Methods are provided to obtain recombinant microbial cells having at least one genetic modification that increase the buoyant density of a recombinant microbial cell or the buoyant density of inclusion bodies produced within a recombinant microbial cell. Exemplified are genetic modifications that increase the buoyant density of a recombinant microbial cell expressing heterologous peptides and polypeptides. Increasing expression of the genes ysaB, glyQ, glyS or a combination thereof within the recombinant microbial cell produces cells or inclusion bodies having higher buoyant density. A similar effect was achieved by decreasing or disrupting expression of the endogenous gltA gene. Increases in buoyant density render peptide production more efficient with respect to time and costs.

Efficient production of bioactive polypeptides and peptides is an important goal of the biomedical and biotechnology industries. Bioactive peptides and proteins are used as therapeutic and diagnostic agents in a variety of diseases such as diabetes (insulin), viral infections and leukemia (interferon), diseases of the immune system (interleukins), and red blood cell deficiencies (erythropoietin), to name a few. Additionally, large quantities of proteins and peptides are needed for various industrial applications including, but not limited to, pulp and paper industries, textiles, food industries, personal care and cosmetics industries, sugar refining, wastewater treatment, production of alcoholic beverages, and as catalysts for the generation of new pharmaceuticals.
In biomedical-related fields small peptides are sometimes used as linkers for the attachment of diagnostic and pharmaceutical agents to surfaces (see U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2003/0185870 to Grinstaff et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,419 to Lintner, K.). In the field of personal care, small peptides have been used to couple benefit agents to body surfaces such as hair, skin, nail, and teeth (U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,220,405; 7,309,482; 7,129,326; 7,585,495 and 7,285,264; U.S. Pat. App. Pub. Nos. 2002/0098524; 2005/0112692; 2005/0226839; 2007/0196305; 2006/0199206; 2007/0065387; 2008/0107614; 2007/0110686; 2008/0280810; 2006/0171885; and 2008/0175798).
Peptides may be prepared by chemical synthesis or isolated from natural sources. However, these methods are often expensive, time consuming, and characterized by limited production capacity. The preferred method of producing large quantities of peptides or proteins is through the fermentation of recombinant microorganisms engineered to express a genetic construct encoding the peptide or protein of interest. However, recombinant microbial peptide production has a number of obstacles to overcome in order to be cost-effective. For example, peptides produced within a recombinant microbial host cell are often degraded by endogenous proteases, which decrease the yield and increase the cost of production. Additionally, microbial production of smaller peptides in high yield may be adversely affected by size and the amino acid composition of the peptide. This is especially evident when the peptide of interest is soluble under typical physiological conditions found within the production host.
One way to mitigate the difficulties associated with recombinantly producing a soluble peptide of interest (POI) is to produce it in an insoluble form that may accumulate within the host cell as an inclusion body. Soluble POIs may be produced as insoluble fusion proteins by coupling at least one peptidic tag that promotes insolubility (i.e., an inclusion body tag or "IBT") to the peptide of interest. Producing the peptide of interest in the form of inclusion bodies provides a convenient means to isolate the protein from other cellular components.
One of the difficulties associated with recombinant protein production is controlling the costs associated with processing the recombinant biomass to obtain the desired peptide or protein of interest. Processing steps may include harvesting cells by centrifugation (to "spin down") to recover the cells from the fermentation medium, lysis or homogenization to disrupt the cells to release the peptide, and the application of various separation methods to isolate the fusion polypeptide. Host cell modifications that aid in distinguishing polypeptides comprising POIs would further decrease the cost of POI recovery. Thus, cellular modifications that render any of these steps more rapid and/or easy to perform would be expected to reduce the cost and/or time associated with processing the recombinant host cells.
Altered expression of endogenous genes and/or the introduction of additional expressible genetic constructs may enhance recombinant peptide/protein production. Chen et al. (Biotech Bioengin (2004) 85 (5):463-474) disclose mutations affecting endogenous periplasmic proteases reported to increase recombinant antibody fragment accumulation in the E. coli periplasmic space. Further, although single gene knockout libraries are available for E. coli (Baba, T., et al., (2006) Mol. Syst. Biol. 2: article 2006.0008), down-regulating or disrupting specific genes or combinations of genes in Escherichia species that significantly effect heterologous peptide production and/or downstream processing are not as well known.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,662,587 to Cheng et al. discloses Escherichia host cells comprising a combination of knockout mutations to gcvA (encoding the glycine cleavage enzyme) and spr (encoding a suppressor of prc) that increased the amount of heterologous peptide produced within the modified host cell. U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2010/0227361 to Chen et al. discloses a recombinant Escherichia host cell having a knockout mutation to gcvA, a knockout mutation to spr, and at least one mutation to a portion of the endogenous yejM gene.
Centrifugation is often included as at least one step when recovering the peptide of interest from the recombinant biomass. Rendering cells and/or inclusion bodies denser, larger or heavier than typical inclusion bodies could provide for easier and more rapid isolation. Faster flow rate could be used in continuous centrifugation to harvest cells producing denser inclusion bodies and subsequent washes of the inclusion bodies, which would lead to higher throughput in downstream processing.
One way of achieving this is to provide recombinant host cells having at least one modification that increases the buoyant density of the cell or inclusion bodies within the cell when synthesizing heterologous polypeptides and/or a relative increase in the buoyant density of the inclusion bodies formed within the modified host cell. Increases in buoyant density provides a relatively simple means to identify and obtain cells capable of producing increased amounts of insoluble heterologous protein and/or denser inclusion bodies comprising the heterologous protein.
However, the genetic modifications that one can introduce to a recombinant microbial host cell to increase the buoyant density of the cell or the buoyant density of an inclusion body formed within such a cell are not well understood. The problem to be solved is to provide a method to obtain recombinant host cells having at least one modification that enables more efficient isolation of recombinant polypeptides, including fusion polypeptides comprising the polypeptide of interest.
Increasing the buoyant density of the recombinant host cells or the density of the inclusion bodies produced by recombinant host cells should reduce the cost of isolating the polypeptide of interest. As such, an additional problem to be solved is to provide recombinant microbial host cells having one or more genetic modifications that increase the buoyant density of the cell or inclusion bodies produced within recombinant host cell and methods of using such modified microbial host cells to produce a polypeptide of interest.

Recombinant host cells having an increase in buoyant density


Ski boot made of plastic material consisting of:. a deformable shell having two tongues which overlap to form flaps over the top of the foot; PA0 a cuff with a hinge on the shell shaped to form, at the front, two straps forming flaps over the front of the lower part of the leg; PA0 closing devices intended to slide the flaps over each other and thereby secure the foot in the shell and the lower part of the leg in the cuff;. wherein the flap of the shell which corresponds to the outside edges of the foot covers the flap of the inside edge of the foot, whereas the flap which corresponds to the inside edge of the cuff covers the flap of the outside edge of the cuff.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ski boot made of man-made material, the lower part of which consists of a shell surrounding the foot and the heel and the upper part of which consists, in a known fashion, of a cuff with a hinge on the shell, open at the front and surrounding the lower part of the leg.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is the foot in a ski boot, in particular its inside edge, which controls the movement of the skis via the shell. It is therefore very important for the shell to mould to the shape of the foot, especially its inside edge, as far as possible, as this determines the precision of the movement of the skis.
Given the morphological differences of the foot conditioned by individual factors (height of the person, shoe size, gender etc.) or ethnic ones (differences between the feet of Japanese, Americans and Europeans), it is essential for the shell to have a system of adjustment for its inside volume in order to adapt to these anatomical differences.
Prior Art efforts to solve these problems have led to the creation of several types of boots.
The first type is so-called flap boots commonly called "overlapped boots" or "front entry boots". These boots use a semi-rigid shell with a slot on the top, forming two overlapping tongues or flaps allowing the foot to be inserted. By definition and in the remainder of the text, the term inside flap shall refer to the flap corresponding to the inner or inside edge of the foot and outside flap shall refer to the flap corresponding to the outer or outside edge of the foot. In these boots, when the boot is fastened with the aid of a buckle or other means, the inside flap of the shell covers the outside flap. In a known fashion, the shell with flaps is joined to a cuff with a hinge which also has overlapping flaps. In the boots illustrated for example in FR-A-1 511 824 or DE-A-2 024 046, the flaps of the shell and the flaps of the cuff overlap and are placed all on the same side, i.e. the inside flap over the outside flap so that the inside flap is on top and towards the outside.
The advantage of this system is the ability of the shell to be deformed due to the effect of the buckles allowing it to adapt to the shape and size of the foot, while ensuring that fastening pressure is evenly distributed over the foot. However, in this design, the inside flap of the shell when it covers the outside flap gradually loses contact with the inside edge of the foot as it comes closer to the top. Furthermore, in this case, the end of the lever of the buckle is positioned on the outside edge of the foot, near the sole, which could cause the skier to fall when it comes into contact with the snow when the skier puts his weight on the edge of the ski.
DE-A-1915 442 discloses a ski boot consisting of a rigid plastic shell to which a leather upper is added. In this supple unhinged upper, each flap on the top of the foot is connected by a supple membrane to the corresponding flap on the lower part of the leg. If, in an illustrated embodiment, the outside flap can cover the inside flap on the top of the foot, this necessarily means that the corresponding flaps on the lower part of the leg also overlap in the same direction. This positioning has the disadvantage of requiring buckles to be placed on the inside edge of the boot, which would be a hindrance when skiing to say the least. This certainly explains why boots of this type have never been marketed.
The second type is boots with a tongue. These make use of a shell which is wide open on the top of the foot to make fitting easy. This opening is covered by a forward-hinged tongue, ensuring both that the boot is watertight and that the side joints come closer due to the effect of the buckles by virtue of the wedge effect. Such a process is described in particular in FR-A-2 371 896 of the Applicant. This technique has the advantage for the user of making the boot easy to put on and take off by pivoting the tongue. However, as the side joints are short, the foot is not sufficiently covered, which is detrimental to the quality of the contact between the inside edge of the shell and the inside edge of the foot. Furthermore, the fastening devices are positioned fairly low in these boots.
A third type of boots called "rear entry boots" has recently come onto the market. These have the particularity of possessing a rigid and indeformable shell shaped like a clog. The boot is fastened by means of a wire-operated upper tile-shaped part. This means that the foot is kept away from the shell. This type of boot is not very technical and does not resolve the problems posed.


