In a method and control system for controlling pasteurization of in-shell eggs, the internal temperature of the eggs, at least one log kill rate of Salmonella based on the internal temperature of the eggs and a cumulative log kill of Salmonella as a function of the log kill rate and time are at least periodically determined. The cumulative log kill is at least periodically compared to at least one predetermined value, and a signal is generated when a predetermined relationship arises between the cumulative log kill and the predetermined value(s).

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method and control system for controlling pasteurization of in-shell eggs in a fluid.
2. Description of Related Art
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates minimum safety standards for pasteurizing in-shell eggs. These standards are promulgated in order to ensure that certain microorganisms, including such infectious organisms as Salmonella, are substantially destroyed prior to distribution and consumption of the eggs. The USDA defines pasteurization as a heat treatment for the purpose of killing these disease causing organisms.
One source of infection arises when the egg shells come into contact with organic refuse. Contamination results because the egg shells have numerous pores which permit infectious microbes, which are contained in the organic refuse, to penetrate the pores of the eggs. Another source of infection results from trans-ovarian contamination. This occurs when chickens or other poultry ingest or are otherwise infected by infectious microbes and transfer the microorganisms directly into the eggs.
The Nutrition Action Health Letter published by the Center for Science and the Public Interest (July/August 1991 edition, Vol. 18, No. 6, "Name Your (Food) Poison") reports that in-shell eggs are particularly difficult to pasteurize because of their structure. In addition, this article reveals that one in ten thousand eggs is contaminated with salmonella enteritis.
Techniques for improving pasteurization of eggs have been proposed. These techniques attempt to destroy infectious disease causing organisms in in-shell eggs without substantial loss of functionality. One approach to pasteurizing in-shell eggs involves heating the in-shell eggs in water baths, for various times and at various temperatures. The time/temperature ratios vary widely because different approaches involve a compromise between the degree of safety achieved and the quality or the functionality of the eggs retained after pasteurization is completed. The USDA has devised time/temperature ratios, but they are only for liquid eggs.
Cox et al. (PCT/US94/12950) discloses a method for destroying infectious disease causing organisms in in-shell eggs without substantial loss of functionality. Cox et al. employs a temperature versus time relationship in order to accomplish pasteurization of the in-shell eggs. An initial egg temperature and processing temperature at the beginning of the pasteurizing process of a whole shell egg must be known. These temperatures are used to determine the total processing time, e.g., the total length of time over which the eggs are heated. According to a preferred embodiment of Cox et al., minimum temperatures/time requirements for liquid whole eggs are applied equivalently to in-shell eggs once the selected pasteurization temperature has been achieved at the shell egg yolk center.
Cox et al. uses the following temperature time table for determining the pasteurization time of in-shell eggs.
______________________________________ Temperature Real Processing Time (RPT) (Minutes) ______________________________________ 130.degree. F. =65 131.degree. F. =49 132.degree. F. =38 133.degree. F. =28 134.degree. F. =20 135.degree. F. =16 136.degree. F. =11 137.degree. F. =8 138.degree. F. =6 139.degree. F. =4.75 140.degree. F. =3.5 ______________________________________
This table describes the processing of in-shell eggs after they attain the required pasteurizing preprocessing temperature. The initial temperature is applied until the in-shell eggs reach a temperature equilibrium with the heat transfer medium. The RPT for a given pasteurization regimen can only begin after this point has been reached.
Cox et al. also discloses that factors including the size and internal initial temperature of the eggs may affect the time required for the eggs to reach the effective processing temperature. Thus, an initial temperature that causes pasteurization of one batch of eggs may result in impaired functionality of a second batch of eggs having a smaller size, depending on the variables associated with that particular batch of eggs.
Davidson International Application No. PCT/US96/13006 (U.S. application Ser. No. 08/519,184), also discloses methods to pasteurize in-shell eggs using time/temperature relationships. In particular, Davidson discloses heating a yolk of the egg to within the range of 128.degree. F. to 138.5.degree. F. Once the yolk reaches this temperature range, it must be maintained at this temperature range for a certain time and within certain parameters.
FIG. 1 shows a temperature versus time curve implemented by the Davidson system. This curve is based substantially on the data of the above table. Referring to FIG. 1, the temperature of the egg yolk must be maintained between parameter line A and parameter line B in order for sufficient pasteurization to occur. According to Davidson, this will reduce the Salmonella by at least 5 logs, while at the same time retaining the functionality of the eggs. If the eggs are heated to a limit outside parameter lines A and B, however, the eggs will either lose their functionality or remain insufficiently pasteurized. Thus, according to Davidson it is imperative that the temperature of this system stay within the predefined parameters.
Factors such as loss of water, temperature overshoot (e.g. raising the temperature too high), inefficient temperature sensors (e.g. low response time for raising the temperature to a predefined temperature range), and numerous other factors make it possible for the bath temperature to stray from preferred parameters. The size of the eggs, the number of eggs placed in the bath and the initial internal temperature of the eggs will also affect the pasteurization time and functionality of the eggs.

Method and control system for controlling pasteurization of in-shell eggs


This invention pertains to metal-air electrochemical cells wherein one or more air entry ports is located in the bottom of the cathode can, to provide for entry of oxygen-rich air into the cathode can, where the oxygen participates in the chemical reaction whereby the cell produces electrical energy. In this invention, multiple small air entry ports are provided. Generally, the use of multiple ports distributed over the bottom of the cathode can, opposite the reaction surface of the cathode assembly, while not increasing the overall open area of the ports, results in an increase in the ratio of the cell limiting current to the rate at which moisture is lost from the cell. Accordingly, moisture loss as a function of electrical energy produced, is less.

The growth in use of small electrically-powered devices has increased the demand for very small metal-air electrochemical cells. Such small cells are usually disc-like or pellet-like in appearance, and are about the size of garment buttons. These cells generally have diameters ranging from less than 0.25 inch up to about 1.0 inch, and height ranging from less than 0.15 inch up to about 0.60 inch. The small size and the limited amount of electrochemically reactive material contained in these small metal-air cells result in considerable attention being directed to improving the efficiency and completeness of the power generating electrochemical reactions which occur therein.
Metal-air cells convert atmospheric oxygen to hydroxyl ions in the air cathode. The hydroxyl ions then migrate to the anode, where they cause the metal contained in the anode to oxidize. Usually the active anode material in such cells comprises zinc.
More particularly, the desired reaction in a metal-air cell air cathode involves the reduction of oxygen, the consumption of electrons, and the production of hydroxyl ions, the hydroxyl ions being able to migrate through the electrolyte toward the anode, where oxidation of zinc may occur, forming zinc oxide, and liberating electrons.
In most metal-air cells, air enters the cell through a port extending through the bottom of the cathode can. The port extends through the bottom of the cathode can, and may be immediately adjacent the cathode assembly, or may be separated from the cathode assembly by an air chamber or an air diffusion member.
In any of such arrangements, the port facilitates the movement of air through the port and into the cathode assembly. At the cathode assembly, the oxygen in the air reacts with water at the cathode assembly as a chemically reactive participant in the electrochemical reaction of the cell, and thereby forms hydroxyl ions.
In normal operation, the reaction surface of the cathode assembly is laden with electrolyte, water being a major constituent of the electrolyte. Accordingly, the water at the reaction surface of the cathode assembly has a vapor pressure, and is subject to evaporation at the reaction surface. To the extent water does evaporate at the reaction surface, moisture content of the cell is reduced, along with a corresponding reduction in efficiency of the cell. Where moisture loss is excessive, the cell may fail before the electrochemical reaction materials have been chemically used up.
A second, and undesirable function facilitated by the port in the bottom of the cathode can is that moisture e.g. evaporated from the reaction surface of the cathode assembly can escape from the cell through the port, whereby the cell dries out, and correspondingly loses effectiveness. Thus, there is a relationship between the amount of oxygen that can be made available to the cell through conventional port configurations, and the amount of moisture loss associated with such port configurations.
It is an object of this invention to provide improved cathode can structure for a metal-air electrochemical cell, the cathode can having one or more air entry ports so structured and configured, both individually and relative to each other, that the port configuration provides an improved relationship between the amount of oxygen that is available to the cathode assembly and the amount of moisture lost from the cell through the port configuration.
It is another object to provide improved cathode can structure for a metal-air electrochemical cell, wherein the sum of the open area of the port configuration is reduced while maintaining the cell limiting current.
It is still another object to provide improved cathode can structure for a metal-air electrochemical cell, the cathode can having a plurality of ports, with the port configuration structured so that, in a metal-air cell made with the cathode can, oxygen is more uniformly distributed over the cathode assembly, while minimizing the combined open area of the ports through the cathode can, and thereby reducing the amount of moisture loss through the ports.
A further object is to provide improved metal-air electrochemical cells having an increase in the ratio of the limiting current of the cell to the combined area of gaseous ingress and egress available through the port configuration.

