A support belt to be worn around the waist of a person includes an elongated multi-layer strip. The elongated multi-layer strip includes a center portion and a pair of ends. The elongated multi-layer strip is sized and shaped so as to encircle the waist of the person with the center portion positioned against the back of the person and the pair of ends positioned against the front of the person, the pair of ends being releasably fastenable together to secure the support belt around the waist of the person. The center portion of the elongated multi-layer strip is shaped to define an angle of lordosis of approximately 15 degrees in the lumbar spinal region. A pair of inwardly curved sections sized and shaped so as to urge against the iliac crests of the person wearing the support belt are mounted on the multi-layer strip. The multi-layer strip may comprise a layer of rigid plastic and a pair of layers of a soft compressible plastic.

The present invention relates generally to support belts and more particularly to a support belt which is designed specifically to conform to the shape and desired angular orientation of the lower back of the wearer.
Back disorders and the pain associated therewith are frequently encountered as a result of lifting, holding, and/or transporting heavy objects. Back disorders and the pain associated therewith are also frequently experienced as a result of placing continuous, high levels of stress on a person's back. Continuous, high levels of stress can occur from, among other things, repeatedly bending over or sitting for a prolonged period of time. Back injuries resulting from heavy lifting and/or repetitive stress generally occur in the curved spinal areas of the lower back, particularly the lumbar or arch spinal region of the back. The lumbar region of the spine corresponds to the five vertebrae which lie directly above the sacrum in the human body.
Support belts, also commonly referred to as lifting belts and weight belts, are well known in the art.
Support belts are commonly employed to reduce the likelihood of back injuries resulting from repetitive stress and heavy lifting. Support belts are worn to support the lower back of the wearer. Specifically, support belts are often worn to support the lumbar region of the spine of the wearer as well as to support the muscles surrounding the lumbar spinal region, thereby limiting muscle strains and pulls.
One well known type of support belt comprises a strip of flat, stiff, rigid leather, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick, which is wide in the back with a gradual taper toward a narrower front. To secure the belt around the waist of the wearer, the belt commonly includes a buckle having a pin on one side of the strap and a plurality of holes on the other side of the strap.
It has been found that support belts of the type described above do not adequately provide uniform support to the curved spinal areas of the back, particularly the lumbar or arch region of the back. Specifically, the inherent inflexibility of the strip of leather prevents the belt from providing uniform surface contact with the curved lumbar area of the back. As a result, portions of the lumbar spinal region of the back of the wearer are inadequately supported and therefore susceptible to injury.
In addition, such belts do not position the lumbar region of the spine at the ideal angle of lordosis (i.e. approximately 15 degrees), the angle of lordosis referring to the forward curvature of the lumbar region of the spine which produces the arch in the back of a person. To the contrary, because such belts are flat, they will have a tendency to position the lumbar spinal region at an angle of about 0 degrees, which can potentially lead to spinal malalignment and associated injuries.
It has also been found that such belts tend to be uncomfortable for most wearers. Specifically, because such belts do not accurately imitate the exact shape of the back of the wearer, the belts will tend to pinch the pelvic wings, or iliac crests of the wearer when the wearer bends over or moves.
Another well known type of support belt comprises a strip of a flexible, elastic type material which is secured around the waist of the wearer.
Unfortunately, such flexible belts provide less support than the rigid belts and are therefore not suitable for activities which require heavy lifting. Moreover, due to the lack of support, flexible belts do not adequately promote and/or protect the proper spinal curvature of the wearer, particularly in the lumbar region.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,615 to Pekar et al there is described a support belt which is intended to encircle a wearer's waist. The belt, which is made of a stiff material such as leather, has an on-board inflation pump and may be used for weight lifting. The belt includes a bladder defined by a single chamber having inflation and deflation mechanisms which allow the wearer to selectively adjust the amount of air in the bladder. The bladder has an oblong portion which is positioned on the belt so that when the belt is worn, the oblong portion is positioned adjacent to the wearer's lower back for support. An elongated portion of the bladder extending through the aperture of the belt is integrally formed with inflation and deflation mechanisms on the other side of the belt. In the preferred embodiment, the inflation mechanism comprises a pump and a one-way valve and the deflation mechanism comprises an exhaust valve.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,150 to Saunders there is disclosed a lumbosacral back support system with interchangeable and positionally adjustable lumbosacral orthopedic support members for supporting the spine of a user during physical activity, specifically for athletes and industrial workers. A back support band is provided with a first releasable attachment mechanism. A lumbosacral support member with a second releasable attachment mechanism is provided for engagement with the first releasable attachment mechanism. The first and second releasable attachment mechanisms are arranged for attaching a lumbosacral support member to the back support band at a variety of positions relative to the spine of the user. The releasable attachment mechanism provides the user with the option to substitute different lumbosacral support members on the back support band. Additionally, the back support band may be releasably attached to a compression-type short to further secure the lumbosacral back support system to the user.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,151 to Smith there is disclosed a lifting belt containing basically three elements, namely, an underlying wrap assembly with expandable back panel and overlapping closure ends, suspenders with four adjustable ends to secure to the underlying wrap assembly at varying positions in front and at two positions varying vertically in the rear, and expandable side pull portions which have a pair of elastic band portions and removably secured end tabs. The expandable side pulls are normally applied by snugly securing the side pulls to the underlying wrap assembly prior to lifting.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,274 to Glover et al there is disclosed an improved orthopedic device for human wear comprising of a flexible belt with free ends thereof joined by a hook and loop fastener to position the belt on the wearer, and wherein the flexible belt is provided with a pad to be positioned against the lumbar and sacral regions of the wearer and with vertical stiffeners for the flexible belt. A static support is fixedly attached to the flexible belt and completely encircles the wearer. The static support is bi-level with one level encircling the wearer, extending around the flexible belt, and attached thereto adjacent the pad, and is provided with adjustable length belt buckle ends for cinching the one level about the user with varying degrees of tension. A second level is V-shaped and is attached to the elastic belt adjacent to the pad to dispense the support to the sacral regions when additional support is desired and the buckled clasp and first level tightened.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,523 to J. J. Miller there is disclosed a hard body brace for treating scoliosis in a patient while preventing hypokyphosis in the patient's thoracic spine. As preferably envisioned by the present invention, the hard body brace may be fabricated by the manufacturer as an unfinished brace and may then be finished on site by an orthotist to meet the exact size and shape of the intended wearer. In a preferred embodiment, the unfinished hard body brace comprises a shell shaped to surround the torso of a person in such a way as to correct scoliosis, the shell having an outer layer of hard plastic material and an inner layer of compressible plastic material bonded to the outer layer. The shell is preferably made from a single section and has a vertically extending split portion. To prevent hypokyphosis, the shell is shaped to define a kyphotic angle in the thoracic spine of approximately 20 to 25 degrees. The shell may additionally be shaped to define a lordotic angle in the lumbar spine of approximately 15 degrees to make the brace more comfortable to the wearer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,367 to M. E. Miller there is disclosed a pelvic girdle comprising an outer layer of a hard substantially rigid plastic material and an inner layer of soft compressible plastic material bonded to the outer layer, the girdle being shaped to engage a person's pelvis and including an anterior and a vertically split posterior portion, the girdle having an upper anterior portion separated laterally from the remainder of the girdle and curving outwardly thereof, and connecting upper side portions on the girdle connecting the anterior and posterior portions thereof and including inwardly curved sections in both layers of the girdle for engaging the iliac crests of the wearer and which sections have appreciably thicker compressible inner layers thereon.


The present invention provides a polymeric treatment for curved regions in shaft assemblies that increases curve retention without affecting the flexibility within these regions. More specifically, the present invention modifies the underlying crystalline morphology of a polymer in order to decrease crystal fracturing. In particular, the present invention treats polymeric materials suitable for catheter construction with a nucleating agent.