A fall arresting device including a device housing, a shaft within the housing, a rotor assembly rotatably connected to the shaft that includes a drum and a disc having at least one region of a ferromagnetic material, an extendable lifeline connected to the drum, a magnetic sensor positioned stationary relative to the device housing and adjacent to the disc, and a that includes a hard-magnetic material. The magnet positioned stationary relative the device housing and the magnetic sensor, where the magnetic sensor is configured to detect a change in a magnetic field produced by the magnet when the disc rotates about the shaft, the change in the magnetic field induced by the at least one region of the ferromagnetic material being brought within close proximity to the magnet as the disc rotates.

Fall protection systems and devices are important safety equipment for workers operating at potentially harmful or even deadly heights. For example, to help ensure safety in the event of a fall, workers often wear safety harnesses connected to support structures with fall arresting devices such as lanyards, energy absorbers, self-retracting lifelines (SRLs), descenders, and the like. A fall arresting device such as an SRL typically includes a lifeline that is wound about a biased drum rotatably connected to a housing. Movement of the lifeline causes the drum to rotate as the lifeline is extended out from and retracted into the housing. Examples of self-retracting lifelines include the ULTRA-LOK self-retracting lifeline, the NANO-LOK self-retracting lifeline, and the REBEL self-retracting lifeline manufactured by 3M Fall Protection Business.

Fall arresting device event generation and monitoring


A pharmaceutical product includes a container. The container, in turn, includes a receptacle having a wall including a layer of nickel or nickel alloy, the layer facing an interior of the receptacle. The product also includes a halogenated anesthetic selected from the group consisting of sevoflurane, desflurane, isoflurane, enflurane, methoxyflurane and halothane disposed within the container.

This patent is directed to a pharmaceutical product and method of use thereof, and in particular to an pharmaceutical product and method of use thereof for halogenated anesthetics.
It is well known to use machines, known as vaporizers, to convert anesthetics from a liquid form to a gaseous form that may be administered to a patient. The liquid anesthetic is typically stored in a bottle-type container. In use, the container is mated with a port on the vaporizer, and the liquid is transferred from an interior chamber of the container to a reservoir in the vaporizer. The liquid anesthetic is then vaporized and mixed with oxygen (and optionally other gases). The gaseous mixture may then be administered to the patient.
A number of different materials have been used to manufacture the container for use with such anesthetics.
Glass has been the traditional material of choice. Of course, glass presents certain challenges. Glass requires careful handling to avoid breakage, and when breakage does occur, product is lost and injury may occur. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,176 theorizes that certain halogenated inhalation anesthetics may react with components of the glass, causing the anesthetic to degrade. In particular, it is hypothesized that the aluminum oxides in the glass act as Lewis acids in the reaction that degrades the anesthetics.
In the alternative, certain plastics have been suggested for use in containers for storing halogenated anesthetics, such as sevoflurane. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,334 illustrates use of "Kel-F" plastic ("Kel-F" understood to be the trade name for polychlorotrifluoroethylene) to make a container for holding sevoflurane. U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,576 illustrates a container lined with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) for holding sevoflurane. Similarly, the following patents illustrate plastic containers for sevoflurane: U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,668 (polyethylene napthalate); U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,514 (polymethylpentene); U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,443 (polypropylene, polyethylene and ionomeric resins); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,679. U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,236 also teaches the use of thermoplastic containers with liquid inhalation agents.
While plastic containers are less likely to break than glass containers, the containers are still susceptible to breakage under common use conditions. Moreover, many plastics tend to be vapor permeable, which may allow the inhalation anesthetic to escape the container over time. Vapor permeability also permits ambient vapors to enter the container, leading to possible contamination and/or change in the water content of the formulation. For that matter, inhalation anesthetics have strong organic solvent properties, and thus could cause the plastic to dissolve and/or to react, leading to measurable impurities in the inhalation anesthetic. Further, plastic containers are subject to deformation when exposed to elevated temperatures, which temperatures may be required during processing and treatment of the containers.
As a still further alternative, some have suggested use of metal containers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,176 describes containers for sevoflurane made of stainless steel, glass or plastic for holding sevoflurane. A more recent discovery has been the use of aluminum to make containers for anesthetics such as sevoflurane, desflurane, isoflurane, enflurane, methoxyflurane and halothane. In particular, it has been suggested that aluminum containers be used, either unlined or lined with an enamel or a lacquer, which enamel or lacquer may include an epoxy-phenolic resin. See U.S. Publ. No. 2002/0068767.
On the other hand, it has been suggested that certain metals would not be acceptable for use in a container for anesthetics, and in particular halogenated anesthetics. See U.S. Publ. No. 2008/0087283. In particular, it is stated that degradation of sevoflurane has been observed in glass containers, and that the degradation is believed to be activated by trace amounts of Lewis acids present in the container. While aluminum oxide is identified in U.S. Publ. No. 2008/0087283 as one source for Lewis acids, it is stated therein that there are other "oxidizing" metals that would similarly provide Lewis acids. In particular, nickel and nickel alloys are identified as exemplary oxidizing metals.
As set forth in more detail below, the present disclosure sets forth an improved system embodying advantageous alternatives to the conventional systems and methods discussed above.

Pharmaceutical product and method of use


One embodiment relates to a high-availability computation apparatus including a chip multiprocessor. Multiple fault zones are configurable in the chip multiprocessor, each fault zone being logically independent from other fault zones. Comparison circuitry is configured to compare outputs from redundant processes run in parallel on the multiple fault zones. Another embodiment relates to a method of operating a high-availability system using a chip multiprocessor. A redundant computation is performed in parallel on multiple fault zones of the chip multiprocessor and outputs from the multiple fault zones are compared. When a miscompare is detected, an error recovery process is performed. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

1. Technical Field
The present application relates generally to computer systems and microprocessors. More particularly, the present application relates to chip multiprocessors.
2. Description of the Background Art
Technology scaling and decreasing power efficiency of uniprocessors has led to the emergence of chip multiprocessors (CMP) as a hardware paradigm. In a CMP, multiple processor cores are integrated on a single chip and are available for general purpose computing.
Components on the die of a CMP (on-chip components) may be shared to improve resource utilization. For example, cores may be shared via hyperthreading, and last level caches and input/output (I/O) interfaces may be shared. In addition, typically off-chip components, such as memory controllers and I/O links, are being integrated onto CMPs.
While the above-mentioned sharing and integration may provide better resource utilization and improved performance, it also results in lower overall reliability. The lower overall reliability is because an error in any one component of the chip may lead to the non-availability of the entire CMP. For example, single processor failure typically results in the loss of availability of all processors on that CMP. Also, failure in a shared component like the cache or memory controller typically affects all the cores sharing that component. The failure in time (FIT) of the individual cores, caches, memory and I/O components may add up to a rather high FIT for the CMP as a whole.

Chip multiprocessor with configurable fault isolation

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A package coating is processed by applying a plurality of aqueous mixtures over a substrate. The aqueous mixtures each include a combination of pigments and binders. A packaging article is also disclosed that is made from the package coating on a substrate. Additionally, a packaging system is included that contains commercial product.

