Disclosed is a lancet injector for use with a lancet and an isolating platform to obtain blood samples for diagnostic purposes in a very safe and accurate manner. This lancet injector makes use of two elastomeric bands to push the lancet forwards and to rapidly withdraw the needle from the skin. The lancet injector also has an interlocking mechanism which completely precludes a lancet from being used more than once and thus obviates accidental misuse which could cause cross-contamination between patients. It further has a mechanism which allows the lancet itself to dislodge the platform thereby causing it to automatically jump forward in front of the needle as it collapses and thus to hood the needle and grip the main body of the lancet. It may also be provided with a window in its housing, through which a three color display panel can be viewed. When the lancet injector is ready for loading, a color is displayed, thus indicating that the injector has been emptied and may now be loaded and then cocked. When cocked, another color is displayed, thus indicating that the injector is ready to be fired. After firing, a third color is displayed to give warning signal that the ejector contains a lancet which has been used and should immediately be ejected. The third color display remains locked until the lancet is completely ejected.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved blood sampling device also known in the trade as a"lancet injector", that can be used in combination with a lancet and an isolating platform to obtain blood samples for diagnostic purposes in a very safe and accurate manner.
The invention also relates to the combination of such a lancet injector with a lancet and an isolating platform especially adapted for use therewith.
b) Brief Description of the Prior Art
Lancets are well known devices commonly used in the medical field to make small punctures in a patient's skin in order to obtain samples of blood. Lancets usually comprise an elongated plastic body from which projects a sharpened metal needle covered by a protective cap that is removed before use of the needle to puncture the skin (see, by way of non-restrictive example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,358,689 to HIGGINS).
Lancet injectors are also well known devices that are used to "fire" or project a lancet toward the skin of a patient in order to puncture the same in an accurate, standardized and consistent manner.
Such devices have originally been devised for use by the patients themselves, who have to puncture their own skin on a regular basis and are afraid or reluctant to do so"manually". However, they are now commonly used by professional medical staff, essentially because they make the duration and depth of penetration of the lancet needle through the skin very short and small and serve to shield the patient from viewing the actual skin piercing act, and thus to minimize pain and trauma associated with the process.
In the recent years, numerous patents have been granted on lancet injectors which are of different and improved structures. All these known lancet injectors use metallic or leaf springs to push the lancet forward upon actuation and then retract it immediately in order to minimize pain sensation (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,203,446; 4,469,529; 4,527,561; 4,677,979 and 4,889,117).
Some known lancet injectors are also provided with means, usually in the form of a screwable ring or separable multiple sized adaptor caps, to control and adjust the depth of penetration of the needle of the lancet (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,469,110 and 4,895,147).
Some other known lancet injectors are provided with means for allowing ejection of the lancet after use without having to seize it with the fingers to do so. Such is achieved either by use of mechanical ejecting means (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,724) or by use of a separate disposable isolation cap operatively connected to the lancet in such a manner as to act as a protective hood for its needle (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,990,154 and 5,074,872). The basic idea behind this last generation of lancet injectors is essentially to make them safer in use by the medical staff who is more and more concerned with the risk of disease transmission in the case of accidental puncture with a used lancet and resultant exposure to contamination through the trace of blood left on the used lancet.
In Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,303 referred to hereinabove, there is disclosed a combined, single-use, disposable lancet and multi-function cap, in which the multi-function cap is so devised as to be useful in the following four separate and distinct functions.
First function: The multi-function cap serves as a protective cap (or sealed barrier) to keep the sharp needle of the lancet protected and sterile after moulding and prior to being twisted off to reveal the needle for actual use.
Second function: The multi-function cap serves as an isolation cap (or physical intermediary) when the lancet is being used with a lancet injector such that no physical part of the actual injector itself may come into contact with the target area of the patient's skin from which blood is to be drawn. Only the multi-function cap makes physical contact with the target area of the patient's skin from which blood is to be drawn.
Third function: The multi-function cap serves as a means of controlling depth of penetration when the lancet is being used with a lancet injector such that the user has variable options of depth to which the lancet may be allowed to penetrate the skin.
Fourth function: The multi-function cap serves as a protective cap (or locking hood) to cap and permanently lock the used sharp lancet needle "within" the cap immediately upon ejection and discarding of the used lancet, thus serving to protect users and medical professionals against the risk of accidental finger puncture once the lancet has been used (fired). Simultaneously, the multi-function cap serves to prevent the lancet from being fired accidentally for a second time.
The fact that the multi-function cap is not only acting as a protective cap to keep the needle sterile before use, but also as an isolation cap, a depth penetration barrier and a locking needle hood, is of a great interest as it eliminates the need for an extra isolation cap and it economizes both in manufacturing cost and in required amount of plastic material.
In former U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,303, a blood sampling lancet injector is also disclosed, for use with the above mentioned combined lancet and multi-function cap. This lancet injector is devised to reduce the danger of accidental finger-stick from a "used" blood contaminated lancet needle, thanks to the presence of ejection means which automatically ejects the lancet in concert with the multi-function cap that firmly grips onto the lancet at a predetermined position where it may acts as a protective locking hood for the needle after the injector has been "fired" and the used lancet is ejected to be discarded.
Thanks to the multi-function cap used therewith, the blood sampling lancet injector also allows for easy regulation of the depth of skin penetration in a positive and reliable manner for the purpose of obtaining a blood droplet or sample of optimum volume while simultaneously serving to diminish as much as possible patient discomfort.
In this connection, it is known that normal average desirable penetration to produce sufficient blood for glucose content measuring purposes as required for instance by most diabetic patients, is around 0.040". For young children, a penetration 0.025" to 0.030" is sufficient and provides less discomfort while for some adults who have a thicker than usual epidermis, up to 0.090" may be needed to produce an ample blood droplet. The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,303 provides for all penetration depths within these two extremes with a lancet having just one given needle length, the required depth being easily adjusted in a very reliable manner by mere rotation of a depth indicator that forms part of the multi-function cap and is provided with an easy-to-read scale giving different comfort depth values, in order to reduce as much as possible discomfort.
The blood sampling lancet injector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,303 is also interesting as compared to the previous lancet injectors in that it eliminates the use of metallic springs, and uses instead an elastomeric band which is suitably restrained at four points so as to provide a unique two-way, well cushioned prime mover providing both for very rapid skin piercing and speedy withdrawal of the needle, which serve to minimize patient discomfort.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,303 discloses a blood sampling lancet injector which incorporates each and all of the above mentioned features and thus:
is much less complicated than the prior art devices which require the use of metallic springs that are far more costly than the elastomeric band used herein; PA1 is much safer than the prior art devices which do not provide for disposable isolation caps, the injector not only obviating cross-contamination but also allowing for instant regulation of the depth of skin penetration and protective hooding and locking of the needle after use to eliminate the possibility of "second firing" without employing any extra components; and PA1 is much less expensive to manufacture than the prior art devices which, for most, require costly assembly operations that may include sonic welding, gluing and/or screwing, the invention, in complete contrast, providing for rapid low cost assembly with all components suitably shaped to rapidly click together either by hand or a robotic assembly machine. PA1 a structure which requires the use of metallic springs that are far more costly than the elastomeric band used herein; PA1 a structure which is much safer and efficient than the prior art devices, the invention not only obviating cross-contamination, but also allowing for instant regulation of the depth of skin penetration and protective holding and locking of the needle after use to eliminate the possibility of "second firing" without employing any extra component; and PA1 a structure which is much less expensive to manufacture than the prior art devices, because it provides for rapid low cost assembly with all components suitable shaped to rapidly click together either by hand or a robotic assembly machine. PA1 a longitudinal axis; PA1 a front open end hereinafter called "mouth" on which the isolating platform can be detachably fixed; and PA1 a rear end. PA1 a forward end integrally connected to a launching socket in which the lancet to be injected is detachably insertable; PA1 a first abutment at a first distance rearward the launching socket; PA1 a leaf spring at a second distance rearward the abutment, this leaf spring projecting forwardly outwardly from the shaft and being lockingly engageable with a stop provided in the rear slot of the chassis when tile shaft is moved rearwardly within the passage; and PA1 a rearward end defining a second abutment. PA1 a forwardly projecting stem that is slidably movable within the launching socket through a rear opening provided in the same; PA1 an operating knob projecting out of the chassis through an elongated opening provided in the same opposite to the front slot; and PA1 a small hook opposite to the knob, this hook being slidably engageable into the front slot of the chassis. PA1 a resilient front tip that is engaged by the hook of the ejector when this ejector moves from a maximum forward position to the rear; PA1 a lower rib that projects downwardly and is slidably engaged into the rear slot of the chassis; and PA1 a rear edge. PA1 during the loading step, the pressure exerted on the knob causes the pins to engage the notches made in the angulated slots of the chassis and be locked therein; PA1 during the cocking step, the angulated slots cause the lancet ejector to move away from the front tip of the slide member and thus to avoid any interference with the same until the injector is fired; PA1 during the firing step, the angulated slots cause the lancet ejector to move toward the front tip of the slide member and its hook to engage said front tip rearwardly of the same and to push said slide member forwards; and PA1 during ejecting step (iv), the angulated slots cause the hook of the ejector to deflect the front tip of the slide member and to pass in front of the same, thereby causing the ejector to push back the slide member when it moves rearwards under the action of the second elastomeric band. PA1 when the lancet injector is in its loading position, the second color is displayed through the window; PA1 when the lancet injector is in locked position at the end of cocking step, the first color is displayed through the window, thereby indicating that the injector is ready to be fired; and PA1 when the lancet injector has been fired but the lancet has not been ejected yet, the third color is displayed through the window, thereby giving a warning signal that the ejector contains a used lancet which should immediately be ejected. This third color display remains locked until the lancet is ejected and the mechanism restores itself to rest at which time it changes back to first color. PA1 an elongated body of a given diameter that is snugly insertable into the launching socket of the lancet injector; and PA1 an axial needle embedded into the body, this needle having a sharp end projecting out of the body at a given distance away from one end of the same. PA1 a front plate that extends transversally to the mouth of the chassis when the isolating platform is connected thereto, the plate having a given thickness and a central through-hole of a diameter smaller than the one of the body of the lancet so as to stop this body while allowing the needle of the lancet to pass through the through-hole and to project out of the plate when the injector is fired; and PA1 a fixation sleeve coaxial to the plate and sized to snap onto the mouth of the chassis so as to detachably connect the isolating platform to this mouth.


