An angled-stripe superluminescent laser diode (SLD) light source emits both coherent and incoherent radiation simultaneously, but the two beams are separated spatially. A method and apparatus for stabilizing the emission wavelength of a broadbent light source for a fiber-optic rotation-sensing gyro uses the coherent radiation from an angled-stripe SLD as the optical source in a large-optical-pathlength-difference interferometer to generate an error signal which is fed back to the current source of the SLD to stabilize the wavelength of the incoherent part of the SLD light output.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to superluminescent diodes. In particular, it relates to angled-stripe devices and methods of stabilizing the wavelengths of these broad-bandwidth optical sources.
2. Description of the Related Art
The design of an interferometric fiber-optic sensing system depends on the stability of the wavelength of the optical source. In particular, for the fiber-optic rotation sensors to be useful in navigation, the emission wavelength of the optical source must be controlled to one part in a million or better.
Wavelength stabilization of the optical source has been accomplished by using a thermally-compensated optical interferometer to detect changes in the emission wavelength of the source. In a thermally-compensated interferometer, the interferometer is designed so that phase shifts occur in the interferometer only in response to shifts in the wavelength of the incident light and not in response to changes in ambient temperature. Shifts in the source wavelength generate an error signal in the interferometer. This signal is used to correct the emission wavelength of the source.
The light source most suitable for the fiber-optic rotation sensor is the superluminescent laser diode or SLD. The SLD emits in a broad spectral band which reduces phase noise in the sensor caused by the Kerr effect and by coherent backscatter in the fiber. The SLD most often used for rotation sensors is a device which is a modified laser diode. In the SLD, the optical feedback present in laser diodes is suppressed by either anti-reflection coating of the laser diode facets, or by truncating the current stripe on the diode so that there is a light-absorbing region between the end of the truncated stripe and the rear facet of the diode. Because of the absence of feedback, these devices emit only incoherent light, the type of light that is required by the fiber-optic rotation sensor.
Although the SLD's fabricated by either the truncated current-stripe method or with anti-reflection coatings are appropriate as sources for fiber-optic rotation sensors, high accuracy control of the emission wavelength of these devices is made difficult by the short coherence length of the source. For these devices, this length is typically on the order of 20 um to 60 um. To generate an error signal in response to changes in the emission wavelength of the source, interferometers must therefore be designed and fabricated with optical pathlength differences (opds) on the order of the coherence length of the SLD.
The design and fabrication of short opd interferometers is challenging and expensive. In addition, because the sensitivity of an interferometer to wavelength changes is proportional to the opd between the interfering optical waves, it is most desirable to use thermally-compensated interferometers with large opds that are inexpensive and easy to fabricate.
Because of its structure, the angled-stripe SLD permits feedback in a restricted section of its waveguide channel as well as incoherent emission in the direction parallel to the stripe. These two light beams are spatially separated, with the coherent output normal to the air/GaAs (gallium arsenide) chip interface and the incoherent refracting into the air at an angle determined by the angle between the stripe and the normal to the chip.
The emitted coherent light has a narrow bandwidth, and hence, a large coherence length which is necessary for high accuracy sensing of wavelength shifts in the source emission. The incoherent output is broadband and appropriate for use in the fiber-optic rotation sensor.
The shifts in the emission wavelength of the source are caused by changes in either the injection current to the device or in the device temperature. Such changes will result in wavelength shifts in both the coherent and the incoherent light beams.
In the angled-stripe configuration, because the coherent and incoherent emissions share the same active region, the temperature in the coherent light region is the same as that in the incoherent light region. Therefore, temperature changes in the active region will result in the same wavelength shifts in both the coherent and incoherent light emissions. These shifts are detected by a highly sensitive, large-opd-interferometer, and are used to generate an error signal which is used to control the temperature and/or the injection current in the active region of the SLD.

High-accuracy wavelength stabilization of angled-stripe super luminescent laser diode sources


A method, apparatus, and computer program product for accessing a device. The device receives a key from an operating system in response to the device in a locked state being connected to a data processing system after the operating system for the data processing system is running. The device compares the key received from the operating system with a set of keys stored in the device. The key is based on a system identifier for the data processing system and a password. The device determines whether a match is present between the key and the set of keys. The device changes the device from the locked state to an unlocked state in response to a determination that the match is present.

1. Field:
The present disclosure relates generally to data processing systems and, in particular, to storage devices used in data processing systems. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to accessing a removable storage device connected to a data processing system while the operating system is running.
2. Description of the Related Art
Storage devices, such as hard disk drives, solid state disk drives, flash drives, and other suitable types of storage, are used to store information in a data processing system. These types of storage devices may use encryption software or hardware to encrypt some or all of the data on the storage device. For example, in a hard disk drive, full disk encryption or file-system level encryption may be used to encrypt data. File-system level encryption encrypts the files but does not typically encrypt file system metadata. With full disk encryption, every bit of data that is stored on the hard disk drive is encrypted. Full disk encryption may be used with a truss-to-platform module. A truss-to-platform module is a crypto processor that may be embedded in the motherboard and used to authenticate the hard disk drive. A crypto processor is a dedicated processor for carrying out cryptographic operations. With full disk encryption, access to a hard disk drive is provided only with the proper authentication of the entity requesting access. This entity may be a user entering a user identifier and password, a truss-to-platform module sending the appropriate token or key, or some other suitable entity. Without proper authentication, access to the data on the hard disk drive does not occur.
Various mechanisms are present for allowing a hard disk drive to be moved from one computer to another computer. For example, when a hard disk drive is moved to another computer, a password may be given to that computer to provide access to the hard disk drive.

Enabling access to removable hard disk drives

International Business Machines Corporation


An attachment coupler includes a first arm and a second arm, each including a U-shaped portion, and upper portions of the first and second arms being swingably connected by a swing shaft, and an expansion-contraction tool which opens and closes the first and second arms around the swing shaft as a fulcrum. A locking member provided with a cam and a hook provided with a cam follower are rotatably provided on the second arm. A state in which a free end of the hook is removed from an opening of the U-shaped portion is maintained by engagement of the cam and the cam follower during contraction of the expansion-contraction tool. The cam follower is driven by the cam along with rotation of the locking member during expansion of the expansion-contraction tool, thereby causing the free end of the hook to advance toward the opening of the U-shaped portion.

The present invention relates to a coupler for attaching, removing, or replacing an attachment such as a bucket, a clamshell bucket, or a vibration crusher which is secured to the end of an arm of a working machine such as a power shovel.
A working machine (e.g. power shovel) widely used for engineering work must be provided with various attachments such as a clamshell bucket or a vibration crusher instead of a bucket depending on the type of work.
In a small-scale construction site, it is generally necessary to carry out various types of work utilizing one power shovel. In such construction work, the attachment must be replaced each time the type of work changes.
An attachment coupler has been used in order to easily and quickly perform the replacement operation.
For example, a conventional coupler shown in FIG. 10 includes a base 120A and a slider 130A, and is attached to a power shovel by pivotally attaching the base portion of the coupler to a front link 82 and an arm 81 using pins 121 and 131.
A conventional coupler shown in FIG. 11 includes a link plate 120B and a link plate 130B, and is attached to a power shovel by pivotally attaching the base portion of the coupler to the front link 82 and the arm 81 using the pins 121 and 131.
U-shaped portions 122 and 132 which face each other (FIG. 10) or face in opposite directions (FIG. 11) are provided on the end of the coupler, and an expansion-contraction tool 140 such as a screw rod or a hydraulic cylinder is provided for adjusting the distance between the U-shaped portions 122 and 132.
Pins 2 and 3 are provided in advance to an attachment 1 such as a bucket. The pins 2 and 3 of the bucket are inserted into the U-shaped portions 122 and 132. The bucket 1 is secured by applying a pulling force (FIG. 10) or a separating force (FIG. 11) using the expansion-contraction tool 140.
In the coupler having such a structure, an abnormal force may be applied to the pins or the U-shaped portions 122 and 132 when foreign matter enters the U-shaped portions 122 and 132, whereby the coupler may break or the pins 2 and 3 of the attachment 1 may be removed from the U-shaped portions 122 and 132. In the worst case, the attachment 1 falls, thereby endangering the workers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,467 discloses technology of securing an attachment by engaging posts provided on the ends of an arm and a front link with sockets provided in a bucket. However, since a dedicated engagement structure must be provided to the coupler and the attachment, this technology lacks versatility and results in poor workability.