This invention resides in the construction and use of catheters for interventional procedures in such fields as cardiology, neurology, urology and gastroenterology. Design features are incorporated in these catheters to facilitate their use in: (1) the advancement of the catheter through a patient's bodily passages to reach specific sites in vessels or chambers of interest; (2) correct placement of the catheter's distal tip at a targeted site within the patient, and finally (3) holding the catheter at a targeted site while procedures with other devices are completed including while the site moves in response to normal bodily functions such as breathing or a heart beat.
Guide catheters are one type of catheter utilized in these procedures. Guide catheters are relatively large lumen catheters used to guide smaller diameter catheters such as therapeutic, diagnostic or imaging catheters into bodily passages that are curved or branched. More specifically, guide catheters provide a conduit for at least a portion of the path followed by these additional catheters to desired target sites within a patient's vasculature or other body lumen or organ. In order for the catheter to be effective, however, the catheter must be able to traverse the tortuous pathways of a patient's vasculature or other anatomy in a manner as atraumatic as possible.
In order to function efficiently, guide catheters generally have a relatively stiff main body portion and a relatively soft distal portion. The stiff main body portion gives the guide catheter sufficient pushability and torqueability to allow the guide catheter to be inserted percutaneously into an artery, moved and rotated in the vasculature to position the distal end of the catheter at the desired site. However, the distal portion should have sufficient flexibility so that it can track over a guide wire and be maneuvered through a tortuous path to the treatment site. In addition, a soft distal tip at the very end of the catheter should be used to minimize the risk of causing trauma to a blood vessel while the guide catheter is being moved through the vasculature to the proper position.
Thus, to limit insertion time and discomfort to a patient, a catheter must be stiff enough to resist the formation of kinks, while at the same time, the catheter must possess flexibility to be responsive to maneuvering forces when guiding the catheter through the vascular system. In addition to these features, catheters must be designed to reach a targeted site and maintain the position at that site throughout the procedure. Guide catheters typically have preformed bends formed along their distal portion to facilitate both the placement of the distal end of the guide catheter and to the ostium of a particular coronary artery of a patient and to remain stable once in position. Likewise, angiographic catheters, which are used in evaluating the progress of coronary artery disease in patients, generally have a desired distal end curvature configuration to facilitate both the steering of the catheter to a particular artery to be examined and to provide a stable positioning of the catheter's distal portion.
As stated above, improved stabilization of a catheter's position is often achieved through curves or bends imparted to the catheter by the manufacturer. Some of these pre-formed curves function by anchoring the catheter against an opposing wall within a patient's vasculature or other anatomy. Proper anchoring is often achieved by matching the predisposed shape of the catheter with the general shape of the targeted site. Often a curve is imparted to the distal end of a catheter with the intention of placing the catheter's distal opening at a desired location in the vessel, or alternatively, on the vessel wall. A guide catheter especially designed for a procedure in a coronary artery, for example, is shaped such that when the guide catheter is inserted into the femoral artery and through the aorta of a patient, the curvature of the catheter will place its distal tip inside one of the coronary ostia. Thus, a guide catheter for the right coronary artery is shaped differently than one for the left coronary artery. A guide catheter designed to provide access to a carotid artery is again shaped differently. Likewise, guide catheters of still other shapes are designed for other bodily passages and regions of interest. Further, there are differences between patients' body structures which require varying sizes of each curve type.
Guide catheters currently available from manufacturers are designed in a variety of shapes specific for different bodily passages and procedures. Those of skill in the art recognize these different shapes by names such as Judkins Right, Judkins Left, Amplatz Right, Amplatz Left, Bentson, Shepherd Hook, Cobra, Headhunter, Sidewinder, Newton, Sones and others, each formed in a different shape. Most of these different shapes are manufactured in gradations of size and/or curvature to accommodate differences among individual patients.
When a guide catheter is inserted and advanced within a patient, its pre-formed curved shape is often distorted by the tortuous vasculature and connecting passages of a patient's vasculature. The bends must essentially become straight as the catheter is slowly advanced within the anatomy, usually over a guidewire. In order for the pre-formed manufactured curves or bends to be effective in properly seating the guide catheter, however, the imparted curves must be capable of returning their pre-formed shape or at least a predictable variant of the original shape. This is referred to herein as curve retention. Similarly, after the guide catheter is properly seated, the curves of the catheter must retain the catheter's positioning despite the constant movements in response to normal bodily functions such as breathing or a heartbeat or when other devices are passed through the lumen of the positioned catheter.
Manufacturers, therefore, often add filler material, or alternatively, use stiffer materials in curved regions to increase curve retention. Although adding materials achieves better curve retention upon placement, decreasing the catheter's flexibility in curved regions causes significant alterations in the catheter's overall performance. Specifically, the catheter's trackability is often affected. For guide catheters having curves imparted within the distal regions of the catheter, the effect in trackability performance can be quite significant. Thus, it is a goal of the present invention to create a catheter design having exceptional curve retention without diminishing the catheter's flexibility and overall trackability performance.

Catheter having improved curve retention


The disclosure concerns a compressed menstrual tampon including an elongated generally rod-shaped absorption body having an insertion end and a withdrawal end and having a withdrawal string extending from the withdrawal end. The absorption body has at least one wave-shaped compression line extending continuously from the insertion end to the withdrawal end.

Menstrual tampons for intra-vaginal use have long been in use and are favoured by many women as they are considered to be hygienic, non-obtrusive and comfortable to wear, lacking the occluding plastic backing of external protection devices such as sanitary napkins. A further advantage is that tampons are discrete and can be used with swimwear and other tight-fitting garments without being visible from the outside.
Tampons are commonly made from absorbent fibres, usually cellulosic fibres such as cotton fibres or regenerated cellulose fibres, such as viscose. It is also known to include other absorbent materials such as absorbent foams and superabsorbent gelling materials in tampons and also non-absorbent materials such as non-absorbent fibres, binders and fillers.
In order to better utilise the absorption material it has been suggested to provide tampons with external grooves or channels in order to increase the surface of the tampon that will be available for absorption. These grooves or channels may be formed by compression of the tampon body and may be arranged in a spiral configuration or may run as straight from the top of the tampon to the withdrawal end as described in WO 2002/078586, WO 2002/076357, WO 95/03766 and WO 2004/028428. However, it has been found that even when provided with such grooves or channels, users still experience a problem with fluid leaking out past the tampon. Such leakage often occurs prematurely, before the tampon has been fully saturated with liquid.
WO 2008/062322 A2 discloses a sanitary tampon that has been impregnated with a hydrophobic substance in order to counteract expansion and absorption in the treated end zone of the tampon. The hydrophobic substance is said to limit leakage and facilitating withdrawal of the tampon after it has been used. However, for several reasons it is highly desirable to avoid any additives to a tampon as any substance that will be in contact with the mucosal tissues may potentially cause problems with irritation and allergy. Additional components in a disposable article such as a tampon will also increase the production cost both by complicating the production process and by adding to the material cost. Moreover, the hydrophobic substance will negatively affect the absorbent capacity of the tampon by blocking the capillary structure in the tampon and by limiting the expansion capacity of the tampon.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a menstrual tampon having improved ability to prevent premature leakage.


The present invention relates to a method for priming a line for adding a medical solution, the line branching off a return line of an extracorporeal blood circuit, in particular a calcium line, a control device for controlling or regulating the method according to the present invention and a blood or plasma treatment apparatus with at least the control device according to the present invention. It further relates to a digital storage medium, a computer program product as well as a computer program.

