The present invention discloses a full reservoir sampling and testing apparatus having a ground surface testing and controlling tool (36) and a downhole tool (1), the downhole tool (1) comprises a wireline bridle (21), an adapter joint AH64 (2) connected to the wireline bridle (21), a GR pup joint, an electric unit (4), a single probe unit (5), a pumping unit (6), a dual packer unit (7), and a multi sampling unit (8); the ground surface testing and controlling tool (36) comprises a power supply controller, a computer system and a relevant control, analysis and interpretation software; an upper portion of the pumping unit (6) is connected to the single probe unit (5) and a lower portion thereof is connected to the multi sampling unit (8).

A wireline formation tester is the only one logging device which can test formation dynamic properties of hydrocarbon reservoirs. The first formation tester was developed by Schlumberger Technology Corporation in 1955, which was used widely through 1960s to 1970s, but it could only test one formation pressure by going to the downhole one time, taking one formation fluid sample and employing an electric ignition valve. In 1974, Schlumberger Technology Corporation developed a Repeated Formation Tester RFT. Western Atlas International, Inc developed a Formation Multi Tester FMT in 1980, thereafter, Western Atlas International, Inc developed a selective formation tester SFT. These testers are all used as logging device in prospecting well until now and are reservation products of wireline formation tester. Such testers can test formation pressure and formation effective permeability of an arbitrary formation point by going to the downhole one time and test two formation fluid samples at most, in addition, all operations thereof are hydraulic controlled automatically. In 1998 and 1990, Schlumberger Technology Corporation obtained the U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,581 entitled "downhole tool for determination of formation properties", and U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,139 entitled "downhole method for determination of formation properties" (corresponding Chinese Patent number 89107138.5), the above patents were put into use in 1990, hence, the wireline formation tester has a function of pump discharging mud filtrate into a well bore, so that the tester can test a formation original fluid sample. Such tester has the following features that it employs the following technology: combining the optical frequency identification and electrical resistivity identification between the mud filtrate and the formation original fluid sample, a technology of determining the formation horizontal and vertical permeability by a plurality of probes, a combination technology of multi-level sampling, and a technology of combining different tools freely for performing many functions. In 1994 and 1995, Western Atlas International, Inc obtained the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,303,775 and 5,377,755 entitled "method and apparatus for acquiring and processing subsurface samples of original fluid" (i.e. reservoir property tester—RCI), in which a pumping piston is proposed, the pumping piston has dual functions and unequal diameters and pumps directly a formation fluid, whose pressure is higher than the bubble point pressure, into a sampling chamber continuously, the apparatus can take six formation original fluid samples by going to the downhole one time and further be provided with a standby probe. In 1999, Halliburton Energy Services, Inc obtained the U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,374 entitled "formation tester with improved sample collection system", the formation tester has the following features: the pump discharging capacity of general 2.2L/min (0.6 gpm) is increased to 3.6L/min (1 gpm); and the dual probes which are spaced by 184.15 mm are used, so that the pump discharging capacity of the mud filtrate is increased and an anisotropic formation permeability can be measured; sampling without impact is the standard form of sampling; a pre-test process of the dual-probe and pumping output is performed by using a digital feedback control system so as to optimize the flow velocity.

Apparatus for sampling and logging on all producing zones of a well


A semiconductor package includes a semiconductor chip electrically connected to a plurality of leads arranged at the periphery of the semiconductor chip wherein each of the leads is bent to have a first portion exposed from the upper surface of the semiconductor package and a second portion exposed from the lower surface of the semiconductor package. Both of the first portion and the second portion of each lead can be utilized for making external electrical connection.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to lead frame packages, and more specifically to leadless semiconductor packages.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lead frame packages have been used for a long period of time in the IC packaging history mainly because of their low manufacturing cost and high reliability. Although the traditional lead frame packages have become gradually obsolete for some high performance-required packages, they still remains their market share as a cost-effective solution for low I/O ICs. Traditional lead frame package has its limit of providing a solution for chip scale and low profile package due to the long inner leads and outer leads. Therefore, the semiconductor packaging industry develops a leadless package without outer leads such that both the footprint and the package profile can be greatly reduced.
FIGS. 10 and 11 show a leadless package 10 wherein the leads 11a are disposed at the bottom of the package as compared to the conventional gull-wing or J-leaded type package. The die pad 11b of the leadless package 10 is exposed from the bottom of the package thereby providing better heat dissipation. Typically, there are four tie bars 11c being connected to the die pad 11b. The leadless package 10 includes a chip 12 sealed in a package body 13. The active surface of the chip 12 is provided with a plurality of bonding pads (not shown) electrically connected to the leads 11a via wire bonding.
Due to the elimination of the outer leads, leadless packages are featured by lower profile and weight. Furthermore, the leadless package 10 is also a cost-effective package due to its use of existing BOM (bill of materials). All the above-mentioned properties make the current leadless packages very suitable for telecommunication products such as cellular phones, portable products such as PDA (personal digital assistant), digital cameras, and IA (Information Appliance).
However, this conventional leadless package has various design and production limitations. For example, since only the bottom of the package is provided with the leads 11a for making external electrical connection, the package 10 can be mounted onto an external substrate (such as a printed circuit board (PC board)) only in a die up orientation. This limitation is especially apparent when the chip to be packaged is an image sensor chip which needs an opening sealed by a transparent lid formed in the package thereby allowing the image sensor chip to be exposed to the object to be sensed on an optical principle.

Semiconductor package and stack arrangement thereof

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


This invention relates to a process for forming a single-layer, durably wettable polymeric web having a plurality of apertures. This process comprises melting a mixture of at least one thermoplastic polymer and at least one migratable surfactant and extruding the mixture to form a single-layer, substantially continuous polymeric film. The film is then apertured using high pressure fluid flows. Aperture formation is conducted when the single-layer polymeric film has a contact angle of at least about 30.degree., to minimize wash-off of the surfactant impregnated in the polymer web. The invention also relates to durably-wettable apertured webs.

