All The Claims

1. A fluidic device for detecting the presence or absence of an analyte in a bodily fluid sample obtained from a subject, comprising a cartridge, said cartridge comprising a sample collection unit, a lysing assembly, and an assay assembly, wherein:
(a) said sample collection unit is configured to:
(i) collect a sample of bodily fluid from said subject, and
(ii) deliver a predetermined portion of said sample to said assay assembly;

(b) said assay assembly comprises at least one reaction site containing a reactant that reacts with said analyte to yield a detectable signal indicative of the presence of said analyte, and
(c) said lysing assembly is configured to lyse cells present in said bodily fluid sample.
2. The fluidic device of claim 1, wherein said sample collection unit comprises:
a sample collection well in fluid communication with a metering channel, configured so that a collected sample flows from said sample collection well into said metering channel; and
a metering element, wherein said metering element is adapted to close the fluid communication of said sample collection well to said metering channel, thereby isolating a specific volume of said sample in said metering channel.
3. The fluidic device of claim 2, wherein said metering element comprises a pin configured to be movable from an open position to a closed position, wherein said pin in said closed position blocks the metering channel.
4. (canceled)
5. (canceled)
6. The fluidic device of claim 2, wherein said sample collection unit further comprises:
a dilution chamber in fluidic communication with said metering channel, wherein said dilution chamber is configured to store a diluent and comprises a port for engaging pressure means for transferring said diluent from the dilution chamber into the metering channel.
7. The fluidic device of claim 6, wherein said sample collection unit further comprises a mixing chamber in fluidic communication with said metering channel, said mixing chamber is configured to mix said predetermined portion of the sample with said diluent to yield a diluted sample.
8. (canceled)
9. The fluidic device of claim 7, wherein the sample collection unit further comprising a filter configured to filter the diluted sample before it is assayed.
10. (canceled)
11. The fluidic device of claim 1, wherein said predetermined portion of said sample is less than about 50 ul.
12. (canceled)
13. (canceled)
14. The fluidic device of claim 1, wherein said assay assembly is adapted to run an immunoassay.
15. The fluidic device of claim 14, wherein said assay assembly comprises at least one reagent chamber in fluidic communication with said at least one reaction site, wherein said reagent chamber is configured to store an assay reagent.
16. The fluidic device of claim 1, wherein said at least one reaction site of said assay assembly is in fluidic communication with said sample collection unit, said reaction site containing a reactant that reacts with said analyte to yield a signal indicative of the presence of said analyte; and said assay assembly further comprises
at least one reagent chamber in fluidic communication with said at least one reaction site, wherein said reagent chamber is configured to store an assay reagent;
a fluidic channel connecting the reagent chamber with the reaction site; and
an actuatable valve assembly configured to control the flow of reagent through said fluidic channel, wherein the valve assembly comprises a sealing element and actuator element, wherein:
said channel comprises first and second locations, wherein the sealing element positioned in the first location obstructs the flow of fluid through the channel and the sealing element positioned in the second location allows the flow of fluid through the channel; and wherein the actuator element is adapted to move the sealing element from the first location to the second location.
17. (canceled)
18. The fluidic device of claim 15, wherein the actuator element is adapted to be actuated by an actuator in a device in which the cartridge can be inserted.
19. The fluidic device of claim 18, wherein the actuator element is adapted to be mechanically actuated by said actuator.
20. The fluidic device of claim 15, wherein said second location has a larger cross section than said first location.
21. (canceled)
22. The fluidic device of claim 15, wherein said actuator element comprises a sealing member such that when said actuator element moves said sealing element the sealing member forms a substantially air tight seal such that said fluid can only flow through said channel.
23. The fluidic device of claim 22 wherein said actuator element is substantially pin shaped and said sealing member is an O-ring adapted to be placed around said actuator element.
24. The fluidic device of claim 16, wherein said assay assembly is adapted to run an immunoassay.
25. The fluidic device of claim 16, wherein said sample of bodily fluid is less than 50 ul.
26. (canceled)
27. (canceled)
28. A system for detecting an analyte in a bodily fluid from a subject, comprising:
a) the fluidic device of claim 16;
b) a reader assembly comprising a detection assembly for detecting said signal; and
c) a communication assembly for transmitting said signal to an external device.
