An electrical and thermal conductive paste composition includes a wetting agent that is arranged as a conduction promoter. Further, a method produces an electrical and thermal conductive paste composition by using a wetting agent as a conduction promoter or a conductivity promoter. The electrical and thermal conductivity of a conductive particle-filled polymer composite is enhanced by using the wetting agent. Capillary forces exerted by the wetting agent cause a particle-filled polymeric suspension to percolate at a decreased volume fraction into a highly conductive network and enhance the conductivity of the composite. Through a jamming gelation technique, the percolation threshold in the particle filled polymer composite is lowered to as low as 3 volume percent. As a result, the electrical and thermal conductivity of the composite is maintained at a significantly lower filler volume fraction with a reduction of particle filler content of up to 50 weight percent.

High electrical and thermal conductive polymer composites attract considerable interest in the conductive composite industry due to their wide applications in electronic industries. Examples of high electrical and thermal conductive polymer composites useful in electronic industries include, but are not limited to, die attach materials for thermal management, liquid crystal displays (LCD), surface-mounted assemblies of packaged components on printed wiring board (PWB's), radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), thin-film photovoltaics (PV), membrane switches, touch panels, printed batteries and sensors, greeting cards, and toys. Typically, these conductive composites contain a polymer matrix filled with conductive fillers. The composite, with a composition beyond a critical volume fraction, transforms from an insulator to a conductor while the conductive fillers form a continuous network. This transformation is known as the connective percolation theory. A disadvantage of using these conventional conductive polymer composites is their relative high resistivity. As a result, many efforts have been dedicated to enhancing the electrical and thermal conductivity of conductive polymer composites, such as through filler selection and modifications.
Conductive silver pastes and inks are widely used in the field of printed electronics and rapid growth in the field continues to promote the consumption of conductive materials. In the past, there have been attempts to lower the percolation threshold and to enhance the conductivity of conductive composites by using long-aspect ratio nanomaterials, such as single-wall nanotubes (SWNT's) and silver nanowires. However, these materials are extremely difficult to handle and incorporate into scalable fabrication, and can only be acquired at a high cost. Consequently, nanomaterials are difficult to commercialize and impractical to use in lowering the percolation threshold and enhancing the conductivity of conductive composites.
As discussed by Peter Lu et al. in Colloidal particles: crystals, glasses, and gels (hereinafter, "Colloidal particles") and in Gelation of particles with short-range attraction (hereinafter, "Gelation of particles") [Lu, Peter J. et al. Colloidal particles: Crystals, glasses, and gels. Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, Vol 4, 4:217-233 (2003)] [Lu, Peter J. et al. Gelation of particles with short-range attraction. Nature 453, 499-503 (2008)], it is well known that colloidal suspension, including small solid particles with sizes ranging between 10 nanometers (nm) and several microns suspended in a fluid and driven by thermal energy, form fractal cluster-like networks during a gelation process. In these fractal clusters, a small number of particles occupy a large volume of space. For example, FIG. 1 shows a typical transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of a cluster jammed from a gold colloidal nanoparticle where the size of the gold nanoparticles is approximately 10 nm, and its cluster size is approximately 1 micrometer (μm).
Furthermore, P. J. Lu et al. in Gelation of particles discuss that colloidal particle gelation has been widely investigated in attractive colloidal systems. FIGS. 2a and 2b show 3D confocal microscope images of a standard colloidal suspension consisting of microspheres with a particle size of approximately 1 μm and a particle volume fraction (v %) of 4.5, indicating the formation of a 3D spanning particle network. Additionally, as shown in the inset of FIGS. 2a and 2b are the 2D confocal microscope images of the colloidal particles before and after gelation, which clearly demonstrate a fractal network. The fractal cluster size ranges between approximately 20 μm to 50 μm. Although the fractal cluster size is similar to the size of a jamming percolating network, using a jamming gelation technique to control percolation and decrease the filler content is not considered in prior art.
Furthermore, Fortini et al. investigate in Clustering and gelation of hard spheres induced by the Pickering effect [A. Fortini. Clustering and gelation of hard spheres induced by the Pickering effect. Phys. Rev. E 85, 040401(R) (2012)] the gelation of colloidal particles with a volume loading of 10 v % under capillary attraction by Brownian dynamics simulation, as shown in FIGS. 3a-3d. Fortini et al. also reveal the formation of a fractal clustering network by capillary bridging of the colloidal particles. However, Fortini et al. fail to control percolation, decrease the filler content, or use a jamming gelation technique.

Electrical and thermal conductive paste composition and method of reducing percolation threshold and enhancing percolating conductivity using the same

THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


The invention relates to preparation of selected peptides of the HIV gag protein and derivatives thereof which comprise the peptide sequence NPGLLETSEGCRQ, and which inhibit HIV.

The invention relates to selected peptides of the HIV gag sequence which bring about inhibition of virus synthesis. On testing 41 sequential peptides for inhibition of HIV replication it was found that the overlapping peptides 4 and 5 with the amino-acid sequence EQU WASRELERFAVNPGLLETSEGCRQ and NPGLLETSEGCROILGQLQPSLQT
from the p17 submembrane protein and the two peptides 28 and 29 with the amino-acid sequences EQU ANPDCKTILKALGPAATLEEMMTA and AATLEEMMTACQGVGGPGHKA
from the p24 core protein inhibit the replication of HIV ( overlapping regions are underlined in each case ) . Peptides of this or similar types which contain at least the overlapping regions are suitable as pharmaceuticals for controlling HIV infections.
The disease AIDS caused by HIV represents a great challenge to scientific research in the development of therapeutically active substances and novel vaccines. Even though research extends over the entire spectrum of possible therapeutic approaches, nevertheless only a very few substances promise the prospect of a novel successful therapy. To date the only substance with anti-HIV activity which is approved on the market is .sup.R Retrovir with the active ingredient zidovudine supplied by Wellcome. This nucleotide analog, azidothymidine (AZT), very effectively inhibits in vitro and in vivo the HIV-specific reverse transcriptase but is not free of disadvantageous properties. To date there are no alternatives to AZT therapy.
Investigations of the viral structure of HIV and the part played by the various virus structural proteins in virus maturation have led to the realization that several approaches for effective inhibition of virus synthesis are offered here, the inhibition of viral protease by chemotherapeutics being only one example which is currently being looked at by various research groups. The fact that the gag sequence is one of the highly conserved regions in the HIV genome suggests that this is a very important protein for virus replication; this suggestion is supported by the small differences in sequences between different HIV isolates (see Tab. 1). The process of virus synthesis is initiated by gag protein synthesis and the required myristoylation of the gag protein. Subsequent assemblage takes place on the lipid membrane of the infected cell. Juxtapositioning of gag proteins leads to a protuberance on the cell membrane and the detachment (budding) of "particles" or immature viruses. The fact: that this process takes place even when only the gag gene is inserted into the cell has been shown by investigations with recombinant gag sequences in vaccinia or baculo vectors (Karacostas et al. (1989) Human immunodeficiency virus-like particles produced by vaccinia virus expression vector. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 86, 8965-8967; Gheysen et al. (1989) Assembly and release of HIV-1 precursor prgag55 virus-like particles from recombinant baculovirus-infected insect cells. Cell, 59, 103-112). Other publications demonstrate that there are regions important for processing within the gag sequence. Several regions relevant for the processing have been identified by introducing specific mutations within the gag sequence (Gottlinger et al. (1990) Role of capsid precursor processing and myristoylation in morphogenesis and infectivity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 86, 5781-5785).
However, there has been no evidence whatever that certain regions of the gag sequence code for peptides which inhibit virus synthesis by HIV.
The experiments on which the invention is based investigated 41 mutually overlapping synthetic peptides of the HIV-1 gag sequence for their inhibiting function on virus synthesis in an in vitro test. The peptides were 24 amino acids long and were synthesized in analogy to the sequence published by Ratner et al. (Complete nucleotide sequence of the AIDS virus, HTLV-III, Nature, 313, 277-284 (1985)).
These peptides were added in various concentrations (200-40 .mu.g/ml) to freshly infected jurkat cells. Infection was carried out with 100-1000 TCID.sub.50. The infection was analyzed by microscopic assessment and investigation of the supernatant for the content of infectious HIV. For this purpose, the cell supernatant was added to non-infected jurkat cells. After incubation for two weeks, this detector cell culture was examined for HIV under the microscope and by reverse transcriptase assay. It was found from this that there are two gag regions which exert an inhibitory effect on virus synthesis. These two regions are each represented by two peptides, the first peptide (peptide 4+5) being located inside p17, and the second (peptide 28+29) being located inside p24.
As is evident from Tab. 4, no p24 is detectable in HIV-infected cells after treatment with these peptides. The supernatant from these cell cultures contains no infectious HIV capable of infecting a control culture. FIGS. 1 and 2 report the reverse transcriptase (RT) activity of the two detector cell cultures. The four selected peptides are able very effectively to inhibit HIV synthesis in concentrations of 200-40 .mu.g/ml. (See examples for details of the demonstration of HIV inhibition).
The effect of different concentrations of infectious virus on the course of the experiment is relatively low and is mainly reflected by the level of measured RT activity (cf. Experiment 1, FIG. 1; Experiment 2, FIG. 2). Nor do different concentrations of added peptides have a significant effect on the inhibition, which suggests that the concentration of added peptides can be even further reduced without influencing the effect. The result of the third experiment is reported in FIG. 3. The reverse transcriptase activities depicted here are as measured on the cell culture supernatant after concentration five-fold after incubation of the detector cell cultures for two weeks. This again shows the strong inhibitory effect of peptides 2, 4, 5, 9, 28 and 29 on HIV-1 synthesis. Inhibition of HIV-2 synthesis by peptides 4, 5, 28 and 29 is also very clearly evident. Nevertheless, in this case the added peptides appear to have a weaker inhibitory effect. Thus, there is no inhibition with peptides 2 and 9, while complete inhibition of virus synthesis is possible with 28 only at the 200 .mu.g/ml dose. Cytotoxicity was found only for peptide No. 9 among all the 41 investigated peptides.
The invention accordingly relates to peptides which contain at least one of the two peptide sequences NPGLLETSEGCRO and AATLEEMMTA and are not larger than 50 amino acids, in particular not larger than 40 amino acids, especially not larger than 30 amino acids, preferably not larger than 20 amino acids. Particularly preferred peptides contain peptides 4, 5, 28 or 29.
Another embodiment of the invention relates to peptides which contain at least one of the two peptide sequences NPGLLETSEGCRO and AATLEEMMTA, where the sequences can be truncated by up to 7 amino acids, preferably by up to 4 amino acids, at the N and/or at the C terminus but without the length falling below 6 amino acids. It is also frequently advantageous to extend the peptides according to the invention by one or more amino acids, for example cysteine, in order to achieve linkage of the peptides to one another or to a carrier.
The invention furthermore relates to derivatives of the two peptide sequences NPGLLETSEGCRQ and AATLEEMMTA in which one or more of the following substitutions can be carried out by methods known to the person skilled in the art: asparagine by glutamine, or glutamine by asparagine, proline by hydroxyproline, leucine by isoleucine or by norleucine, glutamic acid by aspartic acid, threonine by serine or serine by threonine, cysteine by serine, arginine by lysine, alanine by glycine and/or methionine by norleucine. Replacement of a natural amino acid by an unnatural amino acid such as, for example, hydroxyproline or norleucine is preferred. This makes it possible to prevent endogenous proteases cleaving the derivative, which generally results in an increase in the half-life. It is also possible for the derivatives to have improved solubility and/or better absorption than the two peptide sequences according to the invention.
The invention further relates to the preparation by protein chemistry or genetic manipulation and to the use of the peptides according to the invention as pharmaceuticals.