Macroscopically expanded, three-dimensional, apertured polymeric webs are generally known in the art. As utilized herein, the term "macroscopically expanded", when used to describe three-dimensional plastic webs, ribbons and films, refers to webs, ribbons and films which have been caused to conform to the surface of a three-dimensional forming structure so that both surfaces thereof exhibit the three-dimensional pattern of the forming structure, the pattern being readily visible to the naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of the web is about 12 inches. By way of contrast, the term "planar", when utilized herein to describe plastic webs, ribbons and films, refers to the overall condition of the web, ribbon or film when viewed by the naked eye on a macroscopic scale. In this context "planar" webs, ribbons and films may include webs, ribbons and films having fine-scale surface aberrations on one or both sides, the surface aberrations not being readily visible to the naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of the web is about 12 inches or greater.
One macroscopically expanded, three-dimensional apertured polymeric web which is particularly well suited to transferring fluid deposited on one surface thereof to its opposite surface and thereafter isolating the transferred fluid from a wearer's skin is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,135 issued to Thompson on Dec. 30, 1975, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Thompson describes a macroscopically expanded, three dimensional web (e.g., a topsheet) comprised of liquid impermeable material, but provided with a pattern of tapered capillaries, the capillaries having a base opening in the plane of the topsheet and an apex opening remote from the plane of the topsheet, the apex opening being in intimate contact with the absorbent pad utilized in the disposable absorbent bandage. The Thompson topsheet allows the free transfer of fluids from the wearer's body into the absorbent element of the device while inhibiting the reverse flow of these fluids. This provides a relatively much drier surface in contact with the user than had previously been obtainable.
Another macroscopically expanded, three-dimensional apertured plastic web well suited for use as a topsheet on absorbent bandages such as sanitary napkins is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,314 issued to Radel and Thompson on Aug. 3, 1982, the patent being hereby incorporated by reference herein. The macroscopically expanded, three-dimensional plastic web disclosed in the Radel and Thompson patent exhibits a fiber-like appearance and tactile impression which has been favorably received by consumers when used as a wearer contacting surface.
According to the teachings of the aforementioned commonly assigned patents to Thompson and to Radel, et al., plastic webs of the aforementioned type can be made by applying a fluid pressure differential to the web while it is supported on a three-dimensional forming structure until the web is macroscopically expanded to comply with the three-dimensional cross-section of the forming structure on which if is supported. When aperturing of the macroscopically expanded, three-dimensional web is desired, the fluid pressure differential is applied continuously until such time as aperturing of the web in areas coinciding with the apertures in the forming structure has been completed.
While single-phase (i.e., one aperturing phase) forming processes (including the fluid-based systems discussed above and the vacuum-based systems discussed below) have been successfully utilized in producing macroscopically expanded, three-dimensional apertured plastic webs exhibiting many characteristics generally viewed as favorable by consumers, such single-phase processing techniques are unable to deliver certain desired characteristics in a single finished web structure, particularly at high production speeds.
In this regard, a multi-phase, fluid-based process such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,518, issued Sep. 2, 1986 to Curro et al. (hereafter referred to as "'518 patent"), was developed to provide a film with very small and very large apertures immediately adjacent one another. As the patent discloses, the formation of the very small (including micro-sized) apertures in the direction opposite those formed for large apertures hinders the ability of initially unabsorbed fluid from running off the web's surface. Thus, fluid not immediately transported through the large apertures is restrained from running off the web's surface, and is subsequently taken up through the larger apertures and is deposited in the article's core where the web is used as a topsheet material. These outwardly formed small apertures also reduce the level of web/skin contact and reduce the rigidity of the film, and thereby feel more comfortable to the user. Alternatively, the '518 patent discloses films where the very small apertures are formed in the same direction as the macro-apertures.
An alternative to forming apertured, three-dimensional films via use of fluid pressure differentials is the use of vacuum-forming such structures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,054,148 issued Sep. 18, 1961 to Zimmerli describes a perforated film material formed by heating a film on a perforated screen while applying sufficient vacuum to the underside of the screen to form apertures in the film. The use of vacuum formation is limited in that formation of apertures in two directions, such as is described in the '518 patent, is not possible because heating the apertured film for the requisite second pass damages the apertures formed in the first pass. As such, the tactile/feel benefits obtainable using that process are not obtainable using vacuum perforation methods. In addition, micro-sized apertures obtainable using fluid formation (e.g., the '518 patent) is generally not obtainable using vacuum forming processes because typical vacuum power applied in such processes is insufficient to rupture the film to form microsized apertures.
Regardless of the means employed for aperture formation, where a wettable film material is desired, the above references generally obtain such a structure by surface treating the naturally hydrophobic polymeric web with a wetting agent. Surface treatment is generally accomplished by either spraying surfactant onto the web's surface or by dipping the web in a surfactant-containing bath. Regardless of which of these methods is employed, surface treatment suffers from the inability to precisely control the location and level of treatment, as well as adverse effects caused by migration of significant amounts of surfactant into apertures and other components (e.g., absorbent core) when the apertured film is used as a topsheet in an absorbent article. Surface treatment further suffers from the disadvantage that desirable wetting agents, or surfactants, tend to be washed off upon repeated exposure to such fluids. Thus, when used as a topsheet in an absorbent article, the treated films lose their ability to transport fluid away from the skin and into the article's core after repeated wettings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,020, issued to Thomas et al. on Aug. 13, 1985, addressed some of the problems associated with surface treating vacuum-formed apertured films by incorporating hydrophilic surfactant in the polymeric resin before extrusion for film formation. After extrusion of the resin/surfactant mixture, and subsequent vacuum formation of the apertures, the incompatible surfactant eventually blooms to the film's surface to provide a more durably wettable web. As indicated above, however, the use of vacuum formation means for aperturing films has inherent limitations relative to the use of fluid formation means.
In this regard, co-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,875, issued May 28, 1996 to A. J. Wnuk et al., addresses the problem of surfactant wash-off where apertures are formed using a fluid pressure differential by co-extruding multiple polymeric film layers, referred to therein as core layers and outer layers. The outer layer, which is exposed to the aperture-forming fluid, is free of surfactant, while the core layer contains a migratable surfactant. After co-extrusion and aperture formation, the surfactant migrates from the core layer to the outer layer's surface, to provide a durably wettable multilayer web. As such, the patent addresses many of the undesired aspects of prior aperturing processes. However, this process is clearly limited to the production of multilayer films. Thus, the patent describes a process that requires additional raw materials that may serve no function other than avoiding surfactant wash-off during manufacture, thereby potentially adding undesired caliper, complexity and/or cost when the laminate is used as an absorbent article topsheet. Similarly, the patent requires co-extrusion of separate layers of material, which may add complexity to the formation process and formation equipment.
In spite of the teachings of the prior art, there remains a need for a single-layer, apertured film material that offers both durable wettability and a soft feel to the skin. There also remains the need for a process that provides a single-layer, apertured film having improved durable wettability, wherein the process minimizes wash-off of surfactant during aperture formation using a fluid pressure differential. There also remains the need for a multi-phase process for producing a single-layer, apertured film having improved durable wettability and soft feel to the skin.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process wherein various combinations of previously incompatible characteristics can be provided in a single-layer, apertured polymeric web.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-phase process for producing durably wettable, apertured plastic webs wherein the different phases of the process may be separated from one another either temporally or spatially or both.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide apertured plastic webs which offer improved durable wettability along with highly preferred appearance, softness and tactile impression.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a process for fluid aperturing a continuous polymeric film wherein the process minimizes surfactant wash-off. Minimizing surfactant wash-off provides two distinct benefits. First, reduced levels of surfactant are required to obtain a wettable web. Second, reducing the level of washed-off surfactant during film processing prevents undesired foaming and alleviates the adverse effect surfactants have on machine performance after continuous exposure.

Absorbent articles comprising apertured films having durable wettability


Disclosed herein are systems and method for inspecting archived slices for malware using empty spare files. In one exemplary aspect, the method comprises generating a backup slice and a virtual volume comprising a list of files in the backup slice and associated file information. The method comprises mounting the virtual volume to a disk. The method comprises creating, in the virtual volume, empty sparse files that are placeholders of the files reference in the list of files. The method comprises detecting a change between a respective empty sparse file and a corresponding file in a previous backup slice and accordingly storing the actual content of the file in the virtual volume in place of the respective empty sparse file. The method comprises scanning the virtual volume for malicious software and generating a cured slice that replaces the backup slice in the backup archive upon detection.

Typically, the backup and storage of archives for recovery is performed regularly according to a schedule. It is often the case that the backup may become tainted with malicious software, therefore companies often have automated software that performs malware scans, either prior to backup, during backup, prior to restoration or the like. Virus and malware scans should be carried out periodically and regularly because anti-virus databases are updated often due to the emergence of new types of malware. However, full scanning of large archives requires considerable time and computational resources, often not available or not an efficient use of the time and resources. Scanning archives becomes especially critical if the archives are not stored locally, but in cloud storage, because the speed of access to an archive in the cloud may be significantly slower than accessing a local storage device (depending on the speed of the network or communication channel being used, and/or how heavily the channel is loaded). Additionally, if any problems arise such that viruses and/or malicious files are found in the archive, the archive is considered damaged or infected, and may not be entirely suitable for use in system recovery or file and data extraction.
Conventionally, to avoid restoring data that is infected, archives are periodically scanned with anti-virus scanners during storage, when new slices are added to the archive and/or before restoring the data. However, currently there is no solution to scan arbitrary time points in an archive. Instead, solutions are forced to scan the entire archive. Furthermore, currently damaged or infected data in archives cannot be repaired.

System and method of inspecting archive slices for malware using empty sparse files


A positioning foot having a hydraulic shock absorber with a fluid-filled hollow cylinder (210), in which a piston (220) that moves axially between an advanced, spring prestressed position and a retracted position. The piston separates a front axial fluid space (214) and a rear axial fluid space (215) from one another in the hollow cylinder. Both fluid spaces are connected to one another in a fluid exchanging fashion via at least one throttle opening (223) in the piston. The piston is rigidly connected to a piston rod (221), which passes through the front fluid space and abuts a fixed stop (218) in the retracted position, in which the volume of the rear axial fluid space is minimized and the volume of the front axial fluid space is maximized. The spring prestress is dimensioned so that the weight of the device body moves the piston dampingly into the retracted position.