1. Technical Field
An embodiment relates to a liquid-packaging article that includes a brightener first film that has been formed by flowing a mixture over a substrate. A brightener second film is formed over the brightener first film, and a finish third film is formed over the brightener second film. One embodiment includes a packaging system that includes a folded substrate and a product in the folded substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
Paperboard packaging, such as a gable-top liquid container, is typically produced on a paperboard machine without a pigmented coating applied to the outer surface. A laminated and folded article is the result.
Liquid food products such as milk and juices can be packaged in cartons that are formed from the laminated packaging material as described above. The cartons may be in form of gable-top cartons, or others. A gable-top carton can be formed from a precut blank that is fed to a filling machine. The machine folds the blank into a package capsule, which is subsequently sealed together longitudinally and at the bottom, filled with liquid food product and finally closed and sealed at the top of the carton.
During the converting of paperboard packaging, a bright ink, such as a white ink may be applied in one or more "printings" in order to subdue the less-bright color of the paperboard substrate. Thereby a higher brightness is achievable in preparation for commercial information that can be printed on the paperboard. The bright- or white-ink printing processes are expensive and time consuming, and are extra processes in addition to other substrate preparations.
Other shapes besides a gable-top or block-shaped package may be formed directly from a continuous web of the packaging material. For example, the web of laminated packaging material can be shaped into a tube, sealed longitudinally along the tube, filled with the product, and transversely sealed across the tube into pillow-shaped packages, which packages are finally cut off from the tube. Finally, the flaps of the pillow-shaped containers are sealed to the sides of the package in order to shape it into a parallelepipedic block- or brick-shaped packaging container.
In all types of gable-top-, block-shaped packages and others, the packaging material is provided with crease lines to facilitate folding along predetermined lines.
Additionally, skiving must often be done to prevent liquid impregnation into the laminate where it makes a seam inside the package. These methods of manufacturing of packages are well known in the field of packaging.
What is needed in the art is process of preparing a substrate that overcomes problems in the prior art, including a number of which have been mentioned.

Package coating, processes of making, and packaging systems


A circuit board assembled with an electronic package having a first and a second inner leads is provided. The first inner lead has a first and a second ends. The circuit board includes an insulating layer, a first pad, a second pad, an extension portion, a conductive via, and a ground layer. The first and the second pads are disposed on the insulating layer. The first end of the first inner lead is electrically connected to the second pad. The extension portion disposed on the insulating layer is electrically connected to the first pad and extends to the position under the second end of the first inner lead. The conductive via passing through the insulating layer is electrically connected to the extension portion and under the second end of the first inner lead. The ground layer disposed on the insulating layer is electrically connected to the conductive via.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic assembly and a circuit board. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic assembly having an electronic package and a circuit board and a circuit board assembled with an electronic package.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally speaking, a conventional circuit board for carrying and electrically connecting a plurality of electronic components is mainly composed of a plurality of patterned conductive layers and a plurality of insulating layers which are stacked alternately, wherein the patterned conductive layers are made of, for example, cooper foil defined by a lithography and etching process, and the insulating layers are respectively disposed between the adjacent patterned conductive layers to isolate them from one another. Furthermore, the stacked patterned conductive layers are electrically connected through conductive vias. Additionally, a chip package is disposed on the surface of the circuit board to form an electronic assembly. The chip package is electrically connected to the patterned conductive layer on the surface of the circuit board, and achieves the purpose of electrical signal propagation through the circuits within the circuit board.
However, when the conventional electronic assembly operates, a crosstalk phenomenon is generated inside the electronic assembly, thereby degrading the quality of signal transmission. In view of the above, how to reduce the crosstalk generated as the electronic assembly operates to enhance the quality of signal transmission becomes an issue to be solved urgently.


A lock member shifts between a lock position for locking a cassette inserted in a device body and a lock release position for releasing the lock to enable the cassette to be removed from the device body. Further, a push-out member shifts between a push-out position for coming into contact with a catch member provided in the device body and pushing out the cassette in a removing direction and a retracted position. Then, in conjunction with rotation action from a first position to a second position of a lock release member attached to the surface of the cassette to be rotatable, the lock member shifts from the lock position to the release position, and the push-out member shifts from the retracted position to the push-out position.

The thermal transfer printer presses solid ink coated on an ink ribbon against a sheet by a printing head to transfer, and thereby performs printing. The ink ribbon is wound around rolls and stored in a ribbon cassette, and the ink ribbon cassette has a removable configuration to be attachable and detachable to/from the thermal transfer printer body so as to replace the ribbon cassette itself when the ink ribbon has run out.
However, in the case of using the thermal transfer printer for business use particularly, for example, combining with another device such as a card processing device to use, since a large amount of ink ribbon is used, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the roll to wind the ink ribbon, and the cassette is increased in size.
Therefore, it requires considerable work to remove a size-increased heavy cassette from the thermal transfer printer and insert again, and more excellent operability and convenience is desired in attaching and detaching the cassette.
Patent Document 1 discloses a thermal transfer printer in which an eject member to release a lock of a ribbon cassette is slidably provided in the printer body, the lock is released by sliding the eject member, a push-out member provided in the eject member presses the ribbon cassette in the pulling-out direction in conjunction with the slide, and the ribbon cassette pops out by spring force.


A wire bonding machine has a wire bonding head that provides five directions of movement or degrees of freedom. The radial direction of movement supports the wire bonding process and reduces the moving mass of the wire bonder during the generation of the wire bonds. The wire bonding machine further includes a selectable side view inspection system. Through a group of optical components, the assembly process can be selectively viewed from either a side view or a top view. The side view of the assembly process provides for improved analysis of the wire bond quality which can be monitored by a camera.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor device manufacturing, and more particularly, to wire bonding machines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In manufacturing a semiconductor device, such as an semiconductor device 110 as illustrated in FIG. 1A, packaging is often required so that the signals can be bidirectionally communicated between the semiconductor device and other electronic devices. Semiconductor device 110 includes a semiconductor die or substrate 112 inserted or molded into a package 114 so that the semiconductor device may be installed onto a printed circuit board (not illustrated). The package 114 further provides a metal leadframe 116 so that electrical signals may be communicated between the semiconductor die 112 and the printed circuit board and other integrated circuits 110 or electronic components.
Referring to FIG. 1A, the semiconductor device 110 includes the dual inline pin package 114, the semiconductor die 112, the metal leadframe 116, a molded compound shell 118, and bond wires 120. The bond wires 120 are made of a conducting material, preferably gold or aluminum, and couple to the semiconductor die 112 at one end and the leadframe 116 at the opposite end. The traces of the lead frame that couple to the printed circuit board are often referred to as pins 122.
In the semiconductor device manufacturing process a wire bonding machine (not illustrated in FIG. 1A) couples the bond wires 120 to the semiconductor die 112 and the leadframe 116. Referring to FIG. 1B, a bonding tool 124 of the wire bonding machine generates a ball bond 126 between the bond wire 120 and the semiconductor die 112. The bonding tool 124 is coupled to a bonding head (not illustrated in FIG. 1B) of the wire bonding machine. Referring to FIG. 1C, the bonding tool 124 has completed a wedge bond 128 between the bond wire 120 and the leadframe 116.
Generally thermosonic bonding techniques of bonding may be used to generate the ball bond 126. Thermosonic bonding utilizes a heat source to heat one end of the bond wire 120 to generate a ball and simultaneously applies a vertical load to the ball while ultrasonically exciting the bond wire 120. Generally ultrasonic bonding techniques are used to generate the wedge bond 128. In generating the wedge bond, the bond wire 120 is first wedged between the leadframe 116 or other bonding surface and the bonding tool 124 as illustrated in FIG. 1B. While the bond wire 120 is under a vertical load, a mechanical motion or pulsing of the bonding tool 124 generates an ultrasonic wave motion generating sufficient energy to heat the end of the bond wire 120 breaking surface oxides on the bonding surface and at the end of the bond wire so that the new surfaces may cold-weld together. Proper loading and ultrasonic wave motion must occur for the wedge bond 128 to be properly formed.
The bonding of the bond wire 120 in FIG. 1C is referred to as ball-wedge bonding. In the case where a wedge bond 128 is formed at both ends of the bond wire 120, it is referred to as wedge-wedge bonding. FIG. 1D illustrates wedge-wedge bonding of the bond wire 120. A wedge bond 128 is formed at the end of the bond wire 120 attached to the semiconductor die 112 and a second wedge bond 128 is formed at the end of the bond wire 120 attached to the leadframe 116. Wedge-wedge bonding may be preferable such that thermosonic bonding techniques of ball bonding may be avoided. In ball-wedge bonding the bonding tool 124 may be a capillary device. In wedge-wedge bonding the bonding tool 124 may be a wedge device.
Referring to FIG. 1E, the semiconductor device 110 includes the semiconductor die 112 and the leadframe 116. FIG. 1E illustrates ball-wedge bonding. The semiconductor die 112 includes bonding pads 130 so that the bonding wires 120 may be attached thereto using ball bonds 126. The surface of the bonding pads 130 are made of a conductive material which is preferably aluminum metal. The leadframe 116 includes contact points 132 such that the bonding wires 120 may be attached thereto using wedge bonds 128. FIG. 1F illustrates wedge-wedge bonding. The bonding wires 120 are attached to the bonding pads 130 of the semiconductor die 112 using wedge bonds 128. The bonding wires 120 are attached to the contact points 132 of the lead frame 116 using wedge bonds 128.
In order to bond to all bonding pads 130 of the semiconductor die 112 and to all the contact points 132 on the leadframe 116, the bonding tool 124 must be properly positioned. Previously the proper position of the bonding tool was accomplished by physically moving the bonding tool 124 itself from one point to another point while the semiconductor device remained fixed, physically moving the semiconductor device 110 while the bonding tool 124 remained fixed, or moving both the bonding tool 124 and the semiconductor device 110. Furthermore in wedge-wedge bonding, the bond wire connection path must be aligned with the wire feeding direction of the bonding tool.
Previously automatic wedge wire bonders provided four axis of motion namely X, Y, Z, and .theta. (theta) to perform wire bonding. The X and Y axis movements position the semiconductor bonding pads 130 of the semiconductor die 112 under the bonding tool 124 or position the contact points 132 of the leadframe 116 to be under the bonding tool 124. Traditionally, the X and Y axis movements further define the locus of the wire path from the bonding pad 130 to the contact point 132. The .theta. rotational axis of movement aligns the wire feed direction of the bonding tool 124 with the wire path. Referring to FIG. 1C, the Z vertical axis of movement provides that the bonding tool 124 with its wedge makes contact with the bond wire 120 which in turn makes contact with the bonding pads 130 or contact points 132 such that the welding process may occur.
In order to perform the wire bonding process previous wire bonders may move the semiconductor device 110 or the bonding head coupled to the bonding tool 124 in various ways. In one case the semiconductor device 110 is moved in the X, Y, and .theta. axis while the bonding head and bonding tool 124 are moved only in the Z axis. In another case the semiconductor device 110 is moved in the X and Y axis while the bonding head and bonding tool 124 are moved in the .theta. axis and the Z axis. In another case the semiconductor device 110 is moved only in the .theta. axis while the bonding head and bonding tool 124 are moved in the X, Y, and Z axis. In another case the semiconductor device 110 is moved only in the Z axis while the bonding head and bonding tool 124 are moved in the X, Y, and .theta. axis. In another case the semiconductor device 110 is moved in the Z and .theta. axis while the bonding head and bonding tool 124 are moved in the X and Y axis. In another case the semiconductor device 110 is stationary during the bonding process while the bonding head and bonding tool 124 are moved in the X, Y, .theta., and Z axis.
In order to increase the efficiency of the wire bonding process, it is desirable to handle the semiconductor devices using an automatic continuous indexing technique. Automatic continuous indexing is a technique where an index mark on the semiconductor device 110 or a device carrier (not illustrated) is used to automatically align a bonding start point as the next semiconductor device is inserted into the wire bonder for bonding. Wire bonding machines that move the semiconductor device 110 in order to position it under the bonding tool 124, can hardly use an automatic continuous index handling method. It is desirable to provide automatic continuous index handling such that the semiconductor devices 110 are stationary during the bonding process.
Semiconductor devices 110 of today may be much larger and may require a large number of pins 122 in order to communicate properly with a printed circuit board. These large devices have a relatively large mass and generally require a heavy workholder clamp in order to hold the semiconductor device 110 in the bonding machine. In wire bonders such as these where the semiconductor device 110 is moved, the large mass of the workholder clamp and the large semiconductor devices 110 result in poor dynamic stability and vibrations during a high speed bonding process. A prior technique used to combat the vibration problems in wire bonders reduces the bonding speed such that proper dynamic stability may be achieved. However, it is desirable to operate wire bonding machines at their maximum bonding speed when bonding large devices. It is also desirable to keep the semiconductor device 110 stationary during the wire bonding process.
In wire bonders where the semiconductor device 110 is stationary while the bonding head and bonding tool 124 are moved in the X, Y, .theta., and Z axis, the bonding head is rather complicated and has a relatively large mass. The large mass of the bonding head makes it difficult to achieve good dynamic stability. This is particularly a problem when the bonding head and bonding tool 124 move in the X and Y axis directions from the semiconductor device bonding pad 130 to the contact points 132 as illustrated by the arrow 142 in FIG. 1E and FIG. 1F. A prior technique used to provide proper dynamic stability is to reduce the speed of the bonding process. However, it is desirable to speed up the bonding process of semiconductor devices in order to increase the throughput and thereby lowering manufacturing costs.
In the wire bonding process it is desirable to occasionally view the progress of the wire bonder in order to maintain quality controls. Traditionally a microscope (not illustrated) is used to visualize the real time wire-bonding process. The microscope may be coupled to the bonder and aligned such that its lens points to the device to allow visual inspection of the top surface of semiconductor die 112 and leadframe 116. In wire bonders where the bonding head and bonding tool 124 move and rotate in various directions it is difficult if not impossible to properly view the wire bonding process. However, it is desirable to properly view the bonding process in the case where the bonding head and bonding tool 124 move in order to complete the bonding process.

