Provided is a system and method for cavernosal neuromodulation as directed by a wireless remote controller and power supply. The system including: an implantable lead having at least one electrode structured and arranged to be disposed proximate to the cavernous nerve in a penis; a portable power supply; and a controller having wireless communication electronics and control circuitry associated with the wireless communication electronics structured and arranged to wirelessly couple the power supply to the at least one electrode, the controller further structured and arranged to permit a user to select at least one instruction set for the at least electrode. The controller and power supply may be provided by a control ring. An associated method of use is also provided.

The male penis includes a pair of corpora cavernosa located laterally within the penis, a pair of penile arteries situated deep within their respective corpora cavernosa, dorsal penile veins and a neurovascular bundle located along an upper midline proportion of the penis, a corpus spongiosum located along a lower portion of the penis, a urethra located within the corpus spongiosum, and stretchable tunica and skin.
Generally, in the male penis, an erection is produced when the cavernosal nerves stimulate an increase in arterial blood flow into the spongy, cavernosal tissues of the penis. The increase in blood flow increases the pressure in the penis and is critical in the generation of a rigid, erect penis.
Modulation or stimulation of the cavernous nerve by electrical stimulation is an important target for clinical therapy for men who suffer from erectile dysfunction from a variety of causes. At the present time, the options for stimulation of the cavernosal nerves are extremely limited. In addition, traditional implanted leads for nerve stimulation require an implantable power source with direct-wired connection to the stimulation lead.
Previously described approaches to place a lead for chronic electrical stimulation of the cavernous nerve have limitations in that they required an operating room and anesthesia to allow an open surgical incision and exposure of the nerve with cuff placement around the nerve to prevent lead migration and maximize nerve activity.
In addition, as noted above, the traditional implantation methodologies require that the stimulating electrode needs to be connected to an implantable power source (pulse generator) that is powered by a fixed or rechargeable energy source that is directly connected to the leads. This requires a larger incision, or a second incision to implant the energy source. There are limited anatomic locations in proximity to the penis that allow implantation of an energy source that would not interfere with physical sexual activity.
Prior successful cavernosal nerve stimulation resulting in penile erection was reported in a dog model by Shafik in 1995. He published a report of an open surgical approach, with an incision above and lateral to the penis and under the pubic bone to place a lead that was wrapped around the cavernous nerve. Wrapping the lead around the nerve was to try and minimize lead migration and loss of clinical effect. Stimulation of this lead resulted in increasing intracavernosal pressure (showing increased blood flow into the penis) and full erection.
Previous patents involving penile nerve stimulation, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,584 to Ardito et al, U.S. Pat. No. 7,899,539 to Whitehurst et al., US Pub 2008/0183236 to Gerber, and US Pub 2007/055333 to Giftakis et al., have focused on an open surgical dissection to locate the cavernous nerve and place an electrode along the cavernous nerve proximal to the insertion into the corpora cavernosa of the penis. In the human, the neurovascular bundle travels along the lateral aspect of the prostate bilaterally and at the apex of the prostate, near the urethral junction the cavernous nerve becomes a single or branched nerve.
The cavernous nerve travels in front of the pubic bone and inserts into the tunica albuginea of the anterior and proximal aspect for the corpora cavernosa bilaterally. The nerve then branches into many small nervelets and develops a diffuse plexus of nerves in the corpora cavernosa that invest the penis shaft, from the pubic bones to the head of the penis, where they join. These formations are made of a sponge-like tissue containing irregular blood-filled spaces lined by endothelium and separated by connective tissue septum. It is the corpora cavernosum that engorge with blood during an erection compressing the venous outflow resulting in penis lengthening and rigidity.
In the human model, this open surgical approach requires the surgeon to cut the suspensory ligament of the penis to gain access to the cavernous nerve (the suspensory ligament allows the engorged penis to stand erect and stable allowing vaginal penetration, when the ligament is cut the penis can be engorged and erect but will not be stable). Alternative open surgical approaches would be even more invasive by approaching the nerve from the perineum, or through the abdomen, both relatively morbid surgery with associated risks, requiring anesthesia and an operating room.
The open surgical approach of the above references also requires placement of an implantable pulse generator that was powered by either a fixed or rechargeable energy source and controlled remotely. The direct wire connection of the energy source to the lead requires further surgical dissection in order to attach it to the lead at the nerve.
These limitations have made it difficult for industry to develop a successful neuromodulation implant to stimulate the cavernosal nerve. No previous patents around cavernous nerve stimulation have resulted in development of a commercially available product.
A second component important in the generation and maintenance of an erect penis is the compression of the superficial veins of the penis. The superficial venous system drains the blood from the penis. Because the veins draining blood from the penis are superficial, and the arteries delivering blood to the penis are deeper inside the penis, a current clinical technique used to enhance penile erection is to place a compressive band around the base of the erect penis that compresses these superficial veins.
Venous leak is well known to contribute to poor erection quality and duration (Wespes et al, J Urology [1985, 133(5):796-798], and constricting penile rings have been used clinically for decades (see, U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,813 to Weiss entitled Method And Apparatus For Producing And Maintaining A Penile Erection, U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,157 to Hale entitled Penile Clamp For Impotence). With compression of the penile veins, drainage of blood from the engorged penis is restricted, yet the deeper arterial inflow continues, so that the erectile tissues become further engorged with blood, and the penis more rigid.
Moreover, an erection is produced when the cavernosal nerves stimulate increase in arterial blood flow into the spongy, cavernosal tissues of the penis, combined with compression of venous return with penile blood outflow restricted so that the erectile tissues become filled or engorged with blood.
Thus, cavernosal nerve stimulation to turn on arterial blood in flow is augmented by superficial venous compression that helps to trap the blood in the cavernosal tissues and increase pressure in the cavernosal bodies causing penile rigidity, yet existing medical procedures and devices fall short of addressing both issues.
Vacuum erection devices, for example, achieve an erection by improving blood to flow into the penis through suction. The vacuum, however, must be removed for coitus, and thus, the erection can be lost.
Hence there is a need for a method and system that is capable of overcoming one or more of the above identified challenges.

System and method for minimally invasive lead implantation for cavernosal nerve stimulation controlled and powered wirelessly from an external source


A nucleic acid molecule encoding an amino acid sequence consisting of an agonist of a MHC class I binding native sequence of CEA having an amino acid substitution and enhanced immunogenicity compared to the native sequence is described. A vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule, host cell comprising the vector and a kit comprising the encoded agonist peptide are also described.