Known from EP 2 652 468 B1 is a spectroscope comprising a device body that rests on vibration-insulating positioning feet. Each positioning foot comprises an elastomeric body having a lower portion that is surrounded by a rigid shell in two sections. While in the upper portion the rigid shell and the elastomeric body are firmly connected to each other, in the lower portion a fluid-filled annular space is formed between the elastomeric body and the rigid shell. The annular space is connected to a central cavity of the elastomeric body. Vibrations of a base, on which the spectrometer is placed with its positioning feet, are damped, in particular, in the lateral direction by the flow resistance when the fluid is exchanged between the central cavity and the annular space. In the vertical direction the device body is elastically supported by the upper portion of the elastomeric body.
Although vibration-insulating positioning feet of this kind can be used for a variety of precision instruments, their use as positioning feet for precision balances is disadvantageous. The resolution of precision balances goes far beyond what such passive vibration insulators are capable of achieving. The permanently elastic mounting results in the apparatus being susceptible to vibration, an aspect that interferes with a precise weighing result. Therefore, precision balances usually have stiff positioning feet, with which their device body is rigidly placed on a heavy foundation, the so-called weighing stone. The vibration insulation is achieved either by the sheer mass of the weighing stone or by extremely complex, active vibration-insulating apparatuses in the weighing stone or in its foundation.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,738 A shows a balance comprising a transmission lever, on which a vibration damper acts for the purpose of transport safety. Furthermore, the balance has a spring-loaded device foot.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,774 A shows a balance that works according to the principle of the vibrating string. This balance has vibration dampers to reduce the influence of externally induced vibrations.
Modern precision balances can be made relatively small. That means that it is possible to create, in principle, mobile devices that can be repositioned, as needed. Nevertheless, such devices weigh several kilograms, so that their repositioning requires a significant amount of muscle power, an aspect that renders the delicate handling of such devices difficult or even impossible. On the other hand, the device body of such precision balances contains highly sensitive elements that can be maladjusted or even damaged by excessive accelerations, such as those encountered during rough installation on a firm support. As a result, there are conflicting goals between a shock absorption for reducing the vibration during setup, on the one hand, and a non-elastic mounting during operation, on the other hand. As explained above, these conflicting goals cannot be bridged by the known, elastomeric positioning feet. Another problem is the requirement that each precision balance has to be leveled with a high degree of precision before said precision balance is put into operation, so that its weighing mechanism is aligned with a high degree of accuracy, usually exactly horizontally, in its predetermined desired position. This aspect requires a height adjustability of at least one of its positioning feet.
The aforementioned explanations apply not only to precision balances, but also to several types of laboratory devices, such as, for example, measuring instruments, centrifuges, automatic pipetting machines, etc. Therefore, the specific explanation was made only in the context of precision balances, because the problems described are particularly evident with respect to precision balances. However, the invention, described in the present specification, relates to any type of laboratory equipment; and the advantages to be obtained will become more or less clear as a function of the specific application.
So-called industrial shock absorbers, as described, for example, in the published document EP 0 831 245 A2, are known from a completely different field of technology. In this case these industrial shock absorbers are hydraulic shock absorbers with a fluid-filled hollow cylinder, in which a piston that can be moved axially between an advanced position, which is supported by a spring prestress, and a retracted position, which can be assumed counter to the spring prestress, is arranged; said piston separates a front axial fluid space and a rear axial fluid space from one another in the hollow cylinder, with both fluid spaces being connected to one another in a fluid exchanging fashion with at least one throttle opening in the piston, wherein the piston is rigidly connected to a piston rod, which passes through the front fluid space, and abuts a fixed stop in its retracted position, in which the volume of the rear axial fluid space is minimized and the volume of the front axial fluid space is maximized.
Such industrial shock absorbers are often used in places, where masses are transported on conveyor belts or roller conveyors and have to be decelerated in more or less the exact position. In this case the shock absorber in question is mounted on a rigid frame and protrudes in anti-parallel alignment with the direction of motion of the masses into their transport path. The approaching mass makes contact with the end of the piston rod that projects beyond the hollow cylinder; and said approaching mass transmits its kinetic energy to said piston rod. Then the piston moves out of its advanced position into its retracted position, as a result of which, the damper fluid flows out of the rear axial fluid space with or through the throttle openings in the piston into the front axial fluid space, a feature that is associated with a gradual damping of the piston speed as far as up to the immobilization of the piston as a result of the flow friction. The design of such an industrial shock absorber is always carried out in view of the masses to be decelerated and their velocity.

Hydraulic shock absorber and laboratory device

SARTORIUS LAB INSTRUMENTS GMBH & CO., KG


Colloidal silver particles are incorporated into emulsions and other compositions that find use, for example, as pharmaceutical and dermatological serums, creams, lotions and ointments.

The present disclosure relates generally to formulations comprising silver particles and the use thereof in, e.g., cosmetic, dermatologic and pharmaceutical formulations. For example, the present disclosure provides emulsions and formulations thereof, and in particular emulsions that contain silver particles, and formulations containing said emulsion in useful compositions such as cosmetic and dermatologic formulations.


A modular rink assembly for facilitating the assembly of a hockey rink structure includes two sets of side boards, two sets of end boards, and corner members arrangeable into a rink forming an enclosed area for playing a game. The corner members include a rounded face and T-shaped flanges for engagement to slots in the boards near the corners of the enclosed area. In a preferred embodiment, all the side and end boards include a lengthwise upper groove to facilitate attachment of plexi-glass panels or netting to further enclose the playing area. Also provided are floor panels engageable to each other for providing a uniform playing surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sporting rinks and more particularly pertains to a new modular rink assembly for facilitating the assembly of a hockey rink structure.
2 Description of the Prior Art
The use of sporting rinks is known in the prior art. More specifically, sporting rinks heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art sporting rinks and hockey practice area devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,134,857; 2,996,896; 3,986,342; 3,930,647; and PCT Patent No. WO 96/23554.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new modular rink assembly. The inventive device includes side and end wall pieces, rounded corner connectors, and inter-connectable floor board segments.
In these respects, the modular rink assembly according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the facilitating the assembly of a hockey rink structure of facilitating the assembly of a hockey rink structure.


A system and method for neighbor-cell measurement reporting in a cellular environment supporting multistate cells limits measurement reporting by requiring that state-specific trigger conditions are met. Thus for example, a dormant cell may need to meet more stringent measurement conditions before a report is generated by the user device, since a current primary cell may prefer to hand off to an active cell. In particular, state-specific thresholds, offsets, and hysteresis values may be used to enforce a preference for active cells, for example.

Mobile communications devices such as cellphones are now smaller than anyone could have imagined just ten years ago. Some of the credit for this diminutive sizing and convenience belongs to the advances that have taken place in battery technology. However, regardless of battery capacity and power density, efficient usage of what battery power exists is also important in allowing device providers to utilize smaller batteries onboard.
One important consumer of power in any wireless communication device is the radio-frequency transmitter. Naturally, the further away the potential recipient of the transmitted signals is, the more powerful the transmitted signal must be. In this regard, devices that utilize a cellular communications network need only communicate with the nearest suitable cell, and as the device moves, and other cells come into range and become more suitable, the device may be "handed over" to another cell to continue communications.
This process generally requires that the device monitor nearby cells in addition to the cell with which the device is currently in communication. This current cell, sometimes referred to as the primary cell, may configure the device to monitor the other cells, sometimes called neighboring or secondary cells, in a certain manner. Currently, such configurations entail supplying a list of trigger conditions and instructing the device to measure the signal characteristics of the other cells and, when triggered to do so, report those measurements back to the primary cell.
The present disclosure is directed to a system that may enhance cell measurement and report triggering. However, it should be appreciated that any such benefits are not a limitation on the scope of the disclosed principles or of the attached claims, except to the extent expressly noted in the claims. Additionally, the discussion of technology in this Background section is merely reflective of inventor observations or considerations and is not intended to be admitted or assumed prior art as to the discussed details. Moreover, the identification of the desirability of a certain course of action is the inventors' observation, not an art-recognized desirability.

