US08928866B2

A velocity measuring device emitting a laser beam at a web; a photodiode converting an optical output of the laser into an electric signal; a laser driver operating the laser to alternate a first emitting interval wherein the oscillating wavelength increases and a second emitting interval wherein the oscillating wavelength decreases; a current-voltage converting/amplifying portion converting the electric current from the photodiode into a voltage; a filter portion removing a carrier wave from the output of the current-voltage converting/amplifying portion; a signal extracting portion calculating a number of interference waveforms in the output of the filter portion; and a calculator calculating the velocity of the web based on the result of the extracting portion. The laser driver operates so the absolute values for the rates of change, in respect to time, of the oscillating wavelengths during the first emitting interval and during the second emitting interval are different.
US08928864B2

A portable hand held tank gauge for measuring a level or a volume of a fluid in a tank comprises a housing, a signal transceiver, a measurement activator, an adjustable arm, a processing element, and a display. The housing may house a portion of the other components. The signal transceiver may transmit a signal to the surface of the fluid, receive the signal reflected from the surface, and generate an output based on the difference in time between transmitting the signal and receiving the signal. The measurement activator may selectively initiate the signal transceiver to transmit the signal. The adjustable arm may couple to the housing and position the signal transceiver independently from the housing. The processing element may calculate the level or the volume of the fluid based on the output from the signal transceiver. The display may display the level or the volume of the fluid.
US08928863B2

A system for providing a sliced optical pulse is disclosed. The system can comprise a master oscillator (MO) configured to generate an optical pulse at a first spectral bandwidth. The system can also comprise a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) configured to slice the optical pulse to generate a sliced optical pulse that has a second spectral bandwidth. The second spectral bandwidth can be smaller than the first spectral bandwidth.
US08928861B2

A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam; a support constructed to support a patterning device, the device being capable of imparting the beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate; a stage system to position the table relative to a reference structure; a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate; an optical measurement system including a sensor part and an optical part, the optical part being configured to optically interact with the patterned radiation beam and to transmit a result from the interaction as output to the sensor part, wherein the optical part is arranged on the table, and the sensor part is arranged on the stage system or the reference structure.
US08928856B2

An exposure apparatus for forming a predetermined pattern on a substrate by using exposure light, includes a stage apparatus which is movable with respect to an optical axis of the exposure light; a light-transmissive member provided at the stage apparatus, wherein a liquid is supplied on an upper surface of the light-transmissive member; and a measurement device which is settable below the light-transmissive member when measurement using the measurement device is performed. Leakage or entrance of a liquid used for exposure into an optical measurement device such as a wavefront aberration measurement device can be prevented, thereby enabling preferable optical adjustment such as imaging performance or optical characteristics.
US08928854B2

A liquid crystal lens structure and an electrical controlling liquid crystal glasses structure are disclosed. The liquid crystal lens structure includes first electrode layer, compositing layer, second electrode layer and third electrode layer. The compositing layer includes first alignment layer, first liquid crystal layer, including thin-film layer, second liquid crystal layer and second alignment layer. The first alignment layer is disposed on the first electrode layer. The first liquid crystal layer is disposed on the first alignment layer. The compositing thin-film layer includes liquid crystal and polymer material and the compositing thin-film layer is disposed on the first liquid crystal layer. The second liquid crystal layer is disposed on the compositing thin-film layer. The second alignment layer is disposed on the second liquid crystal layer. The second electrode layer is disposed on the second alignment layer. The third electrode layers are disposed on the second electrode layer.
US08928843B2

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical unit and a backlight unit which can markedly enhance utilization efficiency of rays of light and dramatically increase luminance, and which are suited for immediate beneath type liquid crystal display modules and the like. The optical unit of the present invention is a rectangular layered structural member having a reflection polarizing plate, an optical sheet superposed on the back face side of the reflection polarizing plate, and a transparent media layer filled between the reflection polarizing plate and the optical sheet. This optical sheet includes a resin substrate film having an optical anisotropy, and the absolute value of the angle of the crystal orientation of the substrate film with respect to the transmission axial orientation of the reflection polarizing plate is π/8 or greater and 3π/8 or less. The retardation value of the substrate film is preferably 70 nm or greater and 320 nm or less. The optical sheet preferably has an optical layer laminated on one face of the substrate film. The liquid crystal display module of the present invention has a liquid crystal display element, the optical unit, and an immediate beneath type backlight.
US08928840B2

The invention provides an LCD module and an LCD device. The LCD module includes a backlight module, and an LCD panel arranged above the backlight module; the backlight module includes a backplane, and an optical film(s); a side wall(s) of the backplane is provided with a limit structure which is integrated with the backplane, and the edge of the LCD panel is butted on the limit structure. In the invention, because the corresponding limit structure is arranged on the side wall of the backplane to limit the degree of freedom of the LCD panel in the plane direction of the panel surface, the rubber frame is not required to limit the degree of freedom of the LCD panel in the plane direction of the panel surface; thus, the structure of the rubber frame is simplified, the material of the rubber frame is saved, and the processing cost is saved.
US08928825B2

The invention relates to a phase-modulating light modulator and to a method for ensuring a minimal amplitude modulation in phase-modulating light modulators, wherein the phase-modulating light modulator comprises an optically active layer with at least one optically active volume region and with boundary surfaces, wherein the optically active layer is assigned at least one transparent compensation volume region which comprises at least one birefringent material with fixed refractive index ellipsoids, and has a polarizer arranged on the output side. An object is to achieve a reduced angle-dependence of the averaged amplitude modulation in the observation angle region. The object is achieved by optimizing the orientation with respect to one another of the refractive index ellipsoids of the optically active layer and of the compensation layers in a simulative manner.
US08928817B2

An image apparatus and a method for receiving a video signal are provided. The image apparatus includes dedicated input terminals for receiving only particular video signals, and a common input terminal for receiving diverse video signals, and determines the format of video signals input through a corresponding input terminal and then displays the determined format on a screen. Accordingly, the number of input terminals can be reduced and the user can identify the format of the video signal input through the common input terminal.
US08928804B2

Disclosed are various embodiments directed to transcoding a bit stream in parallel. A bit stream may be divided into a plurality of segments, where a plurality of transcoders encode at least a portion of the segments in parallel. If encoding is performed using variable bit rate (BR) encoding, each encoder may encode a segment and vary a BR for the segment. A measured average BR is compared with a target average BR to determine whether to adjust a video quality level (VQL) or any other encoder parameter. A relatively constant subjective quality may be maintained using variable BR encoding while achieving a target average BR. When using constant BR encoding, a VQL or other encoder parameter is used by encoders to achieve relatively constant subjective quality. For example, a relatively continuous quantization parameter between adjacent encoded segments may be achieved.
US08928789B2

A solid-state imaging apparatus comprising a plurality of pixels generating a photoelectric conversion signal, a column amplifying unit corresponding to columns of the pixels, for outputting a first and second signals generated by amplifying the photoelectric conversion signal at a smaller first gain and larger second gain respectively, an analog to digital converter (21) for converting the first and second signals from an analog signal to a digital signal, a comparing unit (224) for inputting the digital signal from the analog to digital converter, level-shifting into the same gain level the first and second signals converted by the analog to digital converter, and thereafter detecting a gain error between the level-shifted first and second signals, and a correction unit (226) for correcting the first and second signals based on the gain error.
US08928785B2

An imaging apparatus and image capture program are provided that enable an image processing section compatible with a Bayer array to be employed without modification even in cases in which an image pickup device is employed that is provided with a color filter of an array other than a Bayer array.An imaging apparatus (10) includes a color filter (30) having repeatedly disposed 6×6 pixel basic array patterns C, a drive section (22) that drives an image pickup device (14) so as to thin and read pixel data only of pixels on lines at predetermined positions in the vertical direction, and a pixel conversion processing section (18) that converts pixel data of each line thinned and read from the image pickup device (14) into Bayer array pixel data that is in a Bayer array pattern.
US08928784B2

A solid-state imaging device includes: a pixel region in which a plurality of pixels composed of a photoelectric conversion section and a pixel transistor is arranged; an on-chip color filter; an on-chip microlens; and a multilayer interconnection layer in which a plurality of layers of interconnections is formed through an interlayer insulating film. The solid-state imaging device further includes a light-shielding film formed through an insulating layer in a pixel boundary of a light receiving surface in which the photoelectric conversion section is arranged.
US08928779B2

An image pickup apparatus includes a detection unit in which a matrix of pixels converts radiation or light into analog electrical signals, a reading circuit configured to perform signal processing operation by reading the analog electric signals on a row-by-row basis, an A/D converter configured to convert a pixel signal output from the reading circuit into pixel data, and a correction processing unit configured to correct the pixel data. A control unit performs control processing so that the reading circuit outputs reset signals to the A/D converter in a period in which the signal processing operation of a predetermined row is performed, the A/D converter converts the reset signals into pieces of reset data in the period, and the correction processing unit averages the pieces of reset data output from the A/D converter and performs subtraction with the averaged reset data and the pixel data output from the A/D converter.
US08928775B2

A method and an apparatus are provided for processing an image of an image signal projected through a digital camera lens. The apparatus includes an image sensor module to transform an optical signal projected through the digital camera lens into an electric signal, to generate and output an image signal. The apparatus includes a light receiving module to receive a light source, wherein the light receiving module is disposed close to the image sensor module. The apparatus also includes a light source characteristic detector to detect a frequency of the light source received by the light receiving module. The apparatus further includes an auto color adjustment controller to identify a kind of light source based on the frequency of the light source, and control a white balance gain of the image signal based on the kind of the light source.
US08928769B2

High-bit depth sensors often capture more information then can be displayed on a commercially available display. Due to this, image processing systems and methods are disclosed to ensure that as much information as possible is presented to a user in a meaningful and statistically significant manner. The image processing systems and methods disclosed herein allow a user to view and process data that would otherwise be invisible to the user.
US08928768B2

An image processing device includes: an evaluation unit that evaluates a plurality of images by designating predetermined image characteristics as an evaluation index; an image processing unit that executes image processing, which will affect the evaluation index, on at least one image among the plurality of images; and an image selection unit that selects an image with superiority in an evaluation value calculated in correspondence to the evaluation index, among the plurality of images evaluated by the evaluation unit by factoring in application of the image processing by the image processing unit.
US08928762B2

In an embodiment, when a sleep mode is turned off, if vibration less than a limit value occurs, the sleep mode is turned on and a hand shake correction unit is turned off so that power consumption may be reduced. Moreover, when the sleep mode is turned on, if vibration greater than a limit value occurs, the sleep mode is turned off and the hand shake correction unit is turned on so that an image blur does not occur. In another embodiment, when the sleep mode is turned off, if vibration less than a limit value occurs, the hand shake correction unit is turned on in the state where the sleep mode is turned on and a HPF is turned on so that an image blur is prevented from occurring due to a shock caused by pushing a release button or shock caused by opening or closing a shutter.
US08928756B2

A surveillance video router routes digital video streams to video receiving devices. The surveillance video router is coupled to a packet-switched network to enable communication with the video receiving devices and to receive respective digital video streams captured by remote surveillance cameras. The surveillance video router receives a request to route a first digital video stream generated by a first remote surveillance camera to a first video receiving device and then routes the first digital video stream to the first video receiving device via the packet-switched network.
US08928755B2

An apparatus includes a setting unit for setting a virtual viewpoint; a determining unit for determining an undefined area in which an object distance cannot be defined in a virtual image of the virtual viewpoint, from image data of a plurality of images photographed by a plurality of photographing units placed at different positions; a correction setting unit for setting an amount of correction of a position of at least one of the photographing units from the undefined area; and a generating unit for generating the image of the virtual viewpoint from image data of a plurality of images photographed by the plurality of photographing units placed at positions that are corrected in accordance with the amount of correction.
US08928750B2

An airborne reconnaissance system which comprises: (a) A focal plane array positioned at a focal plane of an optical unit, said focal plane array having an area A, and comprises a plurality of optical pixels sensitive to light; (b) Optical unit for acquiring light rays from a terrain portion, said optical unit comprises a plurality of optical components that are positioned along an optical path, and designed to maneuver said light rays to produce at the focal plane an image of said terrain portion, said image having an area which is several times larger than the focal plane array area A; (c) At least one light diversion optical component along said optical path which, for each acquired terrain portion image, switches between several n states, thereby causing in each state different diversion of said light rays within said path, thereby to impinge in each state another fraction of the terrain image on said focal plane array; and (d) Capturing means for recording in each state of the at least one light diversion optical component the portion of the terrain image which is impinged on the focal plane array.
US08928745B2

3D stereoscopic viewing enabled by the use of a fast switching speed LCD panel, dynamic backlight, and low cost glasses. The system utilizes an LCD panel with an LED backlight and wavelength selective glasses to isolate each channel by color. The system is based on alternating left and right image frames on an LCD panel. The left and right frames are illuminated by two slightly different red-green-blue light sources that are synchronized sequentially. The light sources are designed to emit light of different spectral composition. The viewer wears glasses where the left lens or filter passes only the spectrum of light used for the left channel of data, and the right lens or filter passes only the spectrum of light used for the right channel of data.
US08928742B2

A display apparatus, display method, image processing apparatus, and image processing method which are capable of allowing a stereoscopic image to be recognized exactly by a left eye and a right eye. The display apparatus includes: an image signal receiving unit which receives an image signal; an image signal processing unit which generates a scanning signal for scanning a left eye image signal and a right eye image signal of the image signal alternately and for scanning a part of the left eye image signal or a part of the right eye image signal between a section for scanning the left eye image signal and a section for scanning the right eye image signal; and an image output unit which displays the image signal according to the scanning signal.
US08928737B2

A method of operating a camera with a microfluidic lens to identify a depth of an object in image data generated by the camera has been developed. The camera generates an image with the object in focus, and a second image with the object out of focus. An image processor generates a plurality of blurred images from image data of the focused image, and identifies blur parameters that correspond to the object in the second image. The depth of the object from the camera is identified with reference to the blur parameters.
US08928724B2

VoIP calls associated with VoIP applications installed on a mobile computing device are treated similar to calls not associated with installed VoIP applications. VoIP applications invoke the same native incoming call user interface that is invoked when a mobile device detects an incoming call that is not associated with an installed VoIP application. Mobile devices can simultaneously host a VoIP call and a call not associated with an installed VoIP application while a mobile device is locked. A reduced call user interface is displayed while a mobile device is simultaneously hosting multiple calls. Selection of the reduced call user interface causes the mobile device to make the active call the inactive call and vice versa. The reduced call user interface is managed by the mobile device operating system.
US08928723B2

A mobile terminal capable of recognizing at least one of the presence or absence of a user and a location of the user are provided. The mobile terminal includes: a terminal main body; a user tracking unit configured to recognize at least one of the presence or absence of a user and a location of the user within a certain range based on the terminal main body; and a controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling a function of the terminal based on at least one of the presence or absence of the user or the user location.
US08928716B2

An optical scanning device includes: a light source device that emits five light beams corresponding to four basic colors and a single specific color; and five scanning optical systems corresponding the five light beams. One light beam in a first waveband among the light beams corresponding to the four basic colors enters one scanning optical system of the five scanning optical systems. The one scanning optical system includes a dichroic mirror that transmits a light beam in a second waveband different from the first waveband. An angle θb formed between a normal to the incidence plane of the dichroic mirror and orthogonal projection to an assumed plane orthogonal to the main scanning corresponding direction of the incident path of the light beam to the incidence plane of the dichroic mirror is set at an angle of 0° or more and an angle of 45° or less.
US08928714B2

A semiconductor laser driver to drive at least one semiconductor laser, the semiconductor laser including a storage device, an emission-intensity setting device, and a drive circuit. The storage device stores emission-intensity switching data to control light-emission intensity of the semiconductor laser, the emission-intensity setting device sets the light-emission intensity based on the emission-intensity switching data stored in the storage device, and, the drive circuit generates a driving current to drive the semiconductor laser based on the light-emission intensity set in the emission-intensity setting device.
US08928710B2

According to the embodiments, there is provided an image forming apparatus and an image erasing apparatus. The image forming apparatus forms, on a recording medium, an image showing the color material information about the erasing temperatures of a plurality of erasable color materials used for forming an image to be printed together with the image to be printed. The image erasing apparatus heats the plurality of erasable color materials to the highest erasing temperature or higher in the different erasing temperatures of the erasable color materials forming the image printed on the recording medium in order to erase the erasable color materials forming the image.
US08928708B2

An object is to suppress crosstalk. A display device includes a pixel portion which includes a first display region, a second display region, and a non-light-emitting region provided between the first display region and the second display region; and a parallax barrier which includes a first light control region, a second light control region, and a light-transmitting region provided between the first light control region and the second light control region. The first light control region overlaps with the first display region, the second light control region overlaps with the second display region, and the center of the width of the light-transmitting region overlaps with the non-light-emitting region.
US08928706B2

A low-resolution image is displayed at high resolution and power consumption is reduced. Resolution is made higher by super-resolution processing. Then, display is performed with the luminance of a backlight controlled by local dimming after the super-resolution processing. By controlling the luminance of the backlight, power consumption can be reduced. Further, by performing the local dimming after the super-resolution processing, accurate display can be performed.
US08928705B2

A liquid crystal display having common voltage compensation mechanism includes a liquid-crystal capacitor common electrode for receiving a liquid-crystal capacitor common voltage, a storage capacitor common electrode for receiving a storage capacitor common voltage, a common voltage generator for providing the liquid-crystal capacitor common voltage according to a preliminary common voltage, a common voltage compensation circuit electrically connected to the liquid-crystal capacitor common electrode and the storage capacitor common electrode, and a timing controller electrically connected to the common voltage compensation circuit. The common voltage compensation circuit is utilized for generating the storage capacitor common voltage through performing a ripple inverting operation according to the liquid-crystal capacitor common voltage, the preliminary common voltage and a compensation control signal. The timing controller is employed to analyze an image input signal for generating the compensation control signal.
US08928702B2

A display device includes first and second scanning lines, first and second signal lines, first to fourth thin-film transistors, and first to third pixel electrodes. The first and second signal lines are arranged to intersect with the first and second scanning lines. The first thin-film transistor is connected to the second scanning line and the first signal line. The first pixel electrode is connected to the first thin-film transistor. The second thin-film transistor is connected to the first scanning line and the first pixel electrode. The second pixel electrode is connected to the second thin-film transistor. The third thin-film transistor is connected to the first scanning line and the second pixel electrode. The third pixel electrode is connected to the third thin-film transistor. The fourth thin-film transistor is connected to the second scanning line, the third pixel electrode, and the second signal line.
US08928700B1

Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to a technique for generating simultaneous zoom in windows on a touch sensitive device. A first portion of the user content is zooming into by touching the display screen in a proximity of the first portion using the touch input device while retaining an original zoom size of a first remaining portion of the user content. A second portion of the user content from the first remaining portion is zoomed into by touching the display screen in a proximity of the second portion using the touch input device while retaining a zoomed in first portion and an original zoom size of a second remaining portion of the of the first remaining portion, the original zoom size of the first and the second remaining portions being the same.
US08928695B2

Computationally implemented methods and systems include presenting a first augmented view of a first scene from a real environment, the first augmented view to be presented including one or more persistent augmentations in a first one or more formats, the inclusion of the one or more persistent augmentations in the first augmented view being independent of presence of one or more visual cues in the actual view of the first scene from the real environment, obtaining an actual view of a second scene from the real environment that is different from the actual view of the first scene, and presenting a second augmented view of the second scene from the real environment, the second augmented view to be presented including the one or more persistent augmentations in a second one or more formats that is based, at least in part, on multiple input factors.
US08928690B2

Provided herein is a method for implementing antialiasing including independently operating different portions of a graphics pipeline at different sampling rates in accordance with pixel color details.
US08928688B2

A dithering method and associated apparatus is provided. The method synthesizes a dither pattern including a plurality of elements. At least two of the plurality of elements are of a same value, and at least two of the elements of the same value respectively associate with different driving polarities to prevent flickering. While sub-pixel data of a sub-pixel corresponds between two predetermined color levels of the sub-pixel, a color level displayed by the sub-pixel is determined from the two predetermined color levels according to a sum of the sub-pixel data and the element corresponding to the sub-pixel.
US08928687B2

The present invention discloses a method for RGB color space gamut conversion, including: projecting any point o in RGB color space having source graphic data onto points N, M; projecting point o′ corresponding to point o onto points N′, M′; based on matrix equations between point N and point N′, and between point M and point M′, computing point N′ and point M′; based on points N′, M′, computing point o′ in target cube corresponding to point o in RGB color space having source graphic data; and computing target color after color conversion from any point in source graphic data. The invention also discloses an apparatus for RGB color space gamut conversion and a liquid crystal display device. With this, it is possible to perform color conversion in RGB color space, adjust color performance of output in hue and color purity, and accentuate specific color.
US08928677B2

One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for performing low latency computation on a parallel processing subsystem. A low latency functional node is exposed to an operating system. The low latency functional node and a generic functional node are configured to target the same underlying processor resource within the parallel processing subsystem. The operating system stores low latency tasks generated by a user application within a low latency command buffer associated with the low latency functional node. The parallel processing subsystem advantageously executes tasks from the low latency command buffer prior to completing execution of tasks in the generic command buffer, thereby reducing completion latency for the low latency tasks.
US08928674B1

A computer-implemented method includes comparing content captured during one session and content captured during another session. A surface feature of an object represented in the content of one session corresponds to a surface feature of an object represented in the content of the other session. The method also includes substantially aligning the surface features of the sessions and combining the aligned content.
US08928673B2

A system includes a computer apparatus, a means for display, and a means for storage. The computer apparatus is configured to perform a method of 3D animation. The method includes setting a first inter-axial distance between logical representations of a first set of two cameras, the first inter-axial distance being configured to produce a desired 3D effect for a target audience, setting a second inter-axial distance between logical representations of a second set of two cameras, the second inter-axial distance being based on the first inter-axial distance, setting a multi-rig spacing between the first and second sets of two cameras, the multi-rig spacing begin a value determined to reduce depth distortion effects in the 3D animation, and creating a stereoscopic frame set representing the 3D animation using the logical representations of the first and second sets of two cameras.
US08928670B2

A moving image generation apparatus includes an image display unit, a partial image specification unit, a partial image cutout unit, and a moving image generation unit. The image display unit displays an image. The partial image specification unit specifies a partial image of a predetermined range corresponding to each of points in the displayed image. The partial image cutout unit cuts out a plurality of partial images from between two arbitrary partial images included in the specified partial images. The moving image generation unit generates a moving image based on the specified partial images and the cutout partial images.
US08928664B2

A graph creation method includes setting on a plane a coordinate system in which three axis extend from an origin in a radial fashion, setting three evaluation results of three evaluation item for an evaluation object on each the three axis; determining a balance being one of center, circumcenter, incenter, orthocenter, and excenter of a polygon the vertices of which correspond to the three evaluation results set on the three axis; and creating on the coordinate system a graph in which the balance is set.
US08928661B2

Methods and apparatus for representing a field over a triangular mesh are disclosed. A two-dimensional (2D) triangular map may be created for each triangle of a three-dimensional (3D) triangular mesh. The triangular map may be recursively subdivided to create a plurality of sub-triangles. The sub-triangles may be sampled, and an field may be measured or calculated at each level of the recursion. The map of field values may use various compression techniques and may also employ a delayed reading technique. The map may be multi-resolution, hierarchical, and partitioned.
US08928653B2

In a first information processing apparatus, data in a first format is stored. Further, the data in the first format is transformed into a code image by using a predetermined encoding mode. Moreover, code image data in a second format is generated by combining the code image with the data in the first format. In a second information processing apparatus, predetermined information processing is performed based on the data in the first format. In a third information processing apparatus, the code image is displayed, by a first display device, based on the code image data in the second format.
US08928651B2

A display includes a display panel, a pixel driving unit and a power supply for supplying power to the pixel driving unit. The display panel includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix manner. The pixel driving unit is used for driving the pixels. The power supply includes an input power source, an output capacitor for providing an output voltage, and a control unit for controlling the input power source, such that in a frame period, the input power source charges the output capacitor during the non-refreshing duration of the pixels by the input power source and stops charging the output capacitor during the refreshing duration of the pixels.
US08928650B2

The present invention provides a display panel and a 3D display device. The display panel comprising: a first substrate comprising multiple data lines, multiple scan lines, and multiple pixel units, wherein the pixel unit comprising three sub-pixel units, and each of the sub-pixel units electrically connects to the same data line sequentially, and each of the sub-pixel units electrically connects to the corresponding scan line, and the scan line corresponding to at least one of the sub-pixel unit and the scan line corresponding to the first sub-pixel unit of the adjacent next pixel unit are disposed side by side; and a second substrate disposed correspondingly to the first substrate and comprising a first black matrix disposed correspondingly to the scan lines. In the present invention, the scan lines corresponding to the multiple sub-pixels are disposed side by side such that increasing the width of the first black matrix between adjacent pixel units and vertical viewing angle and do not reduce the aperture ratio.
US08928645B2

In a liquid crystal display device, amplitude voltage of an image signal written into a signal line can be decreased. A liquid crystal display device in which frame inversion driving is performed includes pixels each including a liquid crystal element and a transistor that controls voltage applied to a first electrode of the liquid crystal element. A scan line is electrically connected to gates of transistors in pixels in a corresponding row. A common line is electrically connected to second electrodes of liquid crystal elements in pixels in the corresponding row. In a first frame period, a first potential is sequentially supplied to the common lines in synchronization with sequential selection of the scan lines. In a second frame period adjacent to the first frame period, a second potential different from the first potential is sequentially supplied to the common lines in synchronization with sequential selection of the scan lines.
US08928644B2

A display device includes a pixel which includes a first photosensor portion having a first photodiode for detecting visible light, which is provided together with a display element portion; and a pixel which includes a second photosensor portion having a second photodiode for detecting infrared rays, which is provided together with another display element portion. The second photosensor portion detects infrared rays included in external light, and selects an imaging element and adjusts sensitivity in accordance with the amount of infrared rays detected by the second photosensor portion.
US08928636B2

A magnetic touch pen is disclosed. In one aspect, the magnetic touch pen comprises a first case in which a plurality of magnets is arranged in a cylindrical first body in a longitudinal direction of the first body. It also comprises a second case including a second body in which the first body of the first case is accommodated and having screw threads formed on an inner circumference of the second body. It further comprises a magnetic power controller configured between two magnet groups to separate the two magnet groups and moving along the screw threads of the second case to control a plurality of magnets of the two magnet groups.
US08928635B2

An active stylus is disclosed. The stylus includes an electrode at a tip of the stylus; and powered circuitry coupled to the electrode and configured for capacitively coupling the electrode with a capacitive touch sensor panel. The powered circuitry can further include drive circuitry configured to output a drive voltage at the electrode and/or sense circuitry configured to sense a voltage received at the electrode.
US08928632B2

Embodiments include an article of manufacture, apparatus, device, system, computer-program product, and method. In an embodiment, an article of manufacture includes a writing surface having at least two regions that accept handwriting. Each region of the at least two regions that accept handwriting respectively includes a unique user-understandable identifier and a unique machine-distinguishable identifier keyed to a data receptor.
US08928620B2

A combination flat-panel touch sensor/display device includes a display device substrate on which signal lines, scanning lines and storage capacitance lines for applying electrical signals to liquid crystal are formed. A surface of the flat-panel display device corresponding to a display area has a transparent conductive film serving as an impedance surface. The device further includes current detecting circuits for detecting currents that flow through the impedance surface. In an interval over which the current detecting circuits detect current, at least one of the signal lines, scanning lines and storage capacitance lines is placed at a high impedance. The device reduces thickness without decline in display characteristics.
US08928615B2

An oscilloscope with touch control has a touch screen display unit and a waveform processing and sampling unit. The touch screen display unit is connected to the waveform processing and sampling unit and has a touch control module and a display module. The touch control module detects a touch gesture and converts the touch gesture into a set of waveform processing parameters. The waveform processing and sampling unit has at least one signal input port to receive at least one external signal to be tested, processes the signal to be tested into a corresponding waveform image, and outputs the waveform image to the display module. Accordingly, the touch screen display unit enables the operation and display of the waveform thereon and provides more space originally occupied by conventional knobs so that the display module can be enlarged or the oscilloscope can be miniaturized.
US08928605B2

An electrode and an isolation layer of a touch device are the same color, so that a user of the touch device perceives a good visual effect without having to employ expensive optical adhesive and decorative films in the touch device. The front bezel design used in conventional touch devices can thus be abandoned. Further, simpler fabrication, higher yield rate, and lower cost are also achieved.
US08928604B2

A system and method for utilizing a gesture-based user interface. A system includes an operator input device and a processor. The operator input device detects gestures and multiple simultaneous touch points. An input area of the operator input device includes a plurality of gesture detection zones. The processor is coupled to the operator input device. The processor executes a gesture recognition software program that processes inputs from the input device. The gesture recognition program causes the processor to recognize a primary gesture and a simultaneous secondary gesture, and to perform a processing function based, at least in part, on the primary gesture and a gesture detection zone in which the secondary gesture is detected.
US08928595B2

A touchscreen may be calibrated using a second sensor that may be placed around the periphery of the touchscreen in a known position with respect to the touchscreen. The second sensor may be incorporated into a bezel and may have one or more sensor elements. The second sensor may be used to sense the position of a user's finger or stylus when the user touches an object on the touchscreen display, and the second sensor output may be used to update a calibration factor based on the position of the displayed object. The second sensor may be used to periodically recalibrate the touchscreen any time an object is selected in proximity to the second sensor.
US08928591B2

A computer-implemented technique includes determining, at a computing device including one or more processors, one or more scripts in which a user is capable of inputting text. The technique includes determining, at the computing device, whether at least one of the one or more scripts is a script having a right-to-left (RTL) writing directionality. The technique also includes automatically outputting, at the computing device: (i) a first user interface when at least one of the one or more scripts is a script having an RTL writing directionality, wherein the first user interface is configured to allow the user to adjust the writing directionality at the computing device, or (ii) a second user interface when none of the one or more scripts is a script having an RTL writing directionality, wherein the second user interface is not configured to allow the user to adjust the writing directionality at the computing device.
US08928586B2

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel stereoscopic display device that allows the viewer to properly view a stereoscopic image. The device includes: a display configured to display an image for stereoscopic viewing; an imaging unit configured to image a face of a viewer; a position information acquisition unit configured to acquire position information regarding the face imaged by the imaging unit; an operation unit configured to be operated by the viewer when the viewer is in an optimal position from where the image for stereoscopic viewing displayed on the display can be properly viewed as a stereoscopic image; an optimal position information storage unit configured to store position information provided when the operation unit is operated as position information on the optimal position; and a positional relationship notification unit configured to notify the viewer of the positional relationship between the current position of the viewer and the optimal position.
US08928584B2

