This disclosure relates to methods, computer products, computer-implemented methods, and systems for predicting the probability or risk of prostate cancer recurrence and tumor aggressiveness in a patient. The method is based, in part, on the patient's risk profile that includes the presence/degree of specific copy number variations and predictive clinical factors. The methods and systems can be used to aid in treatment selection.

The invention provides for a proteomic approach for identification of specific bacterial protein profiles that may be used in the development of methods for the diagnosis of bacterial chronic sinusitis. The invention provides for methods for determining the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the upper respiratory tract of a subject using protein profiles of the pathogenic bacteria. The invention also provides for methods of diagnosing a bacterial infection of the upper respiratory tract of a subject using protein profiles of a pathogenic bacteria. In addition, the invention provides for devices, immunoassays and kits for identifying pathogenic bacteria in the upper respiratory tract.

A machine for the manufacture of buckles, buttons or the like which comprises an upper tool and a lower tool. The lower tool has an outer, spring-mounted frame and an inner core piece displaceable vertically with respect to the surrounding frame. The lower tool is adapted to support the assembled button after the opening stroke of the upper tool. A device is provided for lifting the core piece of the lower tool relative to the surrounding frame up to about the height of a transversely directed stream of blast air serving for discharging the product from the lower tool.

Applicant's invention relates to a process and apparatus for the high speed welding in large quantities of various geometric shaped jump rings to buttons, pendants and other jewelry by utilizing composite jump ring apparatus having first and second projections extending from the jump rings at different locations so that they may function in automatic welding machines.

An improved method of forming and assembling two-part merchandise display hooks, including new design features of the hook itself, enable two-part hooks to be manufactured and assembled at extremely low cost. Wire from a continuous length is gripped and bent to form the outer portion of the hook. The wire is then severed and bent in a single operation to form a hook-mounting portion. While the severed wire remains gripped by its shaped outer end, a preoriented and guided base member is applied over the just-formed mounting portion of the wire. A retractable bend-forming member is withdrawn when the base member is applied to the wire, to enable the bent portion to be fully received within the plastic base. Major manufacturing economies are realized.

A device is disclosed for pressing objects by lifting the objects into a waiting pressing shaft. The shaft includes a forming element at its lower end for forming the object, and the shaft is engaged by its upper end through a pivot member to an air cylinder in a manner which provides a force advantage to the air cylinder. Also, a system for pressing objects is disclosed, in which the press device is employed in conjunction with a turntable for sequential and continuous pressing operations.

A punch button (32) has a central disc (36) integral with and separable from an outer peripheral annular ring (38). The disc and ring are joined by a breakaway portion (40) of reduced thickness. A pair of peel points or pilot cuts (50 and 52) may be provided on distally opposite sides of the disc, and if so, the disc is initially separable from the ring at the peel points and then rotatable about a rotation axis perpendicular to an axis through the distally opposite pilot cuts. The punch button is formed by providing a strip of material of a first thickness, placing the strip in a die, performing an inner cut with the die and partially cutting through the strip to yield first and second subpieces joined to each other by material of a second reduced thickness, and performing an outer cut with the die and cutting all the way through the strip to yield a piece composed of the first and second subpieces providing the disc and ring. The pilot cuts are performed by the die during performance of the inner cut and to a deeper depth than the inner cut. All of the cuts are performed in a singular die step operation wherein an outer punch (58) is moved toward an inner punch (66) in one axial direction to perform the inner cut, the pilot cuts, and a portion of the outer cut, and continuing movement of the outer punch in the one direction and simultaneously moving the inner punch in the same direction in unison with the outer punch to complete the outer cut.

A button, knob or control key with an etchable support plate which is engraved on the backside with a fine symbol by laser, erosion or mechanical engraving, which only cuts into the material of the support plate, but not through the support plate. The backside of the support plate is optionally coated. A foil is applied on the laminated layer and affixed thereto. The front side of the support plate is treated with a material-removing substance. The material removal with the material-removing substance is performed until the engraving extending into the support plate is at least partially or completely exposed on the front side. Application of a protective layer to the front side of the support plate from which the material was removed. A function symbol is provided on the button such that it can be backlit. It is engraved in a fine line width providing a sharp optical definition erosion, mechanical engraving.