Provided are a current mode differential transmission method and system for differentially transmitting three units of data using four signal lines. The method includes: dividing the four signal lines 1a, 1b, 2a and 2b into two pairs of signal lines 1a/1b and 2a/2b, and differentially transmitting respective data (first data and second data) via the two pairs of signal lines 1a/1b and 2a/2b; and transmitting the other data (third data) by differentially changing common mode currents of the two pairs of signal lines 1a/1b and 2a/2b.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0055462, filed on Jul. 16, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a current mode differential transmission method and system for differentially transmitting three units of data using four signal lines.
2. Description of the Related Art
As well-known to those in the art, a signal transmission system is divided into a single ended transmission system and a differential transmission system. The single ended transmission system transmits a signal using one signal line and a common ground line. In the single ended transmission system, a base power source (for example, 0 voltage) is conducted to the common ground line, and a voltage, i.e., a potential difference, between the one signal line and the common ground line varies according to a data value to be transmitted. When the single ended transmission system transmits a digital signal, a reference voltage is necessary to determine whether a signal received in a receiver is 0 or 1. That is, the signal is determined as 1 when a received signal voltage is larger than the reference voltage and 0 when the received signal voltage is smaller than the reference voltage.
A single ended transmission method using the reference voltage has two problems when transmitting data at a high data rate. First, noise is mixed in the reference voltage, and a noise margin is reduced. Accordingly, errors are frequently generated when restoring the data. Second, a waveform of a transmitted signal is distorted due to switching noise such as ground bounce due to the high data rate transmission. Since this common mode noise cannot be removed in a receiver, errors are frequently generated when restoring the data.
Therefore, in order to transmit data at a high data rate, a differential transmission method is typically used. In the differential transmission method, a common ground line, a data line, and a complementary data line are used. That is, when data is transmitted, a signal corresponding to the data and a signal complemented to the data are transmitted via respective signal lines. In a receiver, 0 or 1 is determined according to which signal line of the two signal lines has a larger voltage value. Therefore, in the differential transmission method, since voltages of the two signal lines are used as reference voltages to each other, an additional reference voltage is not necessary. Also, since a differential mode voltage of the two signal lines is used in the receiver, the common mode noise generated due to the high data rate transmission is reduced. Accordingly, a signal transmission rate can be largely increased in the differential transmission method compared with the single ended transmission method. Besides the two advantages in the receiver using the differential transmission method, since a constant current flows on a ground pin of a chip in a transmitter driving circuit using the differential transmission method regardless of a data value to be transmitted, the switching noise is reduced. With these advantage described above, the differential transmission method is extensively used for the high data rate transmission. However, since two chip pins and two signal lines are required for transmitting one unit of data, if the number of units of data to be transmitted in a parallel way increase, the number of signal lines and the number of chip pins increase dramatically. Accordingly, a unit price of chip increases, and distribution of signal lines is complicated.

Current mode differential transmission method and system for transmitting three units of data using four signal lines


A spin chuck in an apparatus for single wafer wet processing has structures at its periphery that, in combination with a supported wafer, form a series of annular nozzles that direct flowing gas from a chuck-facing surface of the wafer, around the edge of the wafer, and exhaust the gas away from the non-chuck-facing surface of the wafer, thereby preventing treatment fluid applied to the non-chuck-facing surface from contacting the edge region of the wafer. Retaining pins with enlarged heads engage the wafer edge and prevent it from being displaced upwardly when a high flow rate of gas is utilized.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device and a process for liquid treatment of a surface of a wafer-shaped article.
2. Description of Related Art
Liquid treatment includes both wet etching and wet cleaning, wherein the surface area of a wafer to be treated is wetted with a treatment liquid and a layer of the wafer is thereby removed or impurities are thereby carried off. A device for liquid treatment is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,717. In this device the wafer-shaped article is mounted on a spin chuck and treatment liquid is applied from above the chuck onto the surface of the wafer not facing the chuck. The distribution of the liquid may be assisted by the rotational motion of the wafer. Such rotational motion may also assist in removing the liquid from the surface of the wafer as the liquid is flung off laterally over the edge of the wafer. The '717 patent discloses a chuck that flushes the chuck-facing surface of the wafer with a gas. In doing so, an annular nozzle is formed between the peripheral edge of the chuck and the peripheral edge of the main surface of the wafer facing the chuck. The flowing gas is exhausted from this annular nozzle and thereby limits the extent to which treatment liquid can flow onto the chuck-facing surface of the wafer; however, there is no provision for limiting treatment of the edge surfaces of the wafer while treating the upper main surface of the wafer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,846 discloses guide elements on the periphery of a spin chuck that selectively engage the edge of a wafer supported by the chuck and thereby limit undesirable lateral motion of a wafer while it is being treated. Three or more pins in the shape of cylinders are disclosed as sufficient to limit the lateral motion of the wafer when spaced around the wafer and moved to engage the wafer's edge. The pins are disposed perpendicular to the main surface of the wafer and the chuck and extend above the chuck through bores. The pins extend above the edge of the wafer and move against the wafer after placement on the chuck. In the embodiment disclosed in the patent, the wafer floats above the chuck on a cushion of gas exhausted from the chuck. The gas flushes the surface of the wafer facing the chuck and is exhausted from the chuck at the peripheral edge of the wafer.
The '846 patent discloses that treatment liquid can flow along the pins when engaged against the wafer's edge and treat the lower opposite main surface of the wafer, leading to so called pin marks on the wafer's edge and chuck-facing surface. To avoid this problem, the '846 patent discloses a separate nozzle associated with each pin and localized at the pin structure to flush the pin area with a gas. The gas prevents the treatment liquid from flowing along the pin and treating the edge surfaces and chuck-facing surface of the wafer.

Device and process for liquid treatment of a wafer shaped article


A holder for an interior trim part, in particular for covering the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, has at least one supply line for guiding a temperature-controllable, liquid or gaseous fluid, to an outlet via which the fluid can emerge from the supply line, and an inlet via which the fluid can enter a discharge line. An interior trim part can be arranged on the holder in such a manner that the outlet of the holder is fluidically connected to an inlet of the interior trim part, and the inlet of the discharge line of the holder is fluidically connected to an outlet of the interior trim part.