Selected peptides of the group-specific antigen (gag) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the preparation and use thereof


A sewing machine acquires a selected pattern that is selected from among a plurality of embroidery patterns. The sewing machine displays a pattern image representing the selected pattern. The sewing machine identifies a specified position indicated by the instruction. The sewing machine determines, when the selected pattern is acquired a plurality of times, whether one of a plurality of the pattern images is displayed at the identified specified position. When it is determined that the pattern image is displayed at the identified specified position, the sewing machine identifies the selected pattern for which the pattern image is displayed at the specified position as the editing target. When it is not determined that the pattern image is displayed at the identified specified position, the sewing machine identifies the selected pattern for which a mask region encompassing the selected pattern is set at the specified position as the editing target.

The present disclosure relates to a sewing machine and a non-transitory computer-readable medium.
In related art, a sewing machine is known that is provided with a display portion and an input portion and that is capable of performing embroidery sewing. The sewing machine of the related art displays a pattern to be sewn on the display portion. The sewing machine can edit the displayed pattern in accordance with operations on the input portion by a user.

Sewing machine and non-transitory computer-readable medium


A method of treating human patients is provided by the intrapulmonary delivery of a pharmaceutically active hormone formulation. The formulation is automatically released from a hand-held, self-contained, portable device comprised of a means for automatically releasing a measured amount of drug into the inspiratory flow path of a patient in response to information obtained from a means for analyzing the inspiratory flow of a patient and after the patient is sent an audible or visual signal. Reproducible dosing is obtained by providing for automatic release in response to a measured inhalation profile. The overadministration of hormone formulations is avoided by providing a pre-programmed microprocessor designed to avoid overdosing.

Potent peptide hormones are available for a variety of therapeutic indications. Leuprolide, for example, is a GnRH super-agonist useful in the treatment of endometriosis and prostrate cancer. Leuprolide also has potential applications in the field of breast cancer management and the treatment of precocious puberty. Calcitonin enhances metabolism and may be a useful therapeutic agent for the management of osteoporosis, a common complication of aging.
To treat conditions or diseases of the endocrine system, pharmaceutical formulations containing potent peptide hormones are typically administered by injection. Because the stomach presents a highly acidic environment, oral preparations of peptides are unstable and readily hydrolyzed in the gastric environment. Currently, there are no oral preparations of therapeutic peptide agents available.
Both calcitonin and leuprolide can be administered nasally. (See Rizzato et al., Curr. Ther. Res. 45:761-766, 1989.) Both drugs achieve blood levels when introduced into the nose from an aerosol spray device. However, experiments by Adjei et al. have shown that the bioavailability of leuprolide when administered intranasally is relatively low. Adjei and Garren, Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 7, No. 6, 1990.
An increase in the bioavailability of leuprolide can be obtained by administering the drug into the lung. Intrapulmonary administration of leuprolide has been shown to be an effective means of non-invasive administration of this drug. Adjei and Garren, Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 7, No. 6, 1990. Intrapulmonary administration of leuprolide and other peptide drugs has the additional advantage of utilizing the large surface area available for drug absorption presented by lung tissue. This large surface area means that a relatively small amount of drug comes into contact with each square centimeter of lung parenchyma. This fact reduces the potential for tissue irritation by the drug and drug formulation. Local irritation has been seen with nasal delivery of insulin and has been a problem for commercialization of nasal preparations of that drug.
It is a problem with peptide hormones that they are very potent with effects that are not immediately manifested. For example, therapy with leuprolide for prostrate cancer does not typically produce any acute clinical effects. Similarly, prophylaxis against osteoporosis with calcitonin will not produce any acute symptoms discernible to the patient. Therefore, administration of each dose of these drugs must be reliable and reproducible. In addition, careful compliance monitoring is important to avoid therapeutic failures by carefully following the patient's adherence to the prescribed dosing regiment.
In addition, because these drugs are potent therapeutic agents, care must be taken to avoid overdosing.
The most convenient form for intrapulmonary administration of drugs by ambulatory patients is through the use of a metered dose inhaler. Metered dose inhaler devices allow the self-administration of a metered bolus of drug when the device is manually actuated by the patient during inspiration. However, such devices must be used with the proper inspiratory maneuver in order to promote effective deposition of the drug into the lung. In addition to performing a correct inspiratory maneuver, the patient must self-actuate the metered dose inhaler during the appropriate part of the inspiratory cycle. Further, when using such devices, it is not typically self-evident to the patient that the drug was properly or improperly administered. For those drugs without immediate clinical effect, the patient can easily misuse the metered dose inhaler and be under the false impression that he is correctly self-administering the drug as prescribed. Similarly, the patient may be under the false impression that he performed an incorrect inspiratory maneuver in metered dose inhaler actuation when he in fact properly performed these operations and received an appropriate amount of drug.
Devices exist to deliver metered dose inhaler drugs into the lung in a breath-actuated manner. However, such devices do not monitor the characteristics of the inspiratory breath used to trigger the device. Therefore, a sub-optimal inspiratory maneuver (e.g. one with too high of an inspiratory rate) could be used to actuate the device and produce a sub-optimal deposition pattern of drug into the lungs resulting in a sub-therapeutic blood level of the therapeutic agent being delivered.
When using a metered dose inhaler, the dosing events must be manually recorded by the patient. Many potent therapeutic hormone peptide drugs are given only once a day. It is important that the patient remember to take the prescribed daily dose, and that the dose be taken at the correct time of the day. Further, it is important that the patient not take more than the prescribed number of doses per day. The timing of delivery of potent therapeutic hormone drugs is critical because these drugs interact intimately with the chronobiology of the patient's physiology in order to produce their desired effect.
When using standard metered dose inhaler devices, the patient must manually record the time of each dosing administration. In addition, the patient must remember when to self-administer the drug. Devices exist for recording automatically metered dose inhaler drug delivery events. However, such devices do not record the presence of inspiratory flow at the time of device firing. This means that a noncompliant patient can fire the metered dose inhaler into the air and have a valid drug dosing event recorded on the self-containing recording means. In addition, the patient could self-administer the drug with an inappropriate inspiratory maneuver and have a valid drug dosing event recorded by the device. This would lead the physician to assume that the patient was compliant when, indeed, he was receiving an inappropriate amount of drug with each dosing event.


A filter apparatus that is compact and that provides a large filtration area includes filter elements each constructed in cylindrical form by spirally winding a filter medium. Such medium includes a porous membrane of a polytetrafluoroethylene having a pore diameter of 0.1 to 5 .mu.m and low pressure loss and one or a pair of sheets composed of fibers made of a thermally melting synthetic resin. One end of the cylindrical filter element is connected to a respective through hole in a rigid support plate, and the opposite end is blocked.

