The present invention relates to recombinant furin (rFurin) and methods for producing rFurin. More specifically, the invention relates to substantially animal protein-free rFurin and methods for producing substantially animal protein-free rFurin.

Active or mature proteins are usually present in very low amounts in living organisms. Therefore, their pro-proteins or pro-enzymes are preferably activated in vitro by contacting them with activation enzymes (e.g. proteases). Pro-proteins (or protein precursors) are inactive proteins that become active by one or more posttranslational modifications and, in particular, by the cleavage of a pro-peptide from the pro-protein. Examples of pro-proteins include, for example, pro-insulin, prothrombin, pro-von Willebrand Factor (pro-VWF), and the like.
Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a blood glycoprotein involved in coagulation. VWF is deficient or defective in von Willebrand disease and is involved in a large number of other diseases, including thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, Heyde's syndrome, and possibly hemolytic-uremic syndrome. VWF is a glycoprotein circulating in plasma as a series of multimers ranging in size from about 500 to 20,000 kD. Multimeric forms of VWF are composed of 250 kD polypeptide subunits linked together by disulfide bonds. VWF mediates the initial platelet adhesion to the sub-endothelium of the damaged vessel wall, and it is believed that only the larger multimers of VWF exhibit hemostatic activity. VWF multimers having large molecular masses are stored in the Weibel-Pallade bodies of endothelial cells and are liberated upon stimulation. Liberated VWF is then further processed by plasma proteases to result in low molecular weight forms of VWF.
In humans the removal of the pro-peptide is almost complete, whereas, in mammalian cell lines with a high level of recombinant VWF expression, this process is not very efficient. Therefore, cell culture supernatants from such recombinant cell lines usually comprise a mixture of mature VWF and VWF precursors, like pro-VWF. In order to obtain mature VWF, it is therefore necessary to convert the VWF precursors, in particular pro-VWF, into mature VWF. This process is usually achieved by cleaving the pro-peptide with a protease.
Current conventional methods produce mature VWF by either incubating its pro-form with proteases in a liquid phase, whereby the maturation itself (i.e., the cleavage of the pro-peptide from the pro-protein) occurs in an unbound state in free solution, or as described, for example, in WO 00/49047, by immobilizing the protease on a solid carrier, which is contacted and incubated with a preparation comprising pro-VWF (see e.g. WO 00/49047). However, these methods comprise various disadvantages over the methods according to the present invention.
Industrially, VWF and, in particular, recombinant VWF (rVWF) is synthesized and expressed together with recombinant Factor VIII (rFVIII) in a genetically engineered Chinese Hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. The function of the co-expressed rVWF is to stabilize rFVIII in the cell culture process. rVWF is synthesized in the cell in the pro-form, containing a large pro-peptide attached to the N-terminus. Upon maturation in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, the pro-peptide is cleaved by the action of the cellular protease furin and the mature protein is secreted as a homopolymer of identical subunits, consisting of dimers of the expressed protein. However, the maturation is typically incomplete, leading to a product comprising a mixture of pro-VWF and mature VWF.
Previous publications have shown that pro-VWF can be converted to mature VWF by in vitro treatment with furin or furin-like proteases (Schlokat et al., Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem. 24: 257-267, 1996; Preininger et al., Cytotechnology 30: 1-15, 1999; and EP 0775750A). In particular, EP 0775750A suggests the co-expression of furin and VWF recombinantly so that the maturation of VWF may occur in situ.
Recombinant furin (rFurin) transforms pro-rVWF (pro-recombinant von Willebrand factor) to rVWF by cleaving the Arg741-Ser742 peptide bond. This maturation step is part of a rVWF production process for the treatment of von Willebrand Disease Type B and part of the manufacturing process for recombinant Factor VIII-half life (rFVIII-HL). Furin belongs to the family of the pro-protein convertases and is dependent on calcium (Ca2+). Furin specifically cleaves the C-terminal peptide bond of arginine within a specific sequence, containing arginine at positions −1 and −4. This sequence can be found in numerous human proteins, showing that furin plays a major role in the maturation of a number of human pro-proteins.
The production of activated proteins is of high clinical and diagnostic importance. For example, active or mature proteins, like mature VWF, may be used to control blood coagulation. The present invention provides improved recombinant furin (rFurin) which is substantially animal protein-free rFurin for the subsequent production of activated proteins. More specifically, the present invention provides substantially animal protein-free rFurin for transforming pro-VWF into mature VWF.

Substantially animal protein-free recombinant furin and methods for producing the same


A semiconductor device includes a molded body and an interconnection layer. The molded body includes a semiconductor chip, at least one terminal body disposed around the semiconductor chip and a resin member provided between the semiconductor chip and the terminal body. The molded body has a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface and a side surface connected to the first and second surfaces. The interconnection layer is provided on the first surface of the molded body. The interconnection layer includes an interconnect electrically connecting the semiconductor chip and the terminal body. The terminal body has first and second contact surfaces. The first contact surface is exposed at the first or second surface of the molded body. The second contact surface is connected to the first contact surface and exposed at the side surface of the molded body.

Semiconductor devices that are used in the IoT (Internet of Things), mobile devices, and the like are being downsized to sizes equivalent to the semiconductor chip size. For example, these semiconductor devices are mounted on circuit boards in the form of BGAs (Ball grid arrays), LGAs (Land grid arrays), etc.; but it is difficult to inspect the connection state after mounting.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing same

TOSHIBA ELECTRONIC DEVICES & STORAGE CORPORATION


A short main incision and portal incisions at portal positions strategically displaced from the main incision are provided in a patient's hip. One portal incision (acetabular portal) provides for a disposition of reamers in the patient's acetabulum to shape the acetabulum. A cannula is inserted through the portal incision to the acetabulum and the successive reamers of progressive size are inserted into the acetabulum through the main incision to progressively size and shape the acetabulum. An approximately hemispherical acetabular component is then disposed in the prepared acetabulum to provide for hip rotation relative to the femoral component. The other portal incision (femoral portal) provides for insertion into the patient's hip of a member for driving the femoral stem into a cavity in the patient's femur. The provision of the short main incision and the portal incision minimizes the patient's loss of blood, tissue trauma, length of operating time and patient recovery time.

Great progress has been made in the field of hip replacements. Considering that hip replacements may not even have existed a generation ago, hip replacements, particularly among the elderly, are now relatively common. In spite of the considerable progress which has been made, hip replacement operations are still relatively crude. For example, an incision of a relatively great length still has to be made in a patient's hip as one of the first steps in a hip replacement operation. The incision may be as long as approximately eight inches (8″) to approximately twelve inches (12″). Such a large incision has caused patients to lose large amounts of blood and to suffer significant trauma. It has caused the length of the operation and the patient recovery time to be relatively long.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus for and method of providing a hip replacement


Provided is a bidirectional heating cooker that supplements and improves a function of a conventional infrared radiation cooker, in which the bidirectional heating cooker further includes a lower heating unit that is placed at the lower end of a cooking pan that is heated by radiant heat irradiated by an infrared lamp and that directly heats the cooking pan, to thereby heat the cooking pan quickly by the lower heating unit to thus make the upper and lower portions of food such as meat put on the cooking pan more quickly roasted than the conventional infrared radiation cooker and reduce a burden of electric charges based on a shortened heating time of the cooking pan, and to thereby make it possible to cook food rapidly by an upper heating unit with the infrared lamp and the lower heating unit that is placed on the cooking pan.