29. The system of claim 28, wherein said assay assembly is adapted to run an assay based on an assay protocol transmitted from said external device.
30. The system of claim 29, wherein said assay protocol is transmitted wirelessly from said external device.
31-51. (canceled)

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. Process for the production of aromatic compounds from a hydrocarbon fraction with a catalyst, a process that comprises at least the following successive stages that take place in at least one zone: treatment of the fraction in the presence of hydrogen and implementing a reaction for dehydrogenation of naphthenes; separation of the gas effluent that contains hydrogen to form said recycling gas, liquid and catalyst; regeneration of the catalyst; reduction of the catalyst and reintroduction of the catalyst for the treatment stage; process characterized in that the reduction stage is carried out in the presence of recycling gas that is introduced in an amount such that the amount of pure hydrogen that is provided is between 1-10kgkg of catalyst, whereby the effluent that is obtained from the reduction is then separated from the catalytic bed.
2. Process according to claim 1, wherein the catalyst circulates in a moving bed.
3. Process according to one of the preceding claims, including a recycling in the treatment stage that implements the dehydrogenation of at least a portion of the gas effluent that contains the hydrogen that is called recycling gas.
4. Process according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the reduction stage is carried out between 300-800 C., whereby the dwell time of the catalyst is 15 minutes to 2 hours.
5. Process according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the reduction stage is carried out between 400-600 C.
6. Process according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the process is carried out at 400-700 C., 0.1-4 MPa, with volumetric flow rates of 0.1-10 h1 and (H2)1HC molar ratios of at most 10.
7. Process according to one of the preceding claims, wherein it is a reforming that is carried out under 0.3-0.8 MPa, at 480-600 C., with volumetric flow rates of 1-4 h-1 and with (H2)1HC ratios of at most 4 in the stage that implements the dehydrogenation.
8. Process according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein it is a production of aromatic compounds operating under 0.3-0.8 MPa, at 480-600 C., with volumetric flow rates of 1-4 h-1 and (H2)1HC ratios of at most 6 in the stage that implements the dehydrogenation.
9. Process according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the recycling gas contains more than 10% by volume of C2 impurities.
10. Process according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least a portion of the gas effluent that is obtained from the reduction is introduced into the stage that implements the dehydrogenation andor at least one stage is introduced following the dehydrogenation.
11. Process according to one of the preceding claims, wherein recycling gas is added in said stage following the dehydrogenation.
12. Device for the production of aromatic compounds from the hydrocarbon fraction with a catalyst that circulates in a moving bed, comprising:
at least one zone for the treatment of the fraction that implements a reaction for dehydrogenation of naphthenes, whereby said zone is equipped with at least one pipe for the introduction of the fraction, at least one pipe for drawing off said treated fraction, at least one pipe for the introduction of the catalyst at the top of said zone, and at least one pipe for the output of the catalyst and located at the bottom of said zone, whereby said zone also comprises at least one pipe for the introduction of a gas that contains hydrogen and also comprises at least one pipe for the extraction of a gas flow;
at least one zone for the separation of the catalyst, the liquid product and the gas effluent that contains hydrogen;
at least one zone for the regeneration of the catalyst;
at least one zone for the reduction of the regenerated catalyst connected to said zone that implements the dehydrogenation of naphthenes such that the reduced catalyst enters said dehydrogenation zone via said pipe for the introduction of the catalyst, whereby said reduction zone is equipped
with at least one pipe for the introduction of gas that contains hydrogen,
and at least one pipe for the extraction of a gas flow;
at least one pipe for the recycling of at least a portion of the gas effluent that contains hydrogen from said separation zone to said zone that implements the dehydrogenation reaction;
device characterized in that it also comprises at least one pipe for the recycling of at least a portion of the gas effluent that contains hydrogen in the pipe for the introduction of gas into said reduction zone.