The present invention relates to a filter apparatus and filter element for use with the filter apparatus, and more particularly to a filter apparatus preferably provided as an HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air), ULPA (Ultra-Low Penetration Air) or super ULPA filter apparatus and a filter element therefor.
Along with recent advances in scientific technologies and changes of life style, clean spaces and purified air have been increasingly required. It is natural that purified air is desired in hospitals and homes, and various air cleaners are used thereof. This also is true in precision instrument and food industries. Furthermore, in fabrication of integrated circuits and semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and manufacture of such medical products as artificial organs, an allowable amount of dust is much less than that in usual clean spaces, and generally an HEPA filter, preferably a ULPA filter and more preferably a filter apparatus classified as a super ULPA filter are required.
Such a filter apparatus used for air cleaning is adapted to have a filter element consisting of a filter material through which air is passed so that such air is cleaned and dust is removed therefrom.
An example of such filter element is illustrated in perspective view in FIG. 18. Such filter element 1 consists of a filter material 3 which is a filter medium bent or folded to form plural folds or ridges 2, for example, a filter cloth of fiberglass. Additionally, spacers 4 generally are placed between the ridges in order to uniformly position the filter material (only two spacers are illustrated). A filter apparatus is formed by air-tightly fitting the circumference of the filter element 1 in a rectangular frame (not shown). The air passing through the filter apparatus flows in a direction from the right rear, as shown in FIG. 18, and passes through the filter material to the left front. Such a filter element is described, for instance, in pp. 40 to 41 of "Development of high-function filter" (Osaka Chemical Research Series, Vol. 5, No. 9, Osaka Chemical Marketing Center).
A concept of filtration area is one standard for evaluating the performance of a filter apparatus. More specifically, the performance of a filter apparatus is measured by filtration area per unit volume of a filter element. Generally, for obtaining higher performance with less pressure loss, a filter element having the largest possible filtration area with the smallest possible size is preferred.
In the filter element 1 of FIG. 18, the total area of filter material 3 corresponds to the filtration area. In order to increase the filtration area of a filter element in such structure to improve the performance of the filter apparatus, a spacing between the ridges or folds, that is a pitch (length p in FIG. 18), is generally reduced to a minimum so that the ridges are formed in wrinkle-like shape.
However, in many cases reduction of the pitch p is disadvantageous. Thus, reduction of the pitch p is limited by the flexibility of the material itself, which depends on types of filter materials used. Also, adjacent filter materials (or a filter material and separator when a separator is provided) may be in contact with each other when the pitch is reduced excessively, whereby air passages needlessly are narrowed, the result being an increase of pressure loss.
For example, when an unwoven fiberglass cloth conventionally used for air filters is employed as a filter material for a filter element of the structure shown in FIG. 18, such unwoven cloth being 0.5 mm in thickness, the limit of the pitch is considered to be about 5 mm. Therefore, with a filter element 610 mm.times.610 mm in frontage (lengths a.times.b in FIG. 18) and 150 mm in depth (length c of FIG. 18), the filtration area is approximately 16 m.sup.2.
In addition, when fiberglass is used as a filter material, fine dust is caused from the fiberglass (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-34967). Thus, it is not an optimum material for obtaining clean air.


The present invention provides allergen detection molecules and devices useful in on-site and rapid detection of allergens, including food allergens.

Allergy is a serious medical condition affecting millions of people worldwide, with about 15 million people in the United States, including many children. During an allergic reaction, the immune system mistakenly targets an allergen as a threat and attacks it. The allergic reaction may affect the skin, the digestive system, the gastrointestinal tract, the respiratory system, the circulatory system and the cardiovascular system; in some allergic reactions, multiple organ systems are affected. Allergic reactions range from mild to severe or life-threatening. Severe symptoms may include difficulty in breathing, low blood pressure, chest pain, loss of consciousness, and anaphylaxis. People having allergies currently manage their allergies by avoiding any food that might contain that specific allergen. These restrictions have a major impact on the patients' quality of life and there remains no method for assessing the true allergen content of food. In the United States, food allergy symptoms send someone to the emergency room every three minutes. A rapid method for determining the presence of an allergen would be of great benefit. A portable device that enables the patients to test their food and determine accurately and immediately the allergen content will be beneficial to provide for an informed decision on whether to consume or not.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,554 to McKay teaches a dining mat formed of an absorbent material and small spots of chemical reagents applied to isolated zones on the mat, for detection of food allergens. If the food product contains the allergenic substance, the chemical reagent will change its appearance indicating the presence of the allergenic substance in the food product. The detection limit and the detection specificity are limited by the chemical reagent used in the spots. A drawback is that false negatives are highly possible when analyzing solid food products because of the long reaction times between the solid food products and the spot reagent.
US Patent Application Pub. No. 2008/0182339 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,617,903 to Jung et al. teaches a method of detecting an allergen by processing samples with microfluidic chips configured for analysis of one or more allergen indicators, detecting the allergen indicators with one or more detection units, and displaying results with one or more display units. The detecting system comprises a microfluidic chip, a reagent delivery unit, a centrifugation unit, an analysis unit, a detection unit, a display unit, and a recording unit. The device is not sufficiently compact to be portable.
US Patent Application Pub. No. 2010/0210033 to Scott et al. teaches a portable device for detecting food allergens comprising a housing, a sample inlet port, a means for indicating the presence of the potential allergen in the sample, and an allergen detection chip comprising an antibody to the potential allergen, wherein the antibody is labeled with a detectable tag.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,527,765 to Royds teaches a food testing device for identifying the presence of harmful contaminants in a food sample, comprising a disposable sample container, a mechanical liquefier including a blade assembly, a test supply compartment with a reagent having an affinity for the harmful contaminant and capable of detecting the harmful contaminant in the liquefied food sample, and producing a visual cue upon recognition of the harmful contaminant.
Aptamers, as well as devices and methods of using them in the detection of proteins in food, are disclosed in several patents and patent applications (each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), including: U.S. Pat. No. 8,633,140 to Kim, et al., which teaches a microarray of functionalized polydiacetylene molecular sensors; U.S. Pat. No. 8,618,046 to Brunner, et al., which teaches a method for treating atherosclerosis using aptamer-based anti-CETP-antibody-inducing antigens; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,614,466 to Rasooly, et al., which teaches a method and system employing a physical principle called "electrical percolation," (flow of electricity through a random resistive network) for electrically detecting biomolecular binding in a semiconductor. In one embodiment, capture molecules for binding target molecules can be an aptamer. U.S. Pat. No. 8,563,298 to Lowery, Jr., et al. teaches NMR systems and methods for the collection and detection of analytes. U.S. Pat. No. 8,507,458 to Yokota, et al. teaches a system for delivering nucleic acids for suppressing target gene expression by utilizing endogenous chylomicron, wherein the nucleic acid may be an aptamer. U.S. Pat. No. 8,236,933 to Herzog, et al. teaches transgenic animals having a reduced level of expression of peptide YY (PYY) and methods of using the transgenic animals for screening a library of aptamers and identifying agonists and antagonists of PYY. U.S. Pat. No. 8,232,584 to Lieber, et al. teaches a fluorescence based nanoscale wire biosensor devices and methods for detecting analytes, wherein an aptamer may be indirectly immobilized relative to the nanoscale wire. U.S. Pat. No. 7,977,462 to Hornbeck et al. teaches lateral flow devices for detecting and quantitating novel tyrosine phosphorylation sites identified in carcinoma and/or leukemia. U.S. Pat. No. 7,973,079 to Mata, et al. teaches biosensors for detecting macromolecules and other analytes that can modulate the activity or availability of serum retinol, retinol-binding protein (RBP) and/or transthyretin (TTR). U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,057 to Gordon, et al. teaches methods, reagents and apparati for detecting small quantities of protein isoforms (e.g., due to alternative splicing, or different disease protein isoforms or degradation products) in a sample, including using combinations of capture agents, wherein the capture agent may be an aptamer. U.S. Pat. No. 7,850,964 to Vukicevic, et al. teaches nucleic acid biosensors of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), e.g., BMP-1 procollagen c-proteinase, for diagnosis and treatment of bone and soft tissue defects and disorders.
Anaphylatoxin C5a- (complement factor 5a)-binding aptamers are described in PCT Publications WO 2009/040113, WO 2010/108657 and WO 2013/104540 to Buchner, et al. Buchner, et al. also describe aptamers that bind to CXC chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-I) in PCT Publication WO 2009/019007.
Molecular beacons (MBs) are hairpin-shaped oligonucleotides that contain both fluorophore and quencher moieties and act like switches. When in a closed state, the fluorophore and quencher are brought together and the fluorescence is quenched ("turned off") by resonance energy transfer. When a conformational change opens the hairpin structure and the fluorophore and quencher are separated, the quencher can no longer quench and fluorescence is restored ("turned on"). MBs are particularly useful in detection devices and diagnostic assays requiring a probe to have high sensitivity and excellent molecular recognition specificity; they are extraordinarily target-specific, ignoring nucleic acid target sequences that differ by as little as a single nucleotide. Other advantages of MBs are: (1) sensitivity can allow for real-time monitoring; (2) low background signal allows for a fluorescence enhancement of more than 200 times; (3) MBs allow "detection without separation," where it is impossible or undesirable to isolate the probe-target hybrids from an excess of the unhybridized probes. The specificity provided by the MB loop-stem structure has been demonstrated to be applicable in a variety of biological environments. The compositions, methods and devices disclosed herein are applicable in solution-based (in vitro) investigations of RNA-DNA interactions, protein-DNA interaction studies, measurements within living systems, and biosensor design. For example, compositions described herein can be used in in vitro investigations such as real-time monitoring of DNA/RNA amplification during PCR; rapid and reliable mutation detection for clinical diagnosis (Xiao, et al., (2009) Fluorescence Detection of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms via a Single, Self-Complementary, Triple-stem DNA Probe. Angew Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 48(24):4354-4358); spectral genotyping (Kostrikis, et al., Science, 1998, 279: 1228); DNA sticky-end pairing (SEP) analysis; visualization of subcellular localization and cellular transport pathway of RNAs (Tan et al., (2005) Molecular Beacons for Bioanalytical Applications. Analyst 130: 1002-1005).
Exemplary molecular beacons are reviewed in Leung, et al., 2011 (Nucleic Acids Research, 2012, 40(3):941-955) and described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,188,255 to Litman et al., which teaches microRNA (miRNA) sequences associated with cancer, and their detection using aptamers and molecular beacons; U.S. Pat. No. 7,282,360 to Meyers et al., which teaches novel protein kinase, serine/threonine protein kinase, serine/threonine phosphatase, prolyl oligopeptidase, trypsin, serine protease, and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase family members, referred to herein as "53070, 15985, 26583, 21953, m32404, 14089, and 23436," and generally discloses detection of them using aptamers or molecular beacons; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,730,491 to Kapeller-Libermann et al., which teaches three allegedly novel protein kinase family members, referred to herein as "2504, 15977, and 14760" and generally discloses detection of them using aptamers or molecular beacons.
There remains a need for a portable and reusable device for fast and accurate detecting allergens. There also remains a need for detecting multiple allergens with a single device.