Extracorporeal blood circuits for conducting blood outside the patient's body during a blood purification process are known from practice. Such blood circuits are filled with a priming solution before the beginning of the treatment. This filling is known as priming the blood circuit. Inter alia, it serves to displace air which is still present in the blood circuit before the treatment by utilization of a physiologically tolerated liquid or solution in order to prevent an introduction of this air into the vascular system of the patient during and in particular at the beginning of the blood treatment.
If the extracorporeal blood circuit comprises a line for adding a medical solution, for example a calcium-containing solution (here generally denoted as line for adding a medical solution or as calcium line, i.e. a line which is provided for adding or for exclusively adding calcium or calcium solution into an extracorporeal blood circuit), this line also has to be primed before the beginning of the treatment, at least, however, before its actual use.
One object of the present invention is to propose a method for priming a line for adding a medical solution, in particular a calcium line.
All advantages that are achievable by utilization of the method according to the present invention may in certain embodiments according to the present invention undiminishedly also be achieved by utilization of the apparatuses according to the present invention.
Thus, according to the present invention, a method for priming and/or filling and/or flushing a line for adding a medical solution, and in particular a calcium line, which branches off a return line of an extracorporeal blood circuit is proposed, and which is connected in fluid communication with it at a connection point or which joins it. Hereafter, the terms "line for adding a medical solution" and "calcium line" are used in parallel, whereby to simplify matters there is also only mention of a calcium line even if the explanation made hereto also applies to a line which is not provided or used for adding calcium, as is recognizable for the person skilled in the art. Herewith, it is clarified that whenever there is mention of a calcium line, this term is also replaceable by the more general term "line for adding a medical solution". The use of the term "calcium line" is not intended to restrict the present invention hereto. A calcium line is rather only one embodiment of the line according to the present invention for adding a medical solution, e.g., a drug solution, a volume replacement solution, and so on. The term "solution" is hereby in some embodiments according to the present invention to be understood as an arbitrary fluid which contains solid or dissolved components, i.e. also suspensions, emulsions, and the like. Also the objects which are denoted here as calcium solution container, calcium solution connector, calcium drip chamber, calcium pump and the like are not restricted to their use in connection with calcium or calcium solution. Here also, "calcium" is replaceable with any suitable medical solution. This is also encompassed by the present invention.
The method encompasses retrograde priming of the calcium line via the return line of the extracorporeal blood circuit with a priming solution. In doing so, the retrograde priming takes place while the extracorporeal blood circuit is primed, which is carried out by use of a blood or plasma treatment apparatus such as for example an apheresis apparatus, hemodialysis apparatus, hemofiltration apparatus, hemodiafiltration apparatus, and so on.
The control device according to the present invention is provided, set up, programmed and/or configured for controlling or regulating an apparatus for or during execution of the method according to the present invention.
The blood or plasma treatment apparatus according to the present invention comprises at least one control device according to the present invention and/or is provided and/or set up for executing the method according to the present invention. In certain embodiments, it comprises or is connected in operative and/or signal connection each with devices which are required for this purpose.
The digital storage medium according to the present invention, in particular in the form of a disk, CD or DVD, with electronically readable control signals may interact with a programmable computer system such that the mechanical or machine steps of the method according to the present invention are prompted.
The computer program product according to the present invention comprises a program code saved on a machine-readable storage device for prompting the mechanical or machine steps of the method according to the present invention when the computer program product runs on a computer.
The term "machine-readable storage device", as used herein, denotes in certain embodiments of the present invention a storage device which contains data or information which is interpretable by software and/or hardware. The storage device may be a data storage device such as a disk, a CD, DVD, a USB stick, a flashcard, an SD card and the like.
The computer program according to the present invention comprises a program code for prompting the mechanical or machine steps of the method according to the present invention when the computer program runs on a computer.
It applies to the digital storage medium, the computer program product according to the present invention and the computer program according to the present invention that all or some of the mechanically executed steps of the method according to the present invention are prompted.
In all of the following embodiments, the use of the expression "may be" or "may have" and so on, is to be understood synonymously with "preferably is" or "preferably has", respectively, and so on, and is intended to illustrate an embodiment according to the present invention.
Advantageous developments of the present invention are each subject of dependent claims and embodiments.
Embodiments according to the present invention may comprise one or more of the features named hereafter.
In certain embodiments according to the present invention of the method, the return line is provided for returning a bodily fluid which was extracorporeally treated into the vascular system of the treated patient. In some embodiments according to the present invention, the return line is the venous patient line.
The blood circuit serves in some embodiments according to the present invention to extracorporeally conduct blood such as whole blood or components hereof, but also other bodily fluids, such as plasma.
In some embodiments according to the present invention, "retrograde" is the direction of flow within the calcium line, in which a fluid flows in opposite direction of the flow direction (the anterograde flow direction), in which calcium flows through the calcium line when it is introduced into the extracorporeal blood circuit out of a calcium source such as a calcium solution container or calcium bag and through the calcium line during or towards the end of the treatment of the patient.
"Retrograde priming or filling of a calcium line" means in some embodiments according to the present invention filling the calcium line in a direction towards a calcium solution container (rather than away from it), and/or towards a point at which the calcium solution container is or would be provided in its normal or intended use or with utilization of the calcium line with reference to the same.
In certain embodiments according to the present invention, retrograde priming takes place via a detachable or undetachable connection section, by utilization of which the calcium line is or will be connected with the return line.
In certain embodiments according to the present invention, the priming solution is an arbitrary liquid which is used or normally used or is known as being usable for priming an extracorporeal blood circuit, for example a physiological NaCl solution, dialyzing liquid, substitute or the like.
In some embodiments of the method according to the present invention, the calcium line is detachably or undetachably connected in fluid communication with the return line of the extracorporeal blood circuit of a blood or plasma treatment apparatus by utilization of a connection section, for example a T-piece.
In some embodiments according to the present invention, the method encompasses non-inserting, detaching or removing or separating a pump tube section of the calcium line out of or from a calcium pump (hereafter also summarized as "detaching").
Non-inserting or detaching takes place in certain embodiments according to the present invention before the beginning of priming the extracorporeal blood circuit and/or before the completion of priming the extracorporeal blood circuit.
In certain embodiments according to the present invention, the method encompasses disrupting, modifying (in the sense of changing or varying) or ending the retrograde priming of the calcium line when, if, as soon as or after a predetermined detection level of the priming solution in a calcium drip chamber which is arranged in or at the calcium line, is or was reached and/or detected.
The method according to the present invention encompasses in some embodiments disrupting or ending retrograde priming of the calcium line, when, if, as soon as or after a predetermined detection level of the priming solution in the calcium drip chamber is or was reached or and/or detected.
Reaching the predetermined detection level is in some embodiments according to the present invention recognized by a calcium drip and level detector device which is arranged at the drip chamber.
In some embodiments according to the present invention, reaching the predetermined detection level is automatically recognized or in an automated way.
In certain embodiments according to the present invention, the method additionally encompasses the further filling of the calcium drip chamber with the priming solution, namely by an additional, predetermined volume of the priming solution, after the predetermined detection level is or was reached and/or detected. The volume of this priming solution may be, e.g., 3 ml. The volume may, however, deviate from this, and it may depend on the kind and type of the utilized elements or components. This way, a suitable or desired after-priming level of the priming solution in the calcium drip chamber is also ensured beyond the time at which the pump tube section is inserted into the calcium pump. Such inserting effects a dropping of the level of liquid in the calcium drip chamber. This may be completely or partially compensated or overcompensated in the manner as described here.
In some embodiments according to the present invention, the method encompasses detecting a predetermined detection level in the calcium drip chamber.
The method according to the present invention additionally encompasses in certain embodiments inserting the pump tube section into the calcium pump.
In some embodiments according to the present invention, the insertion of the pump tube section into the calcium pump takes place automatically. Corresponding devices, and preferably also devices for their automatic starting, may according to the present invention be provided at or connected with the blood or plasma treatment apparatus.
In certain embodiments according to the present invention, the insertion of the pump tube section into the calcium pump takes place after the predetermined detection level of the priming solution is or was reached and/or detected in the calcium drip chamber.
The method according to the present invention encompasses in some embodiments additionally changing the flow—or the flow rate of the priming solution through the return line—by utilization of a throttle device, a flow disruption device or a clamping device (which herein are for simplification in short denoted as clamping devices without restricting them to a device with an explicit clamping effect), which is arranged at the return line downstream from the connection section or downstream from a connection spot to the line for adding a medical solution, in particular to the calcium line.
If the predetermined detection level—or the after-priming level—in the calcium drip chamber is not reached during regular priming, in certain embodiments according to the present invention, a flow of liquid within the return line downstream from the connection point between the return line and the calcium line is manually or automatically throttled or stopped by utilization of the clamping device. This takes place, e.g., by engaging the clamping device. A corresponding request may be issued to the user, for example acoustically, optically, by utilization of a display, and so on. Throttling, limiting or stopping may alternatively take place automatically, for example after a suitable sensor signal by a provided sensor was received. Such throttling, clamping or the like may of course also take place by default and—independently hereof—also without a request.
In certain embodiments, the blood or plasma treatment apparatus according to the present invention comprises at least one calcium drip and level detector device. It may be designed for detecting a level of liquid in the drip chamber of the calcium line of the extracorporeal blood circuit.
In certain embodiments according to the present invention, the blood or plasma treatment apparatus comprises a device for inserting the pump tube section into the calcium pump.
In some embodiments according to the present invention, the blood or plasma treatment apparatus according to the present invention is embodied as an apheresis apparatus, hemodialysis apparatus, hemodiafiltration apparatus, hemofiltration apparatus or a combination thereof.
Some or all embodiments according to the present invention may comprise one, more or all of the advantages named above and/or hereafter.
It is known from practice that in plasma or blood treatments a substitution of calcium may be required regularly, for example, if an anticoagulation with citrate was carried out. Whether such a substitution will actually be required cannot always be reliably assessed in the run-up to the treatment. It is thus desirable to only open, e.g., a calcium solution container (for example, a bag with calcium solution) in case of need, and otherwise leave it preferably unopened in order to be able to use it in a later occurring blood or plasma treatment, if a calcium substitution is not required. This applies in particular in light of the fact that holding and storing such a calcium solution container is connected with effort and costs, just as its disposal. The latter applies in particular to the acquisition of such a container; its contents are expensive.
However, if the calcium solution container has to be used in the treatment, for example due to an uprising hypercalcemy or a recognized citrate incompatibility, the calcium line has to be reliably primed and thus emptied of air in order to prevent embolisms before the calcium solution is introduced.
Calcium solution containers are usually connected with the extracorporeal blood circuit directly at the return connector of the extracorporeal blood circuit by utilization of the calcium line, for example in order to prevent the introduced calcium from being filtered, furthermore, as the addition of calcium is particularly useful directly before the blood is returned to the vascular system of the patient. No check of the extracorporeal blood circuit for the presence of trapped air is carried out from this point on. The present invention advantageously remedies the situation by proposing a filling of the calcium line including monitoring the result of priming even before the beginning of the treatment in order to prevent the risk of an air embolism.
Another advantage according to the present invention is that in the event that during preparation of the extracorporeal blood circuit it is unknown whether calcium solution will be required at all (i.e. in the event of initially unknown requirement), the expensive calcium solution of the calcium solution container is not used for filling the calcium line, for example by utilization of anterograde filling, as is known in the context of attaching infusions. Rather, priming is carried out by utilization of cheap priming solution.
Priming according to the present invention advantageously takes place automatically. Manually attaching the calcium line to, e.g., a source of a priming solution, subsequent detaching of the calcium line from the source of a priming solution, and connecting the calcium line with the blood circuit may advantageously be omitted.
By non-inserting or detaching the pump tube section of the calcium line from a calcium pump, an unhindered flow through the pump tube section may advantageously be ensured. A possibly occluding effect of the calcium pump can be avoided which may enable priming in the first place or lead to a more thorough priming.
By non-inserting or detaching, filling the calcium line may possibly advantageously take place just by utilization of gravity or by utilization of the principle of communicating vessels.
When inserting the pump tube section into the calcium pump, the level of liquid advantageously drops to or just above the predetermined detection level at most due to the additionally added volume of priming solution; a level thus remains the same in the calcium drip chamber, as is permanently recognizable for the user.

