In a walking assistance device (10) that can transmit the power generated by a power generator (26, 28) to a femoral part of a user, a swing arm (60, 62) is attached to an output member of the power generator at a base end thereof, and is connected to a femoral support plate (68, 70) at a free end thereof via a pivot joint (64). The pivot joint includes a spherical projection (100) provided on the free end of the swing arm and a socket (112) provided on the femoral support plate, the socket defining a spherical recess (110) configured to receive the spherical projection to permit a tilting movement of the femoral support plate at least in two directions with respect to the free end of the swing arm. Thereby, the femoral support plate is enabled to accommodate the build and/or the movement of the femoral part of the user.

A film structure having a polymer film and an application system enabling the film structure to be handled in a simple manner. The application system is arranged on a first side of the polymer film and has at least one supporting film to which at least one gripping strip is applied. The polymer film also has at least one first region without a supporting film.

A polymeric dendrimer-like structure with four branches of monomethoxy-polyethylene glycol that can be represented as: The carboxylic group of the previous structure can be functionalized for the production of conjugates of pharmaceutical interest. The binding of this dendrimer-like polyethylene glycol to therapeutic proteins improves their in vitro and in vivo stability.

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

A ligand design allows compact nanoparticle materials, such as quantum dots (QDs), with excellent colloidal stability over a wide range of pH and under high salt concentrations. Self-assembled biomolecular conjugates with QDs can be obtained which are stable in biological environments. Energy transfer with these ligands is maximized by minimizing distances between QDs/nanoparticles and donors/acceptors directly attached to the ligands or assembled on their surfaces.

Systems and methods are provided for a high performance heater. In an embodiment, the high performance heater comprises a first stackable tray comprising a first alignment pin that insulates a first heating element disposed in the first stackable tray; a second stackable tray comprising a second alignment pin that insulates a second heating element disposed in the second stackable tray, wherein a top of the first alignment pin fits into a cutout of a bottom of the second alignment pin when the first and second stackable trays are stacked, and wherein the first and second stackable trays comprise one or more materials, an outer diameter and an inner diameter, and wherein an area between the outer diameter and the inner diameter of the stackable trays comprises at least one cutout portion that allows expansion of the material(s) when the high performance heater is at high temperatures.

The invention relates to a bonding product suitable as a carrier for medicinal substances and to the compound derived therefrom that carries medicinal substances. The invention further relates to a process and device for preparing such bonding products and compounds. Further, the invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition containing such bonding products and compounds, and to the use thereof for preparing an infusible medicament for treating a disease.

A radioactive substance decontamination method and apparatus which decontaminates a metal member contaminated by radioactive substance in a short period of time. This apparatus has (1) multiple reducing decontamination tanks having different radiation control values; (2) a carrier for immersing the metal member into the multiple reducing decontamination tanks and a washing tank; (3) a tube for transferring into the second reducing decontamination tank the reducing decontamination agent in the first reducing decontamination tank; (4) a reducing agent decomposer for decomposing a component contained in the reducing decontamination agent of the reducing decontamination tank where the radiation control value is the highest out of the reducing decontamination tanks connected by the tube; and (5) a washing tank for washing the reducing decontamination agent deposited on the decontaminated metal member.

A working apparatus has: a working equipment for doing works on a structure; an operation mechanism adapted to actively move the working equipment relative to the structure; and an adhering/traveling module coupled to the operation mechanism and adapted to adhere to the structure so as to have the weight of the working apparatus borne by the structure and travel/move on the structure for positioning. With this arrangement, the working apparatus can perform accurate positioning operations in a narrow environment and complex scanning operations by means of various pieces of the working equipment such as inspection sensors, and can secure a large working area within a short period of time and reduce the overall working hours.

The present disclosure relates to a Co-029 inhibitor for inhibiting the migration of cancer cells which express Co-029. The disclosure relates to a Co-029 inhibitor for the treatment of cancer and/or the prevention of cancer metastasis and pharmaceutical compositions comprising said inhibitor and provides Co-029 antibodies. The disclosure provides a method for predicting the response of a patient afflicted with or susceptible to be afflicted with cancer to a medical treatment with a Co-029 inhibitor, a method for diagnosing a cancer in a patient and a method for predicting the survival in a cancer patient.