A wireless feedthrough assembly, for coupling leads received in the receptacles of a connector assembly to the electronic circuit within a cardiac pacemaker, includes a weld ring mounted in hermetically sealed fashion within a housing wall of the pacemaker and itself hermetically sealed to an intermediate portion of an elongated, multilayered structure. The multilayered structure includes layers of electrically insulating ceramic material on opposite sides of a planar array of printed conductors extending between a first portion of the structure within the connector assembly and an opposite second portion of the structure within the pacemaker. Connector pads at the ends of the printed conductors within the first portion are coupled to the receptacles of the connector assembly, while contact pads at the exterior of the second portion and coupled by vias to connector pads at the ends of the printed conductors are coupled to the electronic circuits within the pacemaker. Printed ground planes on the multilayered structure form a conductive envelope which shields the printed conductors from electric fields. The contact pads include positive and ground contacts to which are coupled discrete filtering capacitors for limiting the spectrum of frequencies receivable by the connector assembly. A method for making the aforedescribed feedthrough assembly is also disclosed.

Although it will become evident to those skilled in the art that the present invention is applicable to a variety of implantable medical devices utilizing pulse generators to stimulate selected body tissue, the invention and its background will be described principally in the context of a specific example of such devices, namely, cardiac pacemakers for providing precisely controlled stimulation pulses to the heart via an external connector assembly having lead-receiving receptacles. The appended claims are not intended to be limited, however, to any specific example or embodiment described herein.
Cardiac pacemakers, and other implantable medical devices such as cardiac defibrillators, are hermetically packaged to isolate the device from the body environment. Such devices require that electrical signals be passed between the packaged device and its external connectors, without compromising the hermeticity of the package. Depending on the configuration of the implantable device, there may be multiple electrical paths required between the device and its external connectors. These paths must be electrically and mechanically integrated with the device to provide a safe, long-term arrangement which does not compromise the hermetic package.
Typically, electrical coupling between the electronic circuits of the implantable device and the external connections provided by a connector assembly mounted outside of the implantable device are provided by a feedthrough assembly. The feedthrough assembly extends through the hermetically sealed outer wall of the device and into the connector assembly so as to couple the electronic circuits within the implantable device to lead-receiving receptacles within the connector assembly. Common feedthrough assemblies contain a number of wires equal to the number of electrical paths required for the configuration. The wires are placed in a ceramic sleeve and are sealed and mechanically secured to the sleeve, such as by brazing. The ceramic sleeve is secured to a weld ring, such as by brazing, following which the weld ring is integrated into the housing wall of the implantable device, such as by laser welding. The resulting feedthrough assembly has many individual seals and exposed lengths of wire.
Feedthrough assemblies of the type described have a number of potential problems. One such problem results from the large number of seals required. Because the plurality of wires and the weld ring each require a separate seal, the large number of seals increases the chances of a compromised seal and the resulting loss of hermeticity. Moreover, the exposed wires act as an antenna for environmental noise sources. Such noise compromises the quality of the signal transmitted, and this can lead to misinterpretation by the implantable device. Additionally, the wires can be damaged by misalignment or bending during handling of the feedthrough assembly.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a feedthrough assembly which eliminates the use of wires, reduces the number of seals required so as to reduce the potential for lost hermeticity, and eliminates the possibility of wire misalignment or bending during the handling.
It would furthermore be desirable to provide a feedthrough assembly which incorporates electric field shielding to protect the electrical paths from potential noise sources, and thus potentially inaccurate signals.
It would still furthermore be desirable to provide a feedthrough assembly which integrates signal filtering within the assembly itself, so as to focus the spectrum of frequencies to be interpreted by the implantable device.

Implantable medical device having shielded and filtered feedthrough assembly and methods for making such assembly


