In a solid-state image pickup device including a light receiving sensor portion in a surface layer portion of a substrate, an in-layer lens disposed above the light receiving sensor portion, a color filter disposed on the in-layer lens, and an interlayer film disposed below the in-layer lens, an antireflection film is formed between the in-layer lens and the color filter, the antireflection film being formed of material having a refractive index which is an intermediate value between the refractive index of the in-layer lens and the refractive index of the color filter. Further, another antireflection film is formed between the in-layer lens and the interlayer film, the other antireflection film being formed of material having a refractive index which is an intermediate value between the refractive index of the in-layer lens and the refractive index of the interlayer film.

The present invention relates to a solid-state image pickup device which can increase light-gathering efficiency to a light receiving sensor unit to enhance the sensitivity characteristic thereof.
Recently, solid-state, image pickup devices have made further progress in a compact design and a high-density design of pixels, and this progress in the microstructure design has caused reduction in the light receiving area in which light is received, thereby inducing degradation of characteristics such as reduction in sensitivity, etc. As a countermeasure to the reduction in sensitivity, it has been proposed and practically used to provide an on-chip lens or an in-layer lens to enhance the light gathering efficiency at the light receiving sensor unit.
However, a solid-state image pickup device in which an in-layer lens is formed of material having high refractive index has the following problem.
In the case where the in-layer lens is formed of P—SiN having a refractive index of about 2.0 (silicon nitride based on the plasma CVD method), since a color filter layer formed on the in-layer lens usually has a refractive index of about 1.6, there is large difference in refractive index between the in-layer lens and the color filter layer, and thus reflection occurs at the interface between the in-layer lens and the color filter layer, so that the sensitivity characteristic is reduced. The reflection due to the difference in refractive index is inherently introduced from the wave equation.
An interlayer film which is subjected to a reflow treatment, etc. is formed under the in-layer lens, and BPSG (boron phosphorus silicate glass) having a refractive index of 1.45 or the like is normally used as the interlayer film because it is subjected to the reflow treatment, etc. Accordingly, as in the case of the refractive index difference between the in-layer lens and the color filter layer, the large difference in refractive index occurs between the in-layer lens and the interlay film and reflection also occurs at the interface therebetween, so that the sensitivity characteristic is reduced.

Method of making solid-state image pickup device in-layer lens with antireflection film with intermediate index of refraction


The invention refers to a greenhouse screen comprising strips of film material that are interconnected by a yarn framework of transverse threads and longitudinal threads to form a continuous product, wherein the yarn framework is thermally bonded to at least one side of the strips of film material, wherein also those parts of the yarn framework that is thermally bonded to the strips have liquid-transporting capacity by capillary action. The amount of yarn in the yarn framework interconnecting and holding the strips can herewith be reduced.

Greenhouse screens are used frequently for energy saving, shading and temperature control. One known type of greenhouse screens comprises a plurality of flexible strips of film material extending in parallel to each other, and which by means of a knitting, warp-knitting or weaving process are interconnected by a yarn framework to form a continuous product, wherein the strips form a major part of the surface area of the product. Such a greenhouse screen is known for example through EP 0 109 951. Other examples of screens of this type are shown in FR 2 071 064, EP 1 342 824, WO 2008/091192 and in WO 2011/096882.
The strips of flexible film material can be of selected materials providing desired properties with respect to reflection and light, moisture and heat transmission.
DE 20 2008 004 181 U1 discloses a two-layer greenhouse screen comprising a standard greenhouse screen as bottom layer and on top of this layer reflective strips that are glued to the screen at certain intervals. This creates a screen which is less drapable. Water transportation through capillary action is prevented in the areas of the yarn framework located between the bottom and top layer strips. Water may be trapped in those areas of the yarn increasing the risk for algae growth. The double-layer structure further has the disadvantage of creating a big bundle when the screen is in rested position.
US 2004/198126 refers to a light-shading sheet for agricultural and horticultural use comprising a light-shading white film and a reinforcement made of textile fabric or a nonwoven fabric. The reinforcement is laminated to the backside of the film. The film may be slitted to from strips that are laminated spaced apart to the reinforcement. The lamination technique used is adhesive or "sandwich lamination", wherein the latter is defined as a technique of laminating the textile or nonwoven fabric and the white film via an adhesive layer made of lamination resin disposed between the layers.
JP 10327684 A discloses a shading net capable of reflecting strong solar heat and suitable for agriculture, horticulture etc, The shading net comprises tape-shaped yarns of nonwoven fabric, e g of continuous glass fiber filaments, thermally fused to the surface of a net base fabric. The yarns of the net base fabric may be formed by slitting and stretch-orienting a film.
JP 2004154078 A discloses a greenhouse formed by laminating a thermoplastic film on one or both surfaces of a clothlike material. The clothlike material consists of thermoplastic resin wire elements.
JP 2004160812 A discloses a moisture permeable sheet having water barrier properties and used as an agricultural cover material. The sheet comprises a moisture permeable film laminated on a cloth-like material and a porous sheet.
The aim of protected cultivation in greenhouses is to modify the natural environment to increase yield, to improve product quality, to conserve resources, to extend production areas and crop cycles among others. However, the current trend in horticulture is to be more energy efficient by minimizing energy use in all stages while maximizing production yield. This means that the growers tend to insulate the greenhouse as much as possible during the cold winter months to decrease the amount of energy used to heat the greenhouse, but without negatively affecting the production or quality of the crop. The insulation is normally achieved by using one to several layers of greenhouse screens. To maximize energy savings, the top layer of the upper-most screen should have low emissivity, i.e. low ability to emit energy by radiation. This is normally achieved by using aluminum laminate strips knitted into the structure. However, today's state of the art screens also often have part of the yarn framework covering the top layer aluminum, decreasing the energy saving since the yarns are made of plastic materials with high emissivity. Hence, it would be advantageous to have a screen in which the amount of yarn, especially amount of yarn facing upward, is minimized, thereby minimizing the radiation losses.
The lower-most screen in a multilayer installation is usually a transparent screen. For many crops, the rule of thumb is, 1% less light equals 1% less production. This means that light transmission losses in such a screen should be minimized to increase production when the screen is used during daytime. This can be achieved by choosing materials which maximize the light transmission of the screen. The yarn framework usually prevents a significant amount of light from being transmitted through the screen. Hence, a significant improvement of today's state of the art screen is possible if the amount of yarn used to construct the screen could be decreased without losing out on other important properties of the screen such as robustness, water transmission etc.
The water vapor transmission is a very important property of the screen since this is a significant factor controlling the humidity level in the greenhouse. The water vapor transmission is mainly controlled by the width of the strips and the type of yarn used. The yarn should therefore have liquid-transporting capacity by capillary action, in order to be able to absorb and distribute condense water along the screen. Normally, the strip should completely fill the voids between the pillar stitches to maximize the energy saving properties of the screen. In some cases, it is an advantage to have a screen that can transmit more water vapor, for example avoiding having to open the screen ("gapping") to lower the humidity level in the greenhouse. This could be achieved by using a narrower strip. However, in the state of the art screen of today it is not possible to make the strip narrower since this may cause problems with strips being pulled out of the structure of the screen by wind etc. when the strip is no longer in contact with the yarn that will hold the strip in place by friction forces.
The bundle size is an important feature of the screen. A big bundle of a single screen can cause losses of ˜3% of natural light, hence to maximize production the screen bundle size should be minimized. The bundle size is controlled by the thickness of the film, and the yarn framework that is used.
The robustness of the screen is another important feature. The installation of the screen in the greenhouse is often made by unskilled labor. Hence it is vital to make a screen that can withstand rough handling during installation and use without compromising the excellent properties needed to achieve the right climate for the plant, such as high light transmission, high reflection, low emission, air tightness etc.


A two-way retrievable packer plug is installed in the production bore of a flow conductor by straight insertion, and is retrieved by a one trip straight pull operation. The plug assembly includes a core mandrel which is enclosed within a tubular latch mandrel on which an annular seal assembly is mounted for sealing engagement against the production bore of a flow conductor. A latch key is yieldably biased by a coil spring for interlocking engagement with a latch retainer lug carried on a landing receptacle attached to the flow conductor. The latch key is moveable from a radially extended position in which it is engageable against the latch retainer lug so that the latch key is blocked against axial displacement relative to the landing receptacle as the plug mandrel is inserted into or withdrawn out of the flow conductor. The latch key is moveable to a radially retracted position in which it is released from blocking engagement with the latch retainer lug to permit passage of the latch key relative to the lug as the core mandrel is fully inserted within or fully retracted from the flow conductor. The latch key is supported in the radially extended position by raised shoulder portions of the core mandrel. The core mandrel is intersected by an equalizing passage which is open during run-in and insertion. The equalizing passage is sealed automatically by a slideable isolation sleeve as the running tool is separated from the plug, and is opened automatically during retrieval of the plug.