A display apparatus includes an image pickup section, a display section, an instruction section, a position specification section, a direction specification section, a specification section, and a reporting section. The image pickup section sequentially picks up an image. The display section displays the picked up image. The instruction section generates an instruction signal for marking an object included in the image. The position specification section specifies a position where the display apparatus exists. The direction specification section specifies a pickup direction by the image pickup section. The specification section specifies a position of the object relative to the position of the display apparatus based on the position of the display apparatus and the pickup direction in response to the instruction signal. The reporting section reports the position of the object.
US08928577B1

A method and system for generating an electronic note on a handheld electronic device. Specifically, the present invention allows a user to push one button on the handheld device to gain access to a cleared screen where ideas, telephone numbers, etc. can be written down directly on the screen in the user's own handwriting in the form of a note. Additionally, the note is automatically time and date stamped. Furthermore, a title associated with the note is displayed concurrently with the note and can be modified using digitized alphanumeric characters. Moreover, the note is automatically stored in the handheld electronic device. Also, an alarm, associated with a particular time and date relative to the electronic device, can be electronically assigned to the note. At the particular time and date associated with the alarm, the alarm is automatically triggered, and the note is automatically displayed on the handheld electronic device.
US08928554B2

A mobile image display system includes multiple movable panels, each including a video display. Using a position sensor, the system knows when a particular panel reaches a position in which the displayed image is distorted due to overlapping or misalignment of the panels. Then, a central processing unit provides the panels in the region where distortion is present with a modified image to correct for this distortion. Additionally, the panels may include light and/or weight sensors. In response to these sensors, an image in any location the carousel can be revised in response to the presence of an article such as a suitcase.
US08928552B2

An information processing device including a plurality of rectangular-shaped casings each including a first principal surface, and a second principal surface opposing the first principal surface and including a display panel having a predetermined aspect ratio. The information processing device including a connecting portion connecting each of the plurality of rectangular-shaped casings in a closed state in which each of the plurality of rectangular-shaped casings are mutually overlaid and a display panel of at least one of the plurality of rectangular-shaped casings is externally exposed, and in an open state in which wall portions of mutually adjacent rectangular-shaped casings abut and the display panels of each of the plurality of rectangular-shaped casings face a similar direction. The information processing device further includes a terminal state detecting unit that detects the closed state and the opened state, and a display control unit that controls display of each of the display panels.
US08928548B2

An antenna comprising a network of arrayed radiating elements, a first reflective means comprising a flat central part upon which are disposed the radiating elements and longitudinally folded edges on either side of the array of elements, and at least one second reflective means which is a choke reflector disposed outside of the space separating the radiating elements of the reflector's folded edge. The second reflective means is separated from the first reflective means by a layer of dielectric material in order to connect it to the first reflective means by way of capacitive coupling.
US08928547B2

In an antenna coil including a first magnetic core, a second magnetic core, and a flexible board, coil conductors are provided on a surface of the flexible board. By winding the flexible board around the first magnetic core and the second magnetic core, a first coil portion is disposed around the first magnetic core, and a second coil portion is disposed around the second magnetic core. The winding direction of the second coil portion is opposite to that of the first coil portion. The first coil portion and the second coil portion are connected to define one coil as a whole.
US08928545B2

The invention provides a multi-band antenna comprising a planar substrate which in use is intended for vertical mounting, and has a bottom edge and a top edge. A conductor pattern is printed on one side of the substrate with three slots. A first slot is a U or J shape facing downwardly and a second is a U or J shape facing upwardly. A third slot extends in the vertical direction and is open at the top. A first antenna feed is coupled to a horizontal track of the second slot and a second antenna feed is coupled to the third slot. The three slots together provide multi-band performance in three bands.
US08928544B2

The present invention provides a dielectric resonator antenna comprising: a dielectric resonator; a ground plane, operatively coupled with the dielectric resonator, the ground plane having four slots; and a substrate, operatively coupled to the ground plane, having a feeding network consisting of four microstrip lines; wherein the four slots are constructed and geometrically arranged to ensure proper circular polarization and coupling to the dielectric resonator; and wherein the antenna feeding network combines the four microstrip lines with a 90 degree phase difference to generate circular polarization over a wide frequency band.
US08928541B2

An active antenna system and algorithm is proposed that provides for dynamic tuning and optimization of antenna system parameters for a MIMO system that will provide for greater throughput. As one or multiple antennas are loaded or de-tuned due to environmental changes, corrections to correlation and/or isolation are made by tuning the active antenna. A null-steering technique is implemented to alter the near-field and far-field characteristics to aid in modifying correlation and isolation in the multi-antenna system.
US08928540B2

An antenna system is provided for use in wireless communication, the antenna system is contained in a modular structure. The antenna system includes a plurality of co-located antennas, including at least one active modal antenna, each of the antennas being adapted for operation at a distinct frequency band. The antenna system further includes an active tuning module for tuning a frequency response of the co-located antennas.
US08928538B2

An antenna system is provided in a portable electronics device having a printed circuit board assembly. The antenna system includes a first antenna and a second balanced antenna provided on the printed circuit board assembly. The first antenna is fed from a portion of the printed circuit board assembly such that a ground plane of the printed circuit board assembly serves as a counterpoise for the first antenna. The second balanced antenna has dipole ends configured and oriented to generally minimize coupling to the ground plane of the printed circuit board assembly to increase isolation between the first antenna and the second balanced antenna.
US08928536B2

The present disclosure relates to impedance tuning of transmitting and receiving antennas.
US08928531B2

An antenna module is provided. The antenna module includes a radiator, a feed conductor, a ground element, a ground conductor and a short conductor. The feed conductor is connected to the radiator. The ground conductor connects the radiator to the ground element. The short conductor connects the feed conductor to the ground conductor.
US08928529B2

This disclosure relates to a positioning system and a method based on a radio communication apparatus including multiple antennas, and more particularly, to a positioning system and a method of positioning a terminal using a communication apparatus including multiple antennas. The positioning system and the method based on a radio communication apparatus including multiple antennas calculate a position of a terminal using a single communication apparatus in which the multiple antennas are mounted and can calculate the position of the terminal more accurately by using two or more communication apparatuses. In addition, the positioning system and the method communicate with a transception apparatus, a relay station, or a wireless access point of an existing communication system, thereby accurately obtaining the position of the terminal.
US08928528B2

A system and method may include a plurality of transmit and receive antennas covering one sector of a cellular communication base station; a multi-beam RF beamforming matrix connected to the transmit and receive antennas; a plurality of radio circuitries connected to the multi-beam RF beamforming matrix; and a baseband module connected to the radio circuitries. The multi-beam RF beamforming matrix may be configured to generate one sector beam and two or more directional co-frequency beams pointed at user equipment (UEs) within the sector, as instructed by the baseband module. A number M denotes the number the directional beams and a number N denotes the number of the radio circuitries and wherein M>N.
US08928526B2

Techniques for monitoring transmission performance of a satellite communications systems are provided, including techniques for measuring the primary contributors to the end-to-end SNR, including the uplink SNR, the downlink SNR, and the C/I for each link in the network. These individual measurements are used to estimate satellite effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP), satellite antenna gain-to-noise-temperature (G/T), and loss due to an Earth Terminal pointing error. The EIRP, satellite antenna G/T and loss due to Earth terminal pointing error may then be used to determine operating parameters for the satellite communications network that enable the network to operate more efficiently.
US08928518B1

A charge redistribution SAR analog-to-digital converter includes a source of a reference voltage, a digital-to-analog converter, and a reset circuit. The digital-to-analog converter includes converter stages that range in significance from most significant to least significant. Each converter stage includes respective capacitors and switches. The switches are controllable to selectively connect the capacitors to the reference voltage or to ground. The capacitors of the converter stages are weighted in capacitance in accordance with significance of the converter stage. The reset circuit is to control the switches to reset the converter stages with a temporal offset between at least two of the converter stages. The temporal offset between the at least two of the converter stages reduces the dependence of the charge drawn from the reference voltage source during each conversion cycle on the sample of an analog input signal converted to a digital value during the conversion cycle.
US08928516B2

The solution according to the invention consisting in conversion of a voltage value to a digital word of a number of bits equal to n is characterized in that the converted voltage value is first mapped to a portion of electric charge accumulated in the sampling capacitor (C-n) during the active state of the signal on the trigger input (InS) and the accumulated charge portion is next successively redistributed by the use of the current source (I) in the array (A) of binary-scaled capacitors (Cn-1, . . . , C0) in the order of decreasing capacitances starting from the capacitor (Cn-1) having the highest capacitance value in the array (A). The process of charge redistribution is controlled by the control module (CM) on the basis of the output signals of the comparators (K1) and (K2) without the use of a clock while the value one is assigned to these bits (bn-1, . . . , b0) in the digital output word that correspond to the capacitors (Cn-1, . . . , C0) on which the reference voltage (UL) of a desired value has been obtained, and the value zero is assigned to the other bits.
US08928513B1

A current steering digital-to-analog converter (DAC) switch driver circuit is provided. The circuit is composed of a conditioning module having a signal input to accept a binary logic digital signal, and signal outputs to supply differential driver signals V+ and V− with a low voltage level (Vlow) greater than the binary logic digital signal low voltage level. Typically, Vlow has a greater potential than ground (0V). A DAC current steering cell has a signal input to accept the differential driver signals and an output to supply a differential analog current responsive to the differential driver signals. The DAC current steering cell may be an NMOS DAC current steering cell. The conditioning module may be a CMOS switch driver, or composed of a level shifter followed by a CMOS switch driver.
US08928509B2

A sampling device for sampling an incoming signal in order to generate an output signal having a different frequency spectrum from the incoming signal. The device comprises a sampler configured to sample the incoming signal at a series of intervals in time, wherein the series of intervals includes a temporally repeating sequence of intervals, and wherein the duration of successive intervals varies throughout the series.
US08928493B2

The invention relates to a traffic signal control system for controlling a plurality of signal junctions comprising a signal group oriented multi-agent control scheme, each agent operates independently and represents one or more traffic signals at a signal junction; means for each agent for determining traffic conditions at its signal junction and traffic conditions at neighboring agents; and means for applying fuzzy logic in signal control operations, wherein signal control operation is based on traffic conditions at each agent and one or more neighboring agents, such that the control operation is distributed to each agent to control each of said plurality of signal junctions. An advantage of the system is that this approach in combining the flexible signal group control with the artificial intelligence of fuzzy logic dynamic control is achieved. The operation of the control system is based on detector data input, that is refined to real time traffic situation model. Through the traffic model, the decision part of the system (fuzzy logic) is observing the traffic situation in the whole intersection. The signal control operation is based on signal group orientation, in which the control operation is distributed to several signal group agents.
US08928492B2

A system to provide a warning to a person in a vehicle when the vehicle is proximal or in a danger area to an emergency services vehicle or a hazard area, the system comprising an emitter on the emergency services vehicle or in or adjacent the hazard area, a radio associated with the vehicle, the radio having a receiver to receive the signal from the emitter, a speaker, a decoder to send a warning signal to the speaker when the receiver receives a signal from the emitter.
US08928491B2

To collect data, an electronic device transmits a signal on an output channel of the headset jack to provide an excitation signal to a sensor for measuring a physical quantity. A signal from the sensor is received via an input channel of the headset jack of the electronic device. Data based on the received signal may be sent from the electronic device to a remote location for further processing. The data may be used to detect a physical condition, e.g., a temperature, humidity, soil moisture, sound, vibration, pressure, motion, and/or pollutants.
US08928489B2

Techniques and systems are described that assist in predicting, diagnosing, and/or managing an incident in a utility service area. A communication system is provided in the service area to communicate with nodes of the service area. Nodes of the service area may communicate with the communication system using a variety of different communication technologies and/or communication protocols. In some instances, the communication system may detect a communication technology and/or a communication protocol used by a node.
US08928488B2

In some embodiments, an apparatus and a system, as well as a method and an article, may operate to monitor a first condition associated with transmitting or receiving a signal in a formation or on a drill string, or both, over a first selected interval of a drill string located down hole; to monitor a second condition associated with transmitting or receiving the signal in the formation or on the drill string or both, over a second selected interval of the drill string; to compare the first condition to the second condition to provide a comparison result; and based on the comparison result, to select one of the first selected interval or the second selected interval to transmit or receive the signal in the formation or on the drill string, or both. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US08928483B2

A system is configured to receive information associated with a location of a user device; retrieve information associated with a location at which a user, of the user device, is to be during a period of time; determine whether to assign, to the user device, a late status or an absent status based on the location of the user device, the assigned location, and the period of time; assign a late status when the location of the user device does not match the assigned location when the period of time begins; send, to another user device, a notification that the user device is late to the assigned location based on the assigning of the late status; assign an absent status when the location of the user device does not match the assigned location during the period of time; and send to the other user device, another notification that the user device was absent from the assigned location based on the assigning of the absent status.
US08928479B2

An automatic alarm system is described that is triggered by the lack of event at one or more portable remote unit(s). The system includes an electromagnetic interface from a plurality of portable units to a central command and monitoring element. This automatic triggering of an alarm condition adds security to the users of the system since it is not always feasible to explicitly trigger an alarm when in danger.
US08928477B2

A method for a contactless transmission of electric energy and/or an electric signal between a wall and a wing fastened to the wall includes providing a first coil fastened to the wall and a second coil fastened to the wing which are actively inductively connected to each other. A control signal is applied to the first coil within a control time interval to induce a first signal in the second coil, which is then detected. A second control signal is applied to the second coil within the control time interval to induce a second signal in the first coil, which is then detected. A fault signal is generated if the first or second control signal, or a part thereof, is not applied during the control time interval, or if the first or second signal, or a part thereof, is not detected during the control time interval.
US08928474B2

A charged-amount display part displays a battery charge rate of an entire battery pack according to kinds of charge sources. An example of displaying the battery charge rate in the form of a bar chart is shown. A speed display part displays a vehicle speed of a running electric vehicle. The running cost display part displays a running cost calculated based on consumed electric power of the battery.
US08928473B2

A fuel monitoring device for a vehicle having one or more fuel tank sensors, the fuel monitoring device comprising a control module in communication with the or each fuel tank sensor, wherein the control module is operable to receive data from the or each fuel tank sensor and operable to output fuel level related data to a mobile communications system transmitter for transmission to an end user. The fuel monitoring device may be installed covertly within a vehicle and communicate with the vehicle's fuel tank sensor and, optionally, further sensors. The fuel monitoring device facilitates the transmission of information to an end user allowing the end user to identify occurrences of fuel theft from a remote location and/or the fuel monitoring device is operable to generate an alarm condition in or in the proximity of the vehicle. Data may additionally be audited to identify opportunities to improve operating efficiency of a vehicle, or a fleet of vehicles, or to provide early warning of possible vehicle faults and/or to identify fuel theft.
US08928472B2

A member for attachment to tire includes a functional object in suspension in a soft substance of very high deformability.
US08928470B2

Rule-based intoxicating substance testing associated with vehicles. At least some of the various embodiments are methods including: receiving a signal that a prospective driver intends to drive a vehicle; retrieving at least one previously stored rule regarding intoxicating substance testing associated the vehicle; retrieving data relevant to the rule; determining whether intoxicating substance testing is indicated by the rule; enabling the vehicle responsive to an indication that intoxicating substance testing is not indicated; and administering an intoxicating substance test to the prospective driver responsive to an indication that an intoxicating substance test is indicated. And if the intoxicating substance test is administered: enabling the vehicle responsive to the prospective driver passing the intoxicating substance test, the enabling by the onboard device; and disabling the vehicle responsive to the prospective driver failing the intoxicating substance test, the disabling by the onboard device.
US08928467B2

An apparatus allowing the recording and storage of data with a programmable timer alarm/alert. This data that can be either retrieved manually or automatically via audio playback or computer link.For certain embodiments, the audio device is configured for mounting on a consumable item.In a further embodiment the audio device may include and collect information regarding the consumer item on which it is mounted.In yet another embodiment the audio device contains a timing device and an alarm function coupled to an actuator that can be set at predetermined intervals.
US08928459B2

Systems and methods are described herein for determining the location of a transmitter by jointly and collectively processing the full sampled signal data from a plurality of receivers to form a single solution.
US08928458B2

A flow control gate system that comprises a first and second elongated barrier members defining a passageway between a first area and a second area. The gate system also comprises a plurality of narrow beam presence sensors with substantially constant spacing therebetween defining a linear array mounted along the first barrier member and defining a presence detection beam orientation crosswise and substantially perpendicular to the passageway. The gate system further comprises a controller electrically connected to the plurality of narrow beam presence sensors. The controller implements an operating program to process signals from the plurality of narrow beam presence sensors and define valid detection periods to determine that an item is detected when a detection period is equal to or longer than a predetermined value and invalid detection periods interpreted as no detection when a detection period is shorter than the predetermined value. A flow control method is further provided.
US08928453B2

The mechatronic locking apparatus comprises a control circuit (4), from which information signals can be transmitted to a control circuit (6) of the lock cylinder (2) using a first communication path (5). A security key (3) has at least one second communication path (7) for storing and/or processing access data. The two communication paths (5, 7) are connected to said control circuit (4) of the security key (3). The first communication path (5) preferably uses an electrical contact in the lock cylinder (2). The second communication path (7) comprises a transponder (8). The first communication path (5) may also be used for power supply purposes.
US08928450B2

A transformer assembly includes a substrate having a first surface and an opposing second surface, a first spiral wound inductive coil formed on the first surface, a second spiral wound inductive coil formed on the first surface, and a third spiral wound inductive coil formed on the first surface, the first, second and third spiral wound inductive coils forming a triple spiral arrangement on the first surface such that the first coil is inductively coupled to the second coil and the third coil. An RF coil including the transformer assembly and a method of fabricating the transformer assembly are also described.
US08928449B2

An inductive element including a magnetic core with a section received in a central opening defined in each of the layers in a multilayer circuit board. A primary winding, an auxiliary winding, and a secondary winding are each realized in conductive coils located on a plurality of layers in the circuit board. The secondary winding is separated from the other windings by a relatively-thick dielectric layer. Other dielectric layers separate each of the layers with the coils. EMI shields are provided on other layers. The coils are located in a central region of each layer so as to provide an adequate safety margin from the side edges of the inductive element.
US08928445B2

Provided is an electromagnetic pipe expanding inductor in which the formation of voids during resin impregnation is suppressed, and electromagnetic reaction forces acting on the conductor periphery and on the interface between the shaft portion and the center-side fiber layer is diminished, and thereby durability is improved and the life of the inductor is prolonged. A glass cloth tape (3) capable of being impregnated with resin is wound around the peripheral surface of a shaft portion of a bobbin (2) to a predetermined thickness, further, a conductor strand (4) coated with a glass cloth tape (6) is wound spirally in the axial direction of the bobbin (2) to form a coil. Further, a glass cloth (7) is wound around the outside of the glass cloth tape (6) to a predetermined thickness and thereafter the glass cloth tapes (3, 6) and the glass cloth (7) are impregnated with resin to unite them. A center-side resin-impregnated layer formed by the glass cloth tape 3 impregnated with resin is lower in the modulus of longitudinal elasticity than the shaft portion. Given that the inductor radius is r, the thickness, t, of the center-side resin-impregnated layer is 0.025r to 0.25r.
US08928438B2

An electromagnetic relay has a fixed touch piece having a fixed contact; a movable touch piece, having a movable contact contactably and separably opposed to the fixed contact, and configured to elastically deform, an electromagnet, an intermediate member that rotates based on magnetization and demagnetization of the electromagnet and elastically deforms the movable touch piece, and an energization unit that energizes the movable touch piece to the fixed contact piece side via the intermediate member.
US08928437B2

A magnetic attachment mechanism and method is described. The magnetic attachment mechanism can be used to releasably attach at least two objects together in a preferred configuration without fasteners and without external intervention. The magnetic attachment mechanism can be used to releasably attach an accessory device to an electronic device. The accessory device can be used to augment the functionality of usefulness of the electronic device.
US08928434B2

There is provided a complex tuner module including a plurality of tuner chips through which users may simultaneously view and record a plurality of channels. The complex tuner module includes: a module substrate having a plurality of tuner chips mounted thereon; and a chassis part connected to the module substrate and having a plurality of blocking sidewalls disposed in spaces between the tuner chips to thereby block interference between the tuner chips.
US08928414B2

The object of the present invention is a low noise figure amplifier with a variable gain which comprises a cascode amplification stage comprising, serially mounted, a low-voltage MOSFET transistor installed as a common source followed by a bipolar transistor with high breakdown voltage installed as a common base. A resistor is placed between the bipolar transistor's collector and the grid of the cascode stage's MOSFET transistor, and the cascode stage is electrically powered through a choke.
US08928411B2

Embodiments of the invention are generally directed to integration of signal sampling within a transistor amplifier stage. An embodiment of an apparatus includes a amplifier stage including a transistor to receive a source signal and produce an output signal, wherein the transistor includes multiple fingers for at least a first electrode of the transistor. The amplifier stage uses connections to some of the fingers of the first electrode for production of the output signal, and uses one or more other fingers for the first electrode of the transistor for a separate function from the production of the output signal.
US08928394B2

A semiconductor integrated circuit which includes a control circuit; and a power management integrated circuit (IC) configured to supply an operating voltage to the control circuit. The control circuit includes a clock generator; a processor unit; a temperature sensor; a body bias generator; and a controller. The controller controls the power management IC and the clock generator when temperature data indicates a temperature higher than a high temperature and controls the power management IC or the body bias generator when the temperature data indicates a temperature lower than a low temperature. The high temperature is lower than a hot temperature of the control circuit and the low temperature is higher than a cold temperature of the control circuit and lower than the high temperature.
US08928387B2

A memory-like structure composed of variable resistor elements for use in tuning respective branches and leaves of a clock distribution structure, which may be used to compensate for chip-by-chip and/or combinatorial logic path-by-path delay variations, which may be due, for example, to physical variations in deep submicron devices and interconnections, is presented. A single system clocked scan flip-flop with the capability to perform delay test measurements is also presented. Methods for measuring combinatorial logic path delays to determine the maximum clock frequency and delays to program the variable resistors, as well as methods for calibrating and measuring the programmed variable resistors, are also presented.
US08928374B2

To realize an optimal power-on reset in a system in which the rise of the power supply voltage is sharp.A semiconductor device according to the present invention includes two diodes connected in parallel between power supplies, and a resistor circuit and a capacitance element connected in parallel between one power supply and each of the two diodes, and outputs a comparison result between voltages outputted from the two resistor circuits as a reset signal.
US08928369B1

An apparatus comprising a frequency divider comprising a first latch and a second latch coupled to the first latch in a toggle-flop configuration, and an output circuit comprising a first p-channel transistor, wherein the gate of the first p-channel transistor is configured to receive a clock signal, a first n-channel transistor, wherein the gate of the first n-channel transistor is coupled to the first latch, a second n-channel transistor connected in series with the first p-channel transistor and the first n-channel transistor and wherein the gate of the second n-channel transistor is configured to receive the clock signal, a second p-channel transistor, wherein the gate of the second p-channel transistor is configured to receive the clock signal, and a third n-channel transistor in series with the second p-channel transistor and the second n-channel transistor, wherein the output circuit is configured to generate a pair of in-phase reference signals.
US08928362B2

The transistor suffers the variation caused in threshold voltage or mobility due to gathering of the factors of the variation in gate insulator film resulting from a difference in manufacture process or substrate used and of the variation in channel-region crystal state. The present invention provides an electric circuit having an arrangement such that both electrodes of a capacitance element can hold a gate-to-source voltage of a particular transistor. The invention provides an electric circuit having a function capable of setting a potential difference at between the both electrodes of the capacitance element by the use of a constant-current source.
US08928361B1

A driving circuit includes a common well. The driving circuit further includes a first output buffer having a bulk connected to the common well, the first output buffer having a first terminal configured to receive a first signal, and having a second terminal connected to the common well. The driving circuit further includes a second output buffer having a bulk connected to the common well, the second output buffer having a first terminal configured to receive the first signal, wherein a second terminal of the second output buffer disconnected from the common well. The driving circuit further includes a first driver connected to the second terminal of the first output buffer and a second driver connected to the second terminal of the second output buffer.
US08928359B2

A charge distributor comprises a charge generator configured to output a charge, a current conveyor, and a plurality of output stages. The current conveyor is configured to receive the charge from the charge generator as an input and to couple this charge to a plurality of output stages. A first output stage, of the plurality of output stages, comprises a plurality of current mirrors. The plurality of current mirrors is configured to mirror and scale the charge received from the current conveyor into a scaled mirrored charge. The first output stage is configured to provide the scaled mirrored charge as an output.
US08928353B2

A binary half-adder comprising first and second oscillators, each oscillator being connected to a first input and to a second input, the second oscillator being connected to the first oscillator, wherein the first oscillator is configured to oscillate if the first input is high or the second input is high, the second oscillator is configured to oscillate if the first and the second inputs are high, and wherein the connection between the second oscillator and the first oscillator is configured to suppress oscillation of the first oscillator if the second oscillator is oscillating.
US08928338B2

A particulate matter sensor includes first and second electrodes spaced from each other with a bias resistor connected between the first and second electrodes. The particulate matter sensor allows an open circuit fault condition in the sensor or in the connectors or wiring to the sensor to be detected. A sensing system using the particulate matter sensor and a method for diagnosing faults in a sensing system are also provided.
US08928336B2

A vehicle proximity switch and method are provided having sensitivity control based on a user selected sensitivity input. The switch includes a proximity sensor such, as a capacitive sensor, installed in a vehicle and providing a sense activation field. The proximity switch also includes control circuitry for processing the sense activation field to sense user activation of the switch by comparing the sense activation field to a threshold. The proximity switch further includes a user sensitivity input for receiving a user selected sensitivity input. The control circuitry controls sensitivity of the comparison based on the user selected sensitivity input.
US08928334B1

An apparatus relating to on-chip noise measurement is disclosed. In such an apparatus, an asynchronous comparator receives a first input and a second input to provide a digital output. A threshold voltage generator receives a first periodic signal and a second periodic signal to provide the second input as an analog voltage responsive to the first and second periodic signals. A sampling circuit is coupled to receive the digital output signal and a third periodic signal. The sampling circuit is configured to sample the digital output signal using the third periodic signal to provide a sampled signal of the digital output signal. A processor is coupled to receive a delay signal and the sampled signal to determine a noise measurement signal for the first input signal.
US08928331B2

A diagnostic circuit for trouble shooting electronic control units of appliances includes a voltage sensing and signal generation device with an input/output and an input. The circuit includes first terminals for connecting to the load and second terminals for connecting to the two lines of the sinusoidal source. One of the first terminals is connected to the input/output, and another one of the first terminals is connected to the input. A relay is connected between one of the second terminals and the input/output. Another relay is connected between another one of the second terminals and the input. A first diode pair with clamping diodes is connected to the input/output, and a second diode pair first diode pair with clamping diodes is connected to the input.
US08928326B2

A measuring device is used in conjunction with a programmable controller for monitoring electrolyte levels in the battery. According to one implementation, the measuring device is located in a battery and is configured to detect when the electrolyte level in the battery falls below a particular level. The controller is in electrical communication with the electrolyte detection device. The controller is configured to: (i) receive a signal from the electrolyte level detection device indicating when the electrolyte level in the battery has fallen below the particular level; (ii) introduce a wait-period after the signal is received; and (iii) enable an indicator to indicate that the electrolyte level in the battery should be refilled when the wait-period expires.
US08928310B2

The present invention relates to a reluctance resolver (100) with an at least partially soft magnetic stator (104) and an at least partially soft magnetic rotor (102) which oppose each other by forming an air gap. The magnetic resistance in the air gap changes periodically on account of a configuration of the rotor that varies over the circumference. The angle sensor has a magnetic flux transmitter which is arranged on the stator and generates a predefined magnetic flux distribution in the air gap via at least one pair of poles. Furthermore, a magnetic flux receiver, which measures the intensity of the magnetic field via at least two pairs of signal poles arranged offset from one another at an angle, is arranged on the stator, wherein an angle value for a position of the rotor in relation to the stator can be derived from the two receiver signals. According to the invention, the stator (104) has distributed over the circumference a large number of teeth (110) which are separated from one another by grooves, and the magnetic flux transmitter comprises at least two primary windings which are arranged in such a way that at least one of the teeth carries no primary windings.
US08928309B2

A method and system are provided for operating a mobile device having a magnetometer. The method includes obtaining a plurality of error indicators associated with the magnetometer. At least two of the plurality of error indicators have different criteria for error. The method also includes determining an instruction for operating the mobile device using the plurality of error indicators.
US08928299B2

A low power DC-DC converter includes a converter stage coupled to an input node, and having a low side switch and a rectifier switch. A peak current detector senses a current at the low side switch and a zero current detector senses a current at the rectifier switch. It is configured to set the low side switch to a non-conductive state and the rectifier switch to a conductive state if the peak current detector detects a predetermined peak current. It is configured to set the rectifier switch to a non-conductive state if the zero current detector detects zero current at the rectifier switch. A time interval between subsequent current peaks is triggered by a charge comparator receiving an average current fed to the low side and rectifier switches from the input node and a reference current coupled to the charge comparator by a reference current source.
US08928297B2

Disclosed is a Ćuk based current source, a control circuit for a Ćuk based current source, and a method for providing a current.
US08928295B2

A configurable-voltage converter circuit that may be CMOS and an integrated circuit chip including the converter circuit and method of operating the IC chip and circuit. A transistor totem, e.g., of 6 or more field effect transistors, PFETs and NFETs, connected (PNPNPN) between a first supply (Vin) line and a supply return line. A first switching capacitor is connected between first and second pairs of totem PN FETs pair of transistors. A second switching capacitor is connected between the second and a third pair of totem FETs. A configuration control selectively switches both third FETs off to float the connected end of the second capacitor, thereby switching voltage converter modes.
US08928293B1

An electrical machine includes a stator having a main armature winding, an exciter field winding, and a transformer primary winding. A rotor is operatively connected to rotate relative to the stator, wherein the rotor includes an exciter armature winding operatively connected to the exciter armature winding for field excitation therebetween, a main field winding operatively connected to the main armature winding for field excitation therebetween, and a transformer secondary winding operatively connected to the transformer primary winding to form a rotating transformer. A generator control unit is operatively connected to the main armature winding, exciter field winding, and transformer primary winding to control the main armature and exciter field windings based on excitation in the primary winding received from the transformer secondary winding.
US08928289B1

Managing power in an electronic device to enhance battery performance includes various elements. One aspect includes automatically accelerating discharge of a battery below a threshold prior to recharging the battery. Another aspect includes measuring power requirements of modular components to create an order for use in power distribution. For example, a modular component with a highest power requirement might be charged first. In another example, power might be transferred first from a modular component with a lowest power requirement.
US08928284B2

Exemplary embodiments are directed to variable power wireless power transmission. A method may include conveying wireless power to a device at a first power level during a time period. The method may further include conveying wireless power to one or more other devices at a second, different power level during another time period.
US08928282B2

The present invention is a control system for an assembled battery that controls an assembled battery comprising a plurality of cells, including: a bypass circuit connected in parallel to each cell of the cells, and comprising a switching element and a resistor connected in series; and a control circuit that controls a bypass current flowing in the bypass circuit by opening and closing the switching element, in order to discharge the cell; wherein the bypass circuit is set so that a current of a same magnitude as a self-discharge current in a predetermined overcharged states of the cell flow in the bypass circuit.
US08928275B2