Measurement management in small-cell systems


A method of selecting cells having zero fucose level useful as host cells for expressing recombinant proteins is disclosed. The method comprises: (d) introducing genetic mutations into a population of CHO cells by contacting the cells with a methotrexate (MTX), (e) contacting the population of CHO cells comprising mutated cells with a non-toxic fucose binding agent for an amount of time that allows binding of the fucose binding agent to a fucose moiety on a cell membrane of the population of cells, wherein the amount of time does not allow killing of the cells; and (f) depleting from the population of cells comprising mutated cells, a subpopulation of cells which bind the fucose binding agent, thereby selecting cells useful as host cells for expressing recombinant proteins, the selected cells having zero fucose content. There are also disclosed cells and cell lines useful as host cells for expressing recombinant proteins.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to CHO cell lines, methods of generating same and uses thereof.
Recombinant therapeutic antibodies play an important role in treatment of a large variety of diseases. It is estimated that about 30% of the new coming drugs are likely to be based on antibodies in the next decade. Thirty recombinant antibodies and Fc fusion were approved for marketing with sales in 2008 that reached $35 billion.
Antibodies contain a target antigen-specific region which is composed of the variable regions of both the heavy and the light chains. This part of the antibody may bind and neutralize a soluble antigen or a membrane bound target.
The Fc portion is responsible for effector functions through antibody dependant cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) mechanism, complement dependant complex (CDC) and the neonatal receptor FcRn. Those effector functions are mediated through interaction of the effector molecules with the hinge and CH2 regions of the Fc. The CH2 domain contains an oligosaccharide located on the N glycosylation site at position 297 of the antibody which is known to play an important role in binding to effector cells. The oligosaccharide is usually composed of a complex diantennary type with considerable heterogeneity, such as a core heptasaccharide together with additional variable outer sugar residues.
ADCC is one of the critical killing mechanisms for antibodies that bind ligands on target cells' membrane. FcγR expressed on leucocytes bind the CH2 domain of the antibodies and upon binding and creation of immune complexes with antigens on the target cells activation of the leucocytes is initiated. The activation may include phagocytosis and release of cell mediators that lead to cell permeabilization and death. The ADCC activity is dependent on the IgG isotype on the one hand, and on a specific FcγR, on the other hand. Whereas IgG1 and IgG3 may induce this activity, IgG4 does not. The FcγR that binds the IgG and is important for ADCC mechanism activation is known as the FcγRIIIa and is expressed on NK cells and macprophages. In many cases the ADCC activity obtained upon binding of the NK cell to the target cell is not efficient enough to perform killing of the target cell. The reason is that the affinity of the FcγRIIIa to the IgGI is low.
Increased ADCC activity was found in patients expressing the high affinity allotype FcγRIIIa—158Val found in 10-15% of the population in comparison to patients expressing the FcγRIIIa—158Phe. Elevated ADCC was obtained also by manipulations done on the IgG Fc. Computational design algorithms were used in order to engineer antibodies and select for high affinity by high-throughput screening. This work yielded antibodies which display >2 orders of magnitude enhancement of in vitro effector function (Lazar, Dang et al. 2006), although decrease thermostability of mutated IgG1 (IgG1 with mutations S239D, A330L and I332E) was detected. Another approach for obtaining antibodies with enhanced ADCC is to produce them with low fucose levels on their oligosaccharide at position 297. Previously it was found that fucose residues on the oligosaccharide interfere with Fc binding to FcγRIIIa (Shinkawa, Nakamura et al. 2003). One way for obtaining antibodies with low fucose levels is to harness cells with such natural capabilities, such as Rat hybridoma YB2/0 cells (Shinkawa, Nakamura et al. 2003), although recombinant proteins produced in these cells have variable levels of fucose content. Several other possibilities of non-mammalian cells include avian cells from Vivalis, engineered aquatic plant Lemna from Biolex (Cox, Sterling et al. 2006) and variant of the moss Physocmirtella patens from Igeneon (Nechansky, Schuster et al. 2007). In addition, GlycoFi generated various lines of Pichia Pastoris cells with capabilities for several glycosylation solutions including enhanced ADCC (Hamilton, Davidson et al. 2006). Also several mammalian cells are used for production of antibodies with various glycosylation solutions in general and enhanced ADCC in particular. Glycotope created various human glycoengineered cell lines to glyco-optimize bio-therapeutics glycosylation. Glycart, acquired by Roche, engineered a cell line producing recombinant antibodies with reduced fucose level by introducing beta(1,4)—N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase III (GnTIII), a glycosyltransferase catalyzing formation of bisected oligosaccharides that have been implicated in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) (Umana, Jean-Mairet et al. 1999). Biowa generated a knockout in the fucosyl transference 8 (Fut8) gene of CHO DG44 in order to diminish the fucose levels (Yamane-Ohnuki, Kinoshita et al. 2004).
A recent research demonstrated that heterologous expression of the prokaryotic enzyme GDP-6-deoxy-D-lyxo-4-hexylose reductase within the cytosol can block the conversion of the intermediate GDP-4-keto-6-deoxymannose into a dead-end product that typically does not occur in vertebrate cells. Therefore CHO cells that were modified in this way secreted antibodies lacking core fucose (von Horsten, Ogorek et al.). Another approach was to create lectin resistant mutants that survive in the presence of toxic fucose specific lectin. LEC13 is a CHO based cell line that was developed by incubation of CHO cells in the presence of toxic pea fucose specific lectin (Ripka and Stanley 1986). LEC13 is deficient in GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase activity which results in expression of human IgG1 that are deficient of fucose (Shields, Lai et al. 2002).
U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0081150 teaches mutation of CHO cells by treatment with chemicals and selecting cells which exhibit a variant glycosylation pattern including a decrease in fucosylation by killing cells with high fucose, in order to generate cells useful for expressing antibodies.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0304436 teaches fucosylation reduced CHO cell lines by mutation in the Fx protein and controlling the availability of an external source of fucose in order to direct the ability of the cells to fucosylate polypeptides.
Kanda et al, (Kanda, Imai-Nishiya et al. 2007) discloses GMD and FUT8 knockout host cell lines. The GMD knockout cells have a genomic deletion corresponding to GMD exon 5, 6 and 7 regions.
Ripka et al. (Ripka and Stanley 1986) discloses four lectin resistant CHO mutant cells. The mutations were effected by incubation with N-methyl-N-nitrosoguanidine.
Shields et al, (Shields, Lai et al. 2002) discloses that IgG1 produced by the Lec13 (fucose deficient CHO) cell line increased binding to FcγRIIIA up to 50 fold and also increased ADCC.
Kanda et al., (Kanda, Yamane-Ohnuki et al. 2006) discloses that Lec13 produces 50-70% fucosylated antibody; however this known cell line could not stably produce antibody. Thus the Lec13 cell line is not suitable as a production cell line.


The present invention refers to a volatile substance diffuser based on permeable membrane with a closure where a solid wall is applied to or separated from the membrane to stop or allow evaporation, respectively. The shape of the membrane is adapted to compensate possible vacuum inside the container.

Some of the existing solutions of the prior art are described in the following patents: EP-0.923.386 B1 (FIG. 1a), EP-1.082.970A1 (FIG. 1b), EP-1.698.355A1 (FIG. 1c).
Containers with membrane having two or more compartments for containing volatile substances of different nature are known in the state of the art. This is the case of the patents EP-1.082.970, WO-06084921 and EP-1.698.355.
Evaporation of two different volatile substances thorough membranes of different containers is also disclosed in the Japanese patent JP-02252462, although for a different purpose of the device object of the present invention.
Other documents generally related to the use of evaporation of volatile substances thorough semi-permeable membranes are: EP-0.923.386, U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,992, WO-05014061 and WO-97/42982.
All above inventions do not provide any means to release a fragrance A and, at the same time, appreciably reducing the evaporation of a fragrance B, and viceversa, or mixing the two fragrances, at user's will. The existing solutions to reduce evaporation of active substances through a membrane only consist in closing the housing around the cartridge (container of the volatile substance) but not the cartridge itself, so that evaporation induced by temperature can occur also, leading to:                exit of the housing if the closure is not completely impermeable or        condensation in the container if it is impermeable.
Existing devices do not provide effective means to appreciably reduce the evaporation of a substance. The present invention allows to appreciably reduce the evaporation of a substance whilst the evaporation of another substance is increased.


A digital radiation image radiographing system includes an X-ray tube to irradiate a radiographic subject with X-rays and a digital detector to detect X-rays having passed through the radiographic subject, and performs a phase contrast radiography. The system satisfies a formula (D≧(2S−E)/(M−1)), in which D (μm) represents the focal size of the X-ray tube, S (μm) represents the minimum control unit of the digital detector, R1 (m) represents a distance from the focus point of the X-ray tube to the radiographic subject, R2 (m) represents a distance from the radiographic subject to the digital detector, M represents an enlargement ratio (M=(R1+R2)/R1), and E represents an edge enhancement width according to X-ray refraction.

Even in the field of medical images, the digitalization is advancing, and in the field of digital image radiographing, spatial resolution for reading images is restricted, depending on a reading pixel size of an X-ray detector or on a size of a reading sampling pitch. In this case, there are problems that a subject smaller than the reading pixel size or than the reading sampling pitch cannot be described and that a contour of the subject described turns out to be blurred even in the case of a subject larger than the reading pixel size or than the reading sampling pitch.
In addition, an X-ray detector becomes minute and complicated in terms of a structure, and a volume of data to be handled is increased, resulting in troubles that costs of memory for an X-ray detector and for data processing are increased and time required for data processing is increased.
Although the reading pixel size or the reading sampling pitch is important, it is impossible to achieve an improvement of visibility of a marginal section (contour) subjected to edge enhancement in an image (image used for diagnosis) to be presented finally to a doctor for X-ray interpretation, even if miniaturization alone for the reading pixel size or the reading sampling pitch is attempted.
Patent document 1 discloses a digital phase contrast X-ray image radiographing system provided with a digital-X-ray image detector to obtain a digital image of a phase contrast X-ray image in which the reading pixel size of this digital-X-rays image detector is almost equal to the phase contrast edge enhancement half band width of a phase contrast X-ray image.
Moreover, for example, when a phase contrast radiography is performed by the use of CR (Computed Radiography), FPD (Flat Panel Detector) an so on and thus obtained image data are outputted to a film or a viewer, if B=A/M in which M represents a photographing magnification at the time of phase-contrast radiography (magnifying power), A represents a minimum control unit (pixel size) at the time of reading and B represents a minimum control unit (pixel size) at the time of outputting, it may be possible to match a reading pixel and an output pixel with 1:1. In this case, since a reduction interpolating process becomes unnecessary, there has been well known no problem that a part of side edge image applied with an edge enhancement is disappeared at the time of interpolation treatment and image deterioration may not be caused                [Document 1] Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2003-180670