The present invention provides a method for enhancing an immune response in a mammal to facilitate the elimination of a chronic pathology. The method involves the removal of immune system inhibitors such as soluble TNF receptor from the circulation of the mammal, thus, enabling a more vigorous immune response to the pathogenic agent. The removal of immune system inhibitors is accomplished by contacting biological fluids of a mammal with one or more binding partner(s) such as TNFα muteins capable of binding to and, thus, depleting the targeted immune system inhibitor(s) from the biological fluids. Particularly useful in the invention is an absorbent matrix composed of an inert, biocompatible substrate joined covalently to a binding partner, such as a TNFα mutein, capable of specifically binding to a targeted immune system inhibitor such as soluble TNF receptor.

Mono-pegylated arginase conjugate and method producing thereof. The mono-pegylated arginase is homogeneous in molecular weight and shows therapeutic effect for treating cancers and viral infections. The method of producing such arginase conjugate has a main step of genetically modifying the gene encoding an arginase so that the PEG moiety can attach to the enzyme at a predetermined, specific intended site. This is achieved by removing the PEG attaching amino acid residues at undesirable sites while keeping (or adding, if necessary) the one at the desirable site of the enzyme. Two exemplary mono-pegylated arginase conjugates so produced are human arginase I (HAI) where a polyethylene glycol (PEG) moiety is site-specific covalently bonded to Cys45 of the enzyme and Bacillus caldovelox arginase (BCA) where a polyethylene glycol (PEG) moiety is site-specific covalently bonded to Cys161 of the enzyme.

An insect-resistant protein exhibiting a sufficient resistance to insects; an insect-resistance gene encoding the insect-resistant protein; a recombinant vector containing the insect-resistance gene; a host cell and a plant cell having the recombinant vector transfected thereinto; a transformant transformed by the insect-resistance gene and a method for producing the same; a protein recovered thereby; and an insect-resistant agent comprising them as active ingredients. In accordance with the present invention, the insect-resistant protein is derived from a plant.

A method of treating cancer through use of guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic GMP). Cyclic GMP decreases the number of human breast cancer and prostate adenocarcinoma as well as small-cell and squamous lung cells in culture by 30% (1 μM), 84% (1 mM), 31% (1 μM), and 30% (1 μM), respectively. Cyclic GMP decreases DNA synthesis in human pancreatic, breast, and prostate adenocarcinomas as well as small-cell and squamous cell carcinomas of the lung at its 1 μM concentration by 51%, 54%, 56%, 50% and 52%, respectively. Cyclic GMP when infused for one week decreases the tumor volume of human pancreatic adenocarcinomas in athymic mice 95% compared to untreated animals with human pancreatic adenocarcinomas.

A driver assistance system for an agricultural working machine includes at least one control/regulating unit designed to adjust and monitor working parameters, quality parameters or both, of the agricultural working machine in an automatable manner based on use of a family of characteristics stored in the control/regulating unit. A selectable process implementation strategy is specified in order to automatically monitor or adjust at least one working parameter or quality parameter or both of the agricultural working machine. The driver assistance system suggests that the process implementation strategy be changed at least when the specified setpoint value of one or more of the quality parameters cannot be reached within the preselected process implementation strategy.

A method for filling sausages with a paste-like substance by means of a filling machine and to a filling machine for performing this method, including a sensor unit capable of determining at least one parameter that varies differently for different paste-like substances as a function of time. Depending on the at least one determined parameter, a controller determines whether a measure to be implemented on one or more wearing parts is necessary, the wearing parts wearing out at different times depending on the different paste-like substances.

A head transducer, configured to interact with a magnetic recording medium, includes a first sensor having a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and configured to produce a first sensor signal, and a second sensor having a TCR and configured to produce a second sensor signal. One of the first and second sensors is situated at or near a close point of the head transducer in relation to the magnetic recording medium, and the other of the first and second sensors spaced away from the close point. Circuitry is configured to combine the first and second sensor signals and produce a combined sensor signal indicative of one or both of a change in head-medium spacing and head-medium contact. Each of the sensors may have a TCR with the same sign (positive or negative) or each sensor may have a TCR with a different sign.