The present invention relates to a holder for an interior trim part and to a vehicle body structure having such a holder.
In order to air condition the vehicle interior of motor vehicles, air cooling/air heating is used as standard. Hot or cold air is blown into the driver's cab or the passenger compartment in order to reach the desired required temperature. This direct air flow is frequently perceived by the vehicle occupants as unpleasant since it does not optimally distribute the heat or cold and, moreover, causes noise. An air flow on one side can result, for example, in excessively hot dry air, causing irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes, with the passengers simultaneously possibly having cold feet. Even with cold air, the respiratory tracts may be irritated or excessive cooling may occur at specific points.
In order to prevent temperature control at specific spots and the air flow which is perceived as unpleasant, and in order to make the air conditioning more pleasant, it is attempted to design the air outlet to be as large and indirect as possible. Another possibility is the generation of surface heating in the passenger compartment, wherein the temperature of the vehicle components in the interior of the passenger compartment is directly controlled. A component assembly has been proposed in DE 10 2017 206 304.1.
However, the temperature control of the passenger compartment by surface cooling/surface heating requires a multiplicity of lines behind the trim in order to be able to readily distribute the temperature-controlling capability. To connect said lines is complicated, awkward, produces additional weight, and requires additional construction space.
Taking this prior art as the starting point, it is the object of the present invention to provide a holder for an interior trim part, and a vehicle body structure with such a holder, which holder and vehicle body structure overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
This and other objects are achieved according to the invention by providing a holder for an interior trim part, in particular for covering the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. The holder includes at least one supply line for guiding a temperature-controllable fluid to an outlet from which the fluid can emerge from the supply line. The holder further includes an inlet via which the fluid can enter a discharge line. Furthermore, an interior trim part can be arrangeable on the holder in such a manner that the outlet of the holder is fluidically connected to an inlet of the interior trim part, and the inlet of the discharge line of the holder is fluidically connected to an outlet of the interior trim part. This affords the advantage that the lines and connections are integrated into the substructures of the interior trim parts which are necessary in any case, and therefore the complexity when connecting the lines necessary for conducting the temperature-controllable medium is simplified. Furthermore, the material required for the lines can be saved. In other words, a holder with media supply and/or media discharge can be realized by the invention.
In particular, temperature-controlled, i.e. heated or cooled, gases are suitable here as the fluid. As an alternative thereto, however, temperature-controllable liquids such as water or oils can also be used as the fluid.
Within the context of this invention, interior trim parts are in particular dashboard carriers or instrument panel carriers, coverings of the A pillar, B pillar or C pillar, coverings of the center console, glove compartment cover, and the like.
The holder can be configured as a sill, an A, B, C or D pillar, a roof bow, a roof side frame, a floor assembly, and/or a substructure of the instrument panel carrier. This affords the advantage of a highly integrated design in which existing structural parts are used for conducting media.
Furthermore, the inlet and/or the outlet of the holder can be configured as a flexible coupling. Flexible couplings afford the advantage that manufacturing tolerances in the production of the interior trim components or of the substructures can be compensated for. Furthermore, variants of interior trim components, in which the position of the inlets and/or outlets slightly differ, can be mounted on the same type of substructure.
Alternatively thereto, the inlet and/or the outlet can be configured as a rigid plug-in connection. Rigid connections afford advantages during the installation process since the interior trim parts can simply be plugged onto the substructure, with a fluidic connection being produced at the same time.
The interior trim part can be configured as a dimensionally stable integral foam molded part, in particular composed of an injection molded integral foam component. The porous structure of the rigid foam material enables fluids to flow through the component. The outer layer of the component here is compact and ensures the tightness of the component with respect to the fluid used. This form of cooling is significantly more efficient than conventional air cooling.
The integral foam molded part can have a cellular core and a fluid-tight outer surface.
The cells of the core can be fluidically connected to one another, wherein the core is fluidically connected both to the inlet and to the outlet.
The use of an interior trim part composed of an expandable plastics material, wherein the inner region (core) has an open-pore foam structure and is integrally connected to the outer wall, affords the following advantages. Such an interior trim part can preferably be produced in an integral injection molding process (SGI). The SGI process is known from the prior art. In order to produce what are referred to as SGI components, between two mold halves which form a cavity, an expandable plastics compound is introduced into said cavity. The plastics compound here substantially completely fills the cavity and solidifies from the outer regions of the plastics compound toward the inner region of the plastics compound. As soon as the plastics compound has reached a certain degree of solidification, it loses its expandability. This effect is used to the extent that first of all there is a wait for a predetermined time until the edge regions have solidified and therefore the outer wall of the carrier part has been formed. The mold is then moved apart by what is referred to as the SGI stroke such that the cavity undergoes an increase in volume. The outer walls are likewise moved apart here such that the inner region of the plastics compound lying in between is increased. The plastics compound which has not yet solidified can now expand in the inner region of the carrier part between the outer walls. The use of an SGI component as carrier part in the production of a multi-layered plastics component affords the advantage that the inner expanded region has pores or alveoli or cells through which the fluid can diffuse or flow. Such SGI parts can be configured in the form of an expanded thermoplastic, through the foam structure of which a heating and/or cooling medium can flow. Patent application DE 102017206304 describes such a component. The latter consists of a sealed outer surface or outer wall and a cellular core. At least part of the cellular core is configured here as a heat exchange region.
Furthermore, the supply line and the discharge line can be formed integrally on the holder. The holder can thereby be used as the distributor in order to save on additional costs, additional weight, construction space and complexity due to flexible laid lines. The embedding of lines into the holder/substructure of the interior trim takes place here directly in the production process of the holder by an injection molding internal pressure process or by lines inserted and injected in the injection molding process.
In other words, the distributor channels, i.e. the supply lines and/or discharge lines, can be integrated in the holder by an—optionally partial—injection molding integral foam process. As an alternative thereto, the integration of the channels into the holder can be carried out by gas internal pressure, a water internal pressure technique or projectile technique when the holder is produced by compact injection molding.
In a further aspect, the invention relates to a vehicle body structure with a holder as described above and with an interior trim part arranged thereon, wherein the interior trim part is configured as a dimensionally stable integral foam part. As a result, a vehicle interior can be more effectively air conditioned with surface temperature control by use of a liquid/gaseous medium. The SGI interior trim parts used for this purpose are described by way of example in DE 102017206304 and, according to the invention, can be connected particularly simply to a media circuit.
Owing to the different coefficients of expansion of the materials of the holder and of the interior trim part and also the time delay in the temperature control process, expansion joints or elastic compensating elements can be structurally integrated. By way of the lines integrated in the holder/substructure, the complicated connection of additional lines for the media circuit is dispensed with. Furthermore, the installation is simplified because of the few direct connections. In addition, the space and the material for the additional lines are dispensed with.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Holder for an interior trim part, and vehicle body structure

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


An exemplary pushbutton mechanism is configured for use with a lockset including a spindle and a plunger extending into the spindle, and generally includes a first component, a second component, and a cam interface. The first component is configured for rotational coupling with the plunger and for axial coupling with the spindle, and is rotatable between a locking orientation and an unlocking orientation. The second component is configured for rotational coupling with the spindle and for axial movement relative to the first component and the spindle, and is axially movable between a depressed position and a projected position. The cam interface is configured to correlate rotation of the first component with axial displacement of the second component.

In certain existing locksets, the inside handle includes a turnpiece (e.g., a thumbturn) that is rotatable to transition the lockset between a locked state and an unlocked state. In other locksets, the inside handle includes a pushbutton, depression of which transitions the lockset from the unlocked state to the locked state. Due to the different actuating inputs (i.e., rotation vs. depression), turnpiece locksets and pushbutton locksets typically require different lock mechanisms. However, it may be desirable to provide the two formats with a common lock mechanism, for example to facilitate manufacture of both formats. Additionally, it may be desirable to convert an existing thumbturn-style lockset into a pushbutton lockset, for example in the event that the end user's preferences have changed since the time the turnpiece format lockset was installed. For these reasons among others, there remains a need for further improvements in this technological field.


The invention discloses an Ochrobactrum sp. for degrading TBBPA and its application in environmental remediation. An Ochrobactrum sp. for degrading TBBPA was isolated from the sludge in a high risk area of electronic waste in the invention. The strain is named as Ochrobactrum sp. T, which has been deposited in China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC) on Oct. 28, 2009 with an accession number of CCTCC M209246. Ochrobactrum sp. T obtained in the invention has high degradation capability to TBBPA in environment. The degradation efficiency of the strain achieves 96.2%. The strain could be applied to degrading TBBPA in environmental remediation.

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are liable to accumulate in human body as well as animal body owing to its characteristics, such as higher persistence, lipophilicity, environmental stability, poor degradability, biomagnification and so on. And BFRs could be concentrated via food chain to poison organisms in high trophic level, eventually endanger human health. The degradation of BFRs in nature has been noticed at abroad. Recent studies indicated that various BFRs could be photolyzed or biodegraded under certain conditions, and dominant microorganisms isolated from the polluted local environment could remove BFRs in environment effectively.
TBBPA is one kind of typical BFRs. The biodegradation of TBBPA has therefore become a focus of hot research. Moreover, Ochrobactrum sp. is a new genus established by Holmes et al. in 1988. The characteristics of this strain are as follows: it is an obligate aerobe; the Gram-reaction is negative while the oxidase and catalase reactions are positive; and it can't hydrolyze gelatin. The strain has the ability of utilizing different kinds of amino acid, organic acid or carbohydrate as carbon sources. An Ochrobactrum sp. capable of degrading TBBPA has not been isolated up to date.

Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Science


An information exchange platform receives a file from a client system and processes the file for delivery to a trading partner (TP) of the client system. The TP does not need to be a client of the information exchange platform. So long as the file has some identifying information such as an email address that uniquely identifies the TP within a custom solution for the client system, the information exchange platform can automatically and programmatically provision the TP. An auto-provisioning subsystem is operable to create and/or configure information needed to complete the processing of the file just in time, including creating a legal entity and a routing address for the TP. When completed, the file is processed into a deliverable, which is then provided for delivery to the TP just in time as the file is received from the client system.

Today, enterprises and entities alike recognize the tremendous cost savings by exchanging electronic documents such as purchase orders, invoices, etc. with their trading partners via an electronic communication method referred to as the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). However, diverse trading partner capabilities and their disparate and complicated systems present technical, strategy, and/or operational challenges to those considering using EDI.
Provisioning can be representative of one such challenge. In general, provisioning refers to the act or process of supplying or providing something, or making something available. The term "provisioning" can be used in a variety of contexts in today's technological environment. For example, in the telecommunication industry, the concept of network provisioning may refer to mediating a customer's services with respect to telecommunication network elements. In enterprise computing, provisioning may refer to the enterprise-wide configuration, deployment, and management of multiple types of enterprise system resources for enterprise customers. Regardless of these technological contexts, provisioning can generally be thought of as a combination of complex tasks performed by technical and non-technical humans (e.g., account representatives, information technology (IT) professionals, etc.) using various tools in an enterprise computing environment to set up accounts for users such that the users can, based on their individual unique user identity, access data repositories or are granted authorization to utilize the enterprise's software and hardware resources such as systems, applications, and databases in a controlled manner that ensures the security of the enterprise's resources. From the perspective of a customer of the enterprise (e.g., an operator of an EDI platform), provisioning can be thought of as a form of customer service.
Since it is in the enterprise's best interest to protect its resources from unauthorized accesses, customers of the enterprise in general do not have access to the enterprise's resources until they are properly provisioned. Unfortunately, because of the complexity involved, provisioning for a new customer can be a long and tedious manual process. At times, the length of time it takes an enterprise to provision a new customer may lead to poor customer satisfaction. Further, customers of the enterprise in general have no control as to how, when, and/or for whom an enterprise's provisioning may be performed.