Radial wire bonder and selectable side view inspection system


A method and apparatus for the detection of polymorphisms in a nucleic acid sample (e.g. blood, sperm, saliva, cells, . . . ). To enhance the efficiency and the reliability of the known methods (e.g. DGGE, SSCP and TGGE) the amplification process (e.g. PCR) preceding the actual detection step is performed in or on the polyacrylamide gel. Multiple gradients (of chemical denaturants, thermal denaturants and of porosity of the gel matrix) are used for the separation of DNA fragments, by zone electrophoresis on gel slabs or by capillary electrophoresis.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and a device for detecting one or more mutation(s) in a nucleic acid fragment in a sample.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Methods are known for screening nucleic acid fragments, in particular DNA fragments, for determined mutations. One method includes the following steps, to be performed in suitable sequence, of:
(a) amplifying the nucleic acid fragment present in the sample;
(b) separating the nucleic acid fragments by means of gel electrophoresis in the presence of a gradient resulting in at least partial melting of the double-stranded nucleic acid fragments formed in step (a), for the purpose of fixing the partially melted nucleic acid fragments at a specific location in the gel; and
(c) detecting the separated nucleic acid fragments. It is known that mutations in the DNA can result in hereditary diseases and/or particular forms of cancer. Demonstrating such a mutation in the DNA in a sample of a patient can therefore be important in establishing whether the patient is a carrier of an abnormal gene responsible for a determined genetic disease, or in making a reliable diagnosis. DNA mutation research can also be important for instance in determining the risk of developing particular types of cancer, designing treatment in the case of tumours, in scientific research into links between diseases and particular genetic defects and in tissue typing.
In order to enable detection of a mutation in a nucleic acid fragment, such as for instance in the DNA, in a sample, the nucleic acid fragment present in the sample, which is usually present in the sample in too small a number of copies or as part of a larger nucleic acid fragment, must first be amplified to obtain sufficient material. Use is generally made for this purpose of conventional amplification techniques, such as for instance PCR. After the amplification step the amplified double-stranded DNA fragments must be separated from each other before they can be detected. For this purpose use is generally made of techniques based on gel electrophoresis. A drawback of the present method however is that both the amplification step and the separation step are time-consuming processes, whereby a great deal of time is required to perform the method. Since large numbers of samples often have to be screened, it is desirable that a method be developed with which a large number of samples can be examined in rapid and simple manner for the presence of one or more mutations in the nucleic acid fragments present in the sample.

Method and apparatus for detecting a mutation in a nucleic acid fragment in a sample


Display panel systems make it possible to access a wide range of information. Such systems have a stand and a support for swivel panels upon which information carriers can be placed. The stand is modular and has two side parts which can be combined with a variable number of intermediate parts, each of which has a support for swivel panels.

The invention relates to a stand for supports of swivel panels, swivel pockets, swivel sleeves or the like.
A stand of the abovementioned type which comprises an angled sheet-metal plate and of which the legs form an angle of less than 90xc2x0 is known (DURABLE, Catalogue 950, page 109). The shorter of the two legs forms the foot of the stand, while the longer leg is provided, at its top and bottom ends, with fittings having pivot bearings for the swivel panels or the like. The width of the sheet-metal plate and the number of fittings depends on the number of swivel panels which are to be accommodated in each case.
Another known stand comprises a cast foot to which a comparatively short leg of an angled sheet-metal plate is screwed (DURABLE, Catalogue 950, page 109). The larger of the two legs is also provided in this case, in turn, with fittings having pivot bearings.
In both the cases described, the number of swivel panels determines the dimensions of the stand or of the parts forming the stand. In practice, this means that the outlay for producing the stands and for storing the same is undesirably high.
The object of the invention is to provide a stand of the type in question which is constructed in the manner of a modular system and allows its accommodating capacity to be changed cost-effectively. This object is achieved by a stand which is characterized according to the invention in that it comprises two side parts and at least one intermediate part connected to said side parts in a releasable manner, each intermediate part being assigned in each case one support.
The stand according to the invention provides the advantage that its width can easily be varied by the use of a greater or lesser number of intermediate parts and can thus be adapted to the number of swivel panels or the like which are to be accommodated.
It has proven particularly advantageous in this case if the intermediate parts are configured such that they are suitable for accommodating supports which can also be used as wall-mounted supports.
Further details and features of the invention can be gathered from the subclaims and from the following description of a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention illustrated in the attached drawing.

xe2x80x9cDurablexe2x80x9d Hunke and Jochheim GmbH and Co., KG


An apparatus having a support structure, including two nasal flow passages aligned with one another and with respect to a nasal respiratory flow direction, and an oral flow passage disposed transverse to the two nasal flow passages, along an oral respiratory flow direction, the nasal flow passages and oral flow passages having thermistors to monitor a patient's respiration, and the apparatus having a thermistor for monitoring ambient conditions and an accelerometer for monitoring movement of the apparatus. The apparatus also detecting and distinguishing between oral and individual nasal air flows, and integration of the apparatus and monitored data with a network.