In the completion of oil and gas wells, it is customary to install a production packer between the production tubing and the well casing for the purpose of sealing off the high pressures of the producing formation to prevent those high fluid pressures from acting against the casing connections at the well head, and to prevent the application of such high fluid pressures to the long string of casing in place in the well bore, thereby reducing the likelihood of leaks occurring through such casing. It may become necessary from time to time to plug the production packer and temporarily suspend production to permit a service operation to be carried out, such as stimulation, or to permit venting of the casing pressure to the atmosphere so that the well head or a portion of the well tubing may be removed, or so that pressure applied above the plug may be used to test the casing, set the packer, or test the packer. Occasionally, it may be desirable to shut-in the well because of depletion or inadequate production from the formation, or because too much water is being produced from the formation.
It may be desirable to seal the well below the production packer, for example, when production is to be initiated from a higher formation interval. It is common practice to isolate the higher formation interval being completed with respect to the lower formation interval while completion is being carried out. Generally, this isolation is obtained by setting a production packer between the two intervals and temporarily plugging the packer mandrel bore with a packer plug. The packer plug is run into the well on a running tool and inserted into an upwardly facing landing receptacle or receiving head, thereby blocking flow communication through the packer mandrel. After the plug is latched into sealing engagement with the packer, the running tool is released and retrieved to the surface, leaving the plug so that it will seal the packer bore from pressure differentials, either above or below. Then the casing above the sealed packer is perforated by perforating guns, so that formation fluid can be produced from the upper formation interval.
Once the service operation is finished at the upper level, the packer plug is retrieved and the lower end of a string of production tubing is then coupled into the landing receptacle to reestablish flow communication from the lower formation interval to the surface. In a completion involving two production zones a dual bore packer is set in the well bore above the upper production interval, and formation fluid is produced from the two formation intervals through dual production tubing strings. If the lower formation interval is unproductive, the sealing plug is retained in the lower packer, and only the upper formation interval is produced.

Non-rotatable, straight pull shearable packer plug


A position sensor having two magnetically sensitive devices associated with a magnet. The sensor is disposable proximate a rotatable member having at least one discontinuity in its surface. The two magnetically sensitive devices, such as Hall effect transducers, each provide output signals that represent the direction and magnitude of the magnetic field in which its respective transducer is disposed. An algebraic sum of the first and second output signals from the magnetically sensitive devices is provided as an indication of the location of the rotatable member that is disposed proximate the sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices which sense the position of a rotatable member and, more particularly, to a rotary position sensor that is suitable for use as a geartooth sensor or a slot sensor and which can provide information related to the speed or angular position of a rotatable member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many different types of sensors have been developed over the years to determine the angular position of a rotatable member. For example, sensors are very well known in the prior art for determining the rotational speed and direction of a gear having a plurality of teeth. In addition, sensors have been developed for determining the rate of rotation of a shaft, such as a camshaft, which is provided with a single discontinuity, or notch, in the outer periphery of the shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,363, which issued to Carr et al on May 17, 1988, discloses a geartooth sensor which utilizes a Hall cell. It is intended for use in sensing gearteeth or similarly shaped discontinuities in a ferrous magnetic or magnetic target. It utilizes a single magnet and a direct coupled Hall cell integrated circuit to detect the presence or absence of gearteeth. It comprises spaced apart offset flux concentrators to provide a sensitive device with favorable tolerances in temperature and air gap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,122, which issued to Schroeder et al on May 15, 1990, describes a high sensitivity magnetic circuit in which the stationary portion includes a permanent magnet whose width is optimally 1.5 times the tooth pitch of the exciter portion of the sensor and the magnet face proximate the exciter includes a thin layer of ferromagnetic material over which is centered a narrow magnetic sensing element, such as a magnetoresistor. The sensing element has a width typically less than the tooth width which is between 0.17 and 0.37 times the tooth pitch. The needed magnetic flux density is typically available simply by appropriate magnet thickness or choice of magnet material without the need of a flux guide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,332, which issued to Luebbering et al on Nov. 20, 1990, discloses an apparatus for determining the speed, angular position and direction of rotation of a rotatable shaft. The apparatus is intended for use on an electronically controlled fuel injection system. It uses a single Hall effect sensor. A disk element is fixedly connected to and rotatable with the cam shaft of an internal combustion engine. The disc element includes a plurality of circumfrential zones of substantially identical length with each zone having first and second areas. A first portion of these circumfrential zones has first and second areas which are substantially different in length than the first and second areas of a second portion of the circumfrential zones. Therefore, the sensor delivers a signal which has a frequency directly related to the instantaneous velocity of the disc element, but varies in pulse width in response to the first and second portions of the circumfrential zones.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,632, which issued to Nagano et al on Aug. 1, 1989, describes an apparatus for magnetically detecting a position of a moveable magnetic body. It includes a three terminal magnetic field intensity sensing structure formed by a pair of magnetic resistors. The magnetic field intensity sensing structure is disposed opposite to a magnetic body arranged for movement relative thereto in a magnetic field and generates a first electrical signal of sinusoidal waveform in response to a change in the intensity of the magnetic field due to the relative movement of the magnetic body. This first electrical signal appears from the apparatus as a second electrical signal of rectangular waveform or a sinusoidal waveform having an amplified amplitude. Components of the circuit for shaping the waveform or amplifying the amplitude of the first electrical signal are integrally mounted together with the magnetic resistors on a substrate. Preferably, the shaping or amplifying circuit is in the form of a hybrid integrated circuit formed on the substrate.
Position sensors of the type described above typically exhibit several disadvantages when used in certain applications. For example, it is often difficult to accurately detect the speed of a rotatable member if only a single discontinuity is available in the surface of the member. In addition, upon initial start up of the system incorporating a position sensor, it is often difficult to precisely determine the position of the sensor relative to the rotatable member without first rotating the rotatable member.

Geartooth position sensor with two hall effect elements


Due to the large up front cost in fielding a full capacity satellite constellation (100), it is desirable to have the ability to modify the constellation after deployment to add more capacity in a fashion that does not interrupt service, in order to satisfy a variable or growing market demand. In a satellite constellation including a plurality of orbital planes, each of the orbital planes precesses at a known rate. This invention employs deliberate dynamic manipulation of the orbital precession rates for different satellite planes to increase the separation distance between two adjacent planes. A new plane is then inserted between the two adjacent planes to increase the number of planes and increase the capacity. By continuing a gradual variation, a new orbital plane can be added periodically, e.g. once a year, and the variation can be stopped when no additional orbital planes are desired.

This invention relates to a method for satellite constellation growth and more specifically to a method for adding capacity to a satellite communications network over time.
At the present time, communications networks are being formed using space vehicles, or satellites. Several different types of networks using different types of satellites can be provided. For example, geo-synchronous satellites are used in many instances to provide fixed signals (e.g. television, telephone etc.) between fixed points.
An example of a more fluid system is one in which low flying satellites are provided in orbits that cooperate to form a constellation. Generally, more than one satellite is provided in the same orbit but spaced from the other satellites in the orbit to provide continuous coverage of the surface of the earth. The orbit defines a plane that may be, for example, a polar plane (or orbit) and a constellation is generally formed by a plurality of planes.
Due to the large up-front financial and time investment involved in fielding a satellite constellation, these systems or networks often do not reach peak capacity for a number of years after the initial start up. Once peak communications capacity is achieved, most constellation designs have no fundamental provision to add capacity, except for wholesale replacement of satellites with those having increased functionality. In many instances, it would be desirable to be able to incrementally modify the constellation after initial deployment to add more capacity in a fashion that does not interrupt service.
Accordingly, it is highly desirable to provide a method to grow a satellite constellation in an incremental fashion and without interruption in service.

Technique for satellite constellation growth


A novel approach for chemical imaging is disclosed. In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a system for producing a spatially accurate wavelength-resolved image of a sample from photons scattered from the sample, comprising an optical lens; a first optical fiber bundle of M fibers; a second optical fiber bundle of N fibers; an optical fiber switch; and a charge coupled device, wherein the image comprises plural sub-images, and wherein each sub-image is formed from photons scattered from a predetermined two spatial dimension portion of the sample, and wherein the scattered photons forming each sub-image have a predetermined wavelength different from a predetermined wavelength of scattered photons forming the other sub-images, and wherein the scattered photons for each sub-image are collected substantially simultaneously.