Method as well as apparatuses for retrograde filling of at least one calcium line of an extracorporeal blood circuit


Improved approaches for enabling user accounts to be portable across different multi-user computer systems are disclosed. A user account created at a multi-user computer can be stored to an external, portable data store, thereby rendering the user account portable. The multi-user computer system, e.g., through its operating system, locates user accounts on not only in local storage of the multi-user computer system, but also in any removable data storage attached to the multi-user computer system. Hence, by coupling the external, portable data store to another multi-user computer, a user is able to login to any supporting multi-user computer and be presented with their user configuration and user directory. Since the data store that stores the user account is not only external but also portable, a user can simply tote the data store to the location of different multi-user computers. In one embodiment, the external, portable data store can not only store the user account but can also provide general data storage. In another embodiment, the external, portable data store can be a portion of a portable computing device (e.g., media player) that provides other functionality besides data storage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to multi-user computer systems and, more particularly, user account management for multi-user computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multi-user computer systems allow a single computer to support one of a number of different users. In particular, when a user desires to utilize the computer system, the computer system requires that the user login to the computer system. The login process enables the computer system to determine whether the user that is requesting to use the computer system is able to authenticate themselves as an authorized user of the computer system. If the login is successful, the user is able to use the computer system to gain access to various resources either stored locally or on a network to which the computer system is coupled as permitted by a user account. For each user account, the multi-user computer system can provide a separate environment such that different preferences, directories etc. are used for different users such that restrictions on accessing other user's personal space can be imposed.
Conventionally, a user account is stored locally within the multi-user computer and a user's personal space (e.g., user directory) for the user is also stored locally. Hence, one problem associated with such conventional approaches is that the user accounts and user directories are provided on local storage of the multi-user computer. While such provides for multi-user support, the user accounts are thus specific to the multi-user computer and stored thereon. Consequently, the user accounts are not portable. For example, a conventional operating system, such as Mac OS X, provides for multi-user support but all user accounts that are created are stored locally in a netinfo database and also have a default user directories hosted on local storage.
A few sophisticated users have modified operation of existing operating systems, such as Mac OS X, to provide some portability to their user account from a work computer to a home computer. This requires specialized software tools to manipulate and modify the data structures for a user account in a database (e.g., netinfo database). Armed with such specialized tools, a very sophisticated user would first establish a local user account on the multi-user computer (work computer), and then use the specialized tools to edit the location of the default user directory, such that it is made to reside on an external storage device. Then, at the other location where a multi-user computer (home computer) is to be used by the same user, a user account would be again established on such a machine, and then using special tools to render the user identifier the same as that which the work computer used when creating the user account at the work computer. These modifications to the multi-user computers are not intended modifications and thus tend to compromise the reliability of the operation of the multi-user computers. Further, the required specialized tools, although available, are neither well documented nor user-friendly.
Thus, there is a need for improved techniques to enable user accounts to be portable such that a user can carry their user account with them and login to any multi-user computer system that supports portable user accounts.

Method and apparatus for rendering user accounts portable


A surface acoustic wave filter includes an acoustic track bounded by reflectors, at least a first input transducer and at least a second input transducer acoustically coupled to the acoustic track that are connected in parallel and connected to an asymmetric input port, at least two first output transducers acoustically coupled to the acoustic track that are connected in parallel and connected, to a first terminal of a symmetric output port and at least two second output transducers acoustically coupled to the acoustic track that are connected in parallel and connected to a second terminal of a symmetric output port. Each first output transducer in the acoustic track and corresponding second output transducers are side-by-side and are electrically connected in series via a first bus bar.

A DMS filter with three transducers is disclosed in EP 1394940, where an electric port of the filter is symmetrized by a transducer divided into two partial transducers connected in series. The partial transducers have a common bus bar which is connected to ground via opposing bus bars of the transducer connected to the asymmetric electric port. A floating metal structure is provided in one of the transducers to compensate for the undesired asymmetry.
From FIG. 6 of the publication EP 0605884 A1, another symmetrical/asymmetrical DMS filter, with a total of seven transducers, is known, in which input and output transducers are arranged alternately: three parallel-connected input transducers are connected to an asymmetric electric input port, and each of two parallel-connected output transducers are connected to a terminal of a symmetric output port.
A symmetrical/asymmetrical DMS filter is known from FIG. 7 of EP 0605884, in which, in contrast to FIG. 6 of EP 0605884, the symmetrization of the input port is achieved by subdivision (vertical splitting, V-split) of the middle input port into two series-connected component transducers.
Additional DMS filters are known from the publications U.S. Pat. No. 3,582,840, U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,096, U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,985 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,940.
Reflector losses of a DMS filter can be reduced with an increasing number of transducers connected in parallel that are associated with an input or output port. On the other hand, however, the parasitic capacitances of the filter arrangement increase with the number of feed lines elements that are necessary to transducers, and matching at the input and output ports deteriorates accordingly. With the parallel connection of additional input and output transducers, the aperture of the acoustic track becomes smaller and could be unfavorable to maintain a given impedance level at the input or output port. In the transition from an arrangement with three transducers to an arrangement with six transducers, for instance, the aperture is reduced by a factor of two. Thereby, one obtains a reduction by a factor of two of the finger resistances, which increase proportionally to the aperture. The finger resistances are even reduced by a factor of four, since the transducers are connected in parallel. This is of advantage for HF (high-frequency) filters, where small finger heights and widths lead to large finger resistance losses. The aperture should not be reduced too much, however, because it is known that then transversal 2D (2D=two-dimensional) losses increase. A critical value for the minimum aperture is roughly 20λ. The length of a filter increases from the use of larger numbers of transducers in the DMS track, one external ground connection such as one bond wire or one bump per transducer being necessary in case of additional transducers, which increases the surface area of the overall arrangement.

Surface acoustic wave resonator filter with longitudinally coupled transducers


A method of manufacturing a magnetoresistive-based device having magnetic material layers formed between a first electrically conductive layer and a second electrically conductive layer, the magnetic materials layers including a tunnel barrier layer formed between a first magnetic materials layer and a second magnetic materials layer, including removing the first electrically conductive layer and the first magnetic materials layer unprotected by a first hard mask, to form a first electrode and a first magnetic materials, respectively; and removing the tunnel barrier layer, second magnetic materials layer, and second electrically conductive layer unprotected by the second hard mask to form a tunnel barrier, second magnetic materials, and a second electrode.

Magnetoresistive-based devices, spin electronic devices, and spintronic devices are synonymous terms for devices that make use of effects predominantly caused by electron spin. Magnetoresistive-based devices are used in numerous information devices to provide non-volatile, reliable, radiation resistant, and high-density data storage and retrieval. The numerous Magnetoresistive-based devices include, but are not limited to, Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM), magnetic sensors, and read/write heads for disk drives.
Typically an MRAM includes an array of magnetoresistive memory elements. Each magnetoresistive memory element typically has a structure that includes multiple magnetic layers separated by various non-magnetic layers, such as a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), and exhibits an electrical resistance that depends on the magnetic state of the device. Information is stored as directions of magnetization vectors in the magnetic layers. Magnetization vectors in one magnetic layer are magnetically fixed or pinned, while the magnetization direction of another magnetic layer may be free to switch between the same and opposite directions that are called "parallel" and "antiparallel" states, respectively. Corresponding to the parallel and antiparallel magnetic states, the magnetic memory element has low and high electrical resistance states, respectively. Accordingly, a detection of the resistance allows a magnetoresistive memory element, such as an MTJ device, to provide information stored in the magnetic memory element. There are two completely different methods used to program the free layer: field-switching and spin-torque switching. In field-switched MRAM, current carrying lines adjacent to the MTJ bit are used to generate magnetic fields that act on the free layer. In spin-torque MRAM, switching is accomplished with a current pulse through the MTJ itself. The spin angular momentum carried by the spin-polarized tunneling current causes reversal of the free layer, with the final state (parallel or antiparallel) determined by the polarity of the current pulse. The memory elements are programmed by the magnetic field created from current-carrying conductors. Typically, two current-carrying conductors, the "digit line" and the "bit line", are arranged in cross point matrix to provide magnetic fields for programming of the memory element. Because the digit line usually is formed underlying the memory element so that the memory element may be magnetically coupled to the digit line, the interconnect stack that couples the memory element to the transistor typically is formed, using standard CMOS processing, offset from the memory element.
Efforts have been ongoing to improve scaling, or density, of MTJ elements in an MRAM array. However, such efforts have included methods that use multiple masking and etching steps that consume valuable real estate in the MRAM device. Because an MRAM device may include millions of MTJ elements, such use of real estate in the formation of each MTJ element can result in a significant decrease in the density of the MRAM device.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of manufacturing a magnetoresistive-based device including patterning a magnetic tunnel junction and an electrode coupled thereto. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the exemplary embodiments will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Method of manufacturing a magnetoresistive-based device