13. Device according to claim 12, wherein it comprises at least one reaction zone that is located after said zone that implements the dehydrogenation reaction, whereby said reaction zone comprises at least one pipe for the input of the catalyst and one pipe for its output, at least one pipe for the introduction of a gas that contains hydrogen, and at least one pipe for the output of a gas effluent, and at least one pipe for the input of the reaction effluent that is obtained from the preceding zone, and a pipe for the reaction effluent that is obtained from this zone, device in which the pipe for the introduction of a gas that contains hydrogen is connected to pipes for the extraction of gas flows that are obtained from the dehydrogenation zone and the reduction zone.
14. Device according to claim 13, wherein the pipe for the introduction of a gas that contains hydrogen is also connected to a pipe that provides the recycled gas effluent.

What is claimed is:

1. A magnetic head comprising:
a first spin valve element;
a second spin valve element; and
a non-magnetic spacer layer formed between the first spin valve element and the second spin valve element;
the first spin valve element including:
a first antiferromagnetic film
a first ferromagnetic film;
a first non-magnetic film;
a second ferromagnetic film;
a second non-magnetic film of which magnetization direction can be rotated in respect to an external magnetic field; and
a first soft magnetic film;
the second spin valve element including:
a second antiferromagnetic film;
a third ferromagnetic film;
a third non-magnetic film; and
a second soft magnetic film of which the magnetization direction can be rotated in respect to an external magnetic field; wherein:
the magnetization direction of the first ferromagnetic film and the magnetization direction of the second ferromagnetic film are in an antiparallel state;
the magnetization direction of the second ferromagnetic film and the magnetization direction of the third ferromagnetic film are in an antiparallel state; and
the first soft magnetic film and the second soft magnetic film are arranged to be symmetrical with respect to the non-magnetic spacer layer.
2. A magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein said first non-magnetic medium layer consists of any one of metal layers selected from a group of Ru, Rh, Ir, Cr, and Cu or consists of an alloy containing some of these metals.
3. A magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein said second non-magnetic film and said third non-magnetic film comprise a Cu layer.
4. A magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the product of the film thickness and saturation magnetization of said first ferromagnetic film is larger than the product of the film thickness and saturation magnetization of said second ferromagnetic film.
5. A magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the magnetization direction of said first ferromagnetic film and said third ferromagnetic film is prescribed to be in the same direction.
6. A magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the magnetization direction of said first ferromagnetic film and said third ferromagnetic film is prescribed by antiferromagnetic films or hard magnetic films which are respectively in contact with both said first ferromagnetic film and said third ferromagnetic film.
7. A magnetic head according to claim 1 in which a film thickness of the second ferromagnetic film is smaller than a film thickness of the first ferromagnetic film.
8. A magnetic head comprising:
a first spin valve element;
a second spin valve element; and
a non-magnetic spacer layer formed between the first spin valve element and the second spin valve element;
the first spin valve element including:
a first antiferromagnetic film
a first ferromagnetic film;
a first non-magnetic film made of Ru;
a second ferromagnetic film;
a second non-magnetic film of which the magnetization direction can be rotated in respect to an external magnetic field; and
a first soft magnetic film;
the second spin valve element including:
a second antiferromagnetic film;
a third ferromagnetic film;
a third non-magnetic film; and
a second soft magnetic film of which the magnetization direction can be rotated in respect to an external magnetic field; wherein:
the magnetization direction of the second ferromagnetic film and the magnetization direction of the third ferromagnetic film are in an antiparallel state; and
the first soft magnetic film and the second soft magnetic film are arranged to be symmetrical with respect to the non-magnetic spacer layer.
9. A magnetic head according to claim 8, wherein said first non-magnetic medium layer consists of any one of metal layers selected from a group of Ru, Rh, Ir, Cr, and Cu or consists of an alloy containing some of these metals.
10. A magnetic head according to claim 8, wherein said second non-magnetic film and said third non-magnetic film comprise a Cu layer.
11. A magnetic head according to claim 8, wherein the product of the film thickness and saturation magnetization of said first ferromagnetic film is larger than the product of the film thickness and saturation magnetization of said second ferromagnetic film.
12. A magnetic head according to claim 8, wherein the magnetization direction of said first ferromagnetic film and said third ferromagnetic film is prescribed to be in the same direction.