Chemical imaging has a powerful capability for material characterization, process monitoring, quality control and disease-state determination. Chemical imaging combines chemical analysis with high-resolution optical imaging including optical spectroscopy, Raman imaging as well as fluorescent and IR techniques.
Raman effect is a phenomenon in which a specimen scatters incident light of a given frequency into a spectrum which has lines caused by interaction of the incident light with the molecules making up the specimen. Different molecular species have different characteristic Raman spectra. Consequently, the Raman effect can be used to analyze the molecular species present in the sample. Raman chemical imaging provides molecular-specific image contrast without the use of strains or dies. Raman image contrast arises from a material's intrinsic vibrational spectroscopic signature which is highly sensitive to the composition and structure of the sample as well as its local environment. As a result, Raman imaging can be performed with little or no sample preparation and is widely applicable for material research, failure analysis, process monitoring and clinical diagnosis.
In early Raman analysis, monochromatic light was used as the excitation source and the scattered light from a sample was passed through a monochromator equipped with diffraction grating in order to select a particular line of the resulting Raman spectrum. U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,192 (incorporated herein in its entirety for background information) discloses a Raman analysis apparatus in which the monochromator with diffraction grating is replaced by an imaging camera with a tunable non-dispersive filter, such as a multi-layer dielectric interference filter. Wavelength tuning offered by the filter is fulfilled by rotating it through various small angles of incidence about an axis perpendicular to the optical axis. Because the wavelength selection is a function of the beam's incident angle, there are at least two inherent disadvantages to using a tunable filter. First, interference filters have a small free spectral range. Second, since the imaging beams emanating from a 2D field of view ("FOV") are not parallel to each other, they do not have the same incident angles and the actual tuned wavelengths at a selected angular position may cover a broad bandpass.
The historical trend in Raman imaging demonstrate that employing means to simultaneously record spatial and Raman spectral information are preferred. As in modern imaging systems, a charge-coupled device ("CCD") is used to record two dimensions of the three-dimensional information inherent in a Raman image data set. Raman imaging systems can be differentiated by the means they employ to collect the third dimension of information. Conventional Raman imaging systems include dispersive monochromator coupled to CCD's that rely on either 2D point scanning or 1D line scanning as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,048,959 and 6,069,690.
Compared to conventional non-imaging systems, a Raman imaging system based on a tunable filter enables visualizing the distribution (morphology and architecture) of chemical species in heterogeneous samples with molecular compositional specificity. Raman images can be collected non-invasively with limited or no sample preparation at high spatial resolution and with high fidelity where the spatial fidelity is limited by the number of pixels of the CCD detector. Most importantly, every image pixel has associated with it a Raman spectrum whose quality is comparable to that obtained with conventional non-imaging spectrometers. Chemical imaging simultaneously provides image information on the size, shape and distribution (the image morphology) of molecular chemical species present with the sample.
In order to acquire 3D data sets in Raman imaging systems, the two dimensions of the image are recorded directly by a CCD camera while the multispectral information is acquired by capturing images at discrete wavelengths selected by the tunable filter. For this purpose, many techniques suitable for tunable filters have been investigated, among which, two types of tunable filters stand out.
The first type, acousto-optic tunable filters ("AOTFs"), is generally described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,377,003, 5,528,368 and RE 36,529. An AOTF Raman imaging system can provide high throughput and broad spectral coverage but it has distinct limitations. For example, such filters suffer from broad spectral bandpass which considerably degrades imaging performance from the diffraction-limited conditions. In effect, AOTFs provide spectral resolution that is an order of magnitude worse than that of a typical Raman spectrometer. Spatial resolution is approximately 2.5 times worse for AOTFs than the diffraction limit.
The second type is the liquid crystal tunable filter ("LCTF") which is considered a better alternative to the AOTF. In general, LCTF is an electro-optically controllable spectral bandpass filter which can function from the visible region to the near IR with a continuously tunable wavelength. In an imaging system an LCTF is free of image shift with tuning. A nematic LCTF based on the design of the Lyot birefringent filter has been used in a Raman imaging system, as well as Evans Split-Element type LCTF, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,476. LTCFs have noticeable drawbacks. For example, LCTFs have a low peak transmittance. In addition, LCTFs are susceptible to thermally-induced drift in their spectral bandpass. In theory, the LCTF is free of optical distortions and spectral leakage; but in reality these defects always exist. Finally, LCTF systems are costly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for microlens array/fiber optic imaging


A capacitance detection apparatus includes a detection electrode for detecting approach of an object on the basis of a change of capacitance, a calculating circuit for calculating a value associated with the capacitance change, a judging circuit for judging whether the calculated value is a normal or initial value calculated after or before a predetermined period of time lapse from a start time of the capacitance detection apparatus, an initial reference value-determining circuit for determining an initial reference value, a difference calculating circuit for calculating a difference between the normal value and a value calculated earlier than a time when the normal value is calculated by the predetermined period of time or longer or between the initial value and the initial reference value, and a determining circuit for determining whether the object is approaching by comparing the difference with a predetermined threshold value.

A capacitance detection apparatus for detecting approach of an object such as a human body on the basis of a change of capacitance is conventionally known. In these years, such capacitance detection apparatus is utilized in a system for controlling open/close of a boarding door of a vehicle. In such system, the capacitance detection apparatus is utilized for detecting a trigger of an unlock operation. Specifically, when a user approaches a vehicle, correspondence between identification (ID) code of a vehicle side and that of a mobile apparatus of the user is checked, and the mode of the vehicle transfers into an unlock permission mode. Then, when the user touches an unlock sensor (electrode) provided in an outside door handle of the vehicle at this time, the vehicle side detects a change of capacitance of the unlock sensor electrode and performs an unlock operation. In other words, the capacitance detection apparatus detects an intention of the user to unlock the door utilizing an output from the unlock sensor (change of capacitance) (for example, as described in JP2005-134178A).
In such capacitance detection apparatus, in order to judge, on the basis of the detected change of capacitance, whether an object to be detected approaches in actual or not, it needs to be considered whether a difference between values associated with the change of capacitance, currently detected and detected in the past, is equal to or more, or equal to or less, than the threshold value. In other words, because an approaching object induces characteristic profiles in records of the capacitance change, judging an approach of an object without correctly detecting the characteristic profiles tends to lead to an operational error. Accordingly, in order for reliably judging whether a currently detected change of a value associated with the capacitance change is caused by an approach of an object to be detected, a value associated with the past capacitance change needs to be referred.
Generally, for detecting an approach of a human body, a value associated with the capacitance change recorded earlier, by approximately 250 millisecond, than the profile of the capacitance change caused by the approach of the human body needs to be referred. This causes a difficulty for detecting a human body by the capacitance detection apparatus before 250 millisecond lapses from a start time of the capacitance detection apparatus.
However, in general cases in which the capacitance detection apparatus is utilized for unlocking the vehicle as described above, the capacitance detection apparatus is not always in operation. The capacitance detection apparatus starts operation after correspondence between an ID code of a vehicle and that of a user is checked and the ID of the user is identified. Accordingly, before 250 millisecond lapses from when the user is identified, a human body cannot be detected. Therefore, the user cannot unlock the door until 250 millisecond lapses after the capacitance detection apparatus starts operation, even when the user wants to unlock the vehicle earlier. Accordingly, in a case where this kind of the capacitance detection apparatus is applied to unlock of the vehicle, improvement in response has been desired.
A need thus exists for a capacitance detection apparatus, which has improved response for detecting approach of an object at an initial stage after the capacitance detection apparatus starts operation. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and provides such a capacitance detection apparatus.


A positive electrode includes a positive electrode active material layer including a positive electrode active material, a conductive material, and a binder, wherein the positive electrode active material contains any one among Li(Nix1Mny1Coz1)O2 (0.55<x1<0.69, 0.15<y1<0.29, 0.15<z1<0.29, x1+y1+z1=1) and Li(Nix2Mny2Coz2)O2 (0.75<x2<0.89, 0.05<y2<0.19, 0.05<z2<0.19, x2+y2+z2=1) and the conductive material contains a carbon nanotube, and when the positive electrode active material is Li(Nix2Mny2Coz2)O2, the positive electrode active material layer satisfies Relation 1 and when the positive electrode active material is Li(Nix2Mny2Coz2)O2, the positive electrode active material layer satisfies Relation 2:0.0020×a<b<0.0050×a  [Relation 1]0.0015×a<b<0.0044×a  [Relation 2]                wherein a is a loading amount (mg/25 cm2) of the positive electrode and b is a total content (wt %) of the remaining components excluding the positive active material in the positive electrode material.

In recent years, with the development of technology and demand for mobile devices, demand for a battery as an energy source has been rapidly increased, and accordingly, various studies on a battery have been conducted to meet various demands. Particularly, a study for a lithium secondary battery having a high energy density and excellent life-time and cycle characteristics as a power source of such devices has been actively conducted.
The lithium secondary battery means a battery in which an electrode assembly, which includes: a positive electrode containing a positive electrode active material capable of intercalating/deintercalating lithium ions; a negative electrode containing a negative electrode active material capable of intercalating/deintercalating lithium ions; a micro-porous separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and a non-aqueous electrolyte containing lithium ions, is included.
The positive electrode and/or the negative electrode may include a conductive material to improve conductivity. Conventionally, a dot-type conductive material such as carbon black has been mainly used, but when a content of the conductive material is increased to improve the conductivity, an amount of the positive electrode active material or the negative electrode active material is relatively decreased, and accordingly, output and durability of the battery are deteriorated, thereby deteriorating the life-time characteristics. Particularly, in a case of the positive electrode, the positive electrode active material itself has a level of low conductivity, and thus the above-described problems are exhibited much seriously.
To solve the problems, a method for using a linear conductive material such as a carbon nanotube has been introduced. Since the carbon nanotube has a relatively longer length than the particle-type conductive material, the conductivity may be improved even with a smaller content than the dot-type conductive material. Accordingly, the amount of the active material may be increased.
Meanwhile, the positive electrode of the secondary battery requires a high energy density, and the positive electrode may include a positive electrode active material capable of manufacturing a battery having high capacity such as Li(Ni0.6Mn0.2Co0.2)O2 and Li(Ni0.8Mn0.1Co0.1)O2. However, when adhesion between the positive electrode active material layer and a current collector (positive electrode adhesion), and mobility of the lithium ions are not ensured in the positive electrode including the carbon nanotube and a binder in addition to the positive electrode active materials, there are problems that the life-time characteristics at high temperature and output characteristics in an environment requiring high output are deteriorated.
Accordingly, there has been a demand for a positive electrode capable of improving life-time characteristics at high temperature and high output characteristics, and including the positive electrode active materials, the carbon nanotube, and the binder.