An application and system for inspecting an email message to determine if the email message is being used in a phishing ploy. When an email recipient receives an email message, the email message is sent to an EScam server for inspection. During its inspection, the EScam server considers various criteria, such as an originating country for an IP address associated with a sender of the email message, and assigns a score to the email message. Based on the score of the email message and threshold levels set within the EScam server, an email client determines whether the email message is part of a phishing ploy or a legitimate email message.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for detecting email messages used for defrauding an individual (such as so-called "phishing" emails). The present invention provides a method, system and computer program for operating an EScam server that is capable of accepting an email message and determining whether the email message is a phishing email message.
2. Description of the Related Art
Phishing is a scam where a perpetrator sends out legitimate looking emails appearing to come from some of the World Wide Web's biggest and most reliable web sites for example—eBay, PayPal, MSN, Yahoo, CitiBank, and America Online—in an effort to "phish" for personal and financial information from an email recipient. Once the perpetrator obtains such information from the unsuspecting email recipient, the perpetrator subsequently uses the information for personal gain.
There are a large number of vendors today providing anti-phishing solutions. In all but a few cases, these solutions do not help to manage phishing emails proactively. Instead, they rely on providing early warnings based on known phishing emails, black lists, stolen brands, etc.
Currently, anti-phishing solutions fall into three major categories:                1) Link Checking Systems use black lists or behavioral technologies that are browser based to determine whether a site is linked to a spoofed site. Unfortunately, systems using black list solutions are purely reactive solutions that rely on third party updates of IP addresses that are hosting spoofed sites.        2) Early Warning Systems use surveillance of phishing emails via "honey pots"(a computer system on the Internet that is expressly set up to attract and 'trap' people who attempt to penetrate other people's computer systems), online brand management and scanning, Web server log analysis, and traffic capture and analysis technologies to identify phishing emails. These systems will identify phishing attacks quickly so that member institutions can get early warnings. However, none of these systems is proactive in nature. Therefore, these systems fail to protect a user from being victimized by a spoofed site.        3) Authentication and Certification Systems use trusted images embedded in emails, digital signatures, validation of an email origin, etc. This allows the customer to determine whether or not an email is legitimate.
Current anti-phishing solutions fail to address phishing attacks in real time. Businesses using a link checking system must rely on a black list being constantly updated for protection against phishing attacks. Unfortunately, because the link checking system is not a proactive solution and must rely on a black list update, there is a likelihood that several customers will be phished for personal and financial information before an IP address associated with the phishing attack is added to the black list. Early warning systems attempt to trap prospective criminals and shut down phishing attacks before they happen; however, they often fail to accomplish these goals because their techniques fail to address phishing attacks that do not utilize scanning. Authentication and certification systems are required to use a variety of identification techniques; for example, shared images between a customer and a service provider which are secret between the two, digital signatures, code specific to a particular customer being stored on the customer's computer. Such techniques are intrusive in that software must be maintained on the customer's computer and periodically updated by the customer.
Accordingly, there is a need and desire for an anti-phishing solution that proactively stops phishing attacks at a point of attack and is non-intrusive.


The present invention relates to a method for packaging solar cell receivers having secondary optical elements. The present invention adopts a mold having mold cavities with special shapes. By filling mold cavities with optical encapsulant, the substrate containing solar cells is placed upside down towards the mold. Then the solar cells are immersed into the optical encapsulant before curing. Then, the cured optical encapsulant has the characteristics of the secondary optical elements and thus can be used as secondary optical elements such as spherical lenses. Meanwhile, the packaging of the solar cells is completed as well. The overall process requires only one curing process, which reduces the packaging time substantially.

The fundamental operation method of solar power generation is to illuminate sunlight on the surface of solar cells. Currently, in order to increase the power generating efficiency, there are concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) modules, which adopt a Fresnel or plano-convex lens (also called first optical element) for concentrating a great deal of photovoltaic energy. Lessening single size of first optical element and solar cell can shorten focus length and thus thin CPV module. Miniaturization of CPV module can decrease both frame material and cost of transportation.
In practice, secondary optical elements, such as spherical lenses, should be used together with small-area solar cells in the CPV modules for increasing sufficient optical alignment tolerance. Nonetheless, the present method for fixing spherical lenses is difficult and complicated. One of current general secondary optical elements is like glass ball lenses or homogenizer with characteristics of high transmittance and hardness. Another type of secondary optical elements is designed to collect the incident light by reflection, which is called metal collector. If metal collectors are adopted for fabricating secondary optical elements, screw fastening is required for installation, which consumes a substantial amount of labor and components such as screws. On the other hand, if glass ball lenses are adopted, while combining the secondary optical elements with the solar cells on the circuit board, the primary optical encapsulant should be applied first for protecting all surfaces of the solar cells and the metal bonding wires.
Please refer to FIGS. 1A to 1C, which show the schematic diagrams of the method for packaging secondary optical element of solar cell receiver according to the prior art. As shown in the figures, solar cells are first disposed on a substrate 50. Then, gold bonding wires are used for connecting electrically the solar cells with the circuit on the substrate 50. The solar cells 51 and the gold bonding wires are packages on the substrate 50 after curing first optical encapsulant 52.
Next, a particular amount of second optical encapsulant 53 is coated on the hardened first optical encapsulant 52. Then the spherical lens 54, which is used as the secondary optical element, is placed on the second optical encapsulant 53. Afterwards, second is cured and the spherical lens 54 is thus fixed virtually on the solar cell 51.
According to the method described above, while installing the glass secondary optical element, the first optical encapsulant packaging is performed beforehand for protecting all surfaces of the solar cells and the gold bonding wires from damages of down-force pressure of the secondary optical elements. After the optical encapsulant coated in the first time was cured, the optical encapsulant of the second time is applied and the secondary optical elements are placed. Then, the curing process for the secondary encapsulant is performed. Consequently, there are more process steps and time. In particular, the unavoidable double period of curing time is detrimental to mass production.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a novel method for packaging, which enables rapid installation of secondary optical elements in a CPV module onto solar cells as well as lowering the manufacturing cost and complexity. Thereby, the present invention will contribute to the development and promotion of CPV modules.

Method for packaging solar cell receiver having secondary optical elements

Atomic Energy Council—Institute of Nuclear Energy Research


Methods and apparatus for scheduling and controlling power management activities are disclosed. An example method includes automatically scheduling a wake-up alarm for a computing device and transitioning the computing device from an active power state to a first low power state. The example method also includes, in response to occurrence of the automatically scheduled wake-up alarm, transitioning the computing device from the first low power state to the active power state and transitioning the computing device from the active power state to a second low power state, where the second low power state is a lower power state than the first low power state.

Computing devices, such as laptop computers, netbook computers, or other such devices, often implement power management techniques in order to reduce the amount of power consumed by those devices over time, for instance, during periods of user inactivity. In some approaches, such techniques may be used only when the device is operating on battery power, or, in other approaches, may be used regardless of the power source being used (e.g., battery or AC power).
In current power management techniques, an operating system (OS) of a computing device may use timer and/or threshold values as triggers for performing power management activities. For example, an OS may use default or user selected timer values to measure periods of inactivity, after which, the OS may perform one or more power management activities In other situations, an OS may use threshold values, such as battery level thresholds, as triggers for performing power management activities. However, because such approaches require action by an OS to implement such power management activities, power management activities cannot be performed when the computing system is in a non-OS aware state, such as a low power (e.g., suspend) state.

