The present invention concerns a sealed package formed from a polymer film comprising a block copolymeric substrate and a heat sealable coating and/or skin layer on the substrate, the package being formed by wrapping the film around an article to be packaged in a manner to obtain at least one region of film overlap, and heat sealing the resulting overlapped film sections to each other to provide at least one sealed region of the package, the sealed region being subsequently openable by manually separating the overlapped film sections, effective without substantial tearing of the film at or around the sealed region.

WO-A-96/04178 discloses a peelable film comprising a core layer comprising an olefin polymer and a heat-sealable layer comprising a blend of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and a material incompatible with the LDPE, such as an olefin polymer or a co- or terpolymer of ethylene, propylene or butylene. The film structure can be heat-sealed to a plastic container to form the lid of the container, or to itself to form a package.
EP-A-746468 describes a multi layer film which peels by rupture within what is referred to in the specification as an intermediate layer between a base layer and a heat sealable layer. The intermediate layer is said to comprise preferably a blend of polymers which do not co-crystallise.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,915 discloses an oriented polyolefin film having a white-opaque cold seal-receptive skin layer on one side of a core layer and a vacuum deposited metal layer on the other side of the core layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,792 discloses a heat-sealable composition comprising (a) from about 30 to about 70 wt % of a low-melting polymer comprising a very low density ethylene-based copolymer defined by a density in the range of about 0.88 g/cm3 to about 0.915 g/cm3, a melt index in the range of about 1.5 dg/min to about 7.5 dg/min, a molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) no greater than about 3.5 and (b) from about 70 to about 30 wt % of a propylene-based polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,780 discloses an oriented polymeric α-olefin film having: an isotactic propylene homopolymer core; a cold seal release skin layer adherent to one side of the core; and a surface treated cold seal receptive layer or such treated layer with a cold seal cohesive composition over the surface treatment of said layer on the other side of the core. The cold seal release skin layer comprises a slip agent and a blend of two polymers, namely, an ethylene-propylene random copolymer containing about 2% to 8% of ethylene in such copolymer and an ethylene-butylene copolymer containing about 0.5% to 6% of ethylene in such copolymer. The cold seal receptive layer is of an ethylene-propylene random copolymer containing about 2 to 8% of ethylene.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,265 discloses a peelable film comprising (a) a core layer comprising an olefin polymer, (b) a skin layer on at least one surface of the core layer, the skin layer comprising: a blend of a butylene polymer with another olefin polymer or a polymer of butylene and at least one other olefin, and (c) a coating layer on the skin layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,698 relates to a peelable, oriented, opaque, multilayer polyolefin film comprising at least one opaque layer and a peelable top layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,442 relates to multilayer films that are heat-sealable over a broad temperature range. The '442 patent also relates to multilayer films that provide easy-opening and hermetic seals to packages. The films of the '442 patent are made up of a core layer comprising linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and at least one skin layer having a melting point of at least 10° C. below the core layer melting point.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,968 discloses a multilayer polyolefin film comprising at least three coextruded layers comprising an opaque base layer, an intermediate layer, and an outer peelable surface layer composed of two incompatible polyolefins, wherein the intermediate layer contains at least 80% by weight of a polyolefin having a lower melting point or lower glass transition temperature than the polyolefin forming the base layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,975 discloses a sealable film comprising an inner layer of any olefin polymer, a sealing layer and a separable layer positioned there between. The separable layer comprises an ethylene-propylene copolymer or a blend of polyethylene and another olefin, which forms an incompatible mixture or blend.
Another type of peelable seal is described in our co-pending United Kingdom patent application 0514785.5.
There is on ongoing need for improved products in the field of sealable and peelable film structures. In particular, a need still exists for a film structure that has a sealable outer layer that seals well to itself or other surfaces over a broad temperature and/or pressure range and which is able to peel within one layer of a multi-layer film, and yet which maintains acceptable characteristics for the film's end use in terms of at least one of gloss, haze, opacity, printability and COF. In particular there is a need for peelable films which can be readily opened without creating a "z-direction" tear. In stretched polyolefin films, in particular biaxially orientated polypropylene films, the mechanical strength of seal seams is often higher than that of the film itself, and therefore when a sealed pack is opened is not only the seal seam which is broken apart. Typically a tear propagates in an uncontrolled manner through the entire film upon opening. Peelable films are films which once sealed can be separated again mechanically without damaging or destroying the film itself. Peelable seal layers are typically required to have good sealing properties and also permit controlled opening of a bag or package. A peelable heat sealable film can be formed when a coated film is formed by coating a biaxially oriented polypropylene film formed as a multi layer film with a core of a homopolymer of polypropylene with a skin layer formed on each side or major surface of the core with a heat sealable coating. Such skin layers may be formed from copolymers such as copolymers of propylene and ethylene including block copolymer. The skin layer formed as a melt coat during the production of the film is believed to give a peeling seal when coated by virtue of incompatible phases in the melt coat. This limits the plain of failure to the melt coat itself, away from the core layer avoiding any possibility of a tearing seal in the core. The result is that the seal is weaker than a conventional seal but gives the same seal strength throughout the pool, and doesn't tear. A z-direction tear disrupts the integrity of a multilayer film when the film is pulled apart at the seal. A film with a z-direction tear has not simply separated at the seal line. Instead, the separation, or tear, has extended to other layers of the film. It is difficult to properly reclose a package that has a z-direction tear, thereby hampering the ability of the package to maintain the freshness or integrity of its contents. When z-direction tears can be eliminated, packages are easily refolded and sealed by simple mechanical means, such as a clip or adhesive label.

Sealable, peelable film comprising a block copolymer peelable core layer


A method for producing a polyurethane flexible foam, which comprises reacting at least one high molecular weight polyol selected from the group consisting of a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a hydroxyl value of from 5 to 38 mgKOH/g, from 2 to 8 hydroxyl groups and a total unsaturation degree of not more than 0.07 meq/g and a polymer-dispersed polyol containing said polyoxyalkylene polyol as the matrix, an optional crosslinking agent and a polyisocyanate compound in the presence of a low viscosity compound having an addition-polymerizable unsaturated group, a catalyst, a foaming agent and a foam stabilizer.

The present invention relates to a polyurethane flexible foam and a method for its production. Particularly, it relates to a polyurethane flexible foam having excellent physical properties as a seat cushion for automobiles, and a method for its production.
In recent years, various new studies have been made to improve the properties of polyurethane flexible foam. For example, reflecting a trend for grading up of e.g. automobiles, improvement of the vibration characteristics of seat cushions, is desired. The relation between the vibration of the car body and the human being is not uniform. However, it is suggested that it is effective for the improvement of the comfortable ride to take a particularly large attenuation of the frequency region (e.g. from 4 to 8 Hz or from 6 to 20 Hz) to which human being is particularly sensitive. Accordingly, it is considered possible to substantially improve the comfortable ride if the seat cushion is made of a polyurethane flexible foam having a resonant frequency lower than this frequency region. However, heretofore, no polyurethane flexible foam has been known which has a resonant frequency of less than 4 Hz.
Heretofore, one of the present inventors has proposed the invention concerning a polyurethane flexible foam having a low resonant frequency (International Patent Application No. PCT/JP89/01067). The main essential feature of this invention is to use a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a low hydroxyl value and a low total unsaturation degree as a starting material for the polyurethane flexible foam.

Method for producing polyurethane flexible foam


The invention relates to a machine for converting heat into mechanical energy comprising an expansion device producing mechanical energy from a flow of vapor of a fluid; an evaporator heated by a heat source to a high temperature and configured to supply the expansion device with vapor; a condenser cooled by a heat sink to a low temperature and configured to condense the vapor discharged by the expansion device; a liquid circuit configured to transfer fluid in liquid phase from the condenser to the evaporator; a vapor circuit configured to transfer fluid in vapor phase from the evaporator to the condenser; and valves configured to, in a first, active stroke, close the liquid and vapor circuits, and, in a second, inactive stroke, open the liquid and vapor circuits.

An ORC cycle typically uses a working fluid with a lower boiling point than water at ambient pressure. The fluid is often an organic refrigerant, such as a hydrocarbon gas (ethane, propane, butane, propylene, etc.). A machine using an ORC cycle generally comprises four components:
An evaporator or generator heated by a heat source, which vaporizes liquid fluid at high pressure.
An expansion device, often a turbine, powered by the high-pressure steam produced by the evaporator. This expansion device produces mechanical energy that can be converted into electricity.
A condenser cooled by a heat sink, which collects the steam discharged at low pressure by the turbine and liquefies it.
A pump to feed the evaporator at high pressure from the condenser's low pressure liquid fluid.
Regardless of the refrigerant used, the temperature of the heat source at the evaporator is in practice rarely below 100° C., since the machine would then not be economically viable. This excludes many waste heat recovery applications, usually having temperatures well below 100° C.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,152 discloses a machine based on an ORC cycle that does not use a pump, which would allow a better exploitation of waste heat sources. The pump is replaced by a transfer tank connected between the condenser and the evaporator through respective valves. The tank operates in four steps. In the first step, the tank is opened to the condenser to receive liquid fluid at low pressure by gravity. In a second step, the tank is closed and heated by the heat source. The fluid in the tank vaporizes, at least partially, and its pressure increases. In a third step, when the pressure in the tank is close to that of the evaporator, the tank is opened to the evaporator. The pressures in the tank and the evaporator equalize, while the liquid remaining in the tank is transferred to the evaporator by gravity. In a fourth step, the tank is closed and cooled by the heat sink. The vapor in the enclosure liquefies and the pressure drops.
In principle, such a machine can supply steam to a turbine relatively continuously, but it is difficult to alternately heat and cool the transfer tank fast enough to obtain a usable flow rate.

