An electromotive actuator for deflecting a motor vehicle part includes a rotatable component and a non-rotatable component. The rotatable component can be driven by an electric motor in such a way that it can be moved linearly relative to the non-rotatable component between a first position and a second position. In order to create a compact adjustment device, the two components of the actuator are configured respectively as a threaded spindle and a threaded nut, whereby the rotatable component (threaded spindle or threaded nut) is non-rotatably connected to the rotor of the electric motor and can act directly or indirectly on the vehicle part that is to be deflected.

Modern vehicles contain a relatively large number of electric actuators with which the rotational movement generated by an electric motor that can be actuated by a control device is converted into a linear or rectilinear movement of the vehicle component that is to be moved. A special area of application of such actuators is in the automatic actuation of a starting and shifting clutch of a motor vehicle, whereby the component that is to be actuated can be, for example, a so-called central clutch release device of the friction clutch. During actuation, such a central clutch release device acts, for example, on the diaphragm spring of the clutch in such a way that it is released or brought into a slip position in which the clutch can transmit no torque at all or only a reduced torque from the drive engine of the vehicle to the gear.
Various deflection gears have become known for purposes of converting the rotational movement of the rotor of the electric motor into a rectilinear movement. Thus, for example, deflection gears are used in conjunction with actively controllable multi-disk clutches and these deflection gears are used on axle or middle differentials as differential locks and in a power train with selectable four-wheel drive as a selectable clutch of a drive axle that can be activated as needed. By means of the deflection gear, an externally generated controlling torque is continuously converted at a high transmission ratio into an axial contact force in order to actuate, that is to say, in order to at least partial close, an associated multi-disk clutch.
Two embodiments of a differential gear with a disk lock that can be actuated by means of an electric motor via such a deflection gear are described in EP 0 368 140 B1. According to a first embodiment, in FIG. 1, the differential gear is configured with a bevel wheel design. A support ring is drive-connected via a bevel wheel of a reduction gear to an electric motor that is affixed to the housing. An adjusting ring is mounted non-rotatably and axially movably on the housing side and is connected directly to the support ring via cam tracks. Hence, a rotation of the support ring is converted into an axial movement of the adjusting ring which is connected—via an axial thrust bearing, via an outer pressure plate that rotates together with the differential cage via several tappets that penetrate the differential cage and via an inner pressure plate—to the multi-disk clutch, whose disks are arranged operatively between the differential cage and one of the two output bevel wheels.
In a second variant according to FIG. 2 in the above-mentioned application, the differential gear is configured with a planetary design. The support ring here is mounted non-rotatably and axially immovably on the housing side. In contrast, the adjusting ring is mounted rotatably and axially movably and, on the one hand, it is drive-connected via the pinion of a reduction gear to an electric motor that is affixed to the housing, and on the other hand, it is connected to the support ring via several ball grooves that ascend on the circumference side and via rolling elements arranged therein. Therefore, a rotation of the adjusting ring is converted by a rolling movement of the rolling elements between the opposing axially ascending ball grooves into an axial movement of the adjusting ring which is connected—via an outer axial thrust bearing, via an outer pressure plate that rotates together with the differential cage, via several first tappets that penetrate the differential cage, via a first inner pressure plate, via an inner axial thrust bearing, via a thrust washer, via several second tappets that penetrate the center pin of the planetary carrier and via a second inner pressure plate—to the multi-disk clutch, whose disks are arranged operatively between the differential cage and the sun wheel of the differential gear.
Another differential gear with a disk lock that can be actuated by means of an electric motor via a similar deflection gear is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,486 A. With this differential gear, a support ring is mounted non-rotatably and axially immovably on the housing side. An adjusting ring is supported rotatably as well as axially movably, and on the one hand, it is drive-connected via the pinion of a reduction gear to an electric motor that is affixed to the housing and, on the other hand, it is connected—either via cam surfaces that ascend on the circumference side (see FIG. 2 there) or via ramp surfaces that ascend on the circumference side and via rolling elements arranged therein (see FIG. 3 there)—to the support ring. A rotation of the adjusting ring is thus converted by a sliding movement of the opposing axially ascending cam surfaces or by a rolling movement of the rolling elements between the opposing axially ascending ramp surfaces into an axial movement of the adjusting ring which is connected—via an outer axial thrust bearing, via an outer pressure plate, via several pistons that penetrate the differential cage and via an inner pressure ring—to the multi-disk clutch, whose disks are arranged operatively between the differential cage and one of the two output bevel wheels of the differential gear.
Only for the sake of completing the known state of the art, reference is hereby made to German patent application DE 103 48 312 A1 that discloses an actuation device for a friction coupling device with which a clutch actuator equipped with the described ball ramps can be actuated by means of a bowden cable.
All of these known deflection gears have in common the fact that the axially ascending ramp and cam surfaces are oriented towards the circumference. As a consequence, the corresponding operative contours are each limited to a relatively small rotational angle sector of the input element, disadvantageously resulting in a relatively small transmission ratio between the rotational movement and the torque of the input element as well as the axial movement and the axial contact force of each associated output element. A precise setting of a desired locking power or closing power by means of the axial contact force acting on the appertaining multi-disk clutch is thus hardly possible and moreover, presupposes a considerable absence of play on the transmission path between the electric actuating drive and the input element. Moreover, there is a need for a very precise manufacture of the cam or ramp surfaces of the input element and output element, as a result of which the production of this component is complicated and hence expensive.

Electromotive actuator for deflecting a motor vehicle part


A sewing machine main frame includes an upper support member, and a lower support member positioned in substantially parallel relation to the upper support member with a predetermined interval therebetween and integrally joined with each other via a joint member. A supporting leg section is attached to a predetermined position of the main frame to support the main frame in a substantially horizontal orientation at a predetermined height. The main frame and supporting leg section are provided as separate component parts. Because the main frame is constructed of the upper and lower support members integrally joined via the joint member, the main frame and the supporting leg section can be transported to a predetermined assembling place before the supporting leg section is attached to the main frame.

Among the various conventionally-known machine frames employed in multi-head sewing machines provided with a plurality of machine heads is a type disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. HEI-9-94367. As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the disclosed sewing machine frame includes a pair of bases 20 opposed to each other, in a left-and-right direction (i.e., direction of arrow X), with a predetermined spacing interposed therebetween, and a pair of vertical supporting posts 21 fixed to the supper surfaces of the bases 20. Upper and lower frames 22 and 23 connect between and are fixed at opposite ends to the supporting posts 21; the upper frame 22 formed of a high-rigidity material, such as a rectangular steel pipe, is provided for mounting thereon machine heads (not shown) that drive sewing needles, while the lower frame 23 formed of a rectangular steel pipe or the like is provided for mounting thereon hook bases (not shown) each having a built-in rotary hook rotationally driven beneath the upper frame 22 in synchronism with up-and-down movement of a corresponding sewing needle. Auxiliary supporting posts 24 are fixed to the respective back surfaces of the two supporting posts 21, so as to strengthen joints between the bases 20 and the supporting posts 21 and between the supporting posts 21 and the upper frame 22.
The aforementioned sewing machine frame is assembled with respective fixed portions of its individual component parts welded together. Briefing a method for assembling and processing the conventionally-known sewing machine frame, a pair of leg sections A are formed by welding the supporting posts 21 and auxiliary supporting posts 24 to the bases 20, as illustrated in FIG. 13. Then, the upper frame 22 is placed on and welded to the upper end surfaces (indicated at A1 in the figure) of the thus-formed leg sections A, and the lower frame 23 is welded at its opposite end portions to respective vertically-intermediate portions (indicated at A2 in the figure) of the supporting posts 21. In this way, the upper and lower frames 22 and 23 connect between and are fixed at its opposite ends to the pair of leg sections A each comprising the base 20, supporting post 21 and auxiliary supporting post 24; namely, the sewing machine frame is assembled with the individual component parts integrally fixed together.
Such a sewing machine frame is pre-assembled as an integral unit, in a welding plant or the like, in the manner as described above. The thus pre-assembled sewing machine frame is transported to a machine assembling plant. In the machine assembling plant, other necessary component parts, such as machine heads, are assembled or attached to the transported sewing machine frame to ultimately complete a multi-head sewing machine. However, because the conventional sewing machine frames are each pre-assembled as an integral unit, many such pre-assembled sewing machine frames can not be transported at a time from the welding plant to the assembling plant, which undesirably results in a poor transport efficiency and hence an increase in the cost for transporting the sewing machine frames. Particularly, in cases where assembled sewing machine frames are transported to or from abroad, the aforementioned inconveniences would become prominent due to a packaging problem. As one approach to solve such problems, it is conceivable to separately pack the pair of leg sections A, upper frame 22 and lower frame 23 of each sewing machine frame and transport the separately-packed component parts to the machine assembling plant where the component parts are welded together to assemble the sewing machine frame. However, with the conventional sewing machine frame, the upper frame 22 and lower frame 23 have to be welded to different predetermined portions of the pair of leg sections A, which would require a long time. Besides, it is very difficult to weld the lower frame 23 accurately to the predetermined portions A2 of the leg sections A. Because of these, sewing machine frames can not be assembled appropriately in the machine assembling plant. Therefore, the above-mentioned approach can not be used appropriately, and, after all, there was no other choice but to transport sewing machine frames, pre-assembled in the welding plant, to the machine assembling plant.