Computing device power state transitions


A technology that allows improvement in the performance of an optical element a representative example of which is a polarizing element is provided. In a split wire element according to an embodiment of the invention, each of a plurality of split wires (SPW) has gaps formed in a y direction at a period Λ, and the period Λ is greater than or equal to a Rayleigh wavelength (λ/n). According to the thus configured split wire element of the embodiment of the invention, optical performance can be improved as compared with a wire-grid element formed of straight wires having no periodic structure in the y direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical element and an optical apparatus.
2. Related Art
H. Tamada, et al., "Al wire-grid polarizer using the s-polarizationresonance", Opt. Lett. 22, 6, pp. 419-421 (1997) and JP-T-2003-508813 describe technologies of a polarizing element (polarizing filter) formed of a wire-gird element having a metal wire structure on a light-transmissive substrate.
JP-T-2010-530995 describes a technology of a wire-grid element that has a wire structure formed of a metal portion, a transparent dielectric portion, a light absorbing portion, and another transparent dielectric portion on a light-transmissive substrate and selectively suppresses reflection of polarized light.
JP-A-2011-123474 describes a technology of a polarizing element having an additional function of selectively absorbing unnecessary polarized light. The additional function is achieved by forming a wire-grid element having a metal wire structure on a light-transmissive substrate and shaping the upper end of the metal wire structure to have periodic protrusions.
JP-A-2009-104074 describes a technology of an optical element that has metal portions disposed in a glass layer in what is called a checker flag pattern so that one type of polarized light is converted into another type of polarized light.
Optical apparatus are widely used for ordinary use. For example, a liquid crystal projector, a display, an optical pickup, and an optical sensor use many optical elements that control light. As these apparatus advance in terms of functionality, an optical element is also required to have more advanced functionality, higher added values, and lower cost.
A representative example of such an optical apparatus is a liquid crystal projector. A liquid crystal projector includes a first polarizing element that receives a light flux emitted from a light source and selectively transmits specific polarized light out of the received light flux, a liquid crystal panel that receives the polarized light from the first polarizing element and changes the polarization direction of the incident polarized light in accordance with image information, and a second polarizing element that receives the polarized light having the polarization direction changed by the liquid crystal panel. In the liquid crystal projector, the polarized light having emitted out of the second polarizing element described above is incident on a projection lens, which forms an optical image (image light) and projects the image light on a screen or any other surface for image display. In the thus configured liquid crystal projector, the first polarizing element and the second polarizing element are so disposed that they sandwich the liquid crystal panel. That is, a polarizing element (polarizing filter) having a function of selectively transmitting specific polarized light is disposed both on the light incident side and the light exiting side of the liquid crystal panel.
In recent years, the optical density on the liquid crystal panel is increased to achieve a reduced size of a liquid crystal projector and increased brightness of a projected image, and a polarizing element is desired to have excellent heat and light resistance in correspondence with the increased optical density. In this regard, for example, it can be said that a wire-grid element made of an inorganic material is suitable for such a polarizing element.
H. Tamada, et al., "Al wire-grid polarizer using the s-polarization resonance", Opt. Lett. 22, 6, pp. 419-421 (1997) describes a definition of a wire-grid element as follows: "A wire grid is a simple one-dimensional metal grating and is quite promising as a microminiaturized polarization component in the field of integrated optics." That is, a wire-grid element is a simple one-dimensional metal grating.
For example, from a viewpoint of improving image quality provided by an optical apparatus (image projection apparatus) a representative example of which is a liquid crystal projector, it is desired to improve performance of selecting specific polarization (hereinafter referred to as p-polarization) and polarization perpendicular thereto (hereinafter referred to as s-polarization), that is, a transmittance ratio, which is one of primary performance indices of a polarizing element. In the present specification, a polarization contrast ratio (Tp/Ts), where Tp represents p-polarization transmittance and Ts represents s-polarization transmittance, (also called extinction ratio) is used as a performance index of the polarization selectivity. In this case, the higher the polarization contrast ratio, the more excellent polarization selectivity a polarizing element has.
As described above, a wire-grid element has linear metal wires arranged in equal periodicity on a light-transmissive substrate. In the thus configured wire-grid element, the performance thereof depends on the period and shape of the metal wires, and constraints are imposed thereon. For example, it is known that the period between the metal wires has an upper limit determined by a Rayleigh resonance phenomenon. As a specific example, when the wavelength to be used is 450 nm, the period between the metal wires needs to be smaller than or equal to about 210 nm, as described in the paragraph in JP-T-2003-508813. Further, in a wire-grid element, Tp and the polarization contrast ratio, which are performance indices, are related to the width and height of the metal wires in a tradeoff relationship. In view of the fact described above, a wire-grid element is typically so designed that the width of the metal wires is set to be about one-third the period (pitch) therebetween and the height of the metal wires is set at about 150 nm.
The constraints described above on the shape of the metal wires and the period between the arranged metal wires make it difficult to greatly change design conditions under which a wire-grid element is designed. Therefore, for example, even when it is attempted to improve the image quality of an optical apparatus a representative example of which is a liquid crystal projector by improving the polarization contrast ratio of a polarizing element, it is difficult to improve the current performance of the polarizing element or the optical apparatus unless the metal wire structure of a wire-grid element is changed.


The present invention provides for a composition comprising a solution comprising (a) an ionic liquid (IL) or ionic liquid-aqueous (ILA) phase and (b) an organic phase, wherein the solution comprises a sugar and a boronic acid. The present invention also provides for a method of removing a sugar from a solution, comprising: (a) providing a solution comprising (i) an IL or ILA phase and (ii) an organic phase, wherein the solution comprises an IL, a sugar and a boronic acid; (b) contacting the sugar with the boronic acid to form a sugar-boronic acid complex, (c) separating the organic phase and the aqueous phase, wherein the organic phase contains the sugar-boronic acid complex, and optionally (d) separating the sugar from the organic phase.

In recent years there has been tremendous interest and an increasing effort towards the development of biofuels made from lignocellulosic biomass derived from agricultural wastes, forest residues and dedicated energy crops. One of the largest limitations facing the overall economic viability of this process is the recalcitrance of biomass to enzymatic hydrolysis into its component sugars. This resistance to breakdown necessitates the use of a pretreatment step to enhance the accessibility to and hydrolysis of the carbohydrate components present. Most pretreatments are comprised of thermochemical processes that utilize combinations of high temperatures and pressures, or dilute acids or alkalis, to open up the structure of the biomass. This necessitates the use of specialized equipment and high-energy inputs.
Ionic liquids (ILs) have come into prominence over recent years used as innovative fluids for chemical processing. They are known as environmentally friendly solvents primarily due to their low volatility and their potential recyclability. Recently, the use of ILs for the pretreatment of biomass has been shown to be a promising technology, being able to solubilizing crystalline cellulose and biomass under relatively mild conditions. Reconstitution of the biomass from the IL results in an amorphous products that significantly increases the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis to its component sugars. The IL 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate [C2Mim][OAc] has been found to be effective at the dissolution of biomass and the subsequent enhancement of enzymatic saccharification.
The ionic liquid pretreatment process can be generally described as the dissolution of biomass into the ionic liquid at temperature with stirring, followed by the addition of a precipitant that precipitates the biomass from solution. This precipitant is typically either water or ethanol or some other solvent with hydrogen bonding capacity. Once the biomass has been precipitated, solid liquid separation, and downstream enzymatic hydrolysis of the now amorphous biomass results in monosaccharides suitable for fermentation.
The proposed deconstruction process contains several steps that present themselves as points for maximizing sugar yields and cleaning up IL's for recycle. After the initial dissolution of the biomass in IL and precipitant addition, subsequent washings are required (Stage B in FIG. 9) for the recovery of amorphous biomass due to the low tolerance of commercial enzyme cocktails to ionic liquids. One possible way to reduce energy costs associated with precipitant removal and clean up, and extensive processing of the regenerated biomass to remove residual ILs is the development of cellulases that can perform optimally in the presence of ionic liquids. Successful development of IL tolerant cellulase provides potential candidates to be utilized for highly efficient deconstruction of biomass into monosaccharides in IL systems.
However, the removal of 5-carbon and 6-carbon monosaccharides from either an IL-free supernatant, pure IL or IL-aqueous solution remains a problem.

Recovery of sugars from ionic liquid biomass liquor by solvent extraction

The Regents of the University of California


An optical unit with an image stabilization function includes a movable body having an annular holder for holding a camera module, a swing support mechanism for swingably supporting the movable body, and a fixing body for supporting the movable body with the swing support mechanism interposed between them. The holder includes three or more of a plurality of protrusions that project radially. The fixing body includes a plurality of arc surfaces that come into contact with each of the plurality of protrusions from the outer peripheral side. The swing support mechanism includes the plurality of protrusions and the plurality of arc surfaces. The arc surface is a concave curved surface obtained by transferring part of a virtual spherical surface centered on a preset swing center point.

Some optical units mounted on a mobile terminal or a moving body have a mechanism for correcting the shake by swinging or rotating a movable body provided with a lens in order to suppress distortion of a captured image when the mobile terminal or the moving body moves.
Many conventional optical units with an image stabilization function include a movable body that includes a camera module including a lens and an image sensor, a support mechanism that swingably supports the movable body in a direction intersecting an optical axis, a fixing body that supports the movable body with the support mechanism interposed between them, and an image stabilization drive mechanism that swings the movable body. The movable body often includes an annular barrel holder that surrounds the camera module around the optical axis. The support mechanism often includes a supported surface provided on the outer peripheral surface of the barrel holder, and a plurality of balls that are rollably held by the fixing body and in contact with the supported surface. The supported surface may be part of a spherical surface centered on the swing center point of the movable body.
In a configuration in which the support mechanism for supporting the movable body includes a plurality of balls that roll between the fixing body and the movable body, there is a problem that it is not easy to handle the plurality of balls when manufacturing the device.

Optical unit with image stabilization function


Provided are a wiring base plate and the like including an insulating substrate including a first surface portion including an aluminum oxide-based sintered body and a mullite-based sintered body; and a metallization layer including a second surface portion, the second surface portion containing at least one of a manganese compound and a molybdenum compound and being in contact with the first surface portion of the insulating substrate; wherein the second surface portion of the metallization layer and the first surface portion of the insulating substrate contain at least one of a manganese silicate phase and a magnesium silicate phase.

As a base plate used for mounting an electronic component or the like, there is known a base plate including an insulating substrate made from an insulating material such as an aluminum oxide-based sintered body, and a metallization layer provided on a surface of the insulating substrate. The metallization layer functions as a conducting path for electrical connection between an electronic component and an external electrical circuit. Furthermore, a metal member may be bonded to the metallization layer for improving heat radiating properties from the electronic component to the outside, and the like.
An electronic device including the electronic component mounted on the base plate is used as a component in an electronic equipment such as a smartphone and a tablet. Higher density and higher frequency are promoted in such an electronic device. Furthermore, as downsizing proceeds, there is also a demand for improved mechanical strength. To meet such a demand, there is proposed a technology in which a material including aluminum oxide and including a magnesium compound or the like added as a sintering aid is used as an insulating substrate (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-177334; Patent Document 1, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-029834; Patent Document 2).