A major challenge of modern cancer immunotherapy is the identification of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes from defined tumor-associated antigens (TAA) that promote lysis of tumor cells. The majority of antigens on human cancers are not tumor specific and are overexpressed in malignant cells as opposed to cells of normal tissues. Therefore, immunity to cancer in humans may rest mostly on the development of an effective immune response mainly directed to self-molecules qualitatively common to all cell types.
Human carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a 180 kD glycoprotein expressed on the majority of colon, rectal, stomach and pancreatic tumors (1), some 50% of breast carcinomas (2) and 70% of lung carcinomas (3). CEA is also expressed in fetal gut tissue, and to a lesser extent on normal colon epithelium. The immunogenicity of CEA has been ambiguous, with several studies-reporting the presence of anti-CEA antibodies in patients (4-7) while other studies have not (8-10). CEA was first described as a cancer specific fetal antigen in adenocarcinoma of the human digestive tract in 1965 (Gold, P. and Freeman, S. O. (1965) Exp. Med. 121:439-462). Since that time, CEA has been characterized as a cell surface antigen produced in excess in nearly all solid tumors of the human gastrointestinal tract. The gene for the human CEA protein has been cloned. (Oikawa et al (1987) Biochim. Biophys. Res. 142:511-518; European Application No. EP 0346710).
Recently, the first evidence was reported of a human CTL response to CEA (11). This CAP1 peptide showed the highest level of T2 cell binding among the various CEA peptides tested with stimulation of the T cells resulting in the generation of cytotoxic T cell lines. We have identified a 9-mer peptide, designated CAP1 (with the sequence YLSGANLNL) (SEQ. ID NO: 1), on the basis of binding to HLA-A2, and the ability to generate specific CTL from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from carcinoma patients immunized with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing CEA (rV-CEA). For example, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from 5 patients showed signs of T cell response to CAP1 peptide after immunization with rV-CEA. Two other laboratories have since generated CAP1 specific CTL in vitro employing peptide pulsed dendritic cells as antigen presenting cells (APC) (12). It has also recently been reported (13) that CAP1 specific CTL can be generated from PBMC from carcinoma patients immunized with the avipox recombinant ALVAC-CEA. Several groups have also reported the generation of anti-CEA antibodies and CEA specific proliferative T cell responses following immunization with either an anti-Id to an anti-CEA monoclonal antibody (MAb) (14), recombinant CEA protein (15), or rV-CEA (16).
Several investigators have introduced CTL to tumor associated and viral antigens by in vitro stimulation of PBMC with an immunodominant peptide. Recent work with the gp100 melanoma antigen (17-19), an HIV polymerase peptide (20) and the papilloma virus tumor antigen E6 (21) demonstrated enhanced immunogenicity after modifications to the peptide sequences. In these studies, replacements were at anchor positions and were intended to increase binding to murine or human MHC antigens. This approach was based on a demonstrated correlation between immunogenicity and peptide binding affinity to class I MHC (major histocompatibility complex) molecules for viral antigen epitopes (22).
Previous investigators have also worked with fragments of CEA. Thus, Shively (1989), in a European patent publication (EP No. 0343946 A2) reports a number of CEA fragments that include a unique epitope (as defined by its reactivity with an antibody). The latter CEA fragment is 177 amino acid residues long and contains the 9-mer sequence of CAP1. However, no shorter CEA fragments that include the CAP1 sequence were described.
In sum, the use of rV-CEA alone as an agent for boosting the CEA-specific immune response of rV-CEA suffers from the drawback of stimulating an immune response to vaccinia virus. However, the novel combination of rV-CEA and CAP1 suggested itself to us as a "second generation protocol" for the treatment of cancer patients.
It is an accepted principle that when an immunogenic peptide is modified in a conserved manner (e.g., a hydrophobic amino acid is substituted with a hydrophobic amino acid) the modified peptide is likely to have similar immunogenic activity based upon the maintenance of the molecule's shape, charge and hydrophobic character.
More specifically, a study by Madden (33) has identified specific amino acid preferences in peptides for MHC-complexing, a precursor step to T cell recognition. Madden as well as other investigators (31) suggest that specific amino acid positions in peptides are available for T cell recognition.
Skipper et al. (40) describes the identification and characterization of a naturally-occurring peptide epitope of tyrosinase, wherein the peptide sequence differs from that which is predicted from the DNA. This modified peptide is recognized by tyrosinase-specific human cytotoxic T-lymphocytes ("CTL") more effectively than the direct translation product and is the only one of the two peptides to be presented by HLA-A2.1 molecules on the cell surface. The modification is a substitution of an asparagine with an aspartic acid. The authors propose that the asparagine is N-glycosylated in the endoplasmic reticulum during protein synthesis and is deamidated post-translationally.
In the case of CAP1, the primary and secondary anchors at positions 2, 9, and 1 are already occupied by preferred amino acids and so a different approach was taken to improve peptide immunogenicity by attempting to enhance its ability to bind to the TCR. It appeared to us that by altering amino acid residues expected to contact the TCR one could generate an analog of CAP1 with substitutions at non-MHC anchor positions. Such an analog might then represent a T cell enhancer agonist capable of stimulating CTL more efficiently than the native peptide. Previous results supported the concept that some peptide analogs could act as T cell antagonists by inhibiting responses to the antigenic peptide (23-29). Such inhibition was shown to be TCR specific and could not be explained by competition for peptide binding to the MHC protein. Analogously, a peptide enhancer agonist would be an analog that increased the effector function without accompanying increases in MHC binding. We therefore sought to increase CAP1 immunogenicity by analyzing panels of analogs containing single amino acid substitutions to residues we predicted would interact with the T cell receptor (TCR) of CAP1-specific CTL. The present invention relates to the construction of a novel T cell enhancer agonist for the CAP1 peptide, the first such example for a human CTL epitope.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Agonist peptides of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and nucleic acid sequences encoding the agonist peptides

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


A debris monitoring system includes a receptacle, a first and a second emitter, and a first receiver. The receptacle defines an opening to receive debris into the receptacle. The first and second emitter are each arranged to emit a signal across at least a portion of the opening. The first receiver is proximate to the first emitter to receive reflections of the signal emitted by the first emitter, and the first receiver is disposed toward the opening to receive an unreflected portion of the signal emitted by the second emitter across at least a portion of the opening.

Autonomous robots can perform desired tasks in unstructured environments without continuous human guidance. Many kinds of robots are autonomous to some degree. Different robots can be autonomous in different ways. An autonomous coverage robot can traverse a work surface without continuous human guidance to perform one or more tasks. In the field of home, office and/or consumer-oriented robotics, mobile robots that perform household functions such as removing debris from a surface (e.g., vacuum cleaning and floor washing) have been widely adopted.


A wireless sensor module for use in a wireless sensor network. The sensor module collects sensor data in a periodic manner with a first time period. The sensor data is logged in a non-volatile ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) within the sensor module. The sensor module is placed in a reduced power idle mode between sensor data collection periods, wherein the logged sensor data is preserved by the FRAM during the idle mode. A representation of the logged sensor data is transmitted over a radio channel to a remote receiver in a periodic manner with a second time period, wherein the second time period is longer than the first time period.

Remote wireless sensor networks may include sensor nodes spread out over a home, office building, or factory to help with energy management, comfort enhancement, security, diagnostics, and other applications.
Battery life is a key consideration when implementing a wireless sensor network as many battery-operated sensors may be in inaccessible locations. Additionally, changing batteries in a large number of sensor nodes poses huge operational and environmental costs. Radio power of these wireless nodes is a major cause of battery drain. RF standards such as ZigBee are popular in low data rate, low power applications. ZigBee and other low power RF standards use MAC and PHY layers defined by IEEE 802.15.4. An amendment to 802.15.4, called 802.15.4e uses a duty-cycled MAC (media access control) to reduce radio power consumption. Even if the radio is duty-cycled, it still consumes a majority of the current in the application. In a wireless sensor network, one of the driving parameters in the determination of battery lifetimes is the overall energy consumption during RF transmission. Transmitting large amounts of sensor collected data drives higher RF duty cycles, increasing the energy consumption of the system and reducing the overall battery lifetime of the wireless sensor network.
Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.


A multielectrode array with fault-tolerance for use in conjunction with a brain implantable device includes a sensor grid composed of a plurality of sensors, the plurality of sensors including primary sensors and spare sensors. The multielectrode array also includes signal processing circuitry associated with the plurality of sensors and a control system associated with the sensor grid for replacing faulty primary sensors with spare sensors.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fault-tolerant approach to monitoring and intervening with an implantable device in the neurological biosignaling of human patients suffering from disorders such as epilepsy and locked in syndrome. More particularly, the invention relates to a hardware redundancy based fault-tolerant multielectrode array for use with a brain implantable device for monitoring and intervening in the treatment of epilepsy or locked-in syndrome.
2. Description of the Related Art
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting 0.4% to 1% of the world's population. Sander J W A S: ILAE Commission Report The epidemiology of the epilepsies: Future directions. Epilepsia, 38(5):614-618, 1997. Pharmacology, the first line of treatment for epilepsy, is helpful for controlling seizures in approximately 64% of patients. Kwan P, Brodie M J: Early identification of refractory epilepsy. New England Journal of Medicine, 342(5):314-319, 2000. For the remaining approximately 10-20 million patients worldwide with uncontrolled seizures a second line of treatment, where available, is brain surgery [Engel J: Surgical treatment for epilepsy. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 300(21):2548-2550, 2008.], and a third line of treatment which has emerged in recent years is the use of brain implantable devices [Fisher R S: Therapeutic Devices for Epilepsy, Annals of Neurology, 71(2):157-168, 2012]. Currently brain implantable devices employ electrical stimulation to control seizures. Fisher R S, Handforth A: Reassessment: Vagus nerve stimulation for epilepsy. Neurology, 53(4):666, 1999; Fisher R, Salanova V, Witt T, et al.: Electrical stimulation of the anterior nucleus of thalamus for treatment of refractory epilepsy. Epilepsia, 51(5):899-908, 2010; Morrell M, RNS System Pivotal Investigators: Results of a multicenter double blind randomized controlled pivotal investigation of the RNS system for treatment of intractable partial epilepsy in adults. Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society (AES), 2009.
Other implantable devices under development seek to warn of an impending seizure, deliver drugs locally or cool the brain to control seizures. Epilepsy surgery may require multi-day intracranial monitoring of the brain to locate the source of seizures and brain implantable devices to control seizures require permanent monitoring of brain activity to detect or predict a seizure.
Parallel to this effort in epilepsy is an independent effort to develop a brain machine interface (BMI) to detect brain activity and typically activate an external actuator such as a robotic arm or make a decision. Lebedev M A, Nicolelis M A L: Brain machine interfaces: past, present and future. Trends in neurosciences, 29:536-546, 2006. In the BMI field the effort is primarily focused on detection and analysis of single unit or multi-unit activity and to a lesser extent on the measurement and analysis of the local field potential. Though there are differences between the epilepsy and BMI fields, there are also similarities in that both fields endeavor to measure neuronal activity directly from the brain and increasingly for a long period of time up to the life of the patient. There is also mounting evidence that the sensing solution in these efforts will involve increasingly larger numbers of electrode contacts which are often placed in a dense arrangement. Baker M: From promising to practical: tools to study networks of neurons. Nature Methods, 7(11):877-883, 2010. Rubehn B, Bosman C, Oostenveld R, et al.: A MEMS-based flexible multichannel ECoG-electrode array. Journal of Neural Engineering, 6(3):109-118, 2009.
The currently available as well as the proposed solutions for continuous real-time sensing of the electrical activity of the brain are all intolerant to faults. Lanning B, Joshi B, Kyriakides T, Spencer D, Zaveri H: Emerging technologies for brain implantable devices. Epilepsy: The Intersection of Neurosciences, Biology, Mathematics, Physics and Engineering, 2011. Edited by: Osorio I, Zaveri H P, Frei M G, Arthurs S. CRC Press. There are several aspects of an implantable sensing device which can fail. These include the reference electrode, sensors, signal conditioning and digitization circuitry, and computation, power and communication sub-systems. Faults which affect sensing can arise because of sensor failure due to mechanical stress on the sensor or the connecting wires during surgery to place electrodes or due to stress from changes in the brain and the surrounding milieu thereafter. Sensor failure can also arise because the foreign body response of the brain can result in encapsulation of a sensor due to gliosis. In case of erroneous behavior of the implanted sensors, the electrical activity at the site of the failed electrode contact will not be observed correctly, thereby impairing the purpose of the implanted device. For epilepsy surgery this may require the approximation of information from neighboring sensors if they exist. In the case of a seizure control device the failure of error free monitoring of the electrical activity of the brain may necessitate surgery to remove faulty sensors and implantation of a new set of sensors. While the initial surgery to place sensors carries a risk, surgery to replace sensors and a device can involve further risk with associated morbidity and mortality which remain to be determined but is expected to be equal to or greater than that of the surgery to place the first set of sensors.
It is the inventors' belief that reliable sensing of the human brain for an extended period of time necessitates fault-tolerant multielectrode array design to assure multielectrode array reliability. That is, fault-tolerance must be incorporated into the device architecture. Accordingly, the present invention provides two hardware redundancy based fault-tolerant solutions to manage intermittent and permanent faults. A permanent fault is one which exists indefinitely in absence of a corrective action while an intermittent fault is one which appears and disappears repeatedly.
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of prior systems, method and apparatuses by providing a brain implantable device composed of one or more multielectrode sensing arrays with fault-tolerant mechanisms. Two different embodiments are disclosed in accordance with the present invention for the provision of such a multielectrode array. The first embodiment is composed of rows or columns of spare sensor modules on the edge of or within the sensor grid of the multielectrode array. In accordance with the second embodiment, spare sensor modules in the multielectrode array are based on a defined geometry (interstitial redundancy). A reconfiguration solution is provided for both the spare row or column and the interstitial redundancy solutions. Finally, the efficacy of the present solutions is demonstrated through analytical and simulation determinations of the reliability of multielectrode arrays designed with row or column or interstitial redundancy.