Digital radiation image radiographing system


The present invention relates to a preparation method of a tube and a transplantable polymer tube prepared by such method, which includes modifying the inner surface of a tube using plasma. A preparation method of a tube may include preparing a tube, modifying the inner surface of the tube using microplasma so as to have reactivity, forming a thin film layer on the modified surface of the tube to prevent aging or impart adhesiveness, and modifying the surface of the thin film layer using microplasma so as to enhance cell adhesion thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a preparation method of a tube, which includes modifying the inner surface of a tube using plasma; a preparation method of a tube, which includes preparing a tube, modifying the inner surface of the tube using microplasma so as to have reactivity, forming a thin film layer on the modified surface of the tube to prevent aging or impart adhesiveness, and modifying the surface of the thin film layer using microplasma so as to enhance cell adhesion thereon; and a transplantable polymer tube prepared by the above method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vascular diseases are caused by a hardening of the arteries due to a thickening of the inside of the arteries mainly as a result of fat accumulation or plaque (or atheroma). The arteries are blood vessels that supply blood, oxygen and nutrients to the whole body from the heart. Thus, the narrowed and hardened arteries disturb the flow of blood and make it difficult to efficiently supply the above materials to individual organs. Such an insufficient supply of blood incurs dysfunction, tissue damage, etc., and in severe cases, leads to death. Hence, in order to treat vascular diseases, drugs which relax blood vessels are administered, but drug treatment merely mitigates symptoms and does not cure vascular diseases, and may thus result in lifelong drug dependence, which is undesirable. Other treatment methods may include surgical methods in which a damaged blood vessel is removed and an artificial blood vessel is transplanted into the corresponding portion.
Although methods of transplanting arteries or veins of donors have been initially implemented, they suffer from low success rates due to rejection or sclerosis. Hence, research and development into synthetic (artificial) blood vessels has been conducted. Artificial blood vessels for transplantation have to be made of materials which are harmless to the human body and have high biocompatibility. Furthermore, these materials should not be rejected by the immune system and should be able to be maintained for a long time in vivo. Also, there should be no cases in which blood vessels are clogged by precipitation of proteins or lipids or due to thrombosis.
Typically, polymer materials, which are very stable in vivo, are being utilized as biomaterials in terms of artificial blood vessels, artificial hearts, alternatives to metal stents, etc. Among these, polymer tubes are variously applied for use as hemodialysis tubes, human circulatory system transplantation tubes, tubes for diagnostic bio-kits, syringes, etc. The polymer tubes are surface-modified depending on end use, and such surface modification is mainly performed only on the outer surface. Examples of the methods for surface treatment include electron beam treatment, ion beam treatment, coating methods, wet methods, etc. using vacuum techniques and plasma. This surface modification enables the polymer material to be changed to have a reactive coupling structure of the surface which is different from a reactive coupling structure of the bulk polymer material which is the unmodified portion.
Surface modification techniques for a biologically reactive outer surface include surface modification of human circulatory system transplantation tubes using a wet method as disclosed in Korean Patent Nos. 10-1034654, 10-1119011 and 10-1161151, and modification of a fluorinated polymer into a superhydrophobic surface using vacuum plasma as disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1185835.
Meanwhile, as biomaterials to be transplanted in vivo, the inner surface of polymers preferably has to have thrombotic resistance and/or inflammation inhibitory ability in order to prevent clogging due to thrombosis and inflammation. Also, the outer surface thereof should have high compatibility with the peripheral cells, and should be able to inhibit protein reactions and inflammation. In the case where typical fluorinated polymers, which are hydrophobic and inert without reactivity to materials having different characteristics, are provided in the form of a tube, both the inner and outer surfaces thereof are inert and hydrophobic. Thus, the inert and hydrophobic polymers may be imparted with hydrophilicity using the above surface modification techniques or may be deposited with biomaterials having increased reactivity, so that such polymers may be modified into materials suitable for human transplantation.
To typically impart superhydrophobicity onto the surface of a material, the corresponding processes have been developed using conventional surface treatment methods for drugs. However, such surface modification methods mostly include modification of the outer surface of tubes, and techniques for modifying the inner surface thereof are very limited.

Tube with modified inner wall surface using plasma and a preparation method thereof

RESEARCH & BUSINESS FOUNDATION SUNGYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY


A two-point locking system for providing controlled access through a doorway is described comprising a controlled deadlatch assembly and a magnetic lock assembly. The controlled deadlatch assembly comprises (i) a deadlatch for selectively latching and unlatching a door, (ii) an input control device for selectively controlling the deadlatch, and (iii) a first wireless transmitter for transmitting a magnetic lock control signal. The magnetic lock assembly comprises (i) a metal housing unit, (ii) an armature plate, (iii) an electromagnetic element coupled to the housing unit and aligned to magnetically engage with the armature plate when selectively electrically energized, and (iv) a wireless receiver capable of receiving the magnetic lock control signal from the wireless transmitter. The magnetic lock control signal will typically disengage the magnetic lock assembly when the controlled deadlatch assembly is unlatched (thus unlocking the door and allowing access) and engage the magnetic lock assembly when the controlled deadlatch assembly is latched (thus locking the door and not allowing access). A second wireless transmitter can also be added to the magnetic lock assembly to communicate to a second wireless receiver at the controlled deadlatch assembly to provide two-way wireless communication between the two locking points.

This invention is generally directed to an access door locking system including a magnetic lock. More specifically, the access system of the present invention utilizes a two-point locking system integrating a deadlatch and a magnetic lock in a manner requiring no wiring between the controlled deadlatch assembly (typically located by the door handle) and the magnetic lock assembly (typically incorporated along the top of a door frame).
There exists in the prior art a myriad of deadlatches and magnetic locks in the prior art to control ingress and egress through a door. Additionally, there are numerous integrated or so called two-point systems which incorporate both a controlled deadlatch assembly and a magnetic lock assembly. One common example is a controlled deadlatch activated by a panic bar which not only will release the deadlatch but also send an electrical signal through wiring that will release a magnetic lock. In such an example, an alarm might also be activated.
While the actual operation of properly installed two-point locking systems has proven to be relatively effective, installation has proven both difficult and time-consuming. Due to the space constraints of the door frame, the hard wiring between the knob assembly (where the controlled deadlatch assembly is typically located) and the magnetic lock assembly (which is typically coupled to the top of the door) is often difficult and can result in improper connections or actual physical damage to the door. Furthermore, it is often easy to tamper with such wiring.
In either single point magnetic locking devices or two-point locking systems, any of a number of input control devices can be incorporated. Conventional control devices include keypads, card swipes, proximity card readers, push buttons, passive infrared detectors, retinal scanners, fingerprint detectors, etc. However, whether in single point or two-point locking systems, and regardless of the type of control device (or the attached deadlatch assembly) utilized, the prior art requires the installation of proper wiring between the input control device and the remotely located magnetic lock assembly. Again, expensive and difficult installing is required. Additionally, lock installers typically are mainly mechanically skilled thus requiring a second installer with electrical skills.
In addition to the difficulty encountered by installers of conventional magnetic locks which require hard wiring between the control device and a magnetic lock, it has been shown that consumers have been reluctant to incorporate lock systems which require significant installation through a door frame, particularly in retrofit applications. Thus, the proliferation of magnetic locks has proven difficult.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetic locking system to control door access and egress.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetic locking system to control door access and egress in either single point or two-point applications.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetic locking system to control door access and egress which requires no hard wiring between an input control device and the magnetic lock assembly.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetic locking system to control door access and egress which provides easy adaptability of a plurality of access applications.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetic locking system to control door access and egress which provides detailed audit trail information over an infrared link.
It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetic locking system to control door access and egress in which additional infrared transmitters may be incorporated in order to expand the range for activating a control device.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetic locking system to control door access and egress in which a remotely located user can permit or deny access or egress from the protected premises.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and the drawings.
Briefly stated and in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a two-point locking system for providing controlled access through a doorway is described comprising a controlled deadlatch assembly and a magnetic lock assembly. The controlled deadlatch assembly comprises (i) a deadlatch for selectively latching and unlatching a door, (ii) an input control device for selectively controlling the deadlatch, and (iii) a first wireless transmitter for transmitting a magnetic lock control signal. The magnetic lock assembly comprises (i) a metal housing unit, (ii) an armature plate, (iii) an electromagnetic element coupled to the housing unit and aligned to magnetically engage with the armature plate when selectively electrically energized, and (iv) a wireless receiver capable of receiving the magnetic lock control signal from the wireless transmitter. The magnetic lock control signal will typically disengage the magnetic lock assembly when the controlled deadlatch assembly is unlatched (thus unlocking the door and allowing access) and engage the magnetic lock assembly when the controlled deadlatch assembly is latched (thus locking the door and not allowing access). A second wireless transmitter can also be added to the magnetic lock assembly to communicate to a second wireless receiver at the controlled deadlatch assembly to provide two-way wireless communication between the two locking points.


The disclosure relates to an industrial die cast component comprising a first side, a second side, said second side having a second side surface, an aperture opening at said second side and through said second side surface, said aperture having a respective first arcuate surface bounding a central portion of the aperture and said aperture having a respective second surface bounding a projecting portion of the aperture, said projecting portion having a closed end and an open end, said open end forming a gap in said first arcuate surface and said projecting portion closed end extending radially beyond said first arcuate surface, wherein said first arcuate surface is constructed to be engaged by a fastener.

1. Field of Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to die cast orifices and a method of casting the same in a housing or other casting. In addition, the disclosure relates to die core pins that are used for the creation of the die cast orifices.
2. Background Art
Often a casting, such as a housing body, has machine threaded holes therein for securing the housing body to another member such as a housing cover. Generally a screw is passed through a machined hole in the cover and screwed into the threaded holes in the housing body, thereby securing the housing cover and housing body together.


