Disclosed is a process for the production of acetic acid or mixtures of acetic acid and acetic anhydride in a carbonylation process wherein a mixture comprising methyl acetate and/or dimethyl ether and methyl iodide is contacting in the liquid phase with carbon monoxide in the presence of a carbonylation catalyst at elevated pressures and temperatures. Methanol, water, or a mixture thereof is added to an acetic anhydride-containing stream within a flash evaporation zone to convert some or all of the acetic anhydride to acetic acid and optionally methyl acetate and to provide heat for the evaporation of a portion of the product effluent produced by the carbonylation process.

The preparation of acetic anhydride by contacting in the liquid phase a mixture comprising methyl acetate and/or dimethyl ether and methyl iodide with carbon monoxide in the presence of a carbonylation catalyst at elevated pressures and temperatures has been reported extensively in the patent literature. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,927,078; 4,046,807; 4,115,444; 4,252,741; 4,374,070; 4,430,273; 4,559,183; 5,003,104; 5,292,948 and 5,922,911 and European Patents 8396; 87,869; and 87,870. These patents disclose that the reaction rate can be increased if the catalyst system includes a promoter such as certain amines and quaternary ammonium compounds, phosphines and phosphonium compounds and inorganic compounds such as alkali metal salts e.g., lithium iodide. Normally, both the reaction (process) mixture and the crude product are substantially anhydrous, homogeneous liquids comprising a solution of the reactants and catalyst components in an inert solvent such as acetic acid. Thus, the crude, liquid product obtained from such acetic anhydride processes typically comprises a mixture of acetic anhydride and acetic acid as a result of the use of acetic acid as a process solvent.
Acetic acid may be coproduced in the process by feeding methanol and/or water to the production system, e.g., by feeding methanol and/or water to a process recycle stream containing acetic anhydride and/or to the carbonylation reactor. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,380,929, 6,130,355, EP-00087869-B1 and EP-00087870-B1. U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,070 discloses the possibility of adding methanol to an acetic anhydride-containing recycle stream.
The above-described processes for the manufacture of acetic anhydride are carried out by feeding carbon monoxide to a reaction zone containing a liquid mixture of (i) a feedstock compound selected from methyl acetate, dimethyl ether or a mixture thereof, (ii) methyl iodide and (iii) a carbonylation catalyst such as a Group VIII metal or metal compound and, optionally, one or more promoters. The carbon monoxide typically is fed below the surface of the liquid mixture in a finely divided form, e.g., by means of a gas sparging device, to maximize the concentration of carbon monoxide in the reaction mixture. Normally, the process is operated by feeding continuously the feedstock compound(s), methyl iodide, an inert solvent such as acetic acid, and catalyst or catalyst components dissolved in acetic anhydride and/or acetic acid and carbon monoxide to a reaction zone maintained at elevated temperature and pressure and removing continuously from the reaction zone a crude product mixture comprising acetic anhydride and acetic acid. The crude product mixture also contains feedstock compound(s), methyl iodide, acetic acid solvent, ethylidene diacetate, acetone, catalyst components and carbon monoxide dissolved in the crude product.
The crude product typically is fed continuously to a first separation zone wherein the pressure is reduced and the crude product flash distilled to produce (i) a vapor effluent comprising feedstock compound, methyl iodide, acetic acid solvent or product, acetic anhydride product, small amounts of by-product ethylidene diacetate and acetone and carbon monoxide and (ii) a liquid effluent comprising the catalyst or catalyst components dissolved in a mixture of acetic anhydride, acetic acid and small amounts of low boilers, e.g., feedstock compound, methyl iodide and acetone. The vapor effluent typically comprises about 20 to 60 weight percent of the crude product fed to the first separation zone. The liquid effluent is recycled to the reaction zone and the vapor effluent is fed to a product recovery zone wherein the acetic anhydride (and any coproduced acetic acid) is separated and removed from the production system. The other condensable components (methyl acetate, methyl iodide and acetic acid solvent) typically are recovered and recycled to the reaction zone. Co-product acetic acid may be recovered and removed from the process.
In the co-production of acetic acid and acetic anhydride, e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,380,929 and 6,130,355, methanol and methyl acetate are fed to the primary carbonylation reactor and the products are produced in the presence of CO in a one-step reaction. In such processes, all of the heat of reaction is released in the single reaction step and there is no opportunity to utilize the heat of reaction directly in the production system such as in subsequent flash evaporation or distillation steps. The heat of reaction for methanol carbonylation is quite high, e.g., about twice that of the heat of reaction for methyl acetate carbonylation. Thus, a large amount of heat must be removed from the primary carbonylation reactor under severe conditions of high pressure and a corrosive environment. Furthermore, there is no opportunity to sequence the reactions in such a way as to obtain a beneficial shifting of reaction equilibrium.

Production of acetic acid and mixtures of acetic acid and acetic anhydride


Systems and methods of distributing content items to a resource via a computer network are described. A statistical distribution representing display sizes of content items with respect to a slot having a plurality of parameters may be generated. A request to provide a content item for display in a slot of the resource may be received. Content items for display in the slot of the resource may be selected based on the statistical distribution. Selecting content items for display in the slot may include optimizing an appearance of a content item in the slot or maximizing a number of a plurality of content items in the slot.

In a networked environment such as the Internet, entities such as content providers may provide information for display on a resource (e.g., a web page). The resources may include text, video, graphics, or audio information provided by the entities via a server. Additional or alternative content items may also be provided by third parties for concurrent display with the main content. Thus, a user device accessing a resource may be provided with the main content of the resource, as well as third party content items. A content distribution system may be used to determine which third party content to provide for concurrent display.


An ignition system for an internal combustion engine, having a combustion chamber and a fuel injection device which injects a fuel directly into the combustion chamber in stream-guided fashion, is configured so that the ignition system has a positive polarity.

The invention relates to an ignition system for an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber and having a fuel injection device, which injects the fuel directly into the combustion chamber in a stream-guided fashion; at least one spark plug is connected to the ignition system and has a middle electrode and at least one ground electrode and ignites the injected fuel.
An ignition system of the type defined at the outset is known from German Patent Disclosure DE 198 04 463. This reference shows a fuel injection device which injects the fuel directly into a combustion chamber formed by a cylinder/piston construction. A spark plug protrudes into the combustion chamber. By means of a targeted injection of fuel by means of the fuel injection device with at least one stream, a stream-guided combustion process is implemented by the formation of a corresponding cloud of fuel mixture. In the known stream-guided combustion process, the fuel mixture cloud required for combustion is formed solely by the injection. It is then especially important that the fuel stream and the location of the ignition spark at the spark plug be positioned with extreme precision relative to one another. Only then is good reliability of ignition assured.

Ignition system for an internal combustion engine


The present disclosure relates generally to multi-layer display devices including electrochromic material and methods of making the same. The display device may include one or more of a first layer comprising a first substrate depicting a display pattern; a second layer comprising an electrochromic polymer; a third layer comprising a solid state electrolyte; a fourth layer comprising a charge storage layer; a fifth layer comprising a second substrate, and/or other components. The one or more of the second layer, the third layer, and/or the fourth layer may be interposed between the first layer and the fifth layer. An application of a voltage between the first substrate and the second substrate may case a change in transmission and/or reflectance of light through the display device such that the display pattern on the first substrate may be displayed.

Electrochromism generally refers to a reversible change in optical properties of a material upon application of a potential. In particular, electrochromic materials could change the transmittance, reflectance, absorptance, and/or emittance under the applied voltage.
Electrochromic materials are useful for a variety of applications, including photovoltaic devices, field effect transistors, organic light emitting diodes, general printed electronics, anti-glare window and display systems, etc.

Display device with electrochromic material


An imaging system on which a calibration method is practiced includes: a light source; a substrate for supporting an object; a patterning mask that generates a substantially periodic spatial pattern on the object; a phase shifter that adjusts the relative position of the patterning mask and object to shift the position of the pattern on the object; a detector that detects images of the object; and an analyzer that analyzes at least three images of the object, each of which represents a different spatial shift of the pattern, the analyzer being configured to remove the spatial pattern from the images to generate an optically sectioned image of the object. The calibration method includes: calibrating the position of the mask relative to the substrate via a phase-voltage technique; calibrating the position of the mask relative to the substrate via a merit function technique; and operating the calibrated imaging system.