Fault-tolerant multielectrode array for brain implantable device

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE


A mechanism/device (29) in association with a radiographic cassette (20) in which X-ray film (28) or the like is exposed. Upon exposure, an LED (39) continually blinks, indicating exposure to the user, thereby obviating double exposure of the film. A test and reset circuit (80) informs the user at any time of the operational status of device (29). Device (29) comprises a sensor (30), a photodiode (47), a conduit formed by a bundle (31) of optical fibers which conveys light energy from sensor (30) to photodiode (47) that converts it into an electrical current controlled by an electronic circuit (35) which includes LED (39). Circuit (35) includes a detecting and amplifying circuit (51), an oscillating circuit (68), a latching circuit (65) for maintaining blinking of LED (39), and the test-and-reset circuit (80).

Prior art teachings the disclosures of which go to X-ray film cassettes are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,703,272; 4,248,172; 4,394,772, and 4,903,288, hereby made of record. Okamato '772 discloses a cassette with a visual check to indicate whether it is loaded or unloaded. McAllister '288 qualifiedly discloses a cassette which when empty is suppose to show a blank indicator, with an X-ray film in it and not exposed is suppose to show a "spot" which indicates presence of film, and with the X-ray film in the cassette in an exposed condition is suppose to show an altered display locked onto the indicator by means of a latching circuit supposed to be energized by reason of a signal from a photocell accepting a light sensor's pulse. However, McAllister '288 does not disclose specific electronic or latching circuits, a means to test whether his device is or is not operational, or optical fiber conduit(s) between sensor and photodiode/electronic circuit.

Self-testing mechanism determining X-ray exposure


Methods, compositions and kits are disclosed. The compounds disclosed comprise an amphetamine moiety and a methamphetamine moiety linked together by a first linking group. A second linking group depends from the first linking group and comprises a functional group. The distance of the amphetamine moiety and the methamphetamine moiety from the point of linkage of the second linking group to the first linking group is approximately the same. The compounds may be linked to labels and used in assays for the detection of amphetamine and/or methamphetamine in samples suspected of containing these drugs.

This invention relates to methods, compositions and kits for detecting the presence and/or amounts of amphetamine and/or methamphetamine in samples suspected of containing the same. In particular, the invention relates to bivalent hapten conjugates comprising an amphetamine moiety and a methamphetamine moiety. The conjugate may be employed in assays for amphetamine and/or methamphetamine.
The clinical diagnostic field has seen a broad expansion in recent years, both as to the variety of materials of interest that may be readily and accurately determined, as well as the methods for the determination. Over the last decade, testing for drugs of abuse has become commonplace. This testing is not only for the monitoring of criminal offenders and drug addicts, but employers also use it for the screening of workers. In recent years, immunoassays based on the reaction of an antibody with an antigen have been extensively investigated for this purpose.
Typically, immunoassays employ an antibody whose structure recognizes an analyte in a specific manner. The immunoassay is conducted with a signal producing system that produces a detectible change in signal upon binding of the analyte to the antibody. Accordingly, when testing for an analyte in a sample, a detectible change in signal from that produced with a negative sample of a calibrator is taken as a positive result for the presence of that analyte in the sample.
Amphetamine and methamphetamine stimulate the central nervous system and have been used medicinally to treat hypotension, narcolepsy and obesity. Because of their stimulating effects, the drugs and derivatives have been abused. As a result, assays for the detection of amphetamine and/or methamphetamine in samples are of interest.
There is a problem when the aforementioned assay techniques are employed to assay for amphetamines in a sample suspected of containing amphetamine and/or methamphetamine. The problem arises because these assays employ a single antiserum or antibody that can recognize both amphetamine and methamphetamine. In order for this antibody to recognize both amphetamine and methamphetamine, it is necessary for it to be capable of recognizing a particular spatial and polar organization common to amphetamine and methamphetamine and to lack specific recognition of those structural features of amphetamine and methamphetamine that are different. Because such an antibody recognizes structural features that are common to both of these compounds but lacks specific recognition of the structural features that are different, it is able to recognize both compounds and the assay will produce a positive result for a sample containing amphetamine and/or methamphetamine. However, antibodies that recognize both compounds have been found to recognize molecules other than amphetamine and methamphetamine that share some but not all of the common spatial and polar features of amphetamine and methamphetamine.
The above problem was solved in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,135,863 and 5,328,828 (Hu, et al.), which disclose an immunoassay to determine the presence of amphetamines in a sample suspected of containing amphetamine and/or methamphetamine by employing four primary reagents. Two of these reagents are two conjugates, each comprised of a functionally similar label bound to an amphetamine analog and a methamphetamine analog, respectively. The other two reagents are an antibody to amphetamine and an antibody to methamphetamine.
There is, however, a need for assays for the detection of amphetamine and/or methamphetamine where the number of reagents employed is reduced from that mentioned above and the assay maintains the same level of sensitivity, specificity, speed and accuracy as the assay disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,135,863 and 5,328,828 utilizing four reagents.

Assays for amphetamine and methamphetamine


Air spring, in particular for a commercial vehicle, comprising a plunger piston, an air bellows, and a cover, said air bellows being movable between a first compressed position and a second extended position by a compressing or extending movement, wherein the air bellows has an axle-side region with a fixing portion for fixing on the plunger piston, and a body-side region, wherein the fixing portion is fixed between the cover and the plunger piston, and wherein the cover has at least one guiding portion on the cover circumferential edge, said guiding portion extending away from the body-side region and outwards over or beyond the fixing portion and being used as a support for the axle-side region.

Conventionally, a vehicle axle of a commercial vehicle comprises an axle body which on one side by means of at least one trailing arm forms an axle assembly and therefore is movably hinged on the vehicle frame and supported relative to the vehicle frame by means of a respective air spring arranged above or behind the crossing area of the axle body and the trailing arm. The air spring in turn comprises an air bellows arranged between a cover and a base plate, wherein for a mechanical coupling between the air bellows on the one hand and the axle assembly on the other hand there is provided a plunger piston which is arranged on the air bellows. At its axle-side region the air bellows is connected to the plunger piston, wherein an outer surface of the plunger piston serves as a rolling or unfolding surface for the air bellows so that a guided movement of the air bellows is ensured during operation when the plunger piston moves up and down.
However, such air springs are to a limited extent only suitable for crane and train loading since due to the weight of the axle, which will then hang below the vehicle, the air bellows is completely extended or unfolded without further support devices so that a negative pressure is generated in the air bellows relative to its surroundings. When the vehicle is set down, there is the danger that the air bellows folds towards the inside or tilts relative to the plunger piston or folds in and, hence, does not unroll or unfold along the plunger piston, as would be normal operation, which might lead to damage.
In order to avoid this problem, conventionally in crane and train loading the range of spring of the air spring is limited by means of a tensioning or gripping device attached to the vehicle frame, or a divided plunger piston is used. Alternatively, the air spring may also be designed such that the air spring is releasably connected to the body and, in the case of crane loading of the trailer, the air spring is separated from the body by means of a returning device, and by means of the returning device the cover, and thus the bellows as well, is held in a defined position relative to the plunger piston so that the bellows unrolls or unfolds along the plunger piston or is held in an unrolled or unfolded state.