Metal-air cathode can and electrochemical cell made therewith


Magnetic motor component sleeves (209) for motor components with the sleeves (209) having various helpful magnetic characteristics, such as high magnetic permeability; magnetic saturation; residual (or remanent) magnetization; anisotropic magnetic properties. Method for making a magnetic linear motor shaft (202), including thermal treatment to temporarily change the dimensions of various shaft components to allow tight assembly.

Generally speaking, a conventional magnetic motor includes two pieces that move relative to each other. Each of the two pieces includes some means of generating a magnetic field. The interaction between the magnetic fields generated by each of the pieces forces the pieces to move relative to each other. Usually, the magnetic field of at least one of the pieces will be selectively adjusted over time so that, as the relative spatial relationship of the pieces changes over time, the magnetic fields of the respective pieces will continue to interact to continue to activate relative motion in a desired direction.
Usually at least one of the pieces of the magnetic motor will employ one or more electromagnet(s), such as an electromagnetic coil, to generate its magnetic field(s). By using an electromagnetic piece, the timing of current supplied to the electromagnet(s) can be used to control the direction and strength of the magnetic fields with respect to time. By carefully controlling the electromagnetic piece's magnetic field as its counterpart piece moves, the magnetic field will pull and/or push the two counterpart pieces into relative motion. As the counterpart pieces continue in their relative motion, the direction and/or magnitude of the current in the electromagnet(s) can be changed so that the new magnetic field of the electromagnet(s) will continue to force the desired relative motion.
There are various geometries for magnetic motors. One popular geometry is the rotary motor. In the rotary motor, a rotor piece is driven to rotate relative to a stator piece. Although the scope of the present invention may include rotary motor embodiments, this document is primarily concerned with another popular conventional magnetic motor called the linear magnetic motor. Linear magnetic motors include a stator piece, and a shaft member that is driven to move linearly (that is, as a straight line translation) with respect to the stator piece.
More particularly, this document is primarily concerned with linear magnetic motors wherein an elongated shaft member: (1) is at least partially surrounded by the stator, and (2) is constrained to move linearly within the stator by a bearing. (Generally the bearing housing and stator are fixed relative to each other and can therefore be thought of as a subassembly.) As will be seen from the prior art embodiment described below, it is difficult to make a shaft that simultaneously: (1) performs well magnetically; and (2) performs well with respect to wear at the bearing.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show typical prior art linear magnetic motor 100, including shaft 102, stator 104 and bearings 106. Shaft 102 generates magnetic fields by virtue of having a series of built-in permanent magnets 110. Stator 104 generates magnetic fields through a series of annular magnetic coils 105. By timing the flow of current in the coils with respect to the position and/or momentum of shaft 102, the interaction of magnetic forces from the shaft and from the stator will actuate the shaft to move. More particularly, the shaft is constrained, by bearings 106, to move linearly in the direction of arrow D.
FIG. 2 shows a more detailed view of shaft 102 and one of the magnetic fields that it generates. Shaft 102 includes sleeve 109, annular, permanent magnet 110, pole pieces 112 and core 114. In this assembly, maximizing the magnetic force on the shaft will tend to advantageously maximize the thrust of the linear motor. In order to maximize the magnetic force on the shaft, the magnetic field of permanent magnet 110 should cause as much magnetic flux density as possible linking stator 104 and shaft pole pieces 112.
There are several variables that control the magnitude of the flux density in the vicinity of the stator. One variable is the strength of permanent magnet 110. For more thrust, the strength of magnet 110 should be increased as much as possible and/or as much as is cost effective. In practice, the magnets employed as annular, permanent magnets 110 tend to be extremely powerful permanent magnets. In fact, the permanent, annular magnets tend to be so powerful that the heavy shaft sub-assemblies often need to be handled with great caution. This is because of the tendency for the heavy shaft to be powerfully propelled through space due to the interaction between the powerful magnetic field of its own magnets 110 and any external magnetic field that may be present.
As shown in FIG. 2, another variable that has an influence on the flux density is the size of the effective air gap G. The effective air gap is the distance between pole piece 112 and stator 104. As shown in FIG. 2, the effective air gap G in this example is the sum of the actual air gap 108 and the thickness of sleeve 109. Some effective air gap is needed to prevent the shaft from rubbing against the non load-bearing surfaces of the stator poles. On the other hand, decreasing this air gap, without entirely eliminating it, will advantageously cause the field of magnet 110 to have greater flux density in the vicinity of the stator due to the increased proximity between magnet 110 and the stator. As flux density from magnet 110 in the vicinity of the stator increases, increased interaction of the magnetic fields results in increased force on the shaft, increased attendant actuation of the shaft and increased motor thrust.
Yet another variable affecting magnetic flux density in the vicinity of the stator is the flux density located along the effective air gap. As shown in FIG. 2, there are generally three paths A, B, C for the magnetic field of magnet 110. While magnet paths are generally circuits, it is noted that the magnetic "paths" referred to in this document refer to the portion of the magnetic circuit that lies outside of the magnet itself.
Path A passes through sleeve 109, which is part of the effective air gap. Path B passes through actual air gap 108, which is also part of the effective air gap. Path C passes through the stator. Permanent magnets are generally limited in the maximum amount of magnetic flux that they are capable of outputting. For an annular magnet of finite flux output capability, greater magnetic flux along paths A and B reduces the flux available for path C. As explained above, it is flux density of path C (that is, flux that reaches the vicinity of the stator) that contributes to motor thrust.
Shifting attention to the upper portion of FIG. 2, sleeve 109 is conventionally made from materials that: (1) have a low magnetic permeability; and (2) do not exhibit significant remanent magnetization. The non-magnetic nature of sleeve 109 works to minimize flux along sleeve 109 through path A. Nevertheless, some relatively small amount of magnetic flux is generally "lost" along path A. To represent this lost flux, a solitary dashed flux line is shown passing along and through the sleeve in FIG. 2. Because only a small fraction of the total flux is lost along path A, a higher portion of the total flux generated by magnet 110 will be directed through path C into the vicinity of the stator.
Not too much flux is "lost" at the actual air gap (that is, magnetic path B), either. Because actual air gap 108 is made of air, this potential flux leakage path B has extremely low permeability (the relative permeability of air equals 1.0) and no substantial remanent magnetization. Since the path B leakage flux is small and is primarily a result of sleeve 109, no dashed flux lines are shown along actual air gap 108 at the upper half of FIG. 2.
Because path A leakage flux is increased by the sleeve, one may question why sleeve 109 is present. One important reason for the sleeve is that the sleeve provides a bearing surface to slidably mate with bearing 106 as bearing 106 constrains the linear motion of shaft 102. If no sleeve were present, then the permanent magnets and the intermediate pole pieces of shaft 102 would contact the bearing. Because of the limited choice of materials that can be used to make the permanent magnets, and because of physical discontinuities between magnets and pole pieces, the exposed magnets would not generally provide an acceptable bearing surface. This is due to the friction and wear characteristics that a surface of exposed magnets and pole pieces would have. Therefore, a smooth, long-wearing sleeve is generally necessary at the outer major, bearing surface of a magnetic motor shaft.
Besides providing a relatively smooth and low-friction bearing surface, sleeve 109 also helps provide structural integrity for shaft 102. This can be especially important because the strong permanent magnets 110 can create magnetic attraction toward the stator wall sufficient to deform the entire shaft, absent proper structural support.
Therefore, sleeve 109 is a necessary evil of sorts. Preferably, under the conventional thinking, a material and thickness for the sleeve is selected to: (1) have a low magnetic permeability; (2) avoid magnetic saturation from the magnetic field of the shaft magnets; (3) have a low remanent magnetization value; (4) be easy to shape; (5) be relatively inexpensive; and/or (6) provide good bearing wear. In light of these various objectives, stainless steels are often used for shaft sleeves in magnetic motors. On the negative side, stainless steels are not the easiest materials to work with and do not necessarily provide the lowest rate of bearing wear. On the positive side, stainless steels do perform well relative to other materials that have low magnetic permeability and low residual magnetization. It is recognized that stainless steel is a metal with moderate wear characteristics, so sleeve 109 is constructed to be sufficiently thick to accommodate expected wear.

Bearing surface layer for magnetic motor


At runtime first and second cost functions associated with a request for a merge of a main partition of a table with a delta partition of the table can be calculated. The first and second cost functions can respectively quantify an urgency of the merge relative to availability of system resources required to perform the merge and an urgency of the merge relative to other merges. Determining whether the merge should occur can include comparing the calculated first and second cost functions with calculations of other first and second cost functions for other merge requests of one or more other tables. If the merge should occur, a merge thread can be assigned to execute the merge, and execution of the merge by the merge thread can be commenced if at least one merge token representing system resources usable for merge operations is available.