Just-in-time auto-provisioning systems and methods for information exchange platform


A slurry polishing apparatus (100) comprises an assembly of an upper slurry input/output section (108), a polishing section (110), and a lower slurry input/output section (112). Each of the apparatus sections are individually detachable from the assembly to facilitate insertion and removal of a hydrodynamic or aerodynamic machine part having a complex surface shape such as a turbine fan (102). A plurality of upper slurry deflector blades (124) and lower slurry deflector blades (126) are removably attached to the polishing section (110), and positioned in the slurry flow path so as to direct the slurry mixture evenly over the entire surface of each respective fan blade (104), and corresponding exposed intermediary rotor surface (106). Because the high pressure slurry mixture flows evenly over the exposed fan surfaces, a consistent removal of metal stock is achieved across the entire polished surface. Thus, the need for additional slurry polishing and tedious hand blending to correct inconsistencies in the stock removal is dramatically reduced. Furthermore, a reduction in the amount of hand blending performed on the fan (102) proportionally decreases the likely occurrence of alpha case microfractures in the finished surface.

The present invention relates generally to slurry polishing processes for finely polishing machined or cast metal parts, and more particularly to an apparatus which controls the slurry flow during the polishing process.
The machining or casting of mechanical parts typically creates surface asperities such as tool marks, cast lines, or overall surface roughness. Certain types of machined or cast parts, such as stators and rotors used in hydrodynamic or aerodynamic applications, usually require polishing to give smooth, even surfaces before the parts can be utilized. One known polishing process involves forcing a fluid containing an extremely abrasive grit to flow over the desired part surfaces to produce finely polished surfaces. This type of polishing process, commonly known as a slurry polishing process, entails adjusting the viscosity and the abrasive loading of the slurry (fluid) to control the amount of necessary metal removal for the desired surface finish.
A slurry polishing process generally provides sufficient results when applied to simple surface shapes. However, a part having complex surface shapes and passages is not particularly suited for conventional slurry polishing because the complex surface tends to cause a nonuniform slurry flow when polished. Consequently, the nonuniform slurry flow provides inconsistent metal stock removal, i.e., excessive stock removal in certain areas of the machined or cast part, and inadequate removal in other areas.
As a consequence, metal parts having a complex surface shape have generally been hand-blended (i.e., hand grinding or sanding). Particularly complex metal parts, such as turbine rotors, typically require many tedious hours of hand blending to achieve the desired surface finish. Further, microfractures, known as alpha case microfractures, are commonly encountered due to heat build-up on the machined or cast part during the hand blending process. Alpha case microfractures are highly undesirable because of the resulting metal fatigue incurred by the polished part.


A sensor includes a detecting oscillator supported in such a manner that the detecting oscillator is allowed to oscillate; first and second electrodes; a detecting electrode facing the first and second electrodes; and signal supplying units configured to supply first and second AC signals respectively to the first and second electrodes. Either the first and second electrodes or the detecting electrode is provided on the detecting oscillator. The first and second AC signals respectively supplied to the first and second electrodes by the signal supplying units cause the detecting oscillator to be maintained at a neutral position for detection without being displaced when no physical quantity is input. When the detecting oscillator is displaced, an input physical quantity is detected on the basis of a signal corresponding to charges induced at the detecting electrode by the first and second AC signals supplied respectively to the first and second electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sensor that detects a physical quantity, such as an angular velocity or an acceleration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oscillation angular velocity sensors that use micro electro mechanical systems (MEMSs) have been proposed. In this type of angular velocity sensor, an oscillator is caused to perform a reference oscillation with a certain amplitude, and a Coriolis force that is generated upon input of an angular velocity is detected in the form of a displacement of oscillation of the oscillator. The oscillator must be designed so that the oscillator can readily oscillate in a direction for the reference oscillation and in a direction for detection. However, according to this scheme, the reference oscillation could cause oscillation in the direction for detection (a type of oscillation noise), and this might degrade the precision of a detection signal. In a scheme that has been proposed in view of this problem, an oscillator for reference oscillation (reference oscillator) and an oscillator for detection (detecting oscillator) are provided separately (this scheme is called the double-frame scheme).
As an example of a double-frame angular velocity sensor, in an angular velocity sensor proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,672, a donut-shaped reference oscillator supporting a disk-shaped detecting oscillator is caused to perform a reciprocating rotational oscillation, and the magnitude (maximum inclination) of oscillation caused by an angular velocity of the detecting oscillator provided inner to the reference oscillator is detected. According to this configuration, since it becomes easier to separate oscillation of the reference oscillator and oscillation of the detecting oscillator, the problem of degradation in the precision of a detection signal due to oscillation of the detecting oscillator caused by oscillation of the reference oscillator is alleviated.
In the angular velocity sensor described above, an angular velocity is detected on the basis of inclination of the detecting oscillator about a rotation axis for detection. The degree of inclination of the detecting oscillator can be recognized by detecting change in capacitance between a surface of the detecting oscillator and an opposing surface. More specifically, on a surface opposing the detecting oscillator (denoted by 70 in U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,672), detecting electrodes (denoted by 104 and 106 in FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,672) having semicircular shapes are provided. The degree of inclination of the detecting oscillator can be detected by detecting capacitances between the detecting oscillator and the individual detecting electrodes.
FIGS. 12A to 12C show the configuration according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,672, in a simplified manner with the reference oscillator omitted. FIG. 12A is a top view in which the vicinity of a detecting oscillator in a double-frame angular velocity sensor is shown as enlarged. FIGS. 12B and 12C are sectional views taken along line XIIB-XIIB perpendicularly to the sheet. In FIGS. 12A to 12C, 401 denotes a detecting oscillator, 402 denotes an upper electrode, 403 denotes a first lower electrode, and 404 denotes a second lower electrode. Furthermore, 405 denotes a left-half upper electrode, 406 denotes a right-half upper electrode, 407 denotes a lower supporting substrate, 408 denotes a rotation axis of the detecting electrode, and 409 denotes supports for the detecting oscillator 401.
In FIG. 12A, the detecting oscillator 401 and the supports 409 are indicated by dotted lines, and the first lower electrode 403 and the second lower electrode 404 provided on the lower supporting substrate 407 are indicated by solid lines. The upper electrode 402 and a reference oscillation generator are not shown in FIG. 12A.
The detecting oscillator 401 has a disk-like shape, and is supported by the supports 409 from above and below as shown in FIG. 12A. The detecting oscillator 401 is designed so that the detecting oscillator 401 can readily perform a reciprocating rotational oscillation in a direction of an arrow R about the rotation axis 408. The detecting oscillator 401 detects a Coriolis force on the basis of the magnitude of inclination of the detecting oscillator 401. On the detecting oscillator 401, the upper electrode 402 is provided. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the upper electrode 402 is composed of the left-half detecting electrode 405 and the right-half detecting electrode 406 on either side of the rotation axis 408.
On the lower supporting substrate 407 facing the upper electrode 402, the first lower electrode 403 and the second lower electrode 404 are provided. The first lower electrode 403 and the second lower electrode 404 are disposed line-symmetrically with respect to a center line (the rotation axis 408) of the supports 409 for the detecting oscillator 401.
Now, a case will be considered where the degree of inclination of the detecting oscillator 401 is detected on the basis of capacitances between the upper electrode 402 on the detecting oscillator 401 and the lower electrodes 403 and 404 on the lower supporting substrate 407.
Next, a capacitance CL between the upper electrode 402 and the first lower electrode 403 in FIG. 12B will be considered. The capacitance CL can be considered as a combined capacitance of a capacitance C1 between the left-half upper electrode 405 and the first lower electrode 403 and a capacitance C3 between the right-half upper electrode 406 and the first lower electrode 403. The distance between the left-half upper electrode 405 and the first lower electrode 403 is shorter than the distance between the right-half upper electrode 406 and the first lower electrode 403. Thus, the capacitance C1 is larger than the capacitance C3.
When the detecting oscillator 401 is inclined about the rotation axis 408 as shown in FIG. 12C, the distance between the detecting oscillator 401 and the first lower electrode 403 increases, and the distance between the detecting oscillator 401 and the second lower electrode 404 decreases. Since the capacitance CL is proportional to the electrode area and is inversely proportional to the distance between electrodes, the value of the capacitance C1 decreases and the value of the capacitance C3 increases. Since the capacitance C1 is larger than the capacitance C3, the amount of decrease in the capacitance C1 is larger than the amount of increase in the capacitance C3. Thus, the value of the combined capacitance CL decreases.
That is, it is possible to detect inclination of the detecting oscillator 401 by detecting an increase in the distance between the left-half detecting electrode 405 and the first lower electrode 403 on the basis of a decrease in the combined capacitance CL. A capacitance CR between the upper electrode 402 on the detecting oscillator 401 and the second lower electrode 404 on the lower supporting substrate 407 can be considered similarly as a combined capacitance of capacitances C2 and C4.
In this specification, a state where no Coriolis force is exerted on a sensor so that the detecting oscillator 401 is not inclined, as shown in FIG. 12B, will be referred to as a "neutral position for detection". The supports 409 for the detecting oscillator 401 are designed so as to form springs such that the detecting oscillator 401 can readily oscillate rotationally in response to even a small Coriolis force. Thus, the detecting oscillator 204 could be caused to oscillate by electrostatic attractive forces caused by signals applied for measurement of inclination of the detecting oscillator 401. If the detecting oscillator 401 is displaced from the neutral position for detection and is caused to oscillate when no physical quantity to be detected is input as described above, then the stability of zero-point output of a detection signal is degraded and thereby sensitivity is degraded.