An apparatus (200) comprising monitoring circuitry (230) configured to monitor a resonant frequency of a supply source (100), a receiving component (211a), and a control unit (220) configured to vary a resonant frequency of said receiving component (211a), wherein the apparatus (200) is configured to vary the resonant frequency of said receiving component (211a) in dependence upon the resonant frequency of said supply source (100).
US08928273B2

A display device for displaying information of a rechargeable battery of an electric vehicle and a charging module using the display device are disclosed in the present invention. The display device includes a battery capacity unit, a lifetime unit, an information collecting unit and a display unit. It can display the charging state, lifetime, cycle count and health state of the rechargeable battery. The charging module includes a power unit for providing power. It can display battery information when charging the rechargeable battery. The invention provides a convenient way to let customers know the status of the batteries of their electric vehicles and decide if the batteries need to be charged or replaced.
US08928266B1

An electric drive system includes a motor output shaft rotating on a motor axis and a first electric motor. The system includes an epicyclical gear that includes a sun gear, a ring gear, a plurality of planet gears and a carrier. The sun gear, the ring gear and the carrier gear of the epicyclical gear all rotate on the motor axis, and the carrier gear is connected to the motor output shaft via a first flange. The system also includes a second electric motor interposed between the first electric motor and the epicyclical gear. The second motor shaft has a hollow center along the motor axis and the first motor shaft extends through the hollow center of the second motor shaft and is connected to the sun gear. The system also includes a second flange. The second flange connects the second motor shaft to the carrier. The first flange and the second flange are located at opposite sides of the epicyclical gear.
US08928263B2

A control apparatus in a motor drive system includes a magnet temperature acquiring device and a step-up ratio determining device. The magnet temperature acquiring device is configured to estimate or detect a temperature of a permanent magnet provided in a rotor or a stator of a motor of the motor drive system. The motor drive system includes a power supplying device to output direct current voltage, and a voltage step-up device to increase, at a certain step-up ratio, the direct current voltage which is output from the power supplying device. The step-up ratio determining device is configured to determine the certain step-up ratio in accordance with the temperature of the permanent magnet estimated or detected by the magnet temperature acquiring device.
US08928251B2

A driver circuit for driving light emitting diodes (LEDs). The driver circuit includes a string of LEDs divided into n groups and the n groups of LEDs is electrically connected to each other in series, where a downstream end of group m−1 is electrically connected to the upstream end of group m. The driver circuit also includes a power source coupled to an upstream end of group 1 and provides an input voltage. The driver circuit further includes current regulating circuits, where each of the current regulating circuits is coupled to the downstream end of the corresponding group at one end and coupled to a ground at the other end. Each of the current regulating circuits includes a sensor amplifier and a cascode having first and second transistors. The driver circuit also includes detectors, where each of the detectors detects a source voltage of the first transistor.
US08928246B2

One embodiment of a display backlight driver integrated circuit can be configured for operation in at least two different ways. A first method transfers data from an EEPROM to hardware registers prior to regular operation. A second method also transfers data from an EEPROM to registers. However, hardware registers can be overwritten with data accepted from a control bus, prior to regular operation. A keyboard driver IC can detect the presence or absence of a cable to an LED. If the cable is absent, the driver IC will not supply power for the LED. One embodiment of a keyboard and display backlight control system can be configured to allow substantially independent operation.
US08928237B2

A luminaire according to one embodiment includes a DC power supply circuit, a switching power supply, and a lighting load. The DC power supply circuit converts an AC voltage controlled in phase to a DC voltage. The switching power supply is connected to the DC power supply circuit, and is controlled so that an input current becomes a constant current. The lighting load is connected as a load circuit of the switching power supply.
US08928236B1

A constant current LED driver circuit includes a unified controller operable to control start up peripheral circuits and control power output of the driver circuit. The unified controller initializes, starts driver circuit components in a predetermined order, and controls operation to prevent runaway operation, failure to start, and nuisance shut downs. Additionally, due to centralized operational condition monitoring, the controller can detect conditions that would cause unnecessary shut downs and prevent such nuisance shutdowns. The unified controller enables fast, finite control over switches of a DC-to-DC converter of the driver circuit to improve output current and voltage control, improving closed loop responsiveness and operation of the DC-to-DC converter.
US08928232B2

Networked intelligent lighting devices and other elements connected to the network of a lighting system are readily adaptable to desirable networking arrangements as well as logical functional groups, for example by each storing communication provisioning data and/or configuration data for logically associating system elements into one or more groupings or sub-networks. The exemplary systems and system elements may also enable such enhanced network arrangement via autonomous discovery and device commissioning.
US08928228B2

In one embodiment, the trajectory of one or more electrons is controlled in a field emission device. In another embodiment, the field emission device is configured analogously to a klystron. In another embodiment, the field emission device is configured with electrical circuitry selected to control the input and output of the device.
US08928225B2

Provided is a display device in which design properties have been improved by eliminating the flickering when the display level changes. A microcomputer (5) causes light emission of first LEDs (23 and 24) which are the first and second ones counting from the right end among the emitting first LEDs (21 to 24), with decreasing brightness towards the right end. Furthermore, the microcomputer (5) causes light emission of second LEDs from a second LED (77) which is disposed at the right end of the second LEDs (71 to 77), to a second LED (73) which is disposed at a position overlapped with the first LEDs (23 and 24) that emit light with decreasing brightness towards the right end, and also causes light emission of second LEDs (73 and 74), which are the first and second ones counting from the left end among the emitting second LEDs (73 to 77), with decreasing brightness towards the left end.
US08928220B2

A white light emitting device includes: a blue light emitting diode (LED) which emits blue light; and a resin packing unit which encapsulates the blue LED, wherein the resin packing unit includes a first wavelength conversion material which, in response to being excited by the blue light, emits green light, a second wavelength conversion material which, in response to being excited by the blue light, emits red light, and a complex compound which absorbs light of a region in which the green light and the red light are mixed, the light of the region being included in white light implemented through a mixture of the green light and the red light excited together with the blue light.
US08928207B2

Tuning-fork type quartz-crystal vibrating pieces are disclosed, of which the vibration frequency can be adjusted without increasing CI. An exemplary piezoelectric device has a pair of vibrating arms extending in a predetermined direction from a first edge of a base. Respective first grooves are defined in a first principal surface of the vibrating arms. The first grooves extend in the predetermined direction, and have first excitation electrodes extending from a back-edge surface but not completely to a front-edge surface of the grooves. Respective second grooves are defined in a second principal surface, opposite the first principal surface, of the vibrating arms. The second grooves extend in the predetermined direction, and have second excitation electrodes extending from a back-edge surface completely to a front-edge surface of the second grooves.
US08928206B2

The invention relates to a method for obtaining electrical energy from the kinetic energy waves. According to said method, a device is provided in the water, comprising an electroactive polymer that can expand with the action of the waves. When the electroactive polymer expands, an electrical charge is applied at a specific time for a specific time interval. Said electrical charge is removed during the relaxation of the polymer, except for a residual charge. According to said method, the variables of the electrical target charge required for the operation of the method, and the time intervals for the beginning and end of the charging and discharging of the electroactive polymer are determined. The invention also relates to a system for obtaining electrical energy and to a computer program product comprising commands that can be implemented by a microprocessor for carrying out the calculations in the method according to the invention.
US08928193B2

A stepping motor for a meter to rotate a pointer of a meter, the stepping motor for a meter includes: a rotor part having: a cylindrical magnet; and a rotational shaft, which is hollow and made of a resin, and which is molded on an inner periphery of the cylindrical magnet and is coaxial with the cylindrical magnet; a stator part that contains the rotor part therein and has an excitation coil; a front plate made of a resin, and an end plate made of a resin, wherein a fixing part to fix the cylindrical magnet is molded when molding the rotational shaft, and wherein the cylindrical magnet is fixed by the fixing part so that the cylindrical magnet and the rotational shaft are integrated.
US08928192B2

An electromagnetic vibrator includes an electromagnetic provider and a vibration unit, wherein the vibration unit includes a diaphragm unit and an induction coil unit affixing on an inner side of the diaphragm unit, so that when the vibration unit is mounted to the electromagnetic provider, the induction coil is inducted to the electromagnetic to generate an electromagnetic field, so as to axially vibrate the induction coil to vibrate the vibration unit.
US08928189B2

This invention relates to a method, an apparatus, a computer program product and a system for a first serial and a second serial interface for connecting or disconnecting a power terminal of a first serial interface to a power terminal of a second serial interface based on a voltage level at an identification terminal of the second serial interface, wherein each interface comprising at least one data line and power supply line.
US08928188B2

A power supply circuit for a remote load and a local controller includes a line connection receiving electrical power from an AC source. A load connection connects to the remote load. A switch is located between the line and load connections. Power is supplied to the load from the AC source through the switch. The switch is selectively opened and closed by the controller. A low voltage supply portion supplies power from the AC source to the controller. The low voltage supply portion includes an energy storage device for storing electrical energy for the controller. A current-limited earth ground portion conducts charging current from the energy storage device to earth and prevents charging current conducted to earth from exceeding a predetermined current level. An earth ground bypass portion conducts at least some of the charging current to the load when the switch located between the line and load is open.
US08928184B2

Disclosed are method and apparatus for implementing power distribution unit with a hybrid switching module. The apparatus comprises multiple outlets coupled to a hybrid switching module that switches on or off the plurality of outlets. The apparatus further comprises a single SSR for the hybrid switching module and two EMRs for an outlet and a controller that communicates with the hybrid switching module via digital line(s) to control power distribution. The apparatus comprises a display for displaying information related to the power outlets, two current detection circuitries for monitoring the total input current and an individual outlet, and a voltage detection circuitry for sensing voltages. The number of outlets may be scaled by using one or more hybrid switching module that share the single SSR. The apparatus further comprises a web server running thereon to interface with remote users to process the user's requests for the apparatus.
US08928182B2

A wireless power feeder has a power feed coil that performs a power feed by a non-contact method to a wireless power receiver having a power receive coil. A power source section supplies AC power to the power feed coil. A control section calculates a power transmission efficiency from the power feed coil to the power receive coil to control a power source section so that the power supply to the power feed coil is in a stopped or intermittent state when the power transmission efficiency is lower than a first determination reference value; is in a first power supply state when the power transmission efficiency is equal to or higher than the first determination reference value and lower than a larger second determination reference value; and is in a second power supply state when the power transmission efficiency is equal to or higher than the second determination reference value.
US08928167B2

A passive bluff body is disposed in flowing fluid for generating power. The shape of the bluff body supports a predetermined oscillatory clockwise and counter clockwise movement about a pivot absent the influence of electrical or mechanical devices for biasing the bluff body's motion for a given velocity, or range of velocities, of the fluid flow.
US08928163B2

The present invention describes a process for controlling the active power injected into the grid by a generating plant for contributing to the stability of the power grid in the event of frequency variations where, in response to a deviation in grid frequency, each generating unit calculates an active power variation parameter generated based on a first parameter stored in said generating unit, said first parameter being representative of a respective contribution of said generating unit to a required variation in total active power of the generating plant, and where a central control unit of the generating plant connected to each generating unit updates the value of the first parameters when changes are produced therein.
US08928159B2

A device includes a substrate, and an alignment mark including a conductive through-substrate via (TSV) penetrating through the substrate.
US08928157B2

An encapsulation technique for leadless semiconductor packages entails: (a) attaching a plurality of dice (411) to die pads in cavities (41-45, 51-55) of a leadframe, the cavities arranged in a matrix of columns and rows; (b) electrically connecting the dice to a plurality of conducting portions (412-414) of the leadframe; and (c) longitudinally injecting molding material into the cavities along the columns via a plurality of longitudinal gates (46-49, 56-59) of the leadframe to package the dice in the cavities, the longitudinal gates situated between the cavities along the columns.
US08928153B2

A microelectronic assembly can include a substrate having first and second surfaces and an aperture extending therebetween, the substrate having terminals. The assembly can also include a first microelectronic element having a front surface facing the first surface of the substrate, a second microelectronic element having a front surface facing the first microelectronic element and projecting beyond an edge of the first microelectronic element, first and second leads electrically connecting contacts of the respective first and second microelectronic elements to the terminals, and third leads electrically interconnecting the contacts of the first and second microelectronic elements. The contacts of the first microelectronic element can be exposed at the front surface thereof adjacent the edge thereof. The contacts of the second microelectronic element can be disposed in a central region of the front surface thereof. The first, second, and third leads can have portions aligned with the aperture.
US08928145B2

A structure and system for forming the structure. The structure includes a semiconductor chip and an interposing shield having a top side and a bottom side. The semiconductor chip includes N chip electric pads, wherein N is a positive integer of at least 2. The N chip electric pads are electrically connected to a plurality of devices on the semiconductor chip. The electric shield includes 2N electric conductors and N shield electric pads. Each shield electrical pad is in electrical contact and direct physical contact with a corresponding pair of electric conductors of the 2N electric conductors. The interposing shield includes a shield material. The shield material includes a first semiconductor material. The semiconductor chip is bonded to the top side of the interposing shield. Each chip electric pads is in electrical contact and direct physical contact with a corresponding shield electrical pad of the N shield electric pads.
US08928142B2

In one general aspect, an apparatus includes a first capacitor defined by a dielectric disposed between a bump metal and a region of a first conductivity type, and a second capacitor in series with the first capacitor and defined by a PN junction including the region of the first conductivity type and a region of a second conductivity type. The region of the first conductivity type can be configured to be coupled to a first node having a first voltage, and the region of the second conductivity type can be configured to be coupled to a second node having a second voltage different than the first voltage.
US08928140B2

A method of manufacturing an electronic system. One embodiment provides a semiconductor chip having a first main face and a second main face opposite to the first main face. A mask is applied to the first main face of the semiconductor chip. A compound is applied to the first main face of the semiconductor chip. The compound includes electronically conductive particles. The semiconductor chip is coupled to a carrier with the compound facing the carrier.
US08928139B2

Embodiments described herein provide enhanced integrated circuit (IC) devices. In an embodiment, an IC device includes a substrate, an IC die coupled to a surface of the substrate, a first wirelessly enabled functional block located, on the IC die, the first wirelessly enabled functional block being configured to wirelessly communicate with a second wirelessly enabled functional block located on the substrate, and a ground ring configured to provide electromagnetic shielding for the first and second wirelessly enabled functional blocks.
US08928138B2

A complete power management system implemented in a single surface mount package. The system may be drawn to a DC to DC converter system and includes, in a leadless surface mount package, a driver/controller, a MOSFET transistor, passive components (e.g., inductor, capacitor, resistor), and optionally a diode. The MOSFET transistor may be replaced with an insulated gate bipolar transistor, IGBT in various embodiments. The system may also be a power management system, a smart power module or a motion control system. The passive components may be connected between the leadframe connections. The active components may be coupled to the leadframe using metal clip bonding techniques. In one embodiment, an exposed metal bottom may act as an effective heat sink.
US08928137B2

An ultrasound flow meter unit arranged to measure a fluid flow rate is provided, where the unit comprises a circuit board 502 which comprises an electronic circuit, a first ultrasound transducer 506 and a first conducting path 564 electrically connected to first ultrasound transducer and the electronic circuit, wherein the circuit board is a multi-layer circuit board and the first conducting path 564 is arranged at least partially between a first layer 581 and a second layer 582. In a further embodiment, there is provided an upper electrically conducting layer 586 and/or a lower electrically conducting layer 588 which substantially covers, respectively, the upper surface of the first layer 581 and the lower surface of the second layer 582.
US08928121B2

The present invention relates to a method for thermal stress reduction on a wafer, comprising the steps of providing a patterned wafer with saw lanes between adjacent dies, forming thin holes within the silicon substrate, which holes create a dotted groove in the saw lanes, and wherein no second layer on an opposing side of the wafer is formed, a patterned wafer obtained by said method. The forming of the holes is preferably combined with other processing steps or another step to avoid additional operations and manipulations prior to, or after standard wafer processing, and it therefore optimizes fabrication quality and costs. Preferably the holes within the silicon substrate having a depth of more than 3 to 50 μm, preferably from 5-40 μm, like 20 μm.
US08928120B1

Among other things, one or more wafer edge protection structures and techniques for forming such wafer edge protection structures are provided. A substrate of a semiconductor wafer comprises an edge, such as a beveled wafer edge portion, that is susceptible to Epi growth which results in undesirable particle contamination of the semiconductor wafer. Accordingly, a wafer edge protection structure is formed over the beveled wafer edge portion. The wafer edge protection structure comprises an Epi growth resistant material, such as an amorphous material, a non-crystalline material, oxide, or other material. In this way, the wafer edge protection structure mitigates Epi growth on the beveled wafer edge portion, where the Epi growth increases a likelihood of particle contamination from cracking or peeling of an Epi film resulting from the Epi growth. The wafer edge protection structure thus mitigates at least some contamination of the wafer.
US08928118B2

The present invention discloses methods and apparatuses for the separations of IC fabrication and assembling of separated IC components to form complete IC structures. In an embodiment, the present fabrication separation of an IC structure into multiple discrete components can take advantages of dedicated IC fabrication facilities and achieve more cost effective products. In another embodiment, the present chip assembling provides high density interconnect wires between bond pads, enabling cost-effective assembling of small chip components. In an aspect, the present process provides multiple interconnect wires in the form of a ribbon between the bond pads, and then subsequently separates the ribbon into multiple individual interconnect wires.
US08928108B2

An electronic device includes a silicon carbide layer including an n-type drift region therein, a contact forming a junction, such as a Schottky junction, with the drift region, and a p-type junction barrier region on the silicon carbide layer. The p-type junction barrier region includes a p-type polysilicon region forming a P-N heterojunction with the drift region, and the p-type junction barrier region is electrically connected to the contact. Related methods are also disclosed.
US08928106B2

An electroconductive element includes a substrate having a first wavy surface and a second wavy surface, and an electroconductive layer formed on the first wavy surface, wherein the electroconductive layer forms an electroconductive pattern, and the first wavy surface and the second wavy surface satisfy the following relationship: 0≦(Am1/λm1)<(Am2/λm2)≦1.8. Am1 is a mean amplitude of vibrations of the first wavy surface, Am2 is a mean amplitude of vibrations of the second wavy surface, λm1 is a mean wavelength of the first wavy surface, and λm2 is a mean wavelength of the second wavy surface.
US08928105B2

A method to fabricate monolithically-integrated optoelectronic module apparatuses (100) comprising at least two series-interconnected optoelectronic components (104, 106, 108). The method includes deposition and scribing on an insulating substrate or superstate (110) of a 3-layer stack in order (a, b, c) or (c, b, a) comprising: (a) back-contact electrodes (122, 124, 126, 128), (b) semiconductive layer (130), and (c) front-contact components (152, 154, 156, 158). Via holes (153, 155, 157) are drilled so that heat of the drilling process causes a metallization at the surface of said via holes that renders conductive the semi-conductive layer's surface (132, 134, 136, 138) of said via holes, thereby establishing series-interconnecting electrical paths between optoelectronic components (104, 106, 108) by connecting first front-contact components (154, 156) to second back-contact electrodes (124, 126).
US08928100B2

Embodiments are directed to STT MRAM devices. One embodiment of an STT MRAM device includes a reference layer, a tunnel barrier layer, a free layer and one or more conductive vias. The reference layer is configured to have a fixed magnetic moment. In addition, the tunnel barrier layer is configured to enable electrons to tunnel between the reference layer and the free layer through the tunnel barrier layer. The free layer is disposed beneath the tunnel barrier layer and is configured to have an adaptable magnetic moment for the storage of data. The conductive via is disposed beneath the free layer and is connected to an electrode. Further, the conductive via has a width that is smaller than a width of the free layer such that a width of an active STT area for the storage of data in the free layer is defined by the width of the conductive via.
US08928094B2

The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device and methods of making wherein the semiconductor device has strained asymmetric source and drain regions. A method of fabricating the semiconductor device includes providing a substrate and forming a poly gate stack on the substrate. A dopant is implanted in the substrate at an implant angle ranging from about 10° to about 25° from perpendicular to the substrate. A spacer is formed adjacent the poly gate stack on the substrate. A source region and a drain region are etched in the substrate. A strained source layer and a strained drain layer are respectively deposited into the etched source and drain regions in the substrate, such that the source region and the drain region are asymmetric with respect to the poly gate stack. The poly gate stack is removed from the substrate and a high-k metal gate is formed using a gate-last process where the poly gate stack was removed.
US08928091B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide an array of fin-type transistors formed on top of an oxide layer. At least a first and a second of the fin-type transistors have their respective source and drain contacts being formed inside the oxide layer, with one of the contacts of the first fin-type transistor being conductively connected to one of the contacts of the second fin-type transistor by an epitaxial silicon layer, wherein the epitaxial silicon layer is formed on top of a first and a second fin of the first and second fin-type transistors respectively.
US08928088B2

A method of forming an integrated circuit comprises forming at least one gate electrode of at least one active transistor, and at least one first dummy gate electrode. The method also comprises forming a first doped region disposed in the substrate and adjacent to a first side wall of the at least one first dummy gate electrode, wherein the first doped region has a first conductivity type dopant. The method further comprises forming a second doped region disposed in the substrate and adjacent to a second side wall of the at least one first dummy gate electrode. The second doped region has a second conductivity type dopant that is opposite to the first conductivity type dopant.
US08928086B2

A fin structure includes an optional doped well, a disposable single crystalline semiconductor material portion, and a top semiconductor portion formed on a substrate. A disposable gate structure straddling the fin structure is formed, and end portions of the fin structure are removed to form end cavities. Doped semiconductor material portions are formed on sides of a stack of the disposable single crystalline semiconductor material portion and a channel region including the top semiconductor portion. The disposable single crystalline semiconductor material portion may be replaced with a dielectric material portion after removal of the disposable gate structure or after formation of the stack. The gate cavity is filled with a gate dielectric and a gate electrode. The channel region is stressed by the doped semiconductor material portions, and is electrically isolated from the substrate by the dielectric material portion.
US08928082B2

A method for fabricating a junction-less transistor device that includes a substrate, a buried dielectric layer having a fin structure on the substrate, a doped region formed through the buried dielectric layer in the substrate, a semiconductor layer overlying the buried dielectric layer and the doped region, a gate structure on the semiconductor layer, and source/drain regions in the semiconductor layer at opposite sides of the gate structure. The semiconductor layer includes first, second, third regions, with the second region interposed between the first and second regions and disposed underneath the gate electrode structure. The first, second, and third regions have a same doping polarity. The second region has a doping concentration less than those of the first and second regions. The second region and the doped region have opposite doping polarities. The second region has a groove in contact with a bottom portion of the gate structure.
US08928078B2

The present invention discloses a double diffused metal oxide semiconductor (DMOS) device and a manufacturing method thereof. The DMOS device includes: a first conductive type substrate, a second conductive type high voltage well, a gate, a first conductive type body region, a second conductive type source, a second conductive type drain, a first conductive type body electrode, and a first conductive type floating region. The floating region is formed in the body region, which is electrically floating and is electrically isolated from the source and the gate, such that the electrostatic discharge (ESD) effect is mitigated.
US08928077B2

In one general aspect, a power device includes an active region having a plurality of pillars of a first conductivity type alternately arranged with a plurality of pillars of a second conductivity type where the plurality of pillars of the second conductivity type in the active region each have substantially the same width. The power device includes a termination region surrounding at least a portion of the active region and having a plurality of pillars of the first conductivity type alternately arranged with a plurality of pillars of the second conductivity type where the plurality of pillars of the second conductivity type in the active region each have substantially the same width and are smaller than each width of the pillars of the second conductivity type in the termination region. The power device includes a transition region disposed between the active region and the termination region.
US08928075B2

A semiconductor device containing a high voltage MOS transistor with a drain drift region over a lower drain layer and channel regions laterally disposed at the top surface of the substrate. RESURF trenches cut through the drain drift region and body region parallel to channel current flow. The RESURF trenches have dielectric liners and electrically conductive RESURF elements on the liners. Source contact metal is disposed over the body region and source regions. A semiconductor device containing a high voltage MOS transistor with a drain drift region over a lower drain layer, and channel regions laterally disposed at the top surface of the substrate. RESURF trenches cut through the drain drift region and body region perpendicular to channel current flow. Source contact metal is disposed in a source contact trench and extended over the drain drift region to provide a field plate.
US08928070B2

The present invention provides a manufacturing method of a trench type power transistor device with a super junction. First, a substrate of a first conductivity type is provided, and then an epitaxial layer of a second conductive type is formed on the substrate. Next, a through hole is formed in the epitaxial layer, and the through hole penetrates through the epitaxial layer. Two doped drain regions of the first conductivity type are then formed in the epitaxial layer respectively at two sides of the through hole, and the doped drain regions extend from a top surface of the epitaxial layer to be in contact with the substrate.
US08928068B2

A vertical semiconductor device (e.g. a vertical power device, an IGBT device, a vertical bipolar transistor, a UMOS device or a GTO thyristor) is formed with an active semiconductor region, within which a plurality of semiconductor structures have been fabricated to form an active device, and below which at least a portion of a substrate material has been removed to isolate the active device, to expose at least one of the semiconductor structures for bottom side electrical connection and to enhance thermal dissipation. At least one of the semiconductor structures is preferably contacted by an electrode at the bottom side of the active semiconductor region.
US08928047B2

An integrated circuit contains a transistor with a stress enhancement region on the source side only. In a DeMOS transistor, forming the stress enhancement region on the source side only and not forming a stress enhancement region in the drain extension increases the resistance of the drain extension region enabling formation of a DeMOS transistor with reduced area. In a MOS transistor, by forming the stress enhancement region on the source side only and eliminating the stress enhancement region from the drain side, transistor leakage is reduced and CHC reliability improved.
US08928042B2

A structure having a plurality of conductive regions insulated electrically from each other comprises a movable piece supported movably above the upper face of the conductive region, the movable piece having an electrode in opposition to the conductive region, the structure being constructed to be capable of emitting and receiving electric signals through the lower face of the conductive region, the plural conductive regions being insulated by sequentially connected oxidized regions formed from an oxide of a material having through-holes or grooves.
US08928039B2

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device has a first nitride semiconductor layer, a second nitride semiconductor layer provided on the first nitride semiconductor layer and formed of a non-doped or n-type nitride semiconductor having a band gap wider than that of the first nitride semiconductor layer, a heterojunction field effect transistor having a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a gate electrode, a Schottky barrier diode having an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, and first and second element isolation insulating layers. The first element isolation insulating layer has a first end contacting with the drain electrode and the anode electrode, and a second end located in the first nitride semiconductor layer. The second element isolation insulating layer has a third end contacting with the cathode electrode, and a fourth end located in the first nitride semiconductor layer.
US08928036B2

A barrier infrared detector with absorber materials having selectable cutoff wavelengths and its method of manufacture is described. A GaInAsSb absorber layer may be grown on a GaSb substrate layer formed by mixing GaSb and InAsSb by an absorber mixing ratio. A GaAlAsSb barrier layer may then be grown on the barrier layer formed by mixing GaSb and AlSbAs by a barrier mixing ratio. The absorber mixing ratio may be selected to adjust a band gap of the absorber layer and thereby determine a cutoff wavelength for the barrier infrared detector. The absorber mixing ratio may vary along an absorber layer growth direction. Various contact layer architectures may be used. In addition, a top contact layer may be isolated into an array of elements electrically isolated as individual functional detectors that may be used in a detector array, imaging array, or focal plane array.
US08928031B2

Semiconductor devices are formed using a thin epitaxial layer (nanotube) formed on sidewalls of dielectric-filled trenches. In one embodiment, a semiconductor device is formed in a second semiconductor layer disposed on a first semiconductor layer of opposite conductivity type and having trenches formed therein where the trenches extend from the top surface to the bottom surface of the second semiconductor layer. The semiconductor device includes a first epitaxial layer formed on sidewalls of the trenches where the first epitaxial layer is substantially charge balanced with adjacent semiconductor regions. The semiconductor device further includes a first dielectric layer formed in the trenches adjacent the first epitaxial layer and a gate electrode disposed in an upper portion of at least some of the trenches above the first dielectric layer and insulated from the sidewalls of the trenches by a gate dielectric layer.
US08928025B2

Disclosed is a LED lighting apparatus with one or more swivel connections. The LED lighting apparatus includes a housing with at least one end, at least one light emitting diode extending along the housing and at least one end cap. The end cap has an opening with a sidewall to cap the end of the housing and a surface opposite the opening and spanning the sidewall. At least two pin connectors extend from the surface and are connectable to a standard fluorescent or incandescent light fixture. Various configurations are described such that the housing will rotate within the end caps with application of a rotational force after connection of the pin connectors to the light fixture to adjust the light output direction of the LED lighting apparatus.
US08928023B1

Arrangements of solid state light sources for color-mixing, and light sources including the same, are provided. A substrate has a plurality of different color LED chips coupled thereto. The emitted light is mixed to produce a white light output. The LED chips are arranged on the substrate in a manner that improves color-mixing, for example, by forming LED sets including one or more LED chips of different colors, by skewing the LED chips, and/or by forming a non-rectangular array or a circular array of LED sets and/or chips. The color-mixing LED arrangement may be used in a lamp or other light source together with collimating optics to collimate and further mix the color-mixed light output from the LED arrangement. The color-mixing LED arrangement may be provided as a single package with multiple LED chips or as multiple packages of one or more LED chips.
US08928014B2

In accordance with certain embodiments, an electric device includes a flexible substrate having first and second conductive traces on a first surface thereof and separated by a gap therebetween, an electronic component spanning the gap, and a stiffener configured to substantially prevent flexing of the substrate proximate the gap during flexing of the substrate.
US08928011B2

A highly reliable light-emitting device or lighting device is provided. Further, a light-emitting device or lighting device with a high manufacturing yield is provided. Provided is a light-emitting device having a contact structure which includes a separation layer having a shape typified by a reverse tapered shape in which an outline of the bottom portion is inside an outline of an upper portion and which utilizes the difference between an amount of a light-emitting layer extending inside the outline and that of an upper electrode extending inside the outline. Further, when the outline of the separation layer which forms the contact portion has a depression and a projection, the length of the contact portion can be increased, and thus, contact resistance can be reduced.
US08928005B2

A semiconductor light-emitting device that is high in luminous efficiency and that emits light which is high in color rendering property includes a semiconductor light-emitting element that emits blue light; a green fluorescent substance that absorbs the blue light and emits green light; and an orange fluorescent substance that absorbs the blue light and emits orange light, fluorescence emitted by the green fluorescent substance and the orange fluorescent substance having an emission spectrum that has a peak wavelength of not less than 540 nm and not more than 565 nm and that satisfies the relation of 0.70>PI(90)/PI(MAX)>0.55, where PI(MAX) represents an emission intensity at the peak wavelength, and PI(90) represents an emission intensity at a wavelength 90 nm longer than the peak wavelength.
US08928001B2

