed contained in it.


An electric motor-driven brake pressure modulator has an auxiliary field winding connected in series-parallel relationship with a permanent magnet field DC motor to produce different speed/torque performance characteristics depending on the direction of motor rotation. In forward motor rotation when the brake pressure is to be increased, the mmf of the auxiliary field winding aids the mmf of the field magnets to produce a higher flux density in the working air gap of the motor. This maximizes the torque characteristic of the motor for the development of adequate brake pressure. In the reverse direction of motor rotation when the brake pressure is to be decreased, the mmf of the auxiliary field winding opposes the mmf of the field magnets to lower the flux density in the working air gap of the motor. This maximizes the speed characteristic of the motor to quickly reduce the brake pressure.

An electric motor-driven anti-lock braking system, of the type to which this invention pertains, is generally depicted in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the braking system comprises a hydraulic boost unit 100, a wheel brake 102, an electric motor-driven hydraulic pressure modulator 104, and an electronic controller 106 for operating the modulator 104 with current from the vehicle storage battery 108. The boost unit 100 develops hydraulic pressure in line 120 in relation to the force applied to an operator manipulated brake pedal, the line 120 being connected to the brake 102 via modulator 104 and brake line 122. Brake 102 is depicted as a disk brake caliper which develops braking force on the wheel rotor 126 in relation to the hydraulic pressure in brake line 122.
The modulator 104 comprises an actuator 130 axially displaceable in the modulator bore 132, a check ball 134 resiliently seated on a ball seat 136 disposed between the brake lines 120 and 122, and a bi-directional DC motor 138 coupled to the actuator 130 via a reduction gearset 140 and a ball screw 142 to control the axial displacement of actuator 130.
Energization of the motor 138 is controlled by the electronic controller 106 in response to a signal on line 144 indicative of the angular velocity of rotor 126. When the controller 106 energizes the motor 138 for rotation in a forward direction, the ball screw 142 extends into the bore 132, thereby extending actuator 130 to unseat the check ball 134. This opens the communication between brake lines 120 and 122, and represents the normal or quiescent state of the anti-lock brake system. When the controller 106 energizes the motor 138 for rotation in the opposite, or reverse, direction, the ball screw 142 retracts actuator 130 within the bore 132, permitting spring 146 and the fluid pressure in brake line 120 to seat the check ball 134 on the ball seat 136, thereby isolating the brake line 122 from the brake line 120. In this condition, the brake fluid in line 122 backfills the modulator bore 132, relieving the fluid pressure developed at brake 102.
In anti-lock operation, the brake pressure in line 122 is modulated by repeatedly reversing the direction of rotation of motor 138 to effect a dithering movement of the actuator 130 in the bore 132. When an incipient wheel lock condition is detected, the controller 106 causes the motor 138 to rotate in the reverse direction to retract the actuator 130; when recovery of the wheel speed is detected, the controller 106 causes the motor 138 to rotate in the forward direction to extend the actuator 130 for increasing the brake pressure.
During the anti-lock operation described above, optimum braking performance requires different motor speed/torque characteristics depending on the direction of motor rotation. When the actuator 130 is being retracted (reverse direction of rotation), the torque requirement is relatively low, but the speed requirement is relatively high in order to enable quick relief of the brake pressure. When the actuator 130 is being extended (forward direction of rotation), the speed requirement is relatively low, but the torque requirement is relatively high in order to develop adequate pressure in brake line 122. Unfortunately, the speed/torque characteristics of a conventional DC electric motor are substantially the same in both directions, and some design compromises must be made in order to provide acceptable performance in both the forward and reverse directions of motor rotation. Of course, this involves some sacrifice in the anti-lock braking performance.