The present disclosure relates generally to medical sensors. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to respiration sensors for a continuous, long-lasting monitoring of an individual or patient, including measuring and analyzing respiratory condition and movement of the person.
The respiration of a person may be monitored for various reasons. For example, knowledge about a patient's respiration may assist a caregiver in assessing the patient's stability during surgery and recovery thereafter. Knowledge about a person's respiration can also assist with therapy related to sleeping.
Many approaches to respiration sensors involve cumbersome devices that can obstruct a patient's respiratory passages. In many applications, the patient is unconscious or semi-conscious and there is a challenge to fix a respiration sensor in place for an extended period of time. Accordingly, in many of the existing systems a nurse is required to frequently check the patient for sensor placement or inadvertent sensor movement. Moreover, due to the physiognomy of the human respiratory passages, many devices tend to produce confused readings relative to either of a patient's nostrils and mouth, and fail to clearly distinguish and provide differentiated data for inspiration and exhalation steps.


A method, system, and medium are provided that are directed to providing a user with time-sensitive information that is usable to determine when to purchase a product. In accordance with embodiments of the technology, exemplary steps include using historical product information to generate time-sensitive information. Moreover, in response to receiving from a user a request to receive information describing a given product, time-sensitive information is caused to be presented. For example, time-sensitive information might be usable by the user to determine when to purchase the given product and an alternative product.

A consumer often uses a search engine to retrieve information about a product that he or she is considering purchasing. For example, the consumer might submit a search query and expect to receive information that describes a product's specifications and purchase price. While information describing specifications and prices can be helpful to a consumer, additional types of information would better assist the consumer to make a more informed choice about whether to make a purchase.

Providing time-sensitive information for purchase determinations


A rotating barbell support rotatably holds a barbell in at least a first position and a second position by rotating the barbell between such positions. A user may lie on a bench and rotate the barbell to his or her lifting sweet spot while the rotating barbell support continues to support the weight of the barbell. The user may then begin one or more bench presses from his or her sweet spot without the need to maneuver the full weight of the barbell or the need for a spotter. The rotating barbell support may have a pair of biased support assemblies, each having a support arm and a post. The support arm may have a weight, spring, or elastic element attached thereto, while the post may have a barbell holder. The posts of the support assemblies may be biased to a backward tilted angle by the weight.

The invention relates generally to a weight bench, and particularly to a weight bench having a rotating barbell support structure.
The bench press is a widely used weight training exercise that provides highly effective training of the upper body and arms. Typically, a bench press is performed with a user laying with his or her back on a weight bench. A barbell, which may carry one or more weights, may be held above the user on a support. The user may grasp and maneuver the barbell out of the support, and lift the barbell over the user's torso one or more times to perform one or more bench presses.
Maneuvering the barbell out of its supporting structure can be the most hazardous portion of a bench press. In addition, users typically progress from lower weights to higher weights as they strengthen their bodies. As users try to achieve increasing levels of strength and fitness, maneuvering the barbell is increasingly hazardous at the limit of the users' strength.
A spotter is sometimes used to aid the user in maneuvering the barbell. This is undesirable in that it requires the user to have another person on hand when training. In addition, maneuvering the barbell can and is still hazardous to the spotter as well as the user because of the careful coordination and force required to maneuver the barbell out of and back into its supporting structure.
From the discussion that follows, it will become apparent that the present invention addresses the deficiencies associated with the prior art while providing numerous additional advantages and benefits not contemplated or possible with prior art constructions.


An underslung cargo container system in which a cargo container is removably secured to the exterior bottom of the trailer of a truck.

Generally, the space between the lower surface of a trailer between the rear wheels and the forward trailer support is wasted in that it is not utilized to carry cargo. It has been suggested that this space can be used to carry pallets on a return trip. It has also been suggested to provide a frame which receives a container for transporting perishable goods.
Trailers have been built wherein the floor of the trailer is lowered between the rear wheels and the front support to use the wasted space. However, such trailers are inconvenient to load because of the sloping floor.
If the space between the rear wheels and the support is used for carrying cargo, there is a substantial increase in revenue because of the additional cargo which can be transported. Desirable would be a standardized container which can be independently loaded, unloaded, moved, stored, and which can be easily secured to the underside of a trailer between the rear wheels and the front support.

Underslung trailer cargo container system


An anastomosis staple comprising of a plurality of vessel engaging members and a binding structure holding the vessel engaging members together is described. The binding structure has at least one bioabsorbable element. The binding structure is rigid enough to allow for deployment and quickly resorbs to avoid problems associated with intimal hyperplasia and physical hindrance of secondary interventional procedures. The vessel engaging members may be comprised of superelastic or shape memory metal and are independent from one another. The members may be equidistant from one another and embedded within the binding structure. The composite staple can preferably serve as a drug delivery vehicle.

An anastomosis is a surgical procedure by which two separate tubular bodies or ducts, usually blood vessels, are interconnected. The anastomotic connection allows body fluid to flow between the lumens of the tubular bodies without leakage at the connection site. Such a connection may be required to repair severed blood vessels. More often, anastomotic connections are utilized in order to bypass an obstruction in a patient's heart. For example, in a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, a graft vessel is anastomosed to the coronary artery downstream from the obstruction to enable aortic blood carried by the graft vessel to be rerouted around the blockage in the coronary artery. In one case, the anastomosis may be made between the end of the graft vessel and the side wall of the coronary artery, in what is typically known as an end-to-side connection. In other instances, the anastomotic connection could be of the side-to-side type. And in certain situations, more than one anastomotic connection may be needed.
Current methods available for creating an anastomotic connection include hand suturing the vessels together. However, the use of sutures to connect interrupted vessels has inherent drawbacks. For example, suturing is difficult to perform and time-consuming, and requires great skill and experience on the part of the surgeon due in large part to the extremely small scale of the vessels. Suturing is particularly difficult in beating heart CABG surgery. Also, sutures do not always provide a fluid-tight connection at the anastomosis site. Moreover, to perform the procedure it is usually necessary to stop the heart by infusing the organ with cold cardioplegia solution. This enables a blood-free and still anastomosis site for the suturing process. However, such procedures for slowing down or stopping the heart inherently result in trauma to the organ.
Attempts have been made to provide implantable devices that connect blood vessels together in a more expedient and reliable manner. One approach is to use staples to create an anastomotic connection. For example, Kaster et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,447 describes a staple comprising a rigid metal ring having fingers radially extending therefrom. Using a staple forming tool, the fingers are deformed to urge them into engagement with the vessels' interior and exterior walls, thereby creating an anastomotic connection between the vessels.
One potential problem arising with staples having rigid annular members is compliance mismatch. The use of flexible metallic anastomotic staples for CABG procedures has recently been proposed to address this problem. Some of these flexible staples are described by Gifford, III et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,695,504 and 5,817,113, Backinski et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,702, and by Derowe et al. in WO 99/62408. These staples have flexible annular means that may reduce the rigidity of solid annular members of other staples such as the one described by Kaster et al.
In addition, use of flexible metallic stents has been contemplated to address the problem of compliance mismatch. Nevertheless, stents may eventually suffer from physiological phenomena such as intimal hyperplasia and stenosis. Gifford, III et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,504 attempts to overcome the problem of intimal hyperplasia by providing a non-absorbable flexible filament as a base to hold vessel engaging members. However, the non-absorbable flexible filament may not have the rigidity needed to deploy the staple, and may further radially constrain the vessel. Finally, the nonabsorbable filament may sterically hinder secondary interventional techniques such as balloon angioplasty that may become necessary at a future time.
Current designs for vascular anastomotic staples generally are more successful in large diameter proximal anastomoses. However, their utility in smaller diameter proximal anastomoses and distal anastomoses may be limited. Most of the anastomotic staples described in the art have rigid or substantially rigid annular members that serve as the base for vessel engaging members. These annular members may induce neointimal hyperplasia through a mechanism similar to that observed with metallic stents. Another potential problem with these annular members is that they may preclude the possibility of interventional means to address the hyperplasia, such as balloon angioplasty. Finally, rigid or semi-rigid metallic annular members may complicate the use of secondary interventional devices such as balloon or stent-carrying catheters by sterically preventing or hindering access to lesions distal to the staple.
There is thus a need for a vascular anastomosis staple that provides fast and reliable anastomosis in small diameter vessels. There is also a need for an anastomosis staple that prevents incurrence of neointimal hyperplasia. Finally, there is also a need for an anastomosis device that does not sterically hinder access to the surrounding tissue by other devices such as catheters.