In recent years, central processing units (CPUs) of computer processing hardware have generally experienced their greatest performance increases by increasing the number of processor cores rather than through increasing clock rates. Accordingly, to maximize performance, modern software advantageously employs the benefits of multi-core CPUs by allowing parallel execution and with architectures that scale well with the number of cores. For data management systems, taking full advantage of parallel processing capabilities generally requires partitioning of stored data into sections or "partitions" for which the calculations can be executed in parallel.
A database program or database management system generally displays data as two-dimensional tables, of columns and rows. However, data are typically stored as one-dimensional strings. A row-based store typically serializes the values in a row together, then the values in the next row, and so on, while a column-based store serializes the values of a column together, then the values of the next column, and so on.
Column-based storage can facilitate execution of operations in parallel using multiple processor cores. In a column store, data are already vertically partitioned, so operations on different columns can readily be processed in parallel. If multiple columns need to be searched or aggregated, each of these operations can be assigned to a different processor core. In addition, operations on one column can be parallelized by partitioning the column into multiple sections that are processed by different processor cores. Column data is typically of uniform type, which can facilitate opportunities for storage size optimizations available in column-based data stores that are not available in row-based data stores. For example, some modern compression schemes can make use of the similarity of adjacent data to compress. To improve compression of column-based data, typical approaches involve sorting the rows.
Column-based storage typically makes searching of a table quite efficient, but at the expense of insertion speed for new records. In column-based storage, tables are generally organized in one or more main partitions and one or more delta partitions that retain insertions, deletions, changes, etc. to the data stored in the main partition(s). New records are inserted into the delta partition rather than into the main partition so that the main partition can retain a compressed structure to maximize the efficiency of searches on the data in that column. Direct insertion of new records into a compressed main partition is generally not possible because the compression changes the structure of the column. A search of the current data in the column requires traversal of the one or more main partitions followed by a traversal of the delta partition(s). As the delta partition or partitions increase in size, the search process becomes progressively less efficient as a larger and larger amount of less well-structured data in the merge partition(s) must be traversed in response to each query. Accordingly, delta partitions must be periodically merged to the main partition(s).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Merge monitor for table delta partitions


The present invention relates to a combination of a hermetically sealed, substantially air-tight container and a nutritional composition. The container of the present invention is adapted for the convenient transport, and storage of a single daily oral dose of a nutritional composition containing a fatty acid, for example, diacyl glycerol, an octadecatrienoic acid, an octadecadienoic acid, linolenic acid, linoleic acid, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) or a combination thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to the use of the c9, t11 and t10, c12 isomers of CLA in a nutritional composition. The wide range of health benefits associated with consumption of these CLA fatty acids is well known. Furthermore, the invention relates to a container that substantially prevents CLA lipid oxidation caused by exposure to air.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is the general term used to refer to a class of positional isomers of the omega-6 essential fatty acid octadecadienoic acid or linoleic acid. CLA contains conjugated double bonds (i.e. double carbon bonds separated by a single carbon bond). CLA is found naturally in the meat and dairy foods derived from ruminant animals where it is produced by the anaerobic bacteria, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, which is present in the rumen of these animals. However, CLA comprises a relatively minor proportion of the total fatty acid content contained in meats or dairy products (e.g. only about 0.5% per gram of fat). Although CLA occurs naturally in relatively small amounts, it is commonly produced industrially through the partial hydrogenation of linoleic acid purified from sources such as safflower or sunflower. As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,833 entitled "Conjugated Linoleic Acid Compositions," the use of sunflower and safflower oil is preferred because of their high native 9, 12 linoleic acid content, and also because they have low levels of contaminating residues that can result in a less pure product.
Since the discovery of CLAs by researchers at the University of Wisconsin in 1978, most attention has been directed towards two particular CLA isomers, the cis-9, trans-11 (c9,t11) CLA and trans-10, cis-12 (t10,c12) CLA isomers. The interest in these two isomeric species of CLA is related to the beneficial biological effects associated with their consumption. Some of the biologically advantageous activities that have been attributed to the consumption of c9, t11 CLA and t10, c12 CLA isomers include anticarcinogenic activity, antiatherogenic activity, and antidiabetic activity. In addition, it has been reported that consumption of CLA can decrease an individual's body fat to body mass ratio, and several studies have reported that CLA has beneficial effects on certain aspects of immune system function.
Interestingly, several studies of the physiological effects of CLA suggest that the health benefits are mediated differentially by specific CLA isomers. For example, studies have shown that c9, t11 CLA can enhance growth in rodents, but only t10, c12 CLA was shown to decrease blood lipoproteins, and triacylglyerides in hamsters and affect lean body mass in mice. Furthermore, in vitro experiments using preadipocytes indicate that only the t10, c12 CLA isomer was able to inhibit lipoprotein lipase activity, inhibit stearyl CoA desaturase activity, increase peroxisome proliferator activated receptor expression, and increase lipid oxidation.
For adult humans the daily required amount of CLA has been reported in various studies to be between about 80 milligrams to as much as about 50 grams per day. Because the typical diet does not provide this amount of CLA, dietary supplements are used to increase CLA intake to the desired or recommended level. Although various delivery means have been used, the most widely used and commonly marketed forms of CLA supplements are either liquid compositions, or ingestible capsules or tablets composed of gelatin or cellulose that contain 500-750 milligrams of CLA per tablet. However, these forms of CLA have several important limitations which make them undesirable. For example, because of the relatively large daily doses of CLA that may be required (e.g. about 3 grams or more per day for adults), individuals are faced with the undesirable choice of consuming a large volume of a liquid containing CLA, having to swallow relatively large capsules or tablets, having to swallow many capsules or tablets per day, or a combination thereof. Additionally, in many cases the transport of a large volume of liquid or a large number of capsules necessitates that the individual carries a bulky, inconvenient and/or cumbersome container, and have a ready supply of water or other liquid to assist in consuming the supplement.
Furthermore, the prior forms of CLA supplements are generally exposed to air during storage or use, particularly when provided in containers having multiple doses of the supplement. Exposure to air results in oxidation of the CLA fatty acids, which alters their structure, reduces or eliminates their beneficial properties, and reduces their shelf-life. To ameliorate the effects of oxidation, CLA is typically packaged with one or more chemical antioxidants, for example, lecithin, tocopherols, ascorbate, or ascorbyl palmitate. However, the inclusion of antioxidants results in added costs to the manufacturer, and because of the progressive oxygen exposure, only offers a limited extension of the overall shelf-life.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome one or more of the above-described drawbacks or disadvantages of the prior art. Accordingly, the present invention provides a nutritional composition comprising CLA in an emulsion. The composition may also contain one or more substances to enhance the flavor or texture of the composition, or to provide additional nutrients. The nutritional composition may be manufactured in a manner to minimize the effects or exposure of the CLA to oxygen, and the composition may be hermetically sealed in a container, such as for example a foil pouch, for transportation and storage. Additionally, the container may be sized to contain a single daily dose of CLA.

Nutritional composition and a container for the convenient transport and storage of the nutritional composition


A fluid flow actuated drive means 10 includes a rotatably mounted impeller 12 which defines a set of circumferentially spaced outer chambers 14 which extend inwardly from openings 16 along a peripheral edge 18 of the impeller 12 and a set of inner chambers 20 which are arranged radially inwards the outer chambers 14, each outer chamber 14 being connected to a corresponding inner chamber 20 via a passage 22 to facilitate the forming of a Venturi between corresponding inner and outer chambers 20 and 14 respectively.

The use of fossil fuels in engines such as, for example, motor vehicle engines is well known. These engines are internal-combustion engines in which fuel is burned within the engine and the combustion products serve as the working medium. The expansion of the combustion products typically causes a piston of the engine to move, thereby driving an axle of the motor vehicle. The spent combustion products are then expelled from the engine into the atmosphere.
The spent combustion products contain many harmful substances that are damaging to humans as well as the environment. Development of fuels that produce less harmful substances upon combustion than conventional fuels has reduced the emission of harmful substances, but as fossil fuels are still the basic constituent of engine fuels, the emission of harmful substances remains unacceptably high.
The inventor therefore believes that a need exists for an engine that is capable of being run with little or no emission of harmful substances and a method of running such an engine.


A vehicle traveling control apparatus includes a detector that detects an accelerator operation amount by a driver, a determiner that determines, based on a driving condition, whether a driving mode is currently a first mode in which a vehicle is caused to travel autonomously along a target travel path or a second mode in which the driver performs driving operation, a calculator that calculates a continuation time of the first mode when the driving mode is the first mode, a first setting unit that variably sets a characteristic of a target acceleration for the detected accelerator operation amount based on the calculated continuation time, and a second setting unit that, when the driving mode has transitioned from the first mode to the second mode, sets the target acceleration for the detected accelerator operation amount by referring to the set characteristic of the target acceleration for the accelerator operation amount.