Motor-driven anti-lock brake system having auxiliary field winding


An organic electroluminescent display device includes: a plurality of sub-pixels in a matrix form along a plurality of row and column lines and each including a light emitting diode; first and second driving transistors in the sub-pixel, connected in parallel with each other, and connected to the organic light emitting diode; first and second switching transistors in the sub-pixel, and connected to the first and second driving transistors, respectively; first and second gate lines along the row line and connected to the first and second switching transistors, respectively; and a data selecting portion selecting a refresh data or an image data, wherein the data selecting portion selects one of the refresh data and the image data when the first switching transistor is turned on, and selects the other one of the refresh data and the image data when the second switching transistor is turned on, and wherein the plurality of sub-pixels include sub-pixels an input sequence of the refresh data and the image data to which is reversed for a frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent display device, and more particularly, to an organic electroluminescent device and a method of driving the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Until recently, display devices have typically used cathode-ray tubes (CRTs). Presently, many efforts and studies are being made to develop various types of flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission displays, and organic electroluminescent display (OELD) devices, as a substitute for CRTs. Of these flat panel displays, OELD devices have many advantages, such as low power supply, thin profile, wide viewing angle light weight, and fast response time.
In general, among the OELD devices, an active matrix type OELD is widely used. The OELD device display images by applying a current to an organic light emitting diode in each pixel and emitting light from the organic light emitting diode.
In operating the organic light emitting diode, when a thin film transistor using an amorphous silicon is employed, a current continues to be supplied to the organic light emitting diode. Accordingly, reduction of brightness and continuous stress due to shift of threshold voltage causes lifetime of the thin film transistor to be reduced.
To solve the problems, a structure using dual thin film transistors is suggested. In this structure, an image data and a refresh data (e.g., a data for a negative voltage or black data) are alternately applied to one and the other of the dual thin film transistors. Accordingly, reduction of stress and increase of lifetime of thin film transistor are achieved.
However, according to a sequence of applying the image data and refresh data, an overall screen may flash, and thus display quality is degraded.

Organic electroluminescent display device and method of driving the same


The method of detecting an arc fault in a power circuit includes determining a first signal related to current flowing in the power circuit is determined and analyzing the first signal to determine whether the signal indicates the presence of an electric arc in the power circuit. In case the first signal indicates the presence of an electric arc in the power circuit, means for suppressing an electric arc are activated. A second signal related to current flowing in the power circuit is then determined and analyzed. An occurrence of an arc fault in the power circuit is signaled if the second signal does not indicate the presence of an electric arc. The system for detecting an arc fault is designed to perform a corresponding method.

A power circuit, in particular DC (Direct Current)-power circuits that work with high voltages and high currents, for example, in photovoltaic systems or systems providing off-grid power supply, are prone to the development of electric arcs. Electric arcs can, for example, occur when a power line with a high current load is interrupted during maintenance or in case contacts at interconnectors are degraded. Other possible causes for arc faults, i.e. the occurrence of an electric arc in the power circuit, are corroded solder joints or broken insulators of the power lines. Arc faults are the most common fire causes in photovoltaic systems. This also reflects in the requirements for arc fault protection for photovoltaic systems as, for example, regulated by the national Electric Code (NEC) 690.11 of the United States of America implemented in 2011.
A reliable arc fault detection method and system is therefore of major importance. On the one hand, for security reasons the existence of an arc fault has to be detected with a reliability as high as possible. On the other hand, the probability of an erroneous indication of a supposed arc fault has to be as low as possible, in particular if an erroneous detection of an arc fault might lead to a shutdown of a photovoltaic system without the option to automatically restart it, as for example specified in the before mentioned NEC 690.11 code.
Electric arcs usually emit a broadband AC (Alternating Current)-signal in an RF (Radio Frequency)-frequency range. Detection systems for arc faults that are based on detecting a according radio frequency signal in the power circuit are well established and known from document WO 95/25374, for example. A problem associated with the detection of arc faults via their current signature in the RF-frequency range is that disturbing RF-signals might be present in a power circuit that are misinterpreted and are wrongly assigned to arc faults, which finally leads to a nuisance alarm situation. Possible sources of disturbing signals are for example RF-radio transmitter, electric trains or trams passing by, electric or electronic devices with an insufficient electro-magnetic shielding or interference suppression, or arcs in adjacent power systems. In the following, all possible RF-sources other than an arc fault in the respective power system are hereinafter referred to as a "disturber".
In order to increase the detection reliability document U.S. Pat. No. 7,633,727 B2 discloses an arc fault detection system comprising two narrowband band pass filters operating at different frequencies. An arc fault is determined to be existent only if a radio frequency signal is observed on both frequency bands of the two band pass filters. However, in case a disturbing signal shows a frequency spectrum that is similarly broad as the typical frequency spectrum of an electric arc, this disturbing signal cannot be distinguished from a signal arising from an arc fault.
It is thus desirable to create a robust and reliable method and system for detecting arc faults in a power circuit. It is furthermore desirable to describe a photovoltaic system with a corresponding detection system.

Method and system for detecting an arc fault in a power circuit


A system adapted to implement a learning rule in a three-dimensional (3D) environment is described. The system includes: a renderer adapted to generate a two-dimensional (2D) image based at least partly on a 3D scene; a computational element adapted to generate a set of appearance features based at least partly on the 2D image; and an attribute classifier adapted to generate at least one set of learned features based at least partly on the set of appearance features and to generate a set of estimated scene features based at least partly on the set of learned features. A method labels each image from among the set of 2D images with scene information regarding the 3D scene; selects a set of learning modifiers based at least partly on the labeling of at least two images; and updates a set of weights based at least partly on the set of learning modifiers.