In general, there are conduction, convection and radiation as a heat transfer mechanism. Conduction heat is mainly transferred by solid and convection heat is mainly transferred by fluid. In addition, radiation heat is transferred through a process of discharging energy formed of electromagnetic waves emitted from surface of a certain heating unit, in which heat is emitted at velocity of light even at a state of having no medium and is delivered directly to an object. Wavelength of the radiation heat ranges from an infrared ray region to an ultraviolet ray region whose wavelength is the shortest via a visible ray region. However, in comparison with the visible ray or ultraviolet ray, it has been known that a band of the wavelengths of the infrared rays such as far infrared rays, middle infrared rays, and near infrared rays has the strongest heating function.
Therefore, conventional cooking appliances using infrared rays have been developed in various forms.
One example of an existing infrared ray cooking appliance was disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 0779225 published on Nov. 28, 2007. The infrared ray meat grill cooker disclosed in the Korean Patent Registration No. 0779225 includes: an infrared lamp whose outer portion is composed of quartz tubes; a cooking pan that is placed over the infrared lamp; and a reflective board that is placed below the infrared lamp. The infrared ray meat grill cooker employs a uni-direction heating method in which the infrared lamp heats the cooking pan and the cooking pan grills only a lower portion of meat. As a result, the infrared ray meat grill cooker may cause inconveniences that meat must be turn over constantly in order to prevent the meat from being burnt excessively. In addition, a thermal efficiency may fall.
Another example of a cooking appliance developed using infrared ray technology was Korean Utility-model Registration No. 314605 published on May 27, 2003. The meat roaster disclosed in the Korean Utility-model Registration No. 314605 has a near-infrared ray lamp that is positioned at a certain distance over a gridiron grilling pan and a reflective board over the infrared ray lamp. The meat roaster applies near-infrared rays directly onto meat from the above infrared ray lamp and successfully keeps meats from burning. Accordingly, the meat roaster has an advantage that even the inner portion of the meat can be roasted evenly. However, the meat roaster also employs a uni-direction heating method in which the near-infrared rays emitted from the near-infrared ray lamp roasts only a portion of meat, to thereby cause inconveniences that meat must be turn over constantly in order to prevent the meat from being burnt excessively.
Moreover, in the case of these cooking pans using the infrared rays or near-infrared rays, there is a problem that time taken to roast foods put on the cooking pans delays. In addition, since the infrared ray lamps or near-infrared ray lamps should be turned on for a long time in order to heat foods put on the cooking pans, there is also a problem that an expense burden is additionally produced by increase of electric charges.
Meanwhile, still another example of an existing infrared ray cooking appliance was disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 833966 registered on May 26, 2008 by the same applicant as that of this application. The infrared ray radiation cooker disclosed in the Korean Patent Registration No. 833966 includes: a base stand at the center of the upper surface of which a shaft hole is formed, and on one side of which a power switch for controlling an electric power supply is formed; a rotating pan which is a circular plate style container which can contain food on the upper surface thereof, and at the center of the lower surface of which a shaft protrusion is formed so as to be detachably inserted into the shaft hole; a supporting pillar which is vertically placed at one side of the base stand; and an infrared ray irradiator which is placed on the upper end of the supporting pillar and which is switched by the power switch, to thus apply infrared rays onto the rotating pan.
The above-described infrared ray radiation cooker employs a bidirectional heating method in which the infrared ray irradiator irradiates infrared rays onto food put on the rotating pan, to thus roast the upper and inner portions of the food and the rotating pan that has been heated by radiant heat of infrared lamps of the infrared ray irradiator roasts the lower portion of the food. In comparison with the conventional uni-directional infrared ray cooker, the above-described infrared ray radiation cooker has advantages that a thermal efficiency is excellent, foods such as meat for roasting can be evenly roasted without excessive burning although they are not continuously turned over, and little amount of smoke or odor is produced during cooking. However, since the supporting pillar is placed at one side of the base stand in the structure of the above-described infrared ray radiation cooker, it is very inconvenient to take food put on the rotating pan at a direction that at least the base stand is placed. Therefore, it is a little inconvenient for several persons who sit around in a restaurant or family for example to use the infrared ray radiation cooker.
In addition, since meat is roasted using radiant heat that is irradiated by the infrared ray irradiator, a time difference occurs in a cooking time taken to roast the upper and lower portions of the meat in which the upper portion of the meat is roasted more quickly than the lower portion of the meat until the rotating pan is heated at an initial time of roasting the meat. Accordingly, although meat can be bidirectionally cooked in the infrared ray radiation cooker, consumers who want to eat roasted meat earlier are inclined to turn over meat in order to make the lower portion of the meat roasted earlier. In addition, in spite of an advantage that the lower rotating pan uses radiant heat induced from the upper heat emission of the existing cooker, consumers who are accustomed to use the conventional upstream heating cooker do not sufficiently use a function of bidirectionally roasting meat by using the upper heat emission and lower radiant heat use mechanism in the conventional bidirectional radiation cooker due to a time difference occurring in a cooking time taken to roast the upper and lower portions of food for an initial time of 1-2 minutes as well as a habitual attitude that is accustomed when using a general cooker of roasting meat.
Further, consumers have habits of awaiting until the lower rotating pan is heated by the upper heat irradiator before cooking food as in the case of using the existing upstream heating cooker. Accordingly, a lot of electric charges are additionally produced due to a delay in time that may occur by doing an unnecessary operation of awaiting until the lower rotating pan is heated by the upper heat irradiator before cooking food. In addition, consumers use a method of roasting food while turning over the food that is similar to a unidirectional heating cooker such as the conventional upstream heating cooker at an initial cooking time during cooking due to a time difference occurs in a cooking time taken to roast the upper and lower portions of meat, even in the bidirectional radiation cooker, and may feel uncomfortable at the initial cooking time because of awaiting until the lower rotating pan is heated by the upper heat irradiator before cooking food as in the case of using the existing upstream heating cooker.


Provided is a method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus. The method includes: determining a target subject; determining whether the target subject exists in a moving image photographing domain; determining whether a condition of temporarily stopping recording of a moving image based on whether the target subject exists is satisfied; and temporarily stopping the recording of a moving image when the condition is satisfied.

The present invention relates to a digital photographing apparatus and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly, to a technology of temporarily stopping moving image recording while a digital photographing apparatus is recording a moving image.
Digital photographing apparatuses having a moving image recording function are well known. The digital photographing apparatuses receive an image in a frame unit, and generate a moving image file by converting and compressing the received image. Since an operation of converting and compressing the received image requires a plurality of processes, the digital photographing apparatuses may be complex.
The moving image file generated as above includes a plurality of frames, and thus capacity of the moving image file is generally larger than capacity of an image file. Also, since the plurality of frames are displayed when the moving image file is displayed, a reproduction time is long. Many recent digital photographing apparatuses are provided in a form of mobile apparatuses, but since storage capacity of the mobile apparatuses is limited, a moving image file generated in the digital photographing apparatuses consumes a lot of storage capacity.
Most digital photographing apparatuses having a moving image recording function have a function of temporarily stopping moving image recording. Such a function temporarily stops recording of a moving image without completing the recording of a moving image, and restarts the recording when desired. A user may use the function so as to limit an input of unnecessary information by stopping recording of a moving image when required. Also, since the function enables the user to only record a moving image that the user wants and generate one moving image file, it is convenient for the user to edit content of the moving image file while recording the moving image.
By using the function, an amount of input frames may be reduced. Accordingly, an amount of frames that are to be processed by a digital photographing apparatus is reduced, and a size of generated moving image file is reduced. Also, since unnecessary information is not included in the moving image file, a reproduction time is reduced while displaying the moving image and it is convenient to search for a moving image that is displayed.

Digital photographing apparatus and method of controlling the same


The invention relates to new and useful nickel powders, particularly powders for use as an electrode material.

The present invention provides for new and useful nickel powders particularly for use as an electrode material such as in Base Metal Electrode Multilayered Ceramic Capacitors (BME-MLCC).
In the manufacture of BME-MLCC's generally suitable pastes of metal powders and pastes of dielectric ceramic powders are alternatively laminated to form a multilayered structure of alternative metal powder layers and ceramic powder layers, wherein after sintering the metal powders layers form internal electrodes with a dielectric between each two electrodes.
Such capacitor structures conventionally are known as Precious Metal Electrode Multilayered Capacitors (PME-MLCC), when palladium or palladium-silver alloy powders have been used as the metal powder.
According to recent developments attempts have been made to substitute the precious metals palladium and silver by less precious metals such as copper and nickel.
A number of problems have been associated with using these less precious metals, predominantly the insufficient oxidation resistance during sintering in the presence of organic materials present in the pastes for providing laminating properties, and the shrinkage of the metal powders during sintering due to their lower softening temperature as compared to the aforementioned precious metal or precious metal alloy. Particularly shrinkage and multicrystallinity of the metal powder material leads to delamination of the multilayered structure during sintering and cracks in both, the dielectric and the electrode layers. The insufficient oxidation resistance of the metal powders leads to uncontrolled oxygen uptake with the inclusion of impurities such as carbon unless sintering is made in a protecting atmosphere, such as argon containing a reducing gas such as hydrogen.
Present attempts to overcome or reduce these drawbacks aim to reduce the impurity level and to increase the crystallinity of Ni and Cu powders, particularly to increase the crystal grain size of the powders to close to the powder particle size. However oxygen uptake, shrinkage, and as a consequence delamination and crack formation despite these efforts are still inferior as compared to precious metal electrodes. Particularly, shrinkage of known nickel powders upon sintering is inversely proportional with the particle size of the powder. Accordingly, it was not possible to use powders of diameter smaller than about 0.2 μm diameter without producing large numbers of capacitors with delamination and crack defects. Accordingly, presently known nickel powders impose a serious limitation to the tendency of miniaturization of BME-MLCC technology, considering that the minimum electrode layer thickness is about 2 to 3 times the average powder particle diameter.

Nickel powder for use as electrodes in base metal electrode multilayered ceramic capacitors


A system having a management console and one or more managed nodes is described. The management console has a network address and is connected to a network. Each managed node includes a network interface card for connecting with a network and an alert sending device for generating Alert Standards Forum Platform Event Traps in response to conditions at the managed node. The managed nodes are further able to receive Platform Event Trap destination address configuration packets and adopt the network address of the management consoles as the Platform Event Trap destination address.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
In order to facilitate the reliable communication of information within and between information handling systems, various uniform rules and protocols have been developed to increase the reliability and the effectiveness of information handling systems. One such protocol is the change to Alert Standard Format (ASF) which has been developed by the Distributed Management Task Force. ASF defines alert messages that are sent from client systems (also know as 'managed nodes') in a network to a designated management console. ASF alerts are generated in response to specific system conditions such as when a client system is overheating or when a chassis intrusion has been detected. In accordance with ASF, the alerts are generated in a particular format known as Platform Event Traps (PET). The PETs are then directed to a managing body such as a management console in order to be appropriately recorded, reported and acted upon.
One problem associated with using ASF alerts is that each managed node must be manually configured with a designated destination address for sending the ASF alerts. The manual configuration of the destination address consumes significant amounts of time and resources. The manual configuration of the ASF alert destination address also limits the flexibility of the system. In the event that the management console is changed or replaced, the PET destination address of each managed node must be manually reconfigured. Also, the destination address for each managed node must be changed in the event that a managed node connects with a new network, otherwise PETs will be sent to an incorrect destination.