A button making device capable of simply exchanging a first pressed mold, a second pressed mold, and a pressing mold so as to produce buttons of different sizes; a polygonal button whose front surface plate is dome-wise curved and has its shape fixed; and such a button making device, are provided. The button making device has a sliding platform, two pressed molds, a fixed member, a pressing shaft, a pressing mold, and an operation mechanism. The pressed molds are provided on an attachment member which is removably attached to the sliding platform. The pressing mold is removably attached to a lower end of the pressing shaft using magnetic force. The present invention can be used for a button making device which can easily form a metal button by press processing which can be used as an accessory adhered to clothes or the like by a pin or the like.

A soy protein product having a protein content of at least 60 wt % (N×6.25) d.b., preferably an isolate having a protein content of at least about 90 wt % (N×6.25) d.b., is formed from the supernatant from the precipitation of a soy protein micellar mass. A calcium salt or other divalent salt is added to the supernatant, before concentration, after initial concentration or after final concentration, to provide a conductivity of about 2 to about 30 mS. Precipitate is removed from the resulting solution and the pH of the clear soy protein solution is optionally adjusted to about 1.5 to about 4.4. The optionally pH-adjusted clear solution is concentrated to a concentration of about 50 to about 400 g/L and the clear concentrated protein solution is optionally diafiltered prior to drying. The soy protein product is soluble in acidic media and produces transparent, heat stable solutions at low pH values and, therefore, may be used for protein fortification of soft drinks and sports drinks.

A shelf-stable snack product having visibly impactful vegetable inclusions, a composite dough for forming the shelf-stable snack product, and method of manufacture is disclosed herein. The shelf-stable snack product includes masa and a fresh vegetable ingredient, and a final moisture content in the range of about 1.7-2.5 weight percent. Additionally, the shelf-stable snack product has an l-value no less than a corresponding l-value of a plain version of the shelf-stable snack product lacking the vegetable inclusions.

The present disclosure relates to a method and a device for producing food products, in particular sleeveless products of a specific form with the following steps: entry of form parameters, display of the form of the food product as a function of the entered form parameters as a 2D or 3D graphic, calculation of process parameters as a function of the entered form parameters.

Rebaudioside M compositions with improved aqueous solubility and methods for preparing the same are provided herein. The rebaudioside M compositions include (i) disordered crystalline compositions comprising rebaudioside M and rebaudioside D, (ii) spray-dried compositions comprising rebaudioside M, rebaudioside D and steviol glycoside mixtures and/or rebaudioside B and/or NSF-02, (iii) spray-dried compositions comprising rebaudioside M, rebaudioside D and at least one surfactant, polymer, saponin, carbohydrate, polyol, preservative or a combination thereof. Sweetened compositions, such a beverages, containing the rebaudioside M compositions with improved water solubility are also provided herein.

Gender specific synthetic nutritional compositions for female or male infants up to 1 month of age wherein, the concentration of alanine, and/or histidine, and/or isoleucine, and/or proline, and/or valine is adapted based on that found in HM produced for an infant of the same gender and age, and nutritional systems comprising them.

A crumb is manufactured by a process including adding an aqueous flour mixture into an extruder, partially extruding the aqueous mixture through the extruder, adding an aqueous gelling agent to the extruder at a point downstream of the start of the extrusion of the aqueous mixture through the extruder to form a resultant mixture of the aqueous mixture and the aqueous gelling agent in the extruder, and extruding the resultant mixture at a temperature greater than 100° C. to form an extrudate. The extrudate is allowed to expand, dried and milled to form the crumb, which has moisture-resistant properties particularly well-suited for use on frozen, microwavable food products.

Embodiments of the invention described herein thus provide systems and methods for creating a pressed food item in an oven cooking cavity. The oven system is secured within the oven cooking cavity and is not dependent upon oven door movement or any other oven function. An upper platen is configured to move up and down with respect to a lower platen in order to press a food item during the cooking process. The lower platen is generally secured with respect to the oven interior, whether to a jet plate, to an oven wall, or to a frame that is secured within the oven. The upper platen moves along a vertical support system. When the oven system is not in use to create a pressed food item, the upper platen can remain in a lowered position so that the oven may be used without the pressing features described.