Sewing machine frame and method for assembling the same


The invention provides immunotherapeutic and prophylactic bacteriophage viral-like particle (VLPs) which are useful in the treatment and prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and related disorders, including cervical cancer and persistent infections associated with HPV. Related compositions (e.g. vaccines), nucleic acid constructs, and therapeutic methods are also provided. VLPs and related compositions of the invention induce high titer antibody responses against HPV L2 and protect against HPV challenge in vivo. VLPs, VLP-containing compositions, and therapeutic methods of the invention induce an immunogenic response against HPV infection, confer immunity against HPV infection, protect against HPV infection, and reduce the likelihood of infection by HPV infection.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infectious agent worldwide and also is estimated to cause ˜500,000 cases of cancer a year (34). HPV infection is also associated with a variety of other diseases, including cutaneous and genital warts. Over 100 different HPV types have been identified, but the most common HPV-associated cancer, cervical cancer, is associated with infection by one of a subset of about 15-18 HPVs termed "high-risk" types. Two of the high-risk types, HPV16 and HPV18, account for approximately 70% of all cases of cervical cancer, and six other high-risk types (types 45, 31, 33, 52, 58, and 35) account for an additional 25% of all cases (33).
Conventional approaches for developing an HPV vaccine were not possible because of the lack of a tissue culture system for robust HPV propagation. However, in the early 1990s it was discovered that the L1 major capsid protein of HPV could self-assemble into virus-like particles (VLPs) that are structurally and antigenically similar to infectious virus (21, 24, 25, 43, 51). HPV VLPs are highly immunogenic; they induce high titer antibody responses upon vaccination of animals and people (44). These results paved the way for the development of the two commercially available STI HPV vaccines. Gardasil®, developed by Merck, contains L1-VLPs derived from two high-risk HPV types (16 and 18) and two low-risk HPVs associated with genital warts (6 and 11). Cervarix®, developed by GlaxoSmithKline, contains HPV16 and 18 L1-VLPs. These vaccines have excellent safety profiles, are highly effective at preventing infection and disease, and appear to induce long-lasting antibody responses (26).
Although some cross-reactivity has been observed between closely related HPV genotypes (46), the protection provided upon vaccination with L1-VLPs is largely HPV type-specific. For example, women who are vaccinated with HPV16 L1-VLPs are completely protected against HPV16-related disease (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; CIN), but not against disease caused by other high-risk HPV types (26, 31). The type-specific nature of neutralizing antibodies induced by HPV16 L1-VLPs has also been confirmed using in vitro neutralization assays (35, 42). Taking into account the types covered by the current vaccine, and the possibility of some partial cross-protection, it is estimated that with complete vaccine coverage Gardasil® and Cervarix® could provide protection against ˜70-80% of cervical cancers. Yet, this figure may be an overestimate; ˜50% of infected women are infected with multiple carcinogenic types. Because infection with HPV16 and 18 can cause cancer more rapidly than other high-risk types, co-infection with HPV16 and HPV18 may mask the true risk of cancer caused by other HPV types. Because vaccinated populations are still at risk for cancer the American Cancer Society has recommended that vaccinated women continue to be subjected to Pap screening on an annual basis, at an annual cost of $4-5 billion in the United States alone.
Inducing Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies Against HPV by Targeting the Minor Capsid Protein, L2.
Papillomaviruses encode two capsid proteins, L1 and L2. Upon expression, the major capsid protein, L1, can spontaneously self-assemble into pentamers that further assemble into VLPs, comprised of 360 copies of L1. The minor capsid protein, L2, is not required for VLP formation, but is required for formation of infectious virions (and pseudovirions). Up to 72 copies of L2 can be incorporated in a VLP, and viral infectivity correlates with L2 content (5).
Although neither natural infection nor immunization with L1/L2 VLPs elicits anti-L2 antibody responses, vaccination with bacterially expressed L2 protein, or peptides derived from L2, results in the production of neutralizing antibodies that are protective in animal models (1, 7, 13, 19, 30). The somewhat contradictory data indicating that L2 is poorly immunogenic, yet is the target of highly neutralizing antibodies, can be explained by recent studies that shed light on the role of L2 during viral infection. Structural studies have shown that L2 is poorly exposed on the surface of virions (5). However, it has been proposed that after the virus binds to its primary cellular receptor the capsid undergoes a conformational change that exposes the amino terminus of L2 (15, 45). Once exposed, 12 amino acids at the N-terminus of L2 are cleaved by a cellular protein, furin, exposing one or more L2 neutralizing epitopes, and, it is theorized, allow virions to interact with a cellular coreceptor (15, 39).
Because L2 neutralizing epitopes are not exposed until after HPV binding, normal infection fails to induce anti-L2 neutralizing antibody responses. Thus, there has been little evolutionary pressure for L2 to undergo antigenic variation. Unlike L1-specific neutralizing antibodies, L2-specific neutralizing antibodies are broadly cross-neutralizing (41), suggesting that neutralizing epitopes on L2 are conserved across HPVs and even papillomaviruses (PVs) that infect different species. For example, antisera raised against a peptide representing amino acids 1-88 from bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV-1) L2 can cross-neutralize a diverse panel of mucosal and cutaneous HPVs (36). Similarly, vaccination with HPV16 and BPV-1 L2 peptides protects rabbits against challenge with two different rabbit papillomaviruses (19).
In principle, L2 vaccines may be able to overcome the high production cost and type-specific limitations of L1-VLP vaccines. Unfortunately, however, the neutralizing titers produced upon L2 vaccination are considerably lower than for L1 VLP vaccines, particularly against heterologous HPV types (41). Therefore, it is likely that an L2 vaccine will only be effective if its immunogenicity is enhanced.
VLPs Induce Strong Antibody Responses.
Virus-like particles (VLPs) make excellent vaccines. They are non-infectious, often easier to produce than actual viruses, and, because the regularity of their capsid structure presents viral epitopes as dense, highly repetitive arrays that strongly stimulate B cells, they are highly immunogenic. VLPs are comprised of one or more proteins arranged geometrically into dense, repetitive arrays. These structures are largely unique to microbial antigens, and the mammalian immune system has apparently evolved to respond vigorously to this arrangement of antigens. B cells specifically recognize and respond strongly to the ordered array of densely spaced repetitive elements characteristic of virus surfaces (2, 18). Highly repetitive antigens provoke oligomerization of the membrane-associated immunoglobulin (Ig) molecules that constitute the B cell receptor (BCR) (3). There is evidence that the Ig crosslinking mediated by multivalent antigens leads to the formation of highly stable BCR-signaling microdomains that are associated with increased signaling to the B cell (48). This signaling stimulates B cell proliferation, migration, and upregulation of both major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II and the co-stimulatory molecules that permit subsequent interactions with T helper cells that are required to trigger IgG secretion, affinity maturation, and the generation of long-lived memory B cells (9). Consequently, we and others have shown that multivalent antigens such as VLPs can activate B cells at much lower concentrations than monomeric antigens (4, 16, 17, 32). Hence, VLPs are innately immunogenic: they induce high titer and long lasting antibody responses at low doses, often without requiring adjuvants (22, 50).
VLPs as Flexible Platforms for Vaccine Development.
VLPs can be used as the basis for vaccines targeting the virus from which they were derived (the Hepatitis B virus vaccine and aforementioned HPV vaccine are two clinically approved VLP vaccines, other VLP vaccines are in clinical trials). However, they also can be used as platforms to display practically any epitope in a highly immunogenic, multivalent format. Heterologous antigens displayed at high density on the surface of VLPs exhibit the same high immunogenicity as unmodified VLPs. VLPs derived from a variety of different viruses have been exploited in this manner to induce antibody responses against heterologous targets that are poorly immunogenic in their native contexts. Although the VLP platform strategy has typically been applied to target antigens derived from pathogens, VLP-display can effectively induce antibody responses against practically any antigen. One example is the vaccine for nicotine addiction (designed to assist smokers who are trying to quit) developed by a biotechnology company, Cytos Biotechnology. This vaccine consists of nicotine, conjugated at high copy number to the surface of VLPs derived from a bacteriophage. In phase II clinical trials, VLPs displaying nicotine were well-tolerated and induced strong nicotine-specific IgG responses in 100% of immunized subjects (14). Even self-antigens, which are normally subject to the mechanisms of B cell tolerance, are immunogenic when displayed at high density on the surface of VLPs. Vaccines have been developed against self-molecules involved in several different diseases, including amyloid-beta (Alzheimers (12, 27)), TNF-α (arthritis (10)), CCR5 (HIV infection (8, 11)), gastrin (cancer, unpublished data), IgE (allergy, unpublished data), and others. VLP-based vaccines developed by pharmaceutical companies targeting amyloid-beta and angiotensin II (hypertension) are currently being evaluated in clinical trials; positive results from the trial of vaccine targeting angiotensin II (as a vaccine for hypertension) were reported in the spring of 2008 (49).
HPV vaccines that target the L2 protein have been described in a variety of other journal articles, patents, and patent applications.
For example, Kawana et al. describe a peptide representing amino acids 108-120 from HPV16 L2 that induces neutralizing antibodies effective against HPV16 and HPV11 (23). The information obtained from these results was said to be useful for developing a prophylactic peptide vaccine that prevents infection with genital HPVs in humans.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,532 and PCT/US2006/003601 described the use of the N-terminal portion of papillomavirus L2 protein or a prophylactically effective peptide fragment thereof (or a prophylactically effective peptide derivative sequence thereof) in the production of a medicament suitable for use as a prophylactic agent against papillomavirus infection in mammals.
U.S. Patent Application Document No. 2008/0213293 describes treating or preventing respiratory papillomatosis by immunizing either a mother or child before, during or after delivery. Immunity may be induced with a vaccine comprising a HPV peptide antigen fused to a viral protein or other antigen. Antibodies and cells may be recovered from an animal previously vaccinated with the same vaccine. Of particular interest is the use of HPV L2 peptides designating a neutralizing epitope of HPV.
PCT/US2008/053498 described the use of papillomavirus L2 polypeptides produced in a plant expression system as a prophylactic HPV vaccine.
PCT WO 93/00436 describes papillomavirus L2 protein for use in the production of a medicament for use in medicine, particularly for use in the prophylaxis or therapy of papillomavirus tumours.
PCT 2004/052395 describes a vaccine composition comprising an HPV L2 peptide in physical association with an HPV virus like particle (VLP).
PCT 2008/082719 describes a composition that includes: a papillomavirus virus-like particle including an L1 protein or polypeptide and a chimeric protein or polypeptide that contains at least a portion of an L2 protein 20 and a protein or polypeptide fragment including a first epitope; and a DNA molecule encoding a protein or polypeptide including a second epitope.