A system and method for tracking sensitive data uses dynamic taint analysis to track sensitive data as the data flows through a target application running on a computer system. In general, the system and method for tracking sensitive data marks data as tainted when the data input to the target application is indicated as sensitive. The system and method may then track the propagation of the tainted data as the data is read from and written to memory by the target application to detect if the tainted data is output from the application (e.g., leaked). Dynamic binary translation may be used to provide binary instrumentation of the target application for dynamic taint analysis to track propagation of the tainted data at the instruction level and/or the function level. Of course, many alternatives, variations, and modifications are possible without departing from this embodiment.

Computer software applications, such as web browsers and word processors, receive and manipulate various types of user data including certain types of sensitive or private user data that is not meant to be shared. Examples of such sensitive data include credit card numbers, account number and confidential documents. Although the user may expect the applications to maintain the privacy of this data, many applications have leaks that allow the sensitive data to escape without user authorization or knowledge. In some cases, malicious applications (i.e., malware) intentionally seek to obtain sensitive data from other software applications. In other cases, applications merely allow data to escape as part of the normal operation. Network applications, for example, may disclose various types of personal information (e.g., search terms, user terms, system configuration) to their publishers and/or to third parties. Other applications leak information via temporary copies or cached file snapshots. The user generally does not know exactly what sensitive data these applications have leaked.
Existing tools, such as file encryption and firewalls, provide limited protection for such sensitive data when using a network. Such tools may fail to provide protection, however, once an application is authorized to read the user data and has access to output channels. Firewalls in particular may not protect leaks to a filesystem and may not block leaks to already established connections. Other existing tools for determining when sensitive data has been leaked inspect network traffic or file content and search for possible copies of sensitive data. Because these tools rely on pattern matching, they are prone to errors, for example, when the sensitive data is encrypted and then leaked. Moreover, the detection often happens after the leaks occur (e.g., leaked documents are being transmitted on the network or copied into other files).
Attempts have also been made to track sensitive data as it flows or propagates through a system, but such attempts have lacked accuracy and efficiency. Hardware-level data tracking, for example, incurs significant performance and analysis overhead, which makes it unsuitable for inspecting interactive network applications. Other data tracking tools have been built directly into the operating system using system call interposition but have been unable to track data accurately when the data is transformed by the application without using the monitored system calls.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly.

Sensitive data tracking using dynamic taint analysis


An injection molded component includes a plurality of integrally formed push pins that provide a simplified attachment interface for attaching the component to a vehicle structure. The injection molded component includes a base housing component with an upper and lower surfaces. Each pin extends out from the lower surface of the base housing component to a distal end. A plurality of radially extending flanges is formed about the circumference of the distal end. The flanges are spaced apart from one another and form a retention feature that is inserted into an appropriate vehicle structural component to secure the base housing component to the vehicle. The formation of flanges on the pins eliminates the need for additional injection mold tooling actions to further form the attachment interface.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing an attachment feature on an injection molded component without requiring any additional injection mold tooling actions to further form the attachment feature.
Injection molded components are used in a variety of different applications in a vehicle. An example of one injection molded component is an air cleaner housing. In the past air cleaner housings have been installed into the vehicle by using separate push pin members and a grommet. The push pins are inserted into openings in a base portion of the air cleaner housing and are then pushed into a grommet that is mounted to a vehicle structure. This process is labor intensive and time consuming.
One proposed solution has been to incorporate the details of the push pin directly into the housing by molding pin attachment features into the base of the air cleaner housing. This current process requires extensive injection mold tool actions to form pin attachment features. These mold actions include slide actions and/or running the parting line around the particular feature to create an undercut that retains the grommet. Such additional tooling actions increase the overall cost of the component.
Thus, it is desirable to have an attachment feature that can easily be molded into an injection molded component without requiring extensive injection mold tooling actions, as well as overcoming the other above mentioned deficiencies with the prior art.
A retaining assembly is used to attach an injection molded component to a vehicle structure. The molded component includes a base portion defining a bottom surface having at least one attachment member for attachment to a vehicle structural component. The attachment member is integrally formed as one piece with the base portion such that there is a continuous unbroken surface extending between the base portion and attachment member. The attachment member is formed as a cylindrical body portion that extends to a distal end having a retention member that cooperates with the vehicle structure component to retain the molded component to the vehicle structure.
The retention member is formed with a plurality flanges spaced apart from one another and which extend out radially from the cylindrical body portion.
Preferably, the injection molded component is an air cleaner housing and the retention members are integrally formed push pins. The push pins are inserted through a grommet or other similar component to attach the housing to the appropriate vehicle structure.
In one disclosed embodiment, a pad is formed about at least a portion of the cylindrical body portion by a lower mold portion. The base portion of the component further defines a top surface that faces opposite from the bottom surface, and which includes at least one opening extending through the base portion from the top surface to the bottom surface adjacent the cylindrical body portion. The opening receives an upper mold portion, which is positioned at a predetermined distance apart from the lower mold portion. The flange is formed between the upper and lower mold portions.
The method of forming an air cleaner housing component includes the following steps. An upper mold defines a top surface of the air cleaner housing component and includes at least one transversely extending male member defining a portion of the attachment member. A lower mold defines a bottom surface of the air cleaner housing component and includes at least one female member defining a portion of the attachment member. The upper mold is positioned relative to the lower mold by inserting the male member into the female member. The upper mold and male member are held at a predetermined distance apart from the lower mold and female member to define a gap that defines the shape of the air cleaner housing component. Material is injected into the gap to integrally form the attachment member and air cleaner housing component as a single piece. Preferably, a plurality of flanges is formed at a distal end of the attachment members between the upper and lower molds.
The subject apparatus and method provide an attachment interface for an injection molded component that eliminates the need for additional injection mold tool actions, resulting in reduced costs and installation time. These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specifications and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.

Method and apparatus for attachment of air cleaner housing


A magnetic device has a contact structure including a magnetic material therein. The contact structure is magnetostatically and/or electrically coupled to a magnetic element such as one having a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) multilayer structure. The magnetic material included in the contact structure is configured to compensate for an offset field acting on the free layer of the magnetic element by reference layers of the magnetic element.

The present disclosure relates to magnetic devices such as a magnetic memory device or a spin logic device. More particularly, the principles of the present disclosure relate primarily to a contact structure that is coupled to a magnetic element such as a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) structure and is capable of compensating for an offset field, and to a method of manufacturing the same.
Successful application of spin-transfer torque in magnetic devices, including spin transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM) devices, requires overcoming a number of challenges. For example, an undesirable offset field on a free layer in a MTJ structure may need to be minimized for more stable operation of magnetic devices.
In particular, in a magnetic device, dipolar coupling or dipolar interaction can occur between a reference layer and the free layer due to the dipolar or stray fields exerted therefrom. If such dipolar interaction is significant, an undesirable offset field can be felt at the free layer. In that case, a hysteresis loop of the free layer becomes offset from a zero magnetic field, making operation of the magnetic device more difficult and significantly increasing power consumption. Furthermore, these dipolar or stray fields from the reference layer(s) can interact with adjacent free layers of adjacent magnetic elements or magnetic memory cells, which may further disrupt the operation of the magnetic device. Reducing the offset field can be an issue for any magnetic device. However, the problem of minimizing the offset field becomes increasingly difficult with the scaling down of the magnetic devices.
For these reasons, without reducing the offset field to an acceptable level, the magnetic devices may not provide a viable option for the electronic industry, and may not provide a suitable replacement for conventional semiconductor devices such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), flash memories, and static random access memories (SRAMs) as hoped.

Magnetic device having a magnetic material in a contact structure coupled to a magnetic element and method of manufacture thereof


A composition, preferably used to reduce methane formation in a ruminant, wherein the composition is a combination of a polycyclic quinone compound and an ionophore compound.