A decorative candle display including a transparent container with an interior wall surface having flat interior side wall surfaces. There is at least one shaped generally opaque structure fabricated of an opaque combustible wax material and a transparent combustible gelatinous material which is pressed against the interior wall. The generally opaque structure has a tacky surface that self adheres to the interior wall surface. An opaque combustible filler material is disposed within the container and visible therethrough, and a wick extends exteriorly from the filler material. Pigment and/or fragrance can be incorporated within the gelatinous and/or filler materials. The candle display is formed by positioning the at least one opaque structure onto the interior wall, pouring a heat-melted opaque combustible filler material into the container and surrounding a previously placed wick, and finally cooling and solidifying the filler material to thereby complete the candle display.

(Not Applicable)
The present invention relates in general to decorative candles, and in particular to a.decorative candle display including a transparent container, shaped generally opaque structures fabricated of an opaque combustible wax material plus a transparent combustible gelatinous material, the generally opaque structures disposed against the transparent container, and a wicked and opaque combustible filler material disposed within the container, wherein the generally opaque structures are sufficiently tacky to adhere to a flat interior container wall surface for a sufficient amount of time to allow the filler material to be poured so that the opaque structures are captured and held in place against the wall and wherein a gelatinous liner is used to adhere the generally opaque structures to curved interior wall surfaces.
Candles have become very popular for decorative purposes, and as such are produced in different styles, shapes, and colors, with one particular decorative presentment found in candle displays incorporating transparent containers in which candle products are housed for viewing. Such candle products typically are formed of an opaque wax material, such as paraffin, vegetable wax or beeswax, or of a transparent gelatin material such as a mineral oil gel, with a pigment and/or a fragrance optionally included within either material. Additionally, as shown in Applicant""s U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,210, issued Mar. 7, 2000, a candle display is provided where transparent combustible gelatinous shaped structures are situated directly against an interior wall of a transparent container which is filled with an opaque combustible filler material that maintains the shaped structures against the interior wall for external visibility.
While the above-described display that includes opaque filler material plus discrete gelatinous structures permits some visual appreciability of gel, the gel presence at the container wall is restricted, particularly in curved shaped containers.
An object of the present invention is to provide a decorative candle display wherein shaped generally opaque structures fabricated of an opaque combustible wax material and a transparent combustible gelatinous material are disposed and retained against the inside of a transparent container with substantially flat interior wall surfaces through adhesive interaction of the gelatinous material and the material of the transparent container, for example glass.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a decorative candle display as defined above wherein gelatinous material appearance is further enhanced through incorporation of glitter particulate disbursed throughout the gelatinous liner.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent throughout the description thereof which now follows.
The present invention is a decorative candle display first including a transparent container with an open top and an interior wall surface having a plurality of flat interior side walls. Situated against the interior wall surface is at least one shaped generally opaque structure fabricated of an opaque combustible wax material and a transparent combustible gelatinous material. An opaque combustible filler material is disposed within the container interiorly from the liner and visible therethrough, and a wick extends exteriorly from the filler material. Pigment and/or fragrance can be incorporated within the gelatinous and/or filler materials.
The candle display is formed by fabricating at least one shaped, generally opaque structure fabricated of an opaque, preferably pigmented, combustible wax material and a transparent combustible gelatinous material and disposing the at least one structure on the interior wall of a transparent container having flat interior side wall surfaces. Finally, an opaque combustible filler material with or without pigment and/or fragrance is heated to its melting temperature, which is less than the melting temperature of the gelatinous material, and poured into the container and surrounding a previously placed wick. The filler material then cools and solidifies, and construction of the candle display is thus completed.

Decorative candle display and method of formation


A negative electrode slurry and a method of preparing the same. The negative electrode slurry includes lithium titanium oxide (LTO), a carboxylic acid-containing polymer dispersant, a binder, and an aqueous solvent. The carboxylic acid-containing polymer dispersant has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 2,500 g/mol to 500,000 g/mol and is present in an amount of 1.5 parts by weight to 20 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the lithium titanium oxide.

In line with an increase in technological development of and demand for mobile devices, demand for secondary batteries as energy sources is rapidly increasing, and among these secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries which have high energy density, a high operating voltage, a long cycle lifespan, and a low self-discharge rate are commercially available and widely used.
In addition, as interest in environmental problems has recently increased, research on electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and the like that can replace vehicles using fossil fuels, such as gasoline vehicles and diesel vehicles, which are one of the major causes of air pollution, is actively conducted.
As power sources of these EVs, HEVs, and the like, nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) secondary batteries or lithium secondary batteries which have high energy density, high discharge voltage, and high output stability are used. In a case in which a lithium secondary battery is used in EVs, long-term use for 10 years or longer under harsh conditions, in addition to high energy density and high output in a short time, are required, and thus much higher safety and superior long-term lifespan characteristics than those of existing small lithium secondary batteries are necessarily required. In addition, secondary batteries used in EVs, HEVs, and the like require excellent rate characteristics and excellent power characteristics in accordance with operating conditions of vehicles.
As active materials of lithium secondary batteries, lithium titanium oxides having a high Li intercalation/deintercalation potential has recently drawn attention. These lithium titanium oxides are advantageous in terms of excellent rapid charging or excellent low-temperature performance since Li metal is not deposited at a Li intercalation/deintercalation potential. However, lithium titanium oxides themselves have low electrical conductivity and a slow Li-ion diffusion rate compared to carbon materials such as graphite, and thus there is a need to decrease the particle size thereof to obtain substantially a high output, but in this case, there is a problem of an increased viscosity of a negative electrode slurry including the lithium titanium oxide. In addition, to address the viscosity problem of the negative electrode slurry, the solid content of the negative electrode slurry needs to be reduced, which results in reduced battery capacity.
Such a viscosity problem of the negative electrode slurry becomes worse in negative electrode slurries including aqueous solvents, compared to negative electrode slurries including non-aqueous solvents, but in consideration of a need to protect the environment and reduce manufacturing costs, continuous efforts to apply an aqueous solvent to a negative electrode slurry are required.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a negative electrode slurry which has a high solid content and has appropriate viscosity so as to appropriately form a negative electrode active material layer on a negative electrode current collector, in which the negative electrode slurry is an aqueous negative electrode slurry including lithium titanium oxide.

Negative electrode slurry for lithium secondary battery, and preparation method thereof


A liquid crystal display is provided. The liquid crystal display includes a first panel, a second panel facing and separated from the first panel, a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first and second panels, a plurality of variable capacitors that vary capacitance thereof by pressure, and a plurality of reference capacitors formed on the second panel and connected to the variable capacitors.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a liquid crystal display and, more particularly, to a liquid crystal display including a sensing unit.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) typically include a pair of panels that are provided with pixel electrodes and a common electrode, as well as a liquid crystal layer with dielectric anisotropy interposed between the two panels. The pixel electrodes are usually arranged in a matrix pattern and are connected to switching elements, such as thin film transistors (TFTs), such that they receive image data voltages row by row. The common electrode covers the entire surface of one of the two panels and it is supplied with a common voltage. A pixel electrode and corresponding portions of the common electrode and corresponding portions of the liquid crystal layer form a liquid crystal capacitor that, along with a switching element connected thereto, is a basic element of a pixel.
An LCD generates electric fields by applying voltages to pixel electrodes and a common electrode, and the strength of the electric fields applied thereto are varied in order to adjust the transmittance of light passing through a liquid crystal layer, thereby displaying images.
Touch screen panels write or draw letters or pictures by touching a finger, touch pen, or a stylus to a display panel or carry out desired operations of machines such as computers, etc. by operating icons. LCDs attached to the touch screen panels determine whether contact is made with the display panel (e.g., via a finger, the touch pen, etc.) and, if so, a corresponding touch position. While these panels provide certain advantages, the manufacturing costs of the LCDs that incorporate touch screen panels increase as compared to the costs of LCDs that do not employ touch screen panels. Furthermore, the process used in attaching the touch screen panel to the LCD causes a reduction in the yield and the luminance of the LCD, as well as an increase in the thickness of the LCD.
For solving the above problems, a plurality of photo sensing units, which are implemented with thin film transistors, may be integrated into pixels displaying images of the LCD. The photo sensing unit senses the variation of light incident upon the display panel by a touch of the finger or an implement of a user, to determine whether there has been contact with the display panel and a touch position. However, these photo sensing units influence characteristics such as intensity of external light, intensity of light from a back light unit included in the LCD, and temperature, thereby resulting in a decrease in the accuracy of a corresponding sensing operation.

Liquid crystal display including sensing unit


A voltmeter/phaser includes dual hot-stick probes, each carrying a housing including a digital display, one of the housings also having a measurement circuit for measuring the sensed voltage. A plural-conductor cable interconnects the housings and carries, in two separate conductors, current between the probes and display data between the display circuits, so that identical voltage values are always displayed on the two displays.