A group III nitride compound semiconductor light emitting device that inhibits occurrence of dislocation in a strain relaxation layer in forming a group III nitride compound semiconductor layer on a thin GaN substrate, and a method for producing the same are provided. A light emitting device 100 comprises a support substrate 10, a GaN substrate 20, an n-type contact layer 30, a strain relaxation layer 40 (n-type InGaN layer), a light emitting layer 50, a p-type clad layer 60, and a p-type contact layer 70. The GaN substrate 20 has a thickness in a range of from 10 nm to 10 μm. The strain relaxation layer 40 (n-type InGaN layer) has an In composition ratio X in a range of from larger than 0 to 3%.
US08927994B2

Disclosed is a display device and an electronic apparatus incorporating the display device. The display device includes a transistor and a planarization film over the transistor. The planarization film has an opening where an edge portion is rounded. The display device further includes a first electrode over the planarization film and an organic resin film over the first electrode. The organic resin film also has an opening where an edge portion is rounded. The organic resin film is located in the opening of the planarization film. The first electrode and the transistor are electrically connected to each other through a conductive film. The first electrode is in contact with a top surface of the conductive film. Over the first electrode, a light-emitting member and a second electrode are provided.
US08927993B2

A method of manufacturing an array substrate for a fringe field switching mode liquid crystal display includes: forming an auxiliary insulating layer on a second passivation layer and having a first thickness; forming first and second photoresist patterns on the auxiliary insulating layer and having second and third thicknesses, respectively, the second thickness greater than the third thickness; etching the auxiliary insulating layer, the second passivation layer and a first passivation layer to form a drain contact hole; performing an ashing to remove the second photoresist pattern and expose the auxiliary insulating layer therebelow; performing a dry etching to remove the auxiliary insulating layer not covered by the first photoresist pattern and expose the first passivation layer and to form an insulating pattern below the first photoresist pattern, the insulating pattern and the first photoresist pattern forming an undercut shape; forming a transparent conductive material layer having a fourth thickness less than the first thickness; and performing a lift-off process to remove the first photoresist pattern and the transparent conductive material layer thereon together and form a pixel electrode as a remaining portion of the transparent conductive material layer.
US08927984B2

A transistor device, such as a rotated channel metal oxide/insulator field effect transistor (RC-MO(I)SFET), includes a substrate including a non-polar or semi-polar wide band gap substrate material such as an Al2O3 or a ZnO or a Group-III Nitride-based material, and a first structure disposed on a first side of the substrate comprising of AlInGaN-based and/or ZnMgO based semiconducting materials. The first structure further includes an intentional current-conducting sidewall channel or facet whereupon additional semiconductor layers, dielectric layers and electrode layers are disposed and upon which the field effect of the dielectric and electrode layers occurs thus allowing for a high density monolithic integration of a multiplicity of discrete devices on a common substrate thereby enabling a higher power density than in conventional lateral power MOSFET devices.
US08927969B2

A graphene substrate is doped with one or more functional groups to form an electronic device.
US08927968B2

A method of forming a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes providing a structure including, a handle substrate, a buried boron nitride layer located above an uppermost surface of the handle substrate, a buried oxide layer located on an uppermost surface of the buried boron nitride layer, and a top semiconductor layer located on an uppermost surface of the buried oxide layer. Next, a first semiconductor pad, a second semiconductor pad and a plurality of semiconductor nanowires connecting the first semiconductor pad and the second semiconductor pad in a ladder-like configuration are patterned into the top semiconductor layer. The semiconductor nanowires are suspended by removing a portion of the buried oxide layer from beneath each semiconductor nanowire, wherein a portion of the uppermost surface of the buried boron nitride layer is exposed. Next, a gate all-around field effect transistor is formed.
US08927963B2

A semiconductor memory cell, a semiconductor memory device, and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The semiconductor memory cell may comprise: a substrate; a channel region on the substrate; a gate region above the channel region; a source region and a drain region on the substrate and at opposite sides of the channel region; and a buried layer, which is disposed between the substrate and the channel region and comprises a material having a forbidden band narrower than that of a material for the channel region material. The buried layer material has a forbidden band narrower than that of the channel region material, so that a hole barrier is formed in the buried layer. Due to the barrier, it is difficult for holes stored in the buried layer to leak out, resulting in an improved information holding duration of the memory cell utilizing the floating-body effect.
US08927962B2

A group III nitride semiconductor optical device 11a has a group III nitride semiconductor substrate 13 having a main surface 13a forming a finite angle with a reference plane Sc orthogonal to a reference axis Cx extending in a c-axis direction of the group III nitride semiconductor and an active layer 17 of a quantum-well structure, disposed on the main surface 13a of the group III nitride semiconductor substrate 13, including a well layer 28 made of a group III nitride semiconductor and a plurality of barrier layers 29 made of a group III nitride semiconductor. The main surface 13a exhibits semipolarity. The active layer 17 has an oxygen content of at least 1×1017 cm−3 but not exceeding 8×1017 cm−3. The plurality of barrier layers 29 contain an n-type impurity other than oxygen by at least 1×1017 cm−3 but not exceeding 1×1019 cm−3 in an upper near-interface area 29u in contact with a lower interface 28Sd of the well layer 28 on the group III nitride semiconductor substrate side.
US08927961B2

Disclosed is a semiconductor light emitting device including a first conductive semiconductor layer including an n-type dopant, an active layer, and a second to sixth conductive semiconductor layers including a p-type dopant. The third to sixth conductive semiconductor layers includes an AlGaN-based semiconductor on the active layer, and the second conductive semiconductor layer includes a GaN-based semiconductor layer on the sixth conductive semiconductor layer. The active layer includes plurality of quantum barrier layers and plurality of quantum well layers and includes a cycle of 2 to 10. The plurality of quantum well layers include an InGaN semiconductor and at least one of the plurality of quantum barrier layers includes a GaN-based semiconductor. The sixth conductive semiconductor layer has a thickness of about 5 nm to about 100 nm.
US08927959B2

A light emitting diode is provided, which includes an n-type contact layer and a light generating structure adjacent to the n-type contact layer. The light generating structure includes a set of quantum wells. The contact layer and light generating structure can be configured so that a difference between an energy of the n-type contact layer and an electron ground state energy of a quantum well is greater than an energy of a polar optical phonon in a material of the light generating structure. Additionally, the light generating structure can be configured so that its width is comparable to a mean free path for emission of a polar optical phonon by an electron injected into the light generating structure.
US08927956B2

A resistance type memory device is provided. The resistance type memory device includes a first and a second conductors and a metal oxide layer. The metal oxide layer is disposed between the first and the second conductors, and the resistance type memory device is defined in a first resistivity. The resistance type memory device is defined in a second resistivity after a first pulse voltage is applied to the metal oxide layer. The resistance type memory device is defined in a third resistivity after a second pulse voltage is applied to the metal oxide layer. The second resistivity is greater than the first resistivity, and the first resistivity is greater than the third resistivity.
US08927952B2

Techniques for generating EUV light include directing a first pulse of radiation toward a target material droplet to form a modified droplet, the first pulse of radiation having an energy sufficient to alter a shape of the target material droplet; directing a second pulse of radiation toward the modified droplet to form an absorption material, the second pulse of radiation having an energy sufficient to change a property of the modified droplet, the property being related to absorption of radiation; and directing an amplified light beam toward the absorption material, the amplified light beam having an energy sufficient to convert at least a portion of the absorption material into extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light.
US08927948B2

A particle beam system includes a charged particle beam source, a beam blanking module connectable to a data network, a focusing lens, a first beam deflection module connectable to the data network, a calculation module configured to determine a deflection time; and an encoding module.
US08927944B2

A method of performing a hot test of a wafer-level, packaged high-brightness phosphor converted light-emitting diode (pc-HBLED) includes selectively heating portions of the phosphor layer using a laser to provide a predetermined temperature gradient in the phosphor layer. The selective heating can directly heat the silicone in a silicone-based phosphor layer, or directly heat the active ion(s) of the phosphor in a Lumiramic™-based phosphor or even the active ion(s) of a silicone-based phosphor layer. A current is applied to the InGaN film to establish a predetermined temperature at the InGaN film junction, the film junction being adjacent to the phosphor layer. Photometric measurements are performed on the HBLED after the selective heating and during the applied electroluminescent current. This method quickly establishes the temperatures and temperature gradients in the HBLED consistent with those of an operating, product-level HBLED, thereby ensuring accurate binning of the HBLED.
US08927940B2

An abridged multipole structure for the transport and selection of ions along a central axis in a vacuum system is constructed from a plurality of rectilinear electrode structures, each having a substantially planar face with a first dimension and a second dimension perpendicular to the first dimension. When a voltage is applied across the second dimension, an electrical potential is produced at the planar face whose amplitude is a linear function of position along the second dimension. Two electrode structures can be arranged parallel to each other with the first dimension extending along the central axis or more electrodes structures can be arranged to form multipole structures with various polygonal cross sections. Additional embodiments can act as linear ion traps or Paul ion traps.
US08927935B1

A general problem occurs when there are multiple High Energy Laser (HEL) systems designed to shoot down threat targets (e.g., rockets, artillery, and mortar (RAM), and unmanned aerial systems (UASs) and vehicles (UAVs)) in scenarios where there are multiple, simultaneous, impending threat targets. To achieve the highest target kill ratio or highest protection force efficiency, the HEL systems need to be independently allocated to unique threat targets at each specific time, such that the case where two or more HEL systems are shooting at the same target is avoided (referred to as “target deconfliction”). The present disclosure teaches an all electro optical (EO) solution that exploits the use and affects of the HELs focused on targets and, thus, eliminates the need for any battle management (BM) and command and control (C2) systems that are currently conventionally used for target deconfliction.
US08927929B1

An ionization chamber side voltage contact point is formed so as to protrude from the compartment in the ionization chamber, a mass spectrometric unit side voltage contact point 92 is formed in the hole created in the housing of the mass spectrometric unit, and a predetermined distance is provided between the inner periphery of the hole and the outer periphery of the mass spectrometric unit side voltage contact point in the structure, which allows the ionization chamber side voltage contact point to be inserted into the hole so to be connected to the mass spectrometric unit side voltage contact point when the ionization chamber is in the analysis position and allows the ionization chamber side voltage contact point to be pulled out from the hole so as to be disconnected from the mass spectrometric unit side voltage contact point the ionization chamber is in the maintenance position.
US08927926B2

A mass spectrometry method of the present invention is such that a sample is heated to generate a gas and an ion that is produced from the gas is introduced into a mass spectrometer by using DART so that mass spectrometry is conducted.
US08927921B1

A method for performing composite dose quality assurance with a three-dimensional (3D) radiation detector array includes delivering a radiation fraction to the 3D array according to a radiation treatment (RT) plan, measuring absolute dose per detector of the 3D array, per unit of time, determining a radiation source emission angle per unit of time, synchronizing the RT plan with the measured absolute doses and determined radiation source emission angles to determine an absolute time for a control point of each beam of the synchronized RT plan, converting the beams of the synchronized RT plan into a series of sub-beams, generating a 3D relative dose grid for each of the sub-beams, applying a calibration factor grid to each of the 3D relative dose grids to determine a 3D absolute dose grid for each of the sub-beams, summing the 3D absolute dose grids to generate a 3D absolute dose deposited in the 3D array, and determining a 3D dose correction grid for application to the RT plan based on the 3D absolute dose.
US08927919B2

A photoelectric switch includes a base having a tubular wall surrounding an axis, and a cover coupled to the base and including a rib unit that cooperates with the tubular wall to confine a rolling chamber. The rib unit has at least one portion overlapping the tubular wall. A light passage extends through the rolling chamber and two diametrically opposite sides of the tubular wall. A photoelectric unit is enclosed by the base and the cover, and includes a light emitter and a light receiver disposed respectively on two opposite ends of the light passage, and a rolling member disposed in the rolling chamber and movable between a blocking position to block the light passage and a non-blocking position to unblock the light passage.
US08927915B1

Apparatus and a method for intercepting a rocket body during boost phase. A sensor is arranged to detect thermal emission in a range that is characteristic of a firing rocket body. The image detected by the sensor is applied to an analog-to-digital converter for digitization and application to a computer that includes a routine for separating the modulated photon energy of the detected image from the substantially unmodulated photon energy that characterizes rocket body emissions. The unmodulated photon energy, signature of the rocket body, may be utilized by a fire control system for tracking, targeting and aiming munitions at the firing rocket body.
US08927909B2

An integrated circuit is provided having an active circuit. A heating element is adjacent to the active circuit and configured to heat the active circuit. A temperature sensor is also adjacent to the active circuit and configured to measure a temperature of the active circuit. A temperature controller is coupled to the active circuit and configured to receive a temperature signal from the temperature sensor. The temperature controller operates the heating element to heat the active circuit to maintain the temperature of the active circuit in a selected temperature range.
US08927907B2

A thermally zoned substrate holder including a substantially cylindrical base having top and bottom surfaces configured to support a substrate. A plurality of temperature control elements are disposed within the base. An insulator thermally separates the temperature control elements. The insulator is made from an insulting material having a lower coefficient of thermal conductivity than the base (e.g., a gas- or vacuum-filled chamber).
US08927898B2

In a thin beam directional Crystallization System configured anneal a silicon layer on a glass substrate uses a special laser beam profile with an intensity peak at one edge. The system is configured to entirely melt a spatially controlled portion of a silicon layer causing lateral crystal growth. By advancing the substrate or laser a certain step size and subjecting the silicon layer to successive “shots” rom the laser, the entire silicon layer is crystallized. The lateral crystal growth creates a protrusion in the center of the melt area. This protrusion must be re-melted. Accordingly, the step size must be such that there is sufficient overlap between successive shots, i.e., melt zones, to ensure the protrusion is melted. This requires the step size to be less than half the beam width. A smaller step size reduces throughput and increases costs. The special laser profile used in accordance with the systems and methods described herein can increase the step size and thereby increase throughput and reduce costs.
US08927896B2

A battery powered handheld air plasma spray was designed, developed and successfully demonstrated. The power supply includes a battery, a dc HID ballast and a series LC matching circuit. This matching circuit is designed to maintain the performance of the HID ballast while driving arc discharges, which are rotated around the electrodes by the magnetic field of a ring magnet. The produced plasma is in a non-equilibrium state; thus, the plasma effluent is low temperature (touchable) and yet carries abundant reactive atomic oxygen, which can rapidly activate blood coagulation processes and can effectively kill numerous microbes. This invention is for blood coagulation and sterilization applications. The device may be installed in vehicles and carried and operated in open fields without AC power sources. It may be used for bleeding control in a serious mishap to treat wounds without having to move the injured.
US08927895B2

The technology features an apparatus and a method for sensing the length of a lead that connects to a power source to a thermal processing system such as a plasma torch system. Components disposed in the thermal processing system enable the length of the lead to be sensed. In addition, the time for contact starting a thermal processing system enables determination of the length of the lead.
US08927893B2

A driver for a switch in a GIS (Gas Insulation Switchgear) includes a motor, a shaft connected with a moving contact of the switch, a gear connected with one terminal of the shaft and configured to transfer power of the motor to cause the shaft to reciprocate the moving contact through the shaft, a cam spline combined with the shaft and spaced apart from the gear, and a micro-switch connected with the cam spline and configured to control an operation of the motor.
US08927886B2

The present invention relates to a load transfer switch for a tap changer, comprising permanent main contacts that switch powerlessly for each phase. The general inventive concept lies in connecting the fixed permanent main contacts of side A or B of the load transfer switch by means of a movable rail-shaped permanent main contact that establishes an electrical connection to the corresponding permanent main contacts of the load line only in the end positions of the movable rail-shaped permanent main contact and in addition only provides for a single deflection for actuation, which connects in a purely compressive manner the plurality of contact fins of the corresponding fixed permanent main contact, which contact fins are connected in a resilient, articulated manner.
US08927885B2

The invention relates to a mechanical switch contact (10) for releasing, disconnecting, or switching over, in particular for an on-load tap changer of a step transformer, comprising at least two contact fingers or contact finger blocks (12, 14), which can each be pivoted between two end positions and which are connected to each other in an electrically conductive manner and which are each operatively connected to a rotatable switching shaft (18) by means of multi-arm joints (16), said switching shaft having all-around guide slots (24) for actuating the multi-arm joints (16) and for thereby deflecting the contact fingers or contact finger blocks (12, 14).
US08927881B2

Electronic devices may be provided with electronic components and cowling structures that secure the electronic components. A cowling structure may include a metal portion and an insulating portion that has been insert-molded onto the metal portion. The metal portion and the insert-molded insulating portion may each have an opening that receives a screw. The screws may pass through the respective opening and attach to a substrate. The substrate may be a transparent cover layer for a device display. The cowling structure may press the electronic components against the transparent substrate layer. The device may include an antenna. The insert-molded insulating portion may extend from an edge of the metal portion in the direction of the antenna. The insert-molded insulating portion may prevent one of the screws from forming an electrical connection with the metal portion.
US08927874B2

A flexible wiring substrate includes: a flexible base material; a wire provided on the base material; and an inspection wire provided on the base material, having an inspection segment which breaks up under a condition that the inspection segment is folded with not less than a predetermined curvature and a non-inspection segment which does not break up under a condition that the non-inspection segment is folded with not less than the predetermined curvature.
US08927872B2

A thermal pad (602, 612, 622, 702, 712) formed on a Printed Circuit Board and a method (900) of formed the thermal pad (602, 612, 622, 702, 712) are provided. The thermal pad (602, 612, 622, 702, 712) comprises in its interior one or more coins (604, 614, 624, 704, 714) has a height equal to a thickness of the PCB, and is made of metal or alloy, inserted into a corresponding one of one or more plated cutouts straight through the PCB in the thermal pad, and bonded to side walls of the corresponding one of the one or more plated cutouts with a paste capable of resisting a temperature of 250° C. or above. The plurality of through via (606, 616, 626, 706, 716) are plated, and lugged with a solder mask. The thermal pad (602, 612, 622, 702, 712) has a flat top surface and a flat bottom surface, either of which is coplanar with a corresponding one of top and bottom surfaces of the PCB. A PCB having formed thereon the above thermal pad (602, 612, 622, 702, 712) is also provided.
US08927868B2

A cable (7) is routed between a pair of links (1, 2) that are pivotally connected about a lateral pivot axis (4). A wound section (8) is provided in the cable with the winding axis coincident with the pivot axis of the links. The wound section (8) may be preformed. A cable protector (10, 11) is provided each end of the wound section (8) along the pivot axis (4) so as to constrain the adjacent end of the wound section (8) to be keyed with it and the adjacent link.
US08927867B2

A flexible flat cable includes a plurality of conductors arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals, an insulation layer provided on both surfaces of the conductors, a nonwoven fabric layer provided on an outer surface of the insulation layer, and a shield layer provided on an outer surface of the nonwoven fabric layer. The nonwoven fabric layer includes a nonwoven fabric having a plurality of recessed portions formed on a surface thereof, the recessed portion being enclosed by a pair of opposite long sides and a pair of opposite short sides.
US08927865B2

An insulated wire includes a conductor, a partial-discharge-resistant layer formed on the conductor and including an insulating coating material including a base resin coating material and an inorganic fine particle dispersed in the base resin coating material, and an adhesion layer formed between the conductor and the partial-discharge-resistant layer and including an insulating coating material including the base resin coating material and an adhesion improver. A decrease rate in adhesion strength of the adhesion layer to the conductor after 20% elongation relative to that before the elongation is less than 25%.
US08927864B2

An electrical connection is provided for an environment that is subjected to corrosive gases or liquids. An outer insulating layer is formed on each of at least two conductors and made up of a fluorinated polymer that is meltable at a temperature situated between the temperature of the environment and a predetermined higher temperature. A heat-shrink sleeve surrounds the conductors and is made up of an outer layer of heat-shrink polymer and an inner layer of the fluorinated polymer that is meltable at a temperature situated between the temperature of the environment and the predetermined higher temperature. A weld is formed by melting the outer insulating layers of the conductors and the inner layer of the heat-shrink sleeve by heating to a temperature higher than the temperature of the environment and lower than the predetermined higher temperature, thereby making a weld that is continuous and leaktight, and of controlled thickness.
US08927856B2

An optical device (1) is provided. The optical device comprising a switchable layer (2) at least one alignment layer (6) a light guiding system (5), whereas the switchable layer (2) comprises a luminescent material (3) for absorbing and emitting light, whereby the alignment of the luminescent material (3) is changeable and the light guiding system (5) guides the emitted light, whereby the switchable layer (2) is in contact with the at least one alignment layer (6) and the luminescent material (3) exhibits anisotropic properties, whereby the optical device (1) comprises a light energy-converting means (7), wherein the light guiding system (5) is in physical contact with the energy converting means (7).
US08927853B2

A solar cell (100) includes a p-type amorphous semiconductor layer (11p), an n-type amorphous semiconductor layer (12n), and a recombination layer (R) interposed between the p-type amorphous semiconductor layer (11p) and the n-type amorphous semiconductor layer (12n).
US08927842B1

The drum system has a floor tom, a bass drum, a tom-tom, a snare drum, legs, rods, attachment tools, first and second brackets, and the like. The floor tom is set with a drumhead facing upward, and the bass drum is set with a drumhead facing downward, via the three rods and the first and second brackets. The floor tom is set above the bass drum with a space therebetween via the three rods and the first and second brackets.
US08927841B2

A drum stand stabilizing assembly, generally intended for marching percussion instruments such as snare drums. The invention uses a lateral support to hold the weight of the instrument in multiple locations, a post or posts to stabilize the instrument in the proper position, and a mating receiver mounted to the instrument to allow for assembly of the complete support structure. The assembly provides for a stable support structure and maintains the instrument in the proper orientation for practice or performance. The assembly provides for fast and simple mounting of the instrument.
US08927828B1

A novel maize variety designated X95C366 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof, produced by crossing Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. proprietary inbred maize varieties. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprises crossing hybrid maize variety X95C366 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into X95C366 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. This invention relates to the maize variety X95C366, the seed, the plant produced from the seed, and variants, mutants, and minor modifications of maize variety X95C366. This invention further relates to methods for producing maize varieties derived from maize variety X95C366.
US08927818B2

The present invention is in the field of soybean variety BN1012650 breeding and development. The present invention particularly relates to the soybean variety BN1012650 and its progeny, and methods of making BN1012650.
US08927816B2

The present invention is in the field of soybean variety BK1011572 breeding and development. The present invention particularly relates to the soybean variety BK1011572 and its progeny, and methods of making BK1011572.
US08927815B2

A novel soybean variety, designated XB01Z13 is provided. Also provided are the seeds of soybean variety XB01Z13, cells from soybean variety XB01Z13, plants of soybean XB01Z13, and plant parts of soybean variety XB01Z13. Methods provided include producing a soybean plant by crossing soybean variety XB01Z13 with another soybean plant, methods for introgressing a transgenic trait, a mutant trait, and/or a native trait into soybean variety XB01Z13, methods for producing other soybean varieties or plant parts derived from soybean variety XB01Z13, and methods of characterizing soybean variety XB01Z13. Soybean seed, cells, plants, germplasm, breeding lines, varieties, and plant parts produced by these methods and/or derived from soybean variety XB01Z13 are further provided.
US08927812B2

The present invention relates to methods for generating or increasing resistance to at least one fungi, in particular soy bean rust, in a plant or a part of a plant by the expression of RNA which is at least partial complementary and/or identical to the STM1-gene, wherein the RNA is capable to provide ds-RNA and/or siRNA and/or miRNA. Moreover, the invention relates to respective plants, parts thereof and vector constructs capable to provide such RNA and the use of such vector constructs to provide fungal resistant plants.
US08927807B2

The present invention provides methods for screening for nitrate-regulated promoter and enhancer elements in plant cells. The present invention also provides expression cassettes that contain nitrate-regulated promoters operably linked to heterologous polynucleotide sequences. The expression cassettes of the present invention are useful for expressing polypeptides, proteins and nucleic acid molecules in plant cells treated with nitrates and nitrites.
US08927806B2

The present invention relates to the isolation, purification, characterization and use of the plant Snf1-related protein kinase (SnRK) gene and genetic products. The invention includes isolated and purified SnRK DNA and relates to methods of regulating water loss and plant drought tolerance, sucrose content, starch content, seed oil content, fatty acid synthesis, seed oil acyl composition, seed size/weight, resistance/tolerance to biotic stresses, increased root biomass, and/or carbon flux into other seed components, plant, using the gene, and to tissues and plants transformed with the gene. The invention also relates to transgenic plants, plant tissues and plant seeds having a genome containing an introduced DNA sequence of the invention, and a method of producing such plants and plant seeds.
US08927790B2

The present invention relates to processes for the recovery of ethanol from a crude ethanol product obtained from the hydrogenation of acetic acid. The crude ethanol product is separated in a column to produce a distillate stream comprising ethyl acetate, ethanol and acetaldehyde and a residue stream comprising ethanol, acetic acid and water. The ethanol product is recovered from the residue stream. A liquid recycle stream is sent to a second vaporizer to form a second vapor feed stream that is fed to the hydrogenation reactor.
US08927789B1

In one embodiment, the present application discloses methods to selectively synthesize higher alcohols and hydrocarbons useful as fuels and industrial chemicals from syngas and biomass. Ketene and ketonization chemistry along with hydrogenation reactions are used to synthesize fuels and chemicals. In another embodiment, ketene used to form fuels and chemicals may be manufactured from acetic acid which in turn can be synthesized from synthesis gas which is produced from coal, biomass, natural gas, etc.
US08927784B2

Recovery of ethanol from a crude ethanol product obtained from the hydrogenation of acetic acid using a low energy process. The crude ethanol product is separated in a column to produce a distillate stream comprising acetaldehyde and a residue stream comprising ethanol, acetic acid, ethyl acetate and water. The ethanol product is recovered from the residue stream.
US08927775B2

The invention generally encompasses phosphonium ionic liquids, salts, compositions and their use in many applications, including but not limited to: as electrolytes in electronic devices such as memory devices including static, permanent and dynamic random access memory, as electrolytes in energy storage devices such as batteries, electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) or supercapacitors or ultracapacitors, electrolytic capacitors, as electrolytes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), as electrolytes in fuel cells, as a heat transfer medium, among other applications. In particular, the invention generally relates to phosphonium ionic liquids, salts, compositions, wherein the compositions exhibit superior combination of thermodynamic stability, low volatility, wide liquidus range, ionic conductivity, and electrochemical stability. The invention further encompasses methods of making such phosphonium ionic liquids, salts, compositions, operational devices and systems comprising the same.
US08927768B2

The present invention generally relates to processes for the chemocatalytic conversion of a carbohydrate source to an adipic acid product. The present invention includes processes for the conversion of a carbohydrate source to an adipic acid product via a furanic substrate, such as 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid or derivatives thereof. The present invention also includes processes for producing an adipic acid product comprising the catalytic hydrogenation of a furanic substrate to produce a tetrahydrofuranic substrate and the catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of at least a portion of the tetrahydrofuranic substrate to an adipic acid product. The present invention also includes products produced from adipic acid product and processes for the production thereof from such adipic acid product.
US08927766B2

Disclosed is a process for the production and purification of glycolic acid or glycolic acid derivatives by the carbonylation of methylene dipropionate in the presence of a homogeneous acid catalyst and propionic acid. This invention discloses hydrocarboxylations and corresponding homogeneous acid catalyst and glycolic acid separations. The homogeneous acid catalyst is readily separated from the hydrocarboxylation reaction effluent and recycled and the propionic acid is readily removed from the glycolic acid and the propionic acid is recycled.
US08927760B2

The present invention relates to colchicine derivatives expressed in chemical formula 1, or to pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, to a method for preparing said derivatives, and to a pharmaceutical composition comprising said derivatives. The colchicine derivatives according to the present invention exhibit superior immunomodulatory effects as compared with conventional immunomodulators or colchicines, and therefore can be valuably used as an immunomodulator for modulating an acute or chronic immune response in organ transplantation.
US08927759B2

The present invention relates to a process for producing 2-cyanoacetic acid anhydride, comprising the steps of a) preparing a reaction mixture, containing as reactants 2-cyanoacetic acid, and at least one C4-20 carboxylic acid anhydride in at least one organic solvent, wherein the molar ratio of 2-cyanoacetic acid to C4-20 carboxylic acid anhydride in said reaction mixture is greater than 1.5:1, and b) subjecting the reaction mixture to a temperature of 0° C. to 100° C. to form 2-cyanoacetic acid anhydride. The present invention also relates to process for producing 2-cyanoacetic acid esters, 2-cyanoacetic acid amides and/or 2-cyanoacetic acid thioesters from 2-cyanoacetic acid anhydride.
US08927758B2

Process for the optical resolution of the compound of formula (I): by chiral chromatography. Application in the synthesis of ivabradine, of its addition salts with a pharmaceutically acceptable acid and of their hydrates.
US08927747B2

The invention describes novel 14-hydroxy docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) analogs, their preparation, isolation, identification, purification and uses thereof.
US08927738B2

This invention is directed to compounds of formula I having the structure which are PDE10A enzyme inhibitors. The invention provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of the invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The present invention also provides processes for the preparation of the compounds of formula I. The present invention further provides a method of treating a subject suffering from a neurodegenerative disorder comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula I. The present invention also provides a method of treating a subject suffering from a drug addiction comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula I. The present invention further provides a method of treating a subject suffering from a psychiatric disorder comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula I.
US08927726B2

The present invention relates to compounds of general formula I, wherein R1, LP, (Het)Ar1, (Het)Ar2 and n are as defined in the application, which have valuable pharmacological properties, and in particular bind to the GPR119 receptor and modulate its activity.
US08927724B2

β-Lactamase inhibitor compounds (BLIs) are disclosed, including compounds that have activity against class A, class C or class D β-lactamases. Methods of manufacturing the BLIs, and uses of the compounds in the preparation of pharmaceutical compositions and antibacterial applications are also disclosed.
US08927723B2

A process for making 1-(6-amino-3,5-difluoropyridin-2-yl)-8-chloro-6-fluoro-7-(3-hydroxyazetidin-1-yl)-4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-3-quinolinecarboxylic acid, and therapeutically acceptable salts thereof, and intermediates used in the process are disclosed.
US08927719B2

Compounds and methods are disclosed that are useful for noninvasive imaging in the near-infrared spectral range. The cyanine compounds of Formula I are presented: wherein Q is a portion of a polymethine bridge selected from the group consisting of: Also included are bioconjugates of the compounds of Formula I, methods of labeling biomolecules with the compounds, and methods of imaging.
US08927718B2

The present invention provides a fused heterocycle derivative having a strong Smo inhibitory activity, and use thereof.Specially, the present invention relates to a compound represented by the formula wherein each symbol is as defined in the specification, or salt thereof, and a medicament containing the compound or a prodrug thereof, which is an Smo inhibitor or an agent for the prophylaxis or treatment of cancer.
US08927703B2

The present invention provides compositions, methods and kits for the species-specific detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
US08927702B2