An optical disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus records and/or reproduces information on an information record surface of an optical disk loaded thereto. The optical pickup apparatus for the optical disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus is provided with: two types of optical pickups for at least two types of optical disks respectively; first and second guiding rails arranged substantially parallel to each other such that the information record surface of the loaded optical disk is disposed between the first and second guiding rails, for respectively guiding the optical pickups along the information record surface of the loaded optical disk in a radial direction of the loaded optical disk; first and second retracting rails respectively connected to the first and second guiding rails, for retracting thereonto the optical pickups from the first and second guiding rails through linkages with the first and second guiding rails respectively; a rotator frame for holding the first and second retracting rails; and a rotating mechanism for rotating the rotator frame around an axis parallel to the first and second retracting rails and for swapping the first and second retracting rails to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related with an optical pickup apparatus used for an optical disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus, which can reproduce different types of optical disks by selectively moving two types of optical pickups on one or two moving paths.
2. Description of the Related Art
As can be seen in Japanese Utility Model Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. Hei-1-78323, there is a compatible player which can selectively reproduce two types of record media. This compatible player is intended to selectively reproduce an optical disk and a needle type disk. The optical pickup and the needle type pickup corresponding respectively to these two types of disks are fixed and held at free edges of U-shaped brackets, respectively. In a case of reproducing the optical disk, the optical disk is scanned by removing the U-shaped bracket from a turn table, rotating it by 180 degrees around a horizontal axis and moving the optical pickup upward so as to scan the optical disk. In a case of reproducing the needle type disk, the needle type disk is scanned by again removing the U-shaped bracket from the turn table, rotating it by 180 degrees around the horizontal axis and moving the needle type pickup upward so as to scan the needle type disk.
Further, as can be seen in Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. Hei 2 66731, there is a disk reproducing apparatus which can reproduce both surfaces of a disk by moving a single optical pickup on two moving paths.
However, the reproducing apparatus in accordance with the Japanese Utility Model Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. Hei-1-783233 is intended to reproduce a CD and a record, and the reproducing apparatus in accordance with the Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. Hei-2-66731 is intended to reproduce one type of a disk. Thus, they cannot reproduce different types os optical disks.


An inspection tool for inspecting oil and/or gas production and/or injection wells and pipes is provided. The tool comprises at least an image sensor, one or more processors or chips and one or more power supplies. The tool further comprises at least a first and a second chamber being insulated from each other. The first chamber comprises the image sensor and is provided with one or more passive cooling means, and the second chamber comprises the one or more processors and is provided with one or more active cooling means. Further, a method for cooling such inspection tool is provided.

In the drilling and production of oil and gas wells, it is often necessary to obtain inner surface information concerning conditions present within the borehole. For example, tools and other objects may become lodged in the borehole during the drilling of a well. Such objects must be retrieved before drilling can continue.
In the operation and/or periodic maintenance of producing or injection wells, it is frequently necessary to obtain information about the construction and/or operating condition of production equipment located downhole. For example, detection of the onset of corrosion damage to well tubing or casing within a borehole enables the application of anti-corrosive treatments to the well. Early treatment of corrosive well conditions prevents the highly expensive and dangerous replacement of corrosion damaged well production components.
For performing other maintenance operations in a production well environment, such as replacement of various flow control valves or the inspection of the location and condition of casing perforations, it is highly desirable for an operator located at the surface to obtain accurate, real-time information about downhole conditions.
In fact, new regulations require operators of oilfields to perform a visual inspection of their safety/barrier valves after certain operations to verify cleanness in order to secure a further safe operation. These are often referred to as BlowOut Preventers (BOP) which are large, specialized valves or similar mechanical devices, usually installed redundantly in stacks, used to seal, control and monitor oil and gas wells, and intended to prevent tubing (e.g. drill pipe and well casing), tools and drilling fluid from being blown out of the wellbore (also known as borehole, the hole leading to the reservoir) when a blowout threatens.
Other tubulars may need inspection. This is the case of risers, large tubulars connecting Oil and Gas exploration or production platforms or ships to subsea installations.
Visual inspection involves inserting an apparatus with sensors into the pipe and lowering it towards the oil and/or gas reservoir. The apparatus is a camera tool adjusted for visual inspection. The sensors build into the tool apparatus may also measure temperature, pressure or other variables of interest. In combination with the depth may these values be plotted graphically and can be compared to other graphs of an ideal or wanted case in order to evaluate the condition of the pipe.
Introducing inspection tools with extended sensor capabilities however also mean introducing hardware that generates heat into the pipes, for example camera chips, processors, batteries and lighting means. Due to the pressure in the well and other factors, high temperatures may be present in the environment were the apparatus is inserted. These temperatures are usually up to 150 degrees Celsius, but can reach an excess of 300 degrees Celsius. The hardware within the device that generates heat is sensible to high temperatures. As a consequence, inserting the apparatus in the well pipe may heat up the apparatus both externally and internally to a critical temperature, giving a threshold for how long the device can be placed in the well pipe without causing damage to the hardware. This means that the hardware necessary for performing inspection of the well needs to be cooled to be able to extend the threshold value and thus the working time to be as long as possible and thereby enable a complete inspection to be performed.
However, not all the hardware installed in an inspection tool has the same sensitivity towards high temperatures. For example, power supply, camera optics and sensors are way more temperature tolerant than processors, chips and camera electronics, even if the last mentioned devices are the one producing the most heat during operation.
As more and more active components and electronics are introduced in inspection tools, the need for cooling is increasing. This is in prior art done by passive cooling, employing combinations of heat insulating and reflecting materials in combination with storage materials, separating into separate chambers and vacuum to extend this timeframe. However, this does not provide sufficient cooling for fully equipped inspection tools.
It is therefore a need for a new cooling assembly for inspection tools with heat generating components installed operating in high pressure environments.


A device for separating a first space and a second space from one another is disclosed. The device comprises a partition wall, arranged such that the first space and the second space are located on opposite sides of said partition wall. The partition wall is provided with a through aperture, which connects the first space and the second space and allows a bulk material to move from the first space into the second space. A shutter is provided, slidingly movable with respect to the partition wall, for selectively opening and closing the through aperture. The shutter has a port, which can be selectively brought in an alignment position and in an out-of-alignment position with respect to the through aperture.

In several kinds of devices and machines the need sometimes arises to selectively put two environments in communication or to separate one environment from the other, alternatively. For example, one space or environment can be formed by a product container, the product contained therein being selectively dispensed in a second space or environment, in which a device acting upon the product is arranged.
In beverage producing machines, for example, containers for beverage ingredients in the form of bulk material, e.g. in granular or powder form, are provided. The ingredients contained in the containers must be selectively dispensed toward a brewing unit, a mixer or any other kind of apparatus, device, or component in which the beverage or a part thereof is prepared, for example using hot water flowing through a metered amount of beverage ingredient(s).
In some circumstances two mutually adjoining spaces or environments must be separated from one another when no flow of product is required from one environment to the other, but they must be placed into communication if a product should flow from one space in the other.

Device for separating two spaces from one another


The method of curing a dental composite includes forming a composite filling in a cavity of a tooth surface by filling the cavity with an uncured composite and determining the geometry of the composite filling, including locations of interfaces between the composite filling and the tooth surface. The method further includes calculating a predetermined polymerization pattern for minimizing shrinkage stress at the interfaces, based on the geometry of the composite filling, and scanning a focused laser beam across the composite filling in accordance with the predetermined polymerization pattern to selectively and progressively cure the composite filling.