Immunogenic HPV L2-containing VLPs and related compositions, constructs, and therapeutic methods


The present invention provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising an antiseptic and a steroid, useful for treating a clinical symptom in a patient's airway (e.g., nose, lung, and sinus), wherein a gel containing the antiseptic is formed in situ upon instillation of the compositions onto a body cavity of a subject, as well as methods for using the same.

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is often the result of mixed inflammatory and infectious processes that concurrently affect the nose and para-nasal sinuses. It is a debilitating disease that can lead to significant physical symptoms and substantial functional impairment. The condition is defined by a constellation of symptoms and prolonged clinical course, affecting as many as 30 million US adults per year. See, e.g., Pearlman et al., "Review of current guidelines related to the diagnosis and treatment of rhinosinusitis," Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg (June 2008), 16 (3): 226-30. Persistent infection can lead to chronic mucosal inflammation, altered sinonasal ciliary function, and nasal polyp formation. The treatment of multiple drug-resistant rhinosinusitis remains largely ineffective. See, e.g., Chiu at al., "An animal model for the study of topical medications in sinusitis," Am. J. Rhinol. 2007, 21 (1), 1-9. The established role of bacterial biofilms in chronic diseases, such as CRS, and their formidable resistance to conventional medical and surgical therapies poses a significant problem to the treating physician. See, e.g., Ramadan et al., "Chronic rhinosinusitis and biofilms," Otplaryngol Head Neck Surg., 2004, 132:414-417.
A particularly difficult sub-set of CRS patients also suffer from cystic fibrosis (CF). This inherited disease, caused by abnormalities of a specific gene called CFTR, affects a small (approx. 30,000) number of, but extremely sick, children in the US. Because CF impairs the body's ability to fight and clear infections, kids with CF get sicker and stay sicker longer. Chronic sinusitis in CF can cause multiple symptoms including fever, runny nose, facial pain, headaches, nasal airway blockage and congestion due to the inflammatory changes of the sinonasal mucus membrane. Since there is no cure for cystic fibrosis, an effort should be made to maintain the functionality of the upper airway and to minimize symptoms of reactive airway exacerbation due to recurrent infections. Recent studies have shown that there is significant correlation between the organisms cultured from the paranasal sinuses and bronchoalveolar lavage of patients with cystic fibrosis. Two major species of the organisms appear to be pseudomonas and staphylococcus. Furthermore, it is believed that these two organisms form chronic, recalcitrant biofilm infections within the sinonasal cavity and become the reservoir for sustained recurrent pulmonary infections. Many children with cystic fibrosis eventually require repeated sinus surgery followed by lung transplant. Eliminating both planktonic and biofilm infections in these chronically ill pediatric cases may be a way to prevent repeated sinus surgery while increasing the safety and longevity of transplanted lungs.
The treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis includes eradicating the reservoir of microbial biofilm, reducing the inflammatory changes of the sinonasal cavity and eliminating recurrent sinus infections. Almost all children with cystic fibrosis suffer from a lifetime of chronic infection, long-term antibiotics, poor respiratory function and chronic sinusitis. If the chronic sinusitis and the resultant bacterial seeding can be eliminated, the prognosis for these patients can be significantly improved.
A variety of approaches have been known for some time that can address different aspects of the disease process. For instance, irrigation and lavage can alleviate congestion, antibiotics and antifungals can remove inciting pathogens and anti-inflammatories can temper the inflammatory cascade. However, there are limitations associated with each of these currently known therapeutic approaches that render each inadequate when taken in isolation. Saline irrigation has been successful in many cases of CRS but suffers from limited antimicrobial potency and little or no effect in more seriously infected cases. Saline irrigation alone, including both hypertonic and hypotonic formulations, is not effective in the long-term reduction of pathogen colonization or the prevention of biofilm formation. Antibiotics and antifungals have been used with varying degrees of success in CRS, as intravenous (IV) infusions, oral agents and irrigation additives. Specific antibiotic therapy, in whatever form, is doomed to fail due to the chronic nature of the disease requiring prolonged therapy. These two factors contribute to the development of conventional bacterial resistance. They also create the physiologic conditions that promote the formation of biofilms, further limiting their ability to eradicate inciting organisms. Finally, steroids in general and the "nasal steroids" in particular are important tools for the control of the steroid-responsive inflammation that complicates chronic infection. While no single therapy is adequate to address all of these pathogenic factors, in many difficult cases even the best currently known combination therapies are ineffective.
Moreover, a significant challenge of nasal drug development is to overcome the protective barriers of the nasal cavity without causing permanent tissue damage. The major problems that persist with nasal solutions are cleared off rapidly from the nasal cavity. The half-life of clearance for both liquid and powder formulations that are not mucoadhesive is in the order of 15-20 minutes. See, e.g., Galgatte et al., "Development of in situ gel for nasal delivery: design, optimization, in vitro and in vivo evaluation," Drug Delivery 2014, 21(1): 62-73.
Accordingly, the inventors have conceived and validated a strategy to decrease the mucocilliary clearance by the use of mucoadhesive gel formulations to prolong the residence time at the nasal absorption site, thereby facilitating the uptake of the drug. Because human nasal mucosa is covered with approximately 0.1 mL mucus, which consists of sodium, potassium and calcium ions, a solution-gel phase transition will occur with ion-sensitive gel formulations.
Accordingly, the present invention provides in-situ gel-forming formulations containing an antiseptic (particularly povidone iodine) and corticosteroids by using polysaccharide gel matrix, where the effective concentrations of the antiseptic and corticosteroids (i.e., solution drug substances) are maintained by the equilibrium between the solution drug substances and the gel bound components. This therapeutic strategy has the potential to drastically decrease dependence on chronic oral antibiotics in cystic fibrosis patients, enable more successful pulmonary transplant prognosis and greatly improve the life quality of the patients.
Although a variety of agents have shown promise in anti-biofilm studies, none has yet been developed that combines the antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties that are likely needed to eradicate the causative agents and treat the concomitant inflammatory response that accompanies most chronic sinus infections. See, e.g., Liu Y. et al., "In Situ Gelling Gelrite/Alginate Formulations as Vehicles for Ophthalmic Drug Delivery," AAPS PharmSciTech, Vol. 11, No. 2, June 2010, 610-620. An approach to address this problem was previously presented by us that employed the common antiseptic povidone-iodine at a non-toxic dilution in combination with suspended budesonide in a nasal irrigation suspension. This formulation has already been used to successfully reduce symptom scores in a small series of refractory CRS patients. See, e.g., WO 2012/177251. An in vitro assay was also performed to further characterize the anti-biofilm effect of this clinically successful treatment against organisms known to form biofilms in human CRS infections. Supra. The optimization of in-situ gelling sustained-release formulations resulted in a long lasting, less toxic pharmacological effect, while reducing sedimentation of budesonide suspension with more uniform drug formulation for effective treatment of CRS in the meantime.
It's our goal to develop a treatment program to address the common features of CRS across the whole spectrum of the disease—infection by micro-organism (e.g., bacterial, fungal, biofilm, etc.), host inflammatory response leading to mucosal edema, and long acting resulting in better efficacy and patient compliance. The challenge remains to be finding a non-surgical agent that can (1) eliminate infections including biofilms, (2) reduce airway inflammation, and (3) be made into a long-lasting formulation resulting in less frequent dosing and reduced dosage with minimized toxicity.
It's surprisingly discovered that this therapeutic challenge can be addressed by combining antiseptics and anti-inflammatories with a sustained release in-situ gel-forming drug delivery technology. This strategy addresses the underlying infectious pathology from both planktonic and biofilm sources, and can alleviate the concomitant inflammatory response, with a longer therapeutic effect. This tripartite approach to chronic sinus disease addresses all causative pathways and chemically reduces the host immune response that leads to prolonged disease.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