Systems and methods are provided that may be implemented to provide a mechanical indicator to correlate magnetic disk drive IOP performance with features of mechanical and/or acoustic vibrational frequencies that are generated and captured or sensed outside of the disk drive itself. In one example, disk drive PES data may be collected concurrently with the capture of mechanical and/or acoustic vibrational data at different and progressive locations of vibration source, vibration path and vibration receiver in a disk drive operating environment, e.g., such as for disk drives installed within a server and/or storage chassis enclosure. In such case, PES threshold may be utilized to correlate performance of Drive IOP or drive servo-mechanical performance as a function of measured characteristics of vibration source/s that impart vibration to a disk drive.

A head transducer, configured to interact with a magnetic recording medium, includes a first sensor having a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and configured to produce a first sensor signal, and a second sensor having a TCR and configured to produce a second sensor signal. One of the first and second sensors is situated at or near a close point of the head transducer in relation to the magnetic recording medium, and the other of the first and second sensors spaced away from the close point. Circuitry is configured to combine the first and second sensor signals and produce a combined sensor signal indicative of one or both of a change in head-medium spacing and head-medium contact. Each of the sensors may have a TCR with the same sign (positive or negative) or each sensor may have a TCR with a different sign.

Methods for providing magnetic storage elements with high magneto-resistance using Heusler alloys are provided. One such method includes depositing a substrate including NiFe, depositing a seed layer on the substrate, depositing a buffer layer on the seed layer, and growing, epitaxially, an upper layer on the buffer layer, the upper layer including a Heusler alloy.

A magnetic read sensor having an antiferromagnetic located embedded within a magnetic shield of the sensor so that the antiferromagnetic layer can pin the magnetization of the pinned layer without contributing to read gap thickness. The sensor is configured with a pinned layer having a free layer structure located within an active area of the sensor and a pinned layer that extends beyond the free layer and active area of the sensor. The antiferromagnetic layer can be located outside of the active and exchange coupled with the extended portion of the pinned layer.

An arrangement to control the clearance of a sliding bearing is disclosed. A sliding bearing arrangement, of a direct driven wind turbine, comprises a bearing. The bearing comprises a first bearing shell and a second bearing shell, whereby the first bearing shell and the second bearing shell are arranged rotatable in respect to each other. A certain predetermined clearance is present between the first bearing shell and the second bearing shell, while the bearing is in rotation. A first circuit comprises a first fluid, while the first circuit is in thermal contact with the first bearing shell. A second circuit comprises a second fluid, while the second circuit is in thermal contact with the second bearing shell. The first circuit and the second circuit are coupled in a way that a difference in the temperature between the first bearing shell and the second bearing shell is compensated via the first and the second fluid, thus the clearance is kept within a predetermined range.

A tolerance ring can include a generally cylindrical body having a sidewall. The sidewall can include a plurality of wave structures extending from the sidewall at regular intervals around the body, a first unformed section between a first pair of adjacent wave structures, and a second unformed section between a second pair of adjacent wave structures. The gap can extend along an entire length, L, of the body to establish a split in the body. The second unformed section can include a slot therein. The slot can have a length, LS, and LS≧80% L.

A tolerance ring can include a generally cylindrical body that can include a side wall. The sidewall can define a top and a bottom. Further, the sidewall can include a plurality of wave structures that can extend from the sidewall, a plurality of unformed sections, and a gap that can extend along the entire length of the body. Each unformed section can be located between a pair of adjacent wave structures. Further, the gap can establish a split in the body. The tolerance ring can also include at least one hole intersecting at least one of the wave structures to establish a perforated wave structure.

The invention includes an API gateway server that monitors and controls the distribution of API elements from API sources to application developers based on a distribution rule set.