A new interaction/input device for an augmented reality system is provided. In an augmented reality system using infrared video-based tracking, the interaction/input device is employed by placing markers, e.g., small disks, at a predetermined location in a scene viewed by a user which are augmented to simulate physical buttons. These augmented markers, as viewed through the augmented reality system, can then be physically manipulated by the user. The user will put their fingers on one of these markers, and in turn, the infrared video-based tracker will recognize this action and process it accordingly. The augmented reality system can also augment simulated menus in the user's view giving the user the necessary feedback for interaction. By exploiting conventional tracking technology, the interaction/input device can be implemented with minimal additional hardware and minimal additional processing required by the augmented reality system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to augmented reality systems, and more particularly, to input devices and methods for user interaction with an augmented reality system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Augmented reality is the technology in which a user's view of the real world is enhanced with additional information generated from a computer model, i.e., the virtual. The enhancements may include labels, 3D rendered models, or shading and illumination changes. Augmented reality allows a user to work with and examine the physical world, while receiving additional information about the objects in it. Some target application areas of augmented reality include computer-aided surgery, repair and maintenance, facilities modification and interior design.
In a typical augmented reality system, the view of a real scene is augmented by superimposing computer-generated graphics on this view such that the generated graphics are properly aligned with real-world objects as needed by the application. The graphics are generated from geometric models of both virtual objects and real objects in the environment. In order for the graphics and the real-world objects to align properly, the pose (i.e., position and orientation) and optical properties of the user and virtual cameras must be the same. The position and orientation of the real and virtual objects in some world coordinate system must also be known. The locations of the geometric models and virtual cameras within the augmented environment may be modified by moving its real counterpart. This is accomplished by tracking the location of the real objects and using this information to update the corresponding transformations of the geometric models within the virtual world. This tracking capability may also be used to manipulate purely virtual objects, ones with no real counterpart, and to locate real objects in the environment. Once these capabilities have been brought together, real objects and computer-generated graphics may be blended together, thus augmenting a dynamic real scene with information stored and processed on a computer.
Recent advances in both hardware and software have made it possible to build augmented reality (AR) systems that can run on regular desktop computers with off-the-shelf display and imaging devices. For example, the ARBrowser™ system, developed at Siemens Corporate Research, runs on a 400 MHz Pentium III machine. The system uses infrared video-based tracking technology, also developed at Siemens Corporate Research. This tracking technology considerably reduces the time required for tracking and pose estimation while maintaining the robustness and accuracy of the pose estimation. These advances allow the AR system to run on a regular computer without specialized display hardware at full frame rate, currently 30 frames per second (fps).
As the above-described advances in tracking speed and accuracy helped realize real-time augmentation, user interaction issues have become more visible. To fully realize the potential of AR systems, users need to interact with the systems and conventional methods, such as a keyboard and mouse, have proved to be very cumbersome. More advanced methods of interaction, i.e., speech driven methods, are hard to integrate with AR systems due to their inherent difficulties, such as "training" the speech driven system, and their large processing power requirements, which will hinder the running of the AR system resulting in lower frame rates and additional delays. Most augmented reality systems, currently being used and developed, are lacking easy-to-use, intuitive and effective means of interaction with the user.

Input devices for augmented reality applications


Systems and/or methods are described that enable a user to elevate his or her rights. In one embodiment, these systems and/or methods detect a task which is not authorized for a user account. Responsive to detecting the task, the embodiment presents a different user account that is authorized to allow the task and information relating to the task.

Generally, two types of accounts are used to log a user on to a computer's operating system. One has nearly unlimited rights, often called an administrator account, the other has limited rights, often called a standard user account.
Standard user accounts permit some tasks but prohibit others. They permit most applications to run on the computer but often prohibit installation of an application, alteration of the computer's system settings, and execution of certain applications. Administrator accounts, on the other hand, generally permit most if not all tasks.
Not surprisingly, many users log on to their computers with administrator accounts so that they may, in most cases, do whatever they want. But there are significant risks involved in using administrator accounts. Malicious code may, in some cases, perform whatever tasks are permitted by the account currently in use, such as installing and deleting applications and files—potentially highly damaging tasks. This is because most malicious code performs its tasks while impersonating the current user of the computer—thus, if a user is logged on with an administrator account, the malicious code may perform dangerous tasks permitted by that account.
To reduce these risks a user may instead log on with a standard user account. Logging on with a standard user account may reduce these risks because the standard user account may not have the right to permit malicious code to perform many dangerous tasks. If the standard user account does not have the right to perform a task, the operating system may prohibit the malicious code from performing that task. For this reason, using a standard user account may be safer than using an administrator account.
But the user may be prohibited from performing legitimate tasks—like installing a file known to be safe. To install this file, the user may need to switch to an account that has a right to permit the task. To do so with relative safety, the user may need to log off from the standard user account, log on to an administrator account, install the file, log off from the administrator account, and then log back on with the standard user account. This is disruptive.
To reduce this disruption, a user's rights may temporarily be elevated to permit a desired task. The user's rights may be elevated to those corresponding to rights held by an administrator account, for instance. In some cases, a dialog box pops up on the user's screen when an impermissible task is requested by an application. This dialog box often has two empty fields; one for typing in an account name (e.g., an administrator account) and another for typing in a password. Thus, a user may temporarily use the privileges of the selected account so that the task may be run to completion. Once the task is completed, the rights of the user may then return to those of his or her account such that these temporary privileges cease.
But to elevate his or her rights to perform a task, the user will often need to find or remember an administrator account name. This may be disruptive; a user may need to call someone to figure out the name, find some scrap of paper somewhere on which the user wrote it down some time ago, and the like. Also, the user may need to type the name in. Typing a relatively simple account name may, on its own, be a disruption. But many account names are complex, having a mix of letters, numbers, symbols, and lower- and upper-case characters. These names may cause a further disruption because they may require that the user type slowly and carefully. Thus, searching for and typing in an account name to elevate rights may disrupt the user's workflow on the computer, especially if the user needs to elevate his or her rights often throughout the day.

Task initiated account presentation for rights elevation


A process for the facile two-step synthesis of methanol from methane is disclosed. In accordance with the invention, an appropriate combination of initiator and reaction medium is employed to achieve methane conversion in very high selectivity and yield under near-ambient temperature.

Methane is by far the least reactive and the most abundant member of the hydrocarbon family with known reserves similar to that of petroleum. Thus, the selective oxidative functionalization of methane to useful chemical products in high conversion and selectivity is of considerable practical importance. Most of the work in this area has involved homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis by metal species. While there have been some notable successes, none of the systems have demonstrated the optimal combination of selectivity and yield that allows commercialization. Using potassium persulfate as an initiator, the present inventors demonstrate the sulfonation of methane in fuming sulfuric acid.


An optical scanning apparatus includes first and second light source units including respective light sources; a rotating polygon mirror that performs deflection scanning of laser beams emitted from the light sources included in the first and second light source units; and a positioning member including a first abutting portion on which the first light source unit abuts and a second abutting portion on which the second light source unit abuts, the positioning member positioning the first and second light source units. The first and second light source units are positioned by the positioning member and arranged next to each other in a rotation axis direction of the rotating polygon mirror. The positioning member is a single member disposed between the first and second light source units in the rotation axis direction.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical scanning apparatus included in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, such as a laser printer or a digital copier.
Description of the Related Art
An example of an optical scanning apparatus included in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is structured such that a plurality of light source units are supported in an optical box. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-268239 discloses a method for positioning and securing light source units when the light source units are arranged in a rotation axis direction of a rotating polygon mirror. FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a part of an optical scanning apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-268239. As illustrated in FIG. 14, a tunnel-shaped hollow region is formed in a side surface of an optical box 79, and a plurality of light source units 71K and 71M are arranged close to each other in the Z direction (rotation axis direction) in the hollow region. Positioning in the Z direction is achieved as follows. That is, the light source unit 71K is positioned by causing a cylindrical portion of a light source holder 72K to abut on an abutting portion 76K formed on a positioning unit 79a of the optical box 79. Similarly, the light source unit 71M is positioned by causing a cylindrical portion of a light source holder 72M to abut on an abutting portion 76M formed on a positioning unit 79b of the optical box 79.
Positioning in the main scanning direction (Y direction) is achieved by causing the cylindrical portions of the light source holders 72K and 72M of the light source units 71K and 71M to abut on the abutting portions 75K and 75M, respectively, of the optical box 79. The light source holders 72K and 72M are fixed to the optical box 79 by pressing the light source holders 72K and 72M against the abutting portions 75K, 75M, 76K, and 76M with springs 77 in directions shown by arrows U1 and U2.
In order for the abutting portions 76K and 76M to achieve sufficient positioning accuracy, the two positioning units 79a and 79b having the abutting portions 76K and 76M of the optical box 79 need to have certain thickness and strength so as not to easily deform when the light source units 71K and 71M abut thereon.
The positioning units 79a and 79b are disposed outside the light source units 71K and 71M, respectively, in the rotation axis direction of a rotating polygon mirror. Therefore, when the positioning units 79a and 79b of the optical box 79 are formed so as to have certain strength, the size of the optical box 79 in the rotation axis direction of the rotating polygon mirror is increased. As a result, the size of the optical scanning apparatus and the size of an image forming apparatus including the optical scanning apparatus are increased.