Light curing restorations are commonly used in dental applications. As part of a typical dental procedure, a composite is dispensed in a tooth cavity, and the composite is hardened or cured with a dental curing light. In conventional systems, halogen or LED curing lamps are used to flood an entire tooth with light so as to cure an entire area of the composite simultaneously. Such flooding of light indiscriminately illuminates the tooth with unfocused light, which makes it challenging to control shrinkage behavior of the composite.
The curing light activates polymerization of the composite as a function of light intensity throughout the cavity. As the composite polymerizes, it naturally shrinks due to formation of covalent bonds and reduction in free volume. When the entire composite starts to polymerize at once, the composite material is trapped in an energetically less stable state in which it does not have enough time and mobility to relax. On the other hand, the composite is bonded or adhered to cavity walls in order to secure the restoration in place and seal a margin or interface. These two phenomena—i.e., total shrinkage of the composite and adhesion to the cavity walls—result in strain, which consequently induces stress on the cavity walls. Such stress concentration at the interfaces between the composite and the cavity walls, referred to as the margins, may result in immediate or delayed debonding, which may result in a number of clinical issues, such as secondary caries. In general, debonding may reduce lifetime and effectiveness of the restoration. Such stress at the interfaces may also lead to post-operative pain and/or sensitivity for the patient.
Current methods of dealing with the problem of uncontrolled stress on the cavity walls may include using a layer filling technique, applying liners in the cavity base, employing light soft-start illumination strategies (e.g., ramp cure), and/or using flowable or low shrinkage composites. Although composites with reduced shrinkage have been developed recently, overall shrinkage and the shrinkage stress for dental materials are still not ideal.

Scanning polymerization of dental material


A mechanical punching device for punching the tuyeres of a converter properly independently of the angle of inclination of the converter. Link mechanisms, each having two turning arms, are provided on both sides of a carriage with the two turning arms being connected together by the end shaft of the link drive device. The end shaft is a link drive device movable vertically so that the distance between one of the supporting shafts which serves as a fulcrum and one of the holding shafts of the mechanical puncher on the side of the punching rod is shorter than the distance between the other supporting shaft and the other holding shaft. The holding shafts slide along guide slots formed in the side wall of the carriage. The angle of inclination and horizontal and vertical positions of the mechanical puncher are thereby changed with a single operation of the link drive device.

The present invention relates to a mechanical puncher with which tuyeres, are punched suitably according to the angle of rotation of the converter.
Matte formed in a blast furnace, a reverberatory furnace or a flash furnace is transferred into a converter where it is converted into blister copper by an oxidation reaction using an air blowing operation. A copper converter customarily has the form of a cylinder whose axis lies horizontally. A number of air blowing nozzles or tuyeres, forty-eight in one example, aligned parallel to the axis of the cylinder are provided on the outer shell of the converter. Molten matte is supplied into the converter through an opening on the top of the converter. Iron and sulfur components contained in the molten matte are oxidized by the oxygen in the air blown thereinto into iron oxides and sulfurdioxide gas. Molten materials in the converter are solidified and form encrustations at inner tips of the tuyeres by a diabatically cooling the molten material with blowing air. In this case, it becomes difficult to supply sufficient amount of air into the converter, as a result of which the converting operation must be suspended, when the solidified encrustations has built up. Therefore, mechanical punching operation is carried out in order to remove the solidified encrustations frequently.
According to the operating conditions of the converter, the level A of molten matte in the converter may be changed to the level B as shown in FIG. 1. In this case, the converter must be rotated in order to maintain constant the distance between the end of the tuyere in the converter and the surface of the molten matte as a result of which the tuyere is displaced from the position 3.sub.1 to the position 3. Accordingly, in order to satisfactorily mechanically punch the tuyeres 3, it is necessary to change the angle of inclination .alpha. of the punching rod with respect to the horizontal line to the angle of inclination .beta. while it is also necessary to change the position a of the punching rod to the position b both in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction.
As described above, it is necessary to change the position of the punching rod in conformance with the variations in vertical direction, horizontal direction and angle of inclination of the tuyeres. Accordingly, a mechanism for controlling the positional relationships between the punching rods and the tuyeres is unavoidably intricate.
A typical conventional mechanical punching device is shown in FIG. 2. Rails 16' are mounted on a stationary frame 14' to allow a movable frame 9' to be moved parallel to the line of tuyeres. The mechanical puncher is moved vertically and towards and away from the converter by moving a board 15' up and down the slope of the frame 14'. The angle of inclination of the punching rod 4' is controlled by the combination of a worm gear 10' and a worm wheel 7'. Accordingly, with the mechanical punching device, it is necessary to direct the punching rod to the aimed tuyere by separately or individually controlling the three factors, vertical direction, horizontal direction and angle of inclination of the punching rod. Thus, the required control operation is complex and can be performed by a skilled operator only.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a mechanical punching device for punching the tuyeres of a converter in which the position and inclination angle of the punching rods are set with a single operation in conformance with the position of the tuyeres of which the angle of inclination and the horizontal and vertical position are changed according to operational requirements of the converter.

Mechanical punching device for punching the tuyeres of a converter


A bicycle sprocket assembly is basically provided with a first sprocket having a first pitch circle diameter, a second sprocket having a second pitch circle diameter, a third sprocket having a third pitch circle diameter, a fourth sprocket having a fourth pitch circle diameter, and a sprocket supporting member. At least one of the second and third sprockets is attached to the sprocket supporting member. The first sprocket is attached to the second sprocket so that the second sprocket is positioned between the first sprocket and the sprocket supporting member in an axial direction. The fourth sprocket is attached to the third sprocket so that the third sprocket is positioned between the sprocket supporting member and the fourth sprocket in the axial direction. The second sprocket is adjacent to the third sprocket without another sprocket positioned therebetween in the axial direction.

Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a bicycle sprocket assembly. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bicycle sprocket assembly including four sprockets attached to a sprocket supporting member.
Background Information
Most bicycles utilize a chain drive transmission in which a chain is moved between a plurality of front sprockets and a plurality of rear sprockets to change gears. In recent years, bicycle component manufacturers have been manufacturing bicycle transmissions that have more available speeds to the rider. As the available speeds in the bicycle transmission increases, the number of sprockets installed on the rear wheel also usually increases. Accordingly, various attempts have been made in order to increase the maximum number of sprockets that can be installed on a rear hub assembly. For example, some multiple sprocket assemblies use a spider (sprocket supporting member), which supports a plurality of ring-shaped sprocket wheels on a freewheel of a rear hub. In order to reduce an overall weight of the multiple sprocket assembly that uses a spider, a light metal, such as aluminum, etc., is generally used for the spider, while various types of steel materials are used for the sprockets to provide adequate strength. One example of a. multiple sprocket assembly that uses a spider is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,381 (assigned to Shimano Inc.).


A container having a grip ring. The grip ring is located between a dome portion and a body portion of the container and has an inset grip surface for receiving a thumb and fingers. The grip ring is located and sized relative to the dome and body portions, such that, when the container is grasped about the grip ring, the container contents can be poured in a balanced and facile manner. In addition, the location and configuration of the grip ring provides the container with circumferential hoop strength which resists unwanted ovalization distortion of the dome and body portion of the container.

Blow-molded plastic containers have become commonplace in packaging beverages, such as juice, and other liquid products. Such a container normally has a dome extending from a finish, an annular sidewall extending from a base, and a waist connecting the dome to the sidewall. Typically, the containers have a horizontal cross section which is circular, rectangular or multi-faceted.
Various means permitting grasping, lifting and pouring of containers are known in the art. For example, containers have been provided with integrally formed, or separately attached, handles extending from the sidewall, dome or finish of the containers. Containers have also been provided with indented grip panels located in the body portions of container sidewalls.
Although various known blow-molded plastic containers having handles or grip panels may function satisfactorily for their intended purposes, there is a need for a blow-molded plastic container having an improved construction which enables gripping, lifting and pouring of the container contents in a facile manner. The container should be capable of resisting distortion due to hot-filling and compressive distortions due to top loading. A container having the improved construction should also be capable of being made from a minimum of plastic to afford efficient manufacture.