The present invention relates to isolated Solanum Bulbocastanum Bul409 promoter sequences and uses thereof. An exemplary embodiment provides an isolated plant Bul409 promoter comprising a nucleic acid sequence that is at least about 90% identical to nucleotides 1-771 of SEQ ID NO:1, wherein the promoter sequence is capable of controlling transcription in a plant. Other exemplary embodiments provide a method for making a transgenic plant, wherein the method comprises transforming a plant, plant part, or plant cell with an expression vector comprising isolated plant Bul409 promoter operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence, wherein the isolated plant Bul409 promoter is capable of controlling transcription of the heterologous nucleic acid in a plant, and a transgenic plant made by the method and decendants thereof.
US08927699B2

A thermostable mutant DNA polymerase; a method for obtaining the thernmostable mutant DNA polymerase by identifying a thermostable mutant polypeptide exhibiting enzymatic activity, wherein the thermostable mutant polypeptide is a variant of DNA polymerase I obtained from Thermus aquaticus; a polynucleotide, an expression vector, and a host cell encoding the thermostable mutant DNA polymerase; and a method of performing a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) utilizing the thermostable mutant DNA polymerase, as well as a kit for facilitating the same.
US08927695B2

Embodiments of the invention are related to a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of a human IgE-Fc Cε3-Cε4, wherein said Cε3-Cε4 starts at amino acid 328 and ends at amino acid 547 of said IgE-Fc, and wherein C 328 is A and K 367 is C. Other embodiments concern a second polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of a human FcεRIα extracellular region, wherein said extracellular region starts at amino acid 1 and ends at amino acid 176 of said FcεRIα. Still other embodiments are related to a method of identifying a compound that inhibits the binding of an IgE-Fc to a FcεRIα, said method comprising: contacting the polypeptide, wherein said IgE-Fc Cε3-Cε4 sequence is labeled with a fluorophore, and the second polypeptide, with a test compound; and determining whether binding of said polypeptide to said second polypeptide is decreased in the presence of said test compound.
US08927689B2

A tubular or spherical nanostructure composed of a plurality of peptides, wherein each of the plurality of peptides includes no more than 4 amino acids and whereas at least one of the 4 amino acids is an aromatic amino acid.
US08927685B1

A renewable chemical feedstock derived from the essential oils from herbs and other plants. In embodiments, trans-anethole are transformed into thermoset and thermoplastic compositions.
US08927682B2

Poly(glycolide) polymers are disclosed. The polymers generally include a polymerized alkynyl-substituted glycolide having a polymer backbone with one or more alkynyl groups appended thereto. The alkynyl groups provide reactive sites for further functionalization of the polymer, for example by reaction with azide derivatives (e.g., azide-substituted organic compounds). Alkynyl and azide groups react via the “click” chemistry mechanism to form functional groups covalently bonded to the polymer via a triazole link. The polymers are biodegradable and can be used to deliver drugs or other therapeutic substances (e.g., large biomolecules such as single strand RNA) at targeted locations in a patient's body and/or at controlled release rates.
US08927681B2

In a first aspect, organic coating compositions are provided, particularly spin-on antireflective coating compositions, that contain a polyester resin component. In a further aspect, coating compositions are provided that contain a resin component obtained by polymerization of a multi-hydroxy compound. Coating compositions of the invention are particularly useful employed in combination with an overcoated photoresist layer to manufacture integrated circuits.
US08927679B2

The disclosure describes a process to produce toner with tunable gloss levels comprising a stabilizer to freeze particle growth following aggregation, where the stabilizer does not chelate metal ions.
US08927678B2

A thermoplastic polyimide resin containing a repeating structural unit represented by the following formula (1) and a repeating structural unit represented by the following formula (2), a content ratio of the repeating structural unit of formula (2) with respect to the total of the repeating structural unit of formula (1) and the repeating structural unit of formula (2) being from 40 to 70% by mol: wherein R1 represents a divalent group having from 6 to 22 carbon atoms containing at least one alicyclic hydrocarbon structure; R2 represents a divalent chain aliphatic group having from 5 to 12 carbon atoms; and X1 and X2 each independently represent a tetravalent group having from 6 to 22 carbon atoms containing at least one aromatic ring.
US08927676B2

The object of the present invention is to provide a polyurethane film having heat adhesion and further having high stress retention and excellent elastic functions, and the polyurethane film of the present invention is a heat adherent polyurethane film wherein the thermal adhesion peeling stress indicated by a maximum stress when separating a film from a cotton fabric after hot-pressing the film to the cotton fabric at a temperature of 130° C. under a pressure of 4 bar for 25 seconds is 5.88 N/cm or more and the stress retention at an elongation percentage of 200% indicated by a ratio of a stress (fR) in recovery to a stress (fS) in stretching at an elongation percentage of 200% in an S-S curve drawn when the film is stretched to an elongation percentage of 300% and then recovered is 40% or more.
US08927675B2

The present invention provides poly(ureaurethane)s including a reaction product of components comprising: (a) at least one isocyanate functional ureaurethane prepolymer comprising the reaction product of: (1) at least one isocyanate functional urethane prepolymer comprising the reaction product of: (i) a first amount of at least one polyisocyanate selected from the group consisting of polyisocyanate trimers and branched polyisocyanates, the polyisocyanate having at least three isocyanate functional groups; and (ii) a first amount of at least one aliphatic polyol; and (2) water, to form an isocyanate functional ureaurethane prepolymer; and (b) a second amount of at least one polyisocyanate and a second amount of at least one aliphatic polyol; compositions, coatings and articles made therefrom and methods of making the same.
US08927672B2

The present disclosure relates to a novel benzindocyanine compound for labeling biomolecules and a method for preparing the same.
US08927669B2

Copolymers comprising as comonomers in copolymerized form: (a) ethylene, (b) one or more compounds of the general formula I (c) if appropriate, one or more alkenylphosphonic diesters, (d) if appropriate, one or more other free-radically copolymerizable comonomers, whose variables are defined as follows: R1 is selected from hydrogen and unbranched and branched C1-C10-alkyl, R2 is selected from hydrogen and unbranched and branched C1-C10-alkyl, R3 is selected from hydrogen, phenyl, benzyl, and unbranched and branched C1-C10-alkyl and unbranched and branched hydroxy-C2-C10-alkyl, as free acid or partially or completely neutralized with alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, ammonia or organic amine.
US08927655B2

Flame-retardant material comprising: a matrix comprising, preferably consisting of, at least one organic polymer; a flame-retardant agent selected from metal hydroxides; and a coupling agent forming an interface between the matrix and the flame-retardant agent; wherein the matrix comprises at least 50% by mass of at least one biopolymer, and the coupling agent consists of a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetate (EVA), comprising at least 40% by mass of vinyl acetate (VA), grafted with maleic anhydride. Electrical installation box or electrical cable tube, conduit, comprising said material.Use of said material for manufacturing electrical installation boxes or electrical cable tubes.
US08927653B2

Golf balls that have at least one layer formed from a cationic polyurea material. In particular, the compositions of the invention, which include a polymer backbone including urea linkages with cationic groups, may be formed from an isocyanate-containing component and an isocyanate-reactive component, at least one of which includes precursor cationic groups, in the presence of an alkylating, quaternizing, or ternarizing agent.
US08927650B2

There are provided a radical polymerizable composition having a low viscosity suitable for coating and a cured product and a plastic lens each obtained by curing the composition, the cured product having a high refractive index, good adhesiveness to a plastic film substrate, and good adhesiveness kept even under high-temperature and high-humidity conditions. The radical polymerizable composition includes phenylbenzyl (meth)acrylate (A), an epoxy (meth)acrylate (X) having an aromatic ring in its molecular structure, and a radical polymerization initiator (Y) as essential components.
US08927649B2

A one part, storage stable polymerizable formulation is provided that includes an ethenically unsaturated polymerizable compound intermixed with a free radical polymerization initiator and an organic solvent. The organic solvent provides storage stability and upon evaporation of the solvent, the rate of polymerization of the compound accelerates independent of addition of a second part. The formulation includes at least 30 total weight percent solids upon cure. Optional additives to the formulation include at least one of a cure accelerator, a filler, a plasticizer, a colorant, and a cure inhibitor. A process for forming a polymerized coating on an article involves the application of this formulation to the substrate of an article and allowing sufficient time for the solvent to evaporate to form the polymerized coating on the article. The substrate of the article forms a corrosion barrier even without prior removal of a native corrosion layer on a surface of the substrate of the article.
US08927647B2

A polyamide resin composed of constitutional units derived from a diamine component 70 mol % or more of which is derived from p-xylylenediamine and constitutional unit derived from a dicarboxylic acid 70 mol % or more of which is derived from an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid having 6 to 18 carbon atoms. The polyamide resin has a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 10,000 to 50,000 and a degree of dispersion (weight average molecular weight/number average molecular weight=Mw/Mn) satisfying the following formula (1): 1.5≦(Mw/Mn)≦6.0, wherein Mw and Mn are determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC).
US08927643B2

The invention relates to a block diene elastomer corresponding to the following formula: where: n and m are each an integer of greater than or equal to 0, such that n+m≧1 and n+m≦20, each A block is composed of a polybutadiene, each B block is composed of a diene elastomer, the molar content of units resulting from conjugated dienes of which is greater than 15%, the B blocks being identical to one another, X is an organic or inorganic group which can comprise a functional group which interacts with a reinforcing filler, the number-average molecular weight Mn1 of each A block varies from 2 500 to 20 000 g/mol, the number-average molecular weight Mn2 of each B block varies from 80 000 to 350 000 g/mol, and the content of 1,2- linkages in each A block is between 1 and 20%.
US08927642B2

A thermoplastic resin composition includes (A) thermoplastic resin in an amount of about 100 parts by weight, (B) flame retardant in an amount of about 1 to about 10 parts by weight, and (C) carbon nanotubes in an amount of about 0.005 to about 0.05 parts by weight. The thermoplastic resin composition of the present invention can have excellent anti-dripping properties.
US08927635B2

Positively charged ink compositions, its use and method of making the same are disclosed. A disclosed example of the positively charged ink compositions includes a combination of a carrier liquid, basic pigment-loaded resin particles, a charge director and an acidic charge adjuvant.
US08927628B2

A method for fabricating energy plastic masterbatches and a plastic product containing energy plastic masterbatches fabricated by the method are provided. The fabrication method includes: oxidizing carbon black with ozone; fully mixing carbon black after treatment and a nano tourmaline powder to form a base; adding ultrafine rutile titanium dioxide to the base, and mixing fully, to form an energy raw material; drying the mixed energy raw material at 100-120° C. for 1-2 hours; adding a dispersant to the dried energy raw material, in which the dispersant is added in an amount of 2-4% of the total weight of the mixed base of carbon black and the nano tourmaline powder; adding a plastic carrier resin to the energy raw material added with the dispersant, and mixing uniformly, to form a mixed material, in which the plastic carrier resin is added in an amount of 12-18% of the total weight of the mixed base of carbon black and the nano tourmaline powder; and fabricating plastic masterbatches with the mixed material by a production apparatus.
US08927626B2

A latent curing agent that can cure a thermosetting epoxy resin in a relatively short period of time and at a relatively low temperature has a structure in which an aluminum chelating agent is held by a porous resin carrier obtained through interfacial polymerization of a polyfunctional isocyanate compound. The aluminum chelating agent is preferably a complex compound comprising β-ketoenolate anion ligands coordinated to aluminum. The latent curing agent can be produced by dissolving the aluminum chelating agent and the polyfunctional isocyanate compound in a volatile organic solvent, adding the resulting solution to an aqueous phase containing a dispersing agent, and stirring the resulting mixture to cause interfacial polymerization of the isocyanate compound while the mixture is being heated.
US08927625B2

The present invention relates to resin syrup, which comprises a high-molecular-weight acrylic material containing a carboxyl group, and comprises a room-temperature-curing initiator and a high-temperature-curing initiator, and it also relates to an artificial marble containing a hardened form of the resin syrup, and to a production method for the same. The present invention can provide resin syrup having outstanding curing efficiency and a viscosity suitable for press molding by a process such as maturation because of the inclusion of the high-molecular-weight acrylic material containing a carboxyl group, the room-temperature-curing initiator, and the high-temperature-curing initiator, and it can provide an artificial marble containing a hardened form of the resin syrup, and a production method for the same.
US08927624B2

A process for preparing a dispersion of encapsulated solid particles in a liquid medium is described, which includes providing a dispersion comprising solid particles, a liquid medium and a polymer comprising at least one repeat unit of the Formula (1) or a salt thereof: and cross-linking the polymer, wherein X, Q1, Q2, Q3, A and m are as defined.
US08927614B2

The invention relates to a process for producing polyurethanes by reacting a) polyisocyanates with b) compounds having at least two hydrogen atoms which are reactive toward isocyanate groups, wherein the compounds b) having at least two hydrogen atoms which are reactive toward isocyanate groups comprise at least one polyether alcohol b1) which has been prepared by reaction of an aromatic amine b1a) with propylene oxide using an amine b1b) which is different from b1a) as catalyst.
US08927613B2

The present invention relates to cellular polyisocyanate polyaddition products whose density to DIN EN ISO 845 is from 200 to 800 kg/m3, and also to prepolymer composed of at least one diisocyanate (a) and of at least one polyether alcohol (b), where the at least one polyether alcohol (b) comprises the following components: (b1) aliphatic polyether alcohols whose number-average molar mass is from 300 to 1000 g/mol, (b2) aliphatic polyether alcohols whose number-average molar mass is from 2000 to 10 000 g/mol, and (b3) aliphatic polyether alcohols whose number-average molar mass is from 10 000 to 100 000 g/mol, to a process for its production, to a cellular polyisocyanate polyaddition product thus produced, and to its use as damping elements in vehicle construction.
US08927611B2

The invention discloses an improved multistage fischer tropsch process scheme for the production of hydrocarbon fuels comprising feeding gaseous phase syngas and liquid stream hydrocarbons in a counter current manner such as herein described into the reaction vessel at a number of stages containing reaction catalysts; wherein fresh syngas enters into the stage where the product liquid stream leaves and the fresh liquid stream enters into the stage where the unreacted syngas leaves; wherein further the temperature of each stage can be controlled independently. More particularly the invention relates to improving the heat release in different reactors, product selectivity and reactor productivity of FT reactors.
US08927607B1

The invention provides improved methods for coadministration of colchicine with drugs metabolized by CYP3A4 (anciently referred to as cytochrome P450 isozyme 3A4) or the P-glycoprotein transporter, but not both. The method enables non-toxic coadministration of colchicine and the second drug at their ordinary levels safely and effectively without reducing the dose or frequency for either drug.
US08927606B1

An aqueous liquid preparation of the present invention containing 2-amino-3-(4-bromobenzoyl)phenylacetic acid or its pharmacologically acceptable salt or a hydrate thereof, an alkyl aryl polyether alcohol type polymer such as tyloxapol, or a polyethylene glycol fatty acid ester such as polyethylene glycol monostearate is stable. Since even in the case where a preservative is incorporated into said aqueous liquid preparation, the preservative exhibits a sufficient preservative effect for a long time, said aqueous liquid preparation in the form of an eye drop is useful for the treatment of blepharitis, conjunctivitis, scleritis, and postoperative inflammation. Also, the aqueous liquid preparation of the present invention in the form of a nasal drop is useful for the treatment of allergic rhinitis and inflammatory rhinitis (e.g. chronic rhinitis, hypertrophic rhinitis, nasal polyp, etc.).
US08927603B2

The invention provides a method of preparing a sterile, liquid adhesive composition in a sealed container using X-ray irradiation. The liquid adhesive compositions maintain their stability after sterilization and have an extended shelf life, making them particularly useful in the medical field.
US08927584B2

The present invention provides a photodynamic therapy to a patient having at least one tumor comprising the steps of: administering a compound of formula 6 (wherein R1 and R2 are defined as the above) in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier to the patient; waiting for a sufficient time to allow the administered compound to be taken up by a target tissue having the at least one tumor; and irradiating a region of the patient containing the target tissue, wherein growth of the tumor is inhibited.
US08927580B2

The present invention relates to dipyridyl thiosemicarbazone compounds of formula (I): wherein R1 is cyclohexyl or ethyl; as well as pharmaceutical compositions containing those compounds, and the use of those compounds and compositions in the treatment of cancer.
US08927571B2

New heterocyclic compounds that may be used to modulate a histamine receptor in an individual are described. Pyrido[4,3-b]indoles are described, as are pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds and methods of using the compounds in a variety of therapeutic applications, including the treatment of a cognitive disorder, psychotic disorder, neurotransmitter-mediated disorder and/or a neuronal disorder.
US08927558B2

Impurities of lapatinib such as N-{3-chloro-4-[(2-fluorobenzyl)oxy]phenyl}-6-[5-({[2-(methylsulfonyl)ethyl]amino}methyl)furan-2-yl]quinazoline-4-amine compound of formula (I) or a salt thereof: and analytical methods for identifying and quantifying such impurities of Lapatinib and salts thereof are provided. Also provided is Lapatinib containing less than about 0.05 percent of this and related impurities and methods for preparing such pure forms of Lapatinib.
US08927556B2

Optionally substituted (5- or 7-amino)-3,4-dihydro-(optionally 4-oxo, 4-thioxo or 4-imino)-1H-pyrrolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-2(6H)-ones, Compounds of Formula I, processes for their production, their use as pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical compositions comprising them.
US08927552B2

The invention relates to new crystalline modifications of the hydrochloride of 1-[4-(5-cyanoindol-3-yl)butyl]-4-(2-carbamoyl-benzofuran-5-yl)-piperazine, crystalline modification of the dihydrochloride of 1-[4-(5-cyanoindol-3-yl)butyl]-4-(2-carbamoyl-benzofuran-5-yl)-piperazine and amorphous 1-[4-(5-cyanoindol-3-yl)butyl]-4-(2-carbamoyl-benzofuran-5-yl)-piperazine hydrochloride which are suitable in particular for the preparation of solid medicaments for the treatment or prevention of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, mania, dementia, substance-related disorders, sexual dysfunctions, eating disorders, obesity, fibromyalgia, sleeping disorders, psychiatric disorders, cerebral infarct, tension, for the therapy of side-effects in the treatment of hypogonadism, secondary amenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome and undesired puerperal lactation.
US08927547B2

The invention provides novel pyrimidine derivatives of formula I, to methods of preparing such compounds, to pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds, and to methods for using such compounds in treatment of diseases including cancer; wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, L, A, D, E, Z, and Y are as defined in the specification.
US08927544B2

The present invention relates to benzofuran-2-sulfonamide derivatives with the following formula: or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The derivatives are useful as modulators of chemokine receptors.
US08927540B2

Compounds of the formula (I), in which R1, R2, R3, R4, R4′, have the meanings indicated in Claim 1, are inhibitors of tyrosine kinases, in particular Met kinase, and can be employed, inter alia, for the treatment of tumors.
US08927536B2

The present invention relates to a compound represented by the following general formula (I) or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof having an excellent effect of inhibiting 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1: General formula (I) wherein R1 represents a phenyl group that may be substituted with 1 to 5 group(s) independently selected from substituent group A or a heterocyclic group that may be substituted with 1 to 4 group(s) independently selected from substituent group A; R2 independently represents a halogen atom or a C1-C6 alkyl group; n represents an integer of 0 to 2; and substituent group A represents the group consisting of halogen atoms, C1-C6 alkyl groups, and so forth.
US08927535B2

The present invention provides cyclopropyl-fused-1,3-thiazepines of formula I having BACE1 and/or BACE2 inhibitory activity, their manufacture, pharmaceutical compositions containing them and their use as therapeutically active substances. The active compounds of the present invention are useful in the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of e.g. Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes.
US08927533B2

The present invention relates to novel amide compounds of Formula (I), and their use as anti-tumoral and pro-apoptotic agents. The invention includes the use of such compounds in medicine, in relation to cancer disease as well as other diseases where an inhibition of HDAC is responsive, and the pharmaceutical composition containing such compounds.
US08927532B2

To provide a therapeutic agent and a diagnostic agent for mitochondrial dysfunction brain diseases including cerebral infarction as a representative.A therapeutic agent for a mitochondrial dysfunction brain disease, which comprises (A) δ-aminolevulinic acid represented by the formula (1), a derivative thereof, or a salt thereof and (B) an iron compound in combination. R2R1NCH2COCH2CH2COR3  (1) wherein R1 and R2 each independently represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an acyl group, an alkoxycarbonyl group, an aryl group, or an aralkyl group; and R3 represents a hydroxy group, an alkoxy group, an acyloxy group, an alkoxycarbonyloxy group, an aryloxy group, an aralkyloxy group, or an amino group.
US08927529B2

A method for the treatment of back pain by injection of an injectable flowable composition in the epidural space, wherein the composition is composed of microparticles of dexamethasone acetate and a polymer, are disclosed.
US08927516B2

The invention provides methods for enhancing the cytotoxicity of DNA damage in cancer cells that express thymine DNA glycosylase, and treating tumors accordingly. The methods comprise inhibiting the expression or biologic activity of thymine DNA glycosylase, and inducing DNA damage in the cancer cells. DNA damage may be induced by administration of bendamustine or gemcitabine to the cancer cells.
US08927498B2

Compounds derived from a transduction complex that enhance memory in mammals and methods of enhancing memory using said compounds are disclosed.
US08927496B2

A method for synchronizing ovulation in sows and gilts by a single injection of hormones is disclosed. A hormone, gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), analogs, derivatives, agonists or combinations thereof is administered to an open sow post weaning at a specific time to stimulate ovulation of mature responsive follicles. The sow is then bred, without heat detection, at a specific subsequent timed interval after injection with hormone, with one or two artificial or natural breedings. In gilts, the hormone is injected at a timed interval from onset of estrus or at a specific timed interval following Prostaglandin F2a for those gilts which have been held in a state of pseudopregnancy.
US08927489B2

The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for the sustained release of C-peptide. The composition is in the form of a gel containing C-peptide. The gel formation is achieved by the adjustment of pH of the composition and/or by addition of divalent metal ions. The composition does not include any other gel-forming agents. Methods for producing the composition, medical uses of the composition and products containing two or more gel compositions as a combined preparation are also encompassed.
US08927487B2

Compositions and methods for making and using therapeutic formulations of antimicrobial cationic peptides are provided. The antimicrobial cationic peptide formulations may be used, for example, in the treatment of microorganism-caused infections, which infections may be systemic, such as a septicemia, or may be localized, such as in acne or an implanted or indwelling medical device.
US08927486B2

The present invention relates to prodrugs of vascular disrupting agents comprising a vascular disrupting agent (VDA) associated with a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) proteolytic cleavage site and to the use of such prodrugs in the targeted treatment of cancer.
US08927484B2

The present application includes novel inhibitors of HCV, compositions containing such compounds, therapeutic methods that include the administration of such compounds.
US08927478B2

The invention relates to the use of manganese oxalates in detergents and cleaning agents, in particular in cleaning agents containing peroxy compounds for hard surfaces.
US08927471B1

An engine oil comprising a major amount of a base oil and a minor amount of an additive package, wherein the additive package comprises at least one friction modifier represented by the formula: wherein R is selected from a hydrocarbyl group having 12 to 28 carbon atoms, a heteroatom containing hydrocarbyl having 12 to 32 carbon atoms, or a group represented by the formula: wherein R1 and R2 are independently selected from hydrocarbyl carbonyl moieties having 12 to 28 carbon atoms, or R1 and R2 form a hydrocarbon dicarbonyl containing ring with 12 to 32 carbon atoms, and R3 and R4 are independently selected from alkyl groups having 1 to 18 carbon atoms. Methods of using the engine oil to improve thin film and/or boundary layer friction in an engine are also provided.
US08927465B2

A process for making a micro-array. The process comprises the step of depositing a population of microbeads on a substrate having at least one fiducial. The population being comprised of at least two sub-populations, preferably multiple sub-populations, each comprising a known active agent capable of specific binding with at least one target analyte. The said subpopulations are deposited sequentially and at discrete periods of each other. The process also comprises the step of making images of the substrate after deposition of each subpopulation. The images are then compared using the fiducial as a reference to thereby determine the location of each microbead and to identify the subpopulation, and its known active agent, based on differences between each image. Also disclosed in a system for using the microarray.
US08927461B2

Provided is a substrate for superconductive film formation, which includes a metal substrate, and an oxide layer formed directly on the metal substrate, containing chromium oxide as a major component and having a thickness of 10-300 nm and an arithmetic average roughness Ra of not more than 50 nm. A method of manufacturing a substrate for superconductive film formation, which includes forming an oxide layer directly on a metal substrate, the oxide layer containing chromium oxide as a major component and having a thickness of 10-300 nm and an arithmetic average roughness Ra of not more than 50 nm.
US08927454B2

An exhaust gas-purifying catalyst includes a support provided with one or more through-holes through which exhaust gas flows, and a catalytic layer supported by the support and containing an oxygen storage material. The exhaust gas-purifying catalyst includes a first section to which the exhaust gas is supplied, and a second section to which the exhaust gas having passed through the first section is supplied. The catalytic layer includes a layered structure of a first catalytic layer containing platinum and/or palladium and a second catalytic layer containing rhodium in the first catalytic section and further includes a third layer containing rhodium in the second section. The second section is smaller in oxygen storage material content per unit volumetric capacity than the first section.
US08927452B2

The present invention relates to a method for producing a shell catalyst which comprises a porous shaped catalyst support body with an outer shell in which at least one catalytically active species is present. In order to provide a shell catalyst production method by means of which shell catalysts can be produced, said shell catalysts having, over a comparatively large region of their shell thickness, a substantially uniform concentration of catalytically active species and having a substantially uniform shell thickness, what is proposed is a method using an device which is designed to generate, by means of a process gas, a fluid bed of shaped catalyst support bodies in which the shaped catalyst support bodies circulate elliptically or toroidally, preferably toroidally, comprising the steps of charging the device with shaped catalyst support bodies and generating a shaped catalyst support body fluid bed by means of a process gas, the shaped catalyst support bodies circulating elliptically or toroidally in the fluid bed, preferably toroidally; impregnating an outer shell of the shaped catalyst support body with a catalytically active species or precursor thereof by spraying the shaped catalyst support bodies circulating elliptically or toroidally in the fluid bed with a solution comprising a catalytically active species or a precursor thereof; drying the shaped catalyst support bodies sprayed with the solution.
US08927450B2

A reclaiming apparatus 106 includes: a sealed container 106a that is an absorbent reservoir for storing therein a part of an absorbent that has absorbed CO2 in flue gas, and a heater that heats the absorbent stored in the sealed container 106a. The reclaiming apparatus 106 distributes a part of the absorbent stored in the sealed container 106a, and brings the distributed absorbent into counter-current contact with steam. Because a part of the absorbent stored in the absorbent reservoir is brought into counter-current contact with the steam, absorbent component contained therein becomes volatilized, and is separated from depleted materials. In this manner, the absorbent component can be extracted from the depleted materials, and a loss of the absorbent can be reduced.
US08927448B2

A method to prepare an improved catalyst feed to a system to upgrade heavy oil. The method comprises: providing a spent catalyst that has been used in a hydroprocessing operation has with a solid content ranging from 5 to 50 wt. % in soluble hydrocarbons and having less than 80% but more than 10% of original catalytic activity; removing at least 50% of the soluble hydrocarbons removed in a deoiling step; treating the deoiled spent catalyst with a treating solution containing at least one of plain water, a mineral acid, an oxidizing agent, and combinations thereof to reduce the concentration of at least one metal contaminant in the deoiled spent catalyst by at least 40%. After treatment, the treated deoiled spent catalyst is slurried in a hydrocarbon medium, and fed to the heavy oil upgrade system as part of the catalyst feed system with a fresh slurry catalyst.
US08927444B2

A constitution of cover glass, the compositions consist in terms of weight % on the oxide basis, of from 64 to 69 wt. % of SiO2; from 7 to 11.5 wt. % of Al2O3; from 1.5 to 2.5 wt. % of B2O3; from 4.5 to 7.5 wt. % of MgO; 0%
US08927423B2

Methods for annealing a contact metal layer for a metal silicidation process are provided in the present invention. In one embodiment, a method for annealing a contact metal layer for a silicidation process in a semiconductor device includes providing a substrate having a contact metal layer disposed thereon in a thermal annealing processing chamber, providing a heat energy to the contact metal layer in the thermal processing chamber, supplying a gas mixture including a nitrogen gas and a hydrogen gas while providing the heat energy to the contact layer in the thermal processing chamber, wherein the nitrogen gas and the hydrogen gas is supplied at a ratio between about 1:10 and about 1:1, and forming a metal silicide layer on the substrate.
US08927418B1

Systems and methods are provided for reducing a contact resistivity associated with a semiconductor device structure. A substrate including a semiconductor region is provided. One or more dielectric layers are formed on the semiconductor region, the one or more dielectric layers including an element. A gaseous material is applied on the one or more dielectric layers to change a concentration of the element in the one or more dielectric layers. A contact layer is formed on the one or more dielectric layers to generate a semiconductor device structure. The semiconductor device structure includes the contact layer, the one or more dielectric layers, and the semiconductor region. A contact resistivity associated with the semiconductor device structure is reduced by changing the concentration of the element in the one or more dielectric layers.
US08927410B2

A method of forming a through substrate interconnect includes forming a via into a semiconductor substrate. The via extends into semiconductive material of the substrate. A liquid dielectric is applied to line at least an elevationally outermost portion of sidewalls of the via relative a side of the substrate from which the via was initially formed. The liquid dielectric is solidified within the via. Conductive material is formed within the via over the solidified dielectric and a through substrate interconnect is formed with the conductive material.
US08927407B2

Disclosed herein is a method of forming self-aligned contacts for a semiconductor device. In one example, the method includes forming a plurality of spaced-apart sacrificial gate electrodes above a semiconducting substrate, wherein each of the gate electrodes has a gate cap layer positioned on the gate electrode, and performing at least one etching process to define a self-aligned contact opening between the plurality of spaced-apart sacrificial gate electrodes. The method further includes removing the gate cap layers to thereby expose an upper surface of each of the sacrificial gate electrodes, depositing at least one layer of conductive material in said self-aligned contact opening and removing portions of the at least one layer of conductive material that are positioned outside of the self-aligned contact opening to thereby define at least a portion of a self-aligned contact positioned in the self-aligned contact opening.
US08927405B2

A method of forming a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes providing a structure including, a handle substrate, a buried boron nitride layer located above an uppermost surface of the handle substrate, a buried oxide layer located on an uppermost surface of the buried boron nitride layer, and a top semiconductor layer located on an uppermost surface of the buried oxide layer. Next, a first semiconductor pad, a second semiconductor pad and a plurality of semiconductor nanowires connecting the first semiconductor pad and the second semiconductor pad in a ladder-like configuration are patterned into the top semiconductor layer. The semiconductor nanowires are suspended by removing a portion of the buried oxide layer from beneath each semiconductor nanowire, wherein a portion of the uppermost surface of the buried boron nitride layer is exposed. Next, a gate all-around field effect transistor is formed.
US08927402B2