Optical scanning apparatus and image forming apparatus including the same


A new cultivar of Jamesbrittenia plant named ‘YASAL’ that is characterized by salmon-pink flowers, bushy habit, and fragrant green leaves. In combination these traits set ‘YASAL’ apart from all others existing varieties of Jamesbrittenia known to the inventor.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar known botanically as Jamesbrittenia and referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name 'YASAL'. The genus Jamesbrittenia has been split from the genus Sutera under which plants of Jamesbrittenia have hitherto been classified.
'YASAL' was selected by the inventor in 2000 from a formal breeding program conducted in a cultivated area of Congleton, Cheshire, England and aimed at producing new varieties of Jamesbrittenia that exhibit improved habit and new flower colors. The breeding program was established by the inventor in 1994.
'YASAL' is an induced hybrid which resulted from and was selected as a single plant from the cross-pollination of female and male parent seedlings. The female parent is derived from cross pollinated unidentified Jamesbrittenia sp. hybrids (unpatented) and the male parent is derived from cross pollinated unidentified Jamesbrittenia sp. hybrids (unpatented) none of which have been released. Within the parentage are exhibited both mound forming and upright habits. 'YASAL' is distinguishable from the parent plants by salmon-pink flower color and bushy growth habit.
'YASAL' exhibits a bushy habit and salmon-pink flowers that distinguish it from all other Jamesbrittenia known to the inventor. The closest comparison plants are Jamesbrittenia 'Yagepin' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,576) that exhibits pink flowers and Jamesbrittenia 'Yagero' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,574) that exhibits rose-colored flowers. 'YASAL' is unique and distinguishable from the comparison plants by salmon-pink flower color.
The first asexual propagation of 'YASAL' was conducted in June of 2000 by the inventor in Congleton, Cheshire, England. The method of propagation used was softwood cuttings. Since that time the unique characteristics of 'YASAL' have been found stable in successive generations.


An optical switch suitable for use in a ROADM of an optical network node having one or more optical fiber per direction, the fibers together carrying optical signals comprising up to N independent wavelength channels, is disclosed. The switch includes an Optical Cross-Connect (OXC) having F1 input ports and F2 output ports. At least one optical splitter, at least one optical combiner and at least two wavelength blockers are separately connected to the OXC, the input and output parts thereof defining ports of the OXC. The OXC is controllable to switch optical signals arriving at any of the F1 switch input ports to any of the F2 switch output ports via one or more of the optical splitters, wavelength blockers and/or optical combiners. A method for switching optical signals is also disclosed.

In optical data transmission, a signal to be transmitted is sent as a sequence of light pulses over an optical fiber to a photo detector which converts the optical signal into an electronic one for subsequent processing. The most straightforward method of data transmission is to provide a different optical fiber per transmission. However, the use of a different fiber per transmission is expensive and therefore various techniques were proposed to allow multiple signals to be transmitted over a single fiber. The two most common techniques are Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) and Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM).
In TDM, separate input signals are carried on a single fiber by allocating time transmission windows. The input signals are fed to a multiplexer which schedules use of the optical fiber so that each input signal is allowed to use the fiber in a specific time slot. At the receiver, synchronization techniques are used to ensure that the different input signals are sent on to the appropriate destination.
In WDM, the fiber is shared by sending each input signal at the same time, but on a different carrier wavelength channel, for example a first signal could be transmitted using a carrier wavelength of 1539 nm and another signal is transmitted using a carrier signal of 1560 nm.
All modern optical data transmission utilizes TDM, with core transmission additionally utilizing WDM. In core data transmission, individual signals rates of up to 100 Gbit/sec are achieved through the use of TDM; these individual signals are then multiplexed onto a signal fiber through WDM in order to further enhance the transmission rate.
Considering WDM in greater detail, a grid of wavelengths is specified by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) so that compliant equipment from different manufacturers can operate together. The ITU has specified a number of Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing grid sizes at 12.5 Ghz, 25 Ghz, 50 Ghz and 100 Ghz. 50 Ghz is currently the most popular channel and, using the DP-QPSK modulation format, it is possible to fit a 100 Gbit/s signal within a single channel in the 50 Ghz grid. However, research into optical transmission beyond 100 Gbit/s has shown that higher spectral efficiency formats have to be used, or the spectral width of the signals must be increased to support 400 Gbit/s or 1 Tbit/s transmission. Utilizing modulation formats with higher spectral efficiencies limits the distance the signal can propagate due to OSNR penalties, and increasing the spectral width means that the signal can no longer fit within the widely deployed 50 Ghz ITU grid. To overcome these problems, flexible grid or Flexgrid networks have been proposed. In this scheme, arbitrary sized wavelength blocks can be specified by the network owner, thereby accommodating new bit rate services.
In order to transmit signals by WDM, whether on the fixed grid or flexible grid network, two signals having different carrier wavelengths must be multiplexed onto the same optical fiber. Providing the carrier wavelengths are sufficiently different, the signals will not interfere with each other.
Optical fibers carrying the multiplexed signals meet other optical fibers carrying different multiplexed signals at a network node. A node generally consists of two parts: add/drop (A/D) and bypass routing. The add/drop component is arranged for dropping optical signals at certain wavelength channels for transmission to receivers associated with the node. The add/drop component is also arranged for adding optical signals at certain wavelength channels to the optical signals already carried on the optical fibers. In contrast, the bypass routing component is arranged for routing wavelength channels received via node input fibers to the correct node output fibers to enable onward transmission to the desired adjacent nodes. The input optical signals are demultiplexed into the individual wavelength channels by the bypass router, switched to the desired output and re-multiplexed for onwards transmission. The bypass routing component treats the individual wavelength channels separately: one wavelength channel may be routed through the node differently to another wavelength channel. One known component for bypass routing is a Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer (ROADM).
The above-mentioned nodes at which these fibers meet are classified according to the number of fiber directions that converge at that node. For example, if optical fibers deliver data to and from North, South and West then the node at which these fibers meet is a degree three node. Current telecommunications networks comprise a single optical fiber for data transmission in a given direction. It will be appreciated that six fibers converge at a degree three node if the network comprises a single fiber per direction: one fiber for data transmission from North, one fiber for data transmission to North, etc.
However, due to the ever increasing bandwidth demands on telecommunications networks, it is anticipated that multiple fibers in one or more directions will be required in the near future. Accordingly, many more fibers will converge at a node of a given degree. For example, a degree three node in a "multi-fiber" network may comprise six or more fibers. In a "multi-fiber" arrangement such as this, it is envisaged that a number of independent channels or superchannels will be spread across the multiple fibers, the number of channels or superchannels carried on any one of the fibers being variable in accordance with the optical spectrum and/or the network architecture.
It is envisaged that improvements to current node technology will be required in order to cope with the demand of multi-fiber networks. In particular, known bypass routing components typically demultiplex WDM optical signals via Wavelength Selective Switches (WSSs). These switches disperse optical signals by means of a diffraction grating or the like, which enables each wavelength channel within the optical signals to be treated differently, i.e. blocked or allowed to pass through the switch. A 1×N WSS enables any wavelength channel that is received by the switch to be output at any of the N output ports thereof. Whilst these known bypass routing components function effectively for single optical fiber inputs, it would be expensive to provide sufficient WSS capacity within a multi-fiber network. In particular, if the multi-fiber network is configured to transmit N independent wavelength channels or superchannels across F optical fibers then any one of the optical fibers could carry optical signals comprising N independent wavelength channels. Accordingly, F 1×N WSS switches would be required for demultiplexing the optical signals (i.e. one for every fiber) in order to cope with all possible wavelength channel distributions. Whilst it would be possible to construct a bypass router in this way, WSSs are expensive, particularly those having a large number of output ports.

BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY


A high-efficiency windmill includes an inner rotor having propellers for capturing wind blowing along a wind direction to push the inner rotor about an axis, and an outer rotor rotatable about the same axis independently of the inner rotor radially exteriorly of the inner rotor. The outer rotor is self-positionable in a rotor position about the axis in response to the wind direction. The outer rotor has an airfoil-shaped vane having a forward surface generally facing the wind in the rotor position, and a rear surface generally facing away from the wind in the rotor position. The rear surface creates a negative pressure zone by accelerating the wind across the rear surface. At least one of the propellers adjacent the airfoil-shaped vane in the rotor position is pulled by the negative pressure zone to assist the wind in pushing the propellers about the axis.