Wiring base plate, electronic device package, and electronic device


The present invention relates to a wafer cleaning machine having an input station, a water track, a cleaning station, a rinsing station, a spin-dry station, and a load station. The input station includes two or more wafer supply areas for a continuous supply of wafers to the water track. After the wafers enter the water track from the input station, the wafers are transported down the track into the wafer cleaning station. The wafer cleaning station comprises a plurality of pairs of rollers which pull the wafers through the cleaning station and thereby clean the top and bottom flat surfaces of the wafers. A one-piece cleaning fluid manifold formed within the upper panel of the cleaning station facilitates effective distribution of the cleaning fluid to the rollers. From the cleaning station, the wafers are transported to a rinse station. From the rinsing station, the workpieces are transferred to a dual spin-dry station. A manipulator assembly is configured to cooperate with the rinse station to lift and transport the rinsed wafers from the rinse station to the two spin-dry assemblies. At the spin-dry station, the workpieces are spun at a high speed to remove any residual water droplets or the like. The spin-dry assemblies include a water/debris shield that rises during the spin-dry process. From the dual spin-dry station, a robotic transfer arm removes the work pieces from the spin-dry station and places them in one of a pair of unload cassettes. After the cassettes are filled with wafers, they are removed and transferred for subsequent processing.

Machines for cleaning wafers and disks in the electronics industry are generally well known. For example, semiconductor wafers, magnetic disks, and other workpieces often come in the form of flat, substantially planar, circular disks. In the manufacture of integrated circuits, semiconductor wafer disks are sliced from a silicon ingot and prepared for further processing. After each wafer is sliced from the ingot, it must be thoroughly cleaned, rinsed, and dried to remove debris from the surface of the wafer. Thereafter, a series of steps are performed on the wafer to build the integrated circuits on the wafer surface, including applying a layer of microelectronic structures and thereafter applying a dielectric layer. Often, the disks must be planarized upon the application of the dielectric layer. For a discussion of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) processes and apparatus, see, for example, Arai, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,614, issued March, 1992; Karlsrud, U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,196, issued March, 1996; Arai, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,348, issued February, 1989; Karlsrud et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,732, issued July, 1994; and Karlsrud et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,199, issued March, 1996.
After each processing step, it is often desirable to thoroughly clean, rinse, and dry the workpiece to ensure that debris is removed from the workpiece. Thus, methods and apparatus for quickly and efficiently cleaning, rinsing, and drying wafers are needed which facilitate high workpiece throughput, while at the same time thoroughly cleaning and drying the wafers with a minimum of wafer breakage. For a discussion of existing wafer cleaning machines, see, for example, Lutz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,828, issued Aug. 22, 1995; Frank et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,451, issued May 25, 1993; and Onodera, U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,645, issued Oct. 25, 1994.
Presently known wafer cleaning machines are unsatisfactory in several regards. For example, as the demand increases for semiconductor products, and in particular integrated circuit devices, the need for higher throughput wafer cleaning machines has correspondingly increased. However, the single input configuration of presently known wafer cleaning machines continues to impede throughput.
In addition, the pressure on wafer cleaning machine manufacturers to increase throughput has driven many manufacturers to design machines with high rotational spin rates (e.g., 1,800-2,200 RPM) to spin-dry the wafers very quickly. In so doing, the industry is currently experiencing an unacceptably high level of wafer breakage in the spin-dry operation. This breakage can be quite costly, particularly for wafers which comprise integrated circuits in the latter stages of processing.
A wafer cleaning machine is thus needed which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.

Apparatus for rinsing wafers in the context of a combined cleaning rinsing and drying system


The present invention relates to enzymes produced by mutating the genes for a number of subtilases and expressing the mutated genes in suitable hosts are presented. The enzymes exhibit improved autoproteolytic stability in comparison to their wild type parent enzymes.