Positive electrode and secondary battery including same


Provided herein are methods for identifying the presence or absence of a target nucleic acid from a microorganism using direct amplification without a step of extraction of the nucleic acids, but retaining substantially the same specificity and sensitivity of methods assaying extracted nucleic acids.

The following discussion of the background of the invention is merely provided to aid the reader in understanding the invention and is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art to the present invention.
Clinical detection of viruses is usually accomplished using any one of a variety of methods. For example, virus particles or nucleic acids may be isolated from a biological sample (e.g., nasopharyngeal aspirates, throat swabs, blood fluids, fecal material, etc.). A retrospective diagnosis may be made by serology. Complement Fixation Tests (CFT) are most widely used in this method, although hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) and enzyme immunoassays (EIA) may be used to give a type-specific diagnosis. For more rapid diagnosis, either antigen detection or RNA detection may be performed. Antigen detection may be done by IFT or EIA, however, to achieve the highest level of sensitivity and specificity, RNA detection by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is used. However, the latter is expensive and technically demanding.
Similarly, bacterial detection may be accomplished using a variety of methods, including gram staining, culture, microarray, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or real-time PCR. Unlike detection of viruses such as Influenza, which has a genome composed of RNA and therefore requires a transcription step to create target cDNA for use in traditional or real-time PCR, bacterial detection can be accomplished using a standard PCR protocol. Even without the additional RT step, however, PCR or real-time PCR are, as described below, time-consuming and expensive diagnostic methods.
RT-PCR is a laboratory technique used to amplify and quantify a targeted nucleic acid. The procedure follows the general principle of polymerase chain reaction, although in RT-PCR an RNA strand is first reverse transcribed into its DNA complement (cDNA) using the enzyme reverse transcriptase, and the resulting cDNA is amplified using traditional PCR or real-time PCR. The reverse transcription (RT) step can be performed either in the same tube with PCR (one-step PCR) or in a separate one (two-step PCR) using a temperature between about 40° C. and 50° C., depending on the properties of the reverse transcriptase used. The dsDNA is then denaturized at about 95° C., so that the two strands separate and the primers can bind again at lower temperatures and begin a new amplification reaction. DNA extension from the primers takes place using a thermostable Taq DNA polymerase, usually at about 72° C. Real-time RT-PCR provides a method in which the amplicons can be visualized as the amplification progresses using a fluorescent reporter molecule.
Given the high degree of complexity associated with the preparing and processing viral and bacterial nucleic acids from biological samples for detection, diagnosis, and/or quantitation, in cases where rapid diagnosis is sought, there is a need for methods involving fewer steps, fewer technological requirements, and shorter durations.

Direct amplification and detection of viral and bacterial pathogens

QUEST DIAGNOSTICS INVESTMENTS INCORPORATED


A system for and method of detecting and characterizing materials using entangled photons is presented. The material may be at a great distances from the detector and may be biological material, complex organic compounds, or inorganic chemicals. The disclosed system and method provide advantages over traditional techniques in that they are largely impervious to atmospheric reduction of probing radiation and in that less probing radiation is required. The reduced probe energy requirement allows for detecting and characterizing sensitive material with significantly reduced material bleaching compared with traditional techniques.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to ascertaining properties of a material using entangled photons. In particular, the invention relates to directing entangled photons to a material, possibly located at a distance from the source of entangled photons, in order to ascertain properties of the material by detecting evidence of entangled photon absorption by the material.
2. Discussion of Background Information
Photons are quanta of electromagnetic energy. Multiple photons may be entangled or not entangled. Photons that are not entangled together (i.e., random photons) exist as independent entities. In contrast, entangled photons have a connection between their respective properties.
Two photons entangled together are referred to as an entangled-photon pair (also, "biphotons"). Traditionally, photons comprising an entangled-photon pair are called "signal" and "idler" photons. Measuring properties of one photon of an entangled-photon pair determines results of measurements of corresponding properties of the other photon, even if the two entangled photons are separated by a distance. As understood by those of ordinary skill in the art and by way of non-limiting example, the quantum mechanical state of an entangled-photon pair cannot be factored into a product of two individual quantum states.
In general, more than two photons may be entangled together. More than two photons entangled together are referred to as "multiply-entangled" photons. Measuring properties of one or more photons in a set of multiply-entangled photons restricts properties of the rest of the photons in the set by constraining measurement outcomes. As understood by those of ordinary skill in the art and by way of non-limiting example, the quantum mechanical state of a set of n>2 multiply-entangled photons cannot be factored into a product of n separate states. The term "entangled photons" refers to both biphotons and multiply-entangled photons.
General techniques for ascertaining spectroscopic properties of materials are known. Such techniques typically rely on directing non-entangled (random) photons at a material, which absorbs the photons and emits fluorescence. In general, these techniques rely on varying the frequency of the non-entangled photons. By comparing incident photon energy with the energy of resulting fluorophotons, the absorbing material may be crudely characterized.

Entangled photon spectroscopy for stand-off detection and characterization

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Inc.


An apparatus and method to be used with a gamma camera for identifying and compensating for photomultiplier tube gain drift wherein a photon source is used during a customer quality control flood procedure to direct photons toward the camera and wherein the source is known to generate approximately identical numbers of photons at energies within an acquisition range of energy levels, the acquisition range having a mid-value at energy level Z, the camera is used to generate an upper image using photons having energies above level Z and within the acquisition range and to generate a lower image using photons having energies below level Z and within the acquisition range, the upper and lower images are used to identify PMTs with incorrect gain, identify gain error and then compensate for the error.

The present invention relates to gamma cameras and more particularly to a method and apparatus for identifying gamma camera photo multiplier tube gain errors and compensating for those errors.
Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) examinations are carried out by injecting a dilution marker comprising a compound labeled with a radiopharmaceutical into the body of a patient to be examined. A radiopharmaceutical is a substance that emits photons within a known range of energy levels about a principal energy level. For the purposes of this explanation the principal energy level will be referred to herein as level Z. By choosing a compound that will accumulate in an organ to be imaged, compound concentration, and hence radiopharmaceutical concentration, can be substantially limited to an organ of interest.
While moving through a patient's blood stream the marker, including the radiopharmaceutical, becomes concentrated in the organ to be imaged. By detecting the number of photons having energies that approximate primary energy level Z (e.g. are within plus or minus 10% of level Z) which the organ emits, organ characteristics, including irregularities, can be identified.
To identify photons having energy levels at approximate level Z, a planar gamma camera is used. A gamma camera consists of a collimator, a scintillation crystal and a plurality of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). A stand supports the detector in a single position with respect to a patient. The collimator typically includes a lead block with tiny holes therethrough which define preferred photon paths. The preferred paths are usually unidirectional and perpendicular to the length of the collimator. The collimator blocks emissions toward the crystal along non-preferred paths.
The scintillation crystal is positioned adjacent the collimator on a side opposite the patient and within a prescribed field of view. The crystal absorbs photons that pass through the collimator on a front surface and emits light from a back surface each time a photon is absorbed. The amount of light emitted from the back surface is proportional to the impacting photon's energy level. For the purposes of this explanation, a photon absorbed by a crystal and emitting light will generally be referred to as an event or a light emitting event and the point of photon impact on the crystal will be referred to as an impact point.
The PMTs are positioned adjacent the crystal and on a side of the crystal opposite the collimator. The portion of each PMT facing the crystal includes a surface area A and will be referred to herein as the PMT face. Light emitted by the crystal passes through the PMT faces and is detected by the PMTs which generate analog intensity signals. When a single photon is absorbed by the crystal, the emitted light is typically absorbed by several different PMTs such that several PMTs generate intensity signals simultaneously, each intensity signal proportional to the amount of light detected and to an internal PMT gain factor Gi associated with the generating PMT. Preferably, all internal gain factors Gi are essentially identical.
A processor receives the intensity signals and deciphers the signals to generate data which can be used by the processor to form an emission image corresponding to the specific camera position. During deciphering, intensity signals corresponding to each event are deciphered in an effort to precisely determine where within the surface area A of a single PMT the event occurred. In addition, intensity signals corresponding to each event are combined to identify a photon energy corresponding to the specific event. Only events having energies within a specific range (i.e. the range of the radiopharmaceutical) are used for imaging. Once all locations of individual events within the desired energy range have been identified, the processor can use the precise locations to create an image of the organ of interest.
Consistent camera operation over time is an important imaging system criterion. To this end, if a specific photon pattern which is directed at a gamma camera generates a specific image during a first imaging period, during any subsequent imaging period when the specific photon pattern is again directed at the same camera, the camera should generate the same image.
Many gamma camera systems require, and the laws in many jurisdictions even dictate, that quality control processes be performed to generally track camera operation. One essentially standard quality control process which is often performed on a daily basis comprises using either an extrinsic or intrinsic photon source to direct an essentially uniform flux of photons toward a camera's scintillation crystal during a quality control test period. The essentially uniform flux of photons is often referred to as a "flood" and the method described herein will be referred to hereinafter as the "flood method". During the flood method, events having photon energies within a window of interest are identified and form an imaging set. Typically the window of interest will be a 20% on-peak acquisition meaning that only events having energy levels within .+-.10% of a primary energy level Z (e.g. 122 keV for 57-CO) are included in the set.
A processor uses the imaging set generated by the 20% on-peak acquisition to generate an image, performs a quantitative evaluation of the image and provides general trend information about image degradation. The image can also be provided to a technician for viewing. Thus, this process can be used to generally identify inconsistent camera operation.
Unreliable PMTs are a primary cause of inconsistent camera operation. More specifically, internal PMT gain factors Gi which vary over time result in inconsistent camera operation. Thus, over time, each PMT within a camera array may become "high", meaning that the PMT's internal gain factor Gi has increased or, in the alternative, may become "low", meaning that the PMT's internal gain factor Gi has decreased. A change in gain factor Gi is often referred to as "drift". Drift can result in image irregularities and therefore must be minimized.
Unfortunately, while the flood method can be used to identify general trends in image degradation, the flood method is relatively ineffective for identifying lesser, albeit still image degrading, amounts of drift. For example, assume that one PMT within an array has drifted and its gain is 5% greater than when it was originally installed in the array. The image generated using the flood method treats all photons having energy levels within the 20% on-peak acquisition range identically. In this case the 20% on-peak acquisition image will indicate very little error as essentially all of the intensity signal will remain within the 20% on-peak acquisition range. This is because most signal energy is at approximately primary level Z the energy spectrum about level Z being shaped somewhat like a bell curve. Thus, a PMT having a gain which is 5% greater than its initial value might only show a 0.2% change in the flood image which would be difficult to identify.
One solution to the drift problem is to identify drift and compensate therefor electronically. Several drift correction methods identify drift by relying on either a built-in reference light source or an external light source. According to these methods, new gamma cameras are subjected to either an external or an internal light source. The light source is used to direct a known photon pattern toward the scintillation crystal and the camera generates a first imaging set related thereto. The first set is stored. The camera is then used during conventional imaging procedures.
Periodically, during quality control procedures, the source is again used to direct the known photon pattern toward the crystal and the camera generates another imaging set. The second set is provided to a processor and compared to the first set to determine if any of the internal gains Gi have drifted.
To correct for drift, an adjustable external PMT gain module is provided for each PMT. As the name implies, each gain module can be used to increase or decrease an external gain factor Ge to compensate for increases or decreases in the internal gain factor Gi. For example, assuming a linear relationship between drift and an external gain factor Ge, where the internal gain factor Gi has decreased by 5%, an external gain factor Ge associated therewith can be increased by 5% to compensate. These gain modules are typically provided in software accessible only by trained technicians and not accessible by imaging personnel. Thus, recalibration typically can only be achieved by a skilled technician.
While these drift correction methods can minimize the effects of PMT drift, they have several important shortcomings. First, any method which relies on a reference photon source to consistently generate a known photon pattern is only as good as the reference source. With these methods the problem of minimizing the effects of drift becomes the problem of ensuring reference stability. While ensuring reference stability is typically easier than ensuring PMT stability, ensuring reference stability is a relatively expensive task.
Second, because a trained technician is usually required to adjust external gain factors Ge, the process identified above is typically not performed as often as it should be. In these cases, drift can affect image quality and even cause system downtime if drift becomes to great.
For these reasons, it would be advantageous to have an apparatus and method for use with a gamma camera for automatically identifying individual PMT drift without the need for a stabilized reference source. In addition, it would be advantageous to have such an apparatus which could perform drift analysis during a standard quality control procedure so that a separate procedure could be avoided. Moreover, it would be advantageous if the apparatus could automatically adjust PMT gain as a function of identified drift.