System and method for configuring a platform event trap destination address


A method for the treatment of residual thermoplastic powder from an additive manufacturing process includes, in one step of the process, a powder that includes the residual powder is provided and compressed into granules as raw material for a primary shaping process. A pressing apparatus with two roller elements rotating in opposite directions and having lateral surfaces adjacent to one another in a pressing area is used to compress the powder into the granules. The lateral surfaces each having a plurality of molding elements assigned to one another in pairs such that the powder is compressed into granules in the pressing area. A cam mechanism positioned within one of the roller elements and configured to deflect the plurality of molding elements radially as a function of an angle of rotation of the roller element can be included.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Various processes currently exist by means of which, on the basis of design data, three-dimensional models can be produced from shapeless or shape-neutral materials such as powders (possibly with the addition of a binder) or liquids (sometimes also including molten solids). These processes are also known under collective terms such as "rapid prototyping," "rapid manufacturing" or "rapid tooling." In this case, a primary shaping step is often carried out, in which the starting material is either present in liquid form from the outset or is liquefied in the meantime and cures at an intended location. One known process in this case is fused deposition modeling (FDM), in which a workpiece is built up in layers from thermoplastic material. The plastics material is fed for example in the form of a powder or a strand, is melted and applied in molten form by a print head, which successively applies individual, generally horizontal layers of the object to be produced.
Also known are processes in which a pulverulent material, for example a plastics material, is applied in layers and selectively cured by means of a locally applied or printed-on binder. In yet other processes, for example selective laser sintering (SLS), a powder is applied in layers, for example using a doctor blade, to a base plate. The powder is selectively heated by means of suitable focused radiation, for example a laser beam, and as a result sintered. After a layer has been built up, the base plate is lowered slightly and a new layer is applied. In addition to plastics materials, it is also possible to use ceramics or metals as the powder. The non-sintered powder is removed after the production process. In a similar process, selective laser melting (SLM), the amount of energy introduced by the radiation is so high that the powder is regionally melted and solidifies into a coherent solid body. This process is used in particular in the case of metal powders.
In the powder-based processes, issues arise regarding further use of the residual powders that are not part of the finished object. The residual powders can sometimes be reused in the additive manufacturing process, as long as their chemical and physical properties have not changed or have changed only to an insignificant extent. However, it is possible, for example in SLS, for powder particles that have been exposed to increased temperatures in the vicinity of the laser beam without actually being sintered to have altered properties that make them unfit for direct reuse. Even partial sintering of powder particles makes them unsuitable for reuse, it not being possible to build up smooth powder layers therewith.
In principle, such residual powders can be used for example in plastics processing. However, for this purpose, the residual powders are first converted into a granular form, to which end the residual powders are melted and cooled down again for example with water. This is energy- and cost-intensive, however, and the melting impairs the material properties of the plastics material. Furthermore, when cooling down with water, moisture collects or accumulates in the granules, likewise impairing the properties thereof.
BG 111500 A discloses a process for the reuse of residual toner for photocopiers or printers. The residual toner can be mixed with various other substances, for example solvents or additives, and be used for example as corrosion inhibitors for metals. Alternatively, they can be used in injection molding after extrusion, granulation or tableting.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,185,229 B2 shows a 3D printer having a build chamber into which powder is introduced in layers during the printing operation. An underlying surface for the powder is constructed from two plates located one above the other, which each having openings. Arranged beneath the plates is a vacuum source. Using the vacuum, excess powder can be aspirated and returned into a storage container, with the result that the excess powder can be used in a further 3D print.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,560 A discloses a process for producing an object, in which a mixture is produced that exhibits a reused ceramic powder made from a ceramic object, a dispersant, a pH regulator, a biocide, a gel-forming material, and a carrier. The mixture is blended in another mixture at increased temperature under the action of shear forces, in order to create a molding compound. An object is produced from the molding compound by primary shaping at increased temperature and pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,186 B1 describes a process for using reused glass powder as a filler in molded plastics parts. In that case, reused glass powder is combined with a plastics material, wherein the glass powder can make up as much as 80 percent by weight of the composition. The composition can be used for various processes, such as injection molding, extrusion or blow molding, for example.
US 2008/0300353 A1 discloses a sinter powder that exhibits a polyamide and metal soaps. The powder is intended to be used in selective laser sintering. The addition of the metal soaps results in improved mechanical properties of the produced workpieces and in improved reusability of residual powder that is left over in the production process.
In light of the above indicated references, there is still room for improvement in the utilization of residual powder that arises in additive manufacturing processes such as selective laser sintering, for example. In particular, it would be desirable to utilize the residual powder that cannot be used again in the additive manufacturing process.

Method for the treatment of residual thermoplastic powders


A lower limit setting portion of a fuel pump control system sets a lower limit value depending on an engine operating mode. For example, it sets a duty ratio of 0% as the lower limit value, when the engine operating mode is in a STOP mode in a turned-on condition of an ignition switch. A duty-ratio calculating portion carries out a feedback control in order that an actual fuel pressure comes closer to a target fuel pressure by use of the lower limit value and calculates a duty ratio for driving a fuel pump by the feedback control. An abnormal condition determining portion determines an abnormal condition based on the duty ratio and pump current. The abnormal condition determining portion further determines based on a remaining fuel amount whether the abnormal condition is caused by a disconnection or whether the abnormal condition is caused by an idling operation of the fuel pump due to fuel shortage.

A fuel pump control system or device is known in the art, according to which fuel is supplied by a fuel pump from a fuel tank of an automotive vehicle to an internal combustion engine.
In one of the fuel pump control systems, electric power is supplied from a vehicle battery to the fuel pump control system via a relay device so that the fuel pump control system is operated. An on-off operation of the relay device is controlled by an engine control unit (an engine ECU). When an operation of the internal combustion engine (an engine operation) is going to be stopped, the relay device is turned off by a control signal from the engine ECU to stop an operation of the fuel pump (a pump operation).
In an automotive vehicle having an idling-stop function, the relay device is turned off during an engine stopped period, in which the engine operation is temporarily stopped as an idling-stop operation. In a hybrid vehicle having an internal combustion engine and an electric motor as a vehicle driving device, the relay device is turned off in a vehicle running period of an EV running mode. As above, the relay device is turned off to stop the pump operation in a condition that an ignition switch is turned on, when the engine operation is temporarily stopped during a vehicle running operation. As a result, an on-off operation of the relay device is repeatedly done.
The fuel pump may run idle when fuel becomes insufficient. When the relay device is turned on during the temporal engine stopped period in the vehicle running operation, the fuel pump may run idle in a case of shortage of the fuel. Then, the fuel pump control system may erroneously determine that an abnormal condition is caused by a disconnection in a power supply path, through which the electric power is supplied from the vehicle battery to the fuel pump via the relay device, in spite that the fuel pump is running idle due to the shortage of the fuel.