A head position is demodulated by two-phase servo signals of PosN and PosQ from output of the head, so as to acquire a more accurate demodulated position. Saturation of PosN and PosQ is judged from the ratio of each absolute value of PosN and PosQ, and a different demodulating method is used for a saturated area and for an unsaturated area, and a demodulating formula is constructed so that the edge of each demodulating area matches with the edge of the adjacent demodulating area. Also saturated/unsaturated is judged by comparing the absolute value of PosN and the absolute value of PosQ, and determining whether the ratio thereof is greater or small than a predetermined saturation coefficient r.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head position demodulating method and disk apparatus for demodulating the head position by servo signals recorded on a disk, and more particularly to a head position demodulating method and disk apparatus for decreasing demodulated position errors due to the read characteristics of the head.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disk storage apparatus for recording and reproducing data on a rotating disk medium is widely used as a data storage apparatus. As FIG. 23 shows, the disk apparatus is comprised of a disk 94 for storing data, a spindle motor 96 for rotating the disk 94, a head 90 for recording and reproducing information on the disk 94, and an actuator 92 for moving the head 90 to the target position. Typical examples of this apparatus are a magnetic disk apparatus (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) and an optical disk apparatus (DVD-ROM, MO).
As FIG. 24 shows, on a magnetic disk apparatus, a plurality of position signals 100 for detecting the position of the head 90 are recorded in the arc position with respect to the rotation center 98 on the disk 94, and constitute a track. The position signal 100 is comprised of a servo mark, track number and offset information (servo information). The current position of the head 90 can be detected by using the track number and the offset information.
The difference between this position information and the target position is determined, drive amount is calculated according to the displacement amount (difference), and the drive amount for driving the actuator 92 is supplied, that is, current, in the case of a VCM (Voice Coil Motor) and voltage, in the case of an electro-strictive actuator, is supplied.
The servo signal (position signal) 100 on the disk 94 is either recorded by the disk apparatus itself, that is by the STW (Servo Track Write) method, or recorded by an external STW apparatus.
For this position signal, an area demodulating method using two-phase servo signals PosN and PosQ is used. FIG. 25 is a diagram depicting positional demodulating by the two-phase servo signals, and FIG. 26 is a diagram depicting two-phase servo signals thereof.
As FIG. 25 shows, the position signal (servo pattern) is comprised of four offset signals (servo bursts) A-D of which the phase is shifted from one another. In FIG. 25, the servo bursts A and B are recorded symmetrically with respect to the track position (dotted line position), and servo bursts C and D are recorded symmetrically with respect to the track boundary (solid line position).
From the output PosA−PosD when the head reads the servo bursts A-D, the two-phase servo signals PosN and PosQ are calculated by the following formula.PosN=PosA−PosBPosQ=PosC−PosDorPosN=(PosA−PosB)/(PosA+PosB)PosQ=(PosC−PosD)/(PosC+PosD)
As the detailed enlarged view in FIG. 26 shows, the signal of PosQ is placed with a ¼ track phase shift compared with PosN.
The demodulated position Pos is demodulated using either the absolute position of PosN or PosQ, whichever is smaller. In other words, as FIG. 25 shows, the acquired PosN or PosQ, of which the absolute value is smaller, indicated by the bold line in FIG. 25, is selected.
In this way, the amplitude of the reading output of each offset signal (PosA−PosD) from the head 90 is in proportion to the area of the offset signal (PosA−PosD) at the position of the head 90. In other words, the servo signal allows demodulating the position of the head by demodulating the area indicated by the amplitude.
By connecting the selected signals of the two-phase servo signals of the area demodulating method, the demodulated position of the actual position is acquired. The switching of PosN and PosQ occurs at this connection. It is preferable that the connected demodulated positions are a straight line, even with this switching.
As FIG. 27 shows, the causes of inhabiting the generation of a straight line are as follows; first cause is the deviation of the gain for converting the detected PosN and PosQ in track units (called position sensitivity). This gain changes depending on the detection sensitivity of the head, and if deviation occurs, the demodulated positions become different on the boundary between the section for demodulating PosN and the section for demodulating PosQ, where a step difference occurs.
Second cause is the fluctuation of the recording positions of the servo bursts A-D due to unstable writing during servo signal recording, and this is called RRO (Repeatable Run Out).
Third cause is that the read core width of the head is smaller than the track width, so PosN and PosQ are saturated by the head output, and by this a step difference occurs at the connected section.
To solve the problem of RRO and the problem of the measurement error of position sensitivity, the following methods are proposed.
(1) If the absolute value is |N|<|Q|, the position is demodulated by ±N/2 (|N|+|Q|), and if not, the position is demodulated by ±Q/2(|N|+|Q|) (U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,341, Official Gazette, "Disk drive system using multiple pairs of embedded servo bursts" (e.g. FIG. 6)).
(2) If the absolute value is |N|<|Q|, the position is demodulated by ±N/4|Q|, otherwise the position is demodulated by ±Q/4|N| (U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,974, Official Gazette, "Disk drive with method of constructing a continuous position signal and constrained method of linearizing such a position signal while maintaining continuity" (FIG. 9, FIG. 10)).
(3) If the absolute value is |N|<|Q|, the position is demodulated by ±N/√ (|N|^2+|Q|^2), and if not, the position is demodulated by ±Q/√ (|N|^2+|Q|^2) (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-198817, "Magnetic disk apparatus").
All of these methods have a feature that (1) if PosN and PosQ are "0", then the demodulated position is also 0, and (2), the boundary of the demodulated area of the PosN and PosQ has the same value for both cases of demodulating by PosN and demodulating by PosQ.
As the above formula shows, these methods need not measure position sensitivity, so the influence of a measurement error of position sensitivity can be avoided. Even if the write positions of the servo bursts of PosN and PosQ shift due to the influence of the write accuracy of the servo signals, a displacement does not occur at the boundary of the demodulated blocks of PosN and PosQ.
The demodulating formulas for PosN and PosQ are created such that the values match with the adjacent demodulation formula at the edge of the respective demodulated section. For example, when |N| and |Q| are the same in the method of U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,341, Official Gazette, "Disk drive system using multiple pairs of embedded servo bursts", the values of the two formulas both become ±¼, which match each other.
These prior arts assume that the saturation of the signals PosN and PosQ, described in FIG. 27, is constant, and in the denominator of one signal, the signal component of the other signal is integrated, and by this, the step difference at switching is solved.
However, with the current demand for increased storage capacity, the track pitch must be narrower. Because of this, the read core width of the head decreases, which makes it difficult to manufacturer a head (especially an MR head) with a uniform detection characteristic. So the saturation width and the saturation area of PosN and PosQ, which are obtained by detecting the servo bursts, as shown in FIG. 28 (A), (B) and (C), change, depending on the detection performance of the read element.
Therefore in prior art, a deviation of the demodulated position tends to occur because of the change of the saturation width, since the change of the saturation width is not considered, even if the problems of position sensitivity and RRO are solved. In particular, this interferes with the improvement of positioning accuracy, which is currently demanded due to the decrease in track pitch.

Head position demodulating method and disk apparatus


The present invention is a method and apparatus for use in a die feeder used in automated assembly machines and includes, among other aspects and features, a novel nest for holding a die against a vacuum port and releasing same without an independently controlled vacuum source. The invention also includes a novel elevator mechanism, employed to lift the nest to a pick location and means for positioning and aligning the nest for precision travel and pick location placement.

This invention relates generally to die conveyors used with automated pick-and-place equipment requiring the manipulation of numerous die at high speeds, and more particularly to a novel nest for holding a die against a vacuum port and releasing same without an independently controlled vacuum source, and an elevator mechanism employed to lift the nest to a pick location accessible by the host pick and place equipment.
The present invention is an improvement of die or component conveyors used with automated pick-and-place equipment, particularly those systems requiring the manipulation and placement of numerous die or components at high speeds. The present invention includes, among other aspects and features, a novel nest for holding a die against a vacuum port and releasing it without an independently controlled vacuum source. The invention also includes a novel elevator mechanism, employed to lift the nest to a pick location and means for positioning and aligning the nest for precision travel and pick location placement.
This present invention is considered an improvement over die conveying systems for feeding die directly from a wafer to high-speed circuit board manufacturing equipment, including other direct die feeders. The prior direct die feeders generally rely on conveyor or belt transport technology to convey die to a pick location at the distal end of the feeder. In many applications, conveyors have proven to be unsatisfactory when conveying die or components having dimensions of less than about 1.0 millimeter. To overcome this problem, the present invention is directed to a high-speed shuttle transport system as a replacement to a conveyor or belt transport system as disclosed in the applications cited above. While the shuttle is capable of handling much smaller and larger die than the conveyor, it may not be able to match the throughput capabilities of a conveyor system. Thus, depending on the application, either a conveyor or shuttle may be a preferred apparatus.
In accordance with the present invention a shuttle unit preferably has two parts including a carriage and a shuttle nest assembly. As described herein, the shuttle nest carriage is slideably mounted on a pair of parallel rails extending the length of the feeder, and the shuttle nest traveling thereon is accurately positioned using a belt and pulley system and stepper motor as is well known for the movement of carriages in computer printers and scanners.
The shuttle nest assembly is generally brick-shaped and generally horizontally disposed over the carriage, and is mounted to the carriage by a plurality of pivotable links to permit the shuttle nest assembly to be elevated with respect to the carriage. The shuttle nest assembly also carries a plurality of nests disposed in a line. Each nest has an up position and a down position and can carry at least one die or component on an upper nozzle surface thereof. When in the up position, each nest""s vacuum port is in communication with a vacuum source that is preferably a common vacuum source for all the nests.
When in the down position, the nest""s vacuum port is disconnected from the vacuum and is in communication with atmospheric pressure. In operation, the nest is reset into the up position using pneumatically actuated reset pins or similar means so as to put the upper nozzle surface in a die receiving position and allowing the nest to be placed under vacuum, albeit open to atmosphere until a die is placed thereon. Once in the up position, the nest is ready to receive a die. When a die is placed in contact with the nest""s vacuum port, the die will remain in place on top of the nest until the nest is pushed down, which vents the nozzle to atmosphere and release the vacuum, thereby releasing the die. It is contemplated that a pick and place machine of the type used in the manufacture of circuit boards will push the nest down, thereby releasing the die from the nest, as it is removing the die from the nest.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a die conveying apparatus in a die feeder, comprising: a fixed path in the die feeder, said path lying between a first location in proximity to a die source and a pick location at an end of the feeder; and a shuttle generally translating along said path for transporting die from the first location to the pick location, said shuttle carrying a plurality of nests, each of said plurality of nests being capable of holding a die thereon.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a nest capable of holding a single die against a vacuum port on a surface thereof and releasing said die without requiring an independently controlled vacuum source, said nest comprising: a vertically disposed post; and a nest housing, wherein the post is mounted for vertical movement along a longitudinal axis of the post between an up position and a down position relative to said nest housing, said post having a continuous airway extending therethrough from a port at its upper end to an orifice on a side of the nest between the upper end and a lower end thereof, and when said post is in the up position said orifice is aligned with a passageway communicating with the vacuum source so as to produce a vacuum at the port, and when said post is in the down position, said orifice is disengaged from the vacuum source and the airway communicates with air at atmospheric pressure, thereby releasing the die from the port.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a die conveying apparatus in a die feeder, comprising: a fixed path in the die feeder, said path being a linear path between a first location in proximity to a die source and second location in proximity to a pick location at an end of the feeder; a shuttle carriage, slidably connected to said fixed path and traveling therealong; and a shuttle operatively associated with said shuttle carriage, wherein said shuttle is conveyed along a non-linear path as the carriage travels along the fixed path, thereby transporting die from one of a plurality of shuttle positions adjacent the die source to the pick location, said shuttle carrying a plurality of nests, each of said plurality of nests being capable of holding a die thereon.
One aspect of the invention is based on the discovery of techniques for independently controlling the application of a vacuum source to individual die nests based upon a position of the nest, and the transport of die from a placement location to a pick location. The techniques enable the use of a shuttle die transport system as a replacement for convention conveyor or belt-type systems. Because of the accuracy of placement, and the retention of die on a shuttle nest using vacuum, the system is highly accurate and increases the pick-up efficiency of the assembly machine to which components are being fed. Moreover, the novel vacuum valving design enables to shuttle to be constructed without an elaborate valve control system, saving both cost and precious space in the die feeder.