Grippable blow-molded container providing balanced pouring capability


The present invention provides a feed additive composition for ruminants containing a biologically active substance therein. When administered to ruminants, the composition containing the active substance is stably protected in the rumen while efficient release of the active substance is realized in the abomasum and the following digestive tract. Thus, the released active substance is effectively digested and absorbed by ruminants.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a feed additive composition for ruminants. More precisely, it relates to a feed additive composition for ruminants, where a biologically active substance is coated with a coating composition which is stable in the rumen of ruminants and which releases the biologically active substance in the abomasum and the subsequent digestive tract of ruminants.
2. Description of the Background
When biologically active substances such as amino acids or vitamins are directly administered perorally to ruminants such as cattle or sheep, almost all of the substances are decomposed by microorganisms in the rumen of the ruminants which prevents effective absorption of the biologically active substance.
Therefore, rumen by-pass preparations, which protect such biologically active substances in the rumen of ruminants from decomposition by microorganisms so that the substances may be digested in and absorbed in the abomasum and the subsequent digestive tract, are important in the field of feeds, nutrients and animal drugs.
In preparing feed additives for ruminants which contain a biologically active substance, coating of the active substance with a protective substance such as fatty acids and hardened animal and vegetable oils has heretofore been proposed. However, if, a biologically active substance is coated with a sufficient amount of a protective substance so as to protect the active substance in the rumen of ruminants, it is difficult to achieve release of the active substance from the protective substance in the abomasum and the subsequent digestive tract.
In order to overcome the problem, a method has been proposed in which substances other than oils and fats, are added, which may enhance release of the biologically active substance from a protective coating substance. The method involves the dispersal and granulation of the active substance, and to the coating of the biologically active substance with the protective substance containing the additional substances.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,557 describes a method of dispersing a biologically active substance in a mixture comprising at least one member selected from hardened animal oils and fats, hardened vegetable oils and fats and saturated or unsaturated monocarboxylic acids, and chitosan, followed by granulating the dispersion. In the method, chitosan, which may dissolve or swell under acidic conditions, is utilized. However, since the dispersed biologically active substance exists also on the surface of the grains or near the surface thereof, the thickness of the coated layer is not even and some areas of the coated layer are very thin. In general, therefore, the stability of the biologically active substance in the rumen is low. In order to increase stability, the active substance must be coated with a fairly large amount of the protective agent, which, however, adversely diminishes the rate of release of the active substance. In the examples shown in the U.S. patent, the granules which are well protected with a coating, exhibit a poor rate of release of the active substance therefrom, while those which have a high release capacity have a low protecting capability. Anyway, the known granules do not exhibit a satisfactory combination of protection and release characteristics.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-168351 proposes a method of granulating a biologically active substance along with calcium carbonate in an amount of 20% by weight or more and aliphatic monocarboxylic acids and hardened oils and fats in an amount of 10% by weight or more. In view of the time in which it takes granules to pass through the abomasum of ruminants and in view of the rate of dissolution of calcium carbonate, the release of the active substance still involves some problems.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-317053 proposes a method of coating a biologically active substance with a coating agent comprising aliphatic monocarboxylic acids, hardened oils and fats, lecithin and glycerin fatty acid esters. However the time in which it takes the coated substance to pass through the small intestines is short and the release of the active substance is not sufficient in view the emulsifying action of lecithin and glycerin fatty acid esters.
In addition, a method of coating a biologically active substance with a pH-responsive synthetic polymer has also been proposed which is based on the difference in the pH value between the rumen and the abomasum. However, in view of the use of an organic solvent for the coating and of the high price of the coating agent, the method cannot be said to be sufficiently satisfactory from the point of view of safety and economics.


A method for driving a controllable power semiconductor switch, having a first input terminal and first and second output terminals coupled to a voltage supply and a load, the first and second output terminals providing an output of the power semiconductor switch, includes adjusting a gradient of switch-off edges of an output current and an output voltage of the power semiconductor switch by a voltage source arrangement coupled to the input terminal. A gradient of switch-on edges of an output current and an output voltage is adjusted by a controllable current source arrangement that is coupled to the input terminal and generates a gate drive current. The profile of the gate drive current from one switching operation to a subsequent switching operation, beginning at a rise in the output current and ending at a decrease in the output voltage, is varied at most within a predefined tolerance band.

In power electronics, power semiconductor switches are often used to switch or control high magnitudes of voltage, current and/or power. Many different types of power semiconductor switches are known. Common power semiconductor switches include MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors), IGBTs (insulated gate bipolar transistor) and bipolar transistors. MOSFETs are advantageous in high power applications in that a low-voltage input signal can be used. Bipolar transistors are advantageous in that a high reverse voltage strength and a low forward voltage with a high current density may be achieved. These advantages of bipolar transistors are due to the so-called bipolar effect. The bipolar effect greatly increases specific conductivity of a semiconductor region in comparison with the intrinsic conductivity of the region that is defined by the basic doping. This is due to charge-neutral bipolar flooding of electrons and holes. IGBTs combine some of the advantages of unipolar MOSFETs and bipolar transistors. For this reason, IGBT power semiconductor devices are often used in power electronics applications as electronic switches, and in particular applications that require blocking of voltages of more than 200 Volts.
The development of IGBTs has resulted in considerable improvement in performance and, in particular, an increase in current densities of the IGBTs during normal operation. Furthermore, the level of bipolar charge carrier flooding (so-called plasma) has also continuously increased in IGBTs to optimize the on-state properties. A side-effect the increased plasma is that the intrinsic dynamics of evacuating plasma from the component dominates the voltage rise and the subsequent drop in the load current of the component under conventional drive conditions. As a result, the component's behavior deviates from quasi-steady state behavior (i.e. ideal transfer characteristics) determined by the MOS channel, particularly during switch-off. As a consequence, voltage and current transients are generally considerably steeper and therefore quicker during switch-on operations than during switch-off operations of the component.
Additionally, modern IGBT components are often designed to be limited by the pinch-off effect in the event of a short circuit to specific value, such as four times the nominal current density. This is done to prevent premature thermal destruction. This limitation in conjunction with a threshold voltage specific to the IGBT limits the gradient of the transfer characteristic curve. As a result, the position of the Miller plateau is greatly dependent on the switched load current of the component.
The above described switch-on properties of IGBTs are often a decisive factor in determining the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of an IGBT to a particular application.
Different methods for controlling the switching speed of semiconductor switches are known. For example, controlled current sources designed to provide defined phase sections or ramps for a temporal gate-emitter voltage profile and for a feedback of the gate voltage signal, and circuits designed to control the collector voltage or the collector current to the drive circuit are known for this purpose. These known methods are described in further detail in the following publications: DE 43 29 363 A1, EP 0 814 564 A1, JP2002300016 A, JP11069780 A, U.S. Pat. No. 6,271,709 B1, US 2006/0044025 A1, WO 94/23497, JP2002369553 A, U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,893 and DE 196 10 895 A1.
However, the switching behavior of modern components when driven by known driving methods is highly dependent on the selected operating point of the device, and in particular the load current to be switched.

Method for driving power semiconductor switches


Cells are grown in 3D culture and topological features obtained by photomicrography are correlated to cell viability and cell cell interactions.