With a conventional light microscope three-dimensional structures typically cannot be successfully imaged. Ordinarily, the resultant image consists of a sharp image of an in-focus region of a three-dimensional structure as well as defocused images of the structures above and below the in-focus region. A conventional light microscope is unable to reject out-of-focus detail.
Confocal microscopes have been developed which optically section a three-dimensional structure to provide in-focus images of individual layers or strata of the structure. These individual layers can be subsequently combined to form an in-focus three-dimensional image of the complete volume structure. Unfortunately, the light budget of confocal microscopes is generally poor when incoherent light sources are used. Laser scanning confocal microscopes can achieve a very shallow depth of focus, but typically require expensive apparatus and an illuminating/imaging pinhole through which the laser light is focused.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,236 to Morgan, an optical sensor is described which is used to determine the range (distance) of individual features of a three-dimensional structure. The sensor has a periodic patterned light source that illuminates the structure and is reversible (i.e. the pattern is phase shifted 180°). An array of detector elements aligned to the pattern of the light source is used to detect an image of the pattern and the reversal of the pattern illuminating the structure. As the pattern is generally only imaged well on those parts of the structure which are themselves in focus, this enables the range (distance) of in-focus parts of the structure to be determined. A potential shortcoming of the apparatus and method described in Morgan can be that, in order to operate properly, the individual elements of the detector should be exactly aligned with and matched to the pattern of the light source. In practice this has been found to be almost impossible to achieve.
One solution to the problem is offered in U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,818 to Wilson et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The technique discussed in Wilson et al. involves the superposition of a periodic pattern of transparent and non-transparent stripes onto the object of interest. At least three images are recorded at different spatial phases of the pattern by means of a microscope with a shallow focal depth. A three-dimensional image composed of only in-focus detail is then derived from the recorded images (this technique is known in some circles as a "full-focus" technique). An exemplary system of this variety is the OPTIGRID™ microscopy system, available from Thales Optem, Fairport, N.Y.
Unfortunately, conventional microscopy imaging masks utilized, for example, by Wilson et al. can leave residual patterning in the final image. The degree of the residual pattern is a function of the intensity profile in the illumination pattern. Such residual patterning is undesirable since it raises doubt as to whether the pattern is part of the specimen or an artifact of the imaging process.
Because of the accessibility and easy fabrication, ronchi gratings (i.e., square waves) have been used in structured illumination. However, when imaged through band-limited systems (such as an optical system) the resultant image has residual patterns. This occurs because the ronchi grating passed through a linear band-limited system is the convolution of the ronchi grating and the point spread function (PSF) of the optics. The result is a square wave with rounded shoulders. It is at these shoulders where residual lines occur. For this reason, it is desirable with some systems to utilize "stripes" in the illumination pattern that vary sinusoidally in intensity.
One issue that can arise with full-focus techniques, and particularly those that utilize a set of sinusoidally-varying stripes in the pattern, is related to the calibration of the system. Generally speaking, microscopy errors can occur if the system is not precisely calibrated. In particular, it can be important to calibrate the location of a mask or similar device that produces the pattern of stripes, particularly as the mask is positioned for different phases. It would be desirable to improve performance of full-focus systems via new calibration techniques.

Methods, systems and computer program products for calibration of microscopy imaging devices


There is disclosed an image reading apparatus having an image sensor unit. The image sensor unit may include a number of photodiode arrays. The photodiode arrays may have different qualities and the output of the photodiode arrays may be processed differently. Output of the photodiode arrays may be mixed to improve image qualities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image sensors.
2. Description of Related Art
Typical image sensors, such as those used in color copiers are one-dimensional and have either a 3-line CCD unit or a 4-line CCD unit. A typical 3-line CCD unit has three photodiode arrays—one for each of the three primary colors R, G and B. A typical 4-line CCD unit has, in addition to the RGB photodiode arrays, a monochrome (B/W) photodiode arrays.
Many image reading devices, such as color copiers, include a color mode and a monochrome mode. In the color mode, a color image is read. In the monochrome mode, a monochrome image is read. The typical 3-line CCD unit extracts a monochrome signal from the signals from the RGB photodiode arrays. The typical 4-line CCD unit obtains a monochrome signal from the B/W photodiode arrays.

Image reading apparatus having an image sensor unit


A method, computer program product, and computer system for analyzing one or more existing book indexes to build a statistical model of term-to-text pairs. A document may be analyzed, wherein the document may include at least a portion of an instruction in a book. A term in the document may be identified. Whether the term is a candidate for an index of the book may be identified based upon, at least in part, the statistical model of term-to-text pairs.

In publishing, back-of-the-book indexing may still be a largely manual process. An index, e.g., of a cookbook, may generally be described as a reverse lookup including, e.g., pairs of terms, techniques, or ingredient names mapped to text segments that may contain important usages of those terms, typically specified via page number. Given space constraints within a printed book, it may be beneficial that only the most informative pairings be listed in the index. By contrast, online indexes need not be as concerned with space constraints, and thus a virtually unlimited number of pairing entries may be maintained.

System and method for identifying candidates for back-of-book index

International Business Machines Corporation


The purpose of the invention is to provide novel cell culture substrates, cell culture vessels, and methods for cell culture. A cell culture substrate having a planar mesh structure, the substrate being coated with a polymer, is provided. Cells are cultured in a cell culture vessel having this substrate.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are adherent cells that are cultured by allowing them to attach to a vessel or a cell culture substrate and are typically cultured by seeding and growing them on the bottom surface of a vessel or a substrate. In these cases, when cells are grown to confluent, they stop proliferation due to their contact inhibition, resulting in cell death, differentiation, or transformation. Accordingly, the cells need to be passaged when the cells reach about 80% confluence.
In current automatic cell culture devices, there is a risk of contamination with microorganisms during the passage because it is performed manually. Moreover, the passage operation itself has an adverse effect on the cells and pluripotency decreases through repeated passages to make it difficult to obtain high quality cells. Thus, methods have been developed in which cells can be cultured for a long time by culturing them on a micromesh (WO2015/005349).
An object of the present invention is to provide novel cell culture substrates, cell culture vessels, and methods for cell culture.

Cell culture substrate, cell culture vessel, and method for cell culture


In an optical disk obtained by pasting two substrates, air bubbles and the like are removed from an adhesive layer between the substrates pasted together, and the thickness irregularity of the adhesive layer is suppressed to an allowable value or less. A spacer having a predetermined thickness is concentrically placed on a substrate. An adhesive is applied onto a surface of the substrate on which the spacer is placed. Another substrate is placed on the surface of the substrate on which the adhesive is applied. The substrates are rotated about the spacer at a high speed. The excessive adhesive sandwiched between the substrates is expelled, together with air bubbles and the like, by using the centrifugal force produced by the rotation. With this process, an adhesive layer having a thickness determined by the thickness of the spacer is left between the two substrates.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an information recording medium having a structure constituted by two disk substrates pasted together, an apparatus for manufacturing the medium, and a multi-substrate information recording medium obtained by the manufacturing method and, more particularly, to improvements in a bonding method and arrangement for a two-substrate double-layered optical disk designed such that pieces of information on two information recording layers are read from one surface of the optical disk.
Small-diameter optical disks (diameters: about five inches/120 mm to about 3.5 inches/80 mm) on which large-volume data, e.g., various types of video and speech data, can be recorded as digital data have recently been developed. According to an optical disk of this type, one or more information recording layers are formed on at least one of two disk substrates to ensure a large information storage amount. These substrates must be accurately pasted together to thereby obtain a large-capacity disk having a predetermined thickness (1.2 mm).
Assume that two disk substrates respectively having information recording layers formed thereon are accurately pasted together with an adhesive to obtain a large-capacity optical disk. When pieces of information on the internal information recording layers are read from one of the two disk substrates, a read laser invariably reciprocates via the adhesive layer between the substrates. At this time, if dust or an air bubble enters the adhesive layer between the substrates, an error occurs when roading the information corresponding to the position of the dust or the air bubble.
If the adhesive layer between the substrates is uneven and has thickness irregularity, since the laser traveling path length varies at the portions of the adhesive layer at which its thickness changes, an error tends to occur when reading the information corresponding to a position where thickness irregularity occurs.
If air bubbles enter the adhesive layer between the substrates, the strength of this adhesive layer decreases. For this reason, the disk substrates pasted together may peel away from each other upon the impact of falling or the like.
If only one of the two disk substrates has an information recording layer, and the other substrate does not have a similar information recording layer (or a dummy layer corresponding to the recording layer), the pasted surface may deteriorate with environmental changes. As a result, the two disk substrates pasted together may peel away from each other or become deformed.
Dust or air bubbles must be completely removed, and the thickness irregularity of the adhesive layer between the substrates must be minimized (e.g., within .+-.5 .mu.m with respect to an adhesive layer thickness of 50 .mu.m). It is, however, difficult to realize adhesive layers without air bubbles/thickness irregularity for mass-produced two-substrate optical disks with a high yield.