Machine for converting residual heat into mechanical energy


Personal data mining mechanisms and methods are employed to identify relevant information that otherwise would likely remain undiscovered. Users supply personal data that can be analyzed in conjunction with data associated with a plurality of other users to provide useful information that can improve business operations and/or quality of life. Personal data can be mined alone or in conjunction with third party data to identify correlations amongst the data and associated users. Applications or services can interact with such data and present it to users in a myriad of manners, for instance as notifications of opportunities.

Computers and computer related technology have evolved significantly over the past several decades to the point where vast amounts of computer readable data is being created and stored daily. Digital computers were initially simply very large calculators designed to aid performance of scientific calculations. Only many years later had computers evolved to a point where they were able to execute stored programs. Subsequent rapid emergence of computing power produced personal computers that were able to facilitate document production and printing, bookkeeping as well as business forecasting, among other things. Constant improvement of processing power coupled with significant advances in computer memory and/or storage devices (as well as expediential reduction in cost) have led to persistence and processing of an enormous volume of data, which continues today. For example, data warehouses are now widespread technologies employed to support business decisions over terabytes of data.
The sheer volume of collected data made it nearly impossible for a human being alone to perform any meaningful analysis, as was done in the past. This predicament led to the development of data mining and associated tools. Data mining or alternatively knowledge discovery relates to the process of exploring large quantities of data in order to discover meaningful information about the data that is generally in the form of relationships, patterns and rules. In this process, various forms of analysis can be employed to discern such patterns and rules in historical data for a given application or business scenario. Such information can then be stored as an abstract mathematical model of the historical data, referred to as a data-mining model (DMM). After the DMM is created, new data can be examined with respect to the model to determine if the data fits a desired pattern or rule.
Conventionally, data mining is employed by large corporations to understand complex business processes. This can be achieved through discovery of relationships or patterns in data relating to past behavior of a business process. Such patterns can be utilized to improve the performance of a process by exploiting favorable and avoiding problematic patterns. Examples of business processes where data mining can be useful are customer response to advertisement, energy consumption, sales prediction, product association and risk assessment. In each of these examples, data mining can reveal which factors affect outcome of a business event or process and patterns relating the outcome to these factors. Such patterns increase understanding of these processes and therefore ability to predict and affect outcome.

Recommendation system that identifies a valuable user action by mining data supplied by a plurality of users to find a correlation that suggests one or more actions for notification


The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for printing graphics on absorbent articles. Printing systems according to the present disclosure may include a carrier apparatus that transports individual absorbent articles past a printing station, which prints a custom graphic on the absorbent articles. The carrier apparatus may include a hook member connected with an endless belt. The printing system may also include a pressing apparatus positioned adjacent the endless belt. During operation, an absorbent article may be positioned on a hook member, and the endless belt conveys the absorbent article in the machine direction past the printing station. As the absorbent article advances toward the printing station, the pressing apparatus compresses and flattens the absorbent article against the hook member to help provide a relatively flat, smooth surface on the absorbent article to be printed. The printing station then prints a graphic on the advancing article.

Along an assembly line, diapers and various types of other disposable absorbent articles may be assembled by adding components to and otherwise modifying advancing, continuous webs of material. Webs of material and component parts used to manufacture diapers may include: backsheets, topsheets, absorbent cores, front and/or back ears, fastener components, and various types of elastic webs and components such as leg elastics, barrier leg cuff elastics, and waist elastics. In some processes, graphics are printed on individual components and/or continuous webs of material used to assemble the absorbent articles.
Some consumers may prefer purchasing absorbent articles, such as diapers, having a number of different graphic designs printed thereon and provided in a single package. Further, some consumers may prefer purchasing diapers having customized graphics printed thereon. Various methods and apparatuses can be used to print different graphics on an advancing web of material used in the manufacture of absorbent articles. However, such methods and apparatuses may provide for limited numbers of different printed graphics; graphics with relatively low quality print; and/or require relatively low print and/or manufacture speeds. In addition, such methods and apparatuses may also require relatively expensive processes and equipment and may not be very flexible in allowing a user to change the type of graphics to be printed.
As such, there remains a demand to create and supply relatively small quantities of diapers in a single order that are printed with customized/personalized graphics efficiently, while at the same time maintaining a large degree of flexibility to fill large numbers of orders.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process and apparatus for printing assembled absorbent articles with custom graphics


A variable delay circuit includes a load on a signal transfer line, at least one transistor connected to the signal transfer line. Each transistor is controlled by a gate voltage thereof so that a signal on the signal transfer line is delayed in response to a magnitude of the gate capacitance connected thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable delay circuit which controls a delay circuit provided on a transfer path to vary the delay time of the delay circuit and to a semiconductor integrated circuit device having such a delay circuit.
The circuit design mainstream utilizes clock synchronization due to the recent progress towards increasing of the operation speed and the integration density. Hence, it becomes important to suitably supply a given circuit with a clock that is synchronized with an external clock signal. The latest art uses a DLL (Delay Locked Loop) circuit having the minimum delay time unit equal to approximately 200 ps in order to generate an internal clock which is synchronism with the external clock. As the frequency of the internal clock is increased, it is required that a variable delay circuit using the DLL circuit has a higher precision.
2. The Description of the Related Art
A description will now be given, with reference to FIG. 1, of a conventional variable delay circuit.
The circuit shown in FIG. 1 has a four-stage delay circuit consisting of first, second, third and fourth delay circuits 201, 202, 203 and 204, respectively.
The first delay circuit 201 includes gates G201 and G202, and the second delay circuit 202 includes gates G203, G204 and G205. The third delay circuit 203 includes gates G206, G207 and G208, and the fourth delay circuit 204 includes gates G209, G210 and G211. The first through fourth delay circuits 201 through 204 are supplied with switch input signals via switch terminals (SW) P203 through P206. One of the switch input signals is switched to a high level (H), an input clock signal applied to an input terminal P201 is delayed by a delay time based on which one of the switch input signals is switched to the high level. A resultant delayed clock signal is output via an output terminal P202. Each of the gates G201-G211 has a unit delay time 1 td.
In the operation of the first delay circuit 201, the gate G201 is masked when the signal applied to the switch terminal P203 is at a low level (L). The output signal obtained at the output terminal 202 is always at the low level irrespective of whether the other input of the gate G201 is high or low. The gate 201 is released from the masked state when the signal applied to the switch terminal P203 is at the high level. If the potential of the other input of the gate G201 successively changes to the high level and the low level in this order, the output signal of the output terminal P202 is changed to the high level and the low level in this order. Hence, when the signal applied to the switch terminal P203 is at the high level, the delay time from the input terminal P201 to the output terminal P202 is equal to 2 td because the input signal passes through the two stages of gates therebetween.
In the operation of the second delay circuit 202, the gate G203 is masked when the signal applied to the switch terminal P204 is at the low level. The output signal of the output terminal P202 is always at the low level irrespective of whether the other input of the gate G203 is high or low. The gate 203 is released from the masked state when the signal applied to the switch terminal P204 is at the high level. If the potential of the other input of the gate G203 successively changes to the high level and the low level in this order, the output signal of the output terminal P202 is changed to the high level and the low level in this order. Hence, when the signal applied to the switch terminal P204 is at the high level, the delay time from the input terminal P201 to the output terminal P202 is equal to 4 td because the input signal passes through the four stages of gates therebetween.
Similarly, the output signal of the output terminal P202 obtained when the third delay circuit 203 or the fourth delay circuit 204 is activated by the switch signal applied to the switch terminal P205 or P206, respectively. If the switch signal applied to the switch terminal P205 is at the high level, the delay time provided from the input terminal P201 to the output terminal P202 is equal to 6 td, which corresponds to 6 gates. When the switch signal applied to the switch terminal P206 is at the high level, the delay time from the input terminal P201 to the output terminal P202 is equal to 8 td, which corresponds to 8 gates.
Hence, the conventional variable delay circuit having four stages of delay circuits is capable of providing the variable times equal to 2 td to 8 td.
A description will now be given, with reference to FIG. 2, of a conventional DLL circuit utilizing the above-mentioned conventional variable delay circuit.
Referring to FIG. 2, a conventional DLL circuit 210 includes a variable delay circuit 212, a phase comparator circuit 215, and a delay control circuit 216. The variable delay circuit 212 delays an external clock signal received by an input circuit 211 by a given delay time, and outputs the delayed external clock signal to an output circuit 213. The phase comparator circuit 215 compares the phase of a reference signal "ref" supplied from the input circuit 211 with the phase of a signal "in" output by a dummy circuit 214. The signal output by the dummy circuit 214 has a delay time equal to the sum of the delay times of the input circuit 211, the variable delay circuit 212 and the output circuit 213 and the delay times of wiring lines provided between the input circuit 211 and the output circuit 213. The conventional DLL circuit 210 thus configured functions to delay the clock signal from the input circuit 211 with a precision of approximately 200 ps so that the output clock signal having a predetermined phase relationship with the clock signal from the input circuit 211.
A description will now be given, with reference to FIG. 3, of a phase setting process of the DLL circuit 210. In FIG. 3, a symbol "ref" denotes the reference signal output by the input circuit 211, and a symbol "in" denotes the signal output by the dummy circuit 214. The DLL circuit 210 delays the external clock received via the input circuit 211 by a given delay time through the variable delay circuit 212. The output circuit 213 receives the delayed clock signal from the variable delay circuit 212 and supplies a circuit of the following stage with the clock signal which has been pulled in phase with the external clock signal.
The dummy circuit 214 supplies the phase comparator circuit 215 with the signal "in" having the same delay time as that equal to the sum of the delay times of the input circuit 211, the variable delay circuit 212 and the output circuit 213 and the delay times of the wiring lines provided therebetween (step S101). The input circuit 211 outputs, as the reference signal "ref", the external clock signal to the phase comparator circuit 215 (step S101). The phase comparator circuit 215 determines whether the signals "ref" and "in" are in phase (step S102). If the signals "ref" and "in" are out of phase, the relative phase relationship therebetween is determined (step S102).
If the signals "ref" and "in" are in phase ("just" at step S102), the delay control circuit 216 holds the current delay time of the variable delay circuit 212, and the phase comparator circuit 215 periodically performs the phase comparing operation.
If it is discerned, at step S102, that the signal "ref" from the input circuit 211 lags behind the signal "in" ("-1" at step S102), the phase comparator circuit 215 detects the phase difference therebetween. The delay control circuit 216 controls, based on the detected phase difference, the variable delay circuit 212 to reduce the delay time one stage by one stage (step S103). Then, the process returns to step S101 so that the steps S101 and S102 via step S103 are repeatedly carried out at predetermined intervals.
If it is discerned, at step S102, that the signal "in" from the dummy circuit 214 lags behind the signal "ref" ("+1" of step S102), the phase comparator circuit 215 detects the phase difference therebetween. The delay control circuit 216 controls, based on the detected phase difference, the variable delay circuit 212 to increase the delay time one stage by one stage (step S104). Then, the process returns to step S101 so that the steps S101 and S102 via step S104 are repeatedly carried out at predetermined intervals.
However, the conventional variable delay circuits as shown in FIG. 1 have a disadvantage in which a delay time shorter than the unit delay time 2 td, for example, a delay time 1 td cannot be obtained and the precision is restricted to 2 td.