Most drug recalls and delays in regulatory approvals result from drug-induced adverse events, and the most frequent reasons for withdrawal of an drug are nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity. For example, two widely prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), ibuprofen and acetaminophen, are known nephrotoxic1 and hepatotoxic compounds, respectively. However, the mechanisms of NSAID toxicity and the events that produce cell death are poorly understood and our methods of assessing these side effects before use in patients are of limited usefulness.
Current in vitro 2D cell-based assays are easy and inexpensive to perform, as well as amenable to automation and scale up. Unfortunately, 2D systems are often poor predictors of drug-induced hepatotoxicity and can yield false-positives because 2D cultured cells tend to be more sensitive to cytotoxic agents.
Furthermore, the 2D environment does not reflect a natural cellular environment and is not able to model extracellular stresses, such as oxidative and osmotic stress. As an example, kidney cells cultured in 2D in vivo, as compared to those from cell culture models, are likely to be more susceptible to nephrotoxins because of hyperosmolality, but this is difficult (if not impossible) to model in 2D cell cultures. Therefore, 3D tissue models, which can capture cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions and provide a more in vivo-like environment and offer a better platform for toxicity testing.
Materials are being developed that can support three-dimensional (3D) cell culturing conditions. Most of the work in 3D cell culture techniques to date involves rotation of the flasks, the use of an exterior scaffold to which the cells can adhere, the use of magnetic fields to suspend cells, or some combination of these approaches.
For example, Felder in US2005054101, WO2005010162 describes a hydrogel substrate that forms an exterior scaffolding in which cells can grow and be supported in a 3D environment. This introduces an artificial substrate with which cells interact, rather than rapidly promoting cell-cell interactions, and although an improvement over 2D culturing, the scaffolding is likely to perturb the cells and remains in the finished product. Further, cells can grow on or in the microcarriers, but cells cannot be levitated in a manner where all around cell-cell contact and interaction is possible.
There is also a significant level of complexity involved in the fabrication of the microcarriers of Felder, which includes laborious chemistry and the need for complex equipment. Further, algimatrix, one of the main reagents in making the microcarriers, can be a source of endotoxins. Buoyancy control also seems to be relevant to facilitate levitation, and is controlled by the infusion of glass bubbles into the microcarriers, again contributing to complexity and difficulty. Finally, specialized hardware is required for agitation, which is needed achieve gas exchange and to prevent clumping of the microcarriers, and impellers are often used to agitate cells. However, the shear stress resulting from agitation is known to cause cell damage. Furthermore, agitation impairs any magnetic shape control of 3D cultures.
Becker in US2009137018, WO2005003332 uses a coating of bioattractive magnetized core particles, thereby initiating adherence of the biological cells to the magnetized core particles and allowing their suspension in a magnetic field. The coating remains with the cells during culture, thus introducing an unnatural element in the culture and probably perturbing the cells. The inventors contemplate the use of a biodegradable coating that could eventually be eliminated, but none are disclosed, so it is not known if this approach would be successful. Furthermore, because cells are grown on the core of the microcarriers, the levitation of individual cells so they can be brought together by magnetic levitation for the purpose of promoting cell-cell interaction is unlikely to take place. Therefore, it is not obvious that the rapid (hours) assembly of 3D multicellular structures due to cell-cell contact can be demonstrated when using microcarriers. Also, by growing cells on the microcarriers, the co-culture of different cells types, especially by levitating individual cells and then bringing them together magnetically, is not demonstrated. Finally, this system is cumbersome and not suitable for scale-up and high-throughput applications.
A better approach might be to temporarily magnetize cells, allowing for their 3D culture. For example, Akira in US2006063252, WO2004083412, WO2004083416 uses magnetic cationic liposomes (MCL) to magnetize cells by uptake of the liposomes. The magnetized cells are then grown in a sheet on the bottom of a plate using magnetic attraction, and then released for use. However, although able to produce sheets of cells, the cells are still grown on the bottom of a plate, and thus this is not true 3D culturing by magnetic levitation. Further, no functional assay was demonstrated.
Shimizu and Akira et al. recently used magnetic guidance to seed cells onto a decellularized blood vessel. Their study shows encouraging results, but they do not use the magnetized cells as the source of tissue to be decellularized. The magnetized cells are only used to recellularize the decellularized blood vessels.
In patent application WO2010036957 by Souza, cells are levitated in a magnetic field by contacting the cells with a "hydrogel" comprising a bacteriophage with nanoparticles that are responsive to a magnetic field. In particular, filamentous phage, such as fd, fl, or M13 bacteriophage, are used. How the method works is not completely clear, but it is theorized that the phage provide a gel-like structure or assembly that coats the cells, and somehow assists the cells to uptake or adsorb the magnetically responsive nanoparticles. Thus, even when the hydrogel is washed away, the cells remains magnetically responsive, and can be levitated in an appropriate magnetic field. However, although the hydrogel is mostly washed away, the potential for phage infectivity or transfer of genetic material remains, and thus it is desired to provide a material that allows cell uptake or adsorption without the use of phage.
WO2011038370, also by Souza, describes a second generation hydrogel, which completely avoids the use of bacteriophage to enable the magnetization of cells. Furthermore, a variation of the claimed gels is now commercially available at N3D BIOSCIENCES™, under the trade name NANOSHUTTLE.™
This new hydrogel provides a superior method of magnetizing cells without the use of any toxic or infections agents, and the cells remain magnetized when the gel is washed away.
Although some of these approaches are promising, there is still room for improved 3D methods of assessing drug toxicity that more accurately model a natural environment, and that are robust, reproducible and amenable to scale up.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAbbre-viationDefinitionDfFractal dimension, a statistical quantity that gives an indicationof how completely a fractal appears to fill space and is usedherein to approximate the number of cells in multicellular3D structures generated by MLM, determined by equation 3,below.ECMExtracellular matrixFBSFetal Bovine SerumKga constant called the structure prefactor, which is oftenempirically determined and can vary depending on the systembeing measured and the type of measurement2. Here, itwas arbitrarily chosen as 0.8 since the modeled systemmirrors the experimental data.MLMmagnetic levitation methodMTT3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide],used in a prior art cell viability or proliferation assays based onenzymatic conversion of the substrate MTT to a purple color.HPFhuman primary fibroblastSMCsmooth muscle cellsHEKHuman Embryonic KidneyBrEpicBronchial EpithelialNIRNear-infrared spectroscopy
The present invention provides an improved label-free, real-time cell viability assay. The method uses 3D cell culturing by magnetic levitation and couples the 3D culture technique with image analysis to assess cell viability and cell-cell interaction.
By "culturing" herein, we include culturing single cell types or co-culturing more than one cell type.
Generally speaking, the cell viability detection method is based on the principal that dead cells will lyse, thus either lose any magnetically responsive particles and,therefore, no longer levitate, or the death of cells will cause 3D cell clusters to disintegrate. Thus, only live cells will be imaged in the method. Increasing cell death will result in more, but smaller and more diffuse or porous cell clusters. Furthermore, because fractal dimension is a function of both structure and number of cells N, the replication of viable cells will increase N, consequently increase the fractal dimension of the multicellular structures.
The invention also allows us to monitor and measure cell viability (cell health) or cell-cell interactions in response to any test agent (including cells and extracellular matrix proteins as agents) introduced into culture or an environmental change. The technique is novel in that we combine rapid formation of 3D cell culture by magnetic levitation with image analysis of topological parameters for quantifying cell viability or cell-cell interactions. The method can be simply described, as follows:
1. First the cells are levitated to allow 3D culture growth.
2. Low magnification (4×) photomicrographs are taken of the 3D cells.
3. Those photomicrographs are analyzed using e.g., imageJ software (freeware) to measure e.g., fractal dimension, the number of cell clusters, cell cluster size, tissue opening, and/or total area of cell clusters, and other cell parameters as described throughout. This step can be done at any time during or after the experiment.
4. Next, a drug candidate or an agent (including but not limited to drugs, environmental toxins, growth factors, inhibitors, nanoparticles, homogeneous or heterogeneous mixture of cells, and/or homogeneous or heterogeneous mixture of extracellular matrix proteins and/or peptides) is added to the cells, usually in a dose and/or time dependent configuration (e.g, different samples have differing doses of drug).
5. Steps 2 and 3 are repeated.