Control of methane production by methanogenic bacteria in ruminant animals has important agronomic impact. Use of inhibitors to control the methane produced by ruminants has been recognized as a part of the mechanism for feed efficiency that results when mixed with cattle feed for both dairy and meat production. An effective additive to boost ruminant feed efficiency is a well-established part of the agronomic practice for commercial ruminant farming.
Methanogenic bacteria form methane by an anaerobic process. The group comprises the genera Methanococcus, Methanobacterium, Methanosarcina, Methanobrevibacter, Methanothermus, Methanothrix, Methanospirillum, Methanomicrobium, Methanococcoides, Methanogenium and Methanoplanus.
Inhibitors of methanogenesis in rumen perform two important functions. Cows and sheep lose 5-10% of their caloric intake to the formation of methane and the resulting loss of a carbon molecule that could have been incorporated in short chain fatty acid production. Inhibition of methane will, therefore, have a direct effect on the formation of short chain fatty acids in the rumen. Other investigators have reported the positive effect of inhibiting methane in rumen fermentation (C. J. Van Nevel, D. I. Demeyer, Manipulation of rumen fermentation, In: The Rumen Microbial Ecosystem, P. N. Hobson, and (Ed) Elsevier Publishing Co. (1988)).
Methane inhibitors have previously been developed for feedstock additives to increase feed efficiency. The inhibitors fall generally into two classes. The first class induces those that affect methane formation indirectly by interfering with the electron flow upstream of the methanogen in the microbial food chain. Examples of this group would be nitrates and nitrites. The second class includes those that affect methanogens directly. Examples of such compounds are ionophores, antibiotics, and polycyclic quinones. Ionophores include, for example, RUMENSIN(copyright) (monensin sodium), lasalocid A, salinomycin, avoparcin, aridcin, actaplanin, and penicillin. A more complete list is cited in: C. J. Van Nevel, D. I. Demeyer, Manipulation of rumen fermentation, In: The Rumen Microbial Ecosystem, P. N. Hobson, and (Ed) Elsevier Publishing Co. (1988). Polycyclic quione activity in this regard are referenced in U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,258 (Odom).
The inhibition of methane in rumen by polycyclic quinones (PCQ) operates by a different mechanism than ionophores. PCQ""s are redox catalysts that block reduction of electron receptors at the cytochrome c-3 site in the cell wall of anaerobic bacteria, such as methanogens and sulfate reducers. Weimer reveals the action of 9,10-anthraquinone in U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,844 as it applies to reducing sulfate by sulfate reducing bacteria.
Ionophores act as antibiotics with the result that target bacteria concentrations in the rumen are reduced. Since 9,10-anthraquinone does not reduce target bacteria concentration in the rumen, the two mechanisms are clearly distinct.
Garcia-Lopez et al. has demonstrated the use of PCQ""s and ionophores each separately can reduce biogenic methane. (P. M. Garcia-Lopez, L. Kung, Jr., J. M. Odom xe2x80x9cIn Vitro Inhibition of Microbial Methane Production by 9,10-anthraquinonexe2x80x9d. Journal of Animal Science 1996, 74:2276-2284).
In its primary aspect, the invention is directed to a synergistic method for reducing methane formation in the rumen of ruminants comprising administering to the ruminant at least one ionophore compound, and at least one polycyclic quinone compound.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9crumenxe2x80x9d refers to the gastrointestinal section found in ruminants (i.e. cattle, deer, moose, camels, sheep, goats, oxen, water buffalo, and musk oxen) where food is partially digested through bacterial fermentation.
A. In General
It is recognized that the administration of an ionophore compound or the administration of a polycyclic quinine (PCQ) to a ruminant will reduce methane and boost feed efficiency in the ruminant. However, applicant has discovered that when the two classes of compounds (ionophores and PCQ""s) are administered simultaneously to a ruminant, a synergistic reduction of methane occurs. The advantage of employing this technique is to provide additional feed efficiency for agronomic benefits in ruminant raising. In addition, the levels of antibiotics in feed can be reduced which helps lower the adaptive challenge by non-target bacteria in the rumen and, thereby, lessens the likelihood of adaptation and resistance by rumen bacteria to the antibiotic.
B. Polycyclic Quinones (PCQ""s)
A wide variety of polycyclic quinones can be used in the invention. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cpolycyclic quinonexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cPCQxe2x80x9d refers to bicyclic, tricyclic and tetracyclic condensed ring quinones and hydroquinones, as well as precursors thereof. On the whole, the non-ionic polycyclic quinones and polycyclic hydroquinones (herein referred to collectively as PCQ""s) have very low solubility in water at ambient temperatures. For use in the invention, it is preferred that such PCQs have water solubility no higher than about 1000 ppm by weight.
In addition, as noted above, certain precursors of such PCQ""s can also be used in the invention either combined with the relatively insoluble PCQ""s or by themselves. Such precursors are anionic salts of PCQ""s, which are water soluble under alkaline anaerobic conditions. However, these materials are not stable and are easily converted to the insoluble quinone form upon exposure to oxygen.
Among the water-insoluble PCQ""s, which can be used in the invention, are anthraquinone compounds. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9canthraquinonexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cAQxe2x80x9d refers to 9,10-anthraquinone, naphthoquinone, anthrone (9,10-dihydro-9-oxo-anthracene), 10-methylene-anthrone, phenanthrenequinone and the alkyl, alkoxy and amino Derivatives of such quinones, 6,11-dioxo-1H-anthra[1,2-c]pyrazine, 1,2-benzanthraquinone, 2,7-dimethylanthraquinone, 2-methylanthraquinone, 3-methylanthraquinone, 2-aminoanthraquinone and 1-methoxyanthraquinone. Of the foregoing cyclic ketones, 9,10-anthraquinone and methylanthraquinone are preferred because they appear to be more effective. Naturally occurring anthraquinones can be used as well as synthetic anthraquinones.
xe2x80x9cAnthraquinonexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cAQxe2x80x9d compounds can further include insoluble anthraquinone compounds, such as 1,8-dihydroxy-anthraquinone, 1-amino-anthraquinone, 1-chloro-anthraquinone, 2-chloro-3-carboxyl-anthraquinone, 1-hydroxy-anthraquinone and unsubstituted anthraquinone. Various ionic derivatives of these materials can be prepared by catalytic reduction in aqueous alkali.
In addition, a wide variety of anthrahydroquinone compounds can be used in the method of the invention. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9canthrahydroquinone compoundxe2x80x9d refers to compounds comprising the basic tricyclic structure, such as 9,10-dihydroanthrahydroquinone, 1,4-dihydroanthrahydroquinone, and 1,4,4a,9a-tetrahydroanthrahydroquinone. Anthrahydroquinone itself is 9,10-dihydroxyanthracene.
More particularly, both water-insoluble and water-soluble forms can be used. The non-ionic compounds are largely insoluble in aqueous systems, while ionic derivatives, such as di-alkali metal salts, are largely soluble in water. The water-soluble forms are stable only in high pH anaerobic fluids. Low pH fluids (pH less than about 9-10) will result in the formation of the insoluble molecular anthrahydroquinone. Aerobic solutions will incur oxidation of the anthrahydroquinones to anthraquinone. Thus, anthrahydroquinones will not exist for long periods of time in an aerated environment. For these reasons, anthrahydroquinone treatments are usually implemented with the soluble ionic form in a caustic solution. Sodium hydroxide solutions are preferred over the hydroxides of other alkali metals for economic reasons. Rumen physiology may limit the pH of such a preparation, but use of sodium hydroxide in ruminant feed is an established practice.
The extraordinary effectiveness of various forms of anthraquinone lies in their non-reactivity. These products are transported into the biofilm, diffuse through the biofilm voids, and then diffuse or are randomly transported by Brownian motion into the bacterial microcolonies without reduction in concentration as a consequence of a exopolysaccharide matrix present in the biofilm.
Even though solid particles of polycyclic quinone (PCQ) are required to inhibit the methane-producing bacteria, the PCQ can be introduced into the microbial environment in several physical forms. The PCQ can be introduced as a dispersion of these solid particles throughout the feed at the appropriate dose. The ionic (sodium salt) form of the PCQ will allow it to be solubilized in an anaerobic caustic solution as long as the pH is greater than 12 and preferably greater than 13. The salt stays soluble if the pH of the solution remains above about 12, with precipitation of solid PCQ taking place as the pH is reduced below this value. In the soluble form or with a slight amount of precipitated PCQ (typically in colloidal form), anthraquinone is in molecular form or consists as extremely small (submicron-sizes) particles. When the PCQ added to the water is in the form of a suspension of finely divided particles, it is preferred that their largest dimension be no greater than 50 micrometers, and preferably no greater than 5-10 micrometers so that they can more easily pass through biofilm.
Whether the soluble or insoluble anthraquinone is used, it has been observed that the functional attachment of the anthraquinone particles to the bacteria is limited in time by metabolism of the particles by the sulfate-reducing bacteria. Thus, application of the treating medium must be repeated periodically in order to maintain inhibition effectiveness.
Unlike antibiotics, which are lethal to rumen based bacteria, especially methanogens, PCQ""s are non-lethal in their mechanism. Studies by Cooling et al. have revealed the mechanism of action of anthraquinones in sulfate-reducing bacteria (F. B. Cooling III, C. L. Maloney, En. Nagel, J. Tabinowski and J. M. Odom. xe2x80x9cInhibition of Sulfate Respiration by 1,8-Dyhydroxy-Anthraquinone and other Anthraquinone Derivativesxe2x80x9d. Applied And Environmental Microbiology, August 1996, p. 2999-3004). PCQ""s block the production of adenosine triphosphate by the bacteria and thereby inhibit respiration using sulfate as an electron acceptor. The sulfate-reducing bacteria respire by alternate mechanisms under these conditions and are not killed. SRBs and methanogens are closely linked in their ecological niche in the rumen and other anaerobic environments. The PCQ effect on methanogens is either a direct effect similar to the SRB mode of action or indirect since methanogens are dependent on SRB for micro-nutrients. In both conditions, methanogens thrive in the presence of PCQs without forming the normal levels of methane.
C. Ionophores
Compounds known as ionophores are generally defined as substanced that facilitate transmission of an ion, (such as sodium), across a lipid barrier such as a cell membrane. Two ionophore compounds particularly suited to this invention are the RUMENSIN(copyright) (monensin sodium) product from Eli Lilly which is a sodium salt of a complex molecule of the general formula C36H61011NA (formula weight 692.9) and lasalocid A from Hoffman LaRoche. Other ionophore compounds are discussed in the Background Section of this application, and include salinomycin, avoparcin, aridcin, actaplanin and penicillin among others. In the rumen, ionophores act as effective antibacterial agents. Killing methane producing bacteria in the rumen of cattle decreases the loss of carbon from the rumen fluid as methane which is a similar action to AQ.
Inhibition of methane by ionophores follows a mode of action where methanogens and other bacteria that produce pure hydrogen and carbon dioxide are reduced in concentration. The antibacterial action of ionophores is the direct cause of the reduction in methanogenesis (P. M. Garcia-Lopez et al., 1996 In Vitro Inhibition of Microbial Methane Production by 9,10 anthraquinone: Delaware Agricultural Experimental Station, paper no. 1567). Reduction in bacteria concentration in the rumen can also affect other microlife that is generally helpful in rumen digestion and the formation of short chain fatty acids. The short chain fatty acids are the source of energy required by ruminants. Increases in concentrations of proprionate and sometimes butyrate are accompanied by reductions in acetate in rumen affected by ionophores. Ionophores tend to lower concentrations of bacteria that produce hydrogen, which is contrary to the results seen with PCQ""s. Hydrogen values tend to increase with PCQ""s, which should lead to stimulation of bacteria levels that process hydrogen into butyrate. (B.fibrisolvens). Acetate forming bacteria are also reduced with ionophores where PCQ""s would tend to stimulate the formation of more acetate if acetogenic bacteria such as (Acetitomaculum ruminis)2 (Greening and Leedle, 1989 Enrichment and Isolation of Acetitonaculum Rumninis gen.nov.sp. Nov; Acetogenic Bacteria from the Bovine Rumen. Arch. Microbial. 151:399) are present. The advantage of increased bacterial formation of short chain fatty acids is a boost in the food value of the feed ruminants.
D. Methods of Operation
The function of the PCQ is to act as an inhibitor specific for methanogens and sulfate reducers found naturally in rumen fluid. Anthraquinone (AQ) is the preferred PCQ to be used in the invention. The inhibition of methane by AQ is a separate and distinct mechanism from the antibiotic effect of an ionopbore compound, such as monensin sodium. Bacteria counts of methanogens are not affected by 9,10-anthraquinone while ionophores reduce the viability of methanogens. Therefore, the actions of the two classes of compounds are distinct and an additive effect would be expected. Contrary to expectations, the results show synergistic effects.
The customary method of adding a feed additive is to premix the compound with a binder and a carrier so that the premix carries a diluted concentration of active ingredient. The premix is blended with the rations for the animal in a subsequent process so that there is a certified final concentration of active ingredient in the feed. A further method of adding PCQ to animal rations would be a direct admixture of active ingredient with the rations by means of a liquid formulation sprayed onto the feed or by a dry formulation admixed by blending. The use of a sodium salt of anthraquinone in a high pH medium could also be used as a way to enhance the distribution of AQ in animal feed. Certain feeds would have nutritive improvement due to the delignification of the fibers caused by the well known action of a high pH medium and the catalytic action of AQ on the lignin bonds that make fiber less digestible.
The preferred concentration of ionophores such as monensin sodium, 2,2-dichloracetamide is preferably in the range of 0.5 ppm-35 ppm and more preferably in the range of 5-10 ppm in the rumen fluid of the ruminant. AQ is preferably in the range of 10-500 ppm and more preferably in the range of 10-100 ppm in the rumen fluid of the ruminant.