A system for aligning framing bits from independent digital transmission facilities with framing of a higher transmission rate facility includes a RAM memory. Received framing bits from the independent digital transmission facilities are stored at RAM locations in accordance with multiframe addresses of the framing bits relative to the multiframe format of the independent facility. Multiframe indicator bytes indicative of the framing of the higher transmission rate facility are used as addresses to read framing bits from RAM. The multiframe address of the independent digital transmission facilities is established by a counter for each independent facility, said counter being synchronized to the framing of the independent facility and incremented to provide addresses identical to the multiframe indicator bytes of the higher transmission rate facility.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital telephone transmission, and more particularly, to a system for aligning framing bits from independent digital transmission facilities with framing of a higher transmission rate facility such as SONET.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The American National Standard Institute, Inc. (ANSI) T1.105-1988 describes the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) protocol for telecommunications equipment. This standard is incorporated herein by reference. The SONET protocol is particularly adapted for optical transmission, and various transmission levels have been standardized at specified line rates in M bit/s. The first level, Optical Carrier Level 1, or OC-1, transmits data at the rate of 51.84 M bits/s. This carrier level has a corresponding electrical level called Synchronous Transport Signal Level 1, or STS-1.
In order to access this high-frequency carrier level, access products are required so that lower bandwidth carriers can the introduced into or extracted from the STS-1 transmission level. These access products provide a SONET network with nodes where components of an STS-1 signal can be added to or dropped out of the main signal. The components that are added to the main signal must be inserted so as to maintain the integrity of the SONET signal. A typical sub-component of an STS-1 SONET signal is a DS1 signal having a bit rate of 1.544 M bit/s. Twenty-eight DS1 signals can be supported by an STS-1 carrier. Within the DS1 signal format twenty-four DS0 64 K bits/s signals can be supported plus one 8K bits/s framing signal.
The SONET transmission is serial, comprising a total of 810 serial bytes. The frame structure for an STS-1 is shown in FIG. 1. The frame comprises 90 columns.times.9 rows of bytes, with 8 bits per byte. The sequence of transmission of the bytes is row by row, from left to right. The frame is divided into three parts: the section and line overhead, which are contained in the first three columns; and the payload, which is found in the 87 remaining columns. The 87 payload columns and the nine rows form a Synchronous Payload Envelope (SPE) which includes 783 bytes. Nine of the SPE bytes are allocated to path overhead.
The SPE can begin anywhere within the 87.times.9 byte envelope. Typically, the SPE begins in one SONET frame and ends in another. A payload pointer provided in overhead bytes H1 and H2 points to the byte where the SPE begins, shown, for example, as P=0 in FIG. 1. The information within the SPE is transported in Sub-STS-1 payloads called Virtual Tributaries, or VTs. There are several levels of VTs; however, it is only necessary to deal with VT 1.5 for purposes of describing this invention. When the STS-1 payload supports 28 DS1 services, one VT at the 1.5 level is provided for each DS1 service.
The 783 bytes of one SPE belong to 28 tributaries, wherein each tributary can carry a DS1 payload. The SONET bytes are mapped into a DS1 payload as illustrated in FIG. 2. The DS1 payload has 27 bytes, 24 of which carry DS0 channels. The first byte carries a VT pointer, or address; a second byte is unused; and the third byte carries signaling data and the framing bit for the DS1 payload. The framing bit of each DS1 has a repetitive pattern that is used by equipment to locate the DS0 channel data, and indicates the DS1 signaling frame. The specific framing pattern for each DS1 can vary and include such features as embedded data channels, but the pattern commonly represents a 12 or 24 channel multiframe.
FIG. 3 illustrates the transmission order of the SONET payload contained within the SPE's of 24 SONET frames. For the sake of clarity, a number of bytes or rows of the SPE are not shown in FIG. 3. These bytes include: the bytes in the first two rows of each SPE, which would contain bytes 1 and 2 of each of the 28 tributaries as shown in FIG. 2, the nine path overhead bytes, and additional `fixed stuff` bytes. In addition, the SPE has been shown as being located entirely within one SONET frame while in most cases the SPE will occupy parts of two SONET frames. Removing these two rows facilitates the illustration in FIG. 3 of the signaling bits provided in each SONET frame. The framing bit is not shown in FIG. 3, but it follows the signaling bits in each byte as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the first row of each frame shown in FIG. 3 is the signaling and framing row and contains byte number 3 for each of the tributaries. The transmission order proceeds from left to right in each descending row of a frame. Thus, bytes containing four signaling bits and one framing bit for tributaries 0-27 are transmitted in sequence, after which the data for channel 0 of each tributary is transmitted, followed by the data for the other channels through to the transmission of the data for channel 23.
Due to the presence of nine overhead bytes (not shown), bytes 1 and 2 of each tributary, and additional unused `fixed stuff` bytes in the SPE, the signaling bytes start with SPE byte 60 and continue through byte 87.
The SONET format specifies the multiframe pattern shown in FIG. 3 with a path overhead byte, called the H4 multiframe indicator byte carried in the SPE. The H4 multiframe indicator byte applies to every VT in the SPE. In an operative system the framing bit sequence in each VT must be aligned with the H4 multiframe indicator byte of the SPE. The SONET H4 byte is formatted as follows:
______________________________________ Bits - 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Data - P1 P0 SI2 SI1 C3 C2 C1 T ______________________________________
The C3, C2, and C1 bits are unused bits, since they relate to a 2.048M b/s standard which is not used in North America. Thus, the part of the H4 byte of interest consists of five bits and can have values of 0 to 23 to identify any one of 24 consecutive SONET frames transmitted in SPE's. Table 1 illustrates the H4 bytes for frames (FR) 0-23 and the associated SONET formatted signalling for ESF and SF signalling which may be provided in each frame.
Access products that introduce DS1 signalling into the SONET network are required to align with the SONET H4 multiframe indicator byte, when the SONET format is in byte synchronous mode. Potentially, each DS1 signal (up to 28) can have a different alignment from the H4 multiframe indicator byte and from the other twenty-seven DS1 signals being added to the SONET network. There are no known solutions to the problem of aligning DS1 signals with the SONET H4 multiframe indicator byte.
In the access products for which this invention was conceived, a 16-bit internal byte is used for each channel, with each bit being provided on a separate line of a parallel bus. Thus, for each clock pulse a complete 16 bit byte of information is obtained. The internal format for a 16-bit byte is as follows:
__________________________________________________________________________ Bit No: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 A B C D MFS MFS2 P __________________________________________________________________________
The internal 16-bit bus operates at a higher bandwidth and has a total of 32 channels available. One channel is assigned specifically to each of the 24 channels of the DS1 signals. The remaining channels are used for various control functions, specifically, one of the channels is used for the signaling and framing information. The internal 16-bit bus is described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 351,458 filed May 12, 1989 and entitled "Serial Transport Frame Format Method", said application being commonly assigned herewith and incorporated herein by reference.
The SONET byte which carries the framing bit (F) is formatted as follows:
______________________________________ Bit No. D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 SONET R R S1 S2 S3 S4 F R ______________________________________
In the above, the R bits are not used, the S1-S4 bits are signaling bits as shown in the bytes of FIG. 3, and the F bit is the framing bit.
In the system for which this invention was conceived, the SONET format given above is also used for the bits D7-D0 of the internal 16-bit signaling and framming byte. Of the additional bits in the internal format, MFS and MFS2 bits indicate the multiframe address of the F bits in the VT level 1.5 or DS1 handled by the tributary. Table 1 also shows the relationship between the MFS bit and the SONET H4 bytes in an aligned system.
TABLE 1 __________________________________________________________________________ Signaling Frame Sequence H4 Bytes ESF MFS FR P1 P0 SI2 SI1 T S1 S2 S3 S4 SF __________________________________________________________________________ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 A0 A1 A2 A3 A bits 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 A4 A5 A6 A7 (same as ESF) 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 A8 A9 A10 A11 1 3 0 0 0 1 1 A12 A13 A14 A15 1 4 0 0 1 0 0 A16 A17 A18 A19 1 5 0 0 1 0 1 A20 A21 A22 A23 1 6 0 1 0 0 0 B0 B1 B2 B3 B bits 1 7 0 1 0 0 1 B4 B5 B6 B7 (same as ESF) 1 8 0 1 0 1 0 B8 B9 B10 B11 1 9 0 1 0 1 1 B12 B13 B14 B15 1 10 0 1 1 0 0 B16 B17 B18 B19 1 11 0 1 1 0 1 B20 B21 B22 B23 0 12 1 0 0 0 0 C0 C1 C2 C3 A bits 0 13 1 0 0 0 1 C4 C5 C6 C7 0 14 1 0 0 1 0 C8 C9 C10 C11 0 15 1 0 0 1 1 C12 C13 C14 C15 0 16 1 0 1 0 0 C16 C17 C18 C19 0 17 1 0 1 0 1 C20 C21 C22 C23 0 18 1 1 0 0 0 D0 D1 D2 D3 B bits 0 19 1 1 0 0 1 D4 D5 D6 D7 0 20 1 1 0 1 0 D8 D9 D10 D11 0 21 1 1 0 1 1 D12 D13 D14 D15 0 22 1 1 1 0 0 D16 D17 D18 D19 0 23 1 1 1 0 1 D20 D21 D22 D23 __________________________________________________________________________
The access products used to extract and add sub-components to the STS-1 transmission level include both an add-drop multiplexer and a terminal multiplexer. The terminal multiplexer receives and extracts all data from the STS-1 and inserts new data in a return path. The add-drop multiplexer, however, poses special problems, since it facilitates the extraction and/or addition of any number of channels carried on the STS-1 line. Thus, some channels pass directly through an add-drop multiplexer, while some channels are extracted and other channels are added.
All received VTs are converted to the internal format. Thus, the through VTs could be treated similarly to the added VTs by realigning them to the H4 multiframe indicator similarly to the added VTs. However, this would cause unnecessary delay for the through VTs, due to processing by the multiplexer. Preferably this delay should be avoided by passing each through tributary directly through the multiplexer and only aligning the tributaries being added.

System for aligning transmission facility framing bits to the sonet H4 multiframe indicator byte


A mobile wireless communications device may include an antenna, and a receiver coupled to the antenna and being configured to use a modulation having memory for a received message in a block structure. The block structure may include a pair of mini-probes and a body therebetween. The receiver may be configured to demodulate the received message by determining a corresponding set of received signal characteristic values based upon the pair of mini-probes, and determining a decode starting point in the body based upon the set of received signal characteristic values. The receiver may be configured to demodulate the received message by at least, from the decode starting point, decoding the body in a first time direction, and decoding the body in a second time direction based upon a result of the decoding in the first direction.