In situ gel-forming pharmaceutical compositions and uses thereof for sinus diseases


A driving mechanism of a wave-producing ornament is mounted in a base of the ornament and includes a motor which rotates a disc. A connecting link is pivotally connected at a first end to an outer periphery of the disc and at a second end to a lower end of a push bar. The push bar is located in a channel integrally formed on the base of the ornament and has a round head projects from a top opening of the channel to contact with an end of a liquid container of the ornament above the base. When the disc rotates, it brings the connecting link to move in a circular motion and pull and push the push bar to descend and ascend along the channel reciprocatingly. Whereby, the liquid container is periodically lifted and lowered at one end by the round head of the push bar to produce waves in the container. A crank is pivotally connected at an inner end to the pivotal point on the disc with a decorated outer end projecting from a long slot on the base of the ornament, so that the rotating disc shifts the crank and causes the decorated outer end of the crank to reciprocate in the long slot.

The present invention relates to a driving mechanism for a wave-producing ornament, and more particularly to a driving mechanism for a wave-producing ornament that includes a push bar periodically moving up and down to incline a liquid-container of the ornament, so that changeful waves can be produced in the container.
Generally, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a wave-producing ornament includes a base 2 and an elongated, transparent liquid-containing container 1 pivotally supported by a supporting means 21 to locate above the base 2. The liquid contained in the container 1 is usually a dual-liquid consisting of oil and colored and specially treated water. When the container 1 seesaws, liquid in the container 1 flows to and fro to present changeful and dynamic waves. Such wave-producing ornament is widely welcomed by consumers and is a good interior decoration.
Conventional wave-producing ornaments usually include a motor which is disposed in the base 2 below the container 1 to rotate an eccentric wheel 22, so that the eccentric wheel 22 projects its outer periphery beyond an upper surface of the base 2 to push against a bottom surface of the container 1. With the eccentric rotation of the eccentric wheel 22, the container 1 is pushed to seesaw periodically. An invention of the inventor representing a first generation of the wave-producing ornament has adopted such eccentric wheel 22 as the driving mechanism for the wave-producing ornament. However, following drawbacks are found in the above conventional driving mechanism for a wave-producing ornament:
1. In consideration of an overall appearance and the magnitude of swing of the container 1, the eccentric wheel 22 is subject to some limitation in its size. PA0 2. On the other hand, the weight of liquid in the container 1 forms a considerable load to the eccentric wheel 22, causing the eccentric wheel 22 that rotates while pushes the heavy container 1 to always frictionally contact with the bottom of the container 1. Therefore, the bottom of the container 1 is subject to wearing and noise is produced during the swing of the container 1.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop an improved driving mechanism for the wave-producing ornament to eliminate drawbacks found in the conventional driving mechanism.

Driving mechanism for a wave-producing ornament


A test-object-information acquisition apparatus includes a light radiating unit, a first probe that receives an acoustic wave generated in a test object in response to the test object being irradiated with light radiated by the light radiating unit, a second probe that radiates an ultrasound beam towards the test object and receives a reflected wave from the test object, an ultrasound controller configured to control the second probe, and a scanning unit configured to cause the light radiating unit and the first and second probes to perform a reciprocating scan process across the test object. The ultrasound controller varies a radiation method for radiating the ultrasound beam from the second probe to the test object so that the radiation method is different between an outbound scan and a return scan of the reciprocating scan process.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to test-object-information acquisition apparatuses and test-object-information acquisition methods.
Description of the Related Art
Diagnostic apparatuses, such as diagnostic ultrasound apparatuses and photoacoustic imaging apparatuses (diagnostic photoacoustic apparatuses), are well known. Because such diagnostic apparatuses are not involved with X-ray radiation, these apparatuses are attracting attention as safe diagnostic apparatuses with no risk of radiation exposure. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-22812 discusses a test-object-information acquisition apparatus as an example of such a diagnostic apparatus. This test-object-information acquisition apparatus causes a light source, a photoacoustic probe, and an ultrasound probe to scan across an image capture area on a test object so as to create a photoacoustic image and an ultrasound image over a wide area and to superimpose the two images onto each other.
In the apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-22812, the information of the test object is acquired while the probes scan across the test object. However, since the method for acquiring the test-object information varies between the photoacoustic image and the ultrasound image, the information obtained from the two images is often inconsistent.

Test-object-information acquisition apparatus and test-object-information acquisition method


Instrumentation amplifier arrangements (10, 10') of electromagnetic flowmeters are disclosed which permit reliable conditioning of the measuring-electrode signals without an increase in coil current even if solids-loaded fluids are measured. The flowmeter has a measuring tube (1) with at least two measuring electrodes (3, 2) and a ground electrode (4) as well as a coil arrangement (5) for producing a magnetic field. A first variant of the instrumentation amplifier arrangement comprises two preamplifiers (11, 12) each connected to a respective one of the two measuring electrodes (3, 2) and followed by a respective ana-log-to-digital converter (13, 14). A clock generator (18) supplies the analog-to-digital converters (13, 14) with a sampling signal whose frequency is greater than approximately 1 kHz. The analog-to-digital converters (13, 14) are followed by a subtractor (17). A second variant comprises two preamplifiers (11', 12') each connected to a respective one of the two measuring electrodes, an analog-to-digital converter (13') connected directly to the output of one (11') of the preamplifiers (11', 12'), a differential stage (19) following the preamplifiers, and an analog-to-digital converter (20) following the differential stage (19). The analog-to-digital converters (13', 20) are followed by a subtractor (17').

