Methods and systems are described that incorporate joint network assisted offloading and cross-RAT (Radio Access Technology) user mapping techniques for integrated multi-RAT Het-Nets. Techniques are described for network based offloading and user association methods for multi-tier, multi-RAT HetNets, which account for overall user as well as network utility.

Multi-tier, multi-RAT (Radio Access Technology) heterogeneous networks (Het-Nets) are a new direction in network architectures for cost-effectively adding cellular capacity and coverage. This architecture comprises a tier of small cells (e.g., picocells, femtocells or relay stations) overlaid on the macro cellular network to augment network capacity. The bulk of the macro network traffic is offloaded to small cells whereas a wide area coverage and mobility is maintained through the macro network. Deployments typically aim for full spectral reuse across the tiers and the cells in the network as licensed spectrum is expensive and scarce. Recent Het-Net architectures also support WiFi-based small cells, exploiting un-licensed spectrum to augment cellular capacity. Multi-RAT (Radio Access Technology) cells integrating both WiFi and Cellular air interfaces in a single infrastructure device are also an emerging trend. When used with multi-RAT client devices, the integrated multi-RAT infrastructure also provides an additional "virtual WiFi" carrier, which can be judiciously exploited to improve capacity and QoS (Quality of Service) performance of multi-tier Het-Net deployments.
In cellular systems, association is typically performed on a per-user basis. Here, each user determines the downlink carrier signal strength and the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) corresponding to the base-station, and associates with the base-station with the highest SNR value. While simple to implement, received SNR based methods are not good indicators of the actual throughput a user would experience, since the throughput also depends on the number and mix of users present on each cell in the network. Network coordinated user association and mapping methods can therefore provide better overall performance in terms of actual user "utility" (e.g., user throughput, power efficiency or QoS). One method for performing network assisted association, which has been explored for cellular networks, is based on maximizing "proportional fair" (PF) throughput across users. The PF utility not only depends on the average user throughput (as a function of SNR) but also the load, i.e. number of users, on each base-station. Unlike conventional association, utility-based association cannot be completed on a per-user basis since the user associations are now inter-dependent; changing the association of any one user alters the load (hence the utility) on the serving as well as target base-stations (the old base-station it leaves and new base-station it associates with). As a result, the global utility based association problem is difficult to solve, and sub-optimal heuristic approaches have been proposed as approximate solutions.
Conventional methods of user association may also be used in multi-tier Het-Net deployments where the user can choose a macro base-station (MBS) or a pico base station (PBS) based on received SNR. In this case, user "offload" to pico base stations occurs with no special preference for the PBS. Conventional association methods have a number of limitations in this case as well. Firstly, they fixate the pico coverage range and are therefore dependent on network topology/geometry. For example, in clustered user distributions, users will associate with pico base stations in groups-at-a-time (in a hotspot-fashion) owing to their similar SNR distributions. Secondly, macro base stations are naturally designed for large coverage areas via high transmit power. Conventional offloading may thus lead to over-association with the MBS and under-utilization of the PBSs, particularly in sparse user distributions.
The coverage range of the pico base stations in conventional association can be changed from fixed to dynamic by including an artificial bias value to the SNR reported by the users. Positive bias values effectively assign higher transmit power to the pico base stations hence effectively increasing their coverage. Users are therefore encouraged to associate with pico base station, thus offloading the macro base station. While adding to system-design flexibility, (positive) bias leads to unfavorable interference conditions for the range-extended users (i.e. pico cell-edge users) as they are forced to connect to the weaker (pico) base station even though the signal from the macro user is stronger. The macro base station thus acts as a very strong interferer and effective interference mitigation schemes are required to mitigate the interference from the macro. The 3GPP standard supports Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) schemes to manage cross-tier interference in multi-tier HetNet deployments. A typical ICIC approach for managing interference is to "orthogonalize" macro and pico transmissions in the zone of strong interference by creating an interference free zone such as a macro free zone (MFZ), or by blanking macro transmissions on some designated sub-frames ("Almost Blank Sub Frames"-ABS). While this approach improves the overall throughput distribution for most users, it sacrifices precious macro capacity that may also hurt the overall aggregate system throughput.

Network assisted user association and offloading techniques for integrated multi-rat heterogeneous networks


A semiconductor device using a TFT structure with high reliability is realized. As an insulating film used for the TFT, for example, a gate insulating film, a protecting film, an under film, an interlayer insulating film, or the like, a silicon nitride oxide film (SiNXBYOZ) containing boron is formed by a sputtering method. As a result, the internal stress of this film becomes −5×1010 dyn/cm2 to 5×1010 dyn/cm2, preferably −1010 dyn/cm2 to 1010 dyn/cm2, and the film has high thermal conductivity, so that it typically becomes possible to prevent deterioration due to heat generated at the time of an on operation of the TFT.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device using a crystalline semiconductor film formed by crystallizing an amorphous semiconductor thin film, and particularly to a method of improving reliability of a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device of the present invention includes not only a component such as a thin film transistor (TFT) or a MOS transistor but also an electro-optical device such as a display device or an image sensor including a semiconductor circuit constituted by such insulated gate transistors. In addition, the semiconductor device of the present invention includes an electronic equipment incorporating such a display device and an electro-optical device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a technique for constructing a semiconductor circuit by forming TFTs on a glass substrate or the like has been rapidly developed. As such a