Mobile communications devices have become an integral part of society over the last two decades. Indeed, more than eighty-two percent of Americans own a mobile communications device, for example, a cell phone. The typical mobile communications device includes an antenna, and a transceiver coupled to the antenna. The transceiver and the antenna cooperate to transmit and receive communications signals.
Before transmission, the typical mobile communications device modulates digital data onto an analog signal. As will be readily appreciated by the skilled person, there is a plurality of modulations available for most applications. Some particularly advantageous modulations include, for example, continuous phase modulation (CPM). The constant envelope characteristics of this modulation provide for lower energy demands on the power amplifier of mobile communications devices, for example, by reducing the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), increasing average transmit power (providing greater transmission range), and increasing amplifier efficiency, i.e. allowing the use of non-linear amplifiers such as Class C amplifiers. Moreover, CPM provides for efficient use of available bandwidth.
A potential drawback of CPM modulations, for example, Gaussian Minimum-shift keying (GMSK), is the use of the inherent memory of the modulation when demodulating/decoding the waveform in order to obtain good demodulator performance. When the mobile communications device receives a transmitted signal which uses a modulation with memory, the decoder uses not only the current signal portion to demodulate but in addition uses information from previous signal portions, i.e. memory, to demodulate the current signal. In other words, the phase of the transmitted signal is dependent on previous signaling intervals. Decoding modulations with memory increases the computational and memory demands on the transceiver, i.e. a maximum likelihood sequence estimator (MLSE) is typically used to demodulate modulations with memory, thereby increasing the complexity of the device, which may be undesirable in a limited power compact mobile device. More so, when the received signal has a multipath component to it, the size of the MLSE trellis structure used to demodulate the signal grows exponentially, which may make practical implementation in a mobile communications device difficult.
Digital communications theory has undergone a significant transformation in the last two decades due mainly to the discovery of iterative codes. Serially concatenated iterative codes are composed of two forward error correction (FEC) codes that are separated by a random interleaver. The outer code can be recursive or non-recursive in nature, but the inner code must be recursive in order for there to be interleaver gains when soft information is exchanged between the two codes. An approach investigated by several researchers was the possibility of using CPM waveforms as rate 1 recursive inner codes and combining them with simple convolutional FEC outer codes. Researchers showed that this approach could achieve close to Shannon performance.
When serially concatenated codes, which use CPM waveforms as the inner code, are used on multipath fading channels, the complexity of the inner MLSE soft-input soft-output (SISO) algorithms can be quite high, especially when the decoder must iterate several times between the inner CPM/Multipath SISO and the outer FEC SISO. This is due to the fact that CPM waveforms may require a MLSE for proper demodulation of the waveform, and the additional requirement of handling multipath further may increase the size of the MLSE in an exponential manner.
Most SISO algorithms, for example, the BCJR algorithm, may require forward and backward recursions on the trellis the algorithms operate on, i.e. inner CPM/Multipath trellis or outer FEC trellis, before computing the extrinsic information which will be provided to the other SISO device, for example, inner SISO device generates extrinsic information for outer SISO device. Both forward and backward recursions require the computation of independent path metrics for each direction. In an effort to reduce the trellis structure of SISO decoders, some approaches include reducing the number of states in the trellis, i.e. reduced state trellis. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,412 to Chen et al. discloses a reduced complexity iterative decoding method. Nevertheless, the forward/backward SISO computation of the reduced states and survivor paths can still represent a serious computational workload for the receiver device, especially in mobile applications.

Mobile wireless communications device and receiver with demodulation and related methods


The invention relates to quality control of analytical assays, particularly NAT assays of blood samples containing nucleic acids. A control panel containing quantified amounts of substances known to interfere with an analytical assay is used and compared with a reference sample in the analytical assay. A comparison of the assay results interference panel validates the assay and can serve as a periodic quality control check for the analytical assay as well as related methods and protocols. The use of the control panel of the invention can also determine whether interfering substances are present and establish under what conditions the analytical assay reliable.

Blood samples are extensively used for clinical diagnosis and in medical research. In many assay formats, the presence of certain components in blood can interfere with the assay and render the test results unreliable or unusable. Interference is typically manifested as an inhibition of chemical reactions in the assay that reduces the performance and compromises the integrity of the assay and its result.
Patient samples may be compromised in a clinical setting by conditions such as poor handling, haemolysis, icterus, or lipemia. It is for example well known that HIV patients, treated with protease inhibitors, often show increased triglyceride levels. Yet another example of a compromised sample is cadaveric samples, which are often tested before organ transplantation. Cadaveric samples can be very challenging for nucleic acid tests, due to their potentially inhibitory nature from lysed or degraded tissues.
Blood samples, or samples derived from whole blood, are often analyzed for a nucleic acid analyte by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), other Nucleic Acid Amplification Technologies (NAT), or other nucleic acid detection technologies. NAT and PCR-based diagnosis of disease, infections, and genetic variations, as well as forensic analysis and blood typing are well known. It is also known that contaminants or PCR inhibitory substances such as lipids, hemoglobin, bilirubin or frequently administered drugs and anticoagulants can interfere with the PCR assay.
PCR-based assays rely on amplification and detection of nucleic acids present in the blood samples. These reactions can be dramatically reduced or blocked by the presence of contaminants or natural components of blood that inhibit chemical or biochemical reactions that occur in the assay. Blood components known as PCR inhibitors include immunoglobulin, heme, hemoglobin, leukocyte DNA, and common blood additive such as the anticoagulant heparin. Therefore, the usefulness of PCR-based detection of microorganisms, pathogens and other targets in complex biological samples, such as clinical, environmental, and food samples, is limited in part by the presence of substances that inhibit the fundamental amplification reaction at PCR or which reduce the amplification efficiency.
Because the potential for contamination and interference in PCR-based assays is well known, a variety of different approaches have been studied to attempt to prevent the inhibition. In one approach, the inhibition caused by specific substances is tested to attempt to compensate for their presence in a test sample or assay.
Solutions that samples used for assays typically are, or may be, converted into a liquid form containing compounds that inhibit chemical or biochemical reactions in an assay. The agents that cause interference or inhibition in the inhibitory testing assay include: hemoglobin, L-ascorbic acid, free fatty acids, iron, heme, triglycerides, drugs, bilirubin, conjugated bilirubin, bicarbonate, pH extremes, proteins, bile acids, larger amounts of DNA, or keto-acids. These inhibitors may interfere with cell lysis, degrade or capture of the nucleic acids, inactivate Taq polymerase or degrade the specificity of this enzyme, or otherwise interfere with enzymes used in nucleic acid amplification or detection technologies. In particular reverse transcription PCR (rt-PCR), which initially reverse transcribes RNA into cDNA, is very sensitive to the presence of inhibitors. In an attempt to preserve the fidelity of the assay, different methods of sample preparation have been developed to remove the inhibitory effect of these blood-derived components.
It is possible to attempt to control for inhibitory substances by monitoring the presence or absence of PCR product(s) at the end of thermal cycling by gel electophoresis, dot blots, high-pressure liquid chromatography or microtiter or plate-based, calorimetric assay. The quantitative effect of inhibitors on DNA synthesis can also be studied by measuring the efficiency of incorporation of radiolabeled nucleotides. Recently, thermal cyclers with real-time detection of PCR product accumulation were introduced, offering a new possibility to study amplification efficiency and/or DNA synthesis efficiency. Most commonly a known amount of an internal control molecule, which should behave similar to the target, is added into each PCR reactions. A change from the expected signal generated by the internal control can indicate the presence of inhibitors but can also change if the assay was not performed correctly. An internal control used for quantification is sometimes referred to as Quantification Standard (QS).
A resolution of the problem of inhibiting substances in assays can be attempted by sample preparation techniques. PCR-inhibitory components include salts, complex polysaccharides, heme protein in blood, RNases, DNases, feces, some detergents (e.g., SDS), DNA intercalating substances (e.g., intercalating dyes), humic substances in soil, melanin, collagen, myoglobin, alcohol, calcium ions, lactoferrin, proteases, proteinases in milk, and urea in urine. Significant effort is being devoted to the development of sample preparation methods to remove these substances and overcome the problems of inhibition in the reactions that occur in an assay. Different processing techniques are also being employed to reduce the effect of inhibitors. For example, aqueous two phase-systems, boiling, density gradient centrifugation, dilution, DNA extraction methods, enrichment media, filtration, and immunological techniques have been used to attempt to avoid the effect of inhibitory substances in PCR analyses. The thermostable DNA polymerase is perhaps the most important target site of PCR-inhibiting substances. The most widely used polymerase in PCR-based methods for the detection of microorganisms is Taq DNA polymerase from Thermus aquaticus. Other DNA polymerases with manganese instead of magnesium as cofactor are commonly used for rt-PCR. Other systems use a reverse transcriptase in combination with a DNA polymerase for rtPCR. Taq DNA polymerase, as well as many other PCR enzymes, can be degraded by proteinases, denatured by phenol or detergents, and inhibited by blocking of the active site by the inhibitor, which is the effect of the heme protein Inhibitors can also work on the substrate by decaying DNA or RNA. RNases in plasma are known to destroy RNA, or DNases can destroy DNA.
One approach for quality control of analytical assays is to use a sample-processing control as an internal control to verify adequate processing of the target analyte. This monitors the presence of inhibitors to avoid a false negative result, or incorrect quantification. If the system fails with this control, then there is an invalid result.
While common interfering substances are well known, it remains difficult and inconvenient to prepare constant, quantified controls for analytical assays. The reliability of standard solutions may be questionable or concentrations may not be calculated correctly. Also, it is time-consuming to be constantly preparing standards and calibrating them from week to week. This is particularly true for clinical samples, where there is high volume of testing, yet these are samples which must conform to rigorous quality control standards. Further, patient samples may be contaminated, or be presented in less than optimum condition. Because sample size and availability may be limited, however, it is often important that these critical samples be accurately analyzed.
Known guidelines recognize two primary limitations of interference testing. Properties of compounds added to a serum pool may be different from those of the compound naturally circulating in vivo. Also, the presence of more than one interfering substance may offset or enhance the concentrations of interfering substance and analyte tested. Various combinations of interfering substances in various combinations, therefore, should be evaluated in an assay.
To assure optimum performance of the analytical assay, a test assay includes several types of controls in addition to the test sample. A negative control, usually with a key ingredient missing, indicates a positive test result can be trusted. A positive control, usually a known amount of the analyte of interest, indicates the assay is functional. An internal control has a known substance added to the test sample before analysis, while an external control compares the test sample with other samples of substances run in the same assay. Because analytical assays can be sensitive and are designed to detect very small quantities of analyte, it is very important to include complementary controls to evaluate an analytical assay for acceptance criteria.
Accepted guidelines for estimation of interference characteristics recommend evaluating the effect of potentially interfering substances added to the sample of interest, as well as evaluating the bias of individual patient specimens in comparison to a highly specific comparative measurement procedure (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Interference Testing in Clinical Chemistry; Approved Guideline—Second Edition, 2005, p. 13). An interference screen can be prepared by adding a potentially interfering substance to a sample pool and evaluating bias relative to a control portion of the same pool, which is termed paired-difference testing. An interference screen, with many substances at relatively high concentrations, simulates interference and provides a standardized evaluation to complement actual patient samples.
It would be very useful to have calibrated substances prepared in an interference panel to determine the presence of interfering substances and to evaluate the performance of an analytical assay. This would also allow the standardized comparison of interfering substances on different assays or diagnostic systems.