Composite staple and method for using same


An aqueous composition for coating a metallic substrate that is prepared by mixing at least one silane (preferably at least two silanes), at least about 20 weight percent phosphoric acid based on the total weight of the composition, and water, wherein the composition is substantially free of an organic solvent and a chromium-containing compound. The pH of the composition must not be above 3. The composition can be coated on a metallic substrate, particularly an aluminum substrate, to provide a pre-treatment layer for adhering overcoats.

The present invention relates to a composition that is useful to protect and promote adhesion to a metallic substrate, particularly aluminum.
Currently, there are numerous commercial methods for treating metal substrates to prepare them for application of overcoats. These methods are occasionally referred to as conversion treatments. One such method is known as the ALODINE method available from Parker Amchem. According to this method, the substrate is etched with phosphoric acid and then rinsed. A conversion composition then is prepared from a concentrate that includes hexavalent chrome. This conversion composition then is flowed over the etched surface. Another method is a 9 to 13 step method that involves a manganese conversion coating that includes the application of heat.
Consequently, it would be very advantageous to provide a chrome-free, low volatile organic, shelf stable protective and adhesion promoting composition for a metal substrate. It would also be advantageous if this composition could be applied to the substrate via a single pack system that requires only a few steps.
Coating compositions that are made from or include in general a silane, water and phosphoric acid are known (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,749; U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,469; and DE-A-4403876).
DE-A-4403876 discloses a composition that is said to form a passivating layer that is a polysiloxane structure that includes phosphorus-oxygen links (Si--O--Si--O--P--O--Si) when coated on a metal substrate. In order to achieve this structure, it is alleged that "the percentage of phosphoric acid must be higher than required for mere catalysis." However, the single example includes only approximately 1 wt % phosphoric acid. In addition, an organic solvent (ethylene glycol monomethyl ether) and an alcohol (methanol or 2-propanol) are used as initial components to make the coating composition. This application also indicates that the coating bath is maintained at a pH of <7, preferably a pH of 5 and 6.
Claim 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,749 claims an anticorrosion primer coating composition comprising 100 parts by weight (pbw) polyvinyl butyral resin, 1-25 pbw of at least one organofunctional silane, 20-35 pbw of an inorganic borate and/or polyphosphate compound, and 5 to 50 pbw phosphoric acid. Upon close inspection of the examples in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,749 patent it is clear that the pbw ranges recited in claim 1 do not take into account the weight of any carriers such as an organic solvent or water.
The largest amount of phosphoric acid in any of the examples appears to be in Example 13. 18 pbw of an 85% aqueous solution of phosphoric acid is mixed with 16 pbw water and 66 pbw isopropyl alcohol to form an "additive" composition. 20 parts of this "additive" is mixed with 80 parts of a main composition that includes the polyvinyl butyral and the silane. Based on this description, the calculated amount of phosphoric acid in the final coating composition is 3.6 wt %. It is also clear from the examples that the U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,749 system is a two pack system and that it includes an organic solvent.

Aqueous protective and adhesion promoting composition


Phase change memory devices and methods for fabricating the same are provided. A phase change memory device includes a first conductive electrode disposed in a first dielectric layer. A second dielectric layer is disposed over the first dielectric layer. A phase change material layer is disposed in the second dielectric layer and electrically connected to the first conductive electrode. A space is disposed in the second dielectric layer to at least isolate a sidewall of the phase change material layer and the second dielectric layer adjacent thereto. A second conductive electrode is disposed in the second dielectric layer and electrically connected to the phase change material layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to memory devices and more particularly to phase change memory devices and methods for fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Phase change memory devices are non-volatile, highly readable, highly programmable, and require low driving voltage/current. Current trends in phase change memory development are to increase cell density and reduce current density.
Phase change material in a phase change memory device has at least two solid phases, a crystalline state and an amorphous state. Transformation between these two phases can be achieved by changing the temperature of the phase change material. The phase change material exhibits different electrical characteristics depending on its state. For example, in its amorphous state the material exhibits a higher resistivity than in the crystalline state. Such phase change material may switch between numerous electrically detectable conditions of varying resistivities on a nanosecond time scale with the input of pico joules of energy. Since phase change material allows for a reversible phase transformation, memory bit status can be distinguished by determining the phase of phase change material in the memory bit.
For enhancing applications of phase change memory devices, size reduction of the memory cells in a phase change memory device is needed to increase cell density of the phase change memory device. With size reduction of the memory cells, however, pitches between adjacent memory cells are also reduced and may thus increases thermal disturbing or thermal cross-talk between adjacent memory cells of the phase change memory device. Therefore, undesired disturbing and/or bit-writing errors may occur to memory cells of the phase change memory device during operation.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A knitted netting for wrapping an object is provided. When wrapping the object the knitted netting may have an indicated target elongation. The knitted netting includes first longitudinal franzes, first lateral schusses, at least two second longitudinal franzes, and at least one second lateral schuss. The schusses are knitted with the franzes to form the knitted netting. The first longitudinal franzes and the first lateral schusses are configured such that the spacing of the first longitudinal franzes decreases by less than 10% when elongating the knitted netting by 50% of the target elongation, the target elongation being from 15% to 300% of the length of the knitted netting. The second lateral schuss is an indicator schuss. The second longitudinal franzes are indicator franzes. The indicator schuss is knitted with the indicator franzes to form an elongation indicator for indicating the amount of longitudinal stretching of the knitted netting. The elongation indicator is configured such that the spacing of the indicator franzes decreases by more than 10% when elongating the knitted netting by 50% of the target elongation. Further, a method of determining the longitudinal elongation of such a knitted netting with respect to a target elongation is provided.

The use of Raschel knitted nettings for wrapping objects such as pallet loads is known in the Industry. Raschel knitted nettings usually include longitudinal ribbons or threads, known as franze or warp yarns, and of lateral ribbons or threads, known as schuss or fill yarns, which form a triangular structure between each pair of longitudinal ribbons. Such a Raschel knitted netting is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,714.
Due to the triangular geometrical structure, such knitted nettings exhibit lateral shrinkage upon longitudinal elongation (i.e., there is narrowing of the net when it is stretched lengthwise). This problem with Raschel knitted nettings of triangular structure and the solution to this problem are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,521,551, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
These knitted nettings, which are intended, inter alia, for wrapping loads on pallets, usually have a characteristic elasticity and a predetermined degree of elongation capacity. The knitted nettings have to stretch according to the elongation percentage suited to the type of netting being used. There is direct connection between the required tension and the netting's elongation percentage, as a function of the elongation characteristics of the material from which the net is manufactured.
The knitted netting elongates as a function of the tension applied to the netting, irrespective of whether this tension is created upon initiation of wrapping by the wrapping machinery, or, typically at a higher percentage, due to forces created by the object being wrapped.
During the use of pallet nettings for wrapping loads on pallets, the knitted nettings are commercially elongated between 15% and 170% at present according to the characteristics of the netting and the settings of the wrapping machinery. An elongation of x %, where x is a real number, shall mean herein that the netting elongated by x % has a length of (100+x) % as compared to its original length.
The operator of the wrapping machinery endeavors to set the degree of elongation to a target value taking into consideration various factors such as the desired tension, the type of goods wrapped, the elongation capability of the knitted netting etc, all the above in order to optimize the wrapping and the utilization of the netting's characteristic. Specific percentage of elongation and tension is required in order to achieve good wrapping. If the elongation and tension is lower than that required, the load will not be properly secured and the operator will not utilize, and benefit from, the entire elongation capability of the netting. On the other hand, if the elongation and tension percentage exceeds the desired one, the netting can narrow, and this may result in the products wrapped (or their packaging) becoming damaged, e.g. by crushing of corners and cutting of products, or the netting can break or lose its strength leading to insufficient wrapping.
However, it is difficult for the operator of the wrapping machinery to determine the elongation percentage of the netting which will bring about the desired wrapping result. For example, in order to calculate the percentage of elongation, prior to commencing the wrapping process, the operator may measure the length of a predetermined portion of the netting (e.g. ten triangular bases) between two parallel Franze ribbons. Thereafter, the operator may measure the length of said predetermined portion of the netting at the end of the wrapping cycle while the netting is on the machinery, and deduce the percentage of elongation. This procedure, however, is tedious and time-consuming, and may interrupt the wrapping process, increasing the processing time.
If the elongation of the netting is not correctly determined, an undesired elongation may result, causing, as explained above, excess pressure on the wrapped products, damage to the wrapped products, loss of process time and loss of money.
Consequently, there is a need for an improved netting and for a method for determining or measuring elongation of a netting, overcoming the above problems.

Netting with elongation indicator and method of determining the elongation of a netting


A method of detecting a presence of Francisella tularensis (F. tularensis). The method includes amplifying a first nucleic acid from said specimen using a first plurality of primers, said first plurality of primers comprising SEQ ID NO 4 and SEQ ID NO 5. When the first nucleic acid is detected, then the presence of F. tularensis is determined.