Electromagnetic flowmeters measure the volumetric flow rate of an electrically conductive fluid flowing in a measuring tube. The part of the measuring tube which comes into contact with the fluid is electrically nonconductive, so that a voltage induced by a magnetic field according to Faraday's law of induction would not be short-circuited if the measuring tube were completely made of metal, i.e., if the fluid came into contact with the metal. The magnetic field generally cuts the measuring tube in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tube.
Therefore, metallic measuring tubes, which, of course, must not be ferromagnetic so as not to disturb the magnetic field, are commonly provided with an electrically non-conductive inner layer as insulation; in the case of plastic or ceramic measuring tubes, this non-conductive layer is not necessary.
The induced voltage is picked off by means of galvanic or capacitive measuring electrodes. Galvanic measuring electrodes extend through the wall of the measuring tube and thus contact the fluid, while capacitive measuring electrodes are so fitted in the wall of the measuring tube as not to contact the fluid, or are mounted on the wall of the measuring tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,685 discloses an arrangement for operating several electromagnetic flow sensors with a single electronic evaluating unit, said arrangement comprising the following parts, which are of interest in connection with the present invention:
a first measuring tube with two galvanic measuring electrodes and with an associated coil arrangement for producing a magnetic field; PA1 a second measuring tube with two galvanic measuring electrodes and with an associated coil arrangement for producing a magnetic field; PA1 a third measuring tube with two galvanic measuring electrodes and with an associated coil arrangement for producing a magnetic field; PA1 a penultimate measuring tube with two galvanic measuring electrodes and with an associated coil arrangement for producing a magnetic field; PA1 a last measuring tube with two galvanic measuring electrodes and with an associated coil arrangement for producing a magnetic field; PA1 a single processing unit for potentials of the measuring electrodes; PA1 a single generator circuit for producing a single coil current for the coil arrangements; and PA1 a switching arrangement for connecting the coil arrangement of a respective one of the measuring tubes to the generator circuit, and the measuring electrodes of said measuring tube to the processing unit. PA1 which comprises a measuring tube with two galvanic measuring electrodes and a coil arrangement for producing a magnetic field, PA1 said instrumentation amplifier arrangement comprising: PA1 a measuring tube with a first and a second galvanic measuring electrode; PA1 a coil arrangement for producing a magnetic field by means of a coil current; PA1 said instrumentation amplifier arrangement comprising: PA1 which comprises a measuring tube with at least two measuring electrodes and a ground electrode as well as a coil arrangement for producing a magnetic field, PA1 said instrumentation amplifier arrangement comprising per measuring electrode: PA1 said instrumentation amplifier arrangement further comprising: PA1 which comprises a measuring tube with at least two measuring electrodes and a ground electrode as well as a coil arrangement for producing a magnetic field, PA1 said instrumentation amplifier arrangement comprising:
As for the processing of the signals from the measuring electrodes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,685 merely includes a general reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,210,022, 4,422,337, 4,382,387, and 4,704,908. All of these, however, describe measuring circuits without analog-to-digital converters.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,554 discloses an instrumentation amplifier arrangement of an electromagnetic flowmeter
a single differential stage having its input end connected to each of the measuring electrodes; PA2 an analog-to-digital converter following the differential stage; and PA2 a clock generator supplying a sampling signal to the analog-to-digital converter. PA2 a first impedance converter following the first measuring electrode; PA2 a second impedance converter following the second measuring electrode; PA2 a first double-throw switch having a first input and a second input connected to the output of the first impedance converter and to ground, respectively; PA2 a second double-throw switch having a first input and a second input connected to the output of the second impedance converter and to ground, respectively; PA2 an analog differential stage connected to an output of the first double-throw switch and to the output of the second double-throw switch; PA2 a further amplifier for a voltage developed across a resistor traversed by the coil current; PA2 a multiplexer connected to an output of the differential stage and to an output of the further amplifier; and PA2 an analog-to-digital converter following the multiplexer. PA2 a preamplifier connected to the measuring electrode at its input end; and PA2 an analog-to-digital converter connected directly to an output of the preamplifier; PA2 a clock generator supplying the analog-to-digital converters with a sampling signal PA2 a subtractor following the analog-to-digital converters. PA2 one preamplifier per measuring electrode; PA2 a first analog-to-digital converter connected directly to an output of one of the preamplifiers; PA2 a differential stage following the preamplifiers; PA2 a second analog-to-digital converter following the differential stage; PA2 a subtractor following the analog-to-digital converters; and PA2 at least one clock generator supplying the analog-to-digital converters with a sampling signal
In addition, this U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,554 mentions that in the circuit arrangement described therein, arrangements for compensating electrochemical interference voltages as are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,210,022 and 4,704,908 can be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,000 describes an electromagnetic flowmeter comprising the following parts, which are of interest in connection with the present invention:
The prior-art instrumentation amplifier arrangements have proved effective many times. They operate with a coil-current value of, e.g., 85 mA. However, if fluids with high solids contents are to be measured, as is frequently necessary in the construction industry (stones in chuted concrete) or in the paper industry (wood fibers in paper stock), for example, solid particles striking the measuring electrodes will result in noise voltages, and thus in a degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio.
Attempts have been made to eliminate this degradation by increasing the coil current and, thus, the induced voltage picked off the measuring electrodes. However, this requires, among other things, more powerful power supplies, which, in turn, exhibit greater losses, so that total energy consumption increases. Also, larger electronics housings may be necessary.

Instrumentation amplifier arrangements of electromagnetic flowmeters


A method for producing a transistor component having a field plate. One embodiment includes providing a semiconductor body having a first side, and including a first trench extending into the semiconductor body. A field plate dielectric layer is produced on the first side and at uncovered areas of the first trench such that a residual trench remains. A field plate layer is produced in the residual trench. The first side of the semiconductor body is uncovered using a polishing method. The field plate dielectric layer is partially removed from the at least one first trench proceeding from the first side.

One operating parameter of transistor components is their gate-drain capacitance. If the transistor component is used as a switching element for switching a load, then the gate-drain capacitance influences the switching behavior of the transistor component. The gate-drain capacitance influences in particular the switching speed of the component, and hence the gradient of switching edges of a current flowing through the component or of a voltage present across the component.
The gate-drain capacitance of the transistor component is dependent for example on the area in which a gate electrode and a drain zone or a drift zone of the component overlap one another. During the production of the component it is desirable in this case to be able to set or reproduce this overlap area as precisely as possible in order to be able to set the switching behavior of the component as precisely as possible.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

Method for producing a transistor component having a field plate


According to certain embodiments, a method in a wireless device (110) includes transmitting a protocol data unit (PDU) or segment of a PDU on a first link and transmitting the PDU or the segment of the PDU on a second link. One or more retransmissions of the PDU or the segment of the PDU are scheduled on the second link. A positive acknowledgment is received from a receiver. The positive acknowledgement indicates a successful receipt of the PDU or the segment of the PDU on the first link. In response to receiving the positive acknowledgement, the one or more retransmissions of the PDU or the segment of the PDU on the second link are cancelled.

In NR, Dual Connectivity (DC) in downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) are two of the features which will be standardized. These features are also available in Long Term Evolution (LTE). In NR, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) data duplication will also be standardized. This means that the same PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) may be transmitted on two different legs/paths. This type of feature may be useful in scenarios when reliability is important such as ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) or limited-coverage situations.
FIG. 1 illustrates the DC architecture between LTE and NR. When data duplication is enabled, the same PDCP PDU is transmitted by each radio access technology (RAT). When the radio link control (RLC) entity requests data from PDCP, the PDCP layer delivers the PDCP PDU to the requesting RLC entity.
When RLC Acknowledge Mode (AM) is configured, each RLC entity will perform retransmissions until the data has been successfully acknowledged or the maximum number of RLC retransmissions has been reached. In the latter case, the UE triggers the Radio Link Failure (RLF) procedure. In limited-coverage situations, the maximum number of RLC retransmissions may be reached.
When packet duplication is enabled, there may be cases when a PDCP PDU is received via one of the legs while the same (duplicated) PDCP PDU has not or has not yet been received by the other leg due to link problems. The RLC entity of the link with problems may be performing RLC retransmissions of the RLC PDU(s) containing the PDCP PDU. If the RLC entity reaches the maximum number of retransmissions, the UE will trigger a RLF procedure though such a procedure is not really necessary. Further, triggering a RLF procedure may not be desirable when there is, at least, one link which is performing and in which data is transmitted/received correctly.

Systems and methods for removal of duplicated packets for transmission


An ear shading hat attachment includes a movable flap portion and a stationary flap portion associated with the flap, two spring hinges formed between the movable flap portion and the stationary flap portion capable of flexing in response to a desired amount of tensioning applied to the spring hinges, wherein the desired amount of tensioning is equal to or ranges between a minimum or a maximum amount of tensioning; and a slot disposed between the spring hinges adapted to control the spring strength of the spring hinges, wherein the stationary flap portion forms part of the stationary base, and wherein the movable flap portion pivots about the stationary base to position the movable flap portion in either a stowed position and a deployed position.

The use of devices and methods relating to protective ear coverings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,064 issued in the name of Schmitt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,733 issued in the name of Pospisil, U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,790 issued in the name of Robertson, U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,147 issued in the name Yount, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,507 issued in the name of Brown.
While existing devices suit their intended purpose, the need remains for a device that may be selectively deployed by a user, does not interfere with a user's field of vision, may be selectively attached to or removed from a hat, and displays desirable indicia thereupon.
It is well known that the exposure of human skin to sunlight may, in large amounts, cause certain undesirable effects. These effects may include, but are not limited to sunburns and skin cancers. Much attention in recent years has been focused upon warning people of the dangers of overexposure to the sun's rays and the ultra violet (UV) rays attendant thereto. However, there are many outdoor pursuits, both recreational and occupational, that expose people's skin to potentially dangerous amounts of sunlight.
Many outdoor activities or sporting events, such as golf, require a person to spend a great deal of time in unshaded portions of the outdoors, such as a fairway on a golf course. Furthermore, many participants in these types of activities have preferred types of clothing or headgear that is worn during the activities.
Spectators of outdoor activities or sporting events also commonly spend a great deal of time in unshaded areas. Spectators at such events may oftentimes be exposed to even greater amounts of sunlight than participants, as the spectators may be forced to remain in a single location during the event, rather than moving from place to place, as do the participants. The location of a spectator may be such that the location does not have any significant shade during the course of an entire day, due to the requisite large and open spaces required to accommodate large numbers of spectators.
Sporting events are generally viewed by a great number of spectators. Referring in particular to a professional golf match, there are generally many thousands of spectators in attendance compared to the number of professional golfers competing. Most spectators have preferred types of clothing and headgear, similar to that worn by participants.
The clothing and headgear that is worn during these activities, while being preferred by the participants and spectators, may not provide the most desirable level of protection from the incident UV rays of the sun impinging the skin of a user. Therefore, what is needed is a device that operates to provide protection of a user's skin from UV rays, while at the same time allowing a user to continue to wear and use their preferred headgear.
The present invention provides a pair of ear-shading hat attachments that may be selectively deployed by a user in order to provide shade for the ears of a user, such that undesirable effects from UV exposure of the user's skin may be minimized.