In one embodiment, a method includes determining a location of a system responsive to location information received from at least one of a location sensor and a wireless device of the system, associating the location with a key present in the system to generate an authenticated location of the system, and determining whether the authenticated location is within a geofence boundary indicated in a location portion of a launch control policy (LCP) that provides a geographic-specific policy. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

In today's computing environments, there is an ever increasing presence of portable devices that provide a user access to both local computing resources on the portable platform, as well as access to remote resources via communication over a network. Because such platforms can be subject to malicious attack, either by way of malware, virus, or by physical theft of the platform, security concerns with regard to both data and software present on the platform, as well as unauthorized access to remote networks using the platform are of a concern.

Providing geographic protection to a system


Described herein are radio-frequency (RF) modules that include shielding for improved RF performance. The RF modules including a packaging substrate with a receiving system implemented thereon. The RF module includes a shield implemented to provide RF shielding for at least a portion of the receiving system. The receiving system can include any combination of pre-amplifier or post-amplifier bandpass filters, amplifiers, switching networks, impedance matching components, phase-shifting components, input multiplexers, and output multiplexers. The shielding can include a conductive layer within a conformal shielding on an upper side and side walls of the RF module. The shielding can be an overmold formed over the packaging substrate. The conductive layer can be connected to one or more ground planes. The packaging substrate can include contact features on an underside of the substrate for mounting an underside component.

Field
The present disclosure generally relates to electronic modules with shielding such as shielded radio-frequency (RF) modules, and relates in particular to shielded diversity receive modules.
Description of Related Art
In wireless communication applications, size, cost, and performance are examples of factors that can be important for a given product. For example, to increase performance, wireless components such as a diversity receive antenna and associated circuitry are becoming more popular.
In many radio-frequency (RF) applications, a diversity receive antenna is placed physically far from a primary antenna. When both antennas are used at once, a transceiver can process signals from both antennas in order to increase data throughput.
In such RF applications, RF circuits and related devices can be implemented in a packaged module. Such a packaged module can include shielding functionality to inhibit or reduce electromagnetic interference associated with some or all of such RF circuits.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A detection plate includes a track region having a bottom surface having a groove provided therein, and a well apart from the track region. The well has a bottom surface. The bottom surfaces of the track region and the well are disposed substantially on a plane. This detection plate detects a specimen rapidly and highly accurately with a simple structure.

It is important especially in medical fields, such as a clinical site, to detect a specimen, such as a cell, containing specific protein or pathogens from a sample containing a large number of cells. A method of detecting cells using a fluorescence detection device is known.
FIG. 10 is a sectional view of conventional detection plate 100 used for a fluorescence detection device. Detection plate 100 includes substrate 102 having track groove 101, reflective layer 103 disposed on substrate 102, active layer 104 disposed on reflective layer 103, flow channel 105 provided in active layer 104, and target region (capture region) 106 provided on active layer 104.
A sample is previously dyed with fluorochrome that binds specifically to a specific substance, is introduced to detection plate 100, and moves in flow channel 105. Cells in the sample are captured in target region 106. Fluorescence excitation light is reflected on track groove 101, and the focus and track position of the fluorescence excitation light are controlled based on a state of the reflected light. The dyed cells emit fluorescence due to the fluorescence excitation light. The intensity of a fluorescence detection signal obtained by the detection of the fluorescence determines the presence of a specific substance.
Detection plate 100 needs irradiation of different light spots when a specimen is fluorescence-excited and detected.
A conventional detection plate similar to detection plate 100 is disclosed in, e.g. PTLs 1 and 2.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


A disposable pant garment is made from a web by joining front and back side panels attached to the garment chassis. The side panels have diagonal edges in order to result in side seams on the garment which run diagonally on the garment side. This diagonal side seam provides superior fit and releasability, especially in the case of refastenable side seams such as may be used for training pants. One or more of the side panels may be constructed from a plurality of pieces.

In the known art, there have been two ways of making an absorbent garment web into point of sale items. One is to put refastenable tabs, such as adhesive tape or hook and loop combinations onto the garment body, in the manner of an infant diaper, for later use to secure the back panel of the diaper to the front panel. A second is to bond the side edges of the front and back sections together to make a fixed waist band, in the manner of a training pant which is slid on and off the wearer like underwear. To remove such a garment if it becomes soiled it is necessary to destroy the side seam or tear the side panel in order to remove the garment like a diaper, as convenience and hygiene would dictate.
Designs for known fasteners and side seams have usually been vertically oriented, i.e., the zone of contact between the cooperative fasteners, or side seams, has typically been parallel to, or along, the long axis of the wearer, i.e., running from waist band to leg hole. This has made economic sense because the fasteners, or side seams, are applied parallel to the long axis of the garment chassis making for ease of automatic manufacturing.
However, these vertically oriented fastening seams suffer from some drawbacks. Such drawbacks include the fact that when the fastening seam is vertical, a large force may be necessary to open the seam, which can be inconvenient. An opening of a vertical seam along its wide dimension, i.e., from front to back when the seam is vertical, requires force applied to a greater surface area of the seam than necessary. Also, opening such a seam from the top is difficult without introducing lateral motion, e.g., front to back. The introduced lateral motion tends to pull the released portion of the seam both out and back as the separation continues, resulting in a wider surface area of separation and thus a greater required force. Also the seam area may be subjected to undue stress during removal or fastener disengagement. This stress can result in a tearing away of the fastener mechanisms from the underlying garment structure, or even tearing of the garment structure itself, especially in the case of hook and loop fasteners which can increase engagement bond strength over time.
Further, the known cooperative refastenable structures are designed to be fastened at the front, side, or back of the garment. Fastening engagement at the back of the garment is typically awkward in terms of finding and engaging the fasteners especially when, e.g., applying or reapplying a diaper or training pant to a squirming infant. Fastening integrity at the front of the garment is adversely affected by stresses incurred from leg movements that bend and pivot the garment. Further, due to leg movement stresses, front fastening often increases the incidence of red marks and an undesirably tight fit of the garment across the upper thigh.
There is therefore a desire for a seam, such as a hook and loop refastenable seam, that is easier to open, by encouraging separation of the seam material along its narrow dimension while moving progressively down the wide dimension; for example, tearing open the seam from top to bottom, or bottom to top, when the seam is vertical.

Refastenable pull-on training pant with diagonal seams


A method is described for reducing the volume of radioactive waste produced during the solution mining of uranium and for recovering uranium from it. The recovery leach, which contains uranium in solution and is supersaturated with calcium carbonate, is treated with bicarbonate and made basic which precipitates calcium carbonate and some of the uranium. The precipitated calcium carbonate is dissolved with acid and the uranium in the solution is removed by extraction or precipitation. The remaining solution is contacted with sulfate ions and barium or strontium ions to precipitate BaSO.sub.4.RaSO.sub.4 or SrSO.sub.4.RaSO.sub.4, the principal radioactive constituent in the solid waste product.

In uranium solution mining processes stripping solutions are injected underground where they solubilize uranium. The recovery solutions are pumped to the surface and are processed to remove the uranium. These recovery solutions, however, are frequently supersaturated with dissolved calcite (calcium carbonate). The calcium carbonate must be precipitated before the solution can be processed, otherwise the calcium carbonate precipitates throughout the processing equipment, rendering it inoperable.
When the calcium carbonate precipitates some of the uranium in solution precipitates with it, causing a loss of uranium and creating a radioactive waste disposal problem. Moreover, radium, a daughter product of uranium, is also dissolved in the stripping solution and is also precipitated with the uranium, further increasing the radioactivity of the precipitate.
While some processes are being used to recover the uranium from the calcium carbonate precipitate, they still leave large quantities of solid waste contaminated with radioactive radium. Disposal of radioactive waste is very expensive. The waste must be placed in steel drums, transported to a disposal site, and stored in a guarded area. Reduction in the quantity of solid wastes is therefore very desirable as it reduces the danger of environmental contamination and the cost of storage.

Method of reducing radioactive waste and of recovering uranium from it


A bumper beam construction including an elongated tubular beam of high strength but characteristically flexible to absorb substantial energy on impact having a mounting bracket attached at each end of the center section and at least one stiffening bracket attached to each mounting bracket. The mounting brackets extend from the rear wall of the tubular beam and facilitate attachment to a vehicle frame. The stiffening brackets are attached to the mounting brackets and the end sections of the tubular beam outboard of the center section. The stiffening brackets improve the comer impact strength of the tubular beam without adversely affecting the flexibility of the center section. This comer construction arrangement provides for optimal distribution of stress during corner impacts.

The present invention relates to a bumper construction designed for high impact strength, but further designed for flexibility to provide for optimal energy absorption over a given stroke upon a high force bumper impact, such as a vehicle crash.
Regulations and industry standards for modern vehicle bumpers require that bumpers withstand significant impacts without damage to the bumper. Therefore, bumpers must be strong. However, the bumpers must also be flexible enough to absorb energy during a crash over their full stroke while avoiding unexpected collapse. Further, the bumper must also be lightweight to minimize vehicle mass to provide improved gas mileage and to help meet emission standards. There is tension between these requirements. Bumper beams that are sufficiently flexible to bend in their middle/center sections, may be "too" flexible on their ends (i.e., outside of the mounting brackets) to withstand the high forces generated in corner impacts. Alternatively, bumper beams manufactured to be stiff enough for optimal corner impact (such as those with thicker wall materials or higher stiffness materials) have center sections that may be "too" stiff to properly flex and absorb energy over their full stroke. Also, these "stiffer" bumpers may tend to kink, which results in unexpected collapse and low energy absorption. Further, "stiffer" bumpers tend to be heavier, leading to a greater vehicle mass, lower miles per gallon values, and higher emissions.
Accordingly, a bumper construction is desired solving the aforementioned problems and having the aforementioned advantages.