Interference control panel for evaluation of analytical assays for samples derived from blood


Provided is a display device including a pixel. The pixel has: a conductive film; an interlayer insulating film over the conductive film; a first electrode over the interlayer insulating film; an insulating film over the first electrode; an organic layer over the first electrode and the insulating film; and a second electrode over the organic layer. The interlayer insulating film has a first opening portion overlapping with the conductive film. The insulating film covers the first opening portion. A first region of the organic layer in contact with the first electrode surrounds the insulating film. An area defined by a periphery of the first region has at least two symmetry axes in a direction parallel to a surface of the substrate.

A display device having a plurality of pixels formed over a substrate has been known. As a typical example of such a display device, a liquid crystal display device (LCD), an electroluminescence display device (EL display device), and the like are represented.
An EL display device is a display device having a light-emitting element in each pixel where the light-emitting element has a structure in which a material exhibiting an electroluminescence (EL) phenomenon is sandwiched between a pair of electrodes. A light-emitting element using an organic compound as a material is called an organic EL element or an organic electroluminescence element and also called an organic light-emitting element diode (OLED) element due to its diode characteristics. A display device having a plurality of such light-emitting elements is called an organic EL display device. Since organic compounds are able to exhibit a variety of emission wavelengths due to their design diversity, colors with a variety of wavelengths can be obtained by appropriately selecting organic compounds. Furthermore, an organic EL display element has an excellent response property and is capable of giving an image with high contrast.
Generally, each pixel includes a light-emitting element and a driving transistor for supplying a current to drive the light-emitting element. After the driving transistor is formed over a substrate, the driving transistor is covered with an insulating film constructed with an organic resin material and the like over which the light-emitting element is formed. An electrical connection between the light-emitting element and the driving transistor is performed through an opening portion (contact hole) formed in the insulating film. As a typical example of such a structure, a display device with a structure disclosed in Japanese patent application publications No. 2001-148291 and 2012-23028 has been known.


Gamma ray and e-beam irradiation provided efficient sterilization of certain self-assembling peptides (including RADA16 in solution) without substantial degradation of the major peptide, while, e.g., another self-assembly peptide, QLEL12 was significantly degraded following irradiation. Irradiation sterilization enhances the rheological property of, for example, RADA16 hydrogel once applied to tissue at a physiological pH. The rheological property increase can result in higher efficacy in a variety of biomedical applications.

Self-assembling peptides (sometimes abbreviated as "SAPs") are a type of peptides which assemble spontaneously into highly organized nanostructures when placed in aqueous environment and a chemical or physical change in surrounding conditions occur. One other well-known structure is a nanofibrous biopolymer structure formed by natural collagen. A class of SAPs relevant for this invention consists of alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic amino acid residues capable of forming beta-sheets. They autonomously assemble into well-ordered nanostructures in neutral water, while they can temporarily disassemble into individual molecules when high shearing force is applied to them. SAPs can form a hydrogel (also known as SAP gels) depending on their environment such as pH and/or osmolality; for example, they are capable of forming a hydrogel when they are placed in the body at near neutral pH. SAP gels have been previously described as being used for a variety of medical applications, e.g., improved wound healing, inducement of homeostasis, reduction of adhesion in interior tissues, particularly, in context of surgery; as temporary tissue-void matrix fillers, facilitating ingrowth of natural tissue into such a void. Particular SAPs are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,670,483; 5,955,343; 9,724,448; 10,596, 225 and Intl Pat. Appln. Pub. WO2014/136081; and foreign equivalents thereof.
Sterilization is a very important step in the manufacturing process for most biomaterials, including for self-assembling peptide solutions. PuraStat® (RADA16=Ac-RADARADARADARADA-NH2=SEQ ID NO:1; about 2.5%) is customarily filtered for sterilization (see, e.g., Intl Pat. Appln. Pub. No. WO 2014/008400); however, PuraStat® 's viscosity at higher concentrations is the main obstacle to its filtration, which, in addition to losses in the tubing, results in substantial peptide losses. In this method for sterilizing, a solution of SAPs is forced through a porous filter, wherein the sterilizing filter has an average pore size of 0.22 pm (US Pat. Appln. No. 2015/019735). As another method, some thermally stable self-assembling peptide solutions can be sterilized by autoclaving treatment at about 121° C. for about 25 minutes (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/369,237).
Furthermore, an additional ethylene oxide sterilization step is required for the outer part of PuraStat® products. And, it was discovered that autoclaving cannot be used for some SAPs, such as RADA16 (SEQ ID NO:1) in solution, because of its complete thermal degradation (US Pat. Appln. Pub. No. 2017/0202986). Thus, another new sterilization method has been needed to reduce losses, particularly, for RADA16 (SEQ ID NO:1) and other SAPs.
Gamma irradiation sterilization of self-assembling peptides including RADA16 (SEQ ID NO:1) was described in passing in a prior publication (US Pat. Appln. Pub. No. 2016/0317607; at paragraph [0052]); but no specific conditions or actual effect of irradiation on the structure and properties of self-assembling peptides, including RADA16 (SEQ ID NO:1), have been described so far. In fact, peptide structure can be changed by the reactive radical species generated by irradiation such as gamma ray, X-ray, and e-beam. Such a structural change can be governed by multiple factors including the amino acid composition, reactive residue position and possibly the conformation acquired by each macromolecule (Vieira R et al, Biol. Pharm. Bull. 2013, 36(4) 664-675). For example, regardless of the different sequences of the peptides in that article, all the tested nine peptides showed a progressive degradation by gamma ray irradiation up to 15 kGy. Considering that even higher doses of irradiation than 15 kGy may be required for sterilization processes, numerous peptides cannot be sterilized with gamma ray irradiation without substantial degradation. It is well known that the side chains of aromatic amino acids (i.e., Phenylalanine (F), Tyrosine (Y), Tryptophan (W), Histidine (H), and Proline (P)) and sulfur-containing amino acids (i.e., Cysteine (C)) are especially weak to attack by reactive radical species (Annu. Rev. Biochem., 62, 797-821 (1993) and Vieira R et al, Biol. Pharm. Bull. 2013, 36(4) 664-675). By way of background, the followings SAPs, RADA16 (Ac-RADARADARADARADA-NH2 (SEQ ID NO:1)), KLD12 (Ac-KLDLKLDLKLDL-NH2(SEQ ID NO:2)), and IEIK13 (Ac-IEIKIEIKIEIKI-NH2(SEQ ID NO:3)), do not include aromatic amino acids or sulfur-containing amino acids.
On the other hand, irradiation sterilization can also affect the secondary structure of self-assembling peptides and their fibrous structure. As mentioned, RADA16 (SEQ ID NO:1), KLD12 (SEQ ID NO:2) and IEIK13 (SEQ ID NO:3) have beta-sheet conformation, and these molecules self-assemble to form an ordered nanofibrous structure. The irradiation sterilization process may potentially change the secondary structure and the nanofiber structure of peptide, which could then result in the undesirable change of its rheological properties.
Thus, there exists a need for new sterilization methods that work advantageously with self-assembling peptides. For the reasons cited above, sterilization by irradiation has been avoided so far.

Sterilization of self-assembling peptides by irradiation


Described is a system (and method) that provides the ability to create an endpoint to allow cloud-based components to access services directly using network infrastructure of a cloud system. To provide such an ability, access connections from components of a production system to the cloud system may be monitored to derive a storage service and a datastore based on portions of a domain name. The derived storage service and datastore are then used to determine configuration settings required to automatically create a service endpoint. The service endpoint may then be deployed within the cloud system allowing the cloud-based component to access the storage service directly. Accordingly, the system provides the ability to automatically configure and deploy service endpoints by leveraging information derived from monitoring network access connections between a production environment and a cloud environment.

Cloud-based systems provide various services that are crucial for enterprise level network clients. In some configurations, components of a production system (or on-premises system) such as a virtual machine may store data using a cloud-based service provided by a cloud service system. In addition, various other services may also be offered by the cloud service system such as cloud-based disaster recovery services. Accordingly, in response to disaster event, a recovery virtual machine may be created within the same cloud service system that provides the storage service. However, recovery virtual machines often clone all aspects of a corresponding production virtual machine including the mechanisms used to access the cloud-based storage services. As a result, despite the recovery virtual machine executing within the cloud service system, the mechanism used to connect to a cloud-based service may include connecting to networks (e.g. Internet) and components that are external to the cloud-based system. This may lead to inefficiencies with respect to performance, bandwidth, execution time, and other factors relevant to a disaster recovery process. Accordingly, there is a continued need for efficient access management of cloud-based services.