Disclosed is a Fusarium strain producing novel cyclic pentadepsipeptides which are of excellent multidrug resistance-reversing activity and inhibitory activity against cancer cells. Also, novel cyclic pentadepsipeptides are provided as active ingredients of the compositions useful in the treatment of cancer and diseases associated with multidrug resistance.

A fungus of the genus Fusarium distributed in association with higher marine plants has proven to be a promising source for the production of sansalvamide, a kind of cytotoxic cyclic depsipeptide.
Sansalvamide A was first reported to be produced by Halodule wrightii, a kind of marine microorganisms [Belofsky G N, Jensen P R, Fenical W. (1999) Sansalvamide: A new cytotoxic cyclic depsipeptide produced by a marine fungus of the genus Fusarium. Tetrahedron Lett. 40, 2913-2916]. It is composed of four hydrophobic amino acid residues (phenylalanine, two leucines, valine) and one hydroxy acid ((S)-2-hydroxy-4-methylpentanoic acid; O-Leu) with five stereogenic centers all having S-stereochemistry. Sansalvamide A was found to have marked anti-proliferative effects on 60 cell lines of the National Cancer Institute, with inhibitory activity against topoisomerase I. Anti-cancer effects of Sansalvamide A may be, at least in part, mediated by this mechanism. Further, the analogues formed by N-methylation or para-bromination of sansalvamide A of FIG. 1 were also found to exhibit remarkable cytotoxicity against human pancreatic cancer cells, suggesting that these cyclic compounds may be highly useful as anti-cancer agents [Ujiki M B, Milam B, Ding X Z, Roginsky A B, Salabat M R, Talamonti M S, Bell R H, Gu W, Silverman R B, Adrian T E. (2006) A novel peptide sansalvamide analogue inhibits pancreatic cancer cell growth through G0/G1 cell-cycle arrest. Biochem. Bioph. Res. Co. 340, 1224-1228].
Recently, N-methylsansalvamide, a sansalvamide analogue with N-methylation, has been produced from different Fusarium species isolated from green algae. It consists of four amino acid residues (phenylalanine, leucine, N-methylleucine and valine) and one hydroxy acid (O-Leu). N-Methylsansalvamide was reported to exhibit in vitro cytotoxicity in the NCI human tumor cell line screen [Cueto M, Jensen P R, Fenical W. (2000) N-Methylsansalvamide, a cytotoxic cyclic depsipeptide from a marine fungus of the genus Fusarium. Phytochemisuy, 55, 223-226].
Multidrug resistance (MDR) is arising as one of the major obstacles to successful chemotherapy for human cancer. A variety of biochemical, pharmacological and clinical strategies for overcoming MDR have been designed and suggested [Teodori E, Dei S, Scapecchi S, Gualtieri F. (2002) The medicinal chemistry of multidrug resistance (MDR) reversing drugs. II Farmaco 57, 385-415]. Although there are several mechanisms associated with MDR, the overexpression of P-glycoproteins (P-gp) and multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRP) is known to be responsible for the development of MDR in cancer cells [Thomas H, Coley H M. (2003) Overcoming multidrug resistance in cancer: an update on the clinical strategy of inhibiting P-glycoprotein. Cancer Control 10, 159-165; Perez-Tomas R. (2006) Multidrug resistance: retrospect and prospects in anti-cancer drug treatment. Curr. Med. Chem. 13, 1859-1876].
Sansalvamide A is a lipophilic, cyclic depsipeptide, which is of protease resistance and membrane permeability, so that it may advantageously take an oral route, compared to other drugs. In addition, forming a cyclic core structure, composed of four amino acids and one hydroxy acid, in which rotation around C—C bonds is restricted, sansalvamide A has a firm conformation which is of excellent compatibility to the body and enjoys a long half life.
Although there have been a number of sansalvamide analogues synthesized to utilize the structural merits and the cytotoxicity against cancer cells of sansalvamide A or N-methylsansalvamide, none of them are concerned with separated, cyclic pentadepsipeptides.