Techniques are described for utilizing synchronous APIs which normally block callers until a result is returned. In particular, the techniques described herein enable an application or other programming construct to boost performance by executing synchronous APIs (e.g., long running time APIs) within a proxy container rather than executing the synchronous APIs in the context of the application itself. Since the proxy is a separate process or thread, the caller application is thereby released from waiting for the synchronous API call and may proceed with other processing instead of waiting for the synchronous API to return. The application may then monitor the proxy to determine whether a result has been received, such as by periodically polling the proxy.

A method, system and computer program product are disclosed for routing performance data to compute nodes. According to one aspect of the present disclosure each of a plurality of compute nodes are assigned a topic. Each topic may be associated with a set of calculations. Labeled performance metrics for an application are received. Each performance metric is labeled with a context under which the performance metric was collected. A topic is associated with each of the performance metrics based on the labeled context. Each respective node listens for a topic assigned to it in order to access the performance metrics associated with the assigned topic. Each respective node analyzes the performance metrics associated with the topic assigned to it.

A manhole cover assembly includes a manhole structure, a manhole frame carried by the manhole structure and a manhole frame grout cementing the manhole frame to the manhole structure. The manhole frame grout includes a grout mixture having an epoxy resin, a curing agent and an aggregate. The epoxy resin and the aggregate are present in the grout mixture in an epoxy resin:aggregate weight ratio of about 0.09. A removable manhole cover is carried by the manhole frame. A manhole cover assembly fabrication method is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to an ADA compliant detectable warning or guidance tile for pedestrian platforms, walkways, and sidewalks and the like having a detectable warning surface containing raised truncated domes detectable by the visually impaired in accordance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities and being provided with one or more additional means on the top surface of the tile to provide visual or tactile information to sighted and visually impaired pedestrians.

A touch sensitive screen mobile information apparatus having a wireless communication unit for wireless device discovery is herein disclosed. Close proximity wireless device discovery is enabled by wireless searching near distance via radio frequency field for a wireless device, receiving information from the wireless device over the near distance wireless communication, and storing the received information at the information apparatus for future wireless connections. Authentication or pairing of devices may be eliminated due to close proximity of the direct wireless device discovery. After wireless device discovery, the information apparatus and the wireless device may become locked or paired for subsequent wireless communication over any number of wireless communication protocols or standards (e.g., Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, 2.4GHz) without the need to repeat wireless discovery or pairing. Examples of information apparatus include smart phones, digital camera, laptops, or information pads. Examples of wireless devices include televisions, audio output devices, or printers.

A dermatological skin treatment device is provided. The device comprises a handpiece and a cutting tool, wherein the tool is inserted through the conduit and percutaneously inserted into a tissue disposed within a recessed area of the handpiece. The device and method cut the fibrous structures under the skin that cause cellulite at an angle substantially parallel to the surface of the skin and replace these structures with a non-cellulite forming structure by deploying a highly fibrous mesh through a single needle hole to create a highly fibrous layer directly or through wound healing processes. A tool is provided to aspirate excess fluid and tissue from the treatment area.

A suture anchor comprising a one piece blank folded to form a body. The body has a floor, a first sidewall extending from one end of the floor and a second sidewall extending from an opposite end of the floor. A recess is defined by the floor, first sidewall and second sidewall. A crossbar extends inwardly from the second sidewall across the recess such that a free end of the crossbar is normally disposed distally of a transverse edge of the body. The crossbar is flexible such that when a distally directed force is applied, the free end of the crossbar is positionable in the recess. The free end of the crossbar is engageable with the transverse edge to limit the proximal motion of the crossbar from a proximally directed force.

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to tissue anchors and methods of delivering same to the intervertebral disc or other sites within the body. In some embodiments, the anchors provide pull-out resistance, stability and/or maximize contact with tissue involving a minimum amount of penetration. In some embodiments, delivery methods are minimally invasive and include linear, lateral, and off-angle implantation or driving of anchors along, against or within tissue surfaces.

Various embodiments of intervertebral implants, anchoring devices for intervertebral implants, and implantation instrumentation are provided, along with various embodiments of methods for using one or more of the devices. Some embodiments of an anchoring device have a body comprising at least one curve and a rigid plate elongated along a longitudinal axis so that its front end enters at least one vertebra while its rear end remains in the passage of an implant. In some embodiments, the plate comprises at least one longitudinal slot separating at least one posterior portion of the plate into two branches, with at least one branch comprising at least one withdrawal stop configured to retain the device in the implant.