Variable delay circuit and semiconductor intergrated circuit device


A cable connecting apparatus includes ground conductors, a first plate member, a second plate member, a separation torsion spring, and engagement members. The ground conductors each include a body that is to be mounted on an outer conductor of a cable, and an arm that is disposed on the body and to be connected to a ground contact of a cable connector. The first plate member and the second plate member clamp the ground conductors in a state in which the ground conductors are arranged side by side. The separation torsion spring and the engagement members are disposed between the first plate member and the second plate member and maintain a constant distance between the plate members.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable connecting apparatus, a cable assembly, and a method of making the cable assembly. The cable connecting apparatus is used to collectively connect a plurality of differential signal transmission cables to a cable connector, each of the differential signal transmission cables transmitting differential signals whose phases are shifted by 180 degrees.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some electrical apparatuses, such as servers, rooters, storage devices, for handling high speed digital signals of several Gbit/s or higher, are compliant with a differential interface standard, such as low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS). Between such apparatuses or between circuit boards in such apparatuses, differential signals are transmitted through differential signal transmission cables. By using differential signaling, reduction in the voltage of a system power source is realized. Moreover, differential signaling is resistant to extraneous noise.
A differential signal transmission cable includes a pair of signal line conductors. A positive signal and a negative signal, whose phases are shifted by 180 degrees, are transmitted through the respective signal line conductors. A signal level is represented by the voltage difference between these two signals. For example, an apparatus on the receiving side recognizes that the signal level is "High" when the voltage difference is positive and the signal level is "Low" when the voltage difference is negative.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-099434 (FIGS. 1 and 2), for example, discloses a technology related to a differential signal transmission cable for transmitting differential signals. In the technology described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-099434 (FIGS. 1 and 2), a differential signal transmission cable includes a pair of signal line conductors extending parallelly with a predetermined distance therebetween. The signal line conductors are covered with an insulator. In other words, the insulator holds the signal line conductors so that the signal line conductors extend parallelly with a predetermined distance therebetween. The insulator is covered with a sheet-like outer conductor, and the outer conductor is covered with a sheath, which is a protective cover.
By stripping an end portion of the differential signal transmission cable in a stepwise manner, parts of the signal line conductors and a part of the outer conductor are exposed to the outside. A shield connection terminal, which is made of a metal, is connected to an exposed portion of the outer conductor by being crimped. The shield connection terminal includes a metal plate and a solder connection pin that is integrally formed with the metal plate. When the metal plate is crimped, the metal plate becomes plastically deformed so as to follow the shape of the outer conductor. Thus, the outer conductor and the shield connection terminal are electrically connected to each other, and the outer conductor is electrically connected to a ground pad of a circuit board through the shield connection terminal.

Cable connecting apparatus, cable assembly, and method of making cable assembly


A computer method and system for prioritizing network traffic flow to a protected computer network. Network traffic flowing from one or more external hosts to the protected computer network is intercepted and intercepted data packets are dropped if forwarding the intercepted data packet to the protected network would cause the value of the bandwidth of network traffic flow to the protected network to exceed a configured overall traffic bandwidth threshold value associated with the protected network. If not dropped, the intercepted data packet is analyzed to determine a classification type for the intercepted data packet based upon prescribed criteria wherein each classification type has an assigned classification bandwidth threshold value, wherein the classification bandwidth threshold value is less than the overall traffic bandwidth threshold value for the protected network. The intercepted data packet is dropped if forwarding the intercepted data packet would cause the value of the bandwidth of traffic flow to the protected network to exceed the bandwidth threshold value assigned to the determined classification type of the intercepted packets.

The Internet is a global public network of interconnected computer networks that utilize a standard set of communication and configuration protocols. It consists of many private, public, business, school, and government networks. Within each of the different networks are numerous host devices such as workstations, servers, cellular phones, portable computer devices, to name a few examples. These host devices are able to connect to devices within their own network or to other devices within different networks through communication devices such as hubs, switches, routers, and firewalls, to list a few examples.
The growing problems associated with security exploits within the architecture of the Internet are of significant concern to network providers. Networks and network devices are increasingly affected by the damages caused by Denial of Service ("DoS") attacks. A DoS attack is defined as an action taken upon on a computer network or system by an offensive external device that prevents any part of the network from functioning in accordance with its intended purpose. This attack may cause a loss of service to the users of the network and its network devices. For example, the loss of network services may be achieved by flooding the system to prevent the normal servicing for performing legitimate requests. The flooding may consume all of the available bandwidth of the targeted network or it may exhaust the computational resources of the targeted system.
DoS mitigation techniques often include Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) which examines the contents of network packets received by a mitigation device to make a determination to meter certain network traffic flowing to a protected network/device (e.g., drop or pass packets in the network traffic flow). However, it is to be appreciated that metering techniques for determining on whether to drop vs. pass network traffic flow is typically not easy to define meaning that there is often a "gray area" where such a mitigation system has some probability it can be caused to drop legitimate network traffic flow.
Often during DoS mitigation it is known that a protected network/device has a maximum capability in terms of bits per second (bps), packets per second (pps), or connections per second (cps). The operator can configure a mitigation device to arbitrarily drop packets that exceed the configured rate. This technique is known as "rate limiting". A noted benefit of this technique is the operator ensures a protected service on a network/device will not experience excessive traffic, however a noted drawback is it likely to over-mitigate, meaning legitimate network traffic flow will also be caused to be dropped.

Mitigation of network attacks by prioritizing network traffic


A compact, mobile, dedicated SPECT brain imager that can be easily moved to the patient to provide in-situ imaging, especially when the patient cannot be moved to the Nuclear Medicine imaging center. As a result of the widespread availability of single photon labeled biomarkers, the SPECT brain imager can be used in many locations, including remote locations away from medical centers. The SPECT imager improves the detection of gamma emission from the patient's head and neck area with a large field of view. Two identical lightweight gamma imaging detector heads are mounted to a rotating gantry and precisely mechanically co-registered to each other at 180 degrees. A unique imaging algorithm combines the co-registered images from the detector heads and provides several SPECT tomographic reconstructions of the imaged object thereby improving the diagnostic quality especially in the case of imaging requiring higher spatial resolution and sensitivity at the same time.