Information recording medium for manufacturing the medium, and apparatus for manufacturing the medium


When an input unit of the equipment operability evaluating apparatus selects the human body type of the human body model and a scenario, the posture calculation unit calculates an appropriate operating posture of the human body model having the physique of the selected human body type for each of the supposed operations set by the supposed operation setting unit, and the simulation unit arranges an equipment model and a human body model having the calculated operating posture in the three-dimensional virtual space, and displays the view image as an image of the three-dimensional virtual space viewed from the point of view of the human body model. The operation recording unit records the operation result of the equipment model on the view image, and the operability evaluation unit evaluates the operability of the equipment based on the recorded operation result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for evaluating equipment operability and an equipment operability evaluating program, and more specifically to an apparatus and method for evaluating equipment operability and an equipment operability evaluating program capable of evaluating the operability of equipment based on the operation of an equipment model on an image displaying the view of a human body model in a three-dimensional virtual space.
2. Description of the Related Art
The operability of equipment is verified by a recording staff who records the process of a test subject that has never operated the equipment actually operating the equipment. However, the physique of a person depends on the sex, race and so on and when the operability of equipment is evaluated, it is necessary to evaluate the operability based on the physique of each test subject. In the method of recording the process of a test subject operating equipment, it is hard to practically collect all physiques. Therefore, it is hard to correctly evaluate the operability of equipment. Additionally, although a problem can be detected by evaluating the operability of equipment, a sufficient period in which a design amendment can be made to improve the equipment is not permitted in most cases. As a result, evaluating the operability at an early designing stage is demanded.
In the field of various simulations such as digital mockup and so on, different body types depending on the race, sex and so on are represented by human body models using statistical values, and the human body models are arranged in a virtual space, thereby virtually experiencing the view of the real world in the view of a human body model, and successfully determining the appearance of equipment and visibility of a specific portion. In this method, a layout check and so on as to whether or not necessary parts are arranged in a work range of a test subject of each physique can be made.
Additionally, a technique of defining the user interface of equipment and the corresponding reaction of the equipment (for example, blinking an LED by a press of a specific part and so on), and checking the operation of a user interface unit has conventionally been developed.
Furthermore, patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 10-240791) describes the equipment operability evaluation support apparatus for supporting the process of evaluating the operability of the equipment by arranging an equipment model as a copy of the shape of the equipment to be designed or the equipment to be laid out in a simulation space, arranging the human body model for which an operation of equipment is supposed, and allowing the human body model to operate in the simulation space.
Patent document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2003-271891) describes the merchandise virtual experience system capable of experiencing the size, function, or operation of the merchandise not realized at the current situation by controlling a pseudo operation device capable of virtually operating merchandise or a part of it and a virtual space generation device for generating a virtual space.
Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 7-110804) describes the prototype device capable of allowing a third party to objectively verifying the operability by adding a modulation corresponding to characteristics of five senses of a person to operation input coordinates of the operation unit of equipment and a display output signal.
According to the study of the applicant of the present invention, there is the following problem even though a human body model is arranged in the three-dimensional virtual space, a designer checks the layout of equipment by experiencing the view with various physiques, and defines and verifies the operation of a user interface in the technique of the above described digital mockup and so on. That is, it is difficult for a test subject to verify the operability not about each operation of equipment but about whether or not a series of (plural) operations can be smoothly performed until a purpose is attained.
Concretely, when equipment is used, it is necessary to verify all points of operability such as the maintenance, composition, decomposition and so on by a maintenance staff and so on in addition to various operations of an end user. On the other hand, there can be a case in which an (operation) purpose can be attained only after a number of operations supposed for equipment are continuously performed as a series of operations. For example, the purpose of "deposit" in equipment called an automatic teller machine (ATM) includes a plurality of operations such as operating a touch panel, inserting a card, depositing cash and so on. There has been no device for evaluating the operability (serial operability until a purpose is attained) as to whether or not it is possible for a test subject to attain a purpose by smoothly operating the equipment when the test subject having less knowledge (than the designer of the equipment) about the equipment operates the equipment in a virtual space relating to a purpose formed by these plurality of operations.
Furthermore, according to the study of the applicant of the present invention, when the operability of equipment is evaluated-relating to a purpose formed by a plurality of operations, it is necessary to change the posture of a human body model when the plurality of operations are sequentially performed. However, since there has been no concept of evaluating the operability of equipment relating to a purpose formed by a plurality of operations, there has been no device for changing the posture of a human body model during the process.

Apparatus and method for evaluating equipment operability, and equipment operability evaluating program


A system for dispensing liquid material with different configurations of air assisted fiberization or filament movement (e.g., meltblowing, controlled fiberization). In particular, front access for mounting a selected nozzle only requires adjustment of one lever and one fastener. Features of the lever and nozzle allow assisted ejection of the nozzle, even when the nozzle has become adhered to a die body through use. In addition, a nozzle mounting surface of the die body provides a universal interface to the various types of nozzles. An air cavity in the die body and air troughs in selected types of nozzles balance and adjust air flow.

Various liquid dispensing systems use air assisted extrusion nozzles to apply viscous material, such as thermoplastic material, onto a moving substrate. Often times, these systems are used to form nonwoven products. For example, meltblowing systems may be used during the manufacture of products such as diapers, feminine hygiene products and the like. In general, meltblowing systems include a source of liquid thermoplastic material, a source of pressurized process air, and a manifold for distributing the liquid material and process air. A plurality of modules or dispensing valves may be mounted to the manifold for receiving the liquid and process air and dispensing an elongated filament of the liquid material which is attenuated and drawn down by the air before being randomly applied onto the substrate. In general, a meltblowing die tip or nozzle includes a plurality of liquid discharge orifices arranged in a row and a slot on each side of the row of liquid discharge orifices for dispensing the air. Instead of slots, it is also well known to use two rows of air discharge orifices parallel to the row of liquid discharge orifices.
Controlled fiberization dispensing systems also use air assisted extrusion nozzles. However, the pressurized process air in these systems is used to swirl the extruded liquid filament. Conventional swirl nozzles or die tips typically have a central liquid discharge passage surrounded by a plurality of process air discharge passages. The liquid discharge passage is centrally located on a protrusion. A common configuration for the protrusion is conical or frustoconical with the liquid discharge passage opening at the apex. The process air discharge passages are typically disposed at the base of the protrusion. The process air discharge passages are usually arranged in a radially symmetric pattern about the central liquid discharge passage. The process air discharge passages are directed in a generally tangential manner relative to the liquid discharge orifice and are all angled in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction around the central liquid discharge passage.
Another type of air assisted nozzle, referred to herein as a bi-radial nozzle, includes a wedge-shaped member having a pair of side surfaces converging to an apex. A liquid discharge passage extends along an axis through the wedge-shaped member and through the apex. The wedge-shaped member extends in a radially asymmetrical manner around the liquid discharge passage. Four process air discharge passages are positioned at the base of the wedge-shaped member. At least one process air discharge passage is positioned adjacent to each of the side surfaces and each of the process air discharge passages is angled in a compound manner generally toward the liquid discharge passage and offset from the axis of the liquid discharge passage.
These and other types of air-assisted extrusion nozzles generally require periodic maintenance due to accumulation of dust, hardened liquid material, or other reasons. Each dispensing valve may have to be unbolted from the manifold by unscrewing at least two bolts. The nozzle is then removed from the dispensing valve and another nozzle is mounted onto the valve. If necessary, the valve is reattached to the manifold. Consequently, such repair can increase the required shut down time for removal and replacement of valves and nozzles. Removal of the entire dispensing valve with the attached nozzle is generally a requirement when changing between applications (e.g., meltblowing to controlled fiberization).
For these reasons, it is desirable to provide apparatus and methods for quickly changing nozzles on a die assembly without encountering various problems of prior liquid dispensing systems. It is also desirable to provide for easier maintenance and replacement of air-assisted extrusion nozzles.

Universal dispensing system for air assisted extrusion of liquid filaments


An apparatus for microsurgical needle suture attachment includes a clamp for holding a needle such that the needle aperture remains in a fixed position; at least one guide member defining an angled guide area having a relatively wide portion and a vertex portion, the vertex portion being aligned with the fixed position of the needle aperture; a transport mechanism for advancing a suture end portion into the relatively wide portion of the guide member(s); and a deflection spring for moving the suture end portion into the vertex portion of the angled guide area.