High flex bumper with reinforced corner end sections


Systems and methods are disclosed herein that relate to a mechanism at a radio access node(s) and a User Equipment (UE) that enable the UE to decide whether the UE can use a wireless channel for data transmission even when the UE senses the wireless channel as being busy during a listening phase of a Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) procedure. In some embodiments, the method of operation of the UE comprises performing a LBT procedure for an observed channel where a result of the LBT procedure being that the observed channel is busy and deciding to override the LBT procedure based on knowledge that the observed channel is busy due to transmission by a compatible UE and transmitting on the observed channel even though the result of the LBT procedure is that the observed channel is busy upon deciding to override the LBT procedure.

The ongoing standalone Long Term Evolution (LTE) in Unlicensed spectrum forum (MulteFire) and Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release (Rel) 14 work item on uplink License Assisted Access (LAA) allows LTE User Equipment devices (UEs) to transmit on the uplink in the unlicensed 5 gigahertz (GHz) or license-shared 3.5 GHz radio spectrum. These uplink transmissions generally need to perform Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) prior to accessing the channel.
Today, the unlicensed 5 GHz spectrum is mainly used by equipment implementing the IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standard, also known under its marketing brand as "Wi-Fi."

Listen-before-talk in uplink multiuser MIMO systems


A high temperature battery which has a cathode comprising either sulphur or a metal sulphide, an anode comprising either an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal or an alloy of either and, disposed between them, an electrolyte comprising an alkali metal halide. The materials in the cathode composition are electrochemically in excess to the materials in the anode composition. Potassium chloride, potassium iodide or, preferably, potassium bromide is added to the anode, the cathode and the electrolyte. When potassium bromide is added, ideally, it is added to the electrolyte in excess to the alkali metal halides present in the electrolyte. In one particular example, the cathode comprises iron sulphide, the anode comprises a lithium aluminum alloy, the electrolyte comprises a ternary metal halide and potassium bromide is added to all three. Magnesia can be further added to the anode, cathode and electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in high temperature secondary batteries and especially lithium aluminium iron sulphide (LAIS) batteries.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
High temperature secondary batteries have been known for some years. Compared to conventional lead/acid batteries high temperature secondary batteries can offer similar performance but at only 1/3 the weight and volume. They are formed as an electrolyte separator material sandwiched between an anode and cathode. In the case of a LAIS battery the cathode is ferrous sulphide, the electrolyte is lithium halide and the anode is lithium aluminium alloy. LAIS and related batteries utilise the high power density afforded by the lithium sulphur couple. However the use of these and other high temperature secondary batteries as high power/high energy batteries has been hampered by various factors such as maintaining conductivity efficiency over many charge/discharge cycles and problems associated with dimensional stability on heating and cooling as batteries are charged and discharged. In certain instances changes in dimensional stability are so severe as to result in internal breakdown of the battery rendering it useless. Where the effects are less severe internal expansion of the battery may cause damage by leakage of electrolyte.

The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland


An identification unit identifies a departure point of a travel locus of a vehicle. The vehicle departs through the departure point from a departure road stored beforehand in map data. The map data has map link information including multiple links. An exit point set unit sets an exit point on a link included in the map link information. The link corresponds to the departure point of the departure road identified by the identification unit. A learning unit learns a new road based on the exit point set by the exit point set unit and the travel locus of the vehicle.

A known vehicular navigation device (e.g., refer to Japanese Patent 2778374, JP-A-2006-170970, JP-A-2007-271602, JP-A-2007-47271, and JP-A-6-27876) has a road learning function such that when a vehicle travels on a road unregistered in map data, the vehicular navigation device detects the shape of the unregistered road and registers the detected shape in the map data. Such a vehicular navigation device has a technical thought to obtain a travel locus using various sensors such as a GPS satellite system and detect the shape of a road based on the obtained travel locus. The vehicular navigation device is further configured to store the travel locus between a start point and an end point automatically and register an unregistered new road automatically.
More specifically, Japanese Patent 2778374 discloses a navigation device configured to detect a travel distance of a vehicle, detect a traveling direction of the vehicle, and calculate a travel locus of the vehicle based on the detected travel distance and the detected traveling direction at a predetermined travel distance interval. The navigation device is further configured to calculate an estimated position of the vehicle based on road map data and the calculated travel locus of the vehicle and indicate the estimated position of the vehicle on a road map around the vehicle. The navigation device has a function such that when the vehicle travels on an unregistered road, which is not registered in a map storage device, the navigation device converts data format of a travel locus of the unregistered road calculated by a travel-locus calculation unit into data format of road map data stored in the map storage device. In this way, the navigation device stores the travel-locus data of the unregistered road.
JP-A-2006-170970 discloses a method to determine a point through which a self-vehicle departs from a registered road stored in map data. The JP-A-2006-170970 discloses a method such that when the vehicle travels on a road toward a T-junction and when the position of the vehicle does not coincide with a road position, the navigation device performs a map matching operation to calculate a map matching position, which coincides with the road position. When the vehicle starts traveling on a road, which is not stored in the map data, the navigation device calculates the map matching position to coincide with a road near the self-vehicle.
JP-A-2007-271602 discloses a technical thought to shift a travel locus in parallel, while a self-vehicle is traveling on an unregistered road, such that a start point of the travel locus including the unregistered road coincides with the coordinates where detection of the unregistered road is started. Thereafter, the travel locus is affine-transformed such that the end point of the travel locus coincides with the coordinates of a detection end point of the unregistered road. Thereby, the travel locus including the unregistered road is obtained. In this technical thought, when a road verification unit and the travel locus show a matching state, it is determined whether the travel locus is within the road width. When it is determined that the travel locus is not within the road width, a road departure point is set to the coordinates of the present position of the vehicle. In this case, the road departure point is set on a registered road rearward by a predetermined distance.
JP-A-2007-47271 discloses a technical thought to connect the self-positions so as to obtain a travel locus as a new road, when the map matching of the self-position cannot be carried out, and update road information. Thereafter, the new road is evaluated according to a deviation between the self-position and the new road. According to this technical thought, congruent points between both data are obtained in consideration of the difference between the length of a polygonal line of the update information and the length of a polygonal line obtained from a position detection result in the evaluation. Further, coordinates average of the congruent points are obtained as a correction result. In this way, an intermediate position between update information and the position detection result in the evaluation can be calculated as the correction result.
It is noted that, in general, a vehicle travels on one side of a road. That is, when a vehicle travels on a road, a road shape deviated from a center position of an intersection may be detected. When a vehicle turns on an unregistered road such as an intersection, a travel locus of the vehicle may be in a curved shape. Consequently, a road shape different from an actual road shape may be stored. Such a difference may be significant in a right-angled intersection, for example.


A method and apparatus for monitoring the integrity of a ground member coupling a substrate support to a chamber body in a plasma processing system is provided. In one embodiment, a processing chamber is provided that includes a ground path member coupled between a substrate support and a chamber body. A sensor is positioned to sense a metric indicative of current passing through the ground member. In another embodiment, a method monitoring the integrity of a ground member coupling a substrate support to a chamber body in a plasma processing chamber includes monitoring a metric indicative of current passing through the ground member during processing, and setting a flag in response to the metric exceeding a predefined threshold.

1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention generally relate to a method and apparatus for plasma processing a substrate, and more specifically, plasma processing chamber having a ground member integrity indicator and method for using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays or flat panels are commonly used for active matrix displays such as computer and television monitors. Generally, flat panels comprise two plates having a layer of liquid crystal material sandwiched therebetween. At least one of the plates includes at least one conductive film disposed thereon that is coupled to a power source. Power, supplied to the conductive film from the power supply, changes the orientation of the crystal material, creating a patterned display.
In order to manufacture these displays, a substrate, such as a glass or polymer workpiece, is typically subjected to a plurality of sequential processes to create devices, conductors and insulators on the substrate. Each of these processes is generally performed in a process chamber configured to perform a single step of the production process. In order to efficiently complete the entire sequence of processing steps, a number of process chambers are typically coupled to a central transfer chamber that houses a robot to facilitate transfer of the substrate between the process chambers. A processing platform having this configuration is generally known as a cluster tool, examples of which are the families of AKT plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposing (PECVD) processing platforms available from AKT America, Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif.
As demand for flat panels has increased, so has the demand for larger sized substrates. For example, large area substrates utilized for flat panel fabrication have increased in area from 550 mm by 650 mm to over 2 square meters in just a few years and are envisioned to continue to increase in size in the near future. This growth in the size of the large area substrates has presented new challenges in handling and production. For example, the larger surface area of the substrates requires increased grounding capacity of the substrate supports. On conventional systems, a plurality of flexible conductive straps provides a ground path between the substrate support and chamber body. Since the ground straps are not readily visible from the exterior of the processing chamber, operators are often unaware if one or more straps are broken. If enough straps are broken, processing results may no be within specification, resulting in defects. Although breakage of one strap is not a catastrophic event, strap breakage does affects process uniformity, and as such, the inventors have recognized that would be desirable to be monitor the effectiveness of the substrate support ground in order to maintain robust processing.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved plasma processing chamber having a ground member integrity indicator and method for using the same.