The present teachings provide one or more surgical implements for repairing damaged tissue, such as in the case of a spinal fixation procedure. A bone anchor is provided. The anchor can include a bone fastener. The bone fastener can include a head and a second end adapted to engage an anatomy. The bone fastener can extend along a longitudinal axis. The anchor can also include a coupling arrangement coupled to the head of the bone fastener so that the bone fastener is rotatable about the longitudinal axis to define a first plane of motion. The anchor can further include a saddle, which can be coupled to the coupling arrangement. The saddle can be movable relative to at least one of the bone fastener and the coupling arrangement to define a second plane of motion.

The present disclosure relates to a suture anchor inserter. The suture anchor inserter includes a handle having a proximal component, a central component coupled to the proximal component, and a distal component coupled to the proximal component and the central component, the central component capable of rotating relative to the proximal component; and a shaft comprising a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end coupled to the handle. A method of inserting a suture anchor into bone is also disclosed.

A method of authenticating a device involves establishing a local connection between a local target device and a local source device; at the source device, obtaining credentials of the target device via the local connection; at the source device, sending the credentials to a cloud authentication server via a secure communication channel; at the cloud authentication server, checking the credentials of the target device against a database of known good devices; at the source device, receiving a message from the cloud authentication server via the secure communication channel, said message indicating that the target device is authenticated; and delivering content from the source device to the target device on the condition that the target device is authenticated. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

A secret stream of bits begins by receiving a public random stream contained in a wireless communication signal at a transmit/receive unit. The public random stream is sampled and specific bits are extracted according to a shared common secret. These extracted bits are used to create a longer secret stream. The shared common secret may be generated using JRNSO techniques, or provided to the transmit/receive units prior to the communication session. Alternatively, one of the transmit/receive unit is assumed to be more powerful than any potential eavesdropper. In this situation, the powerful transmit/receive unit may broadcast and store a public random stream. The weaker transmit/receive unit selects select random bits of the broadcast for creating a key. The weaker transmit/receive unit sends the powerful transmit/receive unit the selected bit numbers, and powerful transmit/receive unit uses the random numbers to produce the key created by the weaker transmit/receive unit.

A data source may be configured to provide usage data including subscriber identifiers and associated information indicative of subscriber device locations and usage. A data warehouse server may be configured to perform operations including: decrypting subscriber identifiers included in usage data received from the data source using a two-way rolling key groups algorithm; re-encrypting the subscriber identifiers decrypted from the usage data to create secure encrypted identifiers using a one-way secured encryption algorithm; and correlating the subscriber identifiers in the decrypted usage data with the corresponding re-encrypted identifiers.

A system and method for making a layered dental appliance. The system can include a first portion comprising a negative of a first layer of a layered dental appliance, and a second portion comprising a positive shape of a second layer of the layered dental appliance. The method can include providing a mold comprising a negative of an outer shape of a layered dental appliance, and positioning a slurry in the mold, forming a first layer of the layered dental appliance. The method can further include providing a solid structure comprising a positive shape of a second layer of the layered dental appliance, and pressing the solid structure into the slurry in the mold.

A personal video on-demand system and method which permits a user to receive available content using a single tuner and perform one of a plurality of operations on the available content. These operations include recording two or more signals, where one or both may be simultaneously viewed, recording one or more signals and playing back one or more signals, playing back two or more signals, watching one or more signals while recording one or more other signals, viewing two or more signals live, or viewing at least one signal live, while viewing one or more signals in a playback mode.

A resistance component includes a stack of ceramic layers and inner electrodes. Inner electrodes of a first type are electrically conductively connected to a first external contact and inner electrodes of a second type are electrically conductively connected to a second external contact. The inner electrodes of the first type are arranged such that there is no overlap with the inner electrodes of the second type. An inner electrode of a third type, which is electrically conductively connected neither to the first external contact nor to the second external contact, at least partially overlaps the inner electrodes of the first type and the inner electrodes of the second type.