The technology relates to a vehicle traveling control apparatus configured to suppress accelerating, in a case where a driving mode has transitioned from an automatic driving mode to a manual driving mode, until a driver regains a sense of accelerator operation.
Various driving assist techniques have been proposed for recent vehicles, to reduce burden on drivers and enable comfortable and safe driving. Some of such techniques have already been put into practical use. In such driving assist techniques, when an automatic driving mode is selected as a driving mode, if a driver sets a traveling route to a destination, a target travel path on which an own vehicle should advance is set along the traveling route up to a predetermined distance ahead of the own vehicle, and the own vehicle is caused to travel autonomously along the target travel path (navigation-linked route traveling). At that time, under the well-known Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Active Lane Keep (ALK) control, the front, rear, left and right of an own vehicle position are constantly monitored.
In a state where the own vehicle travels in the automatic driving mode, the driver does not normally perform accelerator operation, steering wheel operation, and brake operation. However, in a case where conditions for automatic driving are not satisfied or the road is in a manual driving section, or in a case where the driver himself or herself intentionally performs steering wheel operation or brake operation, if the control unit makes a determination of override, the driving mode transitions from the automatic driving mode to the manual driving mode, and the driver takes over the driving operation.
During the traveling in the automatic driving mode, the driver falls into a desultory state. Therefore, even if the driver suddenly takes over the driving operation from such a desultory state, it would be difficult for the driver to instantly regain the sense (feeling) of the accelerator operation, which may sometimes result in a difficulty in smooth takeover of the driving mode to the manual driving mode.
In view of such circumstances, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2019-93924 discloses a technique of controlling a driving force of a vehicle so as to gradually shift from a driving force in an automatic driving mode to a driving force required by a driver in a manual driving mode, at a rate not to make an occupant feel a shock, when causing the driving mode to transition from the automatic driving mode to the manual driving mode, to thereby enable a completion of smooth transition of the driving mode.


High noise immunity sensing methods and apparatus are provided for a capacitive touch device, which sense the capacitive touch device for self capacitance or mutual capacitance or both with different scan frequencies in a frame, to thereby suppress certain frequency noise interference. By combining time domain and space domain noise-eliminating approaches, probabilities of noise interference are reduced, without compromising other parameters.

A capacitive touch device detects a touch point by sensing the capacitive variation of a capacitive touch sensor. For example, referring to FIG. 1, a two-dimension touch sensor 10 has X-direction traces X1-X9 and Y-direction traces Y1-Y8, wherein the traces X1-X9 and Y1-Y9 are not electrically connected to each other. In addition to having their self capacitances, the traces have mutual capacitances therebetween. When contacted by a finger 12, the trace has both of the self capacitance and the mutual capacitance it senses varying. Currently, a sensor structure for the capacitive touch device may use either all point scan or projection scan. The former one is measuring the variations of the mutual capacitances at all trace intersections during a sensing period of a frame, while the latter one is measuring the variations of the self capacitances of all traces during a sensing period of a frame and generating intersecting points by projecting the intersections of the two directions. In sensing the variations of the self capacitances, taking a trace Y7 as an example, an excitation signal Tx is applied to the trace Y7, and a sensed signal Rx fed back by the same trace Y7 is received. The sensed value generated from the sensed signal Rx represents the self capacitance of the trace Y7. When a finger 12 contacts the trace Y7, the ground capacitance of the finger 12 is connected to the self capacitance of the trace Y7 in parallel, so the value now sensed at trace Y7 is different from that obtained when the trace Y7 is untouched. This is therefore a basis for determining whether the trace Y7 is touched. In sensing the mutual capacitance, taking traces X8 and Y7 for example, an excitation signal Tx is applied to the trace Y7 (or X8), and a sensed signal Rx fed back by the corresponding trace X8 (or Y7) is received. The sensed value generated from the sensed signal Rx represents the mutual capacitance between the traces X8 and Y7. When the finger 12 contacts the intersection between the traces X8 and Y7, the ground capacitance of the finger 12 reduces the sensed mutual capacitance, which is a proof of that the intersection of the traces X8 and Y7 are touched.
In sensing process of a capacitive touch sensor, noise interference can bring errors to the sensed value, causing an untouched point to be mistaken as a touched point, or causing the reported coordinates inaccurate, which in turn leads to misoperation. For example, referring to FIG. 1, when a finger 12 touches at a point between the traces X7, X8 and Y7, Y8, the mutual capacitance between the traces X7, X8 and Y7, Y8 or the self capacitance of the trace X7, X8 and Y7, Y8 can be used to calculate the coordinates representing where the finger 12 is. However, if the sensed value is error due to noise interference, the calculated coordinates are deviated from the actual position of the finger 12. If the sensed value of the mutual capacitance between the trace X3 and Y7 or the sensed values of the self capacitances of the traces X3 and Y7 varies over the threshold set by the sensing circuit due to noise interference, the sensing circuit will identify the intersection 14 of the traces X3 and Y7 as another touched point. For eliminating mistakes caused by noise interference, an approach is to use a median filter for filtering signals, yet this can reduce the sensitivity. Another approach is to raise a threshold of the algorithm, but this can make the capacitive touch sensor less supportive to hardware. Yet another approach is to sense the self capacitance or mutual capacitance for several successive times in a frame, and then average the sensed values. For example, referring to the system block diagram of FIG. 2, a capacitive touch panel 16 has a capacitive touch sensor (not shown) connected to a sensing apparatus 18. When a finger or other electrically conductive object touches the capacitive touch panel 16, the capacitance of the capacitive touch sensor changes and this change is sensed by the sensing apparatus 18 and reflected in an output signal So. In the sensing apparatus 18, a control unit 20 controls an excitation unit 22 to apply an excitation signal Tx to the capacitive touch sensor, a sampling unit 24 samples the sensed signal Rx fed back by the capacitive touch sensor, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 26 converts the sampled signal Rx into a sensed value Sd, and an averaging unit 28 averages sensed values Sd obtained in a given time period to generate an output signal So. In sensing the same self capacitance or mutual capacitance, referring to FIG. 3, according to one scan frequency, the excitation signal Tx is applied successively for several times and the sensed signal Rx is sampled successively for several times, and one sensed value Sd is obtained in each sensing cycle Ts, while the average of such sensed values Sd is the output signal So. The more times of repeatedly sensing the same self capacitance or mutual capacitance, the smaller the interference caused by noise of a certain frequency to the output signal is, yet the lower the frame rate is, making the response of the capacitive touch device slower and bringing about users' unsmooth operation.
Conventional solutions all compromise other parameters, and therefore it is desired a sensing method and apparatus for suppressing noise interference without compromising other parameters.

High noise immunity sensing methods and apparatus for a capacitive touch device


An infrared thermal imaging system includes a focal plane array (FPA) of infrared detectors, read out integrated circuitry (ROIC) operatively coupled to the FPA, and a microcontroller having at least one video display interface operatively coupled to the ROIC. The FPA is configured to generate an output signal in response to infrared radiation impinging upon the infrared detectors. The microcontroller is configured to send data to the ROIC via the at least one video display interface, the data including non-uniformity correction terms for correcting non-uniformities of the FPA.

A microbolometer is a type of uncooled sensor for detecting infrared (IR) radiation. Conventional microbolometers include a focal plane array (FPA) of detector elements, or pixels, each of which measures a change in electrical resistance while being exposed to thermal radiation. The change in resistance is converted into an image representing a temperature corresponding to the wavelength of the radiation. Unlike images produced from light in the visible spectrum, infrared images have low contrast and must undergo significant processing (including, e.g., amplification) to produce an image that is visually pleasing to the human eye. Furthermore, materials currently used to produce uncooled IR detectors are less mature that those used for detecting visible light, and inherent non-uniformities in pixel responsivity and offset often exist within conventional focal plane arrays. When processing IR images, these non-uniformities may be amplified; this may produce undesirable results. Nonuniformity correction (NUC) algorithms are typically used by an image preprocessor to remove variations caused by the non-uniformities, as well as to compensate for the temperature of the microbolometer, improving the resulting image.
Conventional uncooled microbolometers typically use Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) to perform at least some of the image preprocessing. The FPGA may be incorporated into the FPA. Due to their complexities, NUC and contrast enhancement algorithms use significantly more processing power than, for example, a conventional video encoding algorithm. Once an FPGA design is finalized, the principal way to reduce power consumption is through the costly process of converting the FPGA design into an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Infrared thermal imaging system and method


A method of prospecting asteroids for mining includes (a) launching at least one spacecraft, the spacecraft including a space telescope; (b) examining a plurality of asteroids using the space telescope to gather scientific data on the asteroids for characterization and cataloging; and (c) selecting one or more asteroids to mine from the plurality of asteroids examined by the space telescope and contained within the catalog. A system for prospecting asteroids for mining is also described.