Brain disease is becoming more prevalent in the aging population because of increased life span and Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, other dementias, and brain cancer will increase as US and European populations continue to age. Approximately 4,000,000 people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's disease. The US alone is expected to have 15 million Alzheimer's cases by 2050. Also an estimated 1.5 million people in the US have Parkinson's. Neurological brain disease affects 1% of Americans over 60 and each year there are 100,000 new cases. Diagnostic analysis of brain function represents an area of unmet need in the current imaging technology. Physicians require more specific and accurate information about brain function in addition to anatomy in order to diagnose a condition, prescribe treatment, and monitor results of intervention and treatment. Promising new drug therapies for Alzheimer's disease have been developed that can slow the progression of the disease. Nuclear medicine currently provides several molecular imaging modalities to assist with the assessment of brain function: Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), and planar limited-angle tomography or simple planar single gamma imaging.
From the point of view of brain biology and imaging performance, including the physics of the process and imaging technique, PET is the first choice for the molecular brain imaging tasks for several reasons, including: 1) 18F-FDG brain imaging already serves as a sensitive method for diagnosis of Alzheimer's, 2) Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB) biomarker is expected to further improve early diagnosis of Alzheimer's, 3) many new PET radiopharmaceuticals for brain function imaging are presently under development to diagnose conditions before symptoms appear, 4) 4-5 mm resolution provided by current clinical PET scanners is less than half of that provided by clinical SPECT systems, and 5) the physical limit of the PET technique is around 1-2 mm while the typical spatial resolution obtained in SPECT imaging is about 10 mm due to the physical limits of mechanical collimators. However, at the current time PET's availability and cost are obstacles to fast widespread introduction while single photon labeled biomarkers can be made available in most practical situations due to their longer half-lives, no need for nearby production centers, and lower cost.
Tc-99m is the most popular label used in nuclear medicine with photon (gamma) emissions at ˜140 keV and with a convenient half-life of about 6 hours. The major problem associated with the single photon imaging procedure is that the characteristic gamma radiation from Tc-99m undergoes substantial absorption when traversing tissues such as brain. As a result for Tc-99m, the gamma ray flux, and the associated imaging signal in the gamma camera, coming from the sector of the head/neck away from the detector is much more attenuated than the gamma rays originating in the front part of the head.
With proper collimators and shielding, distribution of other single photon labels can be imaged such as I123, In111, Lu177, or I131. Except I123 (159 keV gamma emission), the three listed beta emitters are used in radiation treatment of cancer, also known as brachytherapy. In principle, therefore, the proposed method can also improve imaging of cancerous tissue in the brain/neck during treatment.
Neurological disorders that can be diagnosed by SPECT include traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), anxiety disorders, autism, bipolar disorder, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
What is needed therefore, is a mobile dedicated SPECT brain imager capable of producing high resolution images of the entirety of the patient's head, brain, and neck area. The dedicated imager geometry will include a reduced loss of imaging signals, which is commonly associated with conventional SPECT imagers, coming from the sector away from the detector as a result of attenuation of the gamma rays. By using SPECT imaging, the brain imager will take advantage of the longer half-lives of SPECT biomarkers which are more easily available at a lower cost than comparable PET biomarkers.

High-resolution single photon planar and spect imaging of brain and neck employing a system of two co-registered opposed gamma imaging heads


The present invention discloses a device comprising a thermal fuse and a resistor, the solid ceramic base of the wirewound resistor is changed to be hollow, forming a ceramic tube; the thermal fuse is placed in the solid ceramic base, the ceramic tube provides housing for the thermal fuse; a lead wire of the thermal fuse passes through an end cap of an end of the wirewound resistor, the other end of the thermal fuse extends out of the end cap of the other end of the wirewound resistor, the end cap of the wirewound resistor extends outwardly with a lead wire, then an epoxy resin is used to encapsulate the device. The present invention can be used as a basic unit and directly installed in an existing high-frequency charger; it is capable of replacing the existing simple wirewound resistor or the wirewound resistor with an external contact type thermal fuse, and realizing triple functions of general impedance, over-current fuse protection, and over-temperature protection in case of overload.

With wide application of micro-electrical equipment, especially the mobile communication equipment, charging device for battery becomes the necessity of the mobile equipment. A high-frequency circuit is usually used to design and build a charger for conveniently carrying and the self-adaptation the AC100V˜240V mains voltage, therefore the safety performance of the charger appears particularly important. A current-limiting resistor against over-current and over-temperature is the key component for the safety of the high-frequency circuit. The present invention provides to meet the demand of safety requirements, further achieving reliability and quick response.
Although the wirewound resistor also has an over-current fuse function, the resistor wire is applied with a high melting point alloy and the alloy wire of the wirewound resistor will melt to realize fuse function only if subjected to a current which is over 20 times of the rated current. However, in actual application, when the load is abnormal, the current of the wirewound resistor is often unable to reach the current level which the wirewound resistor material can melt, therefore cause the fuse function of the wirewound resistor can't be realized, while the temperature of the wirewound resistor reaches 300˜500° C.
This is a serious problem and dangerous condition for the charger. Under these conditions, people use an external contact type thermal fuse connected in series and placed inside a ceramic box, and when the thermal fuse senses that the temperature of the wirewound resistor reaches the rated temperature of the thermal fuse, the thermal fuse will melt to cut off the circuit. However, thermal fuse occupies additional area in the PCB and it needs 4 bonding pads under such operation.
Moreover, according to safety consideration, the micro-heating elements used in daily life, such as aromatherapy diffuser or mosquito repellant electric liquid vaporizer, are applied with a thermal fuse against over-heating. Existing assembly method is to connect a resistor and a thermal fuse in series then assemble the unit inside a ceramic box, and the box is filled with solidifiable insulation material. This makes the size of the product large, therefore the heat may be lost and the energy may be wasted.
In addition, the current of the motor of a power tool or an electrical fan is six times the normal working current when they are blocked, under which condition the motor heats quickly. It needs a thermal fuse to cut off the current to prevent a fire because of over-heating condition. But not expected to decrease the operation temperature of the thermal fuse to increase the agility. However, mild overload or voltage pulsation happens when the motor works, under these mild conditions, the thermal fuse is expected not to be cut off. So there is an issue with setting up the temperature of the thermal fuse.
A component comprising a thermal fuse and a resistor of new, small size, an integrated structure and fast installation is provided, the structure solves above three problems.

Device comprising a thermal fuse and a resistor


An image pickup system is equipped with a cylindrical lens CL, which, for a light flux emitted from light source 1, converges only light flux components of a single direction within a section perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the light flux, an objective lens OL, on which the light flux emitted from cylindrical lens CL is made incident after the light flux has passed the convergence position of cylindrical lens CL, and a galvanomirror 3a, which is disposed along the optical path of the abovementioned light flux between cylindrical lens CL and objective lens OL. Light flux emitted from a sample S in accordance with the incidence of a slit-shaped light flux onto sample S is captured by a TV camera 7.

A prior-art device for obtaining wavelength-resolved images is described in Patent Publication No. 2,558,864 by this applicant. With this device, a sample is illuminated uniformly from the rear side, an image of the transmitted light that has been transmitted through the sample is formed on a slit plate, a galvanomirror is used to scan the transmitted light image that is projected onto the slit plate and thereby cut out a slit image, this slit image is subject to spectral resolution, and spectrally resolved images are captured by a TV camera. Images captured by the TV camera are synthesized as sample images according to wavelength.


Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and apparatus for power amplifier control. A power amplifier network includes a first path comprising a first power amplifier. The power amplifier network further includes a second path comprising a second power amplifier. The power amplifier network further includes a common input path to both the first path and the second path. The power amplifier network further includes a first power control network for controlling a first signal applied to the first power amplifier. The power amplifier network further includes a second power control network for controlling a second signal applied to the second power amplifier, wherein the first power control network is different from the second power control network.

In order to address the issue of increasing bandwidth requirements that are demanded for wireless communications systems, different schemes are being developed to allow multiple user terminals to communicate with a single access point by sharing the channel resources while achieving high data throughputs. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology represents one such approach that has recently emerged as a popular technique for the next generation communication systems. MIMO technology has been adopted in several emerging wireless communications standards such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard. The IEEE 802.11 denotes a set of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) air interface standards developed by the IEEE 802.11 committee for short-range communications (e.g., tens of meters to a few hundred meters).
A MIMO wireless system employs a number (NT) of transmit antennas and a number (NR) of receive antennas for data transmission. A MIMO channel formed by the NT transmit and NR receive antennas may be decomposed into NS spatial streams, where, for all the practical purposes, NS<=min {NT, NR}. The NS spatial streams may be used to transmit NS independent data streams to achieve greater overall throughput.
It may be desirable that devices in wireless communication systems send and receive large amounts of data within a given bandwidth. It may also desirable that these devices operate efficiently. One way to increase the device efficiency may be to use more efficient amplifiers within the device. However, these efficient amplifiers may introduce additional distortion to transmit signals and cause significant spectral re-growth.
One solution is to operate these amplifiers near the non-linear region and use a pre-distortion device at the input of the amplifier to counteract the distortion introduced to transmit signals by the amplifier.

Digital pre-distortion for multi-antenna systems


At least two Exclusive-OR (EOR) circuits for carry-out which output carry-out bits and the complementary signals thereof are provided in the 5-3 compressor circuits constituted by an Exclusive-OR (EOR) circuit group, and dual lanes are employed at least for carry-out. As a result, the number of inverters required can be reduced, increases in delay time can be suppressed, and fast addition operation can be achieved.