6. Finally, the output of the image analysis (e.g., including but not limited to, fractal dimension, number of cell clusters, area size of clusters, total area of clusters) is plotted as a function of time and/or drug concentration and that data is used to determine the effect of the test agent on the cells.
Test agents can be anything whose toxicity is desired to be assayed, including drugs, other cell types, cell components, suspected toxins or any environmental or industrial agent or chemical.
Although described in a linear, stepwise fashion above, this is only for ease of understanding, and usually all samples (zero drug control, plus multiple samples with increasing doses of drug) can be processed in parallel. In the alternative, samples can be grown for 1-7, preferably 2-3 days, to attain a sufficient size, and drug added at a later time point.
Furthermore, although we have used a simple ring magnet herein, it is known how to influence 3D culture shape and structure by varying the magnetic field. Finally, although it is preferred to use magnetic levitation, as described herein, any 3D culturing method can be used in the method.
Preferably, the photo's are taken while the cells are still levitating because this is expected to minimize disruption to the culture. However, this is not essential, and a 3D culture can be photographed when not levitating. This may be particularly appropriate for some assays, such as wound healing assays wherein one measures the rate of closure of a gap or hole in a multicell structure.
Preferably, the control sample image (no drug or agent) is assigned to be a 100% viability reference value, and the lowest dosage that produces total cell death is assigned to be the 0% viability reference value. Thus, any values in between should reflect the toxicity of the drug or agent. These calculations are similar to those used for various colorimetric agents, such as MTT, the difference being that other methods use color and the inventive method uses topological variables, such as fractal dimension, and therefore, avoids the addition of any signal reporting chemical or labeling agent.
As a test of the system, we compared MTT data from 2D cultures with our 3D method (FIG. 3) and found the results to be comparable, although the 3D structure provides a protective effect to cells on the interior of the culture, reflected in a significant increase in cell viability.
In more detail, the invention is a cell viability assay comprising culturing levitated cells to form 3D cell structures, taking photomicrographs of said cells at one or more times (it is not required that cells be levitated during photography, but it is preferred to minimize disruptions to the culture), analyzing said photomicrographs to measure one or more of i) fractal dimension, ii) the number of cell clusters, iii) cell cluster size, iv) cell culture texture, v) total area of cell clusters, and/or vi) rate of wound closure or tissue opening (herein referred as wound closure). Finally, fractal dimension, rate of wound closure, and cell cluster size are directly proportional to cell viability or cell-cell interactions, and the number of cell clusters and total area of cell clusters are inversely proportional to same.
There can also be a plurality of samples of levitated cells, said samples being with and without one or more concentrations of various test agents or having test agents added at one or more times. Generally, a decrease in cell viability with said test agent indicates that the test agent is inhibitory, and wherein an increase in cell viability indicates that said test agent is stimulatory. The same method can assess a large number of variables, including agent toxicity, growth stimulation, mitotic stimulation, wound healing, cell-cell interactions, cell size, cell sprouting, cell structural changes, and the like.
Further, although we have focused on viability and cell-cell interactions herein, the method can also provide important information about cell shape and structure, which correlates with important changes in cell status. For example, some cells become rounder on transformation to a cancerous cell, endothelial cells sprout/elongation during angiongenesis process, and the like.
Further, the method can be combined with other methods, e.g., cell and nuclear staining, and effects on cell size, nuclear/cytomplasmic ratio, cell roundness, and the like can also provide important information about cell status. These assays can either be performed after test agent effects on cell viability and/or cell differentiation (in the case of stem cells) have been ascertained by photomicrography, or separate samples can be prepared for same.
In some embodiments, the invention is a cell viability or cell-cell interaction assay comprising: culturing a 3D cell culture with one or more cell types; taking photomicrographs of said 3D cell culture at one or more times; analyzing said photomicrographs to measure one or more of i) fractal dimension, ii) the number of cell clusters, iii) cell cluster size, iv) cell culture texture, or v) total area of cell clusters, wherein fractal dimension and cell cluster size are directly proportional to cell viability, cell-cell interactions, cell migration, extracellular matrix formation, cell-extracellular matrix interaction, or type and/or number of cells present in the culture, and the number of cell clusters and total area of cell clusters are inversely proportional to cell viability, cell-cell interactions, or cell types present in the culture. Rate of wound closure also correlated directly with cell-cell interactions, cell migration, extracellular matrix formation, cell-extracellular matrix interaction, and viability.
The method can include culturing a plurality of 3D cultures for use as control cultures and a culturing a plurality of 3D cultures for use as test cultures, wherein a test agent is added to said test cultures and assessing the effect of said test agent on said cell viability, cell-cell interactions, cell-extracellular matrix interaction, or cell types present in the culture (when co-culturing cells).
The method can also include adding varying amounts of said test agent to said a plurality of test cultures, taking a plurality of photomicrographs of said 3D cell culture at a plurality of times, and/or washing out said test agent and taking a further plurality of photomicrographs of said 3D cell culture at a further plurality of times.
In preferred embodiments, the cells are levitated with a composition comprising: a) a negatively charged nanoparticle; b) a positively charged nanoparticle; and c) a support molecule, wherein one of said negatively charged nanoparticle or positively charged nanoparticle contains a magnetically responsive material, such as iron or iron oxide, and wherein said support molecule holds said negatively charged nanoparticle and said positively charged nanoparticle in an intimate admixture.
Preferably, the support molecule comprises peptides, polysaccharides, nucleic acids, polymers, poly-lysine, fibronectin, collagen, laminin, BSA, hyaluronan, glycosaminoglycan, anionic, non-sulfated glycosaminoglycan, gelatin, nucleic acid, extracellular matrix protein mixtures, antibody, or mixtures or derivatives thereof, b) wherein said negatively charged nanoparticle is a gold nanoparticle, and c) wherein said positively charged nanoparticle is an iron oxide nanoparticle. Most preferred, the composition is NANOSHUTTLE™.
In some embodiments Df=[log(N)−log(kg)]/log(L/a) and Df is the fractal dimension, kg is the structure prefactor and is a constant, N is the number of cells, a is the diameter of a cell, and L is length of the box. Further,
            Cell                                      viability        =                            D          fsample                -                  D                      f                                                                          100                        %                                                                          cell                                                                          death                                                D          fcontrol                -                  D                      f                                                                          100                        %                                                                          cell                                                                          death                                ,and Df sample is the fractal dimension of the test culture, and Dfcontrol is the fractal dimension of the control. However, other methods can be used for calculating same.
In wound closure assays, there are two approaches for generating a wound: one, the 3D culture is perforated to form a wound, and the other 3D culture is mechanically shreaded and then magnetically patterned into a ring structure. In both cases, a test agent can be added to said wounded 3D culture, and
            Wound                                      closure                                              (        %        )              =                  100                %            -              (                                            area                                                                                of                                                                                wound                t                                                    area                                                                                of                                                                                wound                                  t                                                                                0                                                              ×          100                )              ,wherein area of woundt is the area of the wound at a given time after addition of a test agent, and the area of woundt0 is the area of the wound before said test agent is added.
The cell assay can be used in a variety of applications, including at least to assess the effects of a test agent on toxicity, wound healing, mitotic activity, growth stimulation, cell-cell interactions, viability, or cell structure, and the like.