Efficient creation of endpoints for accessing services directly within a cloud-based system


It is very difficult to carry out injections during endoscopic operations. Here it is proposed to expel a specified amount of fluid from the end of a tube or from a nozzle, with hydraulic parameters such as pressure, rate of pressure increase, duration and/or velocity that can be adjusted to specified values, and with energy such that after traveling a distance between the tube end or the nozzle and the tissue in substantially free flight, the fluid penetrates into the tissue.

The invention relates to a method of endoscopically injecting at least one fluid and an apparatus with which to implement the method.
During endoscopic operations a great variety of manipulations are undertaken in natural or artificial cavities in the body, in the course of which it repeatedly becomes necessary to remove tissues and/or stop bleeding. Among the techniques used here are forms of injection. For example, a polyp on a sufficiently long stalk can be removed relatively simply (by catching it in a noose), but this is not possible in the case of so-called sessile polyps, which are merely small elevations in the tissue. In such cases it is necessary to raise the polyps, by injecting fluid, in particular physiological saline, into the underlying tissue by means of an injection needle. A sessile polyp raised in this way can then be removed with the known techniques.
A different occasion for the injection of fluids arises when bleeding must be stanched. One way to stop bleeding is to inject physiological saline so as to form a depot around a blood vessel and thereby close it mechanically. Alternatively, a corresponding effect can be achieved by the injection of medications, in particular vasoconstrictive substances. Another means of stopping bleeding is the injection of fibrin adhesives.
Finally, yet another application of injections should be mentioned, namely the marking of operation or treatment sites. Often after a treatment such as the removal of a growth in the intestine, the affected site must be inspected at regular intervals in order to monitor the result of the treatment or the healing process. In particular when the operation site covers a small area and healing is progressing well, it is very difficult to find the treated site again. For this purpose it is useful to stain the treated site or to place marking dots in its vicinity.
The object of the invention is to disclose a method and an apparatus by means of which fluids can be injected during endoscopic operations.
To solve the problem cited above a method is disclosed for the endoscopic injection of at least one fluid, in particular a solution, a suspension or an emulsion or a mixture of several solutions, into a tissue in a hollow organ, a body cavity or an artificial cavity in a human or animal body. In this process a specified amount of fluid is expelled from the end of a tube or from a nozzle with specifiably adjustable hydraulic parameters such as pressure, rate of rise of pressure, duration and velocity of fluid flow, and with energy such that after an essentially free flight across a distance separating the tube end or nozzle from the tissue, the fluid penetrates into the tissue. That is, in the method in accordance with the invention (or in the apparatus in accordance with the invention) no injection needle is used, which would have to be inserted into the tissue to which the liquid is to be applied. This property makes the method in accordance with the invention especially suitable for the application of fluids during endoscopic operations. In particular, the hydraulic parameters can be adjusted so as to ensure that the fluid penetrates the tissue down to a specified depth, at which the fluid can then exert the desired effect. As a result, it also becomes considerably more certain that undesirable effects will be avoided. For instance, when a site in the intestine is to be marked, it is extremely dangerous to operate with an injection needle, because it is very easy to pierce through the intestinal wall. When the method in accordance with the invention is used, this danger is considerably less.
The preferred procedure is not to apply the entire amount of fluid to be injected in a single xe2x80x9cportionxe2x80x9d. Instead, the desired amount of fluid is injected as a plurality of minimal amounts, all of substantially the same size. The result is to ensure that essentially any desired total amount of fluid can be injected, while nevertheless keeping constant the hydraulic parameters, i.e. the parameters that determine the depth of injection, the diameter of the opening formed in the tissue, and so on; the outcome of the injection process is therefore optimal.
The fluid is preferably not injected perpendicularly into the tissue (i.e., perpendicular to its surface), but rather at an angle. This angle is preferably 30xc2x0 to 60xc2x0 with respect to the tissue. Surprisingly, this range has been found to give the best injection results.
Where possible, the fluid is injected in such a thin stream that the hole formed in the tissue during injection closes immediately thereafter, so that practically none of the injected fluid is then released. This can readily be achieved, because when a correspondingly large number of single (individually small) portions is injected, the amount of fluid can be made as large as desired even though the stream of fluid is very thin.
When two different fluids that can react with one another are to be applied, such as the above-mentioned fibrin adhesive or the like, the fluids are preferably not mixed until just before they injected together, or they are injected separately in rapid succession (in small portions as described above) at the same site, in such a way that they become mixed at the injection site. Especially in the case of fluid mixtures, the individual components of which react with one another very rapidly, and in particular solidify or adhere together, this method of successive injection of fluids is an excellent means of preventing a reaction from taking place in the injection apparatus itself (nozzle or end of tube) and hence destroying the apparatus.
A certain problem can be presented by the unintended emergence of fluid from the end of the tube. This is of no importance when the fluid is a physiological saline solution to be injected underneath a polyp. However, if it is a marking fluid such as tattooing ink, accidental leakage from the end of the tube has fatal consequences, because a place is marked that should not be marked at all. It would be equally fatal if medications were to leak out accidentally. However, some leakage cannot be avoided, if only because a tube filled to its distal end and positioned in the working channel of the endoscope changes its volumexe2x80x94although only slightlyxe2x80x94as the endoscope moves, so that some liquid emerges. It is now proposed to suck away fluid that emerges unintentionally from the end of the tube. This action is made particularly simple by generating a continuous suction current, such that the volume it withdraws per unit time is smaller than the volume injected per unit time during the injection process. By this means, it is ensured that the slowly, unintentionally emerging fluid is completely sucked away, whereas the amount of fluid emerging at high velocity, with a relatively high volume flow per unit time, is practically not reduced.
The endoscopic injection apparatus in accordance with the invention, designed to inject at least one fluid, in particular a solution, a suspension or an emulsion or a mixture thereof into a tissue in a hollow organ, a body cavity or an artificial cavity in a human or animal body, comprises a tube with a distal and a proximal end, which can be so inserted through a working channel of an endoscope, or is so incorporated into an endoscope, that the distal end of the tube projects out of a distal end of the endoscope or ends substantially at the end of the endoscope. A pump mechanism is provided that is in sealed connection with the proximal end of the tube and is so constructed that in response to a control signal it expels from the distal end of the tube a specified amount of fluid, with hydraulic parameters such as pressure, rate of pressure increase, duration and/or velocity that can be set to specified values, and with sufficient energy that the fluid penetrates into the tissue.
The distal end of the tube in this arrangement is preferably so shaped, or provided with a nozzle in such a way, that the hole formed in the tissue during injection closes of its own accord, without previously allowing any appreciable amount of injected fluid to escape. To achieve this, the diameter of the tube end or the nozzle is preferably very small.
The pump mechanism is preferably so constructed that a desired amount of fluid can be injected as a plurality of small, consecutively injected individual volumes. It is therefore necessary that the pump be able to expel very small volumes of fluid one after another in a relatively short time.
Preferably aiming and/or positioning devices are provided at the distal end of the tube, so that the distal end can be kept at a predetermined distance from the tissue and/or oriented in a predetermined direction with respect to the tissue. Preferably these aiming and/or positioning devices are so constructed that the fluid can be injected into the tissue at an angle of about 30xc2x0 to 60xc2x0. That is, the aiming devices for this case must be so constructed that the person operating the apparatus can estimate the angle at which the nozzle or the tube end is directed toward the surface of the tissue.
For special applications the tube, at least in its distal section, comprises several, in particular two lumina. The pumping mechanisms comprise several individual pumps, in order to inject several, in particular two fluids so that they become mixed. This arrangement is useful, for example, when two-component adhesives such as fibrin adhesive are to be injected.
In a further embodiment of the invention the tube preferably comprises a gas- and/or liquid-return lumen, which opens into the tube at its distal end in such a way that the fluid contained in the tube is prevented from emerging through the distal end. For this purpose it is advantageous to provide a suction device to suck fluid out of the fluid-return lumen, which is substantially permanently in operation. This suction device can, for example, be a suction extractor of the kind often present in an operating theatre.
In a preferred embodiment the tube comprises, at or near its distal end, a section with a single lumen or a nozzle, which both facilitates the conduction of such fluid as emerges and, in case two different fluids are to be expelled, enables them to be mixed while still in the tube or the nozzle.
The tube is preferably made of such material, and is sufficiently resistant to pressure and/or provided with sufficient stiffening means, that a pressure pulse introduced into its proximal end emerges essentially undamped or unchanged from its distal end. In this regard it is also important to choose a material with only slight internal damping. The tube can be so constructed that it allows passage of a pressure pulse in its resonant range, like a wave guide. Astonishingly, it has been shown that a tube with a lumen diameter of about 0.2 mm permits such a pressure pulse to pass substantially unattenuated over a length of about 2 m, with adequate rate of rise and adequate pressure.
Preferably the tube, provided with a nozzle where appropriate, together with a fluid reservoir to store relatively large amounts of fluid to be injected during a prolonged period of use or prolonged surgery, is constructed as a sterile injection unit that can be operated as a unit. This construction makes it possible to prepare and perform an injection with minimal manipulation and in an extremely short time, even during an endoscopic operation for which the need of injection was unforeseen. Here it is especially advantageous for the injection unit to be constructed as an item of equipment to be used only once, so as to ensure that there is no deterioration due to wear and tear (blockages or the like) and that no unsterile units are used.
The injection unit preferably comprises at least part of the pump mechanism. One possibility is to equip the pump mechanism with a membrane, a piston or similar movable element as the pressure-generating component, which closes off the fluid reservoir or an intermediate reservoir in the tube in a water-tight manner. To move the membrane or generate the pressure, there can be provided a (disposable) device that is likewise fixedly attached to the whole unit, but preferably a separate, reusable drive mechanism, which applies to the piston or the membrane an adjustable pumping force. For this purpose a suitable pulse generator is provided.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will be come apparent from the subordinate claims.