Plasma processing chamber with ground member integrity indicator and method for using the same


A modulation circuit includes a locked loop circuit with two-point modulation control and a phase-frequency detector configured to compare a reference frequency signal with a feedback frequency signal. A two-point modulation control circuit includes a first modulation path having a controllable gain and coupled to one of the first and second modulation control points and a second modulation path coupled to another of the first and second modulation control points. Gain matching of the first and second modulation paths is accomplished through the operation of a calibration circuit. The calibration circuit includes a phase detector circuit configured to compare the reference frequency signal with the feedback frequency signal to generate a phase detect signal, and a gain control circuit configured to adjust the controllable gain of the first modulation path as a function a correlation of the phase detect signal with signs of the modulation data.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram for a conventional two-point modulator 10 which includes a phase lock loop (PLL) 12 that synthesizes a carrier frequency from a reference frequency (fref). The PLL 12 includes a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 20 generating a modulated frequency output signal (fout) having a central frequency which is set to the desired carrier frequency. The modulated frequency output signal fout is applied to the input of programmable divider (DIV) 22 which divides the modulated frequency output signal fout to generate a feedback frequency signal (ffb). A phase-frequency detector (PFD) 24 operates to compare the phase-frequency of the feedback frequency signal ffb to the phase-frequency of the reference frequency fref and generate a control signal 26 responsive to the phase-frequency difference. The control signal 26 drives the operation of a charge pump (CP) 28 to generate a control voltage signal 30. The control voltage signal 30 is filtered by a low pass filter (LPF) 32 and applied to the control input of the voltage controlled oscillator 20 as a voltage control signal (Vc). The frequency of the modulated frequency output signal fout generated by the voltage controlled oscillator 20 in response to the voltage control signal Vc is set as a function of the filtered control voltage signal 30.
The carrier frequency is determined by a digital control signal (fc) that is provided to an input of a sigma-delta (ΣΔ) modulator (SDM) 40 as a modulation control signal (Mc). The output of the sigma-delta modulator 40 is applied to a control input of the programmable divider 22 in order to set the average division ratio of the programmable divider 22. As an example, the output of the sigma-delta modulator 40 may be coded on one bit, with the logic value of this bit selecting the division ratio of either N or N+1, where N is an integer. Thus, the central frequency of the modulated frequency output signal fout is selectable between two values of N*fref and (N+1)*fref. If the output of the sigma-delta modulator 40 is instead coded on multiple bits, these bits will select one of several consecutive values for the central frequency of the modulated frequency output signal fout.
The two-point modulation is performed using two correlated modulation signals that respectively modulate: the filtered control voltage signal 30 setpoint at the output of the low pass filter 32 through modulation path (a), and the carrier frequency setpoint at the input of the sigma-delta modulator 40 through modulation path (b).
The digital data, also referred to in the art as the modulation data signal, is filtered by a transmit filter (TX-Filter) 50 (for example, a Gaussian filter). With respect to path (a), the filtered digital data 52 is converted by a modulation digital to analog converter (DAC) 54 to an analog voltage signal 56. An analog summation circuit 58 adds the analog voltage signal 54 to the filtered control voltage signal 30 for application to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator 20 as the voltage control signal (Vc). With respect to path (b), this filtered digital data 52 is added by a digital summation circuit 60 to the digital control signal fc for application to the input of the sigma-delta modulator 40 as the modulation control signal (Mc).
Those skilled in the art understand that the transfer function (Hb(s)) applied to the modulation seen from the programmable divider 22 through the operation of modulation path (b) exhibits a low pass behavior while the transfer function (Ha(s)) applied to the modulation seen from the digital to analog converter 54 through the operation of modulation path (a) exhibits a high pass behavior. If the sum of these two transfer functions is equal to a constant (i.e., Ha(s)+Hb(s)=1), then the bandwidth of the modulator 10 is infinite. This advantageous operating condition is achieved when the respective gains of the modulation paths (a) and (b) passing through the digital to analog converter 54 and programmable divider 22, respectively, are identical. If the gains are not matched, however, erroneous modulation of the modulated frequency output signal fout occurs.
Because the modulation path (b) is fully digital in nature, there is an inherent accuracy. The gain of modulation path (a), however, which is partially digital and partially analog, is inaccurate because the gain of the digital to analog converter 54 is process, voltage and temperature (PVT) dependent. To achieve gain matching, a calibration procedure is needed to offset this PVT dependence. In a common practice, for example before a transmit operation, the gain of the digital to analog converter 54 is calibrated (to match the path (b) gain) using a frequency lock loop (FLL) process. This calibration will not, however, address temperature variation. Additionally, the calibration process can take too long to complete (for example, not being able to be completed between channel switching operations when the two-point modulator is a component of an RF transceiver circuit).
There is accordingly a need in the art for a better calibration process which addresses some, or all, of the foregoing concerns.

Two-point modulator with matching gain calibration


A package receives and encapsulates an optoelectronic integrated circuit chip. A plurality of optically transmissive filaments have first ends coupled with the chip and second ends opposite the first ends positioned outside the package. In a preferred embodiment, the first ends are flamed off to form spherical lenses, which are then used to contact optically active devices on the integrated circuit chip.

Conventional electronic integrated circuits generally comprise an integrated circuit chip encapsulated in a package with a plurality of external metal pins that are insertable in a socketed circuit board. Lead wires connect the chip circuitry to the metal pins for transmitting or receiving electrical signals. An example of a conventional integrated circuit is a dual inline package (DIP), which has two parallel rows of external metal pins.
Optoelectronic integrated circuit chips transmit and receive both electrical and optical signals. A need exists for an optoelectronic integrated circuit having external pins that can be removably inserted into a socketed circuit board for transmitting optical and electrical signals. A need also exists for a method of coupling an optically transmissive filament to an optoelectronic integrated circuit chip to provide a secure mechanical bond and high optical coupling efficiency.

Optoelectronic integrated circuit for transmitting optical and electrical signals and method of forming same


A lottery game with a capped jackpot prize and increasing raffle prize is provided. The lottery game is set with an initial jackpot prize. If there is no jackpot winner for the lottery game for a drawing, the jackpot is increased until the jackpot is at least equal to a predefined value. For each subsequent drawing, a raffle prize is set and a raffle number is printed on each lottery ticket. The raffle prize is not distributed until a jackpot winner is determined.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to lottery games and more specifically to a lottery game a capped jackpot and a growing raffle prize.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lottery games that draw fixed numbers from a set of numbers are well-known, with one example the common game of "FANTASY 5," in which a player chooses five (5) numbers from 1 to 39. If the five numbers chosen by the player match the five numbers selected by the lottery authority, the player wins the jackpot. If there is no winner, the jackpot is rolled over and added to the prize for the next drawing. Prizes will also be awarded to partial matches.
It may take several drawings until someone matches all the numbers and wins the jackpot. When the jackpot is small and no one wins for several weeks, the public may lose interest on the game. Therefore, it is desirable to have a lottery game that consistently attracts player's attention, even though the ultimate jackpot may not be very large, and it is to such a lottery game the present invention is primarily directed.

Lottery game having an independent raffle prize


The invention disclosed herein comprises a trailer capable of transporting, storing, launching and recovering an aircraft, such as a helicopter or rotorcraft. The trailer includes a movable landing pad from which the aircraft is launched or lands upon and a sliding curtain wall which covers, extends and retracts to provide for secure storage of the aircraft while in transit. The trailer may be attached to and detached from a tractor, truck or other capable tow vehicle. In one embodiment directed to aerial spraying applications, the trailer also includes tankage and fluid transfer equipment and pumps for the storage and transfer of fuel, chemical and water supply, when aerial spray operations using the aircraft are being conducted in the field.

In the prior art, well known transport equipment such as a typical truck tractor attached to a flatbed trailer are used to transport overland both fixed wing and rotorcraft. The aircraft to be transported is tied with straps to the trailer to secure the aircraft. This prevents movement of the aircraft during transport. However, the aircraft is typically not covered during transport and is subject to being damaged from airborne debris encountered during transport. Likewise, the aircraft is exposed to the environmental conditions through which it is traveling and may suffer damage from rain, hail, or snowfall striking the exposed aircraft. Moreover, such trailer equipment does not allow or provide for the aircraft to take off from and land on the transport trailer on a repetitive basis. Further, no known trailer apparatus and techniques provide for the storage and transport of equipment and associated consumables which may be required for operation of the aircraft at the destination site, consequently requiring multiple transport trucks and trailer to deliver fuel, water, and chemical if the spray operations are involved, to the destination site.
Thus, there is a need for an aircraft transport trailer that provides a secure, covered trailer for transporting an aircraft overland and allows for the aircraft to use the trailer repeatedly as a take-off and landing pad. A need exists for an aircraft transport trailer and method which provides fuel, water and chemical storage, and associated pump transfer capabilities, so as to provide for the transfer of fuel and chemical to the aircraft while operating in the field.