A first composite video signal may include attendant ghosts and sometimes includes in a prescribed L.sup.th line of each field during the vertical blanking interval one of a cycle of M ghost-canceling reference (GCR) signals of prescribed magnitude and respective phasing. Filter circuitry generates a second composite video signal in response to the first composite video signal, which is adjusted in response to filter programming signals generated by a computer storing a ghost-free GCR signal. The computer receives a GCR signal with attendant ghosts and compares it to the stored ghost-free GCR signal, thereby carrying out correlation procedures for calculating the filter programming signals. The second composite video signal is a response to the first composite video signal in which the attendant ghosts are lessened. Synchronizing pulses are separated from the composite video signals and a scan line counter counts the horizontal synchronizing pulses, generating a line count, and is reset to an initial line count by each vertical synchronizing pulse. An L.sup.th -line separator responds to the line count for separating the scan lines of the second composite video signal that include GCR signals. A field counter counts the vertical synchronizing pulses modulo M, generating a field count synchronized to the cycle of M. GCR signals. A temporal filter combines M.times.N successive scan lines to generate a temporal filter response supplied to the computer as a noise-reduced GCR signal with attendant ghosts.

Television engineers have given considerable thought to ghost-cancelation circuitry for inclusion in television receivers that also include a display device for reproducing the television image in a form suitable for viewing by humans. Ghost images, caused by multipath reception and commonly referred to as "ghosts", are a common occurrence in television pictures that have been broadcast over the air or have been transmitted by cable.
The signal to which the television receiver synchronizes is the strongest of the signals it receives, which is called the reference signal, and is usually the direct signal received over the shortest reception path. The multipath signals received over other paths are thus usually delayed with respect to the reference signal and appear as trailing ghost images. It is possible, however, that the direct or shortest path signal is not the signal to which the receiver synchronizes. When the receiver synchronizes to a reflected (longer path) signal, there will be a leading ghost image caused by the direct signal, or there will be a plurality of leading ghosts caused by the direct signal and other reflected signals of lesser delay than the reflected signal to which the receiver synchronizes. The parameters of the multipath signals--namely, the number of different-path responses, the relative amplitudes of the different-path responses, and the differential delay times between different ones of the different-path responses--vary from location to location and from channel to channel at a given location. These parameters may also be time-varying.
The visual effects of multipath distortion can be broadly classified in two categories: multiple images and distortion of the frequency response characteristic of the channel. Both effects occur due to the time and amplitude variations among the multipath signals arriving at the reception site. When the relative delays of the multipath signals with respect to the reference signal are sufficiently large, the visual effect is observed as multiple copies of the same image on the television display displaced horizontally from each other. These copies are sometimes referred to as "macroghosts" to distinguish them from "microghosts", which will be presently described. In the usual case in which the direct signal predominates and the receiver is synchronized to the direct signal, the ghost images are displaced to the right at varying position, intensity and polarity. These are known as trailing ghosts or "post-ghost" images. In the less frequently encountered case where the receiver synchronizes to a reflected signal, there will be one or more ghost images displaced to the left of the reference image. These are known as leading ghosts or "pre-ghost" images.
Multipath signals of relatively short delays with respect to the reference signal do not cause separately discernible copies of the predominant image, but do introduce distortion into the frequency response characteristic of the channel. The visual effect in this case is observed as increased or decreased sharpness of the image and in some cases loss of some image information. These short-delay, close-in or nearby ghosts are commonly caused by unterminated or incorrectly terminated radio-frequency transmission lines such as antenna lead-ins or cable television drop cables. In a cable television environment, it is possible to have multiple close-in ghosts caused by the reflections introduced by having several improperly terminated drop cables of varying lengths. Such multiple close-in ghosts are frequently referred to as "micro-ghosts".
Long multipath effects, or macroghosts, are typically reduced by cancelation schemes. Short multipath effects, or microghosts, are typically alleviated by waveform equalization, generally by peaking and/or group-delay compensation of the video frequency response.
Since the characteristics of a transmitted television signal are known a priori, it is possible, at least in theory, to utilize such characteristics in a system of ghost signal detection and cancelation. Nevertheless, various problems limit this approach. Instead, it has been found desirable to transmit repeatedly a reference signal situated, for example, in a section of the TV signal that is currently unused for video purposes and to utilize this reference signal for detection of ghost signals prior to arranging for the suppression of ghost signals. Typically, lines in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) are utilized. Such a signal is herein referred to as a Ghost Canceling Reference (GCR) signal; and a variety of different GCR signals have been described in patents and other technical publications.
Bessel pulse chirp signals are used in the GCR signal recommended for adoption as a standard for television broadcasting in the United States of America. The distribution of energy in the Bessel pulse chirp signal has a flat frequency spectrum extending continuously across the video frequency band. The chirp starts at the lowest frequency and sweeps upward in frequency therefrom to the 4.1 MHz highest frequency. The chirps are inserted into the first halves of selected VBI lines, the 19.sup.th line of each field currently being preferred. The chirps, which are on +30 IRE pedestals, swing from -10 to +70 IRE and begin at a prescribed time after the trailing edges of the preceding horizontal synchronizing pulses. The chirp signals appear in an eight-field cycle in which the first, third, fifth and seventh fields have a polarity of color burst defined as being positive and the second, fourth, sixth and eighth fields have an opposite polarity of color burst defined as being negative. The initial lobe of a chirp signal ETP that appears in the first, third, sixth and eighth fields of an eight-field cycle swings upward from the +30 IRE pedestal to +70 IRE level. The initial lobe of a chirp signal ETR that appears in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh fields of the eight-field cycle swings downward from the +30 IRE pedestal to -10 IRE level and is the complement of the ETP chirp signal.
The strategy for eliminating ghosts in a television receiver relies on the transmitted GCR signal suffering the same multipath distortions as the rest of the television signal. Circuitry in the receiver can then examine the distorted GCR signal received and, with a priori knowledge of the distortion-free GCR signal, can configure an adaptive filter to cancel, or at least significantly attenuate, the multipath distortion. A GCR signal should not take up too much time in the VBI (preferably no more than one TV line), but should still contain sufficient information to permit circuitry in the receiver to analyze the multipath distortion and configure a compensating filter to cancel the distortion.
The GCR signals are used in the television receiver for calculating the adjustable weighting coefficients of a ghost-cancelation filter through which the composite video signal from the video detector is passed to supply a response in which ghosts are suppressed. The weighting coefficients of this ghost-cancelation filter are adjusted so it has a filter characteristic complementary to that of the transmission medium giving rise to the ghosts. The GCR signals can be further used for calculating the adjustable weighting coefficients of an equalization filter connected in cascade with the ghost-cancelation filter, for providing an essentially flat frequency spectrum response (or other preferred frequency spectrum response) over the complete reception path through the transmitter vestigial-sideband amplitude-modulator, the reception medium, the television receiver front-end and the cascaded ghost-cancelation and equalization filters.
W. Ciciora et alii in "A Tutorial on Ghost Canceling in Television Receivers", IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, vol. CE-25, 2/79, pp. 9-43, indicates that a GCR signal may appropriately exhibit a (sin x)/x waveform. Such a waveform, suitably windowed, exhibits a relatively constant spectral energy density over a frequency band of interest. Ghost locations can then be determined so a filters can be configured for ghost signal cancelation to reduce the effects of long multipaths and for waveform equalization to reduce the effects of short multipaths.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,725 issued 30 Jan. 1990 to Tanaka et alii and entitled "GHOST CANCELLING CIRCUIT" a transmitted reference or GCR signal is used that is substantially the proposed BTA (Japanese) GCR signal and that utilizes as the main reference or deghosting signal a (sin x)/x waveform. This (sin x)/x waveform as received together with ghosts thereof is Fourier transformed to provide a set of Fourier coefficients. The Fourier transform of the ghosted GCR signal is then processed with an available Fourier transform of an unimpaired GCR to compute the deghosting filter parameters, that is, tap gain information for both an infinite-impulse-response (IIR) deghosting filter and a finite-impulse-response (FIR) waveform equalization filter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,213 issued 23 Jan. 1990 to Kobo et alii and entitled "GHOST CANCELLING REFERENCE SIGNAL TRANSMISSION/RECEPTION SYSTEM" discloses a system with a built-in ghost cancelling device for reducing or eliminating ghost components attributable to group-delay distortion and frequency-versus-amplitude characteristic distortion generated in a signal reception path. A digital signal composed of frame synchronizing signals, clock synchronizing signals, and data signals is generated and superposed on a television signal to be transmitted, during a VBI scan line thereof. At the receiving end, the digital signal is utilized as a ghosted GCR signal in an arrangement that correlates that signal with its known non-ghosted GCR signal to control adaptive filtering of the video signal to reduce the ghost phenomenon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,403 issued 5 Sep. 1989 to Chao et alii and entitled "ADAPTIVE TELEVISION GHOST CANCELLATION SYSTEM INCLUDING FILTER CIRCUITRY WITH NON-INTEGER SAMPLE DELAY" describes the use of an IIR deghosting filter using interpolative techniques.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,403 issued 10 Sep. 1991 to Koo and entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATION CHANNEL IDENTIFICATION AND SIGNAL RESTORATION" describes method and apparatus for calculating ghost-suppression-filter parameters in a television receiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,381 issued 23 Aug. 1977 to Shimano et alii and entitled "AUTOMATIC WAVEFORM EQUALIZING SYSTEM FOR TELEVISION RECEIVER" describes a waveform equalizer filter as may be used to suppress microghosts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,916 issued 16 Jul. 1991 to Matsura et alii and entitled "METHOD OF DETECTING SIGNAL WAVEFORM DISTURBANCE IN RECEIVED TELEVISION SIGNAL" describes the pairwise combination of VBI intervals containing antiphase GCR signals and in-phase other reference signals, in order to suppress longer-delayed macroghosts.
Since the known ghost-cancelation schemes rely to a high degree on cancelation procedures, the time-base stability of the GCR signal in the received television signal is critical in order for the procedure of determining the weights for the ghost cancelation and equalizing filters by analyzing the GCR signal to work well. The theoretical validity of a ghost-cancelation procedure using weighted summation of differentially delayed video signals depends on the same signal with different delays having given rise to the ghosted signal. If the length of scan lines is different during the GCR signal reception than during other portions of the video signal, then the weights determined for generating ghost-free GCR signal by weighted summation of variously delayed GCR signals will not be appropriate for generating ghost-free video at other times by weighted summation of variously delayed video signals. In a television receiver with included display device and ghost cancelation circuitry, the problem of time-base stability of the detected video signals is not a problem when receiving off-the-air broadcast signals or when receiving such signals as relayed by cable broadcasting or community antenna systems.
However, a television receiver with included display device and ghost-cancelation circuitry often will not perform its ghost-cancelation procedures satisfactorily when the receiver receives radio frequency (r-f) signal (or composite video signal) from a home video cassette recorder (VCR) that has recorded a television signal containing ghosts. Home VCRs use helical scanning of the electromagnetic tape, with head switching taking place shortly before the vertical retrace interval. There is time-base instability in the video signal reproduced from the electromagnetic tape during playback, which time-base instability unfortunately under practical circumstances often persists throughout the vertical retrace interval and to some extent in the first few active lines of video signal, which are used to generate the topmost portion of the picture on the display device of the television receiver. The weighing coefficients calculated by a microcomputer in the TV receiver in response to an evaluation of the GCR signal occurring in one scan line during the vertical blanking interval will not be correct for the active video signal in later scan lines of the same field, or of subsequent fields, because the scan lines of active video do not have the same actual time duration as the scan line in which GCR signal occurs. Even the VBI scan lines in which the GCR signals are included may have different durations from field to field.
Good time-base stability is essential also in implementing the inventions claimed herein, where the 19.sup.th scan lines of several fields are differentially delayed thereafter to be linearly combined in order to separate a GCR signal component from accompanying horizontal sync pulse, front porch, back porch including color burst and +30 IRE GCR signal pedestal components. These accompanying components will not cancel out well if there be errors in the timing of the samples of the 19.sup.th scan lines when those lines are digitized to facilitate their being differentially delayed using temporary digital memory. Home VCRs generally are not capable of providing the requisite time-base stability for separating GCR signal this way. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/955,016 discloses that this problem is obviated by including ghost-cancelation circuitry after the video detector of the television receiver front end included in a home VCR.

Ghost-cancelation reference signal acquisition circuitry, as for TV receiver or video recorder


A continuous variable valve timing apparatus for an engine includes: a housing, a rotor installed to be rotatable relative to the housing and connected to a camshaft, a locking pin configured to restrict rotation of the rotor relative to the housing when pushed by an elastic force to move linearly and pass through a relatively rotating surface between the housing and the rotor, an elastic member installed to provide the elastic force, a valve bolt coupled to the camshaft through the housing and the rotor, wherein the valve bolt includes a release passage through which a release pressure provided through the camshaft is transferred to the locking pin via the rotor, and a valve means for selectively blocking or unblocking the release passage, and an actuator installed to actuate the valve means of the valve bolt according to an actuation displacement.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an CVVT (Continuous Variable Valve Timing) apparatus for an engine, and, more particularly, to a technology for fixing a phase of an CVVT apparatus in a specific state in an operating region in which a valve timing is not actively adjusted.
Description of the Related Art
When an engine is driven in an Atkinson cycle, compression work may be reduced and thus fuel efficiency may be improved. An CVVT apparatus is utilized to realize the Atkinson cycle in a typical Otto-cycle engine.
That is, when the closing of an intake valve in a conventional Otto-cycle engine is delayed using an CVVT apparatus, compared to that in a typical engine, a compression stroke, in which energy for compressing air is consumed when a piston moves toward a top dead point, is practically decreased. Thus, the compression work of the engine may be relatively reduced compared to when the intake valve is not closed due to a delay, so that fuel efficiently may be improved.
However, since the CVVT apparatus is generally operated by hydraulic pressure produced using the power of the engine, it is difficult to actively control the CVVT apparatus when the engine is started.
In addition, when a valve timing is not actively controlled by the CVVT apparatus in the operating region during the idling of the engine, it is advantageous to fuel efficiency since energy consumption is rather small.
Accordingly, the CVVT apparatus is in a default state in which the CVVT apparatus is not actively controlled when the engine is started or idles.
In the engine equipped with the CVVT apparatus, which is configured to adjust the phase of an intake camshaft enough to realize the Atkinson cycle, when the default state is formed in which the CVVT apparatus is not actively controlled by hydraulic pressure, the CVVT apparatus is maintained in the most delayed state by resistance to driving of the intake camshaft. In this case, since the intake valve is delayed and closed in the most delayed state, there is a lack of compression pressure, resulting in the faulty starting of the engine and the poor combustion during the idling of the engine.
Therefore, it is necessary to fix the CVVT apparatus in the state, in which the intake valve timing of the typical Otto-cycle engine is realized, in the operating region, in which the CVVT apparatus is not actively controlled, such as in the operating region when the engine is started or idles.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


An apparatus for producing thick slabs of thermoplastic synthetic-resin material comprises a pair of extruders each extruding a half-slab strand to a respective roller assembly, the roller assemblies having final rollers which form a consolidation nip between them in which the two half slabs are bonded together. Preferably the half slabs and the roller assemblies are mirror symmetrically constructed and the half slabs can be formed with longitudinal compartments which can be filled with a foamed synthetic-resin material.