Polycyclic quinone and ionophore composition for the synergistic reduction of methane formation in ruminant animals


Methods and apparatuses to place and route cells on integrated circuit chips along paths. In one aspect of the invention, methods to layout an integrated circuit are based on placing and routing cells along paths. In one embodiment, a method to layout an integrated circuit including: routing a wire to connect a first cell of the integrated circuit and a second cell of the integrated circuit; and placing a third cell of the integrated circuit after the wire is routed to connect the first cell and the second cell. In one example, the first, second and third cells are on a first path; and, the third cell is connected to one of the first and second cells on the first path by only one net. The first path is selected from a set of paths; and the first and second cells are placed before the wire is routed to connect the first cell and the second cell. Timing is analyzed using a route of the wire connecting the first cell and the second cell to select a second path from the set of paths before a cell is placed on the second path.

For the design of digital circuits on the scale of VLSI (very large scale integration) technology, designers often employ computer-aided techniques. Standard languages such as Hardware Description Languages (HDLs) have been developed to describe digital circuits to aide in the design and simulation of complex digital circuits. Several hardware description languages, such as VHDL and Verilog, have evolved as industry standards. VHDL and Verilog are general purpose hardware description languages that allow definition of a hardware model at the gate level, the register transfer level (RTL) or the behavioral level using abstract data types. As device technology continues to advance, various product design tools have been developed to adapt HDLs for use with newer devices and design styles.
In designing an integrated circuit with an HDL code, the code is first written and then compiled by an HDL compiler. The HDL source code describes at some level the circuit elements, and the compiler produces an RTL netlist from this compilation. The RTL netlist is typically a technology independent netlist in that it is independent of the technology/architecture of a specific vendor's integrated circuit, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The RTL netlist corresponds to a schematic representation of circuit elements (as opposed to a behavioral representation). A mapping operation is then performed to convert from the technology independent RTL netlist to a technology specific netlist which can be used to create circuits in the vendor's technology/architecture. It is well known that FPGA vendors utilize different technologies/architectures to implement logic circuits within their integrated circuits. Thus, the technology independent RTL netlist is mapped to create a netlist which is specific to a particular vendor's technology/architecture.
One operation which is often desirable in this process is to plan the layout of a particular integrated circuit and to control timing problems and to manage interconnections between regions of an integrated circuit. This is sometimes referred to as "floor planning." A typical floor planning operation divides the circuit area of an integrated circuit into regions, sometimes called "blocks," and then assigns logic to reside in a block. These regions may be rectangular or non-rectangular. This operation has two effects: the estimation error for the location of the logic is reduced from the size of the integrated circuit to the size of the block (which tends to reduce errors in timing estimates), and the placement and the routing typically runs faster because as it has been reduced from one very large problem into a series of simpler problems.
After the logic elements are placed into blocks, the cells (e.g., gates or transistors) are placed and routed in the area for a chip. FIG. 2 shows a conventional method to place and route the cells of an integrated circuit. After operation 201 places all cells for the integrated circuit, operation 203 routes wires between cells. Thus, the operations of placing and routing are separated. Since the placement is performed without actual routing, the placement of the cells is based on the estimated routing. Once the wires are actually routed, operation 205 can analyze timing accurately based on the placement and routing information. If operation 207 determines that the timing requirements (e.g., slack) are not satisfied, the previous design may be modified in operation 209, before the cells are placed again in operation 201.
Slack is the difference between the desired delay and the actual (estimated or computed) delay. When the desired delay is larger than the actual delay, the slack is positive; otherwise, the slack is negative. Typically, it is necessary to make the slack positive (or close to zero) to meet the timing requirement (e.g., reducing the wire delay to increase the slack).
Thus, the conventional method separates the phases of placement and routing. The cells (e.g., gates) of a design are fully placed (e.g., assigned locations) before the wires are actually routed. Multiple iterations of this process may be applied but the design is typically still fully placed before routing is assigned (or reassigned). Because the wires are not routed at the same time as placement, conventional placement algorithms estimate the result of routing. These estimates do not account for the available information of routed wires, even if only a small part of an already placed and routed design is being modified.

Placement and routing cells on integrated circuit chips


The invention provides a wire brush disc shaped grinder accessory that has segments removed from the circumference of the disc to provide visibility of the work surface while in use and with the bristles of the wire brush arranged in groups around the disc. It also provides a cup shaped wire brush tool wherein the bristles are arranged in groups. In this way both provide a cooler cutting action.

Grinders such angle grinders equipped with wire brush-like spinning attachments are widely used in trade for the removal of paint, rust, and other coatings from engineering structures, vehicles, ships, and the like. Wire brush attachments have some disadvantages, such as providing a greater torque on the spinning angle grinder than the torque from an abrasive disk. The tools described in this specification are developments of tools suitable for use with grinders as described in our earlier patent applications such as PCT/NZ95/00035 and PCT/US96/16511, the contents of which are incorporated by way of reference. The tools described therein provide advantages over prior-art tools, the advantages including better control of the "bite" by varying the angle of attack; the tool having a non-cutting rest surface (which may spin), also visibility of the work surface at or about the cutting edge, and forced cooling of the work surface.