13. A magnetic head according to claim 8, wherein the magnetization direction of said first ferromagnetic film and said third ferromagnetic film is prescribed by antiferromagnetic films or hard magnetic films which are respectively in contact with both said first ferromagnetic film and said third ferromagnetic film.
14. A magnetic head according to claim 8 in which a film thickness of the second ferromagnetic film is smaller than a film thickness of the first ferromagnetic film.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method for authenticating a user, comprising the steps of:
receiving a claim from an individual claiming to be an enrolled user;
retrieving a stored electroencephalographic response profile associated with the enrolled user, the electroencephalographic response profile being generated as a result of supervised enrollment process based a shared secret, wherein the shared secret comprises a sequence of visual elements which follows an explicit rule known by the enrolled user during the supervised enrollment process, wherein the explicit rule specifies at least one of a relationship between the visual elements and an allowed sequence of the visual elements;
presenting perceptory stimuli to the individual, the perceptory stimuli comprising the shared secret;
obtaining at least one electroencephalographic response from the individual in response to the perceptory stimuli comprising said shared secret presented to the individual; and
authenticating the individual’s claim as being the enrolled user based on the obtained electroencephalographic response, wherein authenticating comprises:
detecting a pattern of P300 event-related potentials in the obtained electroencephalographic response, wherein a P300 event-related potential comprises a prominent peak detectable in an electroencephalographic signal after about 300 milliseconds (ms) following a perceptory stimulus;
time-aligning the detected pattern of P300 event-related potentials with the perceptory stimuli presented to the individual;
comparing the detected pattern of P300 event-related potentials with an expected pattern of P300 event-related potentials as provided by the stored electroencephalographic response profile associated with the enrolled user, wherein an unexpectedly produced P300 event-related potential in the detected pattern is indicative of an imposter;
determining an authentication score based on results of said comparing; and
comparing the determined authentication score to a predetermined authentication threshold value to positively authenticate the individual as being the claimed enrolled user when the authentication score exceeds the predetermined authentication threshold or to reject the individual as an imposter when the authentication score does not exceed the predetermined authentication threshold.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing the supervised enrollment process, wherein the supervised enrollment process comprises:
presenting a set of perceptory stimuli to a user to be enrolled, wherein the set of perceptory stimuli comprises one or more sequences of visual elements that follow the explicit rule and one or more sequences of visual elements that violate the explicit rule, and wherein the user is informed of the explicit rule before being presented with the set of perceptory stimuli;
recording a set of electroencephalographic responses of the user in response to the set of perceptory stimuli presented to the user, wherein the set of electroencephalographic responses comprises at least one P300 event-related potential which corresponds to the occurrence of a violation of the explicit rule; and
analyzing the set of recorded electroencephalographic responses to generate a set of results which are stored as part of the electroencephalographic response profile of the enrolled user.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of confirming the consistency of the set of results by repeating the supervised enrollment process.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication score comprises a negative cumulative distance measure obtained using a dynamic time-warping process.
5. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement the method of claim 1.
6. A method for authenticating a user, comprising the steps of:
receiving a claim from an individual claiming to be an enrolled user;
retrieving a stored electroencephalographic response profile associated with the enrolled user, the electroencephalographic response profile being generated as a result of an unsupervised enrollment process based on an implicit rule, said implicit rule being learned from electroencephalographic signals obtained in response to the user being presented with one or more training sequences of visual elements, wherein the implicit rule specifies at least one of a relationship between the visual elements and an allowed sequence of the visual elements;
presenting perceptory stimuli to the individual, the perceptory stimuli comprising a sequence of visual elements that follow the implicit rule;
obtaining at least one electroencephalographic response from the individual in response to the perceptory stimuli presented to the individual; and
authenticating the individual’s claim as being the enrolled user based on the obtained electroencephalographic response, wherein authenticating comprises:
detecting a pattern of P300 event-related potentials in the obtained electroencephalographic response, wherein a P300 event-related potential comprises a prominent peak detectable in an electroencephalographic signal after about 300 milliseconds (ms) following a perceptory stimulus;
time-aligning the detected pattern of P300 event-related potentials with the perceptory stimuli presented to the individual;
comparing the detected pattern of P300 event-related potentials with an expected pattern of P300 event-related potentials as provided by the stored electroencephalographic response profile associated with the enrolled user, wherein an unexpectedly produced P300 event-related potential in the detected pattern is indicative of an imposter;