A termination structure for a nitride-based Schottky diode includes a guard ring formed by an epitaxially grown P-type nitride-based compound semiconductor layer and dielectric field plates formed on the guard ring. The termination structure is formed at the edge of the anode electrode of the Schottky diode and has the effect of reducing electric field crowding at the anode electrode edge, especially when the Schottky diode is reverse biased. In one embodiment, the P-type epitaxial layer includes a step recess to further enhance the field spreading effect of the termination structure.
US08927396B2

An object of the present invention is to provide a production process of an epitaxial silicon carbide single crystal substrate having a high-quality silicon carbide single crystal thin film reduced in the surface defect and the like on a silicon carbide single crystal substrate with a small off-angle. According to the present invention, in the production process of an epitaxial silicon carbide single crystal substrate having a high-quality silicon carbide single crystal thin film reduced in the surface defect and the like on a silicon carbide single crystal substrate with an off-angle of 4° or less, pretreatment etching to a depth of 0.1 to 1 μm is performed at a temperature of 1,550 to 1,650° C. by flowing a gas containing silicon and chlorine together with a hydrogen gas such that the silicon atom concentration becomes from 0.0001 to 0.01% based on hydrogen atoms in the hydrogen gas, and thereafter, an epitaxial layer is formed.
US08927393B1

Methods and systems for dicing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs) are described. In one embodiment, a method involves adhering an adhesive tape to a thin water soluble dry film. The method involves applying the thin water soluble dry film adhered to the adhesive tape over a surface of the semiconductor wafer. The method involves removing the adhesive tape from the thin water soluble dry film. The thin water soluble dry film is patterned with a laser scribing process, exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the ICs. The method involves etching the semiconductor wafer through gaps in the patterned thin water soluble dry film, and removing the thin water soluble dry film.
US08927390B2

A method of etching a recess in a semiconductor substrate is described. The method may include forming a dielectric liner layer in a trench of the substrate where the liner layer has a first density. The method may also include depositing a second dielectric layer at least partially in the trench on the liner layer. The second dielectric layer may initially be flowable following the deposition, and have a second density that is less than the first density of the liner. The method may further include exposing the substrate to a dry etchant, where the etchant removes a portion of the first liner layer and the second dielectric layer to form a recess, where the dry etchant includes a fluorine-containing compound and molecular hydrogen, and where the etch rate ratio for removing the first dielectric liner layer to removing the second dielectric layer is about 1:1.2 to about 1:1.
US08927389B2

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes providing a substrate including a first region and a second region, forming a first trench having a first width in the first region and a second trench having a second width in the second region, and the second width is greater than the first width. The method also includes forming a first insulation layer in the first and second trenches, removing the first insulation layer in the second trench to form a first insulation pattern that includes the first insulation layer remaining in the first trench, forming on the substrate a second insulation layer that fills the second trench, and the second insulation layer includes a different material from the first insulation layer.
US08927388B2

A method of fabricating a dielectric layer includes the following steps. At first, a dielectric layer is formed on a substrate, and a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is performed on the dielectric layer. Subsequently, a surface treatment process is performed on the dielectric layer after the chemical mechanical polishing process, and the surface treatment process includes introducing an oxygen plasma.
US08927375B2

Embodiment of the present invention provides a method of forming a semiconductor device. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate; epitaxially growing a silicon-carbon layer on top of the semiconductor substrate; amorphizing the silicon-carbon layer; covering the amorphized silicon-carbon layer with a stress liner; and subjecting the amorphized silicon-carbon layer to a solid phase epitaxy (SPE) process to form a highly substitutional silicon-carbon film. In one embodiment, the highly substitutional silicon-carbon film is formed to be embedded stressors in the source/drain regions of an nFET transistor, and provides tensile stress to a channel region of the nFET transistor for performance enhancement.
US08927370B2

A method for fabrication a memory having a memory area and a periphery area is provided. The method includes forming a gate insulating layer over a substrate in the periphery area. Thereafter, a first conductive layer is formed in the memory area, followed by forming a buried diffusion region in the substrate adjacent to the sides of the first conductive layer. An inter-gate dielectric layer is then formed over the first conductive layer followed by forming a second conductive layer over the inter-gate dielectric layer. A transistor gate is subsequently formed over the gate insulating layer in the periphery area.
US08927367B2

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device may include patterning a substrate to form trenches, forming a sacrificial layer to cover inner surfaces of the trenches, the sacrificial layer having a single-layered structure, forming sacrificial patterns by isotropically etching the sacrificial layer such that the sacrificial layer remains on bottom surfaces of the trenches, forming lightly doped regions in sidewalls of the trenches using the sacrificial patterns as an ion mask, removing the sacrificial patterns, and sequentially forming a gate insulating layer and a gate electrode layer in the trenches.
US08927358B2

A metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device having a selectable threshold voltage determined by the composition of an etching solution contacting a metal layer. The MOS device can be either a p-type or n-type MOS and the threshold voltage is selectable for both types of MOS devices. The etching solution is either an oxygen-containing solution or a fluoride-containing solution. The threshold voltage is selected by adjusting the flow rate of inert gases into an etching chamber to control the concentration of oxygen gas or nitrogen trifluoride.
US08927347B2

A semiconductor device includes: an n−-type base layer; a p-type base layer formed in a part of a front surface portion of the n−-type base layer; an n+-type source layer formed in a part of a front surface portion of the p-type base layer; a gate insulating film formed on the front surface of the p-type base layer between the n+-type source layer and the n−-type base layer; a gate electrode that faces the p-type base layer through the gate insulating film; a p-type column layer formed continuously from the p-type base layer in the n−-type base layer; a p+-type collector layer formed in a part of a rear surface portion of the n−-type base layer; a source electrode electrically connected to the n+-type source layer; and a drain electrode electrically connected to the n−-type base layer and to the p+-type collector layer.
US08927344B2

Various semiconductor chip package substrates with reinforcement and methods of making the same are disclosed. In one aspect, a method of manufacturing is provided that includes providing a package substrate that has a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. The first side has a central area adapted to receive a semiconductor chip. A solder reinforcement structure is formed on the first side of the package substrate outside of the central area to resist bending of the package substrate.
US08927343B2

A package structure and a package process are provided. The package structure comprises a carrier having a carrying portion and a plurality of supporting bar remnants disposed around and extending outward from the carrying portion, a chip mounted to the carrying portion, and an encapsulant disposed on the carrier and covering the chip, wherein the supporting bar remnants are encapsulated by the encapsulant, and each of the supporting bar remnants has a distal end shrank from an outer surface of the encapsulant. A package process for fabricating the package structure is also provided.
US08927339B2

A method of making a semiconductor assembly that includes a semiconductor device, a heat spreader, an adhesive and a build-up circuitry is disclosed. The heat spreader includes a bump, a base and a flange. The bump defines a cavity. The semiconductor device is mounted on the bump at the cavity, electrically connected to the build-up circuitry and thermally connected to the bump. The bump extends from the base into an opening in the adhesive, the base extends vertically from the bump opposite the cavity and the flange extends laterally from the bump at the cavity entrance. The build-up circuitry includes a dielectric layer and conductive traces on the semiconductor device and the flange. The conductive traces provide signal routing for the semiconductor device.
US08927336B2

A method of assembling a packaging structure is provided and includes directly electrically interconnecting respective active surfaces of first and second chips in a face-to-face arrangement, electrically interconnecting at least one of the respective sidewalls of the first and second chips to a common chip and orienting the respective active surfaces of the first and second chips transversely with respect to the common chip.
US08927329B2

The amount of water and hydrogen contained in an oxide semiconductor film is reduced, and oxygen is supplied sufficiently from a base film to the oxide semiconductor film in order to reduce oxygen deficiencies. A stacked base film is formed, a first heat treatment is performed, an oxide semiconductor film is formed over and in contact with the stacked base film, and a second heat treatment is performed. In the stacked base film, a first base film and a second base film are stacked in this order. The first base film is an insulating oxide film from which oxygen is released by heating. The second base film is an insulating metal oxide film. An oxygen diffusion coefficient of the second base film is smaller than that of the first base film.
US08927323B2

A photovoltaic device includes a crystalline substrate having a first dopant conductivity, an interdigitated back contact and a front surface field structure. The front surface field structure includes a crystalline layer formed on the substrate and a noncrystalline layer formed on the crystalline layer. The crystalline layer and the noncrystalline layer are doped with dopants having a same dopant conductivity as the substrate. Methods are also disclosed.
US08927318B2

A method cleaving a semiconductor material that includes providing a germanium substrate having a germanium and tin alloy layer is present therein. A stressor layer is deposited on a surface of the germanium substrate. A stress from the stressor layer is applied to the germanium substrate, in which the stress cleaves the germanium substrate to provide a cleaved surface. The cleaved surface of the germanium substrate is then selective to the germanium and tin alloy layer of the germanium substrate. In another embodiment, the germanium and tin alloy layer may function as a fracture plane during a spalling method.
US08927312B2

A MEMS transistor for a FBEOL level of a CMOS integrated circuit is disclosed. The MEMS transistor includes a cavity within the integrated circuit. A MEMS cantilever switch having two ends is disposed within the cavity and anchored at least at one of the two ends. A gate and a drain are in a sidewall of the cavity, and are separated from the MEMS cantilever switch by a gap. In response to a voltage applied to the gate, the MEMS cantilever switch moves across the gap in a direction parallel to the plane of the FBEOL level of the CMOS integrated circuit into electrical contact with the drain to permit a current to flow between the source and the drain. Methods for fabricating the MEMS transistor are also disclosed. In accordance with the methods, a MEMS cantilever switch, a gate, and a drain are constructed on a far back end of line (FBEOL) level of a CMOS integrated circuit in a plane parallel to the FBEOL level. The MEMS cantilever switch is separated from the gate and the drain by a sacrificial material, which is ultimately removed to release the MEMS cantilever switch and to provide a gap between the MEMS cantilever switch and the gate and the drain.
US08927309B2

A method for producing an OLED illuminating device includes steps of: (a) forming metal lines and power transmission lines on a substrate; (b) forming a patterned insulating layer to cover the metal lines and the power transmission lines; (c) forming a patterned first electrode layer on the insulating layer; (d) forming an organic light-emitting membrane structure on the first electrode layer; (e) forming a second electrode layer on the organic light-emitting membrane structure so that a plurality of luminescent pixels are formed; and (f) when one of the luminescent pixels is defective, cutting one of the power transmission lines that is connected to the defective one of the luminescent pixels using an energy beam.
US08927304B2

The present invention relates to light emitting diode (LED) packages and methods of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an LED package and a method of manufacturing the same that can reduce a variation of color coordinates of mass-produced LED packages.
US08927301B2

A fabrication method includes forming a spin-polarizing layer, a spin transport layer on the spin polarizing layer on a substrate, a free layer magnet on the spin transport layer, a non-magnetic layer on the spin polarizing layer, a reference layer on the non-magnetic layer, and a hard mask layer on the reference layer, etching the hard mask layer and forming a read portion including the reference layer, the nonmagnetic layer and the free layer magnet, forming a nonlinear resistor layer on surfaces of the spin transport layer, the spacers, and the hard mask layer, etching the nonlinear resistor layer, the spin transport layer, and the spin polarizing layer and forming a write portion including the spin transport layer and the spin polarizing layer, forming an interlevel dielectric layer, forming a trench, exposing an upper surface of the reference layer of the read and write portions.
US08927299B2

There is disclosed apparatus and a system for effecting testing on a sample, such as for medical testing. The apparatus includes a sample chip (30) provided with at least two chambers (48, 50) within which analyte and a sample to be tested can be located, one chamber being a mixing chamber (48) and the other a detection chamber (50), the latter being provided with a sensor or means to enable sensing of one or more parameters pertaining to the sample. A detector unit (70, 170) includes a slot (76) for holding a sample carrier (30), drive means (94) for moving parts of a sample from the mixing chamber (48) to the detection chamber (50), such as by electromagnetic force, sensing means (60) for sensing the one or more parameters, a diagnostic unit (84) for analyzing the sensed parameters and a display unit (72) for displaying the results of the test to a user. The test unit (70, 170) is preferably handheld, which the sample carrier (30) is preferably in the form of a disposable chip.
US08927298B2

Management of the health status of an animal colony using a plurality of blood collection cards and the analysis of dried blood from members of the colony that has been collected on the cards. Members of the colony may be removed from the colony as a result of the analysis.
US08927297B2

The crystal structure of the ligand binding domain of ERR-α in complex with a ligand that forms a reversible thioether bond to Cys325 of ERR-α, methods to measure dissociation rates for ligands that form reversible covalent bonds, and methods to design ligands that form reversible covalent bonds for use as modulators of ERR-α activity are disclosed. The crystal structure and methods provide a novel molecular mechanism for modulation of the activity of ERR-α and provide the basis for rational drug design to obtain potent specific ligands for use as modulators of the activity of this new drug target.
US08927286B2

A shoot of a plant is cultivated under the presence of glutathione, so that the shoot is rooted. It is possible to cultivate the shoot under the presence of glutathione by use of a rooting medium including glutathione or by contacting a solution including glutathione with the shoot. Oxidized glutathione is preferably used as glutathione. By promoting rooting of the shoot of the plant, a rooting rate of the shoot of the plant is improved. This improves productivity of a clone seedling.
US08927277B2

Provided are a method of improving the efficiency of establishment of iPS cells, comprising the step of contacting one or more substances selected from the group consisting of members of the GLIS family (e.g., GLIS1) and nucleic acids that encode the same and one or more substances selected from the group consisting of members of the Klf family and nucleic acids that encode the same, with a somatic cell, an iPS cell comprising an exogenous nucleic acid that encodes a member of the GLIS family or a member of the Klf family, that can be obtained by the method, and a method of producing a somatic cell by inducing the differentiation of the iPS cell.
US08927273B2

The present invention provides a method for preparing a cytotoxic lymphocyte characterized in that the method comprises the step of carrying out at least one step selected from induction, maintenance and expansion of a cytotoxic lymphocyte using a medium containing serum and plasma at a total concentration of 0% by volume or more and less than 5% by volume, in the presence of fibronectin, a fragment thereof or a mixture thereof.
US08927261B2

The invention concerns a method for isolating and purifying nucleic acids from a sample and a device that is suitable therefore.
US08927258B2

An integrated device for diagnostic analyzes used to verify the presence of bacteria in at least a biological sample mixed with a eugonic culture medium in liquid form, to classify at least the type of bacteria, and to test a series of antibiotics, selected from a group of characteristic antibiotics at least for the type of bacteria identified, identifying those effective to determine the antibiotic therapy. The device comprises, inside an integrated structure, first containing means provided with containing elements in which the biological samples to be analyzed are distributed, second containing means comprising recipients or micro-plates thermostated with wells containing a eugonic culture medium in liquid form in which a first fraction of the biological samples to be analyzed is dispensed, and a first recipient and second recipients or plates with a relative first well and second wells in which a further fraction of the biological samples which resulted positive to the analysis is dispensed.
US08927252B2

The present invention relates to synbiotic compositions comprising probiotic bacterial strains and prebiotic substances that, when combined exhibit synergistic behavior. The synergetic compositions will stimulate the indigenous microflora to restore and reconstitute in vivo gut like conditions after antibiotic associated diarrhea (AAD), and/or other gut infections caused by gastrointestinal pathogens, and relapses thereof, as well as the prevention of said disorders.
US08927239B2

A process for improving the yield and efficiency of an ethanol fermentation plant that receives organic fermentable feedstock material, prepares the feedstock for fermentation, ferments the feedstock with yeast to produce ethanol, and produces stillage as a byproduct of ethanol fermentation. The process steps which can be operated independently or in combination, may include, but are not limited to, degrading fatty acids in the fermentable feedstock material prior to fermentation; degrading cellulose and hemicellulose present in the feedstock prior to fermentation; adding a surfactant to the fermentable feedstock; separating a liquid fraction from the stillage; recycling the liquid fraction to be combined with the fermentable feedstock; recovering a solid fraction from the stillage; and introducing at least a portion of the solid fraction to an anaerobic digester to produce methane.
US08927238B2

A method of producing patchoulol and 7-epi-α-selinene by contacting at least one polypeptide with farnesyl phyrophosphate (fpp). The method may be carried out in vitro or in vivo to produce patchoulol and 7-epi-α-selinene, compounds which can be useful in the field of perfumery.
US08927231B2

Provided is a separatome-based recombinant peptide, polypeptide, and protein expression and purification platform based on the juxtaposition of the binding properties of host cell genomic peptides, polypeptides, and proteins with the characteristics and location of the corresponding genes on the host cell chromosome, such as that of E. coli, yeast, Bacillus subtilis or other prokaryotes, insect cells, mammalian cells, etc. This platform quantitatively describes and identifies priority deletions, modifications, or inhibitions of certain gene products to increase chromatographic separation efficiency, defined as an increase in column capacity, column selectivity, or both, with emphasis on the former. Moreover, the platform provides a computerized knowledge tool that, given separatome data and a target recombinant peptide, polypeptide, or protein, intuitively suggests strategies leading to efficient product purification. The separatome-based protein expression and purification platform is an efficient bioseparation system that intertwines host cell expression systems and chromatography.
US08927227B2

A method of determining the effects of a test component on intracellular ROS levels. The method can be used in marketing or in screening for useful components in reducing ROS levels in cells adversely affected by increased ROS generation.
US08927226B2

The invention provides compositions, kits, and methods for performing colorimetric analysis. A substrate is reacted to generate a chromogenic reaction product, and a reaction stop reagent that is a sulfonic acid is added to stop and stabilize the reaction product. The absorbance properties of the chromogenic reaction product can be maintained over significantly longer periods of time of that of conventional reagents and methods. The sulfonic acid can be used in assays such as ELISAs in order to provide a more accurate and safer detection of analytes in a biological sample.
US08927224B2

Fluorescent dyes useful for preparing fluorescent metal ion indicators, the fluorescent indicators themselves, and the use of the fluorescent indicators for the detection, discrimination and quantification of metal cations.
US08927220B2

A protein used as a biomarker for diagnosing IgA nephropathy and TGBM (thin-glomerular-basement-membrane) using urine through a target proteomics method. A diagnosis biomarker protein and a kit for diagnosing IgA nephropathy and TGBM and predicting progress of the nephropathy in advance using the protein are provided. The degree of the progression of the disease can be grasped by detecting IgA nephropathy and TGBM, enabling early diagnosis and confirming progress from the patient's urine. In addition, a monoclonal antibody produced based on the diagnosis biomarker protein can be used for an immunoassay kit (ELISA, antibody coated tube test, lateral-flow test, potable biosensor). The monoclonal antibody is used in early diagnosis and progression detection of IgA nephropathy and development of a novel drug for the purpose of treatment.
US08927216B2

This application describes the discovery that, in a pregnant woman, certain genes (such as RASSF1A, APC, CASP8, RARB, SCGB3A1, DAB2IP, PTPN6, THY1, TMEFF2, and PYCARD) originated from a fetus are highly methylated, whereas the same genes of maternal origin are unmethylated. This discovery allows the easy detection of one or more of these methylated fetal genes in a biological sample from a pregnant woman, serving as a universal indicator of the presence of fetal DNA in the sample. These fetal methylation markers are particularly useful as positive controls for a non-invasive analytical process during which the quality and quantity of fetal DNA are monitored. These newly identified fetal markers can also be measured directly for diagnosis of certain pregnancy-related conditions.
US08927214B2

The present invention provides a method of isolating nucleic acid and protein from the same biological sample, comprising, in the following order: a) disrupting the biological sample; b) contacting the disrupted biological sample of (a) with a protein lysis buffer that lacks any component that denatures or reduces protein to produce a first lysate; c) centrifuging the first lysate of (b) to produce a first supernatant containing protein and a pellet containing nucleic acid; d) removing the first supernatant of (c), thereby isolating protein from the biological sample; e) contacting the pellet of (d) with nucleic acid lysis buffer to produce a second lysate; f) centrifuging the second lysate of (e) to produce a second supernatant containing nucleic acid; and g) removing the second supernatant of (f), thereby isolating nucleic acid from the same biological sample.
US08927211B2

The present invention relates to preparation of nucleotide compositions and uses thereof for conducting nucleic acid analyzes. The compositions and methods embodied in the present invention are particularly useful for nucleic acid analyzes that require high-resolution detection of labeled nucleotides or labeled nucleic acid targets.
US08927208B2

The invention provides new probes that are useful in a method to analyze beta-PV types based on hybridization to these probes.
US08927203B2

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for storing platelets to preserve the function and freshness of the platelets. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of a preservative composition having an antiplatelet agent, an anticoagulant, and an oxygen carrier, for maintaining the freshness of platelets. Additionally, the composition may also contain an ultra-short acting broad spectrum anti-microbial agents. The preservative composition may be used to store platelets in a liquid state, a frozen state, or a freeze-dried state.
US08927201B2

A multilayer resist process pattern-forming method includes providing an inorganic film over a substrate. A protective film is provided on the inorganic film. A resist pattern is provided on the protective film. A pattern is provided on the substrate by etching that utilizes the resist pattern as a mask. A multilayer resist process inorganic film-forming composition includes a compound, an organic solvent, and a crosslinking accelerator. The compound includes a metal compound that includes a hydrolyzable group, a hydrolysate of a metal compound that includes a hydrolyzable group, a hydrolysis-condensation product of a metal compound that includes a hydrolyzable group, or a combination thereof. The compound includes at least one metal element belonging to Group 6, Group 12, or Group 13 of the Periodic Table of the Elements.
US08927180B2

A method of manufacturing a mask may include forming initial ribs and removing edge portions of the initial ribs to form final ribs, each of which has a top width smaller than that of the initial rib. A space between the initial ribs may be smaller than a width of a slit limited by the final ribs.
US08927164B2

Even in a fuel cell system which performs scavenging processing after the power generation of a fuel cell is stopped, the operation time for when a battery is being operated can be increased. When determining that the condition of running out of gas occurs based on a sensor value of a pressure sensor, a control unit stops the power generation of the fuel cell. The control unit, for example, shortens the time required for scavenging processing and then performs the scavenging processing. On the other hand, when determining that the condition of running out of gas does not occur and when the power generation of the fuel cell should be stopped, the control unit stops the power generation and then performs normal scavenging processing.
US08927158B2

A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode having a positive-electrode active material, a negative electrode having a negative-electrode active material, and a nonaqueous electrolytic solution having a nonaqueous solvent dissolving a solute. The negative-electrode active material includes powdered silicon and/or a silicon alloy, the nonaqueous electrolytic solution includes additives composed of at least one fluorinated lithium phosphate selected from the group consisting of lithium monofluorophosphate, lithium difluorophosphate, and lithium trifluorophosphate and a diisocyanate compound, and the nonaqueous solvent includes a chain carbonate compound.
US08927156B2

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a power storage device which includes a positive electrode having a positive-electrode current collector with a plurality of first projections, a first insulator provided over each of the plurality of first projections, and a positive-electrode active material provided on a surface of the first insulator and the positive-electrode current collector with the plurality of first projections; a negative electrode having a negative-electrode current collector with a plurality of second projections, a second insulator provided over each of the plurality of second projections, and a negative-electrode active material provided on a surface of the second insulator and the negative-electrode current collector with the plurality of second projections; a separator provided between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and an electrolyte provided in a space between the positive electrode and the negative electrode and containing carrier ions.
US08927154B2

A spherical primary particle of a lithium titanium oxide of which average diameter is in the range of about 1 to about 20 μm, a method of preparing the spherical primary particle of the lithium titanium oxide, and a lithium rechargeable battery including the spherical primary particle of the lithium titanium oxide.
US08927153B2

The present invention relates to a cathode active material for lithium secondary batteries with high safety, a method of preparing the same and lithium secondary batteries comprising the same. The cathode active material of the present invention comprises a lithium metal oxide secondary particle core portion formed by aggregation of lithium metal oxide primary particles; and a shell portion formed by coating the secondary particle core portion with an olivine-structured lithium iron phosphate oxide. The cathode active material of the present invention allows to manufacture lithium secondary batteries with improved safety, especially overcharge characteristics.
US08927152B2

Provided is a binder for an electrode of a lithium rechargeable battery including a copolymer of Chemical Formula 1, which increases adhesion between the electrode and an active material by employing a copolymer based on polyacrylamide, while having excellent heat resistance and mechanical strength, an electrode for a rechargeable battery including the same, and a rechargeable battery including the electrode. The binder and electrode can improve charge and discharge cycle life characteristics of the rechargeable battery.
US08927148B2

A power storage device including a positive electrode in which a positive electrode active material is formed over a positive electrode current collector and a negative electrode which faces the positive electrode with an electrolyte interposed therebetween is provided. The positive electrode active material includes a first region which includes a compound containing lithium and one or more of manganese, cobalt, and nickel; and a second region which covers the first region and includes a compound containing lithium and iron. Since a superficial portion of the positive electrode active material includes the second region containing iron, an energy barrier when lithium is inserted into and extracted from the surface of the positive electrode active material can be decreased.
US08927133B2

An electrochemical device having a liquid electrolyte which includes a protic solvent, an anode electrode disposed in contact with the liquid electrolyte, and a cathode electrode disposed in contact with the liquid electrolyte. A membrane which interrupts the transport of ions between the electrodes at a predetermined temperature is disposed in the liquid electrolyte between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. In this way, electrochemical devices such as batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers, and sensors, which may overheat during use and cause a fire or explosion, are precluded from overheating.
US08927131B2

A battery module with microencapsulated phase change materials as an automotive thermal management system. In one form, the microencapsulated phase change material is in the form of a foam made of a core encased in a generally polymer-based shell. In a more particular form, the foamed material may be tailored to go through isothermal phase change at more than one temperature, such as a relatively cold temperature and a relatively high temperature. A thermal management system based on the use of such microencapsulated phase change material includes heating and cooling capabilities for conditions expected to be encountered under both high-temperature and low-temperature vehicular operating conditions. Methods of controlling the temperature in battery modules are also described.
US08927122B2

A substrate for suspension comprises a metallic substrate, an insulating layer formed on the metallic substrate, a conductor layer formed on the insulating layer, and a cover layer covering the conductor layer. The insulating layer and the cover layer are formed from different materials, whose coefficients of hygroscopic expansion are in the range between 3×10−6/% RH and 30×10−6/% RH. The difference between the coefficients of hygroscopic expansion of the two materials is 5×10−6/% RH or less.
US08927121B2

Disclosed herein are compounds represented by Formula 1, wherein R1, Ar1, X, Ar2, Ar3, and Het are described herein. Compositions and light-emitting devices related thereto are also disclosed.
US08927119B2

There is provided an organic compound having excellent characteristics, including excellent electron-injecting/transporting performance, hole blocking ability, and high stability in the thin-film state, for use as material of an organic electroluminescent device having high efficiency and high durability. There is also provided a high-efficient and high-durable organic electroluminescent device using the compound. The compound is represented by general formula (1) having a substituted anthracene ring structure and a pyridoindole ring structure. The organic electroluminescent device includes a pair of electrodes, and one or more organic layers sandwiched between the pair of electrodes, and the compound is used as a constituent material of at least one organic layer.
US08927110B2

The present invention provides plain printing paper comprising a paper substrate containing, as main components, cellulose pulp and calcium carbonate as a filler, and an optional cationic resin and a multivalent cation salt attached onto the paper substrate, wherein the total amount of the cationic resin and the multivalent cation salt attached on both surfaces of the paper substrate is 1.0 g/m2 to 5.0 g/m2, both inclusive, and the mass ratio of the cationic resin to the multivalent cation salt is 0:100 to 90:10, both inclusive.
US08927109B2

Reinforced wood flooring according to one embodiment includes: a surface layer having a plurality of wood sheets and a resin-impregnated paper sheet interposed between the wood sheets, in which each of the wood sheets has a predetermined thickness and a plate shape, and the wood sheets and the resin-impregnated paper sheets are bonded together into a unitary body through hot-pressing; an adhesive layer formed beneath the surface layer to serve as an adhesive; and a plywood arranged beneath the adhesive layer and attached to a lower side of the surface layer by the adhesive lay.
US08927107B2

The present invention relates generally to a coated jewelry article or a coated component of a jewelry article, comprising a jewelry article or a component of a jewelry article, a first metallic coating, and a second metallic coating.
US08927105B2

A biodegradable biomass article for use in construction includes a cellulose biomass. The cellulose biomass includes an alkaline crystalline substance. An adhesive layer covers an outer surface of the biomass, and a sealing layer covers the adhesive layer. A method for manufacturing the biodegradable biomass article includes drying a cellulose biomass, and mixing the biomass with water into a slurry. The slurry is heated, and strained after the step of heating, resulting in a residual paste. The residual paste is compressed to form a biomass mat. The biomass mat is heated, and an adhesive layer is applied which covers the biomass mat. A sealing layer is applied over the adhesive layer.
US08927100B2

An activatable adhesive that is formulated to readily absorb energy from a given radiation source, an activatable adhesive label that incorporates such an activatable adhesive, a system for activating such labels, and related methods and uses are described. The activatable adhesive includes a plasticizer, a tackifier, and an adhesive base polymer that includes butyl acrylate, styrene, methyl methacrylate, methacrylic acid, and acrylic acid.
US08927099B2

The present invention is to provide a device capable of having an easy production process and achieving a long lifetime. A device comprising a substrate, two or more electrodes facing each other disposed on the substrate and a positive hole injection transport layer disposed between two electrodes among the two or more electrodes, wherein the positive hole injection transport layer contains a transition metal compound-containing nanoparticle comprising a transition metal compound containing one or more kinds selected from the group consisting of a transition metal carbide oxide, transition metal nitride oxide and transition metal sulfide oxide, wherein a protecting agent having a linking group and a hydrophobic organic group is connected to the transition metal compound by the linking group.
US08927096B2

The present disclosure is drawn to compositions and methods involving coated substrates for liquid electrophotographic printing. Generally, a coated substrate for liquid electrophotographic printing can comprise a polyethylene- or polypropylene-based substrate and a coating adhered to the substrate, the coating comprising a water-based aliphatic polyurethane polymer.
US08927094B2

A printed article includes a base material, a first printed layer, a second printed layer, and a third printed layer. The first printed layer is printed with a first ink in a first area of the base material. The second printed layer is printed with a second ink in a second area different from the first area of the base material. The second ink is different in a property or function from the first ink and having a color difference with respect to the first ink. The third printed layer is printed with a third ink, and covers or fills a boundary between the first printed layer and the second printed layer, and has a color difference with respect to the first printed layer and the second printed layer.
US08927093B2

A paper product of the present disclosure having at least one ply is disclosed. At least one outer surface of the paper product has indicia comprising at least one ink disposed thereon and substantially affixed thereto. The at least one ink has a color value defined by a 3-D CIELab (L*a*b*) color gamut. The 3-D CIELab (L*a*b*) color gamut is at least about 681% greater than a Kien 3-D (L*a*b*) color gamut.
US08927091B2

A display device and method thereof which minimizes introduction of oxygen and moisture from the outside includes an insulating substrate, a display part formed on the insulating substrate, a cover substrate combined with the insulating substrate, a filler provided between the insulating substrate and the cover substrate, the filler includes a first region and a second region spaced from the first region and formed at a circumference of the first region, and a moisture absorbent formed in a space between the first region and the second region.
US08927090B2