As processing speeds of CPUs (Central Processor Units) have increased, CPU configurations have grown more complex. For example, a CPU comprises a computation unit, an instruction unit, a cache memory, a cache controller unit, and various registers. With advances in integration technology in recent years, there have been trends toward incorporation of CPUs on a single chip, and a need has arisen for faster operation speeds for each of the units in a CPU.
In a computation unit, there exist adders/subtractors, logical computation circuits, shift circuits, and similar. Of these, carry-save adder circuits, which are circuits to add partial products when performing multiplication, are used as adders. FIG. 7 explains multiplication operation; for example, in order to multiply E, consisting of Em through E0, and F, consisting of Fm through F0, E, that is, (Em˜E0), is multiplied by each of the digits of F, and addition of the multiplication results (called partial products) is performed. Here, if the multiplication result is G, then the multiplication result is obtained from the following equation.G=(Em˜E0)×F0+(Em˜E0)×F1+ . . . +(Em˜E0)×Fm
In FIG. 7, the partial product X1 (X1m˜X10) is (Em˜E0)×F0, the partial product X2 (X2m˜X20) is (Em˜E0)×F1, and similarly thereafter, the partial product Xn (Xnm˜Xn0) is (Em˜E0)×Fm. These partial products are added to obtain the final multiplication result G.
Operation of a carry-save adder which adds these partial products is explained in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, an example in which eight partial products X1 to X8 are added is shown. In the first stage, the carry-save adder (CSA) circuit calculates the addition results S1m to S10 for each digit and the carry bits C1m to C10 for each digit for the partial products X1 to X4, and the addition results S2m to S20 for each digit and the carry bits C2m to C20 for each digit for the partial products X5 to X8. In the second stage, the addition results S1m to S10, carry bits for each digit C1m to C10, addition results S2m to S20, and carry bits for each digit C2m to C20 are added for each digit, to obtain addition results S3m to S30 and carry bits C3m to C30 (see for example Japanese Patent Laid-open Hei No. 2-501242).
This CSA is configured by connecting 5-3 compressor circuits for each digit. FIG. 9 shows the configuration of a conventional CSA using 5-3 compressor circuits. In FIG. 9, the 5-3 compressor circuits 100-1, 100-2, 100-3 and 100-4 are connected in series. The 5-3 compressor circuit 100-2 (100-1, 100-3, 100-4) used in the CSA mainly comprises exclusive-OR circuits (EORs). That is, the exclusive OR of two signals is generated and used.
That is, in order to generate the complementary signals of the inputs (A1, A2, A3, A4), inverter gates 110, 112, 114, 116 are inserted, and pairs of pass transistors 120, 122, 124, 126 compute the EORs. That is, output of the EOR of A1 and A2 is the sum of the product of A1 and the inverse of A2 with the product of the inverse of A1 and A2, as shown in FIG. 10.
Hence the EOR circuit 122 outputs the EOR of A1 and A2, the EOR circuit 120 outputs the inverse of the EOR of A1 and A2, the EOR circuit 126 outputs the EOR of A3 and A4, and the EOR circuit 124 outputs the inverse of the EOR of A3 and A4.
Similarly, the EOR circuit 142 outputs the EOR of A1, A2, A3 and A4, and the EOR circuit 140 outputs the inverse of the EOR of A1, A2, A3 and A4; the EOR circuit 144 which receives these outputs outputs the EOR of A1, A2, A3, A4, and CI as the S (SUM). Similarly, the EOR circuit 146, which receives A1 via the inverse gates 134 and 152, the outputs of the EOR circuits 140 and 142, and CI via an inverse gate, outputs the carry result C shown in FIG. 10.
Further, the EOR circuit 148, which receives the output of EOR circuit 124, the output of EOR circuit 126, the inverse of A2 via an inverter gate 124, and the inverse of A4 via an inverter gate 116, outputs the carry-out result CO in FIG. 10 via the inverter gate 154. This carry-out CO is output as the carry-in CI of the upper-digit 5-3 compressor circuit 100-3.
In this way, the carry-out CO is the carry result to the upper digit, and the carry C is carried to the next stage (see FIG. 8). That is, this adder circuit is a five-input, three-output adder circuit.
However, in the technology of the prior art, complementary signals are required as input for EOR computation, as shown in FIG. 10, so that inverter gates must be inserted, and hence delay times are lengthened and high-speed addition operation is difficult. In particular, in a CSA which performs multiplication of partial products with a plurality of digits, as in FIG. 8, the delay time of one adder circuit accumulates, so that the addition time of partial products is lengthened.
Hence an object of this invention is to provide a 5-3 compressor circuit for a CSA to realize high-speed operation of the adder circuit when performing EOR computations, as well as a carry-save adder circuit using this 5-3 compressor circuit.
A further object of this invention is to provide a 5-3 compressor circuit for a CSA to prevent increases in the delay time necessary for generation of complementary signals for EOR computation, and a carry-save adder circuit using this 5-3 compressor circuit.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a 5-3 compressor circuit for a CSA to prevent increases in delay time due to inverter gates for EOR computation, and a carry-save adder circuit using this 5-3 compressor circuit.

CSA 5-3 compressor circuit and carry-save adder circuit using same


A steerable guide wire and associated methods are disclosed. A guidewire in accordance with the present invention includes a shaft assembly including a lumen defined by a coil and an elongate shaft disposed within the lumen defined by the coil, a distal end of the coil being fixed to the elongate shaft proximate a distal end thereof, the elongate shaft including a curved portion proximate the distal end thereof, wherein the curved portion of the elongate shaft is biased to assume a substantially curved shape.

The present invention relates generally to intravascular guidewires. More particularly, the present invention relates to steerable guidewires.
Intravascular catheters are currently utilized in a wide variety of minimally-invasive medical procedures. Generally, an intravascular catheter enables a physician to remotely perform a medical procedure by inserting the catheter into the vascular system of the patient at an easily accessible location and urging the catheter forward through the vasculature until the tip of the catheter is proximate a desirable target site. By this method, virtually any target site in the patient""s vascular system may be remotely accessed, including the coronary, cerebral, and peripheral vasculature.
A physician attempting to position a catheter within a patient""s vascular system may encounter a number of challenges. For example, the target site may be located a relatively long distance from the access site. By way of a second example, the path taken by a catheter through the vascular system may be tortuous, requiring the catheter to change direction frequently. In some cases, it may even be necessary for the catheter to double back on itself. A guidewire may be utilized to aid in advancing a catheter through the vasculature of a patient.
A guidewire may be inserted into the vascular system of the patient at an easily accessible location and urged forward through the vasculature until the tip of the guidewire is proximate a desirable target site. A proximal end of the guide wire may then be inserted into a guidewire lumen of a catheter. The tip of the catheter may be advanced along the length of the guidewire until it reaches a desirable target site.
The present invention relates generally to intravascular guidewires. More particularly, the present invention relates to steerable guidewires. A guidewire in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention includes a shaft assembly having a distal end and a proximate end. The shaft assembly includes a coil defining a lumen and a wire disposed in the lumen of coil. A distal end of coil is fixed to a tip member. Likewise, a distal end of the wire is fixed to tip member. The wire extends beyond a proximal end of the coil forming a proximal portion of the wire terminating at a proximal end of the wire.
In a presently preferred embodiment, the wire includes a curved portion disposed proximate the distal end of the shaft assembly. In this presently preferred embodiment, the curved portion of the wire urges the coil into a substantially curved shape. Also, in a presently preferred embodiment, the curved portion of wire is biased to return to a generally curved shape after being deflected.
In a method in accordance with the present invention, a guidewire may be inserted into the vascular system of a patient and urged forward through the vasculature until the tip member of the guidewire is proximate a desirable target site. As the guidewire is advanced through the vasculature of a patent, it may be necessary to xe2x80x9csteerxe2x80x9d the guidewire. For example, the distal end of the guidewire may reach a branch in the vasculature. The physician may direct the distal end of the guidewire toward the desired branch of the vasculature. Curved portion of wire may facilitate the steering process. Torsional forces may be applied to the proximal portion of the guidewire to alter the angular orientation of curved portion relative to the blood vessel. In this manner, the distal end of guidewire may be directed into the ostium of a desired vessel.
A method of steering a guidewire in accordance with the present invention may include the step of altering the curvature of distal portion of the guidewire. The step of altering the curvature of distal portion of the guidewire may be accomplished by urging a proximal portion of the wire proximally with respect to the proximal end of coil. Once the guidewire is positioned, the proximal end of guidewire may be inserted into a guidewire lumen of a catheter. The tip of the catheter may be advanced along the length of the guidewire until it reaches a desirable target site. In this manner, the guidewire aids the physician in delivering the distal tip of the catheter to the desired target site.


According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method and technique for dynamic reconfiguration of network devices for outage prediction is disclosed. The method includes: aggregating a plurality of network devices to form an input/output (I/O) link bundle; identifying a quality of service level of data throughput needed by at least one workload utilizing the I/O link bundle; monitoring a parameter of each of the network devices of the I/O link bundle; determining whether the monitored parameter indicates a predicted data throughout quality of service level decrease by a network device being utilized by the workload below the quality of service level for the workload; and responsive to determining that the monitored parameter indicates a predicted quality of service level decrease by the respective network device, dynamically reconfiguring the link bundle to maintain the quality of service level for the workload utilizing the I/O link bundle.