Cyclic pentadepsipeptides and microorganism of

Chung-Ang University Industry-Academy Cooperation Foundation


A gas nozzle for a gas assisted injection molding system includes a body having an inlet in fluid communication with a source of pressurized gas, an outlet through which gas leaves the nozzle and a passage extending between the inlet and the outlet. The outlet includes a plurality of apertures wherein at least some of the plurality of apertures have a rectangular shape arranged such that the longitudinal axis of consecutive rectangular shaped apertures are parallel to one another and such that the flow path through the outlet approximates a 1/8 inch hole but does not clog with resin over successive plastic injections into the mold.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates, generally, to a gas assisted injection molding system. More specifically, the invention relates to a gas nozzle employed in such systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gas assisted plastic injection molding is a well established and commercially accepted method for providing plastic articles having a hollow interior. These hollow, plastic articles have numerous advantages, such as high strength, low weight, reduced plastic material cost and improved article appearance due to less shrinkage stress. A detailed discussion of the development of gas assisted injection molding technology is contained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,533 and incorporated herein by reference.
In gas assisted injection molding, the articles are produced by injecting molten resin into the mold cavity and injecting a quantity of pressurized gas into the resin to fill out the mold cavity and form a hollow portion in the resin. The gas is preferably an inert gas such as nitrogen. The gas pressure is maintained in the mold cavity and against the resin until the plastic has cooled sufficiently to be self supporting. Thereafter, the gas is vented, the mold is opened and the plastic article is removed from the cavity. One example of a gas assisted molding method and apparatus is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,405 issued on Jun. 17, 1997 and incorporated herein by reference.
Generally speaking, there are two points of entry for gas in an injection molding environment: (1) at the injection molding machine nozzle; and (2) in the mold.
When the gas is injected through the same nozzle employed for injecting the plastic into the mold, the gas pressure must be relatively high because the gas bubble will not penetrate the plastic until the gas pressure is greater than the plastic injection pressure. In addition, any restriction such as at the gate will impede the bubble penetration requiring higher initial gas pressures to move the plastic to fill out the mold. However, when the pressure is too high, and once the bubble breaks through the gate, the gas will rocket through the cavity which is at a lower pressure to the end of the plastic flow front. If this occurs, the gas may escape the envelope of the plastic material unless there is extra resin in the cavity to resist this high pressure. Such elevated initial gas pressures at the plastic injection nozzle may wash away most of the plastic that is adjacent the gate including the material at the nominal wall. Gas injection at the plastic nozzle also requires complicated resin shut-off devices, valves and sealing members which ultimately wear out and are generally expensive.
On the other hand, gas may be injected directly into the mold at either the mold cavity (in-article) or at some point along the runner (in-runner). Where gas is injected directly into the mold cavity, the initial gas pressure at the beginning of the gas filling phase of the process can be much lower than that employed at the resin injection nozzle. The lower gas pressure will tend to complete the polymer fill at a velocity that is closer to the initial polymer fill velocity, thereby avoiding a gloss variation between initial polymer fill and gas pressure fill. Gas nozzles located in the runner are advantageous where the design of the part or structure of the mold does not lend itself to the in-article approach.
Numerous gas nozzles have been proposed in the related art to take advantage of the design and engineering advantage of mold cavity and runner gas injection. For example, stationary gas nozzles have been employed in the related art because such nozzles generally involve a reduction or elimination of any moving parts. Such stationary nozzles are simple and cost effective. However, stationary nozzles suffer from the disadvantage that they often become clogged with resin during the injection process and must be cleaned on a regular basis.
In order to overcome this problem, gas nozzle designers have incorporated resin check valves to block the flow of molten resin into the gas nozzle. Unfortunately, these resin check valves increase the cost and complexity of such nozzles.
Another solution proposed in the related art involves a hollow gas nozzle with an interior solid pin that has been relieved on a portion of one side to allow for a gas passage through the nozzle. Unfortunately, problems still exist with such nozzles of the related art. More specifically, these gas nozzles are typically mounted from the back side of the mold which is fixedly mounted to the platen of an injection molding press. If the mold is overshot during the injection process, as can frequently be the case, excessive injection pressure can clog the nozzle with resin. In this case, the mold must be removed from the platen and the gas nozzle disassembled and cleaned. Further, gas may exit such nozzles only through the top or terminal end thereof which is a limiting factor in the design of the part and the mold. Finally, larger parts often require a larger volume of gas flow and the relieved area of the gas nozzle does not accommodate this larger volume.
Additionally, the nozzles of the related art discussed above suffer from the disadvantage that once they are connected to a source of pressurized gas, such as when mounted in the mold or runner, they are not easily adjusted thereafter. This disadvantage is particularly apparent when the direction of the flow of gas from the nozzle is important. This often occurs when it is desirable to direct the flow of gas in a particular way into the mold and the gas nozzle includes an outlet which extends generally perpendicular to the main flow passage of the nozzle or out the side of the nozzle tip.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a simple, cost effective, efficient, stationary gas nozzle which includes no moving parts and which will not clog with resin during polymer fill or gas venting even after repeated shots of the mold.

Gas nozzle for a gas assisted injection molding system


An anti-foam additive for a cement composition, including a fatty alcohol ester that is soluble in an aqueous medium at acidic pH, and hydrolysable in a basic medium, i.e. when the ester is incorporated into the cement composition, while releasing an active anti-foam molecule. This ester is preferably a fatty alcohol ester of a quaternary ammonium carboxylate, that is soluble in an aqueous solution of a superplasticizer, such as a polycarboxylate with poly(ethylene oxide) side chains. The additive can used for reducing the amount of air entrained during mixing or blending of mortars or concretes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-foam additive for a cementitious composition, to an aqueous solution incorporating said additive, and also to the use thereof in mortars or concretes.
2. Description of the Related Art
The formulation of high-performance concretes often requires plasticizers and superplasticizers either to increase the fluidity of the base cementitious composition at constant water input enabling the improvement of its workability, or for reducing the water content of the cementitious composition at equal consistency with a view to improving the mechanical strength and the durability.
is Among the plasticizers and superplasticizers, use is very often made of molecules chosen from polynaphthalene sulfonates, polymelamine sulfonates, lignosulfates (LS) and polycarboxylates, in particular polycarboxylates with polyethylene oxide side chains (PC-PEO) generally introduced in the form of an aqueous solution into the cementitious composition during the mixing and blending of concretes and mortars. The plasticizer and superplasticizer molecules have surface properties which give rise to air entrainment in the cementitious composition. This occluded air induces a modification of the rheology of the cementitious composition and a not inconsiderable drop in the mechanical strength both in the short term and in the long term of the mortar or concrete thus produced.
This phenomenon is observed more extensively with molecules of the LS and PC-PEO families.
In order to limit inclusion of air in the cementitious composition, anti-foams are generally introduced directly into the solutions of superplasticizers of LS or PC-PEO type so as to prevent the formation of air bubbles or to promote their destruction if they form.
Two constraints are linked to these anti-foam molecules. The first relates to the need to disperse the anti-foam in the aqueous solution of superplasticizer in order to sell a single product that provides the two functions (fluidification of the cementitious composition without excessive air entrainment), whilst the second constraint relates to the actual effectiveness of the anti-foam molecule with respect to the prevention or destruction of occluded air.
Anti-foam agents or defoaming agents are identical molecules, which only differ by their method of introduction into the medium. Specifically, anti-foam agents are introduced before the appearance of the foam in order to prevent the formation of stable gas/liquid interfaces, whilst defoaming agents are introduced after formation of the foam in order to eliminate it.
The present invention relates rather to the formation of anti-foam agents, that is to say additives intended to be introduced at the same time as the superplasticizer solution, into the cementitious composition, based on cement and water, at the time it is blended.
Anti-foam agents are, in general, hydrophobic formulations that are in the form of small-sized droplets that are insoluble beyond a limit in concentration in the liquid constituting the continuous phase, here the aqueous phase. The anti-foam agent is therefore by nature insoluble in the aqueous medium in which it forms an emulsion.
In order to be effective, the anti-foam agent must then migrate to the air/liquid film interface. During this migration, the anti-foam/liquid film and air/liquid film interfaces are replaced by an anti-foam/air interface. This transition requires a hydrophobic anti-foam agent since a hydrophilic formulation would remain within the aqueous phase.
The use of anti-foam agents for cementitious compositions such as cement grouts, mortars or concretes therefore requires dispersing the anti-foam agent in the aqueous superplasticizer solution. Since the anti-foam is by nature a hydrophobic molecule, insoluble in the aqueous medium, it is necessary to produce an emulsion of anti-foam in the aqueous superplasticizer solution.
In order to be marketable, this emulsion of anti-foam in the superplasticizer must be stable over the entire storage life (i.e. one year approximately) and over the range of temperatures to which the superplasticizers are commonly exposed (5-40° C. knowing that in general the emulsion is even less stable when the temperature is higher).
Furthermore, the anti-foam must also be effective in the cementitious medium over the entire processing time (i.e. from 15 minutes to several hours).
In addition, a loss of activity may be caused by a degradation of the anti-foam in the extremely basic medium of the cementitious compositions. The anti-foam molecules must be capable of withstanding this.
Moreover, "the depletion" of the anti-foam over time (resulting in a loss of effectiveness over time) is a well-known phenomenon which must not occur over the period of processing the cementitious compositions. This phenomenon often results from the reduction in size of the anti-foam droplets over time due to the shearing to which they are subjected.
In addition, the anti-foam must be able to be used with the conventional metering equipment. Certain anti-foam agents, such as tributyl phosphate, cause, for example, a degradation of certain pump bodies.

Water-soluble antifoam additive for a cement composition, aqueous solution containing same and use thereof in mortars or concretes


A unit for transferring products, wherein a conveyor belt successively feeds the products along a deformable conveying surface defined by the belt itself and extending through a product pickup station; and a deforming assembly is located beneath the conveying surface at the station, and provides for deforming the conveying surface to form, at the product fed through the station, two transverse dips, which are engaged by respective pickup elements to pick up the product.

The present invention relates to a product transfer unit.
In particular, the present invention relates to a unit for transferring food products, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.
Transfer units are known, which comprise a conveyor device located at the output of the product manufacturing machine and in turn comprising a conveyor belt for successively feeding the products along a conveying surface extending through a pickup station; and a pickup device located at the pickup station, and for picking up and feeding the products to a packing machine.
The pickup device of known units of the above type normally comprises a number of pickup assemblies for successively picking up the products off the conveyor device and feeding them to the packing machine, and which comprise at least one suction cup, which is brought into contact with the upper surface of the product to grip the product by suction.
Though reliable and straightforward in design, known transfer units of the above type present several drawbacks, particularly when the upper surfaces of the products present undulations or projections, in which case, it is relatively difficult to draw up the product by suction without damaging to some extent the upper surface of the product.
In an attempt to overcome the above drawback, pickup units have recently been introduced wherein the suction cups of the pickup assemblies are replaced by at least two gripping elements between which the product is gripped and clamped laterally. Even this solution, however, presents drawbacks, due to the highly delicate nature of the products, which are nevertheless still damaged superficially by the relatively strong pressure applied by the gripping elements.