1. Technical Field
The present method and apparatus relate to the attachment of a suture to a surgical needle.
2. Background of the Art
Surgical needles are well known in the art. A needle used in surgery is from 0.0025 to about 0.06 inches in diameter. Surgical needles are often curved. They typically have a butt, or "barrel" end with an axial hole drilled therein into which a suture is inserted for attachment after the suture is inserted. The needle is crimped or swaged to hold the suture in place. The swaging is performed so as to retain the suture in the needle such that a predetermined pull out force is required to separate the suture from the needle. Pull out forces are standardized and a list of standard pull out forces and suture diameters for a range of standard USP suture sizes is set forth in the U.S. Pharmacopeia. The sutures can be monofilament or multifilament. They can be bioabsorbable or non-bioabsorbable.
Generally, multifilament sutures are tipped prior to needle suture attachment. Multifilament sutures have a tendency to "broom" when cut. The tipping process adheres the filaments and facilitates insertion of the suture end into the hole in the needle.
Methods for attaching sutures to needles are known in the art and are disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,046,350, 4,922,904, 4,799,311, 4,722,384, 4,072,041, 4,060,885, 4,054,144, and 3,910,282, for example.
However, significant problems occur when dealing with the attachment of microsurgical needles and sutures. Microsurgical needles are typically from about 0.0025 to about 0.0130 inches in diameter. Microsurgical sutures usually used range from about 0.0015 to about 0.0080 inches in diameter. Microsurgical needle-suture attachment procedures are typically assisted by the use of magnification optics such as magnifying lenses or video monitors connected to telescopic magnification optics. As can be expected it is difficult to manipulate sutures which can hardly be seen without magnification. To insert such sutures manually into the hole in the barrel end of a needle, even with magnification, is very time consuming. Yet, surprisingly, this is the method currently being employed. The apparatus now used includes a needle holder which is movable along a track to position the needle between the jaws of a swaging die. Video cameras with telescopic magnification lenses enable the operator to view the end of the needle. The operator holds the suture end between the fingers and slowly advances the suture end, trying to get it aligned with the needle end. It can take a skilled worker up to a minute to insert the suture into the needle and to secure it by swaging.
Clearly, it would be desirable to simplify and speed up the process of microsurgical needle-suture attachment. Accordingly, the apparatus and method described herein reduce the per needle insertion time to as little as 20 seconds. This corresponds to a 200% increase in efficiency with respect to the use of time.

Method and apparatus for needle-suture attachment


A back light illumination system for providing substantially uniform illumination to a surface of an object to be observed so that the object may be accurately perceived by a machine vision system. The back light illumination system includes a light transmissive element having a central light transmissive portion and an opaque perimeter portion. A diffuser is located to cover the entire light transmissive portion and a rear surface of the diffuser is provided with a transmissive right angle film. A pair of opposed light sources are provided for illuminating a rear surface of the transmissive right angle film to supply light to the diffuser which uniformly diffuses the light and provides lighting of a substantially equal intensity and character to the light transmissive portion of the light transmissive element so that the back light illumination system thereafter emits substantially uniform illumination. The light supplied from the light sources to the right angle film is generally supplied at a shallow angle of between 0.degree. and 20.degree..

A number of back lighting illumination systems are currently known and some of the known back lighting illumination systems are capable of providing a substantially uniform illumination of an object for viewing, such as by a machine vision system, while other known back lighting illumination systems are not truly uniform. In particular, some of the known non-uniform back lighting illumination systems generate "hot spot" areas which are of a brighter intensity than the illumination supplied by the remaining area of the back lighting illumination system. This non-uniformity in illumination can cause false readings or perception by the machine vision system and is to be avoided.
In the known back lighting illumination systems which provide a substantially uniform illumination, they are very power intensive and employ a large array of illumination elements which increases their size. Further, the known systems generally do not efficiently use all of the supplied light to provide the uniform back lighting illumination. The prior art back lighting illumination systems also generate substantial heat during use.


A Jini™-based distributed computing platform architecture constructed to facilitate dynamic availability of eCommerce services over the Internet by which new services made available by a service provider are instantly accessible to a user through a web server.

Present invention relates to web services, and more particularly relates to an architecture based on a distributed computing platform capable of arbiting dynamic availability of eCommerce services through a web browser.
Most services and pages available through the World Wide Web (WWW) today are accessed using the hypertext transfer protocol (http), which is a request/response protocol that defines how messages are formatted and transmitted and what actions web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. The client browser typically requests access to a web site of a service provider by entering its URL, which provider responds by sending a set of instructions to the client which defines the service provider web page.
That is, the service provider responds by transmitting information for residence on the client browser (typically in the form of a client applet). The downloaded information, however, is static, i.e., any updates or changes must be provided by the service provider (end device) to the client in another information transfer and at the client's request for the http protocol.
Traditional distributed computer systems provide limited mechanisms for dynamically updating information in a user's browser window when connected to a service provider. When service offerings ("any exchange of information, on-line products, or services between a provider and an end user") change, or even when particular features of a service changes, a client may not see these changes due to a phenomenon known as browser caching.
More particularly, because data from a servlet sent from the service provider is "cached" in user's browser, it is not automatically updated with "new" service information when new services become available. The client, therefore, may be operating with obsolete data or an outdated service in the distributed computer system. More importantly, new services provided by the end device (service provider) are not to be visible (accessible) to the user until the page in the client's machine is reloaded via their web connection. In the fast-paced, ever changing world of electronic commerce, this is a crucial failing in systems today.
While traditional request/response interactions via the Internet are limited as described, the same limitations are found in an Intranet environment. In an effort to overcome such Intranet limitation, a software program or distributed computing platform, Jini™, by Sun Microsystems, has recently been implemented to simplify the network connection and sharing of services, i.e., printers, disc drives, etc. The Jini™ distributed computing platform performs Intranet tasks such as event notification, service registration, and dynamic downloading of software. Jini™ obviates the need, as in a conventional Java environment, for a user (client) to request a stub code update.
Jini™ is a distributed computing system which includes a connection technology that enables devices (of source providers) to plug and play together on a network. No driver or interface is needed on a client-based machine to run Jini™-controlled devices (that is, utilize any Jini™-based network service provider). The Jini™ system is Java-centric, assuming and requiring that communications between clients and services use a Java interface (RMI).
Such a Jini™-based network is shown in applicant's prior art FIG. 1. Therein, a client (User 1 or User 2) first locates which network service 110 it wishes to access using Jini's™ lookup server 100. The look-up server accesses a registry/locate service therein to determine user accessability. If accessible, the service provider interface is copied from the Jini™ lookup server 100 to the requesting user (client) where it will be used (e.g., Jini™ enabled devices 120). To do so, the Jini™ look-up server 100 prepares and passes snippets of code (which can be thought of as "device drivers" or client stubs) to the requesting client.
Every Jini™-enabled service (110 or 120) registers this driver with the lookup server when the service is initially made available. The lookup server provides any user client with the stub so that the client can directly access the service. Jini™ coordinates all devices/services to work together on demand in accordance with the code provided by the look-up server 100.
Once the network connection is made between user and device, the Jini™ lookup server 100 is not involved in subsequent transactions between that client (User 1 or User 2) and that network service (110 or 120). For example the client and end service device 120 would communicate directly after connected via Jini™. Jini™ provides everything needed by the client to utilize an Intranet end device 120 or service provider. Any computer that runs Java is able to access the data that passes among devices via Jini™.
Jini™ technology not only defines a set of protocols for discovery, join, and lookup, but also leasing and transaction mechanisms to provide resilience in a dynamic networked environment. Jini™ operates by exploiting the Java environment, with its portable byte code, dynamic downloading, and polymorphic object-oriented properties, essentially creating a distributed system (network). With the single, uniform Java environment, Jini™ allows code to be dynamically loaded into a running process irrespective of the underlying processor or operating system, exploiting the protocol-centric nature of distributed networks.
The Jini™ connection platform requires only that services 110 and devices 120 wishing to participate in the Federation or djinn (hardware or software) register at the Jini™ lookup service (and keep that registration alive through the renewal of leases). And while Jini™ has been proven to be beneficial in sharing resources in a Jini™-based network, no such system, with similar function and/or operation is known to exist for application outside of an Intranet world. For example, a mechanism where a client browser could be automatically updated by an Internet-based equivalent to a Jini™ look-up service via the net, by, for example, an eCommerce web server, would greatly enhance the web server's ability to communicate and/or interact with said web server.


The disclosed systems and methods provide an ink-based digital printing system for printing high quality images on a wide latitude of image receiving media. The disclosed systems and methods employ a UV curable base (transfix) layer deposited on an intermediate image transfer member that is then at least partially cured prior to an aqueous ink being deposited on the base layer to form a digital image thereon. Once the images are formed on the base layer, a drying device is optionally used to reduce a water content of the aqueous ink images on the base layer prior to transfer of the images to an image receiving media substrate. At transfer, the images and at least a portion of the base layer are transferred to the image receiving media substrate, the images being sandwiched between the portion of the base layer and the image receiving media substrate.