Asteroids are remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. As such, it is estimated that various and specific asteroid types likely contain an abundance of concentrated valuable minerals including water and rare metals such as platinum, palladium, iridium, rhodium, osmium and ruthenium. Beginning with the first asteroid, 1 Ceres, discovered on the first day of the 19th century, to the first "Near Earth" (NEO) asteroid, 433 Eros, discovered nearly a century later, there are now over 600,000 known asteroids, nearly 10,000 of which are Near Earth asteroids. While these numbers may be impressive, science has only discovered approximately 1% of all the asteroids estimated to reside in our solar system. The Near Earth asteroids contain some of the most accessible real estate for deep space mission into the solar system, with about 17% of the NEO population being easier and less costly to reach than landing on Earth's Moon.
Asteroids are filled with precious resources, everything from water to platinum. Some near-Earth asteroids contain platinum group metals in much higher concentrations than are found within the richest Earth mines. Asteroids also contain more common metallic elements such as iron, nickel, and cobalt, sometimes in incredible quantities. In addition to water, other volatiles, such as nitrogen, CO, CO2, and methane, exist in large quantities. Semiconductors, metals, and non-metals used in microelectronics manufacture may also be found in asteroids, such as phosphorus, copper, gallium, germanium, arsenic, selenium, cadmium, indium, tin and tellurium.

Method, apparatus, and system for asteroid prospecting and mining

Planetary Resources Development Corporation


An apparatus for textile maintenance comprises a base component containing a plurality of holes and at least one coupling member. Multiple base components may be interlocked by means of the coupling member(s). Retention members snugly fit into the plurality of holes of a base component. The retention members support one or more textile pieces adjacent to a base component. Additionally, the retention members may be used to stack a base component onto another base component. A user may then use a base component or any combination of base components to perform textile maintenance, such as drying or starching.

In-home maintenance of various textiles, including hand-crafted textiles such as doilies and the like, has not changed for many years. Typically, a textile owner is forced to place the article to be cleaned or maintained on any available flat surface for cleaning, treatment, or maintenance. For example, a hand-crafted article might be placed on a floor or table in the user's home and then treated as necessary. Such make-shift methods make it difficult to stabilize the article or keep the article from becoming soiled with dirt or dust that has collected on the surface being used.
There is a need in the art, therefore, for a new apparatus and method for textile maintenance.

Apparatus and method for textile maintenance


A gas sensor having a field-effect transistor for detecting gases or gas mixtures is provided. The gas sensor includes a substrate having a source, drain and gate region, a gas-sensitive layer being applied on the gate region. A porous adhesive agent is provided for the adhesion of the gas-sensitive layer in the gate region.

Gas sensors having field-effect transistors are generally known. Their basic measuring principle is based on a diffusion of the gases to be detected into a gas-sensitive layer, which induces a change in the potential at the FET. A field-effect transistor having a source (S), drain (D) and gate (G) region is situated on a substrate, a gas-sensitive layer being applied on the gate (G) region. If the FET-based gas sensor (FET gas sensor) is exposed to a gas or a gas mixture, the gas or gas mixture to be detected diffuses into the gas-sensitive layer and in so doing, produces or changes the potential at the boundary surface to the channel region (C) between the source (S) and the drain (D) regions. This change in potential is able to be tapped as a measuring signal via a current or voltage change. Various modifications or further developments based on this basic principle are known as well.
The sensitive layer is usually separated from the gate (G) region by an intermediate layer disposed in-between. On the one hand, this protects the gate (G) region from harmful gas actions. On the other hand, the sensitive layer, which usually is electrically conductive in order to allow for the adjustment of a defined potential at the gate (G) region, is electrically insulated from the channel region (C) of the FET. That is to say, the intermediate layer is used as a protective layer for the gate (G) region and simultaneously as an insulation layer.
In German Patent Application No. DE 10 2005 008 051, for example, a gas-sensitive FET and a method for its operation are described, the sensitive layer having a porous design with open pores and any desired thickness and being directly applied on an insulation of a FET while avoiding an air gap. The sensitive layer is situated directly above the channel region of the FET or cooperates indirectly with the FET via a potential-free floating gate electrode.
In order to be able to perform the function of a chemical protective and electric insulation layer in a reliable manner, the separation layer is formed by a chemically inert, electrically insulating, closed and compact layer, if possible. The usual materials for this purpose are, for example, thermal oxides, LPCVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition) oxides or also LPCVD nitrides. These layers have little surface roughness. This results in modest adhesion of the sensitive layer to the separation layer.
On the other hand, excellent adhesion of the sensitive layer to the FET is an important prerequisite for a reliable and long-term functionality of the gas sensor. For the sensors are often used in a measuring environment that exposes the sensitive layers to high mechanical or chemical stresses. One pertinent example is the use of a gas sensor for the NOx detection in the exhaust tract of an internal combustion engine. Mechanical stressing may be caused by, for example, strong vibrations, a very dynamic gas flow, or also by temperature-related freezing. Chemical stressing may be caused by exhaust gas or moisture in the measuring environment, for instance.
Consequently, there is demand for a gas sensor having a field-effect transistor in which the sensitive layer has improved adhesion to the gate (G) region of the sensor compared to current FET gas sensors known from the related art.

Gas sensor having a field-effect transistor


N-acylamino carboxylic acids and N-acylamino sulfonic acids and their alkali metal salts from the technical alkali metal salts of amino carboxylic acids and amino sulfonic acids, respectively, with an active content of 50-95% by weight, based on the solids content of the technical alkali metal salts, and from alkyl carboxylates, are prepared by. (a) preparing a suspension of the solid anhydrous technical alkali metal salts of the amino carboxylic acids or amino sulfonic acids in the alkyl carboxylates, PA1 (b) reacting this suspension by adding more than 30 to 150 mol % of strong bases to give the alkali metal salts of the N-acylamino carboxylic acids or N-acylamino sulfonic acids, and PA1 (c) if required preparing therefrom the free N-acylamino carboxylic acids or N-acylamino sulfonic acids in a conventional way by adding acids.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved process for preparing N-acylamino carboxylic acids and N-acylamino sulfonic acids and their alkali metal salts from the technical alkali metal salts of amino carboxylic acids and amino sulfonic acids, respectively, and from alkyl carboxylates.
2. Discussion of the Background
DE-A 20 04 099 discloses that salts of N-acylamino carboxylic acids can be prepared by acylation of the corresponding amino carboxylic acids or their salts with a carboxylic acid, a carboxylic ester or a carboxamide in the presence of an equivalent amount of a basic compound which forms salts with carboxylic acids, such as an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal hydroxide, at from 100.degree. to 250.degree. C., preferably from 160.degree. to 200.degree. C. In this case the basic compound merely serves to neutralize the amino carboxylic acids or carboxylic acids used. The reaction is carried out in the melt of amino carboxylic acid and acylating agent or in a suspension of the amino carboxylic acid in a solution of an acylating agent and of a basic organic nitrogen compound, eg. an amine, in a high-boiling organic solvent.
However, the disadvantages of the described reaction procedure are the long reaction times and the low yields, which are attributable essentially to the partial decomposition of the starting compounds and of the products because of the high reaction temperatures. This is because the reaction mixture becomes slightly dark in color during this and a slight evolution of carbon dioxide which is almost always observed can likewise be explained only by decomposition reactions.
German Patent Application P 44 08 957.0 describes a process for preparing N-acylamino carboxylic and sulfonic acids from the alkali metal salts of the underlying amino carboxylic and sulfonic acids, respectively, and alkyl carboxylates, in which 0.5 to 30 mol % of strong bases are added as catalyst to a suspension of the amino carboxylic and sulfonic acid salts, respectively, in the carboxylates. However, this process gives satisfactory results only on use of pure alkali metal amino carboxylates or sulfonates with an active content of more than 95% by weight, based on the solids content of the alkali metal salts. Use of corresponding salts of technical quality results in drastic losses of selectivity of up to 15%.

Preparation of N-acylamino carboxylic acids and N-acylamino sulfonic acids and their alkali metal salts


An automotive steering system includes a steering assembly including a rack and a pinion, and a rack bearing configured to contact the rack, the rack bearing disposed in a rack bearing bore of a housing. The system also includes a wear compensation assembly in fluid communication with a rack bearing bore cavity disposed within the rack bearing, the wear compensation assembly configured to draw fluid into the rack bearing bore cavity in response to movement of the rack bearing within the rack bearing bore.

Typical rack and pinion automotive steering assemblies include a pinion shaft and rack, incorporated with a design that includes a conventional rack bearing, coil spring and adjuster plug design. During use, various components of the steering assembly wear. Such components may include rack bearing liners and rack and pinion teeth. Such wear creates clearance gaps between components that can result in unwanted noise and vibration.

Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation


A system and method for printing images for use in an authentication document from a plurality of different printers and/or capture devices. Each of the plurality of different printers and/or capture device having a unique ID. The images are printed on an authentication document with the unique ID. The system provides for verification that the presenter of an authentication document. The unique ID and/or other information may be provided in a form that is not visible under normal viewing conditions. By canning the image the unique ID may be obtained and used for authentication. The obtained ID may be compared with a known information stored at a database for confirming that the presenter of the authentication document is the individual to whom it was issued.