This invention generally relates to a windmill for capturing and converting the power of the wind to rotational mechanical energy especially to generate electricity and, more particularly, to increasing operational efficiency of the windmill.
Despite its variability, the wind has for a long time been a proven power source to drive mills, pumps, electrical generators and other devices and loads. A so-called horizontal axis windmill has an axis of rotation oriented generally parallel with respect to the surface of the Earth, and has a plurality of blades, vanes, buckets and like propellers rotating about a horizontal axis. The horizontal axis windmill is quite efficient as long as the axis of rotation is aligned with the wind direction. Out of practicality, the horizontal axis windmill is typically provided with means for changing the direction of the horizontal axis as the wind direction changes or has so-called sails of such size that a useful component of power can be derived even from winds of less favorable direction. Large, propeller-type, horizontal axis windmills are typically not built in areas where there is considerable wind turbulence, with quick changes in wind direction and force of the wind. Also, in populated areas, the large propeller-type windmills are generally not considered to be environmentally desirable, principally because of fear that the high-speed propellers may pose safety problems, and also because it has been discovered that the high-speed propellers of giant windmills often create eddies in the wind that travel considerable distances, rattling windows in houses and creating objectionable noise.
A second form of windmill, a so-called vertical axis windmill, has propellers arranged for unitary rotation about a central vertical axis oriented generally perpendicularly with respect to the surface of the Earth and, hence, is operated by wind from any direction. This vertical axis windmill is not as efficient as those with a horizontal axis, since half of the propellers captures the wind for a given wind direction, while the other half does not. Yet, the vertical axis windmill is advantageous in that it has a much lower cost of construction than the horizontal axis windmill; it operates at a much lower noise level that is more readily acceptable in populated areas than the horizontal axis windmill; and it can be locally erected on-site, for example, at one's house, thereby avoiding the need and expense for long-range transmission electrical power lines and step-up and step-down transformers typically used with the horizontal axis windmill.
To compensate for the lower efficiency of the vertical axis windmill, as well as to increase the efficiency of the horizontal axis windmill, the art has proposed using twisted propellers, but portions of these propellers do not work full-time. The art has also proposed adjusting the propellers according to wind speed and direction; however, such adjustable propellers typically do not well withstand high wind conditions. The art has still further proposed using external scoops to collect and channel more wind to the propellers; yet, this construction typically configures the propellers smaller than they would otherwise be. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to further increase the operational efficiency of both the vertical and the horizontal axis windmill without relying solely on these proposed constructions.


A firearm having a laser induced friction surface. A method for forming the laser induced friction surface on the firearm may includes the steps of disposing the laser machine adjacent to a component of the firearm, adjusting the laser machine, then applying the laser beam of the laser machine onto a component surface.

The various embodiments and aspects described herein relate to components for a firearm.
The firearm has a variety of surfaces that is gripped by a user.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method and device for mitigating slippage between the surfaces of the firearm and the user.

Laser induced friction surface on firearm


The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator with improved productivity and quality by using a planar heater. The refrigerator includes a main body having a storage compartment, a door rotatably coupled to the body to open and close the storage compartment, and a planar heater installed on the door to prevent dew condensation from being generated on the door, wherein the planar heater is formed in a film form to be attached to the door.

Generally, a refrigerator is a home appliance including a storage compartment for storing food and a cold air supply device for supplying cold air to the storage compartment in order to keep the food in a fresh state.
Refrigerators may be classified into several types depending on the type of storage compartment and door. A top mounted freezer (TMF) type refrigerator is a refrigerator of a type in which a freezing chamber is formed at an upper side thereof and a refrigerating chamber is formed at a lower side thereof by partitioning the storage compartment up and down using a horizontal partition wall, and a bottom mounted freezer (BMF) type refrigerator is a refrigerator of a type in which a refrigerating chamber is formed at an upper side and a freezing chamber is formed at a lower side thereof. A side by side (SMS) type refrigerator is a refrigerator of a type in which a freezing chamber is formed at one side thereof and a refrigerating chamber is formed at the other side thereof by partitioning the storage compartment left and right using a vertical partition wall, and a French door refrigerator (FDR) is a refrigerator of a type in which a refrigerating chamber is formed at an upper side thereof and a freezing chamber is formed at a lower side thereof by partitioning the storage compartment up and down using a horizontal partition wall, and at the same time the refrigerating chamber formed at the upper side is opened and closed by a pair of doors.
Because an inner temperature of a refrigerator is lower than a temperature around the refrigerator, dew forms on a portion where a temperature difference occurs due to opening of a refrigerator door.
In order to prevent such dew condensation, a temperature difference may be reduced by installing a heater at a portion where the temperature difference occurs. For example, a heater may be installed on an outer edge of a refrigerator door.
In a conventional refrigerator, a cord heater is installed on a door frame to prevent dew condensation from being generated on a door. Specifically, the cord heater is disposed between aluminum foil and the door frame and the aluminum foil is brought into close contact with the door frame, so that the cord heater may be installed on the door frame.
However, the cord heater has a circular cross-sectional shape, which may cause the aluminum foil to be lifted. When the aluminum foil is lifted, a foam liquid may permeate between the cord heater and the aluminum foil, which may significantly lower the heating efficiency and cause a deterioration in quality.
In addition, the cord heater installation process as described above requires a large number of workers and the work time increases, thereby lowering the productivity.
In addition, when the cord heater is installed on the door frame, the cross section of the cord heater is not flat, and thus the flowability of the foam liquid foamed inside the door frame may be lowered.
In addition, the cord heater has a relatively small contact area due to the non-flat cross section, which results in a relatively low heating efficiency.


When a user management server apparatus transmits session information to a user terminal apparatus operated by a user, and receives the session information from an electronic device via a network, the user management server apparatus registers a correspondence relationship between the user who operates the user terminal apparatus and the electronic device. A temporary registration server apparatus receives the session information from the user terminal apparatus and transmits the session information and address information on the network of the user management server apparatus which should be a transmission destination of the session information to the electronic device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to registration of an electronic device to a server.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, there is a system in which electronic devices such as an input device and an output device which do not have a network communication function are registered and managed in a server (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-305514).
In such a system, a terminal apparatus having a network communication function is connected to the electronic device, an ID of the electronic device is obtained from the electronic device and transmitted to the server, and the ID of the electronic device is registered in the server.

Registration of electronic device to server


The invention relates to cleaning devices adapted to sweep floors with an attached squeegee, and to methods of manufacturing such cleaning devices. In one embodiment of the invention, a squeegee blade may be molded out of a first material. Subsequently, a head member may be molded, out of a second material of greater hardness than the first material, to a first portion of the previously molded squeegee blade. Bristles and a handle may be attached to the head member.

There are existing cleaning devices, such as brooms, which are adapted to sweep floors and which also have attached squeegees allowing the user to squeegee a surface. Some of these existing cleaning devices are manufactured utilizing costly, timely, and/or difficult manufacturing processes. Moreover, some of the cleaning devices manufactured using the above referenced processes may have an excessive number of parts, may have durability issues, may utilize parts made of the same material when varying materials would be preferred, and/or may experience a variety of other problems.
There is a need for cleaning devices which are adapted to sweep floors and which also have attached squeegees, and for methods of their manufacture, which will reduce one or more of the problems encountered with one or more of the existing cleaning devices and/or methods of their manufacture.

Method of molding a cleaning device with a squeegee


Physiologically acceptable films, including edible films, are disclosed. The films include a water soluble film-forming polymer such as pullulan. Edible films are disclosed that include pullulan and antimicrobially effective amounts of the essential oils thymol, methyl salicylate, eucalyptol and menthol. The edible films are effective at killing the plaque-producing germs that cause dental plaque, gingivitis and bad breath. The film can also contain pharmaceutically active agents. Methods for producing the films are also disclosed.

In a more perfect world, people would thoroughly cleanse their mouths after each meal as part of their routine oral hygienic practices. Unfortunately, several factors conspire to prevent widespread compliance with this basic requirement of a good oral cleaning regimen.
Oral cleansing can be difficult or inconvenient at times, depending on the nature of the cleansing and the situation in which the cleansing must occur. Brushing, flossing, cleaning your tongue and gargling using a variety of devices and compositions well-suited for the privacy of one's home are common oral care practices. However, the devices and compositions used in oral cleansing practices are less convenient to use away from home, where bathroom facilities might be scarce, unavailable or unsanitary.
As brushing, flossing, cleaning your tongue and gargling in public are not considered to be socially acceptable behaviors in many, if not all cultures, a variety of less obtrusive oral cleansing products have been developed. These include breath-freshening gums and lozenges. Although gums and lozenges have been formulated to achieve a variety of beneficial effects, they are not always socially acceptable. For example, gum is expressly banned from certain institutions, such as schools as well as in certain countries, such as Singapore. Gums and mints are used over extended periods of time, and they require an amount of sucking or chewing action on the part of the consumer, which can be distracting, tedious and undesirable.
Another portable oral cleansing product is a mouthspray. Like a mouthwash, a mouthspray can provide the consumer with a quick burst of strong breath-freshening action, which might be overwhelming in an extended-consumption product like gum or lozenges. On the other hand, mouthsprays are obtrusive. Spraying a mouthspray typically generates a noise, which undesirably draws the attention of the public to the consumer. Moreover, mouthsprays are typically packaged in relatively expensive and complex metal canisters, which can clog in use and are not environmentally friendly. Furthermore, misdirecting the spray not only wastes the product, but can result in irritated eyes, a sticky face and/or stained clothing.
It has been proposed to use an edible film as a vehicle for unobtrusively delivering breath-freshening agents. See JP 5-236885. This Japanese patent application does not, however, teach the inclusion of antimicrobial agents in the film, using the film to decrease the amount of undesirable bacteria within the oral cavity, or stimulating saliva. Furthermore, this patent application does not disclose employing its film for purposes other than breath freshening or within cavities other than the mouth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,902 to Ozaki et al. (Hayashibara) discloses high pullulan content products, such as edible films, dentifrices and pharmaceuticals (column 3, lines 44-56 and Example B-8). The products can include a variety of ingredients in addition to pullulan, such as other polysaccharides, polyhydric alcohols, antiseptics and flavor-imparting agents (column 4, line 58 to column 5, line 11). None of the essential oils, such as thymol, eucalyptol, methyl salicylate or menthol, are mentioned as suitable ingredients.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,945 to Ozaki et al. (Hayashibara) discloses a pullulan binder and products produced therewith, including edible films (Example B-2). The products can include a variety of ingredients in addition to pullulan, such as other polysaccharides, antibacterial agents, flavor-imparting agents and pharmaceutically active substances (column 4, lines 5-15). None of the essential oils are mentioned as suitable ingredients.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,394 to Kubodera discloses glucomannan/polyhydric alcohol edible films, which can comprise pullulan (column 3, line 59 to column 4, line 21). The films are contrasted with existing pullulan-based films, which are said to lack resistance to water (column 1, lines 40-44). None of the essential oils are mentioned as suitable ingredients.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,390 Hijiya et al. discloses pullulan films and their use in coating and packing materials for foods, pharmaceuticals and other oxygen sensitive materials. All of the examples in this patent teach mixing pullulan in hot water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,394 Nakamura et al. discloses a gradually disintegrable molded article that can be a film made with pullulan. The articles contain a particular heteromannan, which can be locust bean gum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,020 Hijiya et al. discloses a process for producing a self-supporting film of a glucan, which can be pullulan.
Japanese Patent Document JP5-1198 discloses films made of polyvinyl alcohol and at least one of carrageenan, water-soluble cellulose alpha-starch and water-soluble polysaccharides.
WO 99/17753 discloses rapidly dissolving films for delivery of drugs to be adsorbed in the digestive tract.
WO 98/26780 discloses a flat, foil, paper or wafer type presentation for the application and release of active substances in the buccal cavity. The specific active ingredient disclosed in WO 98/26780 is buprenorphine.
WO 98/20862 discloses a film for use in the oral cavity that can contain a cosmetic or pharmaceutical active substance.
WO-98/26763 discloses a flat, foil, paper or wafer like presentation for release of active substances into the buccal cavity. The particular active disclosed is apomorphine.
Despite the existence of rapidly dissolving orally consumable films in the prior art, there is still room for improvement in such films, and in processes for making them.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.