A network device and/or input/output (I/O) adapter is used to control data flow between different devices (e.g., between a client and a server). These devices are generally configured to receive and transmit data between devices based on the operational characteristics of the network device. These network devices generally include ingress and egress queues for data transmission/receive requests, along with data buffers form buffering data that is to be transmitted or that has been received. In some instances, network congestion may affect data throughput on the network device. For example, data may be lost if data packets are received at a rate faster than the network device can transmit the data packets onto a bus of a corresponding data processing system. In other instances, consecutive bursts of large data packets may impact data throughput (incoming or outgoing). Network devices are generally configured having various flow control features to adapt to such congestion (e.g., pause frames may be issued to a source device to suspend data transmissions for some period of time).

Dynamic reconfiguration of network devices for outage prediction

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A filter module includes a first filter stage and a second filter stage which are substantially concentrically arranged. The first filter stage and the second filter stage each include a plurality of hollow fiber membranes having a first fiber end and a second fiber end, which are embedded in a respective casting compound. The first filter stage is a filter stage for the filtration of a first medical fluid, and the second filter stage is a filter stage for the filtration of a second medical fluid. The first filter stage has unilaterally closed fiber ends, and is surrounded by a boundary element which separates the first filter stage and the second filter stage from one another. The boundary element has at least one opening which provides fluid communication between the first filter stage and the second filter stage.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a filter module and to a method of manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane bundle having at least two concentrically arranged filter stages. The invention in particular relates to filter modules for hemodialysis, in particular to filter modules which integrally contain a plurality of filtration stages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A plurality of filters are required for a number of therapeutic processes of extracorporeal blood purification. In these processes, blood is as a rule filtered or dialyzed at hollow fiber membranes of a filter module for purifying toxic metabolites. High demands are made in this respect on the fluids used for substitution or for dialysis to be able to be used in the therapeutic processes. Such fluids are provided in pouches licensed under drug law or are manufactured online by the extracorporeal blood treatment machines. To be able to ensure the microbiological purity in the online processes, these fluids have to run through one or two filtration stages before they may be used as replacement fluids in dialysis or as substitution fluids in blood filtration processes.
There have previously been endeavors to design the fluid circuits of extracorporeal blood treatment circuits more compact and to integrate them for disposable articles. Cassette systems for extracorporeal blood treatment have in particular been developed for which a plurality of functions for blood treatment and fluid treatment are integrated.
Developments have equally been promoted in the field of blood filters using hollow fiber membranes in which a plurality of filter stages have been integrated in a filter module.
EP 0 791 368 A2 shows a two-stage filter module for hemodiafiltration. In a first stage, inflowing substitution fluid penetrates into the interior of the hollow fiber membrane, is filtered in so doing and is mixed with blood in a blood chamber at the head end of the filter module. In a second stage, the diluted blood runs through the interior of the hollow fiber membranes and is dialyzed and filtrated in so doing.
DE 39 01 446 A1 describes a two-stage filter having a first stage in which dialysis fluid is directed into the interior of the hollow fiber membranes, passes through the membrane and is filtered in so doing. The filtrate of the first stage is directly directed into the second stage and there flows through the outer space of the hollow fiber membrane bundle as dialysis fluid.
DE 33 26 704 A1 shows a two-stage filter module in which the hollow fiber membrane bundles are concentrically arranged. Blood is filtered in an inner first filtration stage. In the second, surrounding filtration stage, blood is treated in substance exchange with dialysis fluid.


A serving piece for serving cereal and preventing its becoming soggy in milk includes a lower bowl configured to be supported in a food containing orientation upon a surface. An elongated sloped chute is mounted to and communicates at one end with the lower bowl and extends upwardly and outwardly therefrom and an upper bowl is mounted to and communicates with the other end of the sloped chute. In use, crispy cereal from the upper bowl is urged in successive measured portions down the chute and into milk contained in the lower bowl from where each portion of cereal can be consumed prior to its becoming soggy.

Grain cereals in the form of crispy flakes, toasted bits and the like have long been preferred as breakfast food in modern society due at least in part to their good taste and relative ease of preparation. Such cereals are most often served by being poured from their storage box into a serving bowl whereupon milk and sometimes sugar or fruit is added to taste. The cereal and milk mixture is then usually eaten with a spoon or other utensil.
A common problem with such cereals arises from the tendency of their crispy flakes or toasted bits to absorb the added milk within the serving bowl thereby rendering the cereal soggy and undesirable. This is a particular problem for those who prefer a leisurely breakfast since the cereal is suspended in the milk for longer periods of time. Soggy cereal is so undesirable that many people will not eat it and simply discard the soggy cereal and its milk, which can be wasteful and costly.
Past attempts to solve the problem of soggy cereal have generally been directed to treatment of the cereal itself to reduce its tendency to absorb milk. While treatment has proven somewhat successful and has even lead to claims by some cereal manufactures that their cereal stays crisp in milk, it has not been a complete solution because the rate of milk absorption is only retarded by the treatment and the cereal eventually becomes soggy anyway. Further, cereal treatment usually involves coatings of sugar or other additives that are objectionable to many people who prefer a more natural untreated cereal. For this reason, cereals that claim to stay crisp in milk have generally been confined to the pre-sweetened type usually marketed to children.
A continuing and heretofore unaddressed need exists therefore, for a method and apparatus of serving crispy cereal and milk that does not require coating or other treatment of the cereal but that nevertheless insures that the served cereal does not become soggy in its milk. It is the provision of a crispy cereal serving piece that embodies such a method to which the present invention is primarily directed.


Methods of heating and cooling during a crimping process are disclosed. One method includes providing a cooling source to cool the stent and/or drug eluting coating of the stent while crimping the stent onto the balloon, and providing a heating source to heat the balloon while crimping the stent onto the balloon. Another method includes introducing a cooling fluid through a passage in one or more of the plurality of crimping elements of the crimping apparatus to cool the crimping elements while crimping the stent onto the balloon, and introducing a heating fluid through the elongate shaft of the balloon catheter to heat the balloon while crimping the stent onto the balloon.

Medical devices such as stents, stent grafts, and vena cava filters are often utilized in combination with a delivery device for placement at a desired location within the body. A medical prosthesis such as a stent, for example, may be loaded onto a stent delivery device such as a balloon catheter and then introduced into the lumen of a body vessel in a configuration having a reduced diameter. Once delivered to a target location within the body, the stent may then be expanded to an enlarged configuration within the vessel to support and reinforce the vessel wall while maintaining the vessel in an open, unobstructed condition. In some medical procedures such as a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), for example, the stent may be deployed and expanded within a vessel adjacent to the location where a lesion has been removed to prevent restenosis or prolapse of the vessel at that region. The stent may be either self-expanding, or alternatively, may be mechanically expanded by the inflation of a balloon on the delivery device.
Inflation expandable stents are typically secured to the balloon of a balloon catheter in a reduced diameter configuration or profile prior to their use. In some techniques, for example, the stents are loaded onto the balloon and then inserted into a crimping device which applies an inwardly directed radial force to the stent to reduce the diameter of the stent around the balloon. In some techniques, the balloon material may be heated to an elevated temperature, such as greater than the glass transition temperature of the balloon material, causing the balloon material to soften and thus more easily conform to the contours of the stent. However, elevated temperatures have been found to adversely affect the performance and/or integrity of the drug eluting coating on the stent.
Therefore, there is an ongoing desire to provide alternative methods and techniques to crimp a stent onto a balloon of a balloon catheter. Furthermore, there is an ongoing desire to provide alternative arrangements of systems, assemblies and apparatus for crimping a stent onto a balloon of a balloon catheter.

Systems and methods for heating and cooling during stent crimping


Described herein is an apparatus and a method for removing an epoxy resin from a backing sheet at a temperature at or below the glass transition temperature of the epoxy resin. The apparatus (200) comprises a housing (210) in which is mounted a dispensing roll (220) comprising epoxy resin (230) on a backing sheet (240), a wind-up roll (250) comprising the backing sheet (240), a release element (260) over which the backing sheet (240) is directed, and a collection tray (270) for collecting pieces of resin (230a) removed from the backing sheet (240). The dispensing and wind-up rolls (220, 250) are mounted on respective drive shafts (225, 255) which are driven by a drive mechanism (285) controlled by a controller (280). A temperature controller (290) is also provided for controlling the temperature within the housing (210) so that it remains below or at the glass transition temperature of the epoxy resin. Angle (αa) is chosen to optimize the peel-back angle of the backing sheet (240) after is passes over the release element (260) in relation to the relative spacing between the dispensing and wind-up rolls (220, 250) and the release element (260).