Azionaria Costruzioni Macchine Automatiche A.C.M.A. S.P.A.


A method of re-configuring any pre-fabricated plastic package (with or without a silicon chip and wires inside) so that an integrated circuit chip can be installed and interconnected for normal use. A pre-molded plastic package is abraded over (or molded to expose) the die attach pad and the wire bond pads. Advantageously, the encapsulating material is removed without damaging the plating material on the lead frame. A new chip is then mounted onto the chip mounting pad and new wire bonds are connected between the new chip and the lead frame. Encapsulating material, such as epoxy, is then placed over the chip and wire bonds and cured.

The process of designing and producing a new integrated circuit device (silicon chip) is very time consuming and requires the efforts of very talented and educated individuals. When a new integrated circuit is designed, the first article produced must be tested as soon as possible to verify that the device is performing in accordance with the design requirements.
The standard, most used process to package an integrated circuit die has been the plastic package, constructed primarily of a metal lead frame and a polymeric insulating material. Because the process of encapsulating die in molded plastic packages can be easily automated, plastic packages are relatively inexpensive compared to ceramic or hybrid hermetic packages and consequently have become the mainstay of the electronics industry.
With a few modifications, the basic assembly process for plastic encapsulation can be used to construct a variety of package types. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a pin-in-hole package: a dual-in-line package (DIP). FIGS. 2-3 illustrate two surface mount packages: a plastic leaded chip carrier (PLCC) and a quad flatpack (QFP), respectively. Each of these plastic packages are constructed from the same basic assembly techniques, which techniques are well known in the art.
Approximately 80% of the integrated circuits that are sold and produced today are packaged or encapsulated in epoxy using the technique described above. The majority of the integrated circuit packaging industry now resides in countries outside of the United States. Heretofore, there has been relatively little investment in the United States in developing the required hardware tooling and equipment required to accomplish this process, which is very expensive. Thus, most of the tooling and equipment necessary for this process is also manufactured outside the United States. This means that, in most cases, if a company who designs integrated circuits requires integrated circuit dice packaged in epoxy encapsulation, they must pay the price for the offshore service and wait the time it takes for delivery. For companies eager to produce and evaluate new prototype devices, this can translate into costly delays.
Another popular method of packaging the integrated circuit die is to use a package constructed from ceramic. However, ceramic packaging is relatively expensive and is used primarily for high performance, military applications.
If the design is such that performance of the device can be characterized in a substitute package such as a ceramic package, then this provides an alternative method for quick turnaround, providing, of course, that the package is available. However, in many cases, a ceramic package is a poor substitute for simulating the performance of the desired encapsulated device, which is the intended production configuration. That is, in some designs, the function of the integrated circuit die is affected by the presence of the encapsulating material on its surface and the dimensions of the package conductor paths (leads). Thus, it becomes necessary to re-evaluate and validate the design in the final production package configuration. Another disadvantage of the use of ceramic packages for prototype units is that it necessitates a modification of test sockets and printed circuit boards to receive the prototype ceramic packages in order to test and validate the new design.

Method for packaging an integrated circuit using a reconstructed plastic package


An ink on demand type ink jet head energization system is provided to drive ink out of a nozzle in the head. The head contains at least one nozzle for discharging ink. The power applied to the nozzle is modified to include a noise component. By providing a driving voltage which varies between firings, the head produces ink droplets which differ in size between firings. Preferably, the voltage is randomly or pseudo-randomly varied over a range of from 50 to 100% of maximum voltage, and a new voltage is provided for each successive firing of the head. This variation of drive voltage produces ink dots which randomly vary in size at a rate too dense to be perceived by a viewer, and successfully reduces perceived artifacts in the printed output.

This invention relates to an ink jet printer having a print head. More particularly, this invention relates to an energization system which alters the power applied to ink jets carried on the print head of an ink jet printer to reduce artifacts in the printed output.
Ink jet printing involves placing a number of tiny ink droplets formed by one or more ink jets onto particular locations on a printing medium (usually paper). The ink droplets solidify (or dry, or freeze) on the printing medium, forming small dots. A substantial number of these small dots, when viewed from some distance away, are perceived as a continuous visual image. Both text and graphic images may be printed with ink jet printing.
The printed image from an ink jet printer is made up of a gridlike pattern of potential dot locations, called picture elements or "pixels". For many documents commonly viewed from 1-20 feet away, the ink jet printing industry today often uses a print resolution of 300 pixels per inch (90,000 pixels per square inch). The print resolution for other applications may vary as needed, so for the example of printing a billboard that is commonly viewed from hundreds of feet away, the pixel sizes used may result in a density on the order of 6 pixels per inch.
Presently there are two primary types of initiators used to form ink jets for ink jet printers. Resistance heating based jets use a small resistor to heat a portion of ink and create a minute bubble within the ink. The bubble immediately bursts to propel a small droplet of ink through a nozzle. Piezoelectric displacement force based jets use a substrate which is electrically vibrated to create a pressure wave which in turn forces a droplet of ink through a jet nozzle. A method of making a piezoelectric initiator for an ink jet is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,315 to Hoisington et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. There are also ultrasonic ink jet heads and electrostatic ink jet heads available.
Ink jet printers may further be classified as "on demand", for which ink droplets are formed only at the particular pixel locations at which ink is desired to be placed, or as "continuous", for which ink droplets are formed for each pixel location, but droplets in flight for locations at which ink is not desired are deflected away before they contact the medium. In order to distribute an ink droplet in an on demand type ink jet head having piezoelectric transducers for forming the ink droplets, a high voltage pulse is applied to each piezoelectric transducer when its associated ink droplet is demanded. Each such transducer is part of a mechanical ink forcing arrangement comprising, in general, a piezoelectric crystal plate and a metallic diaphragm. When subjected to a high voltage pulse, the piezoelectric transducer is caused to deform against the diaphragm to pressurize ink in an ink chamber in communication with an ink jet nozzle or orifice, whereby the ink droplet is discharged through the nozzle. When the high voltage pulse is removed, the piezoelectric transducer returns to its initial shape so that a negative pressure is produced in the ink chamber and consequently further ink flows into the ink chamber from a supply source.
Additionally, the inks used in different kinds of ink jet printers vary. Some ink jet printers utilize aqueous ink, which are liquid at room temperature and are generally absorbed into the print medium. Others use "hot melt" ink, which is a solid at room temperature but is applied in a heated liquid condition to then effectively freeze onto the medium. The head assembly energization system of the present invention applies equally to all these various types of ink jet printers, but is particularly contemplated for on demand, piezoelectric, hot melt ink jet printing.
Color ink jet printers usually use the three subtractive primary colored inks, (magenta, cyan and yellow) in addition to black ink. Color blending of these four ink colors is achieved through two mechanisms. First, the ink jet printer may provide ink dots of multiple colors on the same pixel location, thus combining the subtractive effects of these colored inks on light reflected from that pixel. The particular color combination caused by having multiple ink colors at a particular pixel location may be affected by the order of printing the various colored inks.
Second, when viewed at a distance, the eye will perceive blended colors from pure primary colored ink dots provided at adjacent pixel locations. Thus, for instance, a number of exclusively magenta and yellow dots may be provided immediately adjacent to one another in an area of the image, with no pixel location receiving two overlapping inks. Rather than perceiving individual magenta and yellow dots, the eye will instead perceive a blend of the adjacent dot colors to result in the perception of a larger orange dot. In practice, ink jet color printers use both ink blending at particular pixel locations and perception blending across pixel locations to create various colors and shades. In addition, a substantial number of the pixels of the image will go without having a dot of ink placed on them. This allows the perceived visual image to have a proper lightness/darkness value. Through both forms of color blending, ink jet printers using only four colors of ink can visually reproduce full color images.
Ink jet printers generally move a print head containing ink jets back and forth across the printed image while advancing the paper lengthwise in between such passes, or scans, of the print head. To increase the rate of printing, numerous jets per color have been used to create a wider print head "swath", or wider inked surface strip per pass. One prior ink jet color printer utilized a single head having 64 linearly aligned jets. Each jet nozzle was vertically offset one pixel lower than the preceding nozzle. This line of 64 nozzles is divided into four sets of 16 adjacent nozzles, each such set being supplied with one of the colored inks. With this previous 64-jet printer in low quality printing mode, the paper being printed upon was advanced a length equal to 16 pixels after each scan (one quarter of the width of the 64 pixel print stroke), such that each scan of the printer head placed another set of 16 nozzles over the same path across a 16 pixel strip taken by the preceding set. This providing of four scans across a 16 pixel strip was done for each such strip printed on the medium.
Prior art scanning print head configurations, with numerous jets per color each mounted one pixel beneath the previous jet, predicate what is known as a "banding" problem and produces visible artifacts or errors in the printed output. One type of banding occurs if the paper advance is not extremely accurate, such that the paper is advanced slightly more or slightly less than the width of the print swath or stroke (i.e., the vertical extent of the line of jets). Thus, if the paper advances slightly too far a perceptible blank area will occur in the color pattern at the end of each paper advance, between the printed swaths. Conversely, if the paper advance is too short, a perceptible overlap will occur in the color pattern at the beginning of each paper advance, resulting in a darkened region where adjoining swaths overlap.
Other causes can further complicate the banding problem. With some printers, the direction that the print head is traveling for any given scan may affect the order that the different ink colors are laid down on the paper. A different ordering of colors may create a slightly different hue when visually perceived. For instance, if one band is laid down from left to right with magenta over cyan on a significant number of pixels, and the succeeding band is laid down from right to left with cyan over magenta on a significant number of pixels, a slight color difference between the two bands may be visually detectable.
Banding may also be caused in part by the thermal characteristics of the printing scan. In a hot melt ink system, the top of the band may be laid down first, on a relatively cool piece of paper, whereas the middle and bottom of the band may be laid down on a paper heated by previous ink dots. This difference in heating can affect the ink flow characteristics and cause a visually perceptible difference between the top and bottom of the band.
Banding is also caused by misalignment of ink jet heads in ink jet printers having multiple ink jet heads. These alignment problems become aggravated as the number of jets increase, as the spacing between the furthest jets increases during replacement of any other components of the print heads, and as the ink delivery and mechanical placement of print heads becomes more complicated. Alignment of multiple heads is not easily accomplished through mechanical manipulation of the jets, although compensation for some head alignment problems can be accomplished by adjusting the timing of jet firing between different jets. Calibration techniques can be used to determine what adjustment is necessary.
Banding may also be the result of differences in ink droplet size across a swath. For example, one end of the line of jets on the print head may produce slightly larger droplets than the other end, or the center of the line of jets may produce different sized ink droplets than the ends of the line of jets. The different droplet sizes may occur due to voltage drop across the head during firing. If the difference in ink droplet size occurs repeatedly during printing, artifacts between swaths may be visible in the printed output.
Other types of artifacts in the printed output can occur if the print head travel is not entirely uniform. Any vibration or displacement or change in velocity of the print head on a scan across the image may affect the dot placement location. Particularly in cases where the problem occurs regularly at the same location, the printed output will contain discreet artifacts which are perceived by the viewer.
Various methods have been attempted to compensate for these artifact problems. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,689 to Hoisington et al., banding was addressed by altering the arrangement of print jets out of a linear array. Another approach to banding, taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,312 to Merna et al., involves altering the spacing between jets on a print head. Both of these previous methods involve additional manufacturing costs in aligning the ink jets into a non-uniform pattern.
Another approach is "multipass" printing, where the printing medium is advanced at a fractional increment of the vertical swath width, such that two or more jets of the same color pass over a pixel row on subsequent passes. The first jet will generally only print a portion of the dots on that pixel row, with remaining dots on the pixel row printed on subsequent passes. Alternatively or in combination, several of the jets may be deactivated on each pass. With only a portion of the jets actively printing on each pass, additional passes across the image are required for full printing. Multipass printing tends to mask paper advance errors such that they do not appear as discreet artifacts in the print output.
High voltage energization circuits for ink on demand type ink jet heads are known. These known circuits have been located away from the head and are connected to the transducers in the head by routing wires. The routing wires must be of a substantial length to accommodate the head travel across the width of the printing medium for printing. The high voltage energization circuits commonly used in the prior art transfer high voltage signals from the energization circuit to the ink jet head. There are a number of drawbacks to such known high voltage conversion circuits for ink jet heads. Above 42.4 volts peak, or 60 volts DC, power supply circuits fall into the "high voltage" category according to Underwriters Laboratory (UL) standards. UL 1950 Information Technology Equipment, Feb. 26, 1993, Section 22.214.171.124. If a signal is qualified as a high voltage signal, components such as covered connectors, wire shielding, access panel interlocks and the like are required to satisfy UL standards for safe design. These things all add unwanted restraining forces and inertia to the head and so to the mechanical drive requirements for the head assembly which must be capable of rapid movement to achieve high printing rates, and add substantial cost.
Radio frequency emissions are also a concern when routing high voltage signals from an energization circuit to an ink jet head. UL sets requirements for maximum acceptable limits on radio frequency emissions in view of the requirements of the Federal Communications Commission. Emissions higher than the acceptable limits must be reduced by shielding at a substantial cost when routing high voltage signals from an energization circuit to an ink jet head. Shielding adds additional restraining force as well.