A seat caddy for secure organization of personal items at a stadium event and having variable attachment means to permit it to be releasably attached to either the seat back or seat bottom of a standard stadium seat and a method for using same. In a first configurations the seat caddy is releasably attached to the seat back of the seat in front of the user using a strap that wraps around one or more of the horizontal slats of the stadium seat back. In a second configuration, the seat caddy is provided with a hook that hooks the caddy to the back edge of and across the top of the seat base of a stadium seat such that the caddy is disposed in a vertical position at the front edge of the seat base. The caddy contains pockets for holding personal items and that are held in a vertical position according to both methods for attaching the seat caddy to a stadium seat. The caddy is further designed to be waterproof and removable so that a spectator may keep his personal items organized across multiple stadium events.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for organizing, transporting and storing personal items, and more specifically, to devices for holding personal items at stadium events.
2. Description of the Background
Attending sporting events such as football and baseball is a common recreational activity or hobby for a large number of Americans. For many people, playing in or attending sports games has been a lifelong interest. During sporting events, many enthusiasts enjoy scorekeeping, collecting autographs, or collecting game-day booklets or other types of memorabilia to remember that particular game by or to collect statistics or souvenirs relating to a favorite player or team. Baseball games, for example, generate a wealth of statistics in addition to the number of runs scored in a given game, like RBIs, ERA, errors, saves, batting average, etc. Thus, for many years, many baseball enthusiasts make a hobby out of keeping score during games in which their favorite team plays, including keeping detailed track of all statistics earned by the team and each player, and often consider those records to be keepsakes akin to a baseball card collection or game ball. Often, the organizers or vendors at professional or semi-professional (or even club or amateur) sporting events will cater to an enthusiast's desire to keep track of game play or obtain mementos of the game by handing out player bios, custom scorecards, keepsake tchotchkes, or the like for fans to collect, carry with them and refer to during the game and/or take home afterwards.
Also for many people, attendance at sporting events is a full day or full afternoon outing during which the average attendee will need to carry important personal effects on his or her person or in a bag or organizer for the entirety of the outing. In these instances, it is often necessary to have certain personal items or documents organized such that they may be easily accessed by the user; i.e. a ticket stub ready to show to an usher or security guard when entering a stadium or when leaving and returning to your seat, reading or sun glasses, cellular phone, and pen-and-paper on which to make notes or keep statistics during the game or to obtain a player's autograph.
In a typical baseball or football stadium, the seating generally consists of individual, slatted plastic or metal chairs with a fixed back, fold-down seat, and in some cases, shared armrests. Although generally similar in many venues, the precise size, spacing and construction of the seating in different venues varies significantly. In many cases the underside of each seat is occupied by structural hardware for the seat itself or foot room for the occupant of the seat behind it such that there is little space for a fan to store personal items. Even when there is space underneath of a stadium seat to place personal belongings of the type that a fan normally brings to a sporting event, the area underneath a seat is often dirty, sticky, wet, or prone to being stepped or spilled upon such that scorecards or delicate souvenirs stored there are at risk of being soiled and ruined. Further, personal items stored under the seat are not quickly and easily accessible when a run is scored or personal article needed.
Accordingly, a device meant to contain and organize personal items in a readily accessible manner at a sporting event would be desirable. It is also desirable that such a storage device be removable so that event attendees can take the organizer with them to safeguard against leaving small items behind (a common occurrence when attendees are forced to store personal items underneath their seats and out of sight) and also to ensure that the frequent attendee who wants to ensure that certain items are brought to each event may keep those items organized in the device between events or throughout the sports season. Finally, it would be desirable that such a device be adaptable to be affixed in multiple modes to all manner and geometry of sporting arena seating so as to accommodate the variety of seating types and dimensions in different venues.
Prior art devices for holding small personal items are not well suited for use at sporting events or with bleacher-style chairs as described above. For example, U.S. Design Pat. No. 392,613 depicts an organization device meant to be draped over the armrest of a chair such as those in a recreational vehicle or on a boat. However, if the typical seats at a stadium event have any armrests at all, they are shared armrests with no lateral space between the armrest and the seat bed or between the armrest and the neighboring chair, such that use of the device described in the '613 patent would infringe on the personal space of the user's neighbor. In addition, any available armrests at most stadium events are narrow and often without the length to support a device of sufficient size to hold a useful number of personal items.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,463 discloses a "Sports Pack" that is attachable to the underside of a stadium-type seat through the use of elastic straps which wrap around and contact all sides of the seat base, including an integral seat cushion that covers the top of the seat base. This device is designed to hold personal items in a horizontal orientation, which is not generally conducive to organizing smaller personal items that might fall out of the device's one large pocket when the bag is turned on its side, and is capable of use only with a specific type of stadium seating due to the length of the straps and the fit of the bag and cushion on the surface area of the seat base. The cushion described therein may also prevent the standard fold-down stadium seat from fully or properly closing, such as when the user stands up to allow additional spectators to pass by. Moreover, the contents of the bag are not visible to the user in his seated position, and therefore are not quickly accessible as the user will be required to fish around underneath his seat in order to grasp any of them.
Therefore, what is needed is a removable device for storing small or delicate personal items at a public seated event, whose attachment means allows it to be quickly and easily attached to and removed from any seat of the type typically found at stadium events. The device would advantageously hold a user's personal items in clear view and in a vertical orientation, and comprise pockets to organize and secure small personal items for ready access. Moreover, such a device must not interfere with the personal space of any other attendees of the event nor with any walkway, ingress or egress from the seating area where other spectators may pass.