A system to stage the operation of a bank of parallel piped fluid heaters in order to avoid cycling at low demand and to spread the load evenly among two or more heaters during high demand. Each heater has a check valve at the inlet and a balancing valve at the outlet. The standard swing type check valve is modified by the use of an internal and external magnet to control the opening pressure. By adjusting the opening pressure of the check valves and balancing the system with the balancing valves, heater staged operation can be achieved.

This invention relates to a system for controlling a bank of parallel connected hot water heaters supplying hot water to a large institution or apartment complex. The hot water requirements in such installations varies widely during the day. For example, at midnight, one heater may easily handle the load while in the morning hours when people are preparing to go to work, it may take three or more continuously operating heaters. At other times, the load may be modulated between one or more heaters.
Excessive cycling of a hot water heater is known to increase the maintenance costs and to lead to premature failure. Excessive cycling promotes carbon buildup on the burners and combustion surfaces. This is true for both oil and gas fired heaters. Excessive cycling also stresses the ignition and safety circuits of the heater leading to premature failure and possible safety hazards.
Excessive cycling is also wasteful of energy. For increased energy efficiency, a heater should be operated as closely as possible at steady state conditions. In a plural heater system, this means that one heater should be selected as a lead heater and operated with the longest duty cycle while the remaining heaters should be selectively brought into operation as needed.
A number of systems have been invented to stage the heater operation in a system employing a bank of plural, parallel connected heaters. U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,466, issued Jun. 22, 1976, shows plural, parallel connected heaters having a thermostatic modulating valve at the output of each heater. If the temperature in a heater drops to a preset minimum, the thermostatic modulating valve closes, shifting the load to another heater in the bank. U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,854, issued Aug. 19, 1969, shows a bank of parallel connected heaters feeding a large hot water storage tank. The heaters are under control of a pair of thermostats which stage the operation by selectively operating the burners and pumps of the heaters.
While the above-mentioned patents do teach staging of a bank of parallel connected heaters, the prior art does not teach a staging system of simple design free of complicated thermostatic modulating valves and thermostatically controlled pumps.

Parallel piped fluid heaters with staged flow controlled by magnetic priority valves


A radio communication apparatus capable of alleviating a burden in setting a transmission format and suppressing increases in the scale of the apparatus. In this apparatus, space multiplexing adaptability detection section (108) detects space multiplexing transmission adaptability for divided bands (DB-1 to DB-Nd) obtained by dividing a communication band to which Ns subcarrier signals belong in multicarrier transmission and to which a plurality of subcarrier signals belong, and outputs the detection results (#1 to #Nd). Transmission format setting section (110) sets a transmission format when carrying out radio transmission based on the detection results (#1 to #Nd) from space multiplexing adaptability detection section (108).

In recent years, there are increasing demands for capacity and speed enhancement of radio communication, and researches on methods for improving effective utilization of limited frequency resources have been actively conducted. As one of the methods, a technique utilizing spatial areas is attracting attention. One such representative method is a technique whereby spatial orthogonality in propagation paths is utilized and different data sequences are transmitted using physical channels of the same code at the same time instant and at the same frequency. Examples of such a transmission technique include Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) (e.g., see Non-Patent Document 1) whereby different data sequences are transmitted to different mobile stations, and a Space Multiplexing (SM) (e.g., see Non-Patent Document 2) whereby different data are transmitted to the same mobile station.
In the above described SM, an apparatus on the transmitting side transmits different data sequences from a plurality of antennas provided on the apparatus on the transmitting side at the same time instant, at the same frequency and using physical channels of the same code for each antenna, while an apparatus on the receiving side separates signals received through a plurality of antennas provided on the apparatus on the receiving side into different data sequences based on a channel matrix indicating a propagation path characteristic between the transmission/reception antennas (hereinafter referred to as "BLAST type") and thereby enables the efficiency of frequency utilization to be improved. When SM transmission is carried out, it is possible to expand the communication capacity in proportion to the number of antennas if the apparatus on the transmitting side and the apparatus on the receiving side are provided with the same number of antennas in an environment in which there are many scatterers between the apparatuses on the transmitting and receiving sides under a sufficient S/N (signal power to noise power ratio).
Furthermore, in realizing considerable increases in capacity and speed enhancement of radio communication, it is important to improve tolerance to multipath or fading. A multicarrier transmission scheme is one approach to realize this and in particular an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission scheme is adopted for terrestrial digital broadcasting and wideband radio access systems.
One example of a transmission scheme in which SM transmission is applied to this OFDM transmission is described in Non-Patent Document 3. Under this transmission scheme, when there is no multipath that exceeds the length of a guard interval, each subcarrier can be regarded as narrow band transmission, that is, flat fading transmission. For this reason, many examples have been reported where a channel matrix is calculated for each subcarrier and SM transmission is carried out based on the calculated channel matrix H.    Non-patent Document 1: "A Study on a Channel Allocation scheme with an Adaptive Array in SDMA", Ohgane, T., et al., IEEE 47th VTC, pp. 725-729, vol. 2, 1997    Non-patent Document 2: "Layered Space-Time Architecture for Wireless Communication in a fading environment when using multi-element antennas", Foschini, G, J., Bell Labs Tech. J, pp. 41-59, Autumn 1996    Non-Patent Document 3: "On the Capacity of OFDM-based Spatial Multiplexing Systems", IEEE Trans. Communications, vol. 50, pp. 225-234, 2002

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transmission apparatus and transmission method using a plurality of divided frequency bands in a communication band


The present disclosure provides passive radio frequency (RF) detection systems and methods, which may include various exemplary circuit embodiments, a detection device, and methods associated therewith. The passive RF detection systems and methods provide passive detection of emitted RF energy. In an exemplary embodiment, the passive RF detection systems and methods may include fast switching and low forward-voltage drop diodes, a light emitting diode, a resistor, and an antenna, each of which may be disposed within or outside an external housing or packaging. In another exemplary embodiment, the passive RF detection systems and methods may include a push button switch for selective operation. Advantageously, the passive RF detection systems and methods are configured and operate in a completely passive manner.

Conventionally, radio frequency detection systems and methods use active circuits to detect nearby radio frequency emissions. Such conventional systems and methods require power supplies and amplifiers in addition to other circuitry such as diodes, capacitors, etc. for detection and indication. Disadvantageously, these conventional systems and methods always require a power supply, which for handheld or mobile applications, typically requires batteries that must be recharged or replaced. The requirement for an active source for the conventional systems and methods is inconvenient, impractical, and sometimes unreliable.

Passive radio frequency energy detector systems and methods

The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A multi-function penlight structure comprises a body provided with a cell, a power button and an illuminative casing, in the outer front periphery of the illuminative casing being mounted a magnetic collar, and at the rear end of the body being formed a grip portion in which an extendable and retractable stem is received, and at the front end of the stem being attached a flexible member for connecting with the body, such that the penlight body can be extended, retracted and bent to any desired angle so as to attract a metal object by using the magnetic collar, and after retracting the stem and the flexible member back to the grip portion, the present invention can be simply used as a penlight, thereby achieving the multi-function purposes thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a penlight structure, and more particularly to a multi-function penlight structure that can utilize its extendable, retractable and bendable functions to cause an illumination and an object attachment thereon in different conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Normally, the length of a prior art flashlight is limited within a certain range for portable or storable convenience, however, such a conventional flashlight can not be widely applied in some special conditions, e.g., while in a car maintenance, some related parts of the car are located in narrowly complicated positions, hence the flashlight is not permitted to directly illuminate at the desired positions, or while in the maintenances of large machines, the length of the conventional flashlight is too short to provide a long distance illumination, or as suffering some shades, the flashlight can not be extended into the illumination-required position and change its illuminative angle. As shown in FIG. 1, to solve such a problem, an improved illumination light 10 has been developed and includes a fastening seat 11 in which a cell (not shown) and a power switch are mounted for matingly retaining it onto a fixed object, one end of the fastening seat 11 provided with a flexible wire 12, another end of which is coupled to an illuminative casing 13. Although such an improved illumination light 10 can be utilized to change its illuminative angle for different requirements, it still has some defects as follows:
1. The flexible wire 12 is not easy to be retractable, hence its length can not be designed in a quite long length, thus resulting in a length limitation thereof such that a long-distance illumination are unable to be achieved.
2. Likewise, since the flexible wire 12 is not easily retractable, thus causing an inconvenient storage thereof.
3. Such an improved illumination light is only for use in some certain conditions but not for use as a flashlight, and a handle is not attached to it, besides, the flexible wire 12 is not easily retractable, thereby causing a portable inconvenience and a limited usage.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.