Tremendous interest continues in developing new printing and image forming platforms with wide media latitude and high image quality. Extensibility in the form of future growth opportunities in all manner of digital marking devices from office markets to production markets are targeted. Digital offset and aqueous transfix are both currently pursued as printing methods in associated platforms that may demonstrate adaptability to wider media latitude. In pursuing the further development and growth in certain markets, it is recognized that certain inherent limitations arise. Variable data digital offset lithographic image forming is generally considered to lack feasibility in the office market. Aqueous transfix digital image forming requires formulation of robust, aqueous inks, and newly formulated transfix pre-coats for office to production printing.
Digital printing is generally understood to refer to systems and methods in which images may be varied among consecutively printed images or pages. "Variable data lithography printing," or "ink-based digital printing," or "digital offset printing" are terms generally referring to printing of variable image data for producing images on a plurality of image receiving media substrates, the images being changeable with each subsequent rendering of an image on an image receiving media substrate in an image forming process. "Variable data lithographic printing" includes offset printing of ink images generally using specially-formulated lithographic inks, the images being based on digital image data that may vary from image to image, such as, for example, between cycles of an imaging member having a reimageable surface. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/095,714 ("714 Application"), entitled "Variable Data Lithography System," filed on Apr. 27, 2011 by Timothy Stowe et al., which is commonly assigned, and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes an exemplary variable data lithography system for ink-based digital printing.
"Ink-based digital printing" or "digital offset printing" systems and methods may otherwise include an ink jetting process in which a piezoelectric ink jet print head may be used to apply ink to an intermediate transfer material layer. The jetted ink may be disposed on a pre-coat layer, which can be in the form of a partially dried mixture of polymeric binder, liquids and release agent, such as oil, that is capable of supporting the printed intermediate image for subsequent transfer to an image receiving media substrate. The pre-coat layer may require different levels of drying prior to suitability to apply the jetted ink. The intermediate image is transferred by contact between a surface of an intermediate transfer component and the image receiving media substrate, typically with the assistance of a pressure roller or drum to create a transfer nip. After printing, a conventional pre-coat layer is at the surface of the image and may not provide adequate robustness depending on the application.

UV curable transfix layer printing systems and methods for digital offset printing


A bean bag alphanumeric figure is provided comprised of a first fabric side and a second fabric side having indicia of a face on the exterior of the first fabric side. The first fabric side and the second fabric side are held together in attachment so as to form a pocket by stitching along the periphery of the fabric sides so as to expose the exterior of the first fabric side to the exterior of the pocket. The pocket formed from first fabric side and the second fabric side is stitched closed leaving an opening which would allow the filling of the pocket formed from the two sides with a bean or pellet like material. The two sides of the fabric left unattached would then be brought into engagement and attached by stitching the sides closed. A Velcro.TM. like material or snaps would be provided on both sides of the feet and hands of the alphanumeric figures so that they may be brought into removable engagement with each other removably secured hand to hand, foot to foot, or foot to hand. Additionally, in one embodiment, a mechanical sound producing device may be sew into the interior of the pocket which, upon activation by depression, produces a voice which says the name of the letter or number into which the mechanical sound producing device has been inserted. Furthermore, in one embodiment, a flexible rollable board having a Velcro.TM. like material or snaps along a front of the board, may be utilized by attaching the individual figures to the Velcro.TM. or snaps of the board to the Velcro.TM. or snaps of the hands and feet of the figures.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to teaching and learning aids and, more particularly, to a unique learning toy for teaching the letters of the alphabet and reading and for teaching numbers and counting.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Since knowledge of the alphabet and numbers is critical to the development of reading and math skills, the creation of devices to assist in the teaching of the letters of the alphabet or numbers has always been of great interest.
Simple approaches, such as writing letters or numbers on a chalkboard have been in use in the art. However, many approaches to teaching letters or numbers lack a hands on quality that may be required to assist and promote interest and learning.
Certain hands on devices, such as cubes or blocks with letters on the various sides thereof, have been currently developed and utilized in teaching pre-school and kindergarten students. However, these devices lack the ability to be interconnected to spell out words or numbers and are not easily portable.


The invention has as its object the use of new composition of gels that can be used for the reduction of the production of water in oil- or gas-producing wells.. The compositions of gels comprise a solution of at least one water-soluble complex of a polyvalent metallic cation such as zirconium lactate able to cross link a nonionic polysaccharide such as scleroglucan, at a concentration of 2 to 10,000 parts per million of parts, expressed by weight of metal dioxide. With a preferred concentration of 2 to 100 ppm, the oil permeability is not appreciably affected.. The compositions make possible the formation of aqueous gels of scleroglucan that can be used for the prevention of inflows of water into the hydrocarbon-producing wells.

This invention has as its object the use of new crosslinking compositions for polysaccharides, in particular scleroglucan. It also relates to the use of aqueous gels including these crosslinking compositions for the selective reduction of the production of water in oil- or gas-producing wells. They exhibit a particularly great advantage when the permeability of the formation treated in the vicinity of the wells is high and/or when the water produced is hot and/or salty, for example at a formation temperature of 70.degree. to 130.degree. C. and/or a salinity of the water produced at least equal to that of sea water (at least 30 g/l, expressed in NaCl). These new compositions are particularly applicable to the enhanced recovery of hydrocarbons.
The recovery of the liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons of subterranean formations is very frequently accompanied by the production of large quantities of water. In some cases, although significant productions of hydrocarbons are obtained, the production of water is so considerable and the costs for treating the water so high that the production of hydrocarbons is not economical. In heterogeneous reservoirs, the excessive production of water is often caused by the fingering of the water injected through the zones of high permeability. This leads to a premature breakthrough of the water to the production well, to a poor volumetric sweep and finally to an ineffective recovery of the hydrocarbons.
Many methods intended to reduce the production of water of the very permeable formations have been proposed and tested in the field; they generally involve introducing into the formation, at the level of the zone to be isolated, either a cement or a suspension of solid particles or of paraffins. Resins or gels of water-soluble polymers have more recently been proposed and put into use. All these processes exhibit the disadvantage of not being selective and of blocking the circulation of the oil or gas almost as much as that of the water.
More recently, the use of water-soluble polymers of high molecular weight in the absence of any crosslinking or coupling agent has been proposed, polymers which exhibit the advantage, relative to the preceding solutions and in particular those which use resins or gels of polymers, of reducing the circulation of the water without affecting the production of oil or gas in a troublesome way.
Among these water-soluble polymers, nonionic polysaccharides and in particular scleroglucan have proved particularly effective in reducing selectively the production of water of production wells while maintaining the production of hydrocarbons. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,491 and patent application FR 89/1716 of the applicant recommend the use of different polysaccharides, and in particular of a scleroglucan, in the absence of any crosslinking or coupling additive, for the selective reduction of the permeability in the vicinity of an oil- or gas-producing well. If the preferred range of application of these polymers covers the productions of hot (up to 130.degree. C.) and Salty water, its effectiveness decreases when the permeability of the formation becomes high and in particular if it is greater than 1 Darcy.
French patent application 90/13385 describes a crosslinking composition comprising at least one water-soluble complex having a base of polyvalent metallic cation and of complexing organic acid of the cation able to crosslink a polysaccharide, in particular scleroglucan.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,312 furthermore recommends the use of scleroglucan complexes and a polyvalent metal ion such as titanium, zirconium and chromium for the production of fluids of very high viscosity and their use in enhanced recovery of oil. Although no mention is made in this patent of the ability of these gels to propagate in a subterranean formation, the increase in viscosity obtained shows that it is strong gels which should not have any selective character and therefore reduce the production of water as much as that of the hydrocarbons. In addition, it is suggested to use zirconium tetrachloride, but the latter exhibits the drawback of being insoluble in a water with a salinity close to that of seawater.

Use of gel-based compositions for reducing the production of water in oil- or gas-producing wells


A bearing module including a first bearing component and a second bearing component which are mounted such that the first bearing component and the second bearing component can move relative to one another, the first bearing component being an outer ring extending in a circumferential direction and the second bearing copmonent being a corresponding inner ring, a raceway is provided on one of the outer bearing and the inner bearing ring, and corrosion protection is provided at a side of the raceway, the corrosion protection being anodic corrosion protection and including one of a sacrificial anode or an impressed current anode. A separate protection means is provided, which is comprised of an oligodynamically acting material.

It is known, for example, from marine-vessel design, that marine-vessel components, such as a marine-vessel hull, are frequently subject to growth of and incrustation by underwater organisms, such as barnacles. In general, such growth of underwater organisms on components is also referred to as fouling. Such fouling adversely affects the functionality and the operability of the relevant components to a considerable extent.
In order to counteract growth of underwater organisms, it is known, for example, from DE 699 21 166 T2 for marine components, to be provided with a fouling separation coating, and in this case by way of example DE 699 21 166T3 refers to a marine-vessel hull or a liquid collecting tube. For this purpose, an appropriate coating agent is applied to the typically pretreated marine component, for example by brush application or by spraying. Appropriate pretreatment of the marine component envisages, for example, application of a moist coating, of an adhesion promoter, etc. Said coating procedure has the disadvantage that it is correspondingly labor-intensive and, therefore, also costly.
DE 697 29 791T1 cites a black paint color, which impedes growth, for use as a means to impede growth in marine-vessel applications.


A flat-type speaker having a damper-lead plate of a PCB voice coil plate includes a pair of magnetic bodies having a magnet and a yoke formed side-by-side, separated at a predetermined interval; a voice coil plate inserted between the magnetic bodies, and having printed thereon a voice coil with a spiral pattern; a first damper-lead plate physically separated from a second damper-lead plate, each having +, − terminals formed on the front ends thereof, the first and the second damper-lead plates each equipped with a coil plate spline, which adheres to the upper end of the voice coil plate, and at least one wing spline having one end thereof connected to the coil plate spline and the other end connected to the terminals; and a vibration plate, which vibrates from the vibration received from the voice coil plate, while being contacted to the upper end portion of the damper-lead plate.