Ink jet printer with artifact-reducing drive circuit


An apparatus for depositing a coating material, such as an organic monomer, in vapor form onto a substrate including a heated evaporation chamber having an inlet for introduction of the coating material into the chamber and a nozzle having an adjustable opening for adjusting cross direction coating uniformity. The nozzle may include a plurality of adjustment bolts spaced along the width of the nozzle for adjusting the opening of the nozzle. The adjustment bolts may be alternating push and pull adjustment bolts. Alternatively, the adjustable bolts are bolts having compound threads such that each bolt is capable of both pulling and pushing the adjustable opening of the nozzle. The substrate is preferably a moving web that defines the outer surface of a cooled drum. The apparatus further includes a radiation source positioned adjacent to the substrate for curing an organic monomer coating on said substrate. The radiation source may be an electron beam gun or an ultraviolet lamp. The evaporation chamber is operating under vacuum pressure of less than about 1 torr and preferably less than about 10.sup.-3 torr. The apparatus further includes a metal vaporization station positioned adjacent to the substrate for depositing an electrode material, such as aluminum, in vapor form onto the substrate. The nozzle may further include a nozzle plate securing the nozzle to the evaporation chamber.

Organic polymer coatings can be produced by evaporating an organic monomer and condensing the monomer onto a chilled substrate. The monomer coating is then cured using an electron beam gun or ultraviolet radiation. Typically, the evaporation of the organic monomer is conducted in a vacuum environment. The monomer is sprayed or atomized into an evaporation chamber and vaporized. Temperatures in the evaporation chamber can reach about 550.degree. F. Processes suitable for use with the present invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,842,893, 4,954,371, and 5,097,800, which are incorporated herein by reference.
The vaporized monomer builds gas pressure in the evaporation chamber until sufficient pressure is achieved to expel the vapor through a narrow slit in a nozzle positioned at the end of the chamber. The monomer condenses on a substrate placed adjacent to the nozzle opening. Typically, the substrate is placed against a chill drum to cool the surface of the substrate and promote condensation of the monomer. The coated substrate is then passed through a curing station where an electron beam gun or ultraviolet lamp initiates a polymerization reaction. In order to maintain machine direction coating uniformity, the monomer flow into the atomizer or spraying apparatus is precisely controlled. Additionally, the monomer stream and surrounding hardware must be continuously heated at a temperature sufficient to insure continuous atomization and vaporization of the monomer without significant dripping. The precise control of the atomization and vaporization of the monomer also contributes to machine direction or downweb coating uniformity.
However, the precise controls discussed above do not address transverse or cross-direction coating uniformity. Since the evaporation chamber and surrounding hardware must be continuously heated to high temperatures, thermal expansion will alter the machining tolerance of the narrow slot opening in the nozzle. A change in slot tolerance directly affects the transverse or cross-direction coating uniformity. Lack of cross-direction coating uniformity results in coatings of poor quality.
There is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for evaporation of organic monomer at high temperatures that minimizes the effect of thermal expansion upon cross-direction coating uniformity without significantly increasing the cost or complexity of the method and apparatus.

Adjustable nozzle for evaporation or organic monomers


A rechargeable energy storage unit is proposed. The rechargeable energy storage unit has a first and a second electrode. The first electrode is associated with metallic particles composed of a metal which can be reduced during charging operation of the energy storage unit and can be oxidized during discharging operation of the energy storage unit. The rechargeable energy storage unit has an electrolyte arranged between the electrodes. The metallic particles additionally contain a material which constrains sintering of the metallic particles.

Rechargeable energy storage units are substantially based on the principle of electrochemical cells, i.e. the redox-based conversion of chemical into electrical energy or vice versa. In the process, oxidizing agents, for example oxygen ions from atmospheric oxygen, are conventionally formed on a positively charged electrode, and supplied to the negative electrode by an electrolyte which is arranged between the positive and a negative electrode and is appropriately permeable to the oxidizing agent, i.e. the oxygen ions which are formed for example.
In the case of rechargeable energy storage units, the material to be oxidized, i.e. the reducing agent, is a direct or indirect constituent of the energy storage unit, for which reason energy may be drawn from the energy storage unit until the reducing agent has been wholly oxidized. Only after a subsequent charging process of the energy storage unit with electrical energy via an external source can the energy storage unit again be discharged. Further details regarding the mode of operation of such rechargeable energy storage units are well known.
Generic energy storage units with oxygen ion-conducting electrolytes are known to have working ranges at temperatures of above 500° C., since only a correspondingly high temperature provides satisfactory conditions in particular in relation to the activity or ion conductivity of the materials used, in order to be able to allow the corresponding processes, such as for instance the electrochemical reduction of atmospheric oxygen to oxygen ions and moreover the movement thereof through the electrolytes, to proceed properly.
Owing to exposure elevated thermal loads, performance is regularly impaired in rechargeable energy storage means in particular with regard to the electrode, which is connected as an anode in discharging operation and, as a rule, is formed of a porous network of metallic particles or is associated operationally with such particles, as a result of degradation caused in particular by agglomeration of metallic particles, which results in a reduction in the active surface area of the electrode material and moreover has a negative effect on the efficiency and service life of the energy storage unit.