The invention relates to a capsule for the preparation of a beverage in a beverage preparation device. The capsule has a flange which is partially made of paper and partially made of polymer. The polymer is essentially arranged on the flange to cover at least partially the paper part and so to improve the inside tightness of the capsule, in particular, to prevent air enters inside the capsule via folds and creases.

Pancake mixes comprising at least one type of whole grain flour, at least one natural sweetener, at least one fat and a leavening system are provided herein. Packaged food products comprising single-serving containers containing said pancake mixes, as well as methods of preparing pancakes, are also provided. The pancakes described herein are preferably 100% whole grain and free from preservatives and/or artificial colorings.

The invention concerns a sweetened dairy product comprising a dairy material, at least one steviol glycoside, at least one additive selected from a polysaccharide of fructose units and a salt.

An apparatus for producing a food product is disclosed. The apparatus comprises: an enclosed vessel for holding the food product, the vessel having a first end wall, a second end wall opposite to the first end wall, and a side wall between the first and second end walls; a first agitator rotatably mounted to the first end wall, the first agitator extending inside the vessel towards the second end wall; and a second agitator rotatably mounted to the second end wall, the second agitator extending inside the vessel towards the first end wall. The first agitator is unsupported by the second end wall, and the second agitator is unsupported by the first end wall.

This disclosure describes a simple, low cost method to produce a modular dry mix that can easily be modified and customized to produce a wide range of easy to aerate, no ice cream machine needed, ice cream and frozen dairy and non-dairy desserts and products made by this process. The method relies on successive simultaneous particle size reduction and blending steps without the use of traditional mix drying operations. The formulations produced by this process are modular and allow quick and simple ingredient substitutions to create distinct finished products. The process yields mixes that produce stronger, more stable foams that don't leave an oily mouth feel. The disclosure also includes a formulation and process used to make ice cream, and related frozen dairy and non-dairy desserts at room temperature in one step where the ingredients do not need to be aged, or homogenized, and aeration occurs without the need for simultaneous cooling or freezing. The process allows the end-user to control and vary the texture, freezing rate, melting point and eating qualities of the product without the use of traditional, home or industrial ice cream machines and a product made by this process. A product produced from this mix consists of a (protein-concentrate and emulsifier)—stabilized, protein-based foam created by combining a powder mix with one or a combination of a large range of above freezing temp liquids then immediately whisking the mixture at room temp to a target overrun without pre-aging, and then freezing that product statically till desired hardness is achieved. The main execution of this process involves the use of dry powders that are transported and sold dry and then reconstituted by the end user before they are combined without pre-treatment, freezing homogenization or aging. The manufacturing process offers significant advantages over current dry mix production methods which require significant upfront investment and produce hard to customize mixes. The formulation and finished product making portions of the invention offer significant improvement over existing manufacturing methods for frozen desserts and dessert mixes that require simultaneous freezing and aeration in terms of cost, convenience, customizability, shelf-stability and environmental impact.

Cat food products are provided. The cat food product may comprise a single sealed container comprising 10 g to 40 g of a complete and balanced semi-moist or wet cat food, or may comprise a plurality of such sealed containers. Methods of providing a cat food are also provided and comprise filling a container with from 10 g to 40 g of a complete and balanced semi-moist or wet cat food and sealing the container.

A formulation consisting of a food-grade dye and a plant aroma cocktail is uptaken by plants and flowers and fruit. The improved aroma profile and color make the plant or it's flowers or it's fruit more desirable for consumption or viewing with an enhanced aroma.

The present invention relates to protein compositions. In particular, the invention relates to a method for the production of a composition comprising casein fibrils. Further aspects of the invention area composition comprising casein fibrils, the use of such a composition and a food product comprising the composition.

An apparatus for heating foods comprises a supporting structure, a treatment zone designed to receive at least one food product to be heated, a radio frequency dielectric heating system, a system for moderating the temperature of at least one surface of the food product during heating. The temperature moderating system comprises at least one fluid container intended to be interposed between an electrode of the dielectric heating system and a surface of the food product received in the treatment zone. During use of the apparatus, the radio frequency dielectric heating system supplies energy to the food product in the treatment zone, the at least one fluid container receives thermal energy from the surface of the food product, a fluid circulates in the at least one fluid container between the infeed and the outfeed for removing at least part of the thermal energy received.