To obtain a passport, the user submits two hardcopy images of themselves along with a proof of identity to the passport-issuing agency. If the user is not personally known to the acceptance agent, proof of identity is required. Proof of identity can be a previously issued passport, a commercially issued document such as a bearer document, a Certificate of Naturalization, a driver's license, or a Government Issue Identity card or pass. The user can send, via the U.S. Postal Service, the two hard copy images and proof of identity to the passport-issuing agency. In addition to proof of identity the passport-issuing agency requires proof of citizenship such as a certified birth certificate or previously issued passport. The reason for the proof of identity and proof of citizenship is to insure that the image on the passport is an authentic image of the person carrying the passport. By use of the term "authentic" it is meant that the image can indicate to a viewer or a reader with a high degree of certainty that the image has not been tampered with or changed. Digital technologies enable a user to capture and digitize a self-image for use on a passport. When the image is in the form of a hardcopy print or photographic negative, the image can be digitized by scanning the print or photographic negative to obtain image data which is then stored as an image file on a computer. The user's image can also be captured using a digital camera such as a KODAK DC290 Zoom Digital Camera or a KODAK Professional DCS 660 and then the image file can be loaded directly into a computer.
Digital printers such as KODAK PS 8650 Color Printer or a KODAK Photo Printer 4700 are capable of digitally printing an image from the stored image file. Prints produced using printers such as those listed above, have been deemed acceptable for use on passports. When an image is printed digitally, additional data can be encrypted into the image. The encryption is accomplished by using pixels in the image itself to encode specific information. This method of encrypting information is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,920 to Scott J. Daly et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,819 to Scott J. Daly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,639 to Chris W. Honsinger et al, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,516 to Chris W. Honsinger et al,
Another method incorporating additional information into a digitally printed image is to print the added information using inks or dyes that are not visible or scannable under normal viewing conditions. These inks or dyes are viewable or capable of being scanned under special lighting conditions such as infrared or UV lights. Eastman Chemical Company under the trade name N.I.R.F. (near-infrared fluorophore) inks sells appropriate suitable ink for placement of the information.
Digital printing technologies allow images to be printed from digital files stored on servers. The passport image files can be downloaded to remote viewing locations on demand. Commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/359,152, filed Jul. 22, 1999, entitled "Authorizing the Printing of Digital Images" by Patton et al describes a method for sending a digital image file to an authorizing agency.
A problem is that the methods currently used to produce passports do not provide a method for directly linking the image on the passport and the information on the passport. Currently there is nothing contained in the image such as a code or encrypted message to link the image to the passport. Hence, linking it to the person carrying the passport. Therefore it is possible to remove one image from the passport and replaced with a different image.
The present invention is directed to authentication document and a method for producing them, which overcome the problems of the prior art.

Method for printing and verifying authentication documents


Methods are disclosed for monitoring patients utilizing Mean Platelet Component values during therapeutic intervention.

Platelets play a major role in the development of thrombus formation in patients with arterial thromboembolic diseases. Abnormal platelet behavior is associated with several pathological conditions, such as acute coronary syndrome ("ACS"), and in patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty ("PTCA"). Fitzgerald D. J. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. (1986) 315:983-989; Hamm C. W. et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. (1987) 10:998-1006; Schultheiss H. P. et al., Eur. J. Clin. Invest. (1994) 24:243-247; Tschoepe D. et al., Circulation (1993) 88:37-42. Consequently, anticoagulant and anti-platelet therapies are widely used for cardiovascular disease patients. For example, treatment of ACS patients with aspirin, ADP receptor inhibitors, peptide and non-peptide glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GPIIb/IIIa) receptor inhibitors, and other novel inhibitors of platelet function have been shown to significantly improve both short-term and long-term outcome by reducing the incidence of recurrent MI and death. Lewis H. D. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. (1983) 309:396-403; Jarvis B. and K. Simpson, Drugs (2000) 60: 347-377; Moshfegh K. et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. (2000) 36:699-705; Rupprecht H. J. et al. Circulation (1998) 97:1046-1052; PRISM Study Group, N. Engl. J. Med. (1998) 338:1498-505; PRISM-PLUS Study Group, N. Engl. J. Med. (1998) 338:1488-1997; The EPIC Investigators, N. Engl. J. Med. (1994) 330:956-961; The CAPTURE Investigators, Lancet (1997) 349:1429-1435; Mascelli M. A. et al., Circulation (1998) 97:1680-1688. Inter-individual variation in response to the monoclonal antibody, abciximab, has been reported both in terms of extent and duration of inhibition of platelet function. Mascelli M. A. et al., Circulation (1998) 97:1680-1688; Bihour C. et al., Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. (1999) 16:212-9; Kleiman N. S. et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. (1995) 26:1665-1671. Thus, anti-platelet therapies represent an important component in treatment regimens for numerous vascular pathologies.
Although high levels of platelet function inhibition has been reported to be associated with a decrease in the incidence of major adverse cardiac events, there is a clinical risk of thrombosis or bleeding associated with anti-platelet and anticoagulant treatments. Aguirre F. V. et al., Circulation (1995) 91:2882-2890. Currently, decisions to use anti-platelet treatments are based on clinical grounds due to the lack of acceptable methods to monitor platelet function in individual patients. The main problem with monitoring platelet function in patients is the artificial in vitro activation of platelets that occurs in conventional techniques. Several instruments have been developed to assess the global platelet response to anti-platelet therapy. A well-established method to assess platelet activation has been studied in whole blood using fluorescence flow cytometry. Michaelson, A. D. Blood Coagul. Fibrinolys. (1994) 5:121-131. The technique is specific and sensitive, since fluorescence measurements can detect as few as 0.8% activated cells. However, the technique is expensive, labor-intensive, and data analysis is imprecise. Further, in some patients, activated platelets lose their marker receptors but continue to circulate and function, which leads to missed detection with activation-specific fluorescence-labeled antibodies Michaelson, A. D. et al., Methods (2000) 21:259-270.
As a high level of platelet function inhibition has been reported to be associated with a decrease in the incidence of major adverse cardiac events, the question becomes whether clinicians should uniformly use aggressive and costly anti-platelet strategies without individual assessment of platelet status in patients with platelet-affected disorders. A simple and rapid method of early detection of platelet activation status without artificial activation of platelets would therefore be useful in identifying those particular patients who would benefit from platelet antagonist therapy, as distinguished from those in whom a material response to anti-platelet medicaments is not foreseen. Further, a simple, reliable and rapid method of monitoring treatment would be useful in optimizing safety and efficacy of anti-platelet therapy.
Platelets not only play an important role in the coagulation system, but are also an integral part of the inflammatory response. Shebuski R. J., Kilgore K. S. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Therapeut. (2002) 300:729-735; Aukrust P. et al., Heart (2001) 86:605-606; Freedman J. E. and J. Loscalzo. Circulation (2002) 105:2130-2132. The contribution of inflammation to the complications of acute ischemic syndromes and coronary revascularization has been increasingly recognized in recent years. Inflammation plays a pivotal role in vascular injury and repair. Accordingly, the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) has emerged as a powerful predictor for cardiovascular disease, associated with future cardiovascular events in seemingly healthy subjects and with worse prognosis in acute coronary patient. Lagrand W. K. et al., Circulation (1999) 100:96-102; Ridker P. M. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. (2002) 347:1557-1565; Ridker P. M. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. (2000) 342:836-843; Ridker P. M. et al., Circulation (2000) 101:1767-1772.
Elevated circulating inflammatory markers, in particular CRP, have been associated with elevated risk for both short-term and long-term ischemic events among patients with unstable angina (Lindahl B. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. (2000)343:1139-1147; Liuzzo G. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. (1994) 331:417-424), myocardial infarction (Tommasi S. et al., Am. J. Cardiol. (1999) 83:1595-1599), or those undergoing percutaneous angioplasty (Buffon A. et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. (1999) 34:1512-1521; Versaci F. et al., Am. J. Cardiol. (2000) 85:92-95; Chew D. P. et al., Circulation (2001) 104(9):992-997). Elevated pre-angioplasty CRP levels predicted an increased rate of procedural and in-hospital complications (Buffon A. et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. (1999) 34:1512-1521) an increased risk of death or MI at 1 month follow-up (Chew D. P. et al., Circulation (2001) 104(9):992-997), and 6 months follow-up (Heeschen C. et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. (2000) 35:1535-1542) compared with those patients who have a normal CRP. At 1-year follow-up, clinical restenosis developed in 63% of patients with high pre-angioplasty CRP levels versus only 27% of those with values in the reference range. In fact, elevation of CRP before early revascularization for non-ST-elevation ACS predicts mortality for up to 5 years. Mueller C. et al., Circulation (2002) 105; 1412-1415.
The association between platelet activation and markers of inflammation has been reported in different pathologies. In general, inflammation can promote thrombus formation and can enhance clot stability. The relationship between systemic infection or inflammation and an increased risk of thrombotic diseases has recently raised renewed interest. In patients with acute thrombotic stroke, Toghi et al. showed that platelet aggregation induced by ADP was significantly higher where CRP levels were elevated compared to control donors with normal CRP levels. The data suggest that platelet function may be, in part, related to stroke onset in patients with increased CRP levels. Toghi H. et al., Thromb. Res. (2000) 100:373-379. In hypercholesterolemia, in vivo platelet activation measured by soluble P-selectin and urinary 11-debydro-TxB2 excretion, are associated with increased sCD40L levels (Cipollone F. et al., Circulation (2002) 106:399-402) and IL-1β and CRP (Ferroni P et al., Circulation (2003) 10814:1673-1675), markers of systemic inflammation. In obese women, increased platelet activation was driven by high CRP and both were reversible with loss of weight (Davi G. et al., JAMA (2002) 288:2008-2014).
These inflammatory processes may be reciprocally affected by platelet activation. Toghi H. et al., Thromb. Res. (2000) 100:373-379; Neumann F.-J. et al., Circulation (1997) 95:2387-2394. Platelet activation can increase inflammation through several mechanisms. Platelets release a wide range of growth factors and inflammatory mediators from intracellular storage organelles. Products of activation may aid neutrophil accumulation and enhance inflammation. Activated leukocytes and platelets potentiate each others' effects. The important mediators released by platelets are P-selectin (CD62p), CD40p, platelet activating factor, macrophage chemotactic factor-1, interleukin-1, thrombospondin and fibronectin. These mediators are rapidly expressed by activated platelets. Weyrich A. S. et al., J. Clin. Invest. (1996) 97:1525-1534; Carlos T. M. et al., Blood (1994) 84:2069-207; Zimmerman G. A. et al., Crit. Care Med. (2002) 30:294-301; Valles J et al., Blood (2002) 99:3978-3984; Sarma J. et al., Circulation (2002) 105:2166-2171; O'Brien K. D. et al., Circulation (1996) 93:672-682. Davi et al. reported a biochemical mechanism suggesting that a low-grade inflammatory state may be the primary trigger of thromboxane-dependent platelet activation mediated through enhanced lipid peroxidation. Davi G. et al., JAMA (2002) 288:2008-2014. Other mechanisms, such as a direct proinflammatory effect of CRP, are likely to amplify and sustain the relationship between systematic inflammation and platelet activation. Pasceri V. et al., Circulation (2000) 102:2165-2168.
Increased level of basal platelet activity has been correlated with adverse events. Stemhubl S. R. et al., Circulation (2001) 103:2572-2578. It is hypothesized that the baseline platelet activation status may be predictive of future platelet activity accompanied by vascular complications. Gurbel P. A. et al., Thrombosis Res. (2000) 99:105-107; Gurbel P. A. et al., Scand. Cardiovasc. J. (2000) 34:53-58. There is an urgent need for identifying patients who may be susceptible to future untoward platelet events associated with vascular complications so that these patients can be earmarked for more aggressive anti-platelet regimens. Indeed, Ridker et al. showed in the Physician's Health Study that patients at the highest level of risk, as measured by CRP, derive the most benefit from effective anti-platelet therapy. See Ridker P. M. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. (1997) 336:973-979.
There is a need in the art for a rapid, simple test for platelet activation that can be used in a dynamic fashion to detect platelet activation and predict vascular problems as well as to monitor platelet activation in patients undergoing anti-platelet therapy and/or angioplasty.