The invention relates to a device of ocular iontophoresis for delivering active substances, comprising a reservoir having an outer wall and a hollow body at least partly delimited by the outer wall, wherein the hollow body is capable of receiving an electrical conductive medium and active substances contained in the medium and has an outlet defining a surface, so-called “application surface”, intended to received a determine part of an eyeball surface, the application surface being at least partly limited by an outer line concave towards the optical axis of the eyeball, wherein the outer wall extends from the outer line with a global outwardly with respect to the said optical axis.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,137 describes a iontophoresis applicator applied on the orbit and not on the eye's surface and incorporating the current source. It does not propose means for keeping the eye's open and it is believed a large part of the product is also delivered into systemic circulation, due to a lack of precision in the placement of the device.
Iontophoresis devices in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,864 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,411 should suffer from the same drawbacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,016 discloses a device having a small application surface (diameter 1 mm), applied on sclera and allowing very high current densities (between 50 and 2000 mA/cm2) for "focal iontophoresis". These values should be toxic for concerned tissues, as confirmed in Maurice article in Ophthalmology (January 1986, vol 93, number 1) entitled Iontophoresis of fluorescing into the posterior segment of the rabbit eye.
Last, U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,671, discloses the principle of a device for delivering all kinds of active substances with safety and accuracy by iontophoresis, and answers then to most of the problematic of iontophoresis for ophthalmology.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,240 proposes an improvement of previous methods with a sealed reservoir applied on sclera (with a semi-permeable membrane on application face) under the eyelid. The semi-permeable membrane of this device is supposed to limit arcing effect between the electrode and the eye's surface that could occur due to the limited thickness and small surface of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,423 describes a device where the product is cast in a gel and applied on cornea.
All the previous devices are implemented for delivering substances through the cornea or the sclera, in order to reach some determinate tissues.
Nevertheless, there is a need to improve the efficiency and decrease the time of application of some therapies implemented by iontophoresis.
For example, the therapy of glaucoma by iontophoresis needs to be improved.
Glaucoma is characterized by elevated intraocular pressure (IOP also known as ocular hypertension).
Glaucoma is classified as "open-angle glaucoma", which results from decreased permeability of the aqueous humor through the trabecular meshwork, or as "angle-closure glaucoma" that results from shifting of the iris forward so that the anterior chamber angle is obstructed or congenital.
The congenital form of glaucoma rarely responds to therapy and is more commonly treated with surgery, but not by iontophoresis means.
It is known that elevated IOP can be at least partially controlled by administering drugs which either reduce the production of aqueous humor within the eye, such as beta-blockers or carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, or increase the outflow of aqueous humor from the eye, such as miotics or sympathomimetics.
These pharmacological approaches help restore the IOP to a normotensive state either by inhibiting the production of aqueous humor by the ciliary body, or facilitating trabecular or uveoscleral aqueous humor outflow.
To this aim, most of the drugs are administered topically (eye drops) to avoid associated systemic effects.
Although a wide variety of pharmaceutical treatments for lowering IOP are available for the glaucoma patient, these treatments are then limited either in terms of efficiency or side-effects.
Additionally, the previous iontophoresis devices are not specifically arranged for treating glaucoma.
A first object of the invention is to provide an ocular iontophoresis device which leads to an increase of the concentration of drugs delivered into the intraocular tissue, improving for example the treatment of glaucoma.
Another object of the invention is to reach the first object by providing a iontophoresis device arranged for decreasing the loss of medication before reaching the targeted tissues by limiting the risks of absorptions of the medication by intermediates and/or by increasing the guiding of the ionized medication, for then more sufficiently treating intraocular tissues.
Another object of the invention is to decrease the time necessary for administrating a determinate amount of substances while administering the same amount of active substances.


With the new roll of strip material supported in readiness and free to rotate about its own axis, the leading end of the strip is taken up and traversed in the direction of a successive work station by an aspirating roller, rotatable about an axis parallel to the axis of the roll, designed to attract and hold the strip before releasing it onto an aspirating conveyor belt by which the transfer to the work station is completed; the roller is capable of movement, piloted by a sensor positioned to detect the passage of the leading end, at least between a first operating position of tangential contact with the roll in which the roll is set in rotation and the leading end of the strip attracted and held, and a second operating position in which the strip is cut by a blade and the trimmed end then taken up by the aspirating belt and directed toward the successive work station.

The present invention relates to a device for taking up the leading end of a new roll of strip material and transferring it to a successive work station.
Italian patent application no 3334 A/83 discloses a machine capable of replacing a first roll of strip material with a second roll automatically, provided that the leading end of the new roll is arranged by hand previously in a prescribed take-up position.
If a higher level of automation is to be achieved, on the other hand, the machine must be capable of positioning the leading end of the new roll in the take-up configuration without manual assistance. In effect, there are various examples of apparatus in current use capable of performing this operation automatically.
A first apparatus of the general type in question, disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,007, comprises a rotating disk supporting a pair of rolls disposed mutually parallel and in diametrical opposition relative to the axis of the disk, a cutting device by means of which to break the seal of the new roll (typically, a sticker by which the leading end of the new strip is secured to the cylindrical surface of the roll), feed means by which the leading edge of the new strip is carried forward and positioned, and a station at which the leading end of the new strip is cut and spliced to the trailing end of the strip currently in use by relative devices. The rolls themselves, one normally in use and the other standing by as its replacement, can be driven about respective axes disposed parallel to the axis of rotation of the supporting disk, turning in both directions concurrently with feed and positioning means that consist in a plurality of mini-conveyor belts positioned with one end beneath the new roll.
The cutting device, positioned beneath and in close proximity to the new roll, comprises a first swing arm rotatable about an axis parallel to that of the disk and carrying a roller designed to enter into tangential contact with the roll, means by which to sense the sticker, and a second swing arm pivotably associated with the first swing arm, rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the axis of the disk and carrying a blade capable of motion in a plane substantially tangential to the new roll in such a way as to intercept and sever the sticker. The splicing device, which extends from the end of the mini-conveyor belts remote from the new roll, comprises a bar capable of swinging transversely to the direction of movement of the belts. Such a bar exhibits a plurality of holes connected to a source of negative pressure and is capable of movement, produced by respective supporting arms, between a lowered receiving position, in which the surface of the bar functions as an extension of the conveyor belts, and a raised operating position in which the leading end of the strip taken up from the new roll is pressed, together with the trailing end of the strip uncoiled from the depleted roll, against a heated reaction bar. The device further comprises a cutter, positioned alongside the heated reaction bar, by which the depleted strip is intercepted at a point preceding this same bar in relation to the direction followed by the running strip.
At the moment when a roll change occurs, the first arm is rotated to bring the roller and the blade into contact with the surface of revolution of the new roll, the sensing means are activated, and the new roll is set in rotation concurrently with its coiling direction and with the blade skimming the surface. As the sticker is detected by the sensing means, the direction of rotation of the new roll is reversed; the sticker then rotates back toward the cutting edge of the blade, which penetrates between the leading end of the strip and the coil beneath. The activation of the second swing arm now causes the blade to cut through the sticker and free the leading end of the strip whereupon the first arm is returned to its at-rest position, distanced from the roll, and the roll is rotated further in the uncoiling direction. At the same time, the conveyor belts are set in motion, running concurrently and synchronously with the rotation of the roll, in such a way that the roll gradually uncoils and the leading end of the strip is supported and advanced by the belts until encountering further sensing means. Next, the direction of movement both of the conveyor belts and of the roll is reversed in order to position the leading end of the strip correctly on the splicing bar, suction is generated to ensure the stable retention of the strip against the bar, and the splicing bar is raised to a position of interaction with the heated reaction bar, which proceeds to unite the leading end of the new strip with the trailing end of the strip in use. Finally, the cutter is activated to trim off the end of the depleted strip.
In a second apparatus of similar type, disclosed in German patent application no. 35 38 893, the leading end of the new roll of strip is fastened with dabs of gum rather than by a sticker. This apparatus comprises means for separating the gummed surfaces and then holding and advancing the leading end of the new roll; such means consist in a penetrating gripper with two spring loaded jaws, one of which exhibiting a tapered end designed to function as a scraper, the other interacting with the tapered end of the first. More exactly, the first jaw affords a seating to receive one end of the second jaw, of which the relative springs ensure that the first jaw is maintained in a given position.
The penetrating gripper is capable of movement between a first position in which the new roll of strip material, carried by a rocker arm together with the roll in use, is moved into contact with the first jaw, and a second position in which the leading end of the new strip is transferred by the gripper to a device that holds the strip and feeds it on to a successive device by which the leading end is spliced to the trailing end of the depleted strip. At the moment of a changeover, the new roll is moved alongside the penetrating gripper, which will be stationary in the first position, and then set in rotation about its own axis in the uncoiling direction. The first jaw of the gripper continues to occupy the same position until its tapered end, riding against the surface of revolution of the new roll, encounters the leading end of the strip. At this point, the slender edge of the jaw slips under the gummed leading end of the strip and detaches it, levering against the force of the springs which maintain the normal configuration of the gripper. Thereupon, the second jaw snaps against the first, under the action of the relative spring, thereby restraining the leading end of the new strip. The gripper then moves to the second position, where the end of the strip is transferred to the hold and feed device.
The types of apparatus described above are somewhat complicated, structurally and functionally. The object of the present invention is to provide a device of the type in question, such as will ensure simplicity and economy both in construction and in operation.

Device for taking up the leading end of a new roll of strip material and transferring it to a successive work station


An ink includes a jettable vehicle including a surfactant, and a color component dispersed in the jettable vehicle. According to one exemplary embodiment, the jettable vehicle exhibits a froth half life of less than 100 minutes.

Ink-jet printing has become a popular way of recording images on various media surfaces, particularly paper, for a number of reasons, including, low printer noise, capability of high-speed recording, and multi-color recording. Additionally, these advantages of ink-jet printing can be obtained at a relatively low price to consumers. Though there has been great improvement in ink-jet printing, improvements are followed by increased demands from consumers for higher speeds, higher resolution, full color image formation, increased stability, etc.
As new ink-jet inks and print engines are developed, several traditional characteristics are considered when evaluating the ink in conjunction with a printing surface or substrate. Such characteristics include edge acuity and optical density of the image on the surface, gloss, black to color bleed control, dry time of the ink on the substrate, adhesion to the substrate, lack of deviation in ink droplet placement, presence of all dots, resistance of the ink after drying to water and other solvents, long term storage stability, and long term reliability without pen material degradation or nozzle clogging. The long term reliability without material degradation or nozzle clogging becomes even more important with the advent of print engines that eject smaller drop volumes.
Under certain circumstances, ink formulations may become frothy, degrading the desired ink-jet characteristics. For example, if an ink becomes frothy, precise ink placement may be compromised, ink level readings in the ink reservoir may be inaccurate, and nozzle damage may occur.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.