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for producing irregular pieces of meat from meat products. Further, a method of mass-producing a home-style meat product with an irregular appearance includes combining whole muscle meat with a mixture having a low-phosphate solution and/or a low-salt solution and cooking the combination to produce whole muscle meat logs. Once the whole muscle meat has been cooked, the meat may be pulled, shredded, or sliced on a variety of pulling, shredding, and slicing equipment to create a home-style meat product with an irregular appearance.

Disclosed are methods for making a baby food purée, such as a sweet potato purée, by employing a recipe management system that uses the steps of cold extraction followed immediately by cold deaeration to produce an all-natural baby food purée. The processes disclosed herein eliminate the need for addition of exogenous enzymes, preservatives or anti-oxidants, while further obviating any requirement for blanching vegetable ingredients. Also contained in the present disclosure are methods and systems for generating purees from one or more starting ingredients.

Gender specific synthetic nutritional compositions for infants up to 1 month of age wherein, the total protein content is adapted based on that found in HM produced for infants of the same gender and age, and nutritional systems comprising them.

Inhibition of expansion of a cereal product, such as a ready-to-eat cereal, by a particulate insoluble component such as fiber and/or calcium is avoided by pelletizing the particulate insoluble component. A binder component, such as gelatinized starch, is used to bind particles of the particulate insoluble component into a coherent mass which is formed into non-expanded pellets for fortification of the cereal product. The expanded cereal products, such as extruded puffed RTE cereals which contain the pellets, exhibit a crisp, uniform texture and cell structure, improved, prolonged bowl life, a non-gritty mouthfeel, and a smooth, uniform surface appearance even though they are fortified with high amounts of the solid or particulate insoluble nutritional components.

Disclosed herein is a nutrient delivery system that provides a nutritional formula for consumption. The nutrient delivery system includes a pod and a nutritional powder comprising at least one phospholipid. The nutritional formula has improved characteristics, such as decreased foaming.

A brewing system includes a brewing apparatus and a capsule containing a substance for brewing. The capsule has an opening on one side and a base on an opposite side. The base includes a light input surface, a light-output surface and a light conductor to conduct light from the light input surface to the light output surface. The apparatus includes: a brewing chamber including an inlet for heated water, an outlet for the brewed beverage, and an opening in communication with the opening of the capsule. A light source on the brewing apparatus emits light into the base via the light inlet surface of the capsule. The light conductor conducts the light to the light-output surface. A light detector of the brewing apparatus detects light emitted by light-output surface on the base of the capsule. A method of operating the brewing system and a capsule system are also described.

A cartridge (10) containing a dose (12) of at least one substance for preparing a liquid product, e.g., coffee, by means of liquid and/or steam introduced into the cartridge (10). The cartridge comprises a body (14) containing the aforesaid dose (12), with a bottom wall (142), through which the liquid product is able to flow out of the cartridge (10), and a cover (16) that closes the body of the cartridge (10) at the end of the body opposite to the bottom wall (142). The body (14) comprises a crushed-plant-fibre material (e.g., with a base of rice husk), which may also be used for producing the cover. Alternatively, the cover (16) may be made of paper material (e.g., filter paper). The body (14) and the cover (16) are connected together via purely mechanical connection, it thus being possible to avoid gluing or welding.

A capsule for preparing a predetermined quantity of beverage suitable for consumption using an extractable product is disclosed. The capsule includes a circumferential first wall, a second wall closing the circumferential first wall at a first end, and a flexible sheet-shaped third wall closing the circumferential first wall at a second, open, end opposite the second wall, the third wall being at least one of perforate and porous. The first, second and third wall enclose an inner space including the extractable product. The third wall forms an outermost boundary of the capsule in an axial direction thereof. The third wall includes a filtering material. The second wall is one of a flexible porous sheet, a flexible foil provided with a plurality of entrance openings, and a substantially rigid wall that comprises a plurality of entrance openings.