Tularemia is a zoonotic disease caused by a facultative intracellular pathogen, Francisella tularensis (hereafter, F. tularensis), that may be easily disseminated by a lethal dose of 10 organisms or less. As such, F. tularensis is a potential bioweapon able to cause a major health impact. F. tularensis is comprised of four subspecies: tularensis (type A), holarctica (type B), mediasiatica, and novicida. The type A subspecies is further separated into subtypes: A.I and A.II. These four subspecies and two subtypes differ considerably in virulence, with the type A.I clade possessing the greatest virulence and subspecies novicida possessing the least.
F. tularensis is distributed globally, with some stronger geographic associations, and can infect more species than any other known zoonotic pathogen. F. tularensis transmission occurs through oral, cutaneous, and conjunctival routes of exposure. Natural exposures to infected arthropods, animals, water, or food are common modes of infection. The most severe form of this disease is pneumonic tularemia that most likely results from the inhalation of contaminated (natural or man-made) aerosols. Fatality rates as high as 35% from a subtype A.I infection have been reported.
From a Public Health ("PH") and DoD Force Health Protection ("FHP") perspective, it is imperative to know if a potential exposure from a virulent F. tularensis strain, particularly a subtype A.I strain has occurred. However, all forms of tularemia, if untreated, can lead to hematogenous spread and eventual acute renal failure. While appropriate medical management is key for all exposures, rapid, accurate, and stand-alone identification of the F. tularensis subspecies and subtype is imperative to ensure that respiratory protection is considered when appropriate; however, this capability is currently lacking.
For example, the inability to subspeciate F. tularensis was observed in 2005 at a large gathering on the Capital Mall in Washington, D.C. U.S. Government BioWatch sensors were triggered, and the Centers for Disease and Prevention ("CDC") issued a health advisory to healthcare personnel of possible tularemia exposure. Specimens obtained at the event were later analyzed and shown to contain signatures from F. tularensis subspecies novicida, a naturally-occurring, non-select agent that is not virulent. Had the subspecies been identified prospectively on-site, the CDC health advisory would have been unnecessary.
A number of other related, avirulent bacterial strains further complicate the positive identification of F. tularensis, such as Francisella persica (a nonpathogenic tick endosymbiont formally classified as Wolbachia persica).
Conventional polymerase chain reaction ("PCR") assays do not offer accurate subspecies and subtype differentiation. These methods are also not able to definitively identify all four subspecies of F. tularensis with sufficient simplicity that identification may be done in or near the point of operations. Research and reference laboratory methods and platforms capable of F. tularensis subspeciation are known, but require a complex scoring matrix and are only able to differentiate three of the four F. tularensis subspecies.
Thus there remains a need for rapid, portable, and accurate stand-alone detection assays that can differentiate all four F. tularensis subspecies and the two type-A subtypes. Such assays should be suitable for deployment in Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System ("JBAIDS"), or for next generation platforms (such as sequencing or dense array PCR) that will eventually replace JBAIDS.

Methods of detecting and typing pathogenic strains of

United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


Disk-shaped object thickness-restricting means is provided in a disk-shaped object guiding path for transferring a disk-shaped object, inserted through a disk-shaped object slot, in an inclined direction. The disk-shaped object thickness-restricting means comes into contact with the inserted disk-shaped object and changes its position depending on the thickness of the disk-shaped object in the contact, restricting the thickness of the inserted disk-shaped object.

Disk-shaped object sorters have been provided in automatic vending machines and game mechanisms such as slot machines in order to verify the authenticity of disk bodies (coins or game medals and the like) inserted through a disk-shaped object slot, accept the disk bodies that are confirmed to be genuine, and return the disk bodies that are confirmed to be false.
FIG. 9 is a conceptual front view of a main portion of a conventional disk-shaped object sorter; it shows the vicinity of a disk-shaped object slot 2.
The disk-shaped object sorter 1 comprises a first disk-shaped object guiding path 3 for guiding downward a disk-shaped object inserted into a disk-shaped object slot 2 and a second disk-shaped object guiding path 5 connected to the downstream end of the first disk-shaped object guiding path 3 and composed of one inclined transfer rail 4 for guiding the inserted disk-shaped object in the direction inclined to the right, as shown in the figure. The reference symbol 13 in FIG. 9 stands for disk-shaped object detection means for measuring the authenticity of the disk-shaped object or the number of the disk bodies that have passed.
As shown in FIG. 10, which is a cross-sectional view along AA in FIG. 9, the first and second disk-shaped object guiding paths 3, 5 comprise a main plate 6 and a gate plate 7 for opening and closing the surface of the main plate 6.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, disk-shaped object thickness restricting means 8 for verifying the authenticity of the disk-shaped object by restricting the thickness of the inserted disk-shaped object is provided in the first disk-shaped object guiding path 3.
The conventional thickness-restricting means 8 comprises a thickness screw 9 provided in the main plate 6. The thickness screw 9 is provided in a condition of protruding, from the surface of the main plate 6, toward inside the first disk-shaped object guiding path 3, thereby restricting the thickness of the disk-shaped object falling down inside the first disk-shaped object guiding path 3 in the gap between the rear surface of the gate plate 7 and the distal end of the thickness screw 9. The gap between the distal end of the thickness screw 9 and the rear surface of the gate plate 7 opposite thereto is set to be almost equal to or slightly larger than the thickness of the genuine disk-shaped object.
With such a thickness-restricting means 8, as shown in FIG. 11, if the thickness of the inserted disk-shaped object 10 is equal to or less than the thickness of the genuine disk-shaped object, the disk-shaped object passes through the thickness-restricting means 8 and is guided by the second disk-shaped object guiding path 5 located downstream of the thickness-restricting means.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, when the thickness of the inserted disk-shaped object 11 is larger than the thickness of the genuine disk-shaped object, the disk-shaped object comes into contact with the distal end of the thickness screw 9 of the thickness-restricting means 8.
As a result, the disk-shaped object 11 having a thickness larger than that of the genuine disk-shaped object stops between the distal end of the thickness screw 9 and the rear surface of the gate plate 7, thereby preventing the disk-shaped object 11 having a thickness larger than the specified thickness from being inserted.
If the gate plate 7 is moved in the direction of arrow B with respect to the main plate 6 and opened, the disk-shaped object 11 with a thickness above the specified thickness that was stopped between he distal end of the thickness screw 9 and the rear surface of the gate plate 7 will fall down as shown by arrow C and will be rejected and returned.
The reference numeral 15 in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 denotes well-known disk-shaped object outer diameter sorting means formed in the second disk-shaped object guiding path 5 for sorting the disk bodies according to the difference in the outer diameter thereof. This disk-shaped object outer diameter sorting means 15, as shown in FIG. 10, comprises a notch 7a formed in the gate plate 7 and an inclined surface 7b.


A method of decontaminating a freight container comprising the steps of: a) placing a freight container on a support; b) using an enclosure to substantially enclose the container on the support; and c) applying heat so that hot air moves within the enclosure around at least upright ends, sides and a roof of the container to kill or substantially weaken undesired life forms on or immediately adjacent to the exterior of the container.

It is known to use large freight containers to hold goods and to ship these from one country to another. On arrival at the port of destination it is desirable to decontaminate the containers in case undesirable life forms, for example microbes, insects or other pests, have ridden the container from one country to another. It is an object of a preferred form of the invention to go at some way towards providing an useful alternative to known forms of container decontamination.


A lateral electric field type liquid crystal display includes: an array substrate that includes: a plurality of signal lines and a plurality of scan lines arranged in a matrix to form pixel areas; and a common electrode formed to face pixel electrodes with interposing an insulating film; a counter substrate that faces the array substrate; and a liquid crystal material that is interposed between the array substrate and the counter substrate, wherein the liquid crystal material responds to an electric field parallel to a surface of the array substrate, and wherein in a vertical blanking period, which is a blanking period of a vertical period for sequentially applying scan signals to all of the scan lines, a common electrode potential is changed so that a potential difference between the common electrode potential and the pixel electrode potential becomes smaller than that before the vertical blanking period.

A lateral electric field type liquid crystal displays includes a pair of electrodes that is formed on the same substrate, and a liquid crystal material that responds to an electric field which is generated between the electrodes, almost in parallel to a surface of the substrate. This display has very wide viewing angles and is widely being used not only in television sets and monitors but also in displays for mobile devices.
In this kind of a lateral electric field type liquid crystal display, a liquid crystal material is oriented in parallel to a substrate surface and in the same direction. This orientation state is generally called uniaxial orientation. In the lateral electric field type liquid crystal display, in a state where the liquid crystal material is uniaxially oriented, when an electric field almost parallel to the substrate surface is applied, the orientation of the liquid crystal material is changed. As a result, display is performed. In general, a state where the liquid crystal material has responded to an electric field is referred to as white display, and a state where the liquid crystal material has not responded to an electric field is referred to as black display.
In the lateral electric field type liquid crystal display, especially, during white display, if a pressure is applied to the display surface, an orientation abnormality of the liquid crystal material occurs around the pressed position, and even after the pressure is removed, the orientation abnormality remains as a visible display defect for a long time. This display defect is called as a pressure mark. With respect to this pressure mark, there have been proposed configurations for changing the shapes of pixel electrodes, thereby suppressing occurrence of pressure marks (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2010-169994 and 2010-256547).
However, since the shapes of pixel electrodes for suppressing occurrence of pressure marks have protrusions or the like, each of which is formed at a portion between a pair of electrodes for generating an electric field almost in parallel to a substrate surface and changes the response direction of a liquid crystal material, an aperture ratio decreases and thus it is difficult to obtain sufficiently bright display.