Methods for monitoring patients for efficacy of an antiplatelet therapy regimen


The present disclosure relates to multi-MAC controller and single PHY systems and methods. An example method may include transmitting, via a first device in a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) network, a first block of data within a first time slot and at a first power level, the first power level being based on an attenuation of a first network tap device associated with the first device. The example method may also include transmitting, via a second device in the DOCSIS network, a second block of data within the first time slot and at a second power level, the second power level being based on an attenuation of a second network tap device associated with the second device, the first power level being different than the second power level.

Before NOMA, networks may have employed Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA). OMA may be a network modulation scheme in which multiple users may be able to transmit data on a network through the use of orthogonal network resources within either a specific time slot, frequency band, or code in order to avoid multiple access interference. For example, previous OMA schemes employed before NOMA may include, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) of the first generation (1G), time division multiple access (TDMA) of the second generation (2G), code division multiple access (CDMA) of the third generation (3G), and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) of the fourth generation (4G). However, such modulation schemes may only allow one resource element per user at the receiver end of the network.


Disclosed is a FRET based assay and related products. The assay employs molecular imprinted polymers having a very high affinity for their target.

Molecular Imprinted Polymers, MIPs, are products that have been developed to produce synthetic receptor entities that bind an epitope similar to the way an antibody binds an antigen (Alexander et al. 2006). Such MIPs have typically been employed in chromatographic methods, but they have also been suggested as pharmaceutical products due to their functional equivalency with antibodies.


Consumers may centrally store, manage and distribute information using an information account stored in a central data repository. The information account is accessible from any client device, without the need to permanently store or install proprietary software thereon. The information account comprises a plurality of consumer information elements stored in a tagged data format. A host server hosts a database management system for accessing the information account. A client-side application may manage communications with host server. Alternatively, the client device may interact with a vendor server that executes a server-side application for managing communications with the host server. In response to a request from the consumer, the host server may filter selected consumer information elements from the information account and transmit the filtered consumer information elements to the client-side or server-side application. The filtered consumer information elements may then be automatically integrated into a vendor business process on behalf of the consumer, if desired.

As information technology and network technology become more prolific, people find themselves repeatedly and manually inputting the same data into different computer systems. For example, consumers may find themselves having to manually input their personal and billing information via each vendor website through which they choose to complete an electronic commerce ("e-commerce") or mobile commerce ("m-commerce") transaction. As the number of secure websites grows, consumers also find themselves having to manage numerous usernames and passwords. Thus, there is a need for a convenient and secure system for automating the management of consumer information.
Automated or partially automated solutions for managing information historically have largely been localized processes. Using conventional techniques, users are able to create and store data files containing personal information on their personal computers or other client devices, such as personal digital assistants ("PDAs"), pagers, mobile telephones, etc. The data elements in such data files can be shared using specialized applications for filtering data out of the data file and into another application. However, such systems typically require a permanent download of proprietary data management software that might not be compatible among different devices. In addition, the data management software and data files are often stored on only a single personal computer or computerized device. If the personal computer or other computerized device becomes lost or stolen, the user's data may no longer be accessible, and might end up in the possession of another person. If the personal computer or other computerized device crashes, the data can easily be lost.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a more secure, flexible and convenient system for storing information and a method for allowing the user to manage and distribute that information using a personal computer or other network-connected device. There further remains a need for such a system and method that provides central information storage and does not require a permanent download of proprietary software to a client device for management and distribution of the information.

Storage, management and distribution of consumer information


A transport interface (10) provides add drop multiplex functionality and termination requirements for the transportation of network traffic. The transport interface (10) includes high speed units (12), broadband interfaces (16), and SONET formatters (18). Each high speed unit (12), broadband interface (16), and SONET formatter has redundant protection pairs (A and B). The high speed units (12), broadband interfaces (16), and SONET formatters (18) communicate with each other by in-band datalinks (40). The redundant protection pairs (A and B) communicate with one another by protection pair datalinks (42). The in-band datalinks (40) and the protection pair datalinks (42) provide an effective means for performing protection switching within the transport interface (10) in the event of component failure. The in-band datalinks (40) are generated out of available or consumed bytes within either a section overhead (32) or a line overhead (34) of SONET OC-N frame (30). The protection pair datalinks (42) provide communication capability over a common control communications interface. The in-band datalinks (40) and the protection pair data links (42) work together to provide a smooth transition from one component to another in the event of a protection switch.

In SONET based add drop multiplex telecommunication equipment, it is common to have a transport system composed of multiple printed circuit assemblies requiring a variety of hard wired signaling communication channels between assemblies. Popular uses of hard wired inter-assembly signaling communications include card provisioning, status checking, performance monitoring, and protection switching. Hard wired signaling communication connections increase the expense and size of the assemblies and the transport system. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the necessity of hard wired signaling communications connections in a transport system of a telecommunications network.