A method for assembling a structure is described. The method includes locating a position in an assembly stack-up where a one-sided fastener is to be installed, drilling a hole through the assembly stack-up at the position, countersinking the hole to a specified depth, operating a calibrated probe to determine at least parameter associated with one or more of the hole and the stack-up proximate the hole, inserting the one-sided fastener into the hole, applying a rotational torque to the one-sided fastener to complete installation of the one-sided fastener, and comparing a measurement of angular displacement required to complete installation of the one-sided fastener to a range of angular displacement indicative of correct installation of the fastener.

A process for the production of a textile product includes placing a flat motif template on a textile substrate, sewing the motif template onto the textile substrate in such a way that a perforation defining a desired motif in the motif template is produced, removing the part of the motif template, that is outside the motif defined by the perforation, and permanently fixing the remaining part, having the motif, of the motif template to the textile substrate.

A girdle band for underwear connection and a processing method thereof, the girder band has a baseband with upper and lower overturning edges, a plurality of snap rings, surface cloth and a shaping layer, and the processing method has the following steps: firstly respectively connecting both surfaces of the lower overturning edge of the baseband with the shaping layer and the first strip of the surface cloth; sewing the bottom surface of the second strip of the surface cloth with the shaping layer; forming the upper and the lower overturning edges; and using an ultrasonic wave cutting machine for cutting the long strip-shaped baseband into girdle band units. The girdle band has the advantages of no sewing joints on the back surface and good appearance effect, and can avoid skin injuries.

A thread hook and a looper thread holder are arranged on a rear side of a needle drop position of a sewing machine. When usual sewing is completed, the thread hook and the looper thread holder swing and move close to a looper. A hook part provided at a tip end of the thread hook holds a needle thread loop caught by the looper and positions it on an advance end side of the looper away from the needle drop position, and a thread receiving part provided at a tip end of the looper thread holder holds a looper thread extending from the looper to cloths and positions it on the front side away from the needle drop position. The sewing machine performs sewing for at least one stitch while maintaining positions of the needle thread loop and the looper thread.

The invention comprises using a fabric cut into several pieces which are further assembled together by stitches, the stitches being made using a sewing machine comprising at least two needles (A', B') operating in-line one behind the other so that the sewing stitch of the second needle (B') is made on the threads of the sewing stitch made by the first needle (A') in order to cover the perforation made by the first needle and so that the perforation made by the second needle (B') is made through said thread (11), thereby filling said perforation with said thread (11).

An apparatus for thread-stitching a book block includes a thread tensioning device configured to store and tension a binding thread. A single actuator, including a servo drive, drives the thread tensioning device. The method includes storing a length of binding thread; in a separate step, tensioning the binding thread; and thread-stitching the book block.

The memory stores computer-readable instructions causing the sewing machine to perform operations including: extracting feature points of a design based on a captured image; extracting feature points of a unit design; generating feature points of a symmetrical design; cross-checking the extracted feature points of the design and the generated feature points of the symmetrical design; determining an arrangement of an embroidery pattern with respect to the symmetrical design; and causing a sewing portion to sew the embroidery pattern.

An embroidery data processor includes a color information acquiring unit configured to acquire color information of a workpiece cloth on which an embroidery pattern composed of a plurality of color-based pattern portions is sewn, a color storage unit configured to store data of defined colors, an assignment unit configured to randomly extract colors from the colors stored by the color storage unit for every color-based pattern portion, the extracted colors being used as thread color data specifying colors of the color-based pattern portions respectively, the assignment unit assigning the extracted colors to the respective color-based pattern portions, and a setting unit configured to set a predetermined extraction range containing a similar color or a contrast color based on the color information acquired by the acquiring unit. The assignment unit is configured to extract the color stored by the color storage unit in the set extraction range.

Provided is a method of producing an artificial marble containing amethyst and vermiculite. The artificial marble includes amethyst representing superior performance in terms of a far-infrared emission effect and an antimicrobial property with a fine appearance, and vermiculite serving as an inorganic filler material and representing a superior adiabatic effect with a light weight. The artificial marble has a structure in which the first base layer including amethyst and the second base layer including vermiculite are laminated on each other.