A semiconductor memory device having a data read path maintains a higher power voltage supplied to an input/output sense amplifier in the input/output path, through which data passes during a data read operation, than the voltage supplied to other circuit components in the data read path, thereby achieving a high data read speed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and, more particularly, to a data read path that increases data read speed and lowers power consumption in the semiconductor memory device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data read path of a memory cell in a conventional semiconductor memory device. In the conventional semiconductor memory device of FIG. 1, the same internal power voltage (hereinafter, referred to as "IVC") is supplied to the whole data read path, which amplifies data of a memory cell (not shown) and reads it. The data read path includes a first MUX 10, an input/output sense amplifier (hereinafter, referred to as "IOSA") 20, a second MUX 30, an output buffer circuit 40, an output driver circuit 50, and an internal power supply circuit 60. During a data read operation, data of the memory cell is outputted to a global line pair GIO and GIOB, passes through the first MUX 10 and is amplified in the IOSA 20. The data amplified in the IOSA 20 is converted to data having an appropriate bit organization in the second MUX 30. The data is outputted to an external terminal through the output buffer circuit 40 and the output driver circuit 50. The output buffer circuit 40 controls the output driver circuit 50. As described above, since the data of the memory cell goes through many circuit components until it reaches an output terminal, a predetermined delay time is incurred before the data is outputted.
Therefore, when a semiconductor memory device is used in a system requiring a high operation frequency, a need exists for a method and apparatus that reduces the delay time tAA caused by various circuit components before the data is outputted.
One conventional method for reducing the delay time tAA is by increasing the IVC level of the whole data read path to improve both data read speed and current driving abilities of transistors that constitute the circuit placed on the path.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a data read path of a memory cell with circuit components that have improved operation speed when a voltage supplied to the data read path is increased by a predetermined level. Referring to FIG. 2, the data read path includes a first MUX 10, an input/output sense amplifier (hereinafter, referred to as "IOSA") 20, a second MUX 30, an output buffer circuit 40, an output driver circuit 50, and an internal power supply circuit 60. The data read operation illustrated in FIG. 2 is similar to the operation described in FIG. 1 except that there is an increase of data transmission speed in respective circuit components. In detail, FIG. 2 shows the different percentages that the data transmission rate in respective circuit components is improved when the IVC supplied from the internal power supply circuit 60 is increased by Va (For example, 0.1 volts˜0.2 volts). Assuming that the overall percentage of improvement of an operation speed of all circuit components placed on the data read path is 100%, FIG. 2 shows that the IOSA 20 is improved by 63%, the second MUX 30 is improved by 12%, the output buffer circuit 40 is improved by 10%, and the output driver circuit 50 is improved by 15%.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the IVC supplied from the internal power supply circuit 60 is increased by Va (e.g., 0.1 volts˜0.2 volts), among all circuit components placed on the data read path, an improved percentage of an operation speed of the IOSA 20 reaches about 63%. Therefore, if only the power voltage supplied to the IOSA 20 is increased, without increasing the power voltage of other circuit components placed on the data read path, the data read speed should have similar increases as to the increases resulted when the power voltage is supplied to all of the circuit components.
However, the method of increasing the power voltage supplied to all circuit components on the data read path increases the operation current of the semiconductor memory. Further, the second MUX 30 performs a bit organization of data transmitted through the data read path, the output buffer circuit 40 is synchronized with a clock signal to output data to the output driver circuit, and the output driver circuit 50 outputs data to an external terminal. The aforementioned three circuit components draw an increased amount of current if the applied voltage is increased and thereby increase power consumption. A need therefore exists for a semiconductor memory device having a data read speed with minimal delay and power consumption.

Method and apparatus for increasing data read speed in a semiconductor memory device


A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for managing a serially presented set of items. The process displays a content for a given item for an amount of time based on user input in response to a user selection of the given item. The process identifies a dwell value for the given item based on a dwell time for the given item and a timing profile. The dwell time is the amount of time the content for the given item is displayed. The process removes the item from a plurality of content items in response to a determination that the dwell value for the item is less than a dwell threshold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related generally to a data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for managing a set of items. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for using item dwell time to automatically manage a set of serially presented items.
2. Description of the Related Art
Frequently, a user wants to select one or more items of interest from a long list of serially presented choices. For example, a user may want to select one television channel for viewing from a set of available television channels. To determine which items in the set of items are of interest, the user must generally review the content for every item in the entire set of items to find items of interest. The user must then attempt to remember which items in the set were of the most interest. For example, if a user wants to watch television but does not have a specific program the user wants to watch and/or the user does not know the channel on which a desired program or content will be shown, the user must view every channel in the entire set of available television channels to determine which channel(s) are playing a desired program.
If the set of available channels includes a large number of channels, such as is common with cable television or satellite television, the list of channel options will typically exceed a human memory capability for easily recalling/comparing the available choices. Moreover, if one or more channels are playing commercials or other non-programming content, a user may have to go through the set of channels more than once to determine the user's interest in the current program content for each channel. In addition, a human user may be unable to recall which channels were showing commercials, which channels were showing program content of interest, and which channels were showing program content of no interest to the user when the user went through the set of available channels.
Thus, selecting an item of interest from a large set of serially presented choices by reviewing every item in the set of items and attempting to remember which items are of interest to the user is difficult for a human memory. Moreover, reviewing the entire set of serially presented choices through multiple presentations of the entire set of items in order to determine which item in the set is of the greatest interest to the user can be inconvenient and prohibitively time consuming where the set of items includes a large number of items.

Method and apparatus for using item dwell time to manage a set of items

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to an integrated circuit package, in particular an integrated chip size package or an integrated chip scale package, comprising a substrate carrying a die, and connection elements, interconnection elements, connecting pins of said die with said connection elements, and a mold encapsulating said die on said substrate. To increase reliability and to reduce failure due to deformation stress, the invention provides said mold with reduced stiffness at areas located substantially at one of said interconnection elements providing increased flexibility of said package at said areas compared to other areas of said package.

Electronic components are subject to miniaturizing. Therefore, electronic components of these products need to be ever smaller and lighter. As a result, more and more integrated and high integrated circuits may be required.
Reducing the sizes of the masks and increasing the number of connection pins generated the need of new designs, such as pin grid arrays (PGA), ball grid arrays (BGA) and land grid arrays (LGA). The particulars of these designs are that they provide their connection pins throughout the whole array surface, rather than just on its periphery, as was the case with former designs.
In particular ball grid arrays and LGAs are subject to significant failures in electronic components. These failures which may be a consequence of a shock impacted from drop and fatigue from thermal and bending cycling also apply to any other type of packages, interconnections and connection types, such as soldering and gluing. The packages fail mainly due to failure in the interconnection between the component and the printed wiring board, in particular in the solder joints or in the printed wiring board (PWB) build-up.
The problems of failure due to shock impact increase even more in case of stacking of several dies on top of each other, and encapsulating these within one mold as the mold becomes thicker. However, stacking is one of the major trends in future electronic components.
The package design has a significant effect on the reliability of the integrated circuit, in particular in mobile device environments, where the devices are subject to dropping, bending and thermal cycling loads.

Integrated circuit package with optimized mold shape


Provided is a display control device including an operation display unit for detecting operation positions, on a display screen, in accordance with a user operation on the display screen, a state determination unit for determining, based on a detection result of the operation positions, a first operation state where two operation positions are detected, a process determination unit for determining, based on a change in the operation positions in the first operation state, a process related to display that is to be performed, and a display control unit for performing, based on a determination result of a process, a process which has been determined to be performed, and causing the display screen to perform display corresponding to the process. The display control unit continues the display corresponding to the process which has been determined to be performed, according to a duration of determination for the process which has been determined.

The present disclosure relates to a display control device, a display control method, and a program.
These days, devices, for example, a communication device such as a smartphone, provided with a touch panel allowing display of a display screen and a user operation on the display screen are becoming widespread. Some of these devices are capable of detecting one or more user operations on the display screen (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a "multi-touch gesture"). A multi-touch user interface (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a "multi-touch UI") that enables the multi-touch gesture is an important technology from the standpoint of providing more intuitive operation to users.

Display control device, display control method, and program


The present invention consists of a jewelry storage and concealment device having rigid frame which is substantially thin and planar and which is suitable for attachment to a standard hanger, over which any ordinary article of clothing may be placed, for concealing the device between clothes in a closet. Or, it may be provided with a mirrored door on its front or a decorative picture and picture frame so that it may be hung on a wall and the device may be obscured from the view of thieves or unauthorized users. The present invention contains a plurality of square or rectangular compartments which are provided with hooks, posts or curtain walls so that the device can easily hold earrings, either pierced or clip on style, bracelets, necklaces, rings, etc. In such a manner, a highly secure jewelry organizing and storage system is shown.