Liquid crystal display and driving method of the same


A target unit mounted on vehicle hitch ball contains a known object target and an optical unit mounted on trailer hitch socket contains an optical sensor. A real image of known object target is projected onto image plane of optical sensor. Vehicle hitching distance and offset from optical axis, normal to image plane origin, is related to real image size and offset from image plane origin respectively. Distance and offset are displayed to driver in the form of remaining distance and relative steering commands.

Standard trailer hitches include a socket on the tongue of a trailer which connects to a ball mounted on the towing vehicle. The driver must back the vehicle until the trailer hitch socket is directly above the ball. Since the driver cannot see the ball and socket while driving, backing up correctly so that the ball and socket are in alignment is a difficult trial and error procedure.
Many devices have been postulated to assist the driver in this endeavor. Most consist of fairly simple mechanical visual aids. Others include electronic displays, transmitters and receivers, or camera based systems that indicate the relative alignment of the hitch ball and socket. A few claim to give the driver steering information. Many of these different techniques are summarized in U.S. Pat. No. 7,568,716 which describes a large number of existing patents.
Unfortunately, all prior art hitching aids have a number of limitations. Many must be permanently installed on the vehicle or trailer, many are complicated or expensive, and none give high precision steering guidance to the driver or assist in backing up a hitched trailer.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple, low cost, portable, universal, precision hitching guidance system for both hitching up a trailer and backing up a hitched trailer.

Trailer hitching and backing precision guidance system method and apparatus


The invention involves a programmable power supply device with configurable restrictions to the programmability of the power supply device, wherein the programmable power supply device comprises a number of freeze/programmability levels, each freeze/programmability defining a dedicated access restriction to the programmability of the power supply device.

For simplification of the control and the programming of power supply devices, the so called power system management bus (PMBus) standard was defined. Known bus protocols, e.g., I2C or SMBus, allow the programming of a power management device by directly writing to internal registers of the device. Users interactively configuring such devices or writing software for power supply system host controllers need a lot of proprietary information about this devices as well as a deep insight knowledge on the function of their registers. For instance, the above mentioned known power system management bus standard PMBus provides a simple command language with standardized configuration and interaction commands. Thus, the user can concentrate more on the power system management concept itself and becomes more independent from the internal device architecture.
The programmability of a power supply device is usually handled by an integrated circuit. This integrated circuit can be programmed during different stages of manufacturing or preparation. These stages of manufacturing can be, for example, at the chip manufacturer, the module manufacturer, the system manufacturer, and the end-user. During each stage certain restrictions should apply to the programmability to ensure safe operation of the power supply device on the one hand and to allow sufficient flexibility of the power supply device on the other hand. These restrictions can be different at each stage and should be defined by the previous stage.

Method and device for programmable power supply with configurable restrictions


A fluid pollution prevention system for preventing the discharge of hazardous waste from a bilge of a marine vessel, and removal of the same from the bilge. The system includes an absorber for absorbing hazardous waste from a fluid in the bilge. The system further includes a locator for locating the absorber in a predetermined orientation relative to a bilge pump to prevent the discharge of hazardous waste from the bilge. In one embodiment of the invention, the locator is an upstanding member in relation to the fluid in the bilge and includes at least one locator channel defined along at least a portion of the locator for slidable receipt of the absorber. According to this characterization, the absorber is movable along the locator channel as a function of the bilge fluid level to absorb hazardous waste from the fluid and isolate an inlet of the bilge pump from receipt of the same.

By design, substantially all potential fluid containment areas of a marine vessel, e.g., boat, jet ski, offshore drilling platform, etc. drain toward a common collecting area known as a bilge. The bilge is typically located in a lower or bottom portion of a vessel and includes a pump. The pump is referred to in the art as a bilge pump, and upon accumulation of a predetermined amount of fluid in the bilge, the bilge pump is designed to pump the collected fluid overboard of the vessel.
An automatic switch activated by a float ("float switch"), controls operation of the bilge pump. The float switch functions to start and stop the pump according to the level of fluid contained in the bilge, as indicated by the float. The switch is electrically connected to the bilge pump such that as fluid accumulates in the bilge, the float floats upward with the fluid level until the switch is triggered to initiate operation of the pump, and begin pumping the fluid overboard. Similarly, as the fluid is pumped overboard and the fluid level in the bilge falls, the float floats down with the fluid level, where it again triggers the switch to terminate operation of the pump.
Due to the location of the bilge in the bottom of a vessel, hazardous waste, such as oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, grease, fuel, transmission fluid etc., are also subject to collection in the bilge along with non-hazardous fluids such as rainwater, air conditioner condensate, and water brought onto the vessel due to swimming and/or other activities. These hazardous waste fluids, if not removed prior to operation of the bilge pump, are discharged overboard with the other fluids, thereby polluting the surrounding waterway. Additionally, under current laws, the discharge of such hazardous waste fluids into a waterway is a source of liability for owners and operators of marine vessels. Therefore, a need exists in the art for preventing the discharge, as well as removal of, hazardous fluids from marine vessels.

Water pollution prevention and remediation apparatus


A selectable one-way clutch assembly (SOWC) includes a first race, a second race, a plurality of rockers, and a selector ring. The first race and the second race each surround the first axis. Each of the rockers selectively hold torque in a rotational direction to establish a clutch operating mode. The selector ring defines a plurality of windows and is configured to rotates about the first axis to align at least one of the windows to establish one of the plurality of different clutch operating modes. The SOWC is engaged by rotating the selector ring about the first axis to align at least one of windows in a predetermined manner. Alignment allows at least one of the rockers to engage the second race in a radial direction to hold torque in at least one rotational direction.

In various mechanical devices, and particularly within automatic vehicle transmissions, specialized overrunning or one-way clutching devices are used to produce a one-way driving connection between the respective input and output clutch races. Specifically, a one-way clutch is capable of transmitting torque when the rotation of one race with respect to the other race is in one direction, with the clutch "overrunning" or freewheeling when the rotational direction is reversed.
The relative shape and orientation of the input and output races may vary depending on clutch design. Certain one-way clutches have input and output races that are oriented in a radially concentric manner with respect to each other. Alternately, the confronting or mating faces of the input and output races have a planar orientation or relationship. A mechanism that is used to lock a typical one-way clutch is varied, but may include one or more torque-transmitting elements such as rollers, sprags, rockers, or struts that are positioned between the input and output races. Depending on the particular type or style of the one-way clutch and the direction of rotation, each race may contain unique surface features suitable for engaging one or more of these torque transmitting elements in order to selectively enable various clutch operating modes.
The operating modes of a basic one-way clutch are a "locked" mode in one rotational direction, and a "freewheel" mode in the opposite rotational direction. In a basic one-way clutch, the operating mode is determined by the direction of torque being applied to the input race.

Selectable one-way clutch with radial integrated forward/reverse rockers


A film pressure plate is provided with a magnetic head which records magnetic information in a magnetic recording section at lower edge of photographic film. A saddle-shaped pad is arranged at the front of a rail plate in such a manner as to face the magnetic head. There is provided a leaf spring for pushing the pad from an opening formed in the rail plate in a direction for the pad to advance onto a film feed path such that a longitudinal direction of the leaf spring corresponds to the film feed direction. A fixed end of the leaf spring is fixed at the upstream of a direction in which the film is fed when the magnetic data are recorded. Thereby, the pad can stably contact with the face of the film while the film is being fed, and the magnetic recording section on the film can come into contact with the magnetic head in a stable manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a magnetic recording device and a camera with the magnetic recording device, and more particularly to a magnetic recording device which magnetically records data, such as photographing information, on a magnetic recording layer coated on the whole surface or one part of the surface of photographic film, and a camera with the magnetic recording device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A camera is proposed which uses photographic film coated with a magnetic recording layer, and writes data such as date and time of photographing and photographic information by means of a magnetic head or reads out the information from the magnetic recording layer while the photographic film is fed during photographing (Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 3-200131, 4-1622, 4-178648, etc.)
Such a camera is usually constructed in such a manner that the magnetic head is fixed to a film pressure plate or a back lid of the camera, and a pad is arranged to place the magnetic head across the film so that the film can come into contact with the magnetic head. The pad is pushed toward the face of the film to press a magnetic recording area (a magnetic recording section) on the film against the magnetic head.
The pad is usually provided at the side of a film feed path because the magnetic recording layer is formed at the edge of the film, and the like. The pad is guided toward the magnetic head, and it is pushed toward the magnetic head by a coil spring, etc.
However, in view of the limited space in the camera, it is difficult to secure a space for the coil spring. Moreover, as the film is transported, the pad on the face of the film inclines in a film transport direction, and the pad cannot steadily press the film.
If the pad is displaced or the force for pressing the film becomes unbalanced as stated above, the magnetic head cannot correctly read or write the magnetic information.

Magnetic recording device and camera with magnetic recording device