It is known to produce relatively thick slabs of synthetic resin material and, especially, thermoplastic material, by extruding the material in a relatively thick and flat strand from a so-called broad nozzle attached to an extruder. The slab can then be calibrated between a pair of rolls of a roller assembly during which the slabs can be cooled or heated for solidification or tempering purposes.
When slabs are manufactured in this manner with a thickness of 60 millimeters or more, it has been found that they undergo, with time, deformation, bulging or warping which is of significant disadvantage, especially if the slabs are to be used as structural materials and to be reproducible in size, shape and physical properties.

Apparatus for producing thick slabs of thermoplastic synthetic resin


Some embodiments relate to systems for processing one or more computational workflows. In one embodiment, a description of a computational comprises a plurality of applications, in which applications are represented as nodes and edges connect the nodes indicate the flow of data elements between applications. A task execution module is configured to create and execute tasks. An application programming interface (API) is in communication with the task execution module and comprises a plurality of function calls for controlling at least one function of the task execution module. An API script includes instructions to the API to create and execute a plurality of tasks corresponding to the execution of the computational workflow for a plurality of samples. A graphical user interface (GUI) is in communication with the task execution module and configured to receive input from an end user to initiate execution of the API script.

Various workflow execution services exist for conducting bioinformatics analyses. Often, the workflow execution service is in a cloud-based environment, and provides a central hub for teams to store, analyze, and jointly interpret their bioinformatic data. The service may co-locate analysis pipelines alongside the largest genomic datasets to optimize processing. It may allocate storage and compute resources on demand, to meet the needs of ever-growing analyses. Further, the service may include a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows a user to create projects, run tasks, upload and manage project members, and so on. Additionally, the service may include an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows for these procedures to be carried out programmatically with additional logic, and a Command Line Interface (CLI) that allows for interactive control. Typically, end users may use only a single interface for performing the bulk of their analyses.
An API allows for end users to design and configure complex, multi-stage, or large batch analyses without using the GUI. In most workflow execution services, any action that can be taken using the GUI can be executed using the API, but the API allows for additional user-generated logic. Typically, a user interacts with the API using an API client (e.g., Postman), a programming language (e.g., Python), or via the terminal of their computer by using a command line program (e.g., cURL). API commands can be chained together to form an API script, allowing for the automation and integration of various service features. For example, an API script can include steps directed towards data upload, project management, metadata capture, quality control (QC) checks, execution of tools and workflows, and handling of the resulting data. In this way, the API offers many advantages over the GUI via programmatic access and automation, allowing for the creation of complex processes and workflows that would be not be practicable or cost efficient to implement as a GUI feature.
Though the API has many advantages over other modes of interaction, it lacks several benefits conferred using the GUI. For example, The API may not be accessible to those lacking programming expertise. Further, API scripts are typically executed by external client computers which interact with the service over a network. The client computer typically lacks the persistence and stability of the service, which may be subject to extensive quality testing and validation and include multiple levels of redundancy. The client machine often has no logs (and thus is hard to troubleshoot), may inadvertently reboot, and is subject to user error or misuse. Additionally, as the API includes features not present in the GUI, those interacting with the service only with its GUI are unable to take advantage of the advanced features. Accordingly, there is a need for improvements in the interface to and control of workflow execution services.

System and method for dynamic control of workflow execution


A semiconductor device of a structure in which lateral surfaces of a semiconductor element and an element supporting member are bonded to each other without resorting to use of a base member on which the semiconductor element is disposed. Since thicknesses of the base member and a bonding resin provides no contribution to overall thickness of the semiconductor device, reduction of thickness thereof by 30 to 40% is made possible. In dependence on configuration of the element supporting member, the semiconductor device can be applied to large size elements, lead-on-chip structure (LOC) and others.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method of the same, a lead frame employed in the semiconductor device, and a memory card and a manufacturing method of the same. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method of the same, a lead frame used in manufacturing the semiconductor device and a memory card composed of the semiconductor device or devices and a method of manufacturing the memory card which is suited for implementing the semiconductor device and the memory card in a thin structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the manufacture of a semiconductor device known heretofore, a semiconductor element is disposed on a surface of a semiconductor element mounting plate referred to as a tab which surface is applied with a bonding resin layer. In other words, the semiconductor element is bonded at the bottom surface thereof to the tab. Subsequently, the assembly including the tab and the semiconductor element undergoes several processing steps such as wire bonding, after which the assembly is sealed by a sealing resin to complete a semiconductor device. As an example of the thin semiconductor device realized by resorting to the technique outlined above, there has already been reported a semiconductor device having a thickness of 1 mm.
Further, as the semiconductor devices where the tab is spared, there are known device structures in which a semiconductor element and inner tip end portions of leads are buried in a resin sheet for thereby enhancing temperature cycle withstanding capability (refer to, for example, JP-A-60-97645), a device in which a semiconductor element and inner tip ends of the leads are bonded together at the opposite sides (opposite lateral surfaces) thereof by using a bonding resin (refer to, for example, JP-A-H1-220464) and others.
The tab which has been used in the prior art method of manufacturing the semiconductor device must be mounted with a semiconductor element with a bonding resin layer being interposed therebetween. Under the circumstances, a sum of thicknesses of the tab, the bonding resin layer and the semiconductor element can amount to a value in the range of 0.6 to 0.7 mm in the present state of the technique. Further, taking into consideration the height of the wires for bonding, resin flow balance upon resin sealing and other factors, the attempt for reducing the thickness of the semiconductor device to a value smaller than 1 mm will encounter a great difficulty.
The technique disclosed in JP-A-60-67645, is inherently and basically concerned with a method of mounting a semiconductor element on a sheet of resin. Thus, it is practically impossible to reduce the thickness of the semiconductor device by relying on this prior art method.
According to the technique disclosed in JP-A-H1-220464, a semiconductor device can certainly be implemented in a thin structure because the thickness of the lead frame and the bonding resin layer can be accommodated or absorbed by the thickness of a semiconductor element. However, since the bonding resin has to be applied to the inner tip ends of the leads, there may arise some problems that the wire bonding becomes difficult, the plane of the leads is caused to bulge upwardly and/or positional misalignment or diversity may occur among the inner lead end portions after the bonding.


This application is directed to controlling media content display at an electronic device having a touch display. While playing media content on the touch display using a media player application, the electronic device detects a user swipe on the touch display including a sequence of contacts on a plurality of contact locations on the touch display. The electronic device determines a plurality of contact characteristics of the user swipe. The contact characteristics include a subset of contact locations of the sequence of contacts on the touch display. The user swipe is associated with a media play control option based on the contact characteristics. The media player application is then adjusted according to the media play control option while concurrently displaying a progressive indicator corresponding to the media play control option and the user swipe until after completion of the user swipe on the touch screen.

Mobile devices apply media player applications to review multimedia content (e.g., video or audio content). A media player application is either a standalone application (e.g., a YouTube application) or an embedded component within another media management application (e.g., a Photo Album application). Regardless of being standalone or embedded, the media player application requires revoking control icons for controlling display of media content. For example, the media player application oftentimes displays a timeline concurrently with the media content, allowing a user to identify a location of a currently played frame on the timeline and to forward/rewind the display of the media content by dragging an indicator icon along the timeline. Alternatively, the media player application includes dedicated icons (e.g., a forward button and a rewinding button) for forwarding or rewinding the currently played media content in response to a user action on the dedicated icons.
In addition, both brightness and volume for the display of the media content are adjustable by a respective user action on a respective icon displayed on a user interface of the media player application. For example, while the media content is being displayed on the media player application, a user click revokes a display of a control panel including a volume control icon on the user interface of the media player application, and a second user swipe on the volume control icon increases or decreases the volume of the display of the media control in accordance with a scale of the second user swipe. Alternatively, the brightness and the volume can be controlled in the general settings of the mobile devices and outside the media player applications, and user actions are still required to revoke brightness and volume control icons and adjust the brightness and volume of the display of the media control via the brightness and volume control icons in the general settings of the mobile devices.
The user actions for adjusting the display of the media content oftentimes distract the user from reviewing the media content and compromise user experience of using the media player application. Thus, there is a need to reduce user actions and control the display of the media content effectively while the media content is displayed on the media player application.

User interface of media player application for controlling media content display