A speaker is equipped with a voice coil and a vibration plate interposed between magnets, and the speaker generates sound when the vibration plate is vibrated by a movement of the voice coil.
A flat type speaker includes a flat type voice coil and magnets disposed on both sides of the flat type voice coil and spaced apart from each other at a specific interval. In this flat type speaker, induced electromotive force is generated according to Fleming's left-hand law and Lorentz's force, a frequency according to a voice is formed, and the frequency vibrates the vibration plate, thereby being reproduced into sound.
The voice coil is wound in an oval form or patterned and printed on one or both sides of a plate type coil base, thus forming a voice coil plate.
A vibration plate is attached to the top of the voice coil plate in a length direction. The vibration plate is vibrated in response to a movement of the voice coil plate, thereby generating sound.
Furthermore, the voice coil formed in the voice coil plate is bonded to both terminals of a base frame that forms the outside of + and − lead wires, thereby forming a circuit.
In a conventional voice coil plate, however, a contact area with the vibration plate is small because the voice coil plate is adhered to the vibration plate in an upright state. As a result, the transfer of vibration energy is limited.
Furthermore, since the lead wires formed in the voice coil plate are bonded to the base frame, a problem in which the bonding is broken because the voice coil plate is moved up and down, but the base frame is fixed is frequently generated.
Furthermore, in general, the lead wires of the voice coil plate are connected to the terminals of the base frame using a soldering method, but this method is problematic in that the quality of the speaker is deteriorated.

Flat type speaker having damper-lead plate of PCB voice coil plate


The invention is an induction heating system comprising a first article having a metallic mesh lining; and a second article having a coil for receiving an alternating electrical current; wherein the coil induces a current in the metallic mesh lining when the second pad is placed in close proximity to the first pad and the coil receives an alternating electrical current; whereby the current induced in the metallic mesh lining causes the metallic mesh lining to generate heat that can be applied to a body through contact with the first article. Additionally, this inventive induction heating system may further comprise a controller circuit in the second article for detecting an eddy current in the coil and operating a switch to turn the alternating electrical current off when no eddy current is detected in the coil.

Heat is widely used to treat various types of illness and injury. Heated garments or pads of various sizes and shapes often are used to apply heat to a given area of the body affected by the illness or injury.
Many heating pads simply store heat energy from an external source, such as an oven, but the heat from these types of devices dissipates and eventually disappears completely. Consequently, these devices quickly lose their effectiveness.
Other types of heating pads include an internal heat source that can provide continuous heat, but these devices typically rely on electricity and resistance heating to power the internal heat source. Cords or bulky batteries are required to provide the necessary electricity. Such cords or batteries can interfere with a patient's mobility and also expose the patient to a risk of electrocution or strangulation.
Thus, current methods of heating a garment or pad are often cumbersome and ineffective, and there is a need for a system that can provide continuous heat without electrical cords or batteries.
Induction heating is a well-known method for producing heat in an object without the need for wires or batteries, and has been used for some time in such diverse applications as cooking appliances and welding tools. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,581 (issued Sep. 26, 2000), U.S. Pat. No. 6,727,483 (issued Apr. 27, 2004). In general an induction heating system requires a coil and an alternating electrical current. When connected to the alternative electrical current, the coil produces a varying magnetic field. In turn, the magnetic field induces an electric current in an object when the object is placed within the magnetic field. The resistance to electric current in the object causes the object to emit heat.
Notwithstanding current applications of induction heating, though, no known product applies the principles of induction heating to address the need for a garment or pad that can provide continuous heat without electrical cords or batteries.


A feed supplement is disclosed comprising animal plasma purified from animal blood which is granulated. Animals fed this supplement experienced a significantly higher average daily gain and increased average daily feed intake when compared with a control of feed supplemented with plasma protein powder.

It has long been known that the first few weeks of life for animals are critical for growth and survival. However, livestock animals, particularly pigs and calves are commonly weaned at a younger age (1 to 35 days of age) to reduce the cost of production and in some cases to improve health status. Much has been learned about management methods necessary for early-weaning; however challenges remain for livestock producers because the animals are young and susceptible to disease. Many factors affect the susceptibility of the young animal to disease but, disease exposure and immunological status are two of the critical factors in an animal's susceptibility to a particular disease. The dam is a recognized vector and source of disease exposure for enteric and respiratory disease agents. Thus, the young animal (1 to 28 days of age) is removed from the dam (early-weaning) to prevent the horizontal transmission of certain diseases. A technique such as early-weaning benefits the animal through improved health but feeding and management of such a young animal becomes a very formidable task. Young animals are adept at nursing, digesting, and absorbing the nutrients from their primary nutrient source, milk. The feeding of milk, however, is labor intensive and expensive. Therefore, producers attempt to feed simpler, more cost-effective diets based on grains and forages. The digestive system of the young animal is not mature enough to digest such a simple diet. Thus, very young pigs and calves in the postweaning period experience a syndrome identified as postweaning lag.
The symptoms of post weaning lag usually include slow growth, low feed intake, and frequent occurrence of diarrhea. The syndrome can result in moderate to high production losses on commercial farms. The loss is the result of slow growth, high morbidity (25%) and high mortality rates (up to 10% of the population). The lightest and youngest animals in the population are often the most severely affected. Postweaning lag is most common in pigs (1 to 35 days of age) exposed to environmental and microbiological challenges.
Nutrient-rich, highly-digestible feeds have been specifically formulated to counter the effects of weaning on feed intake of the young animal. Such feeds/diets are very nutritious and highly fortified to provide the energy and nutrients for rapid growth. The diets consist primarily of processed grains (corn, wheat, barley, rice, etc.), gelatinized starches, milk products (dried skim milk, dried whey, lactose, dried whey protein concentrate, casein, etc.), sugars (dextrose, glucose, sucrose), fats and/or oils (lard, grease, vegetable oils, coconut oil, etc.), animal proteins (fishmeal, bloodmeal, meat meal, etc.), and refined, extruded soybeans (soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate). However, even with the utilization of such high-quality diets, early-weaned pigs do not consume adequate quantities of feed to promote rapid growth. Upon weaning, these pigs frequently must be encouraged to eat using labor intensive practices such as frequent-feeding of liquid milk-replacers. The digestive capacity of these pigs is simply too immature to digest and assimilate nutrients from the grain and/or vegetable-based diets upon which the animal must now subsist. Thus, without the essential enzymes to digest and convert several complex energy sources into utilizable energy substrates such as glucose and short-chain fatty acids (from adipose tissue breakdown) and amino acids. The physiologically-catabolic state results in a loss of body weight from weaning to 14 days postweaning due to negative protein and energy balance.
Post-weaning lag (poor appetite, slow growth and diarrhea) is dramatically-reduced when newly-weaned pigs are fed a starter diet supplemented with dried animal plasma. Appetite and weight gain in small, newly weaned pigs is improved with supplementation of the pig starter with spray-dried animal plasma (DAP) (Hansen et al., 1993; de Rodas et al., 1995; Kats et al., 1994). In fact, the dietary improvement resulting from the supplementation of the newly-weaned pig feed with dried animal plasma is so dramatic it has allowed the swine industry to reduce weaning age from 28 to 21 days of age without a noticeable change in the incidence of the postweaning lag syndrome. The protein components involved in the response to dietary supplementation of dried animal plasma include immunoglobulin and albumin (Weaver and Russell, 1994; Cain et al., 1994; Owen et al., 1994). The product available to the industry to date, (and evaluated in the previously mentioned references) has been a spray-dried animal plasma in powder form. Spray-dried animal plasma in the powder form has been available to the food and feed industries for many years. The product has at times been co-dried with other feed or food ingredients such as milk or whey-products.
It has also been discovered that a blended powdered feed supplement comprising animal plasma protein and a microbial fermentation product of primarily amylase is even more effective in improving weaned pig performance than animal plasma protein alone. Yoder U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,999.
According to the invention it has been discovered, quite unexpectedly, that the average daily gain of animals fed a diet containing a granular form of spray-dried animal plasma is significantly better than animals fed a diet supplemented with similar levels of animal plasma powder, this effect is not observed with the red blood cell component of blood.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a granulated protein feed supplement which will increase weight gain and feed efficiency for animals.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a protein supplement with increased bio-efficacy obtained by granulating plasma or any of its components.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide feed or a protein supplement with increased flowability, reduced dustiness and improved ease of handling.
These and other objectives will become apparent from the following description of the invention.