Epoxy resin is widely used in many industries. Within the aerospace industry, such resins are categorised as being self-reactive products and their transportation is categorised as "Class 4". By the term "self-reactive" is meant that the resin ages, degrades and/or sets when it is above a certain mass or volume. This means that only a limited quantity of material is allowed to be transported in a single drum which typically contains a maximum of 10 kg of the resin. Moreover, during transportation, the resin needs to be refrigerated to around −18° C. to reduce the risk of reaction and to ensure conservation of the resin. The transportation of such Class 4 products is expensive.
Some epoxy resin manufacturers have developed two-component epoxy resins to overcome the transportation issue. Each component of such two-component epoxy resins is not self-reactive alone and is therefore easier to transport in larger quantities, that is, greater than 10 kg.
However, for a same qualified resin transfer moulding (SQRTM) process, only a small quantity of resin is required to apply pressure to a part during the moulding process. SQRTM is a closed moulding process that combines pre-form processing and liquid moulding to produce an autoclave-quality part without the need for an autoclave that is suitable for use in aerospace parts. The pre-form has already been shaped and impregnated with resin prior to insertion into the mould. Once the mould is closed, only a small additional quantity of resin needs to be injected around the part in order to exert the hydrostatic pressure that is necessary to consolidate the pre-form in the mould and eliminate any gas bubbles that may form during the setting of the resin.
Epoxy resins can be coated as a film onto a backing sheet, for example, silicone-coated paper, and the epoxy-coated backing sheet is then rolled up onto a cylindrical former to form a roll. The presence of the backing sheet or paper reduces the self-reactivity of the roll and transportation of such a roll is not categorised as being Class 4. However, the roll still needs to be refrigerated to around −18° C. to reduce the risk of reaction and to ensure conservation of the resin. Typically, epoxy resins have a life of around 15 days at room temperature and a life of 6 months when stored at −18° C. For SQRTM, it is important that the resin is not close to the end of its life when it is to be injected so that it does not react prematurely, for example, setting in feed passages, resulting in a sub-standard part.
Having coated the resin as a film onto a backing sheet such as silicone-coated paper and rolled the backing sheet and resin film into a roll for transportation, the resin needs to be removed from the backing sheet so that it can be used. The resin can be removed from its backing sheet in many ways, but the effective life of the resin may be reduced. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,480, apparatus for peeling and removing a coated film on a resin product is described. A shearing device is used for shearing and removing protruding portions of the resin product from a coated film. A pair of rollers having different effective rotational speeds is used to create a shear stress between the coated film and resin product to effect removal of the resin product from the coated film.
In WO-A-2011/033309, resin residue removal from a backing sheet is described so that the backing sheet can be re-used. A non-contact heat source is directed towards the backing sheet so that any residual resin is heated to reduce its viscosity so that the residue can be removed from the backing sheet.
However, the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,480 is not efficient as resin residue may remain on the coated film and the resin degrades due to being substantially at room temperature. The process described in WO-A-2011/033309 degrades the residual resin as it requires the resin to be heated for removal from the backing sheet.


A device for elevating a platform over a boat deck. This type of device can include a platform, a drive, and at least one driven lift which is in communication with the drive. This driven lift can be coupled at a first end to the platform and at a second end to the boat deck. There can also be at least one controller in communication with the drive. In this case, the controller can be for controlling a height of the lift.

The present invention relates to an active platform device that can be coupled to a deck of a boat and which can be used to actively raise or lower a support surface on a deck of the boat.
Other types of boat, deck or support type platforms are known. For example the following U.S. Patents generally relate to this field: U.S. Pat. No. 6,763,774 to Ranieri et al; U.S. Pat. No. 1,970,630 to Searing; U.S. Pat. No. 2,277,171 to Traylor; U.S. Pat. No. 2,901,208 to Jones; U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,314 to Hirsch et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,435 to Newman; U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,205 to Saccocio wherein the disclosures of these patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference.


This invention describes processes for producing mature human members of the NGF/BDNF family of neurotrophic proteins that are fully biologically active. In addition, the gene encoding human BDNF and human BDNF are disclosed. A previously-unreported member of the NGF/BDNF family of neurotrophic proteins, NGF-3, has been identified and a portion of the gene encoding for the NGF-3 has been described.

Neurotrophic factors are natural proteins, found in the nervous system or in non-nerve tissues innervated by the nervous system, whose function is to promote the survival and maintain the phenotypic differentiation of nerve and/or glial cells (Varon and Bunge 1978 Ann. Rev. Neuroscience 1:327; Thoenen and Edgar 1985 Science 229:238). Because of this physiological role, neurotrophic factors may be useful in treating the degeneration of nerve cells and loss of differentiated function that occurs in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases, or after traumatic injuries, such as stroke or physical trauma to the spinal cord (Appel 1981 Ann. Neurology 10:499).
In order for a particular neurotrophic factor to be potentially useful in treating nerve damage, the class or classes of damaged nerve cells must be responsive to the factor. Different neurotrophic factors typically affect distinctly different classes of nerve cells. Therefore, it is advisable to have on hand a variety of different neurotrophic factors to treat each of the classes of damaged neurons that may occur with different forms of disease or injury.
A given neurotrophic factor, in addition to having the correct neuronal specificity, must be available in sufficient quantity to be used as a pharmaceutical treatment. Also, since neurotrophic factors are proteins, it would be desirable to administer to human patients only the human form of the protein, to avoid an immunological response to a foreign protein.
Since neurotrophic factors are typically present in vanishingly small amounts in tissues (e.g., Hofer and Barde 1988 Nature 331:261; Lin et al. 1989 Science 246:1023) and since human tissues are not readily available for extraction, it would be inconvenient to prepare pharmaceutical quantities of human neurotrophic factors directly from human tissues. As an alternative, it would be desirable to isolate the human gene for a neurotrophic factor and use that gene as the basis for establishing a recombinant expression system to produce potentially unlimited amounts of the human protein.
Two neurotrophic factors have been described that are closely related in amino acid sequence but which affect different, although partially overlapping, sets of responsive neurons (Leibrock et al. 1989 Nature 341:149). These two neurotrophic factors are: (1) nerve growth factor (NGF) and (2) brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Both NGF and BDNF are apparently synthesized as larger precursor forms which are then processed, by proteolytic cleavages, to produce the mature neurotrophic factor (Edwards et al, 1986 Nature 319:784; Leibrock et al. 1989 ibid.). The only genes for members of the proposed NGF/BDNF family of neurotrophic proteins that have been reported to date are the human and various animal genes for NGF (Scott et al. 1983 Nature 302:538; Ullrich et al. 1983 Nature 303:821; Meier et al. 1986 EMBO J. 5:1489) and the pig gene for BDNF (Leibrock et al. 1989 ibid.). There is a significant similarity in amino acid sequences between mature NGFs and mature BDNF, including the relative position of all six cysteine amino acid residues, which is identical in mature NGFs and BDNF from all species examined (Leibrock et al 1989 ibid.). See FIG. 7, comparing and emphasizing the similarities of human forms of NGF and BDNF. This suggests that the three-dimensional structure of these two proteins, as determined by the location of disulfide bonds, is similar. Both mature proteins also share a basic isoelectric point (pI).
NGF is a neurotrophic factor at least for cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain (Hefti and Will 1987 J. Neural Transm. [Suppl] (AUSTRIA) 24:309). The functional inactivation and degeneration of the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons responsive to NGF in the course of Alzheimer's disease is thought to be the proximate cause of the cognitive and memory deficits associated with that disease (Hefti and Will 1987 ibid.). NGF has been shown to prevent the degeneration and restore the function of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in animal models related to Alzheimer's disease, and on this basis has been proposed as a treatment to prevent the degeneration and restore the function of these neurons in Alzheimer's disease (Williams et al. 1986 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:9231; Hefti 1986 J. Neuroscience 6:2155; Kromer 1987 Science 235:214; Fischer et al. 1987 Nature 329:65).
BDNF is a neurotrophic factor for sensory neurons in the peripheral neurons system (Barde 1989 Neuron 2:1525). On this basis, BDNF may prove useful for the treatment of the loss of sensation associated with damage to sensory nerve cells that occurs in various peripheral neuropathies (Schaumberg et al., 1983 "Disorders of Peripheral Nerves" F. A. Davis Co., Philadelphia, Pa.).
Recombinant expression systems that are capable of producing the large quantities of fully-biologically-active and structurally-unmodified mature NGF needed for pharmaceutical development are highly desireable. See, European Patent Publication EP 89113709, describing the recombinant expression of NGF in insect cells. Mature, biologically-active, NGF can be produced when human or animal NGF genes are expressed in eukaryotic cell expression systems (e.g., Edwards et al. 1988 Molec. Cell. Biol. 8:2456). In such systems, the full-length NGF precursor is first synthesized and then proteolytically processed to produce mature NGF which is correctly folded 3-dimensionally and is fully biologically active. However, eukaryotic cell expression systems often produce relatively low yields of protein per gram of cells and are relatively expensive to use in manufacturing.
In contrast, expression systems that use prokaryotic cells, such as bacteria, generally yield relatively large amounts of expressed protein per gram of cells and are relatively inexpensive to use in manufacturing. However, an adequate bacterial expression system capable of producing fully-biologically-active and structurally-unmodified mature NGF has not been described. A bacterial expression system is disclosed in Canadian Patent No. 1,220,736. However, no procedures for refolding the expressed protein are presented. This failure can probably be traced to problems associated with bacterial expression systems in general and problems associated with the specific techniques employed to produce NGF in bacteria.
Bacteria are not able to correctly process precursor proteins, such as the precursor protein for NGF, by making appropriate proteolytic cleavages in order to produce the correct smaller mature protein. Therefore, to produce mature NGF in bacteria, it is necessary to express only that portion of the NGF DNA sequence encoding the mature protein and not that for the larger precursor form. When this was done in the bacterium Escherichia coli, relatively large amounts of the mature human NGF protein were produced (see, e.g., Iwai et al. 1986 Chem. Pharm. Bull. 34:4724; Dicou et al. 1989 J Neurosci. Res. 22:13; EP application 121,338). Unfortunately, the bacterially-expressed protein had little or no biological activity.
A protocol for refolding bacterially expressed NGF has been described in European Patent Application 336,324 which restores some biological activity to mature NGF produced in bacteria. However, this protocol has serious deficiencies.
Mature human NGF has generally been unavailable in sufficient amounts for pharmaceutical use, since many eukaryotic expression systems are expensive and often do not produce adequate amounts of mature NGF. Bacterial expression systems described so far have not produced biologically-active and chemically-unmodified mature NGF in sufficient quantities for pharmaceutical use. Since human mature NGF is likely to be useful in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, the unavailability of this material has been keenly felt by the scientific and clinical communities. The unavailability of biologically-active human mature NGF was seen by a panel of leading scientists, assembled by the National Institute on Aging, as the critical block to further development of NGF as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease (Phelps et al. 1989 Science 243:11).
It is presumed that similar manufacturing difficulties would apply to each member of the NGF/BDNF family of neurotrophic proteins, since members of this family so far described have identically located cysteine amino acid residues and presumably, therefore, form a pattern of intramolecular disulfide bonds identical to that of NGF (Angeletti et al. 1973 Biochemistry 12:100).
In view of the apparent value of such neurotrophic proteins and the current restraints on the production of large quantities of the biologically active proteins as indicated above, it would be desirable to provide the following: (1) the identification, isolation and characterization of all members of the NGF/BDNF family of neurotrophic proteins; i.e., proteins that are structurally related to NGF and BDNF in a manner similar to the way these two proteins are related to each other; (2) the identification, isolation and characterization of all naturally occurring human members of the NGF/BDNF family of neurotrophic proteins, including specifically human BDNF; (3) the isolation and characterization of genes coding for any and all members of the NGF/BDNF family of neurotrophic proteins, including specifically the human genes coding for all such family members; (4) methods for using the human genes to establish recombinant expression systems in microorganisms such as E. coli that will produce significant quantities of the mature (processed) form of these human proteins; (5) methods for refolding members of the NGF/BDNF family of neurotrophic proteins to allow them to obtain a biological specific activity; and (6) pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment of neurological diseases comprised of any one or any combination of the members of the NGF/BDNF family of neurotrophic proteins.