A number of companies manufacture a variety of voltmeters, including high-voltage meters. The high-voltage meters may be of the type generally called hot-stick voltmeters or hot-stick voltmeters/phasers. They generally incorporate the same basic elements, i.e., two hot-sticks with high-voltage resistors encapsulated therewithin, a connecting cord between the two hot-sticks and a voltage meter display. Although meters of this type generally have the capability and resolution of measuring voltages as low as 10 volts and as high as 100 kV, they are most commonly used to measure voltages in the range of 1 kV to 80 kV and are used most commonly on electric power distribution systems of the type operated by electric utility companies.
The high-voltage resistors are selected for their very high electrical resistance, generally several megohms or more, and their ability to withstand the application of high voltage with voltage ratings up to 50 kV per resistor. These resistors are encapsulated within supporting members, generally cylindrical, and these members are constructed of a material selected for both its ability to withstand the direct application of high voltage and mechanical ruggedness to protect the typically more fragile high-voltage resistors inside. The encapsulating material between the resistors and the supporting members serves to provide additional mechanical protection for the resistors, to provide a thermal path for heat generated by the resistors to the outside world and to ensure that the space surrounding the resistors remains free of any contaminant, such as water, which would reduce their capacity to withstand high voltage. The encapsulating material is generally selected for properties such as ability to withstand high voltage, a wide range of operating temperatures and good thermal conductivity. The tubular supporting members, with the encapsulation for the high-voltage resistors therewithin, are often called "hot-sticks," but they are different from the accessory hot-sticks described below.
The connecting cord between the two encapsulated resistor members carries the current from one resistor to the other and is generally covered with an outer high-voltage insulating material, such as rubber, that can withstand the application of the voltages that the voltmeter/phaser will be used to measure.
Mechanical connections on the ends of the tubular supporting members are used to connect these members to accessory hot-sticks. Hot-sticks are long tubular insulating rods, usually several feet in length, that are used to provide both a handle for the users of the voltmeter/phaser and to provide a safe working distance between the user and the energized high-voltage devices or equipment that the voltmeter/phaser will be contacting. The process of measuring live high voltage circuits includes risks from electrocution and burns and the distance that the hot-sticks provide between energized circuits and the persons performing the testing is one component of the safety procedures used to minimize these risks.
Probes on the ends of the meter hot-sticks are typically simple metal terminals and act as a rugged means of contacting the energized conductors or equipment to be measured and connecting this equipment to the encapsulated high-voltage resistors. These probes generally connect to the ends of the hot-sticks with a simple threaded mechanical and electrical connection and are designed to be easily replaced with other probes of different sizes and shapes for different applications.
In operation, the voltmeter/phaser is used to measure the magnitude of a high voltage by applying the metal probes respectively to two different points in a circuit, such as two conductors on a high-voltage circuit. These two conductors can be two phases of a typical three-phase power distribution circuit or any one phase and ground.
When the voltmeter/phaser contacts both conductors of the high voltage circuit a current flows through the voltmeter/phaser, the magnitude of that current being directly proportional to the applied voltage and determined by the value of the high-voltage resistors encapsulated in the hot-sticks. The value of the resulting current is measured and displayed as an equivalent voltage on a suitable meter display.
The display can be either a traditional electromechanical analog type with a moving needle on a printed scale or it can be an electronic digital display of LED or LCD type. Other types of displays, such as bar graphs, etc., are also possible but not common.
Prior voltmeters/phasors of the type described above have only one voltage meter display. That meter display is generally permanently mounted to one of the two hot-sticks.
Voltmeters/phasers are commonly used by a two person line crew, with each person of the crew holding one of the two sticks. Thus, only one of these two persons can readily see the voltage meter display. Because the display is generally visible to only one of the two crew members, various procedures have been developed for the person holding the stick with the meter to relay to the second person the pertinent voltage information.


A control device for a semiautomatic gearshift mechanism of a vehicle has a first actuator for moving a gearshift shaft for gutter selection in a first shaft movement direction. A second actuator moves the gearshift shaft for gear selection in a second shaft movement direction. The first actuator has a primary piston and at least two auxiliary pistons for moving the primary piston alternatingly in two travel directions. The primary piston has a piston body having first and second piston body end faces facing away from one another. The primary piston has first and second piston rods, wherein the first piston rod is connected to the first piston body end face and the second piston rod is connected to the second piston body end face, wherein the first and second piston rods project away form the first and second piston body end faces and extend in the travel directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control device for semiautomatic gearshift mechanisms of vehicles, in particular, motor vehicles, comprising two actuators with which the gearshift shaft of the gearshift mechanism is rotatable and movable (slidable) for gutter selection and gear selection.
2. Description of the Related Art
In connection with manual gearshift mechanism it is known to select the desired gutter and gears with a gearshift lever projecting into the passenger compartment. In order to provide an automatic operation of such a manual gearshift mechanism, control devices with actuators are known with which the gearshift shaft of the gearshift mechanism is rotated and moved.
It is an object of the present invention to configure the control device of the aforementioned kind such that with a compact and inexpensive configuration a problem-free and reliable gearshift action is ensured.
In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved in that the first actuator for sliding or moving the gearshift shaft has a primary piston having correlated therewith at least two auxiliary pistons with which the primary piston can be moved in two directions, as desired, and that the primary piston has two piston rods extending in the travel direction and projecting from opposite sides of a piston body of the primary piston.
In the control device according to the invention, the gearshift shaft of the gearshift mechanism is moved by means of the primary piston in cooperation with the auxiliary pistons. For this purpose, the auxiliary pistons as well as the piston rods of the primary piston are correspondingly loaded, preferably by means of a hydraulic medium. By employing two auxiliary pistons and two piston rods, the primary piston can be adjusted into a position corresponding to the respective gearshift mechanism. The actuator can be used for movement (displacement) or rotation of the gearshift shaft. It is also possible to provide both actuators with such a primary piston with piston rods and with auxiliary pistons. Then it is possible to employ the same units for both actuators of the control device according to the invention.

Control device for semiautomatic gearshift mechanisms of vehicles, in particular, motor vehicles


A DNA expression construct comprising a polynucleotide encoding an unnatural UstD enzyme, the unnatural enzyme itself, and a method of making gamma-hydroxy amino acids by contacting an aldehyde-containing substrate, an amino acid, and the unnatural, purified UstD enzyme under conditions and for a time sufficient to react at least a portion of the aldehyde-containing substrate with at least a portion of the amino acid, to yield a gamma-hydroxy amino acid product.

Amino acids are among the premier building blocks of nature, ranging in use from protein production to secondary metabolite generation. For chemists, amino acids act as a core chiral reagent pool for making a wide variety of important molecules, such as chiral ligands for catalysis and starting materials for diverse syntheses. See, for example, Károly Micskei, Patonay, T., Caglioti, L. & Pályi, G. "Amino Acid Ligand Chirality for Enantioselective Syntheses," Chemistry & Biodiversity, 7, 6, 1660-1669 (2010) and Zhang, Y., Farrants, H. & Li, X. "Adding a Functional Handle to Nature's Building Blocks: The Asymmetric Synthesis of b-Hydroxy-a-Amino Acids," Chem. Asian J 9, 1752-1764 (2014). Many natural products and clinically used drug molecules bear non-standard amino acids (nsAAs); nsAAs are amino acids that have been chemically modified via reactions such as halogenation, hydroxylation, alkylation, and cyclization. See Blaskovich, M. A. T. "Unusual Amino Acids in Medicinal Chemistry," Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 59, 10807-10836 (2016). These modifications may impart improved binding affinity, specificity, bioavailability, and stability to the compound. Diverse pools of novel nsAAs represent a key resource for high-throughput screening to find new drug candidates. See Godfrey, A. G., Masquelin, T. & Hemmerle, H. "A remote-controlled adaptive medchem lab: an innovative approach to enable drug discovery in the 21st Century," Drug Discovery Today 18, 795-802 (2013). Syntheses of nsAAs, however, is often a time-consuming and tedious process involving multiple chemical transformations and purifications.
By studying the biosynthetic pathways of natural products bearing nsAAs, it is possible to discover how a given organism can make nsAAs in vivo. These nsAA-containing biosynthesis pathways generally fall into two categories; a first pathway in which the nsAA is synthesized and then incorporated into the natural product of interest, and a second pathway in which a natural product core scaffold is formed and subsequently modified to contain one or more nsAAs. Both routes typically involve highly specialized enzymes to carry out the transformations. These enzymes have evolved to perform diverse chemo-, stereo-, and regioselective transformations. Many of these transformations are extremely challenging to accomplish via traditional synthetic chemistry.
Recently, the biosynthetic pathway of Ustiloxin B, a fungal ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) from Aspergillus flavus, was characterized. (Umemura, M. et al. "Characterization of the biosynthetic gene cluster for the ribosomally synthesized cyclic peptide ustiloxin B in Aspergillus flavus," Fungal Genet. Biol. 68, 23-30 (2014). Ye, Y. et al. "Unveiling the Biosynthetic Pathway of the Ribosomally Synthesized and Post-translationally Modified Peptide Ustiloxin B in Filamentous Fungi," Angew. Chemie—Int. Ed. 55, 8072-8075 (2016).) The final step of the biosynthetic pathway involves a pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme: UstD. This enzyme catalyzes the decarboxylation of L-aspartate to form a nucleophilic enamine intermediate. See FIG. 1, which illustrates the proposed mechanism. Instead of protonation of the enamine to form L-alanine, as is the case with L-aspartate β-decarboxylases, UstD catalyzes addition of the enamine into an aldehyde moiety of the precursor to Ustiloxin B.