A method for bonding a first body (2) to a second, panel-shaped body (3) at bonding surfaces (2a, 3a) lying opposite each other, the second body (3) projecting in at least one direction (X) beyond an edge (2′) of the first body (2). The method includes: producing a plurality of spacers (4a to 4e, 4a′ to 4e′) on at least one of the bonding surfaces (2a), applying adhesive (5) into intermediate spaces (6a to 6d) between the spacers beyond an outer spacer (4e, 4e′) as far as an adhesive periphery (5a), which is formed at an edge (2′) of the first body (2), and bonding the bodies (2, 3) by bringing the bonding surfaces (2a, 3a) into contact at the spacers (4a′ to 4e′). A prescribed distance (d) between the adhesive periphery (5a) and the outermost spacer (4e) is set to provide a desired state of deformation of the panel-shaped body (3) after a shrinkage of the applied adhesive (5) (e.g. minimized bending of the body.) In an associated composite body (1), the prescribed distance (d) lies between 20 μm and 250 μm, preferably between 30 μm and 200 μm, in particular between 40 μm and 150 μm.
US08927078B2

The present invention relates to encapsulated activated carbon and a method of preparing the same to protect the structure of the activated carbon and preserve the odor absorbing capability of the activated carbon particles. Particularly, the present invention is directed to a polymer article having odor absorption capabilities comprising a film comprising a matrix polymer and activated carbon particles at least partially encapsulated with a non-water soluble amorphous polymer, wherein the non-water soluble amorphous polymer is incompatible with the matrix polymer. The polymer article can be a bag.
US08927076B2

A transparent article includes a continuous polyester matrix having at least one incompatible filler dispersed therein. The incompatible filler provides domains in the polyester matrix, each domain having a particular dimension, thus providing a range of dimensions for the domains in the article. To create haze, the dimensions are within the range of from about 380 nm to about 720 nm. Once the range of dimensions is determined, a light absorbent composition can be found which absorbs light at a range of wavelengths that at least substantially covers the range of dimensions of the domains. In doing so, it has been found that the haze of the article can be substantially masked. Method for producing the article and for masking the haze are also provided.
US08927069B1

A method and apparatus for modifying low emissivity (low-E) coated glass, so that windows using the processed glass allow uninterrupted use of RF devices within commercial or residential buildings. Glass processed in the manner described herein will not significantly diminish the energy conserving properties of the low-E coated glass. This method and apparatus disrupts the conductivity of the coating in small regions. In an embodiment, the method and apparatus ablates the low-E coating along narrow contiguous paths, such that electrical conductivity can no longer occur across the paths. The paths may take the form of intersecting curves and/or lines, so that the remaining coating consists of electrically isolated areas. The method and apparatus are applicable both to treating glass panels at the factory as well as treating windows in-situ after installation.
US08927068B2

A method and apparatus for forming lithium-ion batteries and battery cell components, and more specifically, to a system and method for fabricating such batteries and battery cell components using deposition processes that form three-dimensional porous structures are provided. One method comprises texturing a conductive substrate by calendering the conductive substrate between opposing wire mesh structures, forming a first layer of cathodically active material having a first porosity on the surface of the textured conductive substrate, and forming a second layer of cathodically active material having a second porosity on the first layer, wherein the second porosity is greater than the first porosity.
US08927067B2

An infrared ray cut-off material is formed of phosphorus-doped antimony tin oxide powder, in which a content of antimony in terms of SbO2 is not less than 14 parts by mass and not more than 30 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the infrared ray cut-off material, a content of phosphorus in terms of PO2.5 is not less than 1 part by mass and not more than 25 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the infrared ray cut-off material, and a balance other than antinomy oxide and phosphorus oxide is tin oxide.
US08927058B2

A photoresist coating process including a first step and a second step is provided. In the first step, a wafer is accelerated by a first average acceleration. In the second step, the wafer is accelerated by a second average acceleration. The first acceleration and the second acceleration are both larger than zero, and photoresist material is provided to the wafer only in the second step.
US08927052B2

Provided herein are processes for depositing a plasma coating on a substrate and coated substrates obtained thereby. More particularly, processes for characterizing a plasma coating on a substrate are provided. The process for depositing a plasma coating includes the step of exposing the substrate to a plasma. The plasma includes at least one coating precursor and one fluorophore other than the coating precursor.
US08927049B2

An expandable medical device includes a plurality of elongated struts, forming a substantially cylindrical device which is expandable from a first diameter to a second diameter. A plurality of different beneficial agents may be loaded into different openings within the struts for delivery to the tissue. For treatment of conditions such as restenosis, different agents are loaded into different openings in the device to address different biological processes involved in restenosis and are delivered at different release kinetics matched to the biological process treated. The different agents may also be used to address different diseases from the same drug delivery device. In addition, anti-thrombotic agents may be affixed to at least a portion of the surfaces of the medical device for the prevention of sub-acute thrombosis. To ensure that the different agents remain affixed to the device as well as to each other, masking and de-masking processes may be utilized.
US08927036B2

A process of enzymatic degumming edible oils, comprising treating edible oil with a lipid acyltransferase so as to transfer an acyl group from a major part of the phospholipid to one or more acyl acceptors, wherein the acyl acceptor may be any compound comprising a hydroxyl group. In one embodiment preferably the acyl acceptor is water and in another embodiment preferably the acyl acceptor is one or more sterols and/or stanols. When the acyl acceptor is a stanol and/or sterol, one or more sterol esters and/or stanol esters are produced. The lipid acyltransferase for use in the process of the present invention may comprise one or more of the following amino acid sequences: SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 8, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 14, or SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 16, SEQ ID NO: 17, SEQ ID NO: 18, SEQ ID NO: 36, SEQ ID NO: 38, SEQ ID NO: 40, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 45, SEQ ID NO: 47, SEQ ID NO: 50 or an amino acid sequence which has 75% or more identity thereto. A novel lipid acyltransferase comprising the amino acid sequence shown as SEQ ID NO: 16 is also taught.
US08927013B2

Disclosed is a misuse preventative, controlled release composition in the form of a multilayered oral dosage form. A first layer contains a plurality of controlled release microparticles having a pharmaceutically active agent (for example, an opioid analgesic) disposed therein. A second layer comprises a pharmaceutically active agent that can be the same or different from the pharmaceutically active agent in the microparticles. The composition further comprises a superabsorbent material disposed within the first layer, the second layer, or both the first layer and the second layer. When crushed, either intentionally or accidentally, and exposed to an aqueous medium, the superabsorbent material swells to encapsulate the microparticles, which remain substantially intact thereby retarding the release of the pharmaceutically active agent from the composition.
US08927011B2

A process for advantageously producing tablets having an improved release property and an excellent stability to change with time is provided. The process is for producing tablets containing a morphinan compound represented by the Formula (I) below or pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salt thereof and an acidic substance such as fumaric acid, maleic acid or adipic acid, and characterized in that the morphinan compound or a pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salt thereof is granulated by wet granulation together with (an) excipient(s) prior to adding the acidic substance thereto.
US08927008B2

A compound sea cucumber product, preparation method thereof and dosage forms thereof are disclosed. A fresh sea cucumber is cut open, the viscus thereof is taken out, and they are well-cleaned respectively and put into an airtight container; at 70˜130° C., gelatinate for 1 min˜20 hours; thereafter freeze-dry till the water content is less than 10 wt %; apply coarse crushing till the fineness reaches 10˜300 mesh; then apply ultra-micro crushing by means of an airflow crusher until the fineness reaches 100˜3000 mesh; lastly apply nanometer crushing by means of high-energy ball grinding mill till the fineness reaches 10˜1000 nm. The nanometer sea cucumber extract is mixed with panax pseudo-ginseng saponins extract at the proportion of 99˜80 wt %:1˜20 wt %. The compound preparation of nanometer sea cucumber and panax pseudo-ginseng saponins can greatly enhance the pharmacological functions of the sea cucumber single preparation or the panax pseudo-ginseng single preparation and eliminate the side effects of the single preparations when used alone. The compound preparation can achieve a better health-care effect than the single preparations and it can be applied for various health-care and medicinal purposes.
US08927003B2

Provided are medical devices for implantation in patients having suffered the loss of or damage to at least part of their esophagus. The medical device connects the esophagus or remaining part thereof with the stomach to form a gastro-esophageal junction that promotes healing and encourages new host tissue growth while distributing the load and decreasing tension at the anastomotic site. The medical device comprises extracellular matrix shaped into a conformation that more closely approximates the geometry of the native gastro-esophageal junction than does direct attachment of the stomach to the shortened esophagus. Molds useful in manufacturing the medical device and methods of use of the device are also described herein.
US08927002B2

The invention relates to a stent with in particular a coated basic body made of an implant material the use of lithium salts as a coating material or a component of an implant material for stents and the use of lithium salts in a method for restenosis prevention. The inventive stent having a basic body made of an implant material is characterized in that (i) the basic body has a coating which comprises or consists of a lithium salt, and/or (ii) the implant material is biocorrodible and the basic body contains a lithium salt.
US08926995B2

The present invention relates, in general, to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) and, in particular, to a method of enhancing an immune response to an HIV-1 immunogen, and to compounds and compositions suitable for use in such a method.
US08926983B2

The present invention comprises novel compositions and methods for eliciting high immune responses, of great specifity yielding conformationally sensitive antibodies. These antibodies recognize specific epitopes on a wide variety of antigens including but not limited to, amyloid protein, prion protein, P170 glycoprotein. The novel compositions of the invention comprise supramolecular antigenic constructs generally comprising a peptide sequence, covalently attached to pegylated lysine resulting in modified and enhanced peptide presentation. The unique modification methodology of the present invention is applicable to a variety of peptides and can ultimately be employed in therapeutic formulations and vaccines for diseases and disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
US08926982B2

Two universally conserved sequences from influenza type A neuraminidases were identified by large scale sequence analysis then chemically modified and conjugated to carrier proteins to generate mono-specific and monoclonal antibodies. The two antibodies, one targeting the N-terminus of the type A neuraminidase and the other sequence close to enzymatic active site, were capable of binding to all 9 subtypes of neuraminidase while demonstrating remarkable specificity against the viral neuraminidase sequences since no cross-reactivity against allantoic proteins was observed. Quantitative analyses of NA using slot blot suggest that the antibodies can be used for NA antigen quantitation in vaccines. These represent the first time the antibody-based immunoassay can be used for NA quantitative determination.
US08926978B2

The invention relates to an isolated immunoglobulin heavy chain polypeptide and an isolated immunoglobulin light chain polypeptide that binds to Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). The invention provides an NGF-binding agent that comprises the aforementioned immunoglobulin heavy chain polypeptide and immunoglobulin light chain polypeptide. The invention also provides vectors, compositions, and methods of using the NGF-binding agent to treat an NGF-mediated disease.
US08926972B2

The disclosure provides a novel anti-angiogenesis fusion protein. The present invention combines a chimeric vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) receptor or a fragment thereof with a multimerizing component, which have a superior binding capacity with human VEGF and placental growth factor (PIGF). The fusion protein has improved stability, prolonged half-life and the ability to form multivalent interactions with VEGF, and can be used for anti-angiogenesis, treating VEGF related diseases and inhibiting tumor growth.
US08926971B2

The present invention relates to a humanized antibody or functional fragment thereof which binds to a mammalian (e.g., human) CC-chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) or a portion of the receptor and blocks binding of a ligand to the receptor. The invention further relates to a method of inhibiting the interaction of a cell bearing mammalian CCR2 with a ligand thereof, and to use of the antibodies and fragments in therapeutic, prophylactic and diagnostic methods.
US08926969B2

Isolated antibodies that bind to human CD38 and cynomolgus CD38 are disclosed. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions comprising the disclosed antibodies, and therapeutic and diagnostic methods for using the disclosed antibodies.
US08926959B2

Stimulation of target cells using light, e.g., in vivo, is implemented using a variety of methods and devices. According to an example embodiment of the present invention, target cells are stimulated using an implantable arrangement. The arrangement includes an electrical light-generation means for generating light and a biological portion. The biological portion has a photosensitive bio-molecular arrangement that responds to the generated light by stimulating target cells in vivo.
US08926954B2

Disclosed are waving compositions for waving of keratinous fibers, such as hair, containing a) a bisulfite compound, b) a sulfate compound or urea, and c) a phenol, and methods of waving keratinous fibers by applying such compositions to keratinous fibers. Also disclosed is a multi-unit cosmetic kit for treating a keratinous fiber containing a) a first unit containing a first composition containing a bisulfite compound and a sulfate compound or urea, and b) a second unit containing a second composition containing a phenol.
US08926953B2

Methods and compositions for stimulating the growth of hair are disclosed wherein said compositions include a cyclopentane heptanoic acid, 2-cycloalkyl or arylalkyl compound represented by the formula I wherein the dashed bonds represent a single or double bond which can be in the cis or trans configuration, A, B, Z, X, R1 and R2 are as defined in the specification. Such compositions are used in treating the skin or scalp of a human or non-human animal. Bimatoprost is preferred for this treatment.
US08926951B2

A composition and method of stabilized chlorine dioxide at a concentration range of about 0.005% to about 0.800% (w/v) at a pH in the range of 6.0 to 7.4 for the prevention of oral diseases caused by dental biofilm and plaque accumulation, such as gingivitis and periodontitis, through bactericidal properties is disclosed. The bactericidal properties of stabilized chlorine dioxide are further expanded to include reduction (kill) of anaerobic/aerobic/facultative gram-negative and gram-positive oral bacteria occurring in plaque or polymicrobial biofilms. The composition may be in the form of wash, rinse, soak, paste, gel, aerosol spray, or other suitable delivery system.
US08926945B2

The invention concerns compounds comprising a biological target recognizing part, coupled to a signal part capable of complexing gallium. The invention also concerns methods for obtaining said compounds, screening methods capable of selecting such compounds for chemical synthesis thereof and their diagnostic applications, in particular in PET, PET/IRM, PET CT imaging.
US08926940B2

Provided are: a device and method for generating hydrogen from a hydrogen reservoir, whereby it is possible to produce two weight equivalents of the weight equivalent of the hydrogen which can be emitted from ammonia borane-based compounds, in other words a hydrogen storage capacity of 13.0%, in a short time at low temperature; a catalyst used with the same; and a device for using emitted hydrogen.
US08926936B2

The invention relates to a condenser, having a process gas side and a heat transfer medium side said condenser being configured for feeding a hot process gas containing a condensable component to an inlet of the condensing side, and being further configured for withdrawing a cooled process gas from an outlet of the condensing side, and being even further configured for withdrawing a condensate in a position proximate to one end of the condenser, and said condenser having the process gas side divided in a process gas cooling zone configured for having a cool heat transfer medium inlet and a heated heat transfer medium outlet, and a process gas re-heating zone downstream the process gas cooling section, configured for re-heating of the process gas, as well as a processes for condensation and production of sulphuric acid employing such a condenser.
US08926925B2

A catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides in diesel engine exhaust gases using ammonia or a precursor compound decomposable to ammonia. The catalyst includes two superposed coatings applied to a support body, of which the first coating applied directly to the support body includes a transition metal-exchanged zeolite and/or a transition metal-exchanged zeolite-like compound, and effectively catalyzes the SCR reaction. The second coating is applied to the first coating to cover it on the exhaust gas side and prevent hydrocarbons having at least three carbon atoms present in the exhaust gas from contacting the first coating, without blocking the passage of nitrogen oxides and ammonia to the first coating. The second coating may be formed from small-pore zeolites and/or small-pore, zeolite-like compounds, and from suitable oxides, especially silicon dioxide, germanium dioxide, aluminum oxide, titanium dioxide, tin oxide, cerium oxide, zirconium dioxide and mixtures thereof.
US08926924B2

A method for the selective recovery of uranium from a sulphate-based acidic aqueous solution of uranium containing iron and other metals by means of solvent extraction, in which the extractant used in the organic extraction solution is bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate and a liquid branched trialkyl phosphine oxide is the modifying agent. It is typical of the method that the uranium concentration in the feed solution is less than 50 mg/l and a reducing agent is introduced into the aqueous and/or extraction solution to prevent the permanent oxidation of iron to trivalent. In the method the majority of the extraction solution is circulated in a circuit consisting of the extraction stage and the storage tank and only a small part of the uranium-loaded extraction solution is routed to scrubbing and stripping.
US08926922B2

The invention relates to a heated reaction chamber for processing a biochip and to a method for controlling said reaction chamber. The heated reaction chamber for processing a biochip comprises a chamber wall, constituted by a flexible circuit board (10), a circuit path (10.3) being configured on the flexible circuit board (10) and being used as the heating device. The use of a flexible circuit board as the wall of a reaction chamber allows for a low thermal capacity of the reaction chamber in the area of the heating device, thereby allowing the chamber to be heated up quickly.
US08926920B2

The invention relates to a plasma source (1) comprising: a conduit (3, 4) carrying a gas flow and an ionization chamber (10) in which a plasma is generated, wherein the ionization chamber (10) is connected to the conduit (3, 4), so that the gas flow in the conduit (3, 4) carries away gas particles out of the ionization chamber (10) thereby reducing the pressure in the ionization chamber (10).
US08926917B2

Described herein are embodiments of systems and methods for oxidizing gases. In some embodiments, a reaction chamber is configured to receive a fuel gas and maintain the gas at a temperature within the reaction chamber that is above an autoignition temperature of the gas. The reaction chamber may also be configured to maintain a reaction temperature within the reaction chamber below a flameout temperature. In some embodiments, heat and product gases from the oxidation process can be used, for example, to drive a turbine, reciprocating engine, and injected back into the reaction chamber.
US08926913B2

A ceramic particulate filter having a porous catalytic material deposited on walls within the filter. Particulate matter is trapped in the walls of the filter and the catalytic material removes gases, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), from gases passing through the filter. The filter, in one embodiment, is adaptable for use with internal combustion (gas and diesel) engines. A method of making the filter is also described.
US08926905B2

An apparatus for imaging one or more selected fluorescence indications from a microfluidic device. The apparatus includes an imaging path coupled to least one chamber in at least one microfluidic device. The imaging path provides for transmission of one or more fluorescent emission signals derived from one or more samples in the at least one chamber of the at least one microfluidic device. The chamber has a chamber size, the chamber size being characterized by an actual spatial dimension normal to the imaging path. The apparatus also includes an optical lens system coupled to the imaging path. The optical lens system is adapted to transmit the one or more fluorescent signals associated with the chamber.
US08926894B2

The invention relates to a metallurgical furnace, comprising a furnace body (1), a trunnion ring (2), and a pedestal structure (3). The furnace body (1) is arranged in the trunnion ring (2) rotatably about a rotation axis (A) by means of a supporting arrangement (4) comprising a bearing arrangement (5) between the trunnion ring (2) and the furnace body (1). The supporting arrangement (4) comprises a first connection frame means (7) between the furnace body (1) and the bearing arrangement (5), and a second connection frame means (8) between the bearing arrangement (5) and the trunnion ring (2). The second connection frame means (8) is connected to the trunnion ring (2) by a first attachment (9) providing for movements between the second connection frame means (8) and the trunnion ring (2).
US08926892B2

An energy efficient metal melter has a portion of melting energy supplied to it by a combustion process for heating a melter charge to a temperature where the melter charge can no longer maintain its shape. A portion of melting energy is also supplied by an electrical process for adding remaining transformational and sensible heat. The combustion process preferably uses a hydrocarbon fuel energy source selected from a distillate compound, gas compound or both and the electrical energy comes from a source selected from an external power grid, a generator and combinations thereof.
US08926891B2

Manufacture of ceramic honeycomb fired body. Green molded body is placed on a firing base and fired. The firing base and green molded body are each a column containing a ceramic raw material and having a partition wall forming a plurality of flow paths, and patterns of end surfaces of the two partition walls are the same as each other as seen from an extending direction of the flow paths. The green molded body is placed on the firing base displaced in a horizontal direction by a predetermined distance, or rotated around a vertical axis V of the green molded body by a predetermined angle θ, so that only a part of the lower side end surface of the partition wall of the green molded body is in contact with the upper side end surface of the partition wall of the firing base.
US08926888B2

An imprint lithography release agent having general formula (1): where R1 represents H or CH3, n is an integer from 1 to 5, and m is an integer from 1 to 40. Fluorinated silazanes of general formula (1) can be used to form a release layer on an imprint lithography template, added to an imprint lithography resist, or both.
US08926880B2

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a core composite (1, 20, 26) having a folded honeycomb core (2, 21, 29) provided on both sides with cover layers (3, 4, 22, 23, 27, 28) wherein the folded honeycomb core (2, 21, 29) has a number of drainage-enabling channels (5). First a core filler material (16, 17) is introduced into the folded honeycomb core (2, 21, 29) at least in some areas in order to provide the filler material with sufficient stability for the subsequent sewing process. The cover layers (3, 4, 22, 23, 27, 28) which are not yet impregnated with a curable plastics material are then placed on the folded honeycomb core (2, 21, 29) and stitched to this along the base lines (6 to 8) and/or apex lines (9, 10) at least in some sections by means of a sewing thread (19). The infiltration of the overall structure with a curable plastics material is then carried out followed by hardening by applying pressure and/or temperature. The core filler material (16, 17) can to complete the process be removed again completely from the folded honeycomb core (2, 21, 29) by being dissolved and washed out or by melting and flowing out. Delamination of the cover layers (3, 4, 22, 23, 27, 28) from the folded honeycomb core (2, 21, 29) is prevented by the stitching so that core composites (1, 20, 26) manufactured by the method according to the invention can be used in the primary structure of aircraft.The invention further relates to a core composite (1, 20, 26) manufactured according to the provisions of the method.
US08926879B2

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a product in layers, said method comprising the following steps: (a) applying a layer of a curable material, (b) selectively curing predetermined zones of the applied layer on the basis of geometrical data of the product, (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) until the geometry of the product has been created in the form of cured material and (d) removing the uncured material. According to the invention, a finish allowance, for example one with a wedge-shaped cross-section, is applied in steps (a) and (b), in one, two or more product sections in which an angle (α) between an axis perpendicular to the layers and at least one surface section of a contour of the product exceeds a predetermined value, to said surface section in such a way that the angle (β) between the axis perpendicular to the layers and the external surface in said product section does not exceed said predetermined value.
US08926875B2

The invention is directed to a method for managing pore size distribution in honeycomb substrates by using two or more pore forming agents in the batch ingredients. In particular, the invention is particularly useful in managing pore size distribution in cordierite and aluminum titanate honeycomb substrates in the face of particle size variations in the pore forming agents and other materials used to make such substrates.
US08926866B2

The present invention provides a hydrogen generator for generating hydrogen through a steam-reforming process using hydrocarbons as a raw material and a method of operating the same, and, more particularly, provides a hydrogen generator for generating hydrogen through a steam reforming process, which can be stably operated because water is introduced into the hydrogen generator in the form of single phase vapor, and which can achieve high thermal efficiency using a proper heat exchanging method, and to a method of operating the same. According to the present invention, there is provided a heat exchanger network, in which heat necessary for a reforming reaction are obtained by the heat exchange of high-temperature exhaust gas or reformed gas, and in which, in a water gas converting reaction and a PSA reaction conducted at low temperatures compared to the reforming reaction, heat exchange is performed by low-temperature air or water, and the heat-exchanged air and the residual gas in the PSA reaction are used as a heat supply source for the reforming reactor together with fuel hydrocarbons, thereby minimizing the thermal loss of the hydrogen generator.
US08926863B2

The present invention provides a fluorescent substance excellent both in quantum efficiency and in temperature characteristics, and also provides a process for producing the fluorescent substance. This fluorescent substance is an oxynitride phosphor having a low paramagnetic defect density and comprising aluminum, silicon, either or both of oxygen and nitrogen, and a metal element M, provided that the metal element M is partly replaced with an emission center element R. That phosphor can be produced by the steps of: subjecting a mixture of starting materials to heat treatment under a nitrogen atmosphere so as to obtain an intermediate fired product, and then further subjecting the intermediate fired product to heat treatment under an atmosphere of nitrogen-hydrogen mixed gas.
US08926862B2

A thermoplastic composition that comprises a low-naphthenic, thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer blended with a combination of flow modifiers is provided. More particularly, one of the flow modifiers is a hydroxy-functional compound that contains or more hydroxyl functional groups. Without intending to be limited by theory, it is believed that the hydroxyl functional groups can react with the polymer chain to shorten its length and thus reduce melt viscosity. Aromatic dicarboxylic acids are also employed as a flow modifier in the thermoplastic composition. Again, without intending to be limited by theory, it is believed that such acids can combine smaller chains of the polymer together after they have been cut by hydroxy-functional compounds. This helps maintain the mechanical properties of the composition even after its melt viscosity has been reduced.
US08926855B2

Building materials include a dampening layer which contains a plaster and a viscoelastic polymer, such as polyvinyl butyral. The dampening layer may also include a barium salt. Methods of making a sound dampening material include providing a plaster mixture. The mixture may include a viscoelastic polymer and/or a barium salt. The plaster mixture is combined with water and/or a viscoelastic polymer dispersion, to form a slurry. The slurry is applied to a surface and set to form a sound dampening layer.
US08926845B2

A method and apparatus for dispersing an additive from an additive cartridge disposed in a housing of an oil filter is provided. The method including the steps of: using stagnation pressure to disperse the additive from the additive cartridge; and regulating a flow rate of the additive from the additive cartridge by restricting an inlet opening of an outlet path of the additive cartridge, wherein a portion of the outlet path is formed in a surface of a first piece of a two piece connector providing fluid communication between and an interior and an exterior of the additive cartridge.
US08926838B2

A process for the treatment of contaminated fluid and wastewater containing residuals from food processing and waste and residuals from animal feeding operations and effluent from the digestion of these residuals is disclosed. The process is carried out in an enclosed tank using a separation procedure that maintains the state of the separated solids in the same state as they were upon introduction to the system, i.e., aerobic, anaerobic or anoxic, based on the condition of the solids upon introduction to the system. The system utilizes rotary flow instead of rakes to harvest the solids from the effluent. The process has applications in the recovery of emulsion in wastewater treatment and the operation of digesters for re-feeding to the digester.
US08926835B2

A dialysis machine that includes a valve member having a deformable area configured to deform outwardly away when pressurized fluid is introduced into the valve member. The valve member is configured so that, when a dialysis fluid cassette is disposed in a cassette compartment of the dialysis machine and pressurized fluid is introduced into the valve member, the deformable area obstructs a fluid channel of the dialysis fluid cassette to control dialysis fluid flow therethrough.
US08926832B2

A method of extracting hydrocarbon-containing organic matter from a hydrocarbon-containing material includes the steps of providing a first liquid comprising a turpentine liquid; contacting the hydrocarbon-containing material with the turpentine liquid to form an extraction mixture; extracting the hydrocarbon material into the turpentine liquid; and separating the extracted hydrocarbon material from a residual material not extracted.
US08926828B2

A process for reforming a hydrocarbon stream is presented. The process involves splitting a naphtha feedstream to at least two feedstreams and passing each feedstream to separation reformers. The reformers are operated under different conditions to utilize the differences in the reaction properties of the different hydrocarbon components. The process utilizes a common catalyst, and common downstream processes for recovering the desired aromatic compounds generated.
US08926824B2

The invention describes a process for the conversion of heavy carbon-containing fractions having an initial boiling point of at least 300° C. to upgradable lighter products, said process comprising passage of said feed through a hydrorefining reaction zone comprising at least one moving-bed reactor, and passage of at least a portion of the effluent from stage a) through a hydroconversion reaction zone comprising at least one three-phase reactor, in the presence of hydrogen, said reactor containing at least one hydroconversion catalyst and operating in ebullating-bed mode, with an ascending current of liquid and gas and comprising at least one means of withdrawing said catalyst out of said reactor and at least one means of adding fresh catalyst into said reactor, under conditions making it possible to obtain a liquid feed with a reduced content of Conradson carbon, metals, sulphur and nitrogen.
US08926822B2

An integrated sensing device is capable of detecting analytes using electrochemical (EC) and electrical (E) signals. The device introduces synergetic new capabilities and enhances the sensitivity and selectivity for real-time detection of an analyte in complex matrices, including the presence of high concentration of interferences in liquids and in gas phases.
US08926818B2

The present invention relates generally to the deionization of liquids through the use of electrodeionization methods and apparatuses. The apparatuses are configured to produce purified liquids having an ion content at a level of parts-per-trillion or less, and to provide continuous regeneration of the ion exchange materials. The apparatuses may be configured according to the desired levels of deionization for anions, cations, or both. Finally, methods are presented for various uses of the claimed apparatus.
US08926810B2

A reference electrode, especially for a potentiometric measuring cell, comprising: a housing, which surrounds a housing interior, which contains a reference electrolyte and at least a part of a sensing system for sensing a potential of the reference electrode. The reference electrolyte is in contact with a medium surrounding the housing, especially a measured medium, via at least one bore traversing through a housing wall of the housing, and wherein the bore has an inner diameter of no more than 50 μm at its narrowest point and a length of no more than 200 μm.
US08926799B2

A feed distribution device in separation columns and a method of operation for such a device. In particular, distillation columns in which the feed stream is substantially liquid phase, or a mixture of gas and liquid upstream of the column, but where the feed vaporizes or partially vaporizes prior to or as it enters the column. More specifically, the feed distribution device contains a plurality of opening which allow the feed to vaporize prior to or as it enters the column and where the openings are maintained in critical condition during operation. Significant advantage is achieved through the implementation and use of the present feed distribution devices.
US08926797B2

Process for the production of paper, board and cardboard having high dry strength by addition of (a) at least one trivalent cation in the form of a salt, (b) at least one water-soluble cationic polymer and (c) at least one water-soluble amphoteric polymer to the paper stock, draining of the paper stock with sheet formation and subsequent drying of the paper products, the water-soluble cationic polymer (b) being selected from the group consisting of the (i) polymers comprising vinylamine units and (ii) polymers comprising ethylenimine units.
US08926787B2

It is an object of the present invention to provide a surface-modified film which has adhesive properties improved by surface modification and a process for producing the same. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a laminated film in which at least the surface-modified film has been laminated and a process for producing the laminated film. The surface-modified film according to the present invention is characterized by being obtained by bringing a halide complex of an element in Group 13 of the periodic table into contact with at least a part of a region in the surfaces of a resin film.
US08926780B2

A method for reinforcing, baffling or sealing a vehicle structure by providing a die-cut expandable material that enters and seals a cavity or multiple cavities and corners, cracks, or seams.
US08926774B2