An axial resistance sheathed heater is presented. The axial resistance sheathed heater includes a retaining sheath having a first end and a second end and a resistance wire completely disposed within the retaining sheath. The heater further includes a first conductor rod partially disposed within the retaining sheath and extending beyond the first end of the retaining sheath, the first conductor rod in direct electrical communication and direct mechanical communication with the resistance wire; and a second conductor rod partially disposed within said retaining sheath and extending beyond the second end of the retaining sheath, the second conductor rod in direct electrical communication and direct mechanical communication with the resistance wire. The resistance wire, the first conductor rod and the second conductor rod comprise a circuit achieving a power to voltage rating of about 5000:24.

A ski tip hold down assembly for holding the tip end of the ski. The ski tip hold down assembly having a base attached to a work bench and an upright stand affixed to the base. The upright stand having a ski rest on a top surface thereof and a ski tip hold down bar secured to the upright stand in spaced apart relation to the ski rest defining an opening adapted to receive a ski tip, with the ski oriented in a base-up configuration, with the ski tip extending underneath the ski tip hold down bar. The apparatus further including a tail rest assembly having a base adapted to be used on the work bench in spaced apart relation to the ski tip hold down assembly and further including an upright stand affixed to the base with a ski rest provided on a top surface thereof.

According to an aspect of the present invention, in a medium conveyance apparatus which securely supports and conveys a medium, by providing a function for applying a back tension to the medium, in a guide section which forms a guide for supporting the medium in a medium conveyance unit, it is possible to apply a back tension to the medium of which at least a portion is securely supported by the medium conveyance unit, thereby restricting the occurrence of creasing and floating when the medium is securely supported by the medium conveyance unit and maintaining the flatness of the medium which is securely supported by the medium conveyance unit.

A positive response notification to provide information regarding locate and/or marking operations for underground facilities may include time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by a locate technician, and/or place-stamp information to provide proof of a presence of the locate technician at or near a work site. An electronic manifest image and/or a virtual white line image similarly may be included in a positive response notification. In one example, such images may be bundled together based on respective descriptor files (or descriptor metadata) that associates the corresponding images with a locate request ticket for the operation. In another example, a positive response notification may include environmental information regarding one or more environmental conditions present at or near the work site during the locate and/or marking operation.

A phase balancing system includes a load forecasting module, a phase unbalance identification module and a demand response module. The load forecasting module determines a load forecast for the distribution system for the period of interest and the phase unbalance identification module determines voltage unbalance on the distribution system for the period of interest. The demand response module estimates an available demand response on the distribution system for the period of interest and allocates an optimized demand response from the available demand response to minimize the voltage unbalance on the distribution system for the period of interest.

The power of DC electrical sources is combined onto a DC buss, such that each source behaves independently from any other source attached to the buss. In one embodiment, a converter module is attached to each of a plurality of solar photovoltaic panels and its output is attached in a parallel manner to a common buss that forms the input to a DC AC inverter. The converter module includes a Maximum Power Point Tracking component that matches the output impedance of the panels to the input impedance of the converter module. The converter also includes a communication component that provides parametric data and identification to a central inverter. Data generated by each converter module is transmitted over the power line or by wireless means and is collected at the inverter and forwarded to a data collection and reporting system.

To achieve peak acoustic and power performance, the coil or applied current should be in phase or substantially aligned with the back electromotive force (back-EMF) voltage. However, there are generally phase differences between the applied current and back-EMF voltage that are induced by the impedance of the brushless DC motor (which can vary based on conditions, such as temperature and motor speed). Traditionally, compensation for these phase differences was provided manually and on an as-needed basis. Here, however, a system and method are provided that automatically perform a commutation advance by incrementally adjusting a drive signal over successive commutation cycles when the applied current and back-EMF voltage are misaligned.

Source support arm of a liquid crystal panel transportation device is provided, which includes a primary arm section. The primary arm section includes a plurality of ancillary arm sections that are rotatable to open mounted thereon. A liquid crystal panel transportation device is also disclosed, which includes a support arm having a primary arm section and ancillary arm sections that are mounted to the primary arm section and are rotatable to open.