Method and device for endoscopic injection of at least one fluid


2-Methylpentanediamine is prepared by selectively liquid-phase hydrogenating a minimum concentration 2-methylglutaronitrile, initially nonammoniacal basic reaction medium in the presence of a catalytically effective amount of a Raney nickel-based catalyst, at a temperature of from 40.degree. to 150.degree. C., at a total pressure of less than 40 bars, and said reaction medium containing not more than 10% by weight of water.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to the preparation of 2-methylpentanediamine by hydrogenation of 2-methylglutaronitrile.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Variable but relatively large amounts of 2-methylglutaronitrile are produced in the course of industrial manufacture of adiponitrile by hydrocyanation of 3-pentenenitrile. This by-product can be destroyed, and this, quite obviously, is unsatisfactory from an economic standpoint. It may also be reclaimed, not as such, but after conversion into a useful product. Among the reclaiming processes which appear to be the most promising, there may be mentioned the conversion of 2-methylglutaronitrile into the corresponding isocyanate (2-methylpentane diisocyanate) and, if appropriate, into its derivatives such as biuret and the triisocyanate. This conversion is carried out in two successive operations, namely: hydrogenation of 2-methylglutaronitrile into 2-methylpentanediamine, followed by the phosgenation of the 2-methylpentanediamine into diisocyanate, according to the techniques described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,198. Another possible way of reclaiming 2-methylglutaronitrile entails converting it into 2-methylpentanediamine, which can be employed in the production of specialty polyamides.
In both such cases, it is important to obtain high selectivity and space/time yield during the hydrogenation, to ensure the best possible reclamation of 2-methylglutaronitrile.
Further, the hydrogenation of saturated, alkyl-substituted aliphatic dinitriles is a reaction which has prompted a great number of previous studies. Thus, for example, in published German Patent Application No. 1,543,793, 2-methylglutaronitrile is described as being hydrogenated at 100.degree. C. and at 300 atmospheres in the presence of a Raney cobalt-based catalyst, in absolute alcohol, also in the presence of anhydrous ammonia, to produce 2-methylpentanediamine admixed with 3-methylpiperidine and polymers of unidentified nature, in the following yields, respectively: 80, 18 and 2 (in percent), no mention being made of the hydrogenation time.
In published French Patent Application No. 2,306,202, 2-methylglutaronitrile is described as being hydrogenated at 110.degree. C. and at 400 atmospheres in the presence of cobalt in liquid ammonia, the 2-methylglutaronitrile being continuously charged, hydrogen being recycled, and the reaction mixture being withdrawn continuously. The average composition of such mixture is as follows: 90.9% of 2-methylpentanediamine, 8.2% of 3-methylpiperidine and on the order of 2% of heavy products (cf. Example 1 designated "comparative example" of said application). Example 2 of the same application shows that, all other conditions being equal, hydrogenation of 2-methylglutaronitrile carried out in the presence of a nickel-based catalyst does not permit 2-methylpentanediamine to be selectively obtained since, on the contrary, the reaction mixture thus obtained contains 90.1% of 3-methylpiperidine versus 3.9% of 2-methylpentanediamine and from 6 to 8% of heavy materials. Example 6 of this same application shows, moreover, that when the hydrogenation of 2-methylglutaronitrile is carried out noncontinuously, in the absence of liquid ammonia, at 140.degree. C. and at 300 atmospheres in the presence of nickel in an ethanolic medium containing sodium hydroxide, 2-methylpentanediamine is produced after 2 hours, mixed in particular with 3-methylpiperidine, with a selectivity of only 29.4% (molar).
Furthermore, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,511 a multistage process is described, in which the hydrogenation of 2-methylglutaronitrile, which constitutes the second stage of the process, is carried out in the presence of Raney nickel at a temperature of 120.degree. to 140.degree. C. and at a hydrogen pressure of at least 42 kg/cm.sup.2, to produce 2-methylpentanediamine, the reaction medium comprising an alcoholic solvent which contains ammonia.
However, the selectivity for 2-methylpentanediamine is not satisfactory: it remains between approximately 55 and 60%.
To summarize, none of the previously known processes is fully satisfactory insofar as each exhibits at least one of the following disadvantages:
(1) the need to operate at very high pressure to obtain a worthwhile result using a Raney cobalt-based catalyst;
(2) the lack of selectivity for 2-methylpentanediamine, either to the advantage of heavier products, or to the advantage of another unwanted compound, in this case (3-methylpiperidine); and
(3) the lack of efficiency of the various proposed techniques, particularly due to the long processing times required.
Cf. U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,815 and Swiss Patent No. 245,678.


An apparatus for and a method of performing an animal-related action regarding at least a part of the body of an animal is proposed. The apparatus includes a cleaning tool (15), adapted to be brought into contact with the part of the body, a support (16, 17) provided to support the cleaning tool (15), and a drive element (18, 24) provided to move the cleaning tool (15) along the contour of the part of the body. A sensor (34) is provided to sense the contact of the cleaning tool (15) and the animal. Furthermore, a processor (36) is provided to determine the position of the part in response to the sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for performing an animal-related action regarding at least a part of the body of an animal, comprising a cleaning tool, adapted to be brought into contact with said part, a support means provided to support the cleaning tool, and a drive means provided to move the cleaning tool along the contour of said part. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method of performing an animal-related action regarding at least a part of a body of an animal, comprising the steps of: bringing a cleaning tool into contact with said part, and moving the cleaning tool along the contour of the said part.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automatic milking of animals is known from e.g. EP-A-91 892. Such automatic milking may take place in one or more combined feeding and milking stalls provided in a barn in which the animals are allowed to walk about freely and find their way voluntarily to the stalls for feeding, drinking and milking. The animals, voluntarily entering the milking stall, are automatically identified with the aid of a computer connected to identification means. By means of the computer, in which facts concerning each animal, when it was last milked, etc. are stored, an automatic handling device is activated to pick up the teatcups of a milking machine and attach them to the teats of the animal.
One problem in connection with such automatic milking is to determine the position of the teats of the animal being present in the stall in order to enable said attachment. A number of different solutions has been proposed to solve this problem. Thereby, one may differ between forcing systems and searching systems. Forcing systems are based on the idea of forcing, for example by physically pushing, the animal to a determined position in the milking stall and in which the teats then may be found by means of a sophisticated search equipment, for example including a video camera and image processing. Search systems are based on the idea that the animal may stay in any position in the milking stall and it is the task of the search system to determine the position of the animal. Thereby, a rough determination of the position of the animal may first be performed, and from this rough position, the position of the teats may be determined by means of a more sophisticated search equipment. Such search systems are advantageous in connection with voluntary milking described above, since it is important for the functioning of such a milking concept that the animals are encouraged to enter the milking stall and therefore forcing the animal should be avoided as far as possible. Furthermore, in connection with automatic milking it is known to determine the position of a cow being present in the milking stall by means of a device comprising spring biased arms abutting the cow and following her movements. Such a device functions for the determination of a rough position of the animal, from which position the teats of the animal then may be found by a more sophisticated search equipment. However, such devices are mechanically very complex with many moving elements, and therefore they are subjected to wear and the reliability thereof is not satisfying. Moreover, cows being fairly strong easily may damage such arms; a mere bending thereof results in an inaccurate measurement of the animal position.
Another problem in connection with automatic milking is that the udder and in particular the teats must be cleaned before the attachment of the teatcups. Such cleaning procedure must be possible to perform automatically. Thereby, it is known to spray a cleaning liquid, such as water, on the udder from beneath by means of a nozzle provided on the floor of the milking stall. However, such cleaning does not work satisfactorily for dirt being ingrained, thereby increasing the risk of contamination of the milk. Moreover, there is a number of prior art devices proposed for mechanically cleaning the teats before milking.
EP-A-535 755 discloses a device for cleaning the teats of milk-producing animals, having a computer with means for process control. With the aid of the computer a casing comprising two rotating brushes are moved against the udder to enclose the same, and thereby the brushes are contacting and cleaning the teats. Monitoring means are provided to determine the contamination of the teats and thus the termination of the cleaning process may be controlled.
EP-A-535 756 discloses a similar device having position determining means adapted to determine the position of the teats for facilitating the application of the cleaning device. The device disclosed in these two documents has a very complicated structure and large dimensions, making it difficult to house it in the already fairly limited space of the milking stall.
EP-A-643 910 discloses an implement for milking of animals. The implement comprises a milking robot having a robot arm being able to carry teatcups and a cleaning member for cleaning the teats of the animal. The cleaning member is provided to be coupled to or uncoupled from the robot arm.
FR-A-2 159 370 discloses an apparatus for cleaning the udder and the teats of a cow. The apparatus comprises a pair of rotating brushes which are movable against the udder of the cow by means of pneumatic cylinders.
EP-A-309 036 discloses a mechanism for cleaning the udder and the teats of a cow. The mechanism comprises a rotatable brush supported by a fork which is tiltable upwardly by means of a counterweight against the udder of the cow.

Apparatus for and a method of performing an animal-related action regarding at least a part of the body of an animal