Many potential applications (e.g., robotics, gaming environments, etc.) may wish to utilize automated visual capture and/or analysis in order to evaluate virtual and/or physical three-dimensional (3D) environments in various ways. Such applications may be limited by sensing equipment (e.g., a robot may have only a two-dimensional (2D) camera available), processing power, and/or other factors.
Existing algorithms for automated visual evaluation do not make use of combined information in 3D scenes and images at the same time. Some existing solutions use multiple cameras to construct a three dimensional representation of a scene in order to measure 3D features by virtue of multiple images. Other existing solutions use 2D images and associated 3D measurements (e.g., of a face) in order to create a model of a 3D feature (e.g., the face). Some existing systems utilize surfaces of an object for identification (e.g., facial recognition). Some existing algorithms estimate a shape from some other feature (e.g., motion or shading). In addition, some existing algorithms provide hierarchical feature selection. Some existing algorithms also utilize temporal slowness of features in an attempt to learn higher order visual features without labeled data.
As can be seen, there is a need for a general purpose way to evaluate sets of visual features by exploiting the relationship between images and scenes which can be applied to a variety of visual evaluation tasks.

Evaluation of three-dimensional scenes using two-dimensional representations


Disclosed is a light guide including a core bar of a transparent material extended in a length direction from a first side to a second; and a plurality of reflection parts printed in parallel along with the length direction of the core bar on the outer surface; wherein spaces between the reflection parts are the same or decreased from the first side of the core bar toward the second side of the core bar.

In the related arts, a light guide includes a core and a light diffusion plate that are formed simultaneously extruded by a double extrusion as shown in FIG. 1. Such a conventional light guide may have several problems. For example, the light source may be not controlled, the luminance is not uniform, and an excessively heated region (hot spot) is found at a leader. Moreover, in a light guide that a core is produced by an extrusion or an injection and a V-cut is etched on the side thereof, the side luminous efficiency is unfavorable in spite of adding a separated light diffusion plate produced by an injection, and further space is required when adding the light diffusion plate. In addition, a light guide may include a light pattern sheet attached to a core, however, the sheet may be frequently delaminated due to the attachment property. When a light guide include a side light emitting optical fiber, sufficient brightness is not obtained, and the excessively heater region (Hot Spot) may occur at a leader, despite a merit of emitting the light source in all direction of 360 degrees.