A method of dispensing adhesive onto a stretched elastic strand includes applying a first volume of adhesive onto a first portion of the elastic strand, applying a second volume of adhesive onto a second portion of the elastic strand, and applying a third volume of adhesive onto a third portion of the elastic strand. The second volume is less than the first and third volumes. When the elastic strand is adhered to a substrate to form a personal disposable hygiene product, the first and third portions of the elastic strand define opposing ends of the elastic strand, which are adhered with a larger amount of adhesive to resist creep at the opposing ends. The reduction of adhesive in the second or central portion between the opposing ends significantly reduces the adhesive add on in the personal disposable hygiene product.

A tool is disclosed for separating a semiconductor die from a tape to which the die is affixed during the wafer dicing process. The tool includes a pick-up arm for positioning a vacuum tip over a semiconductor die to be removed. The vacuum tip includes a non-uniform array of vacuum holes to grip the semiconductor wafer.

The object of the invention is to provide a plasma processing apparatus having enhanced plasma processing uniformity. The plasma processing apparatus comprises a processing chamber 1, means 13 and 14 for supplying processing gas into the processing chamber, evacuation means 25 and 26 for decompressing the processing chamber 1, an electrode 4 on which an object 2 to be processed such as a wafer is placed, and an electromagnetic radiation power supply 5A, wherein at least two kinds of processing gases having different composition ratios of O2 or N2 are introduced into the processing chamber through different gas inlets so as to control the in-plane uniformity of the critical dimension while maintaining the in-plane uniformity of the process depth.

Positioning system of sectors of a device for producing an airplane fuselage in which a lamination mandrel comprises a plurality of sectors borne by a supporting structure and mobile along guides between: an expanded lamination position and a contracted disassembling position. Each guide comprises a fixed part borne by the supporting structure and a mobile part sliding along/with respect to the fixed part in a rectilinear direction H. Between a portion of each mobile part facing towards the respective sector and a stiffening structure of the sector a positioning device is provided which allows adjustment of the position of the sector with respect to the guide in two directions which lie in a plane RP perpendicular to the axis H of the guide.

A constraint system of sectors of a device for producing an airplane fuselage in which a lamination mandrel is adapted to receive and support a band of impregnated synthetic material. The lamination mandrel comprises a plurality of sectors angularly spaced about the axis and mobile between: an expanded lamination position and a contracted disassembling position. A constraint system is provided between each sector and the sectors adjacent thereto which guarantees a predetermined arrangement of the first sector with respect to the second sector adjacent thereto, preventing any translation along two directions which lie in an adjustment plane perpendicular to an axis RD which extends radially from the symmetry axis to the external surface.

A system for fluid partitioning for chemical amplification or other chemical processing or separations of a sample, comprising a first dispenser of a first polymeric sheet, wherein the first polymeric sheet contains chambers; a second dispenser of a second polymeric sheet wherein the first dispenser and the second dispenser are positioned so that the first polymeric sheet and the second polymeric sheet become parallel; a dispenser of the fluid positioned to dispense the fluid between the first polymeric sheet and the second polymeric sheet; and a seal unit that seals the first polymeric sheet and the second polymeric sheet together thereby sealing the sample between the first polymeric sheet and the second polymeric sheet and partitioning the fluid for chemical amplification or other chemical processing or separations.

A universal heat press machine includes an adjustable supporting frame having, a main body, an actuating handle assembly, and a heat pressing assembly. The heat press assembly includes a first pressing member attaching on the actuating handle assembly, and a second pressing member suspendedly extending from a lower portion of the main body to define an operational space. When the heat pressing assembly is in a heat press position, an imprinting surface of the work piece is arranged to rest on the second pressing member while other parts of the work piece is allowed to temporarily accommodate in the operational space. The first pressing member is pivotally moved to bias against the second pressing member and the imprinting surface of the work piece for imprinting the graphics on the imprinting surface.

A plant for building tires for vehicle wheels, includes at least one forming drum having a supporting shaft axially projecting from opposite sides relative to a central body. A handling device is adapted to engage the forming drum and transfer it between at least one loading/unloading location and a work location provided for carrying out at least one process working on the forming drum. The handling device includes a grip assembly carrying at least two grip members each engaging the supporting shaft in the vicinity of each of the end portions thereof, and at least one motor associated with at least one of said grip members for driving the forming drum in rotation while the at least one process working is being carried out in the work location.