Currently, in the prior art, there are available a number of devices which are designed to hold jewelry neatly and securely in a flexible roll up device. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,344 issued to Smith discloses a device which has a thin flexible planar layer of plastic or fabric to which is attached a plurality of transparent pockets into which jewelry items may be placed. The entire device is intended to be hung from a closet rod or hook which renders the pieces of jewelry stored therein readily visible and available to the user. However, there must be one pocket for each piece of jewelry to be contained therein, which limits the amount of jewelry contained in the device to the number of pockets provided on the device.
Another issued patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,230 issued to Mattox, discloses the use of a similar device, made from a mesh type fabric which is supported by additional segments of solid type fabric. Rings cannot be accommodated by such a device. Further, necklaces and bracelets can only be held by just a few velcro strap attachments located at the bottom of the device.
A similar soft planar jewelry holding device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,219 issued to Mink which discloses the use of varying sizes of transparent plastic removably secured to a fabric backing member by means of miniature hook and loop fasteners. During the use of this particular device, the user cannot simply remove the jewelry pieces; she must pull back a portion of the hook/loop fastening member, select the piece, and then reposition the plastic retention member.
A final patent shown in the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,736 issued to Nibbling which discloses the use of a jewelry box having a rigid frame member which is fastened onto a rigid, rectangular jewelry box member which contains a pair of screens. It is anticipated that earrings and necklaces shall be attached by separate hook or pin members which are thrust into a backing board in the interior of the device. The device is apparently suited only to holding necklaces, bracelets and rings, and no means for holding earrings, either pierced or clip is provided.
Thus, the prior art does not show any device which is rigid, easy to conceal in a closet between clothes, covered by an ordinary article of clothing, or behind a picture or mirror and which can hold a wide variety of jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets and either pierced or clip style earrings wherein the various jewelry pieces may be readily viewed and selected by the user.

Jewelry security organization and storage device


A conveying system for lifting and orienting bottle caps comprises a conveyer belt of articulated sections and with guide rollers with an upper lifting section having an essentially vertical path of travel and a lower loading section with an angled path of travel. Sprockets on the guide rollers effect movement of the belt in an upward path of travel through the lower section and then the upper section. Cleats are secured to the exterior surface of the conveyer belts. Supporting surfaces of the cleats extend at right angles from the exterior surface of the conveyer belt for retaining bottle caps thereon when the upper surface of the bottle cap is in contact with the conveyer belt and the lower edge thereof supported in a trough of the supporting surfaces of the cleats but to effect the dropping thereof when the bottle caps are not in the proper orientation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a conveyor system for lifting and orienting bottle caps and more particularly, to lifting and orienting bottle caps through a conveyor with a lower loading zone and a vertical lifting zone which is 11 adjustable to the needs of the run.
2. Description of the Background Art
In the past, caps, container closures, and crowns with a diameter greater than height, were oriented during feeding by changing the angle of an inclined cleated conveyor. This angle change caused incorrectly oriented caps to fall from the cleat and back into a hopper at a loading zone. Incorrectly oriented caps are considered to be those with the open side toward the conveyor belt. Correctly oriented caps are considered to be those having the open side away from the conveyor belt.
The standard for many years was to begin with an angle at about 25 degree from the vertical angle for increased pickup of caps. The angle change was 20 degrees to an angle of 5 degrees from vertical. This method worked fine for large diameter closures. As the diameter of the closures being conveyed decreases, and the height also decreases, the angle change becomes critical for consistent orientation. Several procedures were tried in attempts to compensate for this. The present invention is a device for varying the angle on all cleated conveyor style cap orientors and feeders. The assembly can be installed on an existing inclined cleated conveyor type orientor to vary the angle.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the oral inflation art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved conveying system for lifting and orienting bottle caps comprising a conveyer belt which is formed of articulated sections and with guide rollers to support the belt with an upper lifting section having an essentially vertical path of travel and a lower loading section with an angled path of travel. Also included are sprockets on the guide rollers to effect movement of the belt in an upward path of travel through the lower section and then the upper section. Further included is a plurality of cleats secured to the exterior surface of the conveyer belts. The cleats have supporting surfaces which extend at a generally right angles from the exterior surface of the conveyor belt each cleat being of a generally rectangular cross section with an upper face and a lower face and with an interior face therebetween wherein the upper cap supporting surface having a trough for retaining bottle caps thereon in a proper orientation when the upper surface of the bottle cap is in contact with the conveyer belt and the lower edge thereof supported on the supporting surfaces of the cleats but to effect the rejecting thereof when the bottle caps are not in the proper orientation. Also included is a supplemental sprocket in contact with the interior face of the conveyer belt in the lower extent of the upper section to form an outwardly directed bow in the belt and effect the removal, by gravity, of bottle caps not in the proper orientation. Further included are adjustment means to vary the extent of the bow as a function of the particular bottle cap being conveyed.
It is a further object of the invention to bow the lower end of a vertical conveyor for rejecting improperly oriented caps.
It is a further object of the invention to vary the extent of a conveyor bow as a function of the caps being conveyed.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
For the purpose of summarizing this invention, this invention comprises a new and improved conveying system for lifting and orienting bottle caps, container closures, and crowns comprising a conveyer belt which is formed of articulated sections and with guide rollers to support the belt with an upper lifting section having an essentially vertical path of travel and a lower loading section with an angled path of travel. Also included are sprockets on the guide rollers to effect movement of the belt in an upward path of travel through the lower section and then the upper section. Further included is a plurality of cleats secured to the exterior surface of the conveyer belts. The cleats have supporting surfaces which extend at a generally right angles from the exterior surface of the conveyer belt, each cleat being of a generally rectangular cross section with an upper face and a lower face and with an interior face therebetween wherein the upper cap supporting surface having a trough with a sloped interior recess in contact with a lower hemispherical region for retaining bottle caps, container closures, and crowns thereon in a proper orientation when the upper surface of the bottle cap is in contact with the conveyer belt and the lower edge thereof supported on the supporting surfaces of the cleats but to effect the rejecting thereof when the bottle caps are not in the proper orientation. The lowermost extent of the hemispherical region being closer to the front face than to the rear face, the cleat also has a plurality of bores extending from the front face to the rear face where they can be coupled to the conveyer belt by means of a screw. Also included is a supplemental sprocket in contact with the interior face of the conveyer belt in the lower extent of the upper section to form an outwardly directed bow in the belt and effect the removal, by gravity, of bottle caps not in the proper orientation. Further included are adjustment means to vary the extent of the bow as a function of the particular bottle cap being conveyed. Further included is a plate positioned in close proximity to the cleats in the region of the conveyer belt beneath the bow whereby bottle caps on the conveyer belt may drop under gravity into the hopper due to the orientation of the bow. Still further included is a source of pressurized air adjacent to the upper extent of the upper section at one lateral side of the belt to pneumatically urge bottle caps to the opposite lateral side of the belt with a chute to receive the pneumatically conveyed bottle caps while maintaining their proper orientation. A hopper is also included for a quantity of randomly oriented bottle caps adjacent to the lower section of the conveyer belt for the initial positioning of bottle caps on the conveyer belt prior to movement to the bow. Further included is a shield which has a raised central extent parallel with the direction of flow of the conveyor belt and positioned over the lower loading section whereby bottle caps dropped thereon will limit movement of the caps onto the conveyor except at the leading edge of the plate.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.


A method of modular design suitable for use, for example, in a CAD program is provided. In one aspect, the method is embodied in a CAD program specifically configured to support modular design, or more specifically, concurrent and consistent design of multiple installation assemblies of a product. Each installation assembly consists of a reference assembly and a Bill-of-Material (BOM) assembly. The BOM assembly contains component models that are the modular elements to be designed. The reference assembly contains referenced assemblies that are installed to make up the design environment for the component models in the BOM assembly. The BOM assembly in one installation assembly can be reused as a referenced assembly in the reference assembly of another installation assembly. Any changes made to the BOM assembly are automatically reflected in the reference assembly that contains the same BOM assembly as a referenced assembly.