The disclosure involves a portable milling machine for remachining radially directed access bores of interest in large check valves which is readily attached to and removed from the valve and is precisely alignable with respect to the center of the bore to be remachined. The machine is capable or remote operation.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a portable hole boring machine and, more particularly, to a machine which can be readily mounted on the access to a flow control valve of the class used in industrial pipelines carrying high pressure steam, or the like, for remachining or resurfacing the seal ring seat surface of the valve access when it becomes worn. This is accomplished without having to remove the valve from the pipeline.
II. Discussion of the Related Art
Large industrial pipelines used to transport fluids such as high pressure superheated steam will commonly include valves, including one-way or check valves, for fluid flow control. For example, electric utilities may include such pipelines for routing high pressure steam from a boiler to the turbines used in driving the electric generators. One valve commonly used is the Duo-Chek.TM. manufactured and sold by the Mission Manufacturing Company of Houston, TX. This valve is representative of a type commonly used in such installations. The need to refurbish these valves in more rapid and less expensive manner has created an important impetus for the present invention. Because such is the case, it is believed that a greater understanding of the problem will be helpful and it will next be described in greater detail.
With particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, such valves include a valve body 10 having a longitudinal bore 12 formed therethrough. A pair of hinge pins 14 extend transversely across the bore near the inlet end 16 and carry pivotally hinged first and second semi-circular, butterfly-type check valve plates 18 and 20. A spring 22 urges the valve plates to a normally closed, flow blocking or checking position which precludes flow back through the inlet. Of course, when the force on the inlet site exceeds the spring force plus the force exerted by any material downstream of the check valve, plates 18 and 20 are pivoted against the force of the spring 22 so that their planes approach a disposition parallel to the flow direction indicated by the arrow 24. The plates 18 and 20, then, are free to open and close to allow unidirectional flow in response to relative changes in up stream and down stream pressures.
After a period of use, the parts wear and it becomes necessary to service the valve plate assembly to assure continued proper operation. On should bear in mind that the valves and associated piping are normally quite large, i.e., 12 or more inches in diameter and are made of very heavy gauge material. The valve body is normally welded in place in the pipeline; and, therefore, it is difficult and time consuming to remove. The valve is provided with a radially disposed access port shown generally at 26 which addresses the inside of the valve body and allows access to the interior of the valve for repair of the valve plate assemblies in situ. The access port is a mechanical bore 28 of circular cross section of a predetermined precise diameter and normally sealed by a stainless steel plug 30, associated soft iron seal ring 32, a stainless steel spacer ring 34 and a stainless steel retainer ring 36 which fits in the manner of a snap ring into an annular groove 38 formed in the valve body. A circular cover 26 fits into the valve body 10 and bolts 42 pass through the cover into threaded bores in plug 30. As the bolts are drawn tight, the plug 30 is pulled toward the cover to force the seal ring 32 and the spacer ring 34 tightly against the retainer ring 36 to form a high-pressure, gas-tight seal.
With the passage of time, and a workage of erosive or corrosive material such as such high-pressure, superheated steam, the seal ring 32 becomes worn. This further allows fluid under high pressure to erode the cylindrical wall of the bore 28 or seal ring surface of the access port. If unattended, high pressure steam escaping past the seal ring 32 easily scores, i.e., wears grooves in the access bore 28. This is a very common occurrence; however, simple replacement of the valve ring 32 does not adequately reseal the system. Thus, it becomes necessary to remachine or resurface the seating surface of the bore 28 to a new predetermined tight specification allowing a seal ring and spacer ring of a predetermined larger diameter to replace those previously used.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a portable boring tool which can be used to refinish the access bore 28 on a valve of the class described in situ.
With further regard to the in situ renovation of the valves, those skilled in the art will appreciate that in many industrial piping systems such as those found in power plants, only limited vertical or radial clearance may be available above the check valve access port; and, hence, there is added difficulty in gaining the necessary clearance to the access port for the use of a vertical milling machine. Moreover, the milling machine must be capable of rigid securement to the valve body with the cutting tool precisely centered and leveled relative to the access bore and valve body if truly concentrical remachining is to be achieved.
It is, thus, another principal object of the present invention to provide a reboring or milling machine which requires little in the way of vertical height and which can easily and rapidly positively position a machining tool with great precision with reference to three mutually perpendicular axes relative to the bore to be resurfaced.
It is further significant that in nuclear power facilities it can occur that a valve must be refurbished in a location where a radiation hazard may exist. As such, to limit human exposure, it is imperative that the setup and removal of the machine be accomplished quickly and that it be capable of operating without human intervention. Prior art equipment used to refurbish DuoChek.TM. valves commonly required total removal of the valve from the pipeline and reboring in a machine shop which required, in turn, prolonged exposure periods for cutting out and later rewelding of the valve into the line. By accomplishing reduction in exposure time for those working on the project, the invention represents much-needed safety step.
The valve seat resurfacing machine of the present invention requires only a fraction of an hour to assemble in position on the valve and to properly center the cutting head. When setup is complete, the machine can run by remote control without need for human intervention. Subsequent removal of the tool and replacement of the new rings and plug the access can also be accomplished in a manner of minutes.


A light unit includes a light guiding body having a light entrance face. A base has a curved oval surface defined therein which has a first focus and a second focus. A light emitting unit is located at the first focus and generates light beams which pass through the second focus and enter into the light guiding body via the light entrance face. The base has a heat dissipating unit connected to outside thereof. The light beams generated from the light emitting unit are completely guided into the light guiding body to have high illumination efficiency. The heat dissipating unit brings the heat away from the light unit.

The conventional light unit is disclosed in FIG. 1 and generally comprises a light guiding member 10 which has a light entrance face 101. A fixing member 20 has a Light Emitting Diode (LED) 201 connected thereto and a distance is formed between the LED 201 and the light entrance face 101. When the LED 201 generates light beams, the light beams enter the light guiding member 10 via the light entrance face 101 so that the light guiding member 10 has illumination feature.
However, because there is a certain distance between the LED 201 and the light entrance face 101, some of the light beams generated from the LED 201 cannot pass through the light entrance face 101. In other words, there is a luminous flux loss, only a part of the light beams generated from the LED 201 successfully passes through the light entrance face 101 and enters into the light guiding member 10. Therefore, the illumination feature is not satisfied.
Furthermore, the smaller area that the light entrance face 101 is, the lesser the light beams passes through the light entrance face 101 and enters into the light guiding member 10. In other words, the loss of luminous flux is significant so that the light unit has low efficiency. When the light beams generated from the LED 201 are emitted within a wider angle, the luminous flux will be lost during the travel between the LED 201 and the light entrance face 101.
The present invention intends to provide a light unit that improves the shortcomings of the conventional light unit and the light beams generated from the LED can successfully pass through the light entrance face and enter into the light guiding member.