Production of biologically active NGF proteins

by Marijana Znidarcic, legal representative


A method, which makes it possible to economically produce high-quality grain oriented magnetic steel sheet, utilizes a steel alloy with (in wt %) Si: 2.5-4.0%, C: 0.01-0.10 %, Mn: 0.02-0.50%, S and Se in contents, whose total amounts to 0.005-0.04%. The method utilizes an operational sequence whose individual routine steps (secondary metallurgical treatment of the molten metal in a vacuum-or ladle facility, continuous casting of the molten metal into a strand, dividing of the strand, heating in a facility standing inline, continuous hot rolling in a multi-stand hot rolling mill standing inline, cooling, coiling, cold rolling, recrystallization and decarburization annealing, application of an annealing separator, final annealing to form a Goss texture) are harmonized with one another, so that a magnetic steel sheet with optimized electromagnetic properties is obtained using conventional apparatus.

In principle it is known that thin slab continuous casting mills are especially suitable for producing magnetic steel sheet due to the advantageous control of temperature made possible by inline processing of thin slabs. Thus JP 2002212639 A describes a method for producing grain oriented magnetic steel sheet, wherein a molten metal, which (in wt %) contains 2.5-4.0% Si and 0.02-0.20% Mn as the main inhibitor components, 0.0010-0.0050% C, 0.002-0.010% Al plus amounts of S and Se as well as further optional alloying components, such as Cu, Sn, Sb, P, Cr Ni, Mo and Cd, the remainder being iron and unavoidable impurities, is formed into thin steel slabs having a thickness of 30-140 mm. In one embodiment of this prior art method, the thin slabs are annealed at a temperature of 1000-1250° C. before hot rolling, in order to obtain optimum magnetic properties in the finished magnetic steel sheet. Furthermore the prior art method requires that the hot strip, which is 1.0-4.5 mm thick after hot rolling, is annealed for 30-600 seconds at temperatures of 950-1150° C., before it is rolled with deformation strains of 50-85% into cold strip. As advantage for using thin slabs as pre-material for producing magnetic steel sheet, it is pointed out in JP 2002212639 A that an even temperature distribution and an equally homogeneous microstructure can be guaranteed over the entire slab cross section due to the small thickness of the thin slabs, so that the strip obtained possesses a correspondingly even characteristic distribution over its thickness.
Another method for producing grain oriented magnetic steel sheet, which however only concerns the production of standard qualities, so-called CGO material (conventional grain oriented material), is known from JP 56-158816 A. In this method a molten metal, containing (in wt %) 0.02-0.15% Mn as the main inhibitor component, more than 0.08% C, more than 4.5% Si, and in total 0.005-0.1% S and Se, the remainder being iron and unavoidable impurities, is cast into thin slabs having a thickness of 3-80 mm. Hot rolling of these thin slabs begins before their temperature drops below 700° C. In the course of hot rolling the thin slabs are rolled into hot strip having a thickness of 1.5-3.5 mm. The thickness of the hot strip in this case has the disadvantage that the standard final thickness of below 0.35 mm, which is the commercial norm for grain oriented magnetic steel sheet, can only be produced with a cold rolling deformation strain above 76% in a single-stage cold rolling process or by conventional multi-stage cold rolling with intermediate annealing, whereby it is disadvantageous with this method that the high cold deformation strain is not adapted to the relatively weak inhibition by MnS and MnSe. This leads to non-stable and unsatisfactory magnetic properties of the finished product. Alternatively a more elaborate and more expensive multi-stage cold rolling process with intermediate annealing must be accepted.
Further possibilities of producing grain oriented magnetic steel sheet using a thin slab continuous casting mill are extensively documented in DE 197 45 445 C1. In the method developed from DE 197 45 445 C1 and against the background of the prior art known at this time, a silicon steel melt is produced, which is continuously cast into a strand having a thickness of 25-100 mm. The strand is cooled during the solidification process to a temperature higher than 700° C. and divided into thin slabs. The thin slabs are then fed to an equalizing facility standing inline and heated there to a temperature <=1170° C. The thin slabs, heated in such a manner, are subsequently rolled continuously in a multi-stand hot rolling mill to form hot strip having a thickness of <=3.0 mm, the first forming run being carried out when the rolled strip internal temperature is 1150° C. maximum with the reduction in thickness being at least 20%.
In order to be able to utilize the advantages of the casting/rolling process, as a result of using thin slabs as pre-material, for producing grain oriented magnetic steel sheet, the hot rolling parameters in accordance with the explanations given in DE 197 45 445 C1 must be selected in such a way that the metal always remains sufficiently ductile. In this connection it is stated in DE 197 45 445 C1 that with respect to the pre-material for grain oriented magnetic steel sheet, ductility is greatest if the strand is cooled after solidification to approx. 800° C., then held only relatively briefly at equalizing temperature, for example 1150° C., and is thereby heated homogeneously throughout. Optimum hot rolling ability of such a material is the case therefore if the first forming run takes place at temperatures below 1150° C. with a deformation strain of at least 20% and the strip, starting from an intermediate thickness of 40-8 mm, is brought by means of high pressure inter-stand cooling devices, in two sequential forming runs at most, to rolling temperatures of less than 1000° C. Thus it is avoided that the strip is formed in the temperature range of around 1000° C., which is critical with respect to ductility.
In accordance with DE 197 45 445 C1 the hot strip formed in this way is then cold rolled in one or several stages with intermediate recrystallization annealing to a final thickness ranging between 0.15 and 0.50 mm. The cold strip is finally subjected to recrystallization and decarburization annealing, provided with a predominantly MgO containing annealing separator, then subjected to final annealing in order to form a Goss texture. Finally the strip is coated with an electric insulation and subjected to annealing for relieving stresses.
Despite the extensive proposals for practical use, documented in the prior art, the use of casting mills, wherein typically a strand having a thickness of usually 40-100 mm is cast and then divided into thin slabs, for producing grain oriented magnetic steel sheet remains the exception due to the special requirements, which arise in the production of magnetic steel sheet with respect to molten metal composition and processing control.
Practical investigations demonstrate that pivotal importance is attached to the ladle furnace as regards the use of thin slab continuous casting mills. In this unit the molten steel is fed to the thin slab continuous casting mill and adjusted by heating to the desired temperature for casting. In addition the chemical composition of the steel concerned can be finally adjusted in the ladle furnace by adding alloying elements. Furthermore the slag in the ladle furnace is usually conditioned. When processing steel calmed with aluminium, small amounts of Ca are added to the molten steel in the ladle furnace, in order to guarantee the castability of this steel.
Although in the case of steel calmed with silicon-aluminium, needed for grain oriented magnetic steel sheet, no addition of Ca is required to guarantee castability, the oxygen activity in the ladle slag must be reduced.
The production of grain oriented magnetic steel sheet additionally requires very precise adjustment of the target chemical analysis, that is to say the contents of the individual components must be adjusted very exactly in harmony with one another, so that depending on the absolute content selected, the limits of some components are very tight. Here treatment in the ladle furnace reaches its limits.
Substantially better conditions can be achieved in this respect by using a vacuum facility. In contrast to ladle degassing however an RH or DH vacuum facility is not suitable for slag conditioning. This is necessary in order to guarantee the castability of melts used for producing grain oriented magnetic steel sheet.

Method for producing grain oriented magnetic steel strip