Currently, there are two commonly used design methodologies—"Top-Down" design and "Bottom-Up" design. Top-Down design creates lower levels of functional details from upper levels of abstraction. FIG. 1A illustrates one embodiment of the Top-Down design. From a Master Assembly 102 of a product, the product design is divided into Module 1 (104), Module 2 (106), and Module 3 (108). Module 1 (104) contains Component 1 (110). Module 2 (106) is further divided into Module 2.1 (112) and Module 2.2 (114). Module 2.1 (112) is further divided into Component 2.11 (116) and Component 2.12 (118). Module 2.2 (114) contains Component 2.2 (120). Module 3 (108) contains Module 3.1 (122) which, in turn, contains Component 3.1 (124). All design activities take place from within the Master Assembly. Thus, the Master Assembly constitutes the design environment relative to which new Components are designed.
Top-Down design's major strengths are that it allows for concurrent design of multiple Modules and Components, while maintaining a consistent design environment. Thus, Top-Down design makes it easy to assign and manage design responsibilities among multiple designers while minimizing the risk of design errors and duplication of effort. However, it allows for little product variation in the design process and can be cumbersome due to the size and complexity of the Master Assembly. Specifically, the Master Assembly itself represents a specific configuration of the product. As such, when a product variation is required, a new Master Assembly and new Modules containing the variation are also required. Alternatively, the Master Assembly may represent all product variations by adding Modules representing each variation within the Master Assembly. In this case, the Master Assembly is even larger, making it more cumbersome to work with.
Contrary to Top-Down design, Bottom-Up design starts from lower levels of functional details. FIG. 1B illustrates a Bottom-Up design scheme for the same product in FIG. 1A. Here, Component 1 (154) is first designed. Module 1 (156) is formed based on Component 1 (154). Component 2.11 (158) and Component 2.12 (160) are combined to form Module 2.1 (162). Component 2.2 (164) forms Module 2.2 (166). Module 2.1 (162) and Module 2.2 (166) jointly form Module 2 (168). Component 3.1(170) forms Module 3.1(172) which, in turn, forms Module 3 (174). Module 1(156), Module 2 (168), and Module 3 (174) jointly form the Master Assembly (176), which is the same product as created in the Top-Down design of FIG. 1A. Since the Components are designed prior to forming the Modules and the Master Assembly, the Master Assembly and Modules are not available for use as the design environment used to design the Components. Instead, design environments are created, as Layout Assemblies as shown in FIG. 1C, by different designers each being responsible for one or more Components. For example, the Layout Assembly 180 of FIG. 1C consists of the Components 181 and 182 that one designer is designing, commingled with the Components 184–187 which he wishes to reference and are being designed by others.
Bottom-Up design's major strengths are its flexibility to handle the design of products with unlimited product variations and the relatively small design environments produced. For example, in FIG. 1C, Component 181 can be combined with any other components to produce a different Layout Assembly to be used as the design environment for designing a new component. The new component can be combined with any other components to produce a different module which, in turn, can be combined with other modules to produce a different product. This characteristic of the Bottom-Up design is also the major weakness of the Top-Down design. However, the Bottom-Up design does not provide a consistent design environment for multiple modules/components and, therefore, is not suited for permitting concurrent design of multiple modules/components, nor is it suited to permit easy management of design responsibilities among multiple designers.
A good design effort would need to combine the strengths of both the Top-Down design and the Bottom-Up design. Thus, there is a need for a design approach that strikes a balance between the Top-Down design and the Bottom-Up design, to achieve the strengths of both the Top-Down design and the Bottom-Up design while minimizing their weaknesses. The result would be a design approach that combines the flexibility of the Bottom-Up design to handle unlimited product variations, with the efficiency and the consistency of the Top-Down design to provide for concurrent design, common and consistent design environments, and the ability to readily assign and manage design responsibilities among multiple designers. The present invention is directed to providing such a design approach.


An insulated container includes a body, a cover and an expandable beverage holder. The body includes outer walls and a base to define a storage space and to prevent heat transfer out of the storage space. The cover is configured to couple with the body and to prevent heat transfer out of the storage space. The expandable beverage holder is configured to couple to the cover and to hold a beverage container when expanded.

Insulated food and beverage containers or 'coolers' are very common among American households. They can most often be seen on trips to a picnic or the beach. A problem with picnics is finding a place to put down the beverage container on a level location. Anyone who has ever been there knows the problem with having beverages at the beach. That is, sand gets blown and/or kicked into the beverage containers. To provide a level surface and to prevent sand from entering the beverage containers, many coolers have been designed with beverage holders to elevate the cup, soda can or bottle off of the sandy ground.
While cooler mounted beverage holders may alleviate some problems, conventional beverage holders create new problems for the cooler user. For example, typically the beverage holder extends into the cooler storage space even when the beverage holder is not in use. Hence, less food and/or drinks can be packed into the cooler and transported to the desired destination. A further problem is that the beverage holder affords no cooling to the beverage.
Therefore, an improved cooler mounted beverage holder is needed.


A two-part piston for an internal combustion engine has a piston head and a piston skirt. The piston head has a piston crown on the underside of which at least two boss lands, each provided with a head boss and a head boss hole are connected. The piston skirt has at least two boss bodies, each provided with a skirt boss and a skirt boss hole. When the head and skirt are joined, the head boss holes and skirt boss holes are flush in relation to each other for accommodating a gudgeon pin. Each boss body has a recess in which the corresponding boss land is accommodated with the associated head boss so that the head boss hole and skirt boss hole are aligned flush relative to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a two-part piston for an internal combustion engine, comprising a piston head and a piston skirt, where the piston head features a piston crown, on the underside of which at least two boss lands, each provided with a head boss hole are connected. The piston skirt features at least two boss bodies each provided with a skirt boss hole. When assembled, the head boss holes and the skirt boss holes are flush relative to each other to accommodate a gudgeon pin.
2. The Prior Art
Generic pistons are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,027 A, Great Britain Patent No. GB 140 651 A and German Patent No. DE 35 42 800 C1. Furthermore, comparable pistons are known from German Patent Nos. DE 100 49 786 A1, DE 38 32 159 C2, DE 36 02 266 A1 and European Patent No. EP 0 238 146 B1.
The common feature of the pistons described in these publications is that the piston head and the piston skirt are connected to each other merely by means of a gudgeon pin. To this end, both the piston head and the piston skirt have bosses which, when assembled, are provided with flush boss holes, through which the gudgeon pin is inserted. These types of pistons, in which the piston head and the piston skirt are joined to each other by means of the gudgeon pin, are also known as articulated-skirt pistons. The advantage of these types of pistons is that the piston head, which is subjected to greater stress by the temperatures and pressures in the adjoining combustion chamber, can be manufactured from a different material than that of the further removed piston skirt, which is subjected to less stress. For example, the piston head can be manufactured from steel and the piston skirt from an aluminum material. This approach is designed to limit damage, such as cracks and fractures, to the piston head. The disadvantage of these articulated-skirt pistons, however, is that it is comparatively awkward and complicated to assemble the piston head and piston skirt into the finished piston. In addition, a further aim of piston development is to further bring about a reduction in piston weight.

Two-part piston for an internal combustion engine


A method and apparatus is presented for enabling an agent to assume the identity or persona of a called party and process calls directed to the called party. In one embodiment, methods, which enable an agent to assume the identity or persona of a called party, and process calls directed to the called party are considered a call center functions and may be implemented in a call center. A call is initiated to a called party. Initiating the call generates called party information. Using the called party information a server retrieves information associated with the called party and then forward the information associated with the called party to an agent. The call is then forwarded to the agent. As a result, the agent may use the information associated with the called party to assume the identity or persona of the called party when responding to the call.

A conventional call center typically consists of a grouping of individuals (i.e., call center agents) that are designated to manage calls. Call centers are used by mail-order catalog organizations, telemarketing companies, computer product help desks, large organization that use the telephone to sell or service products and services, etc. Company call center agents may be part of an in-house team of individuals or call center agents may work as part of an outsourced call center function. Modern call centers often use computer automation. The computer automation enables the call center agents to handle a large volume of calls at the same time, to screen calls, to forward calls, and to log calls.
FIG. 1 displays a conventional call center. An end-user 100 places a call using a traditional telephone to a company. The call is switched across a network 102 such as circuit-switched network to the company. Call information 102 such as trunk information is communicated to a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) 106. The call information 108 is then communicated to a computer telephony (CTI) system 110. Based on the call information 108, the CTI 110 forwards information to a company agent 112 who is designated to receive calls for the company.
However, a number of issues arise in using a conventional call center network. First, network 102 is typically implemented with traditional telephony technology such as circuit-switched technology. With the advancement of modern communications networks a large variety of additional network technologies need to be addressed and taken into consideration to perform call center operations. The call center depicted in FIG. 1 is typically deployed by a large product or service company. Smaller organizations require the ability to implement call center functions using existing hardware and the most modern technologies. Lastly, one company agent 112 typically has to be available for each call coming into a call center and it is difficult to optimize calls across company agents 112 unless specialized hardware is purchased.
Many companies have decided to outsource their call center functions. As a result, an industry of call center companies has emerged. These companies employ a number of agents to receive calls on behalf of a company and responds to end-user inquiries about the company, company products, company services, etc. Typically agents are assigned based on the called party. For example, an agent responding on behalf of a specific department store will learn the department store products, services, etc., so that the agent can respond on behalf of the department store. However, in order to efficiently deploy each agent, it would be beneficial to enable each agent to respond to any call that the agent receives and assume the identity of the called party for a wide variety of called parties.
Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus that enables an agent to assume the identity of a wide variety of called parties. There is a need for a method and apparatus for implementing a call center function in smaller organizations. There is a need for a method and apparatus for implementing a call center function without the purchase of specialized hardware. There is a need for a method and apparatus for implementing a call center function using the latest communication technology. There is a need for a method and apparatus for implementing a call center function that utilizes standard computing hardware but still has the flexibility to optimize calls across available agents.

Method and apparatus for network-intelligence-determined identity or persona