Provided is a method for manufacturing a pneumatic tire capable of easily and appropriately winding a sheet lamination body formed by a resin film and an unvulcanized rubber sheet around a shaping drum. In the method for manufacturing a pneumatic tire including conveying a sheet lamination body 1 to a shaping drum 11, and winding the conveyed sheet lamination body 1 in a position that a resin film 3 is located on the inner side while causing an outer peripheral surface of the shaping drum 11 to retain the conveyed sheet lamination body 1, a resin film protrusion portion 8 is formed by making a leading edge 4 of the resin film 3 protrude toward a downstream side in a conveying direction A than the leading edge 5 of the unvulcanized rubber sheet 2 as viewed in the conveying direction A at the time of attaching the resin film 3 on a surface of an unvulcanized rubber sheet 2, and the outer peripheral surface of the shaping drum 11 is caused to retain in advance the resin film protrusion portion 8 to wind the sheet lamination body 1 on the outer peripheral surface of the shaping drum 11.
US08926765B1

A system for descaling heat exchanger surfaces using a varying concentration of either an acidic or alkaline solution, selecting an optimum pH value for descaling a heat exchanger according to the level of cleaning the heat exchanger requires, monitoring pH value of descaling solution during circulation through a heat exchanger, and adding chemical solution to achieve coincidence of optimum and monitored pH values during descaling operation.
US08926762B2

Methods and apparatus for a movable megasonic wafer probe. A method is disclosed including positioning a movable probe on a wafer surface, the movable probe having an open bottom portion that exposes a portion of the wafer surface; applying a liquid onto the wafer surface through a bottom portion of the movable probe; and moving the movable probe at a predetermined scan speed to traverse the wafer surface, applying the liquid to the wafer surface while moving over the wafer surface. In additional embodiments the method includes providing a transducer for applying megasonic energy to the wafer surface. Apparatus embodiments are disclosed including the movable megasonic wafer probe.
US08926754B2

A susceptor for use in an epitaxial growth apparatus and method where a plurality of circular through-holes are formed in the bottom wall of a pocket in an outer peripheral region a distance of up to about ½ the radius toward the center of the circular bottom wall. The total opening surface area of these through-holes is 0.05 to 55% of the surface area of the bottom wall. The opening surface area of each of the through-holes provided at this outer peripheral region is 0.2 to 3.2 mm2 and the density of the through-holes is 0.25 to 25 per cm2. After a semiconductor wafer is mounted in the pocket, epitaxial growth is carried out while source gas and carrier gas (i.e., reactive gas) is made to flow on the upper surface side of the susceptor and carrier gas is made to flow on the lower surface side.
US08926752B2

There is provided a method capable of obtaining an aluminum-based group III nitride crystal layer having a smooth surface and high crystallinity by employing only HVPE in which inexpensive raw materials can be used to reduce production costs and high-speed film formation is possible without employing MOVPE.To produce a group III nitride crystal by HVPE comprising the step of growing a group III nitride crystal layer by vapor-phase growth on a single crystal substrate by contacting the heated single crystal substrate with a raw material gas containing a group III halide and a compound having a nitrogen atom, the group III nitride crystal is grown by vapor-phase growth on the single crystal substrate heated at a temperature of 1,000° C. or more and less than 1,200° C. to form an intermediate layer and then, a group III nitride crystal is further grown by vapor-phase growth on the intermediate layer on the substrate heated at a temperature of 1,200° C. or higher.
US08926740B2

To provide a pigment dispersion excellent in dispersibility and spectral characteristics. The pigment dispersion at least includes: a dispersion medium; a compound represented by a general formula (1), the compound being dispersed in the dispersion medium; and a pigment having a quinacridone skeleton, the pigment being dispersed in the dispersion medium: in the general formula (1), R1 and R2 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group, or an aralkyl group.
US08926732B2

The present invention provides gels, solutions, films, membranes, compositions, and other materials containing polymerized and/or non-polymerized room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs). These materials are useful in catalysis, gas separation and as antistatic agents. The RTILs are preferably imidazolium-based RTILs which are optionally substituted, such as with one or more hydroxyl groups. Optionally, the materials of the present invention are composite materials comprising both polymerized and non-polymerized RTILs. The RTIL polymer is formed from polymerized RTIL cations typically synthesized as monomers and polymerized in the presence of the non-polymerized RTIL cations to provide a solid composite material. The non-polymerized RTIL cations are not covalently bound to the cationic polymer but remain as free cations within the composite material able to associate with charged subunits of the polymer. These composite materials are useful in catalysis, gas separation, and antistatic applications.
US08926731B2

A system and method of controlling a flow of steam in a steam generator having a heater for heating fluid in a vessel is disclosed. The method includes: delivering the steam from the steam generator to a first side of a filtering membrane; receiving purified steam from a second side of the filtering membrane, the purified steam having a steam flow rate; determining at least one coefficient of a substantially linear mathematical relationship between the steam flow rate of the purified steam and duty cycle; and configuring the steam generator to control: the duty cycle of the heater based on the determined at least one coefficient and a target steam flow rate; and/or the target steam flow rate based on the at least one coefficient and a target duty cycle of the heater.
US08926729B2

An apparatus for producing a reducing gas for direct reduction iron-making includes an internal-heating type reformer for reforming a natural gas by adding steam and oxygen to the natural gas and by partially burning the natural gas to generate reducing gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide; a remover for removing carbon dioxide from exhaust gas generated in the direct reduction iron-making; and a line for recycling as the reducing gas the exhaust gas from which the carbon dioxide is removed by the remover.
US08926726B2

A exhaust gas purification device is structured such that it is possible to improve an assembling work ability or a maintenance work ability of gas purifying bodies or exhaust gas purifying cases. In an exhaust gas purification device provided with gas purifying bodies which purify an exhaust gas discharged by an engine, and a gas purifying housing which is provided with the gas purifying bodies therein, the exhaust gas purification device is structured such that a support bracket which supports the gas purifying housing is provided, a bolt hole is formed in the support bracket, an insertion guide is formed in the support bracket, and an attaching bolt is engaged with and disengaged from the bolt hole via the insertion guide.
US08926720B2

The mass flow rate of a first reactant stream supplied to a fuel processor is controlled based on a combined feed-forward and feedback control regime. The method is particularly applicable for actively controlling the fuel supply to a fuel processor in a system comprising a combustion engine, in which the fuel processor is fluidly connected to receive at least a portion of an engine exhaust stream from the engine. In embodiments of the system and method, the supply of fuel is controlled based on three mass flow factors.
US08926713B2

Titanium dioxide which includes particles having a large major-axis length in a large proportion and comprises columnar particles having a satisfactory particle size distribution. A titanium compound, an alkali metal compound, and an oxyphosphorus compound are heated/fired in the presence of titanium dioxide nucleus crystals having an aspect ratio of 2 or higher to grow the titanium dioxide nucleus crystals. Subsequently, a titanium compound, an alkali metal compound, and an oxyphosphorus compound are further added and heated/fired in the presence of the grown titanium dioxide nucleus crystals. Thus, titanium dioxide is produced which comprises columnar particles having a weight-average major-axis length of 7.0-15.0 μm and in which particles having a major-axis length of 10 μm or longer account for 15 wt. % or more of all the particles.
US08926705B2

A multi-component joint assembly incorporated into reconditioned end surfaces established between a first bone and opposing second bone. A first component is anchored into a reconditioned end surface of the first bone and exhibits a first exposed support surface. A second component is anchored into a reconditioned end surface of at least one of radius and ulna bones and exhibits a second exposed support surface. An intermediate component is supported in articulating fashion between the first and second anchored components. A plurality of micro debris entrapment chamber subassemblies are incorporated into the components and communicate with at least one of the articulating surfaces for isolating and capturing debris resulting from joint wear.
US08926695B2

Apparatus is provided for repairing a valve of a patient, the valve including an annulus and at least first and second leaflets. The apparatus includes at least a first discrete segment and a second discrete segment of an annuloplasty structure, each segment being shaped to provide a respective lateral wall, each lateral wall being shaped to define at least one lumen of the respective segment. The apparatus further includes at least a first and a second control wire, each control wire configured for sliding advancement through both the first and second segments. The first control wire is configured to control a relative disposition of a first end of the first segment and a first end of the second segment. The second control wire is configured to control a relative disposition of a second end of the first segment and a second end of the second segment. Other embodiments are also described.
US08926675B2

A bone plate attachable to a bone for internal fixation. The bone plate has an upper surface and an opposite bone-contacting surface and includes a plurality of threaded through-holes for bone fasteners. The bone plate can include through-holes for passing sutures, and also suture-clearance recesses formed on the bone-contacting surface. Each suture-clearance recess is defined proximate to at least one of the suture holes for providing suturing clearance for a suturing instrument, such as a curved suturing needle.
US08926671B2

A receiving part for receiving a rod for coupling the rod to a bone anchoring element, the receiving part including: a receiving part body having a channel for receiving a rod and defining an accommodation space for accommodating a head of a bone anchoring element, the accommodation space having an opening for inserting the head; and a pressure element at least partially in the accommodation space, the pressure element including a first portion having a recess to receive the rod, and a second portion having a flexible portion to clamp the head, wherein the pressure element is moveable along a longitudinal axis of the receiving part body from an inserting position to insert the head, to a pre-locking position to clamp the head in the receiving part by a pre-stress exerted by the pressure element, to a locking position to lock the head in the receiving part.
US08926669B2

There is provided a modular polyaxial pedicle screw assembly that includes various components which may be configured in various manners so as to provide different functionalities to the pedicle screw assembly. This advantageously decreases surgery time, reduces repetitive and tedious surgical steps, and allows for streamlining inventory of expensive medical equipment. In one embodiment, a pedicle screw assembly includes a pedicle screw, a rod holding element, a polyaxial insert, a rod, and a set screw. The pedicle screw includes a threaded shaft and a cap. The rod holding element includes a screw hole, an insert bearing area, a chamber, chamber walls, a saddle area, and a threading area. The insert is disposed within the chamber, and the insert defines a bearing surface, an upper surface, side walls and a receiving area. The insert is positioned within the chamber such that the insert bearing surface contacts the rod holding element insert bearing area; additionally the side walls of the insert can bear against the chamber walls. The pedicle screw is positioned so that the screw shaft passes through the screw hole of the rod holding element and the screw cap rests within the receiving area of the insert. The rod is disposed so as to rest on the upper surface of the insert; and the set screw, joined to the threading area of the rod holding element, secures the rod to the upper surface of the insert.
US08926658B1

A surgical method of treating tissue within the body of a patient may include: providing an endocutter having a staple holder and a plurality of staples, where a plurality, but less than all, of the staples are arranged in a firing position within the staple holder; engaging tissue of the patient with the staple holder; deploying the plurality of staples in firing position through a buttress and into tissue of the patient; disengaging the end effector from tissue of the patient; moving a plurality of staples into firing position; engaging tissue of the patient with the staple holder; advancing a segment of buttress relative to the staple holder; and repeating the deploying.
US08926655B2

A puncture closure device operable to seal closed a vessel puncture in a vessel. The puncture closure device includes a delivery member insertable through a tissue tract to the vessel puncture, a sealing material, and an expandable member. The sealing material is deliverable through the delivery member to the vessel puncture and configured to seal closed the vessel puncture from outside the vessel. The expandable member is positionable within the vessel through a vessel access distinct from the vessel puncture and is operable to temporarily seal closed the vessel puncture from within the vessel to restrict passage of the sealing material into the vessel.
US08926636B2

In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a handle and an elongate member coupled to the handle. The elongate member has a first portion, a second portion and a third portion. The first portion of the elongate member extends from the handle and defines a first longitudinal axis. The second portion of the elongate member extends from the first portion and defines a second longitudinal axis. The first longitudinal axis and the second longitudinal axis define a first angle and a first plane. The third portion of the elongate member extends from the second portion of the elongate member and defines a third longitudinal axis. The third longitudinal axis and the second longitudinal axis define a second angle and a second plane. The second plane is non-parallel with the first plane.
US08926625B2

The invention relates to a surgical device, the device comprising a probe part and means to generate a Shockwave in the probes sufficient to separate, adjust of attach two or more, parts when the probe is applied to one of the part in vivo, the arrangement being such as to allow the application of a Shockwave that is regulated in amplitude and repeatable.
US08926622B2

A delivery system comprising a biodegradable single or multi compartment covering is provided. The covering can be a mesh bag including a pre-attached detachable holding member surrounding the opening of at least one compartment and a pre-attached removable filling member configured to fit within the opening of the at least one compartment. The opening of the bag can include a closing member. The pre-attached detachable holding member can be a collar including finger grips and is used to hold the bag in one position while filling it. In some embodiments, the pre-attached detachable filling member can be a funnel for loading the mesh bag with bone graft material. Once the covering is filled, the holding member and filling member can be removed and the covering is closed with a closing member such as a drawstring. A method of treatment utilizing the delivery system is also provided.
US08926617B2

A tamping apparatus is described that includes a cannula that has a tubular wall that includes a distal end portion that defines a tamping face. The cannula defines a longitudinally aligned aperture or lumen that provides access for an insert and the injection of treatment materials such as a bone graft. The distal end portion of the cannula can also include a plurality of movable elements that can be a part of or connected to the tubular wall. The tamp apparatus can also include a cannula or stylet that can be moved within aperture of cannula and is employed to move elements between the first position and second position of tamp apparatus.
US08926616B2

An instrument for holding a bone plate may include a first arm, a second arm connected to and adjustable relative to the first arm, a first connection tip at the distal end of the first arm configured to connect to the first side wall of the bone plate, and a second connection tip at the distal end of the second arm configured to connect to the second side wall of the bone plate. A stabilizing member is connected to the first connection tip. The stabilizing member is distally spaced apart from the first connection tip to form an opening for receiving a portion of bone between the first connection tip and the stabilizing member.
US08926614B2

A medical electric drill includes a drilling head, a microprocessor, a pressure sensor unit, a torque sensor unit and a gravity sensor unit. The drilling head is for drilling a bone. The microprocessor is signally connected to the drilling head for calculating a displacement of the drill. The pressure sensor unit is for detecting a pressure change and provides a pressure change signal to the microprocessor. The torque sensor unit is for detecting a torque change and provides a torque change signal to the microprocessor. The gravity sensor unit is for detecting an acceleration variation of the drilling head and provides an acceleration voltage signal to the microprocessor. The microprocessor determines a work period of drilling the bone according to the pressure change signal and the torque change signal, and then the microprocessor calculates the displacement of the drilling head by using the acceleration voltage signal during the work period.
US08926613B2

A method and tool for creating a location for a fixation device to be secured to a bone. The method includes bringing a bone cutting tool extending along a longitudinal axis into engagement with an outer surface of the bone. The bone cutting tool is rotated about the longitudinal axis while driving it from the outer surface of the bone to a predetermined depth in the bone to form a bore. The bone cutting tool is then continuously rotated at the predetermined depth to establish an enlarged bone pocket at a distal end of the bore. The bone pocket defines a shoulder extending around a circumference between the bone pocket and bore. The bone cutting tool is removed from the bone pocket and bore. The fixation device is then inserted into the bone pocket through the bore, where it is seated against the bone pocket shoulder.
US08926600B2

Systems and methods for removing an epithelial layer disposed over a stromal layer in a cornea irradiate a region of the epithelial layer with a pulsed beam of ablative radiation. The ablative radiation is scanned to vary the location of the beam within the region in accordance with a pulse sequence. The pulse sequence is arranged to enhance optical feedback based on a tissue fluorescence of the epithelial layer. The penetration of the epithelial layer is detected in response to the optical feedback. The use of scanning with the pulse sequence arranged to enhance optical feedback allows large areas of the epithelium to be ablated such penetration of the epithelial layer can be detected.
US08926591B2

A transcutaneous implantable access port for removal and/or return of fluids of a patient comprises a fixation unit adapted to be fixed to a bone of the patient; a valve unit comprising a sealing membrane at its distal end and one or more chambers; an internal conduit fluidly connectable to vascular structure of the patient and releasably connectable to the valve unit to establish fluidic communication between the internal conduit and said one or more chambers; and an extracorporeal connecting member having an end portion. The extracorporeal connecting member is connectable to the distal end of the valve unit, opening and closing a fluidic passage between the connecting member and said one or several chambers when the connecting member is respectively connected to the access port and withdrawn therefrom. The access port can be used for high volume removal and/or return of blood or other fluids from the patient.
US08926589B2

A medical device includes an insertion tube, having a longitudinal axis and having a distal end adapted for insertion through a body passage into a cavity within a body of a patient. An electrode is located on the distal end of the insertion tube and is configured to contact tissue in the cavity. A resilient member is contained within the distal end of the insertion tube and is configured, when unconstrained, to cause the distal end to bend away from the longitudinal axis in a curved shape and to straighten toward the longitudinal axis when subjected to a force.
US08926588B2

A steerable delivery catheter includes an outer sheath with a housing disposed at a distal end thereof to define a chamber for a medical device, the chamber having an open distal end and a proximal inner shelf. An inner shaft is slidably disposed within the sheath and has an abutment attached to the distal end of the shaft, the abutment being slidably contained within the chamber. During navigation of the catheter, when the inner shaft is tensioned the abutment engages the shelf to apply a compressive force to the sheath to selectively deflect a distal region of the catheter. When the catheter has been navigated to the deployment site the sheath is withdrawn while the abutment maintains the medical device in place as it is deployed. A delivery method also is disclosed.
US08926577B2

A waste management system includes a waste transport device and a waste collection device. The waste transport device may include a first connector member configured for releasable connection to a second connector member on the waste collection device. The system may also include an insertion device to facilitate insertion of the waste transport device into the rectum of a patient.
US08926576B2

A medical device includes a longitudinal axis member, a suction member that is provided at a distal end of the longitudinal axis member, has a contact surface capable of coming into close contact with an inner wall of a bursiform cavity when inserted into the bursiform cavity, and has a plurality of communication passages that are open to the contact surface and communicate with a lumen, a suction source provided at a proximal end of the longitudinal axis member so as to be connected to the lumen, and a closing member that is provided at an axial end of the suction member, comes into contact with the opening, and airtightly seals the opening.
US08926575B2

Methods and devices for treatment of damaged tissue are disclosed, including treatment of wounds by employing non-electrically powered, reduced pressure therapy devices. Maintenance and control of the sub atmospheric pressure exerted may be provided by such devices while minimizing discomfort to the user. The devices may be configured to be worn inconspicuously underneath clothing.
US08926572B2

A female external genitalia stimulation system, in particular clitoris erection stimulation system, comprises a fully implantable drug delivery device for delivering a drug in relation to a erectile tissue to achieve erection thereof. The drug delivery device may comprise a catheter adapted to be implanted in the corpora cavernosa of a clitoris or in close proximity thereto in order to deliver drugs through said catheter. Alternatively, one or more infusion needles may be disposed within and implanted along with one or more housings adjacent the patient's left and right corpora cavernosa. A reservoir and a pump may also be implanted inside the patient's body to supply the infusion needle with infusion liquid. A drive unit also adapted for implantation inside the patient's body is arranged for advancing and retracting the tip end of the infusion needle such that it penetrates the housing at least in two different penetration areas either simultaneously or in immediate time succession, thereby injecting drugs along with the infusion liquid into the patient's body for stimulating erectile tissue, in particular for stimulating clitoris erection.
US08926569B2

A plunger cover for use with a syringe includes a sealing portion adapted to form a seal with the syringe and a central portion adapted to contact fluid within the syringe. The central portion can, for example, be more rigid than the sealing portion. The sealing portion and the central portion are connected in an overmolding process. The sealing portion can, for example, be formed from a thermoplastic elastomer or a thermoplastic polyurethane. The central portion can, for example, be formed from polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonate or copolymers thereof.
US08926565B2

An intravenous catheter securement device to secure an IV cannula, IV tubing, and attachments in place and to reduce the need for adhesive tape application, including a protective dressing body that secures an intravenous catheter between a cover flap and a lower portion thereof; a continuous pocket disposed between cover flap and the lower portion inner sides for securing a splint for immobilizing an IV site with minimal interference of the dressing body; an opening centrally disposed on the lower portion that serves as a viewing port over an IV site; a vertical slit centrally disposed on the lower portion between the front side and the opening that permits the dressing body to pass either side of a cannula and IV tube; and various attachment strips and tabs that secure an IV line to prevent kinking thereof and to prevent the IV line from weighing down on the cannula.
US08926563B2

A safety IV catheter assembly is disclosed which includes a catheter assembly, a needle assembly and a needle guard assembly. The needle guard assembly includes a needle guard, a biasing member and a bushing. The bushing is slidably positioned about the needle and includes an inner diameter which is smaller than an enlarged diameter portion of the needle such that the needle cannot be withdrawn through the bore of the bushing.
US08926559B2

A system for providing access across a site of obstruction is provided. The system may include a sleeve, having a distal portion that can move from an inverted position to an everted position. A balloon situated within the sleeve can be extended so as to evert sleeve. A pathway can extend across a juncture between the distal portion and the remaining portion of the sleeve so as to provide access across the site of obstruction. A method for providing access across the site of obstruction is also provided.
US08926558B2

A medicament delivery device comprising a housing (10; 110); a medicament container holder (12; 120) rotatably locked but slidable connected to said housing, the medicament holder comprising first mix engagement means (28; 126) on its outer surface, and second linear guide means; a multi-chamber medicament container (14; 130) arranged within the container holder, a plunger rod (60; 140) comprising first holding means (58; 146) on its outer circumferential surface; drive force means (64; 142) capable of pushing said plunger rod; characterized in that said device further comprises manual mixing means (44, 148) comprising a rotatable manual knob (62,186) protruding from the distal end of the housing and a mix member (48, 149) comprising flexible holding means (52; 160) releasibly engaged to the first holding means (58; 146) for holding the plunger rod and thereby the drive force means in a pre-tensioned state and second mix engagement means (46; 150) arranged to cooperate with the first mix engagement means (28; 126) for linearly and distally displacing said container holder into the housing when said manual knob is rotated, such that the distal displacement of the container holder causes a distal displacement of the container in relation to the plunger rod, whereby the plunger rod forces the distal stopper to be proximally displaced and thereby a mixing of the components is performed.
US08926548B2

The present invention provides: a superficial cerebral vascular bleeding inhibitor comprising an aqueous solution containing 120 to 160 mEq/L of sodium ion, 1 to 5 mEq/L of calcium ion, and 75 to 165 mEq/L of chloride ion; the superficial cerebral vascular bleeding inhibitor further comprising 1 to 5 mEq/L of potassium ion; and a packaged container containing the superficial cerebral vascular bleeding inhibitor (with or without potassium ion).The superficial cerebral vascular bleeding inhibitor of the present invention can effectively prevent or inhibit bleeding from superficial cerebral blood vessels in the field of neurosurgery such as intracranial surgery and the like, thereby capable of securing a clear operating field during intracranial surgery and inhibiting the occurrence of post-surgery damage.
US08926544B2

A dialysis system includes: a blood filter; a dialysate pump connected to a dialysate portion of the blood filter; a blood pump connected to a blood portion of the blood filter, the blood pump including a diaphragm that is moved in cycles to pump the blood, the cycles having a flow period and a no-flow period; a patient access device in fluid communication with the blood portion of the blood filter, the no-flow period having a first characteristic of a property when the patient access device is lodged in a patient and a second characteristic of the property when the patient access device is dislodged from the patient; and a logic implementer configured to determine that the patient access device has been dislodged from the patient when the second characteristic of the parameter is detected.
US08926543B2

The invention provides a way of producing a natural immunologically active state in a person by subjecting him to an apheresis procedure with bioincompatible biomaterials for about one hour. To safely control the immunological shock induced by this procedure, the person is put under general anesthesia for about six hours, including the apheresis time and at least an additional five hours thereafter. This immunological activation is useful for treating malignant tumors and diseases related to immunosuppression, such as AIDS. The invention also provides for the use of an apheresis column containing a blood perfusion filter with bioincompatible materials for treating malignant tumors and infectious diseases.
US08926542B2

A method includes monitoring an indicator of fluid volume of a patient via a sensor device, and setting an initial fluid volume removal prescription for a blood fluid removal session based on the monitored indicator of fluid volume. The method may further include transmitting data regarding the indicator of fluid volume from the implantable sensor device to fluid removal device. In some embodiments, the fluid removal device sets or calculated the initial fluid volume removal prescription based on the data received from the implantable sensor. The indicator of fluid volume may be an indicator of tissue fluid volume or an indicator of blood fluid volume.
US08926535B2

The present disclosure provides an adjustable bed handheld remote control that may include a handheld housing, a touch sensor on a front face of the handheld housing, a transmitter and the like. The touch sensor may be presented in a slider form and may be adapted to facilitate a user in adjusting a frame position of an adjustable bed. The transmitter may be electrically coupled to a processor and may receive input from the touch sensor, for communication control signals to the adjustable bed in accordance with the input received from the touch sensor.
US08926532B2

A goniometer comprises a first arm (2), a second arm (4) and a connecting portion (6) pivotally connecting the first arm (2) to the second arm (4) about a pivot axis (7). An instrument connector (8) is coupled to the first arm (2) arranged to couple to a surgical instrument (10). A method of aligning a surgical instrument (10) using the goniometer is also disclosed.
US08926531B2

A body motion detection section (2) for continuously detecting the frequency of a user's activity as an activity level is provided. The activity level detected by the body motion detection section (2) is outputted to a fatigue detection section (3) for estimating a user's fatigue level on the basis of the activity level.
US08926513B2

The analysis image generating unit generates section images from volume analysis data that is collected by sending an ultrasound wave down to a region under the ribs. The right/left identifying unit identifies the right or left breast from cyclic motion components in the section images. The extending direction detecting unit analyzes plane-A images or plane-B images generated from the same volume analysis data, or a plane-C thickness-added MIP image, and detects the rib extending direction. The extending direction detecting unit also determines the position of the ultrasound probe based on the relative displacement of the extending direction. The body mark generating unit generates a body mark from the analysis results obtained by the right/left identifying unit and the extending direction detecting unit. The image synthesizing unit integrates the display image generated by the display image generating unit and the body mark, and displays it on the monitor.
US08926506B2

Methods and devices are provided for providing surgical access into a body cavity. In one embodiment, a surgical access device is provided that includes a housing coupled to a retractor. The housing can be have one or more movable sealing ports for receiving surgical instruments. Each movable sealing port can include one or more sealing elements therein for sealing the port and/or forming a seal around a surgical instrument disposed therethrough. Each movable sealing port can be rotatable relative to the housing and each sealing element can be rotatable relative to the housing along a predetermined orbital path.
US08926504B2

An access assembly includes a body portion defining a longitudinal axis and having at least one lumen defined therethrough. The at least one lumen is configured for passage of a surgical instrument therethrough. An outer sleeve is disposed about the body portion to define a chamber therebetween. The chamber is selectively inflatable from a deflated condition, for positioning the access assembly within an opening in tissue, and an inflated condition, for retaining the access assembly within the opening in tissue in sealing relation therewith.
US08926497B2

An incontinence treatment device includes a non-porous sling located between two anchors. A first line is attached between a first end of the sling and the first anchor, and a second line is attached to a second end of the sling and inserted through a channel of the second anchor. The second anchor is provided with a restrictor segment provided in the channel. The second line has an adjustment device attached to the second line and the restrictor segment is configured to resist movement of the adjustment device through the channel. The adjustment device is movable through the channel from a first position that locates the adjustment device between the second anchor and the sling to a second position that locates the second anchor between the adjustment device and the sling to thereby reduce an effective length of the sling between the first and second anchors.
US08926495B2

Devices and methods for delivering and placing a surgical sling without resorting to an abdominal incision are disclosed.
US08926494B1

The present subject matter provides method and apparatus for placement of implantable devices adjacent a body lumen. A method of implanting an implantable device at a target site for controllable coaptation of a patient's urethra using an ultrasonic probe inserted into a rectum of the patient comprises inserting a Foley catheter into the urethra, expanding a Foley balloon in the bladder neck, inserting the ultrasonic probe into the rectum of the patient, using the ultrasonic probe to image the urethra and Foley balloon at the bladder neck, placing a small puncture in the perineum, passing a delivery device to the target site under ultra sonic guidance, injecting echogenic fluid at the target site adjacent the urethra, delivering the implantable device to the target site, and adjusting the implantable device to improve coaptation of the urethra.
US08926493B2

A non-expandable pessary device, the pessary device having a top, a base, a length, a longitudinal axis, a maximum diameter, and a minimum diameter that is less than the maximum diameter. The pessary device has a pressure region adapted to extend between an anterior vaginal wall and a posterior vaginal wall of a user to provide pressure on the user's urethra through the vaginal wall. The pressure region includes the maximum diameter, and the maximum diameter is less than 25 mm.
US08926490B2

Described are methods, devices, and systems for a novel, inexpensive, easy to use therapy for treatment of depression. Described are methods and devices to treat depression that involves no medication. Methods and devices described herein use alternating magnetic fields to gently “tune” the brain and affect symptoms of depression.
US08926488B2

Containment systems and methods safely and permanently encapsulate a sharp portion of a sharp medical instrument (e.g. a hypodermic needle). The containment system includes a cap or other container formed of a durable and flexible material having a rim defining an open end configured to receive a sharp portion therein, an interior surface, wherein at least a portion of the interior surface comprises a puncturing element, and a bladder contained within the cap proximate the puncturing element, the bladder containing a first component of a liquid hardenable solution. Opposing sides of the cap can be deformed under external pressure to cause the puncturing element to puncture the bladder so as to release the first component of the liquid hardenable solution from the bladder such that the first component contacts the sharp portion and the sharp portion is substantially permanently retained inside the cap by the liquid hardenable solution.
US08926487B2

A syringe piston used in fat transplantation is structured such that free oil is easily separated from suctioned fat by a syringe piston having a filter and naturally discharged through the rear side thereof. The syringe piston without a shaft, used in fat transplantation, disposed in a syringe-shaped cylindrical vessel, includes a piston body without the shaft, a packing coupled with an outer surface of the piston body to seal between the piston body and the syringe-shaped cylindrical vessel, a free oil discharging hole communicated with the front side and the rear side of the piston body, an opening and closing device for opening and closing the free oil discharging hole, and a filtering device disposed in a passage through which free oil is discharged to filter fat and pass the free oil.
US08926486B2

A device for holding tools for processing flat, sheet-like material includes top and bottom tool holding devices which have respective top and bottom tool units that are driven by drive shafts through servomotors and are laterally displaceable by tool guide elements which are supported on cross members. The top and bottom cross members have a rectangular construction and are fitted perpendicularly in the device. A sheet-processing machine and a folding carton gluer having the device, are also provided.
US08926485B2

A folder gluer or folding-box gluer includes a Braille embossing monitoring device that evaluates Braille embossments at least with regard to position, height and volume. Data are passed on to a control device that controls a distance between a male die and a female die and/or a position of the male die and the female die relative to a folding box on a basis of signals being supplied. A method for controlling individual processing stations inside a folder gluer or folding-box gluer during the manufacture of folding boxes, is also provided.
US08926481B2

The present invention is a safety device and method of use that comprises a generally round eccentric disk having a peripheral edge and central rotation axis. The generally round eccentric disk has a barbell access slot extending from the peripheral edge to a seat. A cam lobe is formed with a support base adjacent the cam lobe and opposite the central rotation axis from the barbell access slot. The distance is from the peripheral edge adjacent the slot to the seat is greater than the radius of the barbell weights. Rolling the peripheral edge to orient the cam lobe beneath the seat lifts the barbell above the ground.
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