determining an authentication score based on results of said comparing; and
comparing the determined authentication score to a predetermined authentication threshold value to positively authenticate the individual as being the claimed enrolled user when the authentication score exceeds the predetermined authentication threshold or to reject the individual as an imposter when the authentication score does not exceed the predetermined authentication threshold.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising performing the unsupervised enrollment process, wherein the unsupervised enrollment process comprises:
presenting a set of training perceptory stimuli to a user to be enrolled, wherein the set of training perceptory stimuli comprises one or more training sequences of visual elements;
recording a set of electroencephalographic responses generated in response to the user being presented with the one or more training sequences of visual elements;
analyzing the set of recorded electroencephalographic responses to learn at least one rule;
presenting, to the user, at least one perceptory stimuli that is based on the at least one learned rule;
recording a second set of electroencephalographic responses generated in response to the user being presented with the at least one perceptory stimuli based on the at least one learned rule; and
using the recorded second set of electroencephalographic responses to perform a consistency check for the at least one learned rule.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein during the unsupervised enrollment process, the user is not informed of the one or more rules that are learned from the training set of perceptory stimuli.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein during the unsupervised enrollment process, the user selects one of the one or more implicit rules that are learned from the training set of perceptory stimuli.
10. The method of claim 6, wherein the authentication score comprises a negative cumulative distance measure obtained using a dynamic time-warping process.
11. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement the method of claim 6.
12. An apparatus, comprising:
a memory configured to store program instructions; and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the stored program instructions to execute a process to authenticate a user, the process comprising:
receiving a claim from an individual claiming to be an enrolled user;
retrieving a stored electroencephalographic response profile associated with the enrolled user, the electroencephalographic response profile being generated as a result of supervised enrollment process based a shared secret, wherein the shared secret comprises a sequence of visual elements which follows an explicit rule known by the enrolled user during the supervised enrollment process, wherein the explicit rule specifies at least one of a relationship between the visual elements and an allowed sequence of the visual elements;
presenting perceptory stimuli to the individual, the perceptory stimuli comprising the shared secret;
obtaining at least one electroencephalographic response from the individual in response to the perceptory stimuli comprising said shared secret presented to the individual; and
authenticating the individual’s claim as being the enrolled user based on the obtained electroencephalographic response, wherein authenticating comprises:
detecting a pattern of P300 event-related potentials in the obtained electroencephalographic response, wherein a P300 event-related potential comprises a prominent peak detectable in an electroencephalographic signal after about 300 milliseconds (ms) following a perceptory stimulus;
time-aligning the detected pattern of P300 event-related potentials with the perceptory stimuli presented to the individual;
comparing the detected pattern of P300 event-related potentials with an expected pattern of P300 event-related potentials as provided by the stored electroencephalographic response profile associated with the enrolled user, wherein an unexpectedly produced P300 event-related potential in the detected pattern is indicative of an imposter;
determining an authentication score based on results of said comparing; and
comparing the determined authentication score to a predetermined authentication threshold value to positively authenticate the individual as being the claimed enrolled user when the authentication score exceeds the predetermined authentication threshold or to reject the individual as an imposter when the authentication score does not exceed the predetermined authentication threshold.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the process further comprises performing the supervised enrollment process, wherein the supervised enrollment process comprises:
presenting a set of perceptory stimuli to a user to be enrolled, wherein the set of perceptory stimuli comprises one or more sequences of visual elements that follow the explicit rule and one or more sequences of visual elements that violate the explicit rule, and wherein the user is informed of the explicit rule before being presented with the set of perceptory stimuli;
recording a set of electroencephalographic responses of the user in response to the set of perceptory stimuli presented to the user, wherein the set of electroencephalographic responses comprises at least one P300 event-related potential which corresponds to the occurrence of a violation of the explicit rule; and
analyzing the set of recorded electroencephalographic responses to generate a set of results which are stored as part of the electroencephalographic response profile of the enrolled user.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the authentication score comprises a negative cumulative distance measure obtained using a dynamic time-warping process.