Transport interface for performing protection switching of telecommunications traffic


Disclosed are an ink composition for an imprint lithography and a roll printing, wherein in forming patterns of the LCD device using the imprint lithography and the roll printing, an ink composition with high thermal resistance, consisting of polymer resin and additive both endurable even at a high temperature is used to form fine patterns with constantly maintaining pattern linewidths and line intervals, and wherein the ink composition is endurable even at a high temperature of 90-250° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ink composition, and particularly, to an ink composition with high heat resistance for imprint lithography and roll printing, capable of forming accurate fine patterns.
2. Background of the Invention
Recently, as information displaying becomes more attractive and demands on the use of portable information media increase, studies and commercialization of lighter, thinner flat panel displays (FPDs), substituting a cathode ray tube (CRT) as the existing display device, have been broadly conducted. Especially, among the FPDs, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device is to display images by using optical anisotropic property of liquid crystal. The LCD device is excellent in resolution, color rendering property, image quality and the like, and thus widely being applied to notebooks, desktop monitors and the like.
The LCD device includes a color filter substrate, an array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the color filter substrate and the array substrate.
An active matrix method, which is a normally used driving method in the LCD device, is configured to drive liquid crystal of pixel units by employing amorphous silicon thin film transistors (a-Si TFTs) as switching devices.
Hereinafter, a structure of a related art LCD device will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a disassembled perspective view schematically showing a related art LCD device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the LCD device includes a color filter substrate 5, an array substrate 10, and a liquid crystal layer 30 interposed between the color filter substrate 5 and the array substrate 10.
The color filter substrate 5 is provided with a color filter C having a plurality of sub color filters 7 for rendering red (R), green (G) and blue (B) colors, a black matrix 6 for dividing between adjacent sub color filters 7 and blocking light transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 30, and a transparent common electrode 8 for applying a voltage to the liquid crystal layer 30.
Also, the array substrate 10 is provided with a plurality of gate lines 16 and data lines 17 arranged in horizontal and vertical directions for defining a plurality of pixel regions P, thin film transistor T as switching devices formed at intersections between the gate lines 16 and the data lines 17, and pixel regions 18 formed on the respective pixel regions P.
The color filter substrate 5 and the array substrate 10 having such structure are attached to face each other by a sealant (not shown) formed at an outer periphery of an image display region, thereby constructing an LCD panel. The attachment between the color filter substrate 5 and the array substrate 10 may be implemented by an attachment key (not shown) formed either at the color filter substrate 5 or at the array substrate 10.
The fabrication of the LCD device includes plural times of a photolithography process required to produce the array substrate having TFTs.
Also, for forming fine patterns, which are applied to information storage, compact sensors, photonic crystal and optical elements, micro-electro mechanical systems, display devices and semiconductors, the photolithography process conducted to form fine patterns using light is performed.
The photolithography process denotes a series of processes by which patterns printed on a mask are transferred on a thin film-deposited substrate so as to form desired patterns. The photolithography process is implemented through a plurality of complicated processes including photoresist coating, alignment and exposure, development and the like.
First, after coating photoresist as a photo resistor on a thin film on which preset patterns are to be formed, a pattern-formed photomask is aligned with the thin film and then exposed to light. Here, the photomask used is divided into a preset transparent region and a blocking region. Light transmitted through the transparent region may chemically change the photoresist.
The chemical change in the photoresist may depend on a type of photoresist. For a positive photoresist, regions exposed to light become soluble in a developer solution. To the contrary, for a negative photoresist, regions exposed to light become insoluble in the developer solution. The description will exemplarily be given herein of the case of using the positive photoresist.
Following the exposure process, the exposed regions of the photoresist are removed by a developer solution, thereby generating preset photoresist patterns on the thin film.
Afterwards, the thin film is etched to be conformable with the photoresist patterns and the rest of photoresist patterns are then removed, thereby making a preset form of thin film patterns.
In the photolithography process, a linewidth of a circuit or pattern is determined according to wavelength of light used in the exposure process. Considering the current technical standard, it is difficult to form fine patterns less than 70 nm on a substrate through the photolithography process due to light interference.
Further, as patterns are getting supermicronized, an initial investment cost is increased due to an expensive exposure equipment, masks with high resolution are required and the like, resulting in excessively increasing process cost. In addition, since the complicated process, including exposure, baking after exposure, development, baking after development, etching, washing and the like, should be carried out every time forming patterns, it takes a long time to carry out such processes and the photolithography process should be repeated plural times, thereby lowering productivity.
To solve such problems, an imprint lithography and a roll printing have been introduced. The imprint lithography is a method, initially invented by Stephen Chou et al. from the Princeton University in the United States, for carving nano-scaled patterns. According to this method, desired forms are previously made on a surface of inorganic material or polymer with relatively strong intensity and then fine patterns are formed as the previously made forms are affixed onto another material. In detail, an inorganic material or polymer mold having desired fine patterns pre-formed thereon is attached onto a curable composition coated on a metallic film or an organic layer to be thermally cured or photocured, thereby forming patterns. This method has advantages in a simple process and an effective fine pattern formation, compared to the existing photolithography.
The roll printing method has been disclosed, for example, in Korean Patent Application No. 2006-0005482 (Laid Open Application No. 10-2007-76292), entitled "roll printing apparatus and method of fabricating display device using the same." According to the roll printing method, in place of the high resolution mask used when forming patterns through the existing photolithography, silicon polymer and cliché are used to transfer patterns directly on a substrate to desirably form fine patterns thereon, thereby forming the fine patterns.
However, in a low temperature baking process after the fine pattern formation, a problem of disappearance of a metal substrate, which is to be protected upon etching process may be caused by a decrease in adhesive force between an ink composition and a substrate to desirably form patterns thereon. Furthermore, in a high temperature baking process, the adhesive force between the substrate to desirably form patterns thereon and the ink composition is increased but a pattern linewidth and line interval formed by the ink composition runs down to occur deformation, which may cause an excessive defect, for example, defective patterns, resulting in limitation on a consecutive transfer of fine patterns and difficulty in an enhancement of accuracy of the fine patterns.

Ink composition for imprint lithography and roll printing


A ceiling fan with a light and sound generator is disclosed where the blades of the ceiling fan resemble the rotor blades of a helicopter. Under the blades of the ceiling fan a fixed or replaceable body of a helicopter is located or locatable. The blades of the helicopter may also be changeable to simulate different types of rotors for different helicopters. Control chains extend down from the body of the helicopter to resemble lanyards for repelling from the helicopter. The control chains provide control for fan speed, rotation direction, lighting, and may further include control of sounds that can be generated from the ceiling fan that may simulate commands from the pilot of a helicopter. A remote control can be provided to control the fan light and sound functions. A sensor for detecting the presence of a person in the room may also activate the sound generation.

Several design patents have been issued that resemble aircraft or parts of an aircraft in combination with a ceiling fan. Ceiling fans have been produced that allow for the removal or changing of fan blades to provide a different appearance. Products have also been patented that detect the presence of a person within a room and signal an alarm. Products have been patented that emit pre-recorded messages or statements. While all these products have been produced separately, none have been produced that provide a combination of all the components in a single product.
Examples of patents for aircraft in combination with a ceiling fan include design patents U.S. Pat. No. D295,430 issued to Smith on Apr. 26, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. D341,194 issued to Reid et al. on Nov. 9, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. D359,553 issued to His on Jun. 20, 1995 and U.S. pat. No. D374,926 issued to Sheh on Oct. 22, 1996. All of these patents are for the ornamental design of a ceiling fan with a helicopter body, but none of them offer the utility of lights, changeable number of blades, sounds, or motion detection.
Most ceiling fans are configured with replaceable or changeable blades to allow the fan to match the room. For the helicopter ceiling fan proposed various types of blades are possible including the removal of blades and replacing them with counter balancers that are used with some helicopters. The removal of a number of blades from ceiling fans is normally not a desirable feature because less airflow may result with the removal of blades. The rotors of the ceiling fan may also be configured to accommodate two, three, four, or six blades to match the helicopter type. Ceiling fans that are available today do not offer changeable blades with the functions of helicopter lighting, sounds, or motion detection.
Examples of motion detection devices include patents U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,396 issued to Script on Apr. 10, 2001 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,078 issued to Script et al. on Apr. 1, 2003. All of these patents are for stand alone or portable alarm systems that signal an alarm when a person or motion is detected. None of these patents are for the combination with a ceiling fan and further do not cover the combination of motion detection with a ceiling fan and sound production. They further do not cover the utility of lights, changeable number of blades, sounds, or motion detection.
Examples of solid-state sound generating devices include patents using a speech synthesizer chip such as the TMS5100, which was developed by Texas Instruments for educational uses. The electronic circuit contained on a semiconductor chip produces electrical impulses into simulated human speech with an electronically activated speaker electrically connected to the semiconductor chip for receiving said electrical impulses and converting them into sound simulating human speech. Patents with this or similar technology include patents U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,191 issued to Sadorus on Dec. 31, 1974, U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,573 issued to Montgomery et al. on Nov. 3, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,741 issued to Kondo on Dec. 20, 1988 U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,075 issued to Armstrong on Jun. 6, 1989 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,374 issued to Schwartz on Oct. 25, 1994. All of these patents are for sound generating devices, but none of them are for a combination with a ceiling fan or a ceiling fan with lights, changeable number of blades or motion detection.
What is needed is a single product that offers changeable blades and bodies that simulate a helicopter with a ceiling fan with a sound-generating device. The ideal device would also allow the control chains that simulate lanyards that extend from the body of the helicopter. The device could also include a motion detection mechanism that can begin operation when a person is detected entering the room. The proposed application satisfies these requirements.

Combination ceiling fan with light and sound generator