In the detergent industry enzymes have for more than 30 years been implemented in washing formulations. Enzymes used in such formulations comprise proteases, lipases, amylases, cellulases, as well as other enzymes, or mixtures thereof. Commercially most important enzymes are proteases.
Although proteases have been used in the detergent industry for more than 30 years, much remains unknown as to details of how these enzymes interact with substrates and/or other substances present in e.g. detergent compositions. Some factors related to specific residues of the proteases and influencing certain properties, such as oxidative and thermal stability in general, of the proteases have been elucidated, but much remains to be found out. Also, it is still not exactly known which physical or chemical characteristics are responsible for a good washing performance or stability of a protease in a specific detergent composition.
The currently used proteases have for the most part been found by isolating proteases from nature and testing them in detergent formulations.
At present at least the following proteases are known to be commercially available and many of them are marketed in large quantities in many countries of the world.
Subtilisin BPN′ or Novo (available from e.g. SIGMA, St. Louis, U.S.A.), and Subtilisin Carlsberg, ALCALASE® (NOVO NORDISK A/S)) and MAXATASE®(Genencor).
A Bacillus lentus subtilisin, subtilisin 309, marketed by NOVO NORDISK A/S as SAVINASE®. A protein engineered variant of this enzyme is marketed as DURAZYM®.
Enzymes closely resembling SAVINASE®, such as subtilisin PB92, MAXACAL® marketed by Genencor Inc. (a protein engineered variant of this enzyme is marketed as MAXAPEM®), OPTICLEAN® marketed by SOLVAY et Cie. and PURAFECT® marketed by GENENCOR International.
A Bacillus lentus subtilisin, subtilisin 147, marketed by NOVO NORDISK A/S as ESPERASE®;
An increasing number of commercially used proteases are protein engineered variants of naturally occurring wild type proteases, e.g. DURAZYM® (Novo Nordisk A/S), RELASE® (Novo Nordisk A/S), MAXAPEM® (Gist-Brocades N.V.), PURAFECT® (Genencor International, Inc.).
Therefore, an object of the present invention, is to provide improved protein engineered protease variants, especially for use in the detergent industry.
Proteases
Enzymes cleaving the amide linkages in protein substrates are classified as proteases, or (interchangeably) peptidases (see Walsh, 1979, Enzymatic Reaction Mechanisms. W.H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, Chapter 3). Bacteria of the Bacillus species secrete two extracellular types of protease, neutral proteases (or metalloproteases), and alkaline proteases among which the most important functionally is a serine endopeptidase and usually referred to as subtilisin.
Serine Proteases
A serine protease is an enzyme which catalyzes the hydrolysis of peptide bonds, and in which there is an essential serine residue at the active site (White, Handler and Smith, 1973 "Principles of Biochemistry," Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company, NY, pp. 271–272).
The bacterial serine proteases have molecular weights in the 20,000 to 45,000 Daltons range. They are inhibited by diisopropylfluorophosphate. They hydrolyze simple terminal esters and are similar in activity to eukaryotic chymotrypsin, also a serine protease. A more narrow term, alkaline protease, covering a sub-group, reflects the high pH optimum of some of the serine proteases, from pH 9.0 to 11.0 (for review, see Priest (1977) Bacteriological Rev. 41 711–753).
Subtilases
A sub-group of the serine proteases tentatively designated subtilases has been proposed by Siezen et al., Protein Engng. 4 (1991) 719–737. They are defined by homology analysis of more than 40 amino acid sequences of serine proteases previously referred to as subtilisin-like proteases. A subtilisin was previously defined as a serine protease produced by Gram-positive bacteria or fungi, and according to Siezen et al. now is a subgroup of the subtilases. A wide variety of subtilisins have been identified, and the amino acid sequence of a number of subtilisins have been determined. These include more than six subtilisins from Bacillus strains, namely, subtilisin 168, subtilisin BPN′, subtilisin Carlsberg, subtilisin Y, subtilisin amylosacchariticus, and mesentericopeptidase (Kurihara et al. (1972) J. Biol. Chem. 247 5629–5631; Wells et al. (1983) Nucleic Acids Res. 11 7911–7925; Stahl and Ferrari (1984) J. Bacteriol. 159 811–819, Jacobs et al. (1985) Nucl. Acids Res. 13 8913–8926; Nedkov et al. (1985) Biol. Chem. Hoppe-Seyler 366 421–430, Svendsen et al. (1986) FEBS Lett. 196 228–232), one subtilisin from an actinomycetales, thermitase from Thermoactinomyces vulgaris (Meloun et al. (1985) FEBS Lett. 198 195–200), and one fungal subtilisin, proteinase K from Tritirachium album (Jany and Mayer (1985) Biol. Chem. Hoppe-Seyler 366 584–492). for further reference Table I from Siezen et al. has been reproduced below.
Subtilisins are well-characterized physically and chemically. In addition to knowledge of the primary structure (amino acid sequence) of these enzymes, over 50 high resolution X-ray structures of subtilisins have been determined which delineate the binding of substrate, transition state, products, at least three different protease inhibitors, and define the structural consequences for natural variation (Kraut (1977) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 46 331–358).
One subgroup of the subtilases, I-S1, comprises the "classical" subtilisins, such as subtilisin 168, subtilisin BPN′, subtilisin Carlsberg (ALCALASE®, NOVO NORDISK A/S), and subtilisin DY.
A further subgroup of the subtilases I-S2, is recognized by Siezen et al. (supra). Sub-group I-S2 proteases are described as highly alkaline subtilisins and comprise enzymes such as subtilisin PB92 (MAXACAL®, Gist-Brocades NV), subtilisin 309 (SAVINASE®, NOVO NORDISK A/S), subtilisin 147 (ESPERASE®, NOVO NORDISK A/S), and alkaline elastase YaB.
Random and site-directed mutations of the subtilase gene have both arisen from knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of the enzyme and contributed information relating to subtilase's catalytic activity, substrate specificity, tertiary structure, etc. (Wells et al. (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84; 1219–1223; Wells et al. (1986) Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond.A. 317 415–423; Hwang and Warshel (1987) Biochem. 26 2669–2673; Rao et al., (1987) Nature 328 551–554.
More recent publications covering this area are Carter et al. (1989) Proteins 6 240–248 relating to design of variants that cleave a specific target sequence in a substrate (positions 24 and 64); Graycar et al. (1992) Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 672 71–79 discussing a number of previously published results; and Takagi (1993) Int. J. Biochem. 25 307–312 also reviewing previous results.
Especially site-directed mutagenesis of the subtilisin genes has attracted much attention, and various mutations are described in the following patent applications and patents:
Previously Characterized Protease Variants
Numerous references describe construction of Protease variants. In order to make it easier to get an overview of the overall prior art status, the references are ordered in two sections.
Section one deals with references describing the technological background and identification of Protease variants presently not believed to be related to the variants disclosed in the present invention. Those references are mainly included in order to summarize the state of the art within the field of construction of protease variants for different purposes.
Section two deals with references describing identification of Protease variants believed to be of some relevance to the variants of the present invention.
References Summarizing the State of the Art (Section 1):
EP 130756 (GENENTECH)(corresponding to U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 34,606 (GENENCOR)) relating to site specific or randomly generated mutations in "carbonyl hydrolases" and subsequent screening of the mutated enzymes for various properties, such as kcat/Km ratio, pH-activity profile, and oxidation stability. This publication claims site-specific mutation of subtilisins BPN′ in certain specified positions, i.e. −1Tyr, 32Asp, 155Asn, 104Tyr, 222Met, 166Gly, 64His, 169Gly, 189Phe, 33Ser, 221Ser, 217Tyr, 156Glu or 152Ala, to provide for enzymes exhibiting altered properties. Since these positions all except position −1 were known to be involved in the functioning of the enzyme prior to the filing of the application, this application does not contribute to solving the problem of deciding where to introduce mutations in order to obtain enzymes with specific desired properties.
EP 214435 (HENKEL) relating to cloning and expression of subtilisin Carlsberg and two mutants thereof. In this application no reason for mutation of 158Asp to 158Ser and 161Ser to 161Asp is provided.
In WO 87/04461 (AMGEN) it is proposed to reduce the number of Asn-Gly sequences present in the parent enzyme in order to obtain mutated enzymes exhibiting improved pH and heat stabilities, in the application emphasis is put on removing, mutating, or modifying the 109Asn and the 218Asn residues in subtilisin BPN′. No examples are provided for any deletions or for modifying the Gly-residues.
WO 87/05050 (GENEX) discloses random mutation and subsequent screening of a number of mutants of subtilisin BPN′ for improved properties. In the application mutations are described in positions 218Asn, 131Gly, 254Thr, 166Gly, 116Ala, 188Ser, 126Leu, and 53Ser.
EP 260105 (GENENCOR) describes modification of certain properties in enzymes containing a catalytic triad by selecting an amino acid residue within about 15 Å from the catalytic triad and replace the selected amino acid residue with another residue. Enzymes of the subtilase type described in the present specification are specifically mentioned as belonging to the class of enzymes containing a catalytic triad. In subtilisins positions 222 and 217 are indicated as preferred positions for replacement.
Also, it has been shown by Thomas, Russell, and Fersht (1985) Nature 318 375–376 that exchange of 99Asp into 99Ser in subtilisin BPN′ changes the pH dependency of the enzyme.
In a subsequent article (1987) J. Mol. Biol. 193 803–813, the same authors also discuss the substitution of 156Ser in place of 156Glu.
Both these mutations are within a distance of about 15 Å from the active 64His.
In Nature 328 496–500 (1987) Russel and Fersht discuss the results of their experiments and present rules for changing pH-activity profiles by mutating an enzyme to obtain changes in surface charge.
WO 88/08028 (Genex) and WO 88/08033 (Amgen) both relate to modifications of amino acid residues in the calcium binding sites of subtilisin BPN′. The enzyme is said to be stabilized by substituting more negatively charged residues for the original ones.
WO 95/27049 (SOLVAY S.A.) describes a subtilisin 309 type protease with the following mutations: N43R+N116R+N117R (BPN′ numbering. Data indicate the corresponding variant is having improved stability, compared to wildtype.
WO 95/30011, WO 95/30010, and WO 95/29979 (PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY) describe 6 regions, especially position 199–220 (BPN′ numbering), in both Subtilisin BPN′ and subtilisin 309, which are designed to change (i.e. decrease) the adsorption of the enzyme to surface-bound soils. It is suggested that decreased adsorption by an enzyme to a substrate results in better detergent cleaning performance. No data on any variants or specific detergent wash performance data are provided.
Previously Characterized Protease Variants Having Some Relevance to the Present Invention (Section Two):
In EP 251 446 (GENENCOR) it is described how homology considerations at both primary and tertiary structural levels may be applied to identify equivalent amino acid residues whether conserved or not. It is claimed that this information together with the inventors knowledge of the tertiary structure of subtilisin BPN′ brought the inventors to select a number of positions susceptible to mutation with an expectation of obtaining mutants with altered properties. The positions so identified are: 124Met, 222Met, 104Tyr, 152Ala, 156Glu, 166Gly, 169Gly, 189Phe, 217Tyr. Also 155Asn, 21Tyr, 22Thr, 24Ser, 32Asp, 33Ser, 36Asp, 46Gly, 48Ala, 49Ser, 50Met, 77Asn, 87Ser, 94Lys, 95Val, 96Leu, 107Ile, 110Gly, 170Lys, 171Tyr, 172Pro, 197Asp, 199Met, 204Ser, 213Lys, and 221Ser, which positions are identifed as being expected to influence various properties of the enzyme. Also, a number of mutations are exemplified to support these suggestions. In addition to single mutations in these positions the inventors also performed a number of multiple mutations. Further the inventors identify 215Gly, 67His, 126Leu, 135Leu, and amino acid residues within the segments 97–103, 126–129, 213–215, and 152–172 as having interest, but mutations in any of these positions are not exemplified.
Especially of interest for the purpose of the present invention the inventors of EP 251 446 suggest to substitute 170Lys (in subtilisin BPN′, type I-S1), specifically they suggest to introduce Glu or Arg for the original Lys. It appears that the Glu variant was produced and it was found that it was highly susceptible to autolytic degradation (cf. pages 48, 121, 123 (Table XXI includes an obvious error, but indicates a reduction in autolysis half-time from 86 to 13 minutes) and FIG. 32).
In WO 89/06279 (NOVO NORDISK A/S) position 170 is indicated as interesting and it is suggested to replace the existing residue with Tyr. However, no data are given in respect of such a variant. In WO 91/00345 (NOVO NORDISK A/S) the same suggestion is made, and it is shown that the Tyr variant of position 170 in subtilisin 309 (type I–S2) exhibits an improved wash performance in detergents at a pH of about 8 (variant S003 in Tables III, IV, V, VI, VIII, X). The same substitution in combination with other substitutions in other positions also indicates an improved wash performance (S004, S011–S014, S022–S024, S019, S020, S203, S225, S227 in the same Table and Table VII) all in accordance with the generic concept of said application.
In EP 525 610 A1 (SOLVAY) it is suggested to improve the stability of the enzyme (a type I-S2 subtilase closely related to subtilisin PB92) towards ionic tensides by decreasing the hydrophobicity in certain surface regions thereof. It is suggested to substitute Gin for the Arg in position 164 (170 if using BPN′ numbering). No variants comprising this substitution are disclosed in the application.
In WO 94/02618 (GIST-BROCADES N.V.) a number of position 164 (170 if using BPN′ numbering) variants of the I-S2 type subtilisin PB92 are described. Examples are provided showing substitution of Met, Val, Tyr, and Ile for the original Arg. Wash performance testing in powder detergents of the variants indicates a slight improvement. Especially for the lie variant wash performance tests on cacao an improvement of about 20–30% is indicated. No stability data are provided.
In PCT/DK96/00207 (not yet published) a number of protease variants with improved wash performance and/or storage stability is described.
It was found that subtilase variants with improved wash performance can by obtained by substituting one or more amino acid residues situated in, or in the vicinity of a hydrophobic domain of the parent subtilase for an amino acid residue more hydrophobic than the original residue, said hydrophobic domain comprising the residues corresponding to residues I165, Y167, Y171 of BLS309 (in BASBPN numbering), and said residues in the vicinity thereof comprising residues corresponding to the residues E136, G159, S164, R170, A194, and G195 of BLS309 (in BASBPN numbering) (PCT/DK96/00207).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,302 describes the identification of important autoproteolytic cleavage site in different wild type proteases (MILEZYME®, SAVINASE®, and ESPERASE®).
The present invention focuses on specific protease variants influencing the position of autoproteolytic cleavage sites in a group of protease variants described in our pending patent application PCT/DK96/00207. The variants of the present invention have surprisingly been found to exhibit an altered autoproteolytic degradation pattern compared to the autoproteolytic degradation pattern described for corresponding wildtype proteases in U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,302.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.