Granular plasma protein supplement with increased bio-efficacy


The present invention provides novel processes for the dewatering of a wide variety of solid-liquid matrices, including primary and secondary sludge, which involve the simultaneous application of pressure and heat to the solid-liquid matrices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the art of the dewatering of solid-liquid matrices, and more particularly pertains to novel processes for removing the water from various types of solid-liquid matrices, including various types of sludge, with the simultaneous application of both pressure and heat to the solid-liquid matrices.
2. Background and Description of Related Art
a. Current Methods Employed for Dewatering Solid-Liquid Matrices
Solid-liquid matrices from municipal, industrial and other processes are currently dewatered with a room-temperature belt, filter or screw press. These pieces of equipment employ high-pressure processes during which the water is separated from the solid-liquid matrices.
In accordance with the present invention, it has been determined that the application of a hot surface to a solid-liquid matrix simultaneously with the application of pressure to the solid-liquid matrix unexpectedly leads to the greatly enhanced removal of water from the solid-liquid matrix.
b. Description of the Related Art
Each of the documents described hereinbelow discloses processes which are different from the processes of the present invention. Each of these documents is directed to the removal of water from a wet web of paper during paper manufacturing, or to the removal of wrinkles from a web of wrinkled fabric. None of these documents discusses any type of sludge, or other type of solid-liquid matrix, or any process for the dewatering of any type of sludge or other solid-liquid matrix. Unlike sludge, and other types of solid-liquid matrices, which are not webs or fabrics, a wet web of paper has air, rather than water, pushed through the web by the application of pressure. Thus, the processes of the present invention are distinct from that which has been described in the art.
Energy-intensive evaporative drying has been employed in the past to dry wet webs of paper. As is described in H. P. Lavery, "High-Intensity Drying Processes--Impulse Drying", Report 2, DOE/CE/40738-T2 (1987), research in this area has shown that energy can be saved by impulse drying the paper.
"Impulse drying" occurs when a wet paper web passes through the press nip of a pair of rolls, one of which has been heated to a high temperature. A steam layer adjacent to the heated surface grows and displaces water from the wet sheet of paper in a more efficient manner than conventional evaporative drying.
Impulse drying is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,613. Impulse drying is drying by means of heating one of a pair of rolls to a high temperature prior to passing a wet paper web between the pair of rolls. In the method described in this patent, the surface of one of the rolls is heated to a high temperature by an external heat source immediately prior to passing the wet paper web between the heated roll and the other roll. This patent describes the use of solid rolls having at least a surface layer having high thermal conductivity and high thermal diffusivity, such as copper or cast iron, for use as the heated roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,613 discloses that, in normal cases, a major part of the drying must take place in the press nip, and final drying takes place after the nip. The conductivity of the material of which the heating roll is made must be high so as not to dry at roll surface temperatures higher than necessary. A high conductivity is stated to mean that the heat can be conducted to a greater depth in the roll, and even extracted from a greater depth, which in itself means that a lower roll temperature can be used. U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,613 discloses that the choice of material is limited by the risk of thermal fatigue and, in this respect, at least the surface layer of the roll should be made of a material for which the quantity: ##EQU1## has a high value desirably at least 0.6.times.10.sup.6, where .sigma..mu. is the fatigue strength, v is Poisson's ratio, .rho. is the density, c is the specific thermal capacity, .lambda. is the thermal conductivity, E is the modulus of elasticity, and a, is the coefficient of thermal expansion for the material. Copper alloys are stated to have the highest values, approximately 13.times.10.sup.6. However, they are stated to have rather poor resistance to wear and to not be suitable for doctoring. Other stated suitable materials are duralumin (0.7.times.10.sup.6), cast iron (0.67.times.10.sup.6 -0.85.times.10.sup.6), steel (0.8.times.10.sup.6) and nickel (approximately 0.8.times.10.sup.6 -0.9.times.10.sup.6).
In addition to the impact on energy consumption, impulse drying also has an effect on paper sheet structure and properties. Surface fiber conformability and interfiber bonding are enhanced by transient contact with the hot surface of the roll. As the impulse drying process is usually terminated before the sheet is completely dried, internal flash evaporation results in a distinctive density profile through the sheet that is characterized by dense outer layers and a bulky midlayer. For many paper grades, this translates into improved physical properties. The persistent problem with the use of impulse drying, however, is that flash evaporation can result in delamination of the paper sheet. This is particularly a problem with heavy weight grades of paper. This has been a major constraint as to the commercialization of impulse drying.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,209,759 discloses a press roll assembly having a hard, porous surface roller adapted to receive water pressed from a wet web of paper for conveyance of the water away from the web of paper, and having a second roller. During the conveyance of the water away from the wet web of paper, some of the water is thrown from the roller by centrifugal force, and remaining portions of the water are sucked or blown out of the roller at points spaced from the web of paper by a mechanical suction device cooperating with the outer face of the roller. Column 2, Lines 35-39, on Page 3 of this patent discloses the direction of a flame against the porous surface of the first roller after the removal of water from the web of paper to heat the surface of the roller and continuously supply dewatered and heat-treated pores to the nip of the press roll assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,572 discloses a roll having a resilient heated surface for use in drying operations. The heating element which is pressed in the roll is in the form of a layer of electro-conductive plastic composition surrounding an insulating layer, and having sufficient resistance to provide the desired heating action when a difference in electrical potential is maintained across the layer. In order to supply electrical energy or potential to the conductive layer, conductor rings of brass or copper are embedded in the conductive layer. Contact points present in the roll are connected to a suitable source of electrical potential so that a difference of potential is maintained across the conductive layer as a shaft rotates. The resistance of the conductive layer causes heat to be generated uniformly thereover, by which the surface of the roll is heated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,613 describes a method and a machine for brushing the pile of a pile fabric, such as a knit fabric, and for removing the wrinkles in a moving web of the material. The wrinkles are removed from the fabric by a wrinkle remover with the application of heat by an infrared heater, and then the fabric is brushed by one or more rotating brushes. The wrinkle remover consists of a pair of rectangular spreader boxes, each of which is connected to a suitable vacuum source through conduit. The vacuum conduit sucks air through an opening to pull the fabric down and maintain it in contact with the bristles of the brushes. As the fabric is being supplied over the spreader boxes, the brushes cam the fabric outward to remove the wrinkles therein as the suction pressure from the vacuum conduit pulls the fabric downward.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,469 discloses an apparatus and method in which a formed web is subjected for an extended period of time to increased pressure and temperature, such that fluid within the web is removed therefrom. The apparatus includes a press member (or backing roll), such that when the web passes through the pressing section of the apparatus, fluid is removed from the web, and a heating means which is adjacent to the press member, and which transfers heat to the web. When the web passes through the press section, the web is subjected for an extended period of time to increased pressure and temperature. Water vapor resulting from this high pressure and temperature which is generated in the pressing section of the apparatus during passage of the web therethrough is stated to force the fluid in the liquid phase away from the web. The press member defines a pressing surface which is porous, for inhibiting delamination of the web.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,095 discloses a method for extracting water from a wet paper web in a paper making machine using a ceramic foam component which has: (1) a supporting structure; and (2) a water permeable member mounted on the supporting structure which is adapted to support a paper web. The paper web is supported on a moving porous belt, and passes over the water permeable member. When a pressure differential is applied to the wet paper web as it travels over the water permeable member, moisture is extracted from the wet paper web and drains through the water permeable member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,661 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,821 disclose a method and apparatus (an electrohydraulic press) for drying a wet web of paper utilizing impulse drying techniques to provide a paper product having a predetermined pattern of delaminated fibers. The wet paper is dried as it passes through the press nip when it is transported through a pair of rolls wherein at least one of the rolls has been heated to an elevated temperature (to a temperature of from about 200.degree. C. to about 500.degree. C.). The heated roll is provided with a planar surface having a predetermined pattern formed on the surface of a material having a low K value of less than about 3000 w.sqroot.s/m.sup.2 c, and having a relatively low porosity. The material forming the predetermined pattern of the roll surface is preferably selected from ceramics, polymers, glass, inorganic plastics, composite materials and cermets. The remainder of the roll surface has a high K value of greater than about 3000. The material forming the remainder of the roll surface is preferably selected from steel, molybdenum, nickel and duralimin. The two rolls are urged together to provide a compressive force on the wet paper web as it is transported through the rolls. This method is stated to be useful for the impulse drying of paper webs having an initial moisture level of from about 50% to about 70%. The moisture level of the paper web after being subjected to this impulse drying technique is stated to be in the range of from about 40% to about 60%.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,521 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,574 disclose a method and apparatus for drying a wet web of paper utilizing impulse drying techniques. The wet paper web is transported through a pair of rolls wherein at least one of the rolls has been heated to an elevated temperature (a temperature of from about 200.degree. C. to about 400.degree. C.) for a residence time of up to about 0.125 seconds. The heated roll is provided with a surface having a low thermal diffusivity of less than about 1.times.10.sup.-6 m.sup.2 /s. The method is stated to be useful for the impulse drying of paper webs having an initial moisture level of from about 50% to about 70%. The moisture level of the paper web after it has been subjected to this impulse drying technique is stated to be in the range of from about 40% to about 60%.

Methods for dewatering solid-liquid matrices

Institute of Paper Science and Technology, Inc.


An image processing apparatus includes a storage device, an image reading device, a complementary image storage device, and a control device. The complementary image storage device stores a complementary image for complementing an incomplete two-dimensional code. The control device includes a processor and functions, through the processor executing a control program, as a detector, a synthesizer, and an analyzer. The detector detects, from the image obtained through the reading of the image reading device, the incomplete two-dimensional code. The synthesizer synthesizes the incomplete two-dimensional code detected by the detector and the complementary image stored in the complementary image storage device to generate a complete two-dimensional code. The analyzer analyzes the complete two-dimensional code generated by the synthesizer and activates an extension function.

The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and particularly relates to a technique for extending functions.
There are copiers and multifunction peripherals in which various extension functions for further improving functions of the apparatuses are prepared. For example, extension functions such as an optional font and security enhancement kit are implemented as software in the apparatuses, but are invalidated when the apparatuses are being shipped. That is, in initial states of the apparatuses, the extended functions are invalid and cannot be used in that states. To make the extension functions usable, a user needs to purchase a license key and perform activation of the extension function. As one of the methods for the user to purchase the license key, there is a method of purchasing by accessing a management server that manages the license key. The user accesses the management server to purchase the license key, and manually inputs the purchased license key through an operating device of the apparatus to extend the function of the apparatus.
In addition, as a method for simplifying the user's manual work, there has been proposed a technique of causing a scanner provided in the multifunction peripheral or the like to read a printed material on which a two-dimensional code such as a QR code (registered trademark) is printed, and using the two-dimensional code as the license key.

Image processing apparatus capable of extending function, and image forming apparatus provided with the same


A catheter terminus protective system comprising a base panel having a pair of adjoining flaps, an adhesive patch on at least one of the flaps for securing at least one catheter terminus from which a catheter line extends, the flaps being relatively moveable between secured closed positions in which they form a protective enclosure for the catheter terminus, and free open positions in which they allow manual access to said catheter terminus. An original catheter line extends from the protective enclosure when the flaps are in the closed positions and may be replaced by an alternative catheter line when the flaps are opened. The flaps are constituted by a fluid impermeable facing and a fluid absorbent backing in superposition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical catheters, which directly access vessels, cavities, and diseased regions of the body to enable intravenous infusion of medications, dialysis, and other medical treatments. More particularly, the present invention relates to the protection of subclavian and interjugular catheters.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, subclavian and interjugular catheters have an interior end, which extends during a regimen through a surgical or natural passage into or from the body, and an exterior end, which remains during the regimen outside the body for connection to a fluid source, repository, or processor. During the regimen, while the interior end remains fixed in place in the body, the exterior end may be disconnected and reconnected to a variety of medical devices during a prolonged period. When the exterior end of the catheter is exposed, clamps and injection caps typically keep blood, debris, and medication from leaking out. In order to prevent non-sterile exposure of the injection cap, a technician may wrap gauze pads around the injection caps and may secure the pads with adhesive tape. Although, for ease of explanation, a single catheter line and single injection cap are described hereinafter, multiple catheter lines and injection caps are contemplated.
Problems have arisen because there are no uniform standards for catheter length, configuration, or introduction at the surgical entry. As a result, there is no standard procedure for protecting the clamps, lines, injection caps from contamination or for preventing discomfort of the patient. Poorly wrapped dressings may fall off, leaving the injection caps open to contamination. Manipulating catheter input lines in attempts to remove such a dressing is unwieldy, time consuming, and often requires replacement of the catheter. The configuration and stability of the catheter at the surgical entry has been a matter of chance and has not been based carefully on the comfort of the patient.


Features are disclosed for generating comfort noise that matches a frequency spectrum of original background noise. For example, a spectral shape of an estimated noise component can be determined. A frame of white noise can be modified based at least in part on the spectral shape of the noise component. The modified frame of white noise can be converted to a time-domain noise signal. The level of the time-domain noise signal can be adjusted to match an original level of the noise after noise reduction. Residual echo suppression can sometimes cause background noise to be eliminated, causing silence. The adjusted time-domain noise signal can be added after residual echo suppression to maintain continuity of background noise levels.

Many communication devices configured to obtain audio data of user utterances include both a loudspeaker and a microphone. The loudspeaker is used to play audio signals, such as speech from a remote source during a telephone call, audio content presented from local storage or streamed from a network etc. The microphone is used to capture audio signals from a local source, such as a user speaking voice commands or other utterances. An acoustic echo occurs when the remote signal emitted by the loudspeaker is captured by the microphone, after undergoing reflections in the local environment.
An acoustic echo canceller ("AEC") may be used to remove acoustic echo from an audio signal captured by a microphone in order to facilitate improved communication. For example, the AEC may filter the microphone signal by determining an estimate of the acoustic echo (e.g., the remote audio signal emitted from the loudspeaker and reflected in the local environment). The AEC can then subtract the estimate from the microphone signal to produce an approximation of the true local signal (e.g., the user's utterance). The estimate can be obtained by applying a transformation to a reference signal that corresponds to the remote signal emitted from the loudspeaker. In addition, the transformation can be implemented using an adaptive algorithm. For example, adaptive transformation relies on a feedback loop, which continuously adjusts a set of coefficients that are used to calculate the estimated echo from the far-end signal. Different environments produce different acoustic echoes from the same loudspeaker signal, and any change in the local environment may change the way that echoes are produced. By using a feedback loop to continuously adjust the coefficients, an AEC to can adapt its echo estimates to the local environment in which it operates.
Many communication devices also include a noise reduction ("NR") module. In addition to user utterances and acoustic echo, background noise is typically present in any environment. The NR module can use a noise reduction algorithm to reduce the level of background noise present in an audio signal. Typically, the NR module reduces but does not entirely eliminate the level of noise in the audio signal.
In addition, communication devices may also use a residual echo suppressor ("RES"). Various factors, including nonlinearity and noise, can cause an echo to not be completely eliminated by an acoustic echo canceller. A residual echo suppressor may be used to further reduce the level of echo that remains after processing by an acoustic echo canceller. For example, residual echo suppressors may use non-linear processing to further reduce the echo level. In addition to echo, however, processing by a residual echo suppressor often eliminates noise as well. For example, a residual echo suppressor can receive an audio signal that already has reduced levels of noise after processing from the NR module and further process the signal so that the level of noise is wiped out completely.
This processing by the residual echo suppressor can have the undesirable effect of creating silence in the audio output signal. For example, when a user is speaking an utterance, the residual echo suppressor further reduces residual echo, but a level of background noise remains present in the output signal. However, when a user stops speaking an utterance, the residual echo suppressor can eliminate any residual echo as well as the background noise that was present. The abrupt transition in an audio output signal that includes some level of background noise and one that does not (e.g., silence) can cause a listener to mistakenly believe that the communication link is dead. In addition, the frequent changes between listening to a signal that includes some level of background noise and one that does not can cause distraction to a listener.

Comfort noise generation based on noise estimation


A centralizer is located in a passage of a tubular body of a wellhead assembly for centralizing well tools lowered through the passage. Centralizing members have outer ends mounted to axially extending stationary hinge members, which are mounted to the tubular body in a circular array around a circumference of the passage. A cam and a slot are located between the outer end of each of the centralizing members and the stationary hinge member. Each of the slots has an upward inclined portion, a downward inclined portion, and a neutral position located between the upward and downward inclined portions. A spring urges the cam and the slot to the neutral position, which orients the centralizing members radially inward.

In offshore well drilling operations, the operator must pass tools through remote well components that have surfaces specially prepared for eventual sealing with another well component. For example, the well component might be a wellhead housing having seal surfaces for a packoff of a casing hanger and possibly also a tubing hanger. During drilling, the drill bits and drill strings must pass through the wellhead housing, thus could damage the seal surfaces.
Normally, the operator installs a wear bushing over the seal surfaces in the wellhead housing. A wear bushing is a sleeve, normally metal, that is placed over the seal surfaces. Usually, the wear bushing is run on a running tool lowered on pipe, such as drill pipe. When the operator is ready to install the component in the seal surface or to change to a smaller drill bit size, he must retrieve the wear bushing. In deep water, the time to run and retrieve a wear bushing is very costly.
Wear bushings that are run in with the drill bit and retrieved with the drill bit are known and will reduce the cost of a trip but are not used extensively because of possible malfunctions. Also, once either type of wear bushing has been removed, there is no protection for the seal surface until the component has landed and sealed against the seal surface. For example, the lower end of the casing below a casing hanger could come into contact with the seal surface while the casing is being run. U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,921 shows a powered centralizer located above a wellhead housing for centering equipment being lowered through the wellhead housing. The system shown therein is not yet in use, and improvements are desirable.