Engineered biocatalysts for the synthesis of gamma-hydroxy amino acids


A vehicle propulsion system includes an engine arranged to output a first torque to a driveshaft and an electric motor arranged to output a second torque to the driveshaft. The vehicle also includes an automatic transmission arranged to receive an input torque from the driveshaft. The vehicle further includes an exhaust system to output combustion byproduct from the engine. A vehicle controller is programmed to, during deceleration, cause the engine to apply a negative first torque to increase an audible exhaust system sound. The controller is also programmed to activate the electric motor to output a positive second torque such that the input torque to the automatic transmission does not exceed a transmission torque threshold during deceleration.

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) may include a propulsion system including an internal combustion engine, one or more electric machines to output torque to propel the vehicle. Such vehicle commonly include an automatic transmission having a fluidly coupled torque converter. The torque converter allows for smooth transmissions during torque output changes, and may prevent more harsh output conditions that are associated with performance vehicles.

Vehicle exhaust sound control systems and methods


The movement of an imaging of a background in a sequence of images of a scene determined. A combination image is composed with pixels which have been built up through combination of several consecutive images. Along with the combination image, a change image is calculated which indicates position-dependently to what extent differences arise between successive images contributing to the same area in the combination image. Corresponding areas in an input image and in the combination image are searched for. This is done depending on the change image, such that a probability that an area in the combination image is found is less according as the change image indicates that the changeability of the are is greater, for instance by selecting, for the purpose of the search, for what areas in the combination image corresponding areas in the input image will be searched for. From the locations of the corresponding areas, the movement of the background is determined.

In recording a sequence of images of a scene, there often occur movements of a camera relative to the scene (for instance translations and/or rotations). Consequently, the place where objects and a background of these objects are imaged in consecutive images will change from image to image.
For various applications, it is necessary to determine these movements. An example of such an application is the elimination of the effect of shaking movements of the camera. This requires determination of the magnitude of the shaking movements. It can be determined, for instance, from the movement of the background of the scene in the image.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,639 discloses a technique for determining the movement of the background and objects from one image to the next image in a video signal. To that end, a measure is calculated for the difference between the image content of possibly corresponding areas in successive images, whilst the locations of the areas in the different images differ from each other by a displacement. A displacement leading to a minimum value of the measure for the difference is utilized as displacement vector of the object or the background imaged in the areas.
Movements of objects relative to the background lead to a problem in this technique. This is because as a result of such movements, in each case parts of the background in the images are covered or, conversely, appear. Such movements can be the result of "real" movements of objects and of apparent movements resulting from perspective effects in camera movements.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,639 solves this problem by making use of four consecutive images and a series of uniformly displaced areas in those images. That is, the difference in the location of the areas in immediately consecutive images in each case corresponds with the same displacement vector. If the image content of the areas in all these areas differs minimally, the displacement vector is used as displacement vector of the object or the background. A different case is that the image content differs minimally between areas from a few images in the sequence, but differs much more from areas from one or more other images of the sequence. In this case, the image content is apparently covered in the one or more other images, but the displacement vector can nonetheless be used as displacement vector of the object or the background.
Thus, the effect of coverage of the background is controlled. However, this is done under the assumption that the background and the objects move uniformly. This assumption does not always apply to shaking movements. Also, this assumption limits the length of the sequence of images on which the technique of U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,639 is usable. U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,639 utilizes four consecutive images. A much greater number is not usable because of the risk of non-uniform movements, and also because of the large memory occupation needed for this. Consequently, the technique described is not suitable for images in which more prolonged coverage occurs.

Determination of a motion of a background in a series of images

Nederlandse Organisatie Voortoegepast-Natuurwetenschappeljk, Onderzoek TNO


In some embodiments, techniques for displaying a URL comprise receiving a URL; normalizing the URL, wherein normalizing the URL includes standardizing an encoding of a character contained in the URL; determining a first element of the URL, wherein the first element of the URL includes a domain; determining a second element of the URL; displaying the URL, wherein displaying the URL includes emphasizing the first element of the URL, and wherein emphasizing the first element of the URL includes displaying the first element of the URL using a first font attribute; and wherein displaying the URL includes displaying a first portion of the second element of the URL using a second font attribute and eliding a second portion of the second element of the URL; and responsive to an interaction with a user interface element, providing a view of the URL in its entirety.

An increasing volume of sensitive personal and financial information is being stored electronically, in locations accessible through electronic networks such as the internet. This information has value to parties who have illicitly gained access to such information by impersonating parties authorized to access information. Current email and web browser technology do not provide adequate defenses against such deception.
Accordingly, there is a need to protect users from electronic fraud.

Fraud prevention via distinctive URL display


Key retrieval can include accessing a password for a keystore from a source. Key retrieval can include placing the password in memory. Key retrieval can include deleting the password from the source. Key retrieval can include retrieving an encryption key from the keystore with the password in memory.

A message can be encrypted to prevent unauthorized access. A message can be encrypted before it is sent and can be decrypted upon reception. Encrypting and Decrypting can prevent unintended recipients of the message from obtaining the contents of the message. A number of encryption schemes can encrypt and/or decrypt based on a key.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A thread spool holder comprises an elongate shaft, for receiving a spool of thread, with a flange at one end for engaging one end of the spool. A thread cutter is provided at one end of the shaft allowing the user to cut thread easily. The shaft is hollow to form an elongate cavity and closed by a removable cap. When the cap is removed the user may have access to the cavity for storing needles.

It is known to support a spool of thread on the person of a quilter, for example, so that the thread is readily available for use. Known devices for supporting a spool of thread provide an axle supported on the neck of a quilter by a cord that passes around the quilter's neck.
A problem with known devices of this sort is that the quilter often requires additional items, such as needles, which may not be readily available. Further, the quilter regularly cuts the thread used for sewing, and it is therefore necessary that a cutting instrument, such as a knife or pair of scissors also be readily available.

Combined thread spool, needle holder and thread cutter


A method for producing a formed wooden article by cutting out a primary blank member from a raw wood and forming the same into a final three-dimensional shape having a substantially uniform thickness, comprises: a primary compression step in which the primary blank member is compressed by primary molding dies, and the primary blank member is processed into a primary compressed article having a high compression portion in a vicinity of portions of the primary blank member corresponding to a die surface; a secondary blank processing step in which the primary compressed article is cut and processed into a secondary blank member; and a secondary compression step in which the secondary blank member is compressed by using secondary molding dies and the final three-dimensional shape is transferred onto the secondary blank member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a formed wooden article, in particular, to a method for producing a structure with high strength, which is comparatively thin, and has substantially constant thickness, for example, a structure such as a box, a casing, a container, a cover, or a shell-shaped member, which has an opening at one side, by compressing and forming a wooden material.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, it has been proposed that, through press-forming a plate-shaped wooden material in an atmosphere of water vapor at high temperature by using molding dies, a three-dimensionally shaped formed wooden article be produced.
Generally, since a wooden material is aggregate of wooden fibers in which cell walls extend in the growing direction of the wood, the strength in the fibrous direction remarkably differs from the strength in the direction orthogonal to the fibrous direction. For example, if a wooden material is bent around an axis orthogonal to the fibrous direction, mainly a tensile force acts on the wooden fibers, and the wooden material presents a comparatively high strength. However, if the wooden material is bent around an axis parallel to the fibrous direction, the wooden fibers are easily torn apart, the strength is low and cracks are easily brought about.
It is known that a blank plate should be obtained by primarily compressing a wooden material which is an aggregate of wooden fibers, and the blank plate should be further formed by secondarily compressing in order that the wooden fibers may not be torn apart by a tensile force acting among the wooden fibers while being formed.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H08-25301 describes a method for processing a wooden material, in which a plate-shaped primarily fixed article is formed by compressing a square lumber in the direction orthogonal to its fibrous direction and slicing the same, the primarily fixed article is mounted in forming dies with the periphery thereof restricted, and a secondarily fixed article having a three-dimensional shape is obtained by heating the primarily fixed article, causing the same to absorb water, and forming the same.
Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H11-77619 describes a method for processing a wooden material three dimensionally, in which a wooden material is compressed in a direction orthogonal to the fibrous direction and is sliced to get a wooden plate, which is bent around an axis parallel to the fibrous direction and is temporarily fixed as it is, and three-dimensional forming is carried out with the convex of the bent wooden plate matched to the convex of a press mold.

Method for producing formed wooden article