A system for detecting a global harmful video includes: a video determination policy generation unit for determining harmfulness of learning video segments from video learning information to analyze occurrence information of harmful learning video segments, and generating a global harmfulness determination policy based on the occurrence information; and a video determination policy execution unit for determining harmfulness of input video segments from information of an input video to analyze occurrence information of harmful input video segments, and determining whether the input video is harmful or not based on the occurrence information of the harmful input video segments and the global harmfulness determination policy.

As well-known in the art, the Internet, which is called the "sea of information", provides various types of information and user convenience enough to be a part of many people's daily life in modern society. Apart from the positive effects of the Internet in the social, economical, and academic aspects, indiscriminate distribution of harmful information using the characteristics of openness, interconnectivity, and anonymity of the Internet has emerged to become serious social problems.
In particular, minors are exposed to harmful information even more frequently than before through the Internet which can be accessed any time. Such an environment misleads minors who still have immature value judgment and feeble self-control, harmfully affecting them emotionally and mentally. Thus, a method for blocking harmful information is required in order to prevent minors or those who do not want to see from being exposed to such harmful information.
Conventional methods for determining a harmful video include a metadata and text information-based blocking technique, a hash and database-based blocking technique, a content-based blocking technique and the like.
The metadata and text information-based blocking technique determines harmfulness of a video by analyzing harmfulness of text included in a title, a file name and descriptions of multimedia. This method has a high over-blocking rate and a high erroneous blocking rate.
The hash and database-based blocking technique calculates hash values of existing harmful videos to make a database thereof, and calculates a hash value of a new input video to compare the calculated hash value with those in the previously established database, thereby determining harmfulness of the input video. This approach is problematic in that the size of the hash value database increases in proportion to the number of harmful videos, and the calculational load necessary for the determination of harmfulness increases in proportion to the length of a video. Also, it is difficult to detect even a known harmful video when the hash value of the known harmful video has been changed by slight modification.
The content-based determination technique which has been recently introduced analyzes contents of a harmful video to extract features thereof, generates a harmfulness classification model from the features, and determines harmfulness of an input video based on the previously generated harmfulness classification model. This method can resolve the high over-blocking rate and high erroneous blocking rate that appear in the metadata and text-based blocking technique, and also resolve the problem of the database size and the calculational load exhibited in the hash and database-based blocking technique.
However, in most of the content-based determination techniques, harmfulness of content of segments (frames, scenes, shots, clips or the like) constituting a harmful video is analyzed and corresponding values are again learned to generate a model so as to be used as a reference for later determination or when an occurrence frequency of harmful elements of a video is greater than a threshold value, the video is determined to be harmful. This approach appears to have high accuracy compared to other existing methods, but since a video segment determination algorithm thereof cannot derive absolutely reliable results, there still exists a problem that over-blocking or erroneous blocking of the entire video occurs.
As an example, it is assumed that a video segment determination algorithm determines that video A composed of 100 segments includes 28 harmful segments, as shown in FIG. 1, and video B composed of 100 different segments includes 20 harmful segments, as shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 1 is a graph exemplarily showing the results of determination on harmful segments of video A, and FIG. 2 is a graph exemplarily showing the results of determination on harmful segments of video B, which will help understand the conventional methods.
According to the conventional methods, video A will be determined to be more harmful than video B because it has more harmful segments than video B. However, an actual experiment and video analysis show that the above conclusion is not always correct due to an error of the video segment determination algorithm. In particular, as the accuracy of the video segment determination algorithm is low, the determination of harmfulness simply based on occurrence frequencies of the harmful segments has a higher error rate.
However, if considering information on occurrence continuities of harmful segments from the video segment determination results, for example, if considering continuity information 302 of video A and continuity information 402 and 404 of video B, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively, it may be determined that video B is more harmful than video A. This analysis can be considered to be accurate in spite of the error of the video segment determination algorithm, when the fact that most harmful scenes (exposure, masturbation, sex, and the like) appear continuously in actual harmful videos is taken into consideration. Here, FIG. 3 is a graph exemplarily showing the determination results on continuity information of harmful segments of video A, and FIG. 4 is a graph exemplarily showing the determination results on continuity information of harmful segments of video B.
Therefore, in order to lower the over-blocking rate and erroneous blocking rate in the method for determining a harmful video based on the video segment determination algorithm including an error, it is required to determine harmfulness of the entire video by utilizing information on the occurrence frequencies, occurrence continuities and the like of harmful segments from the video segment determination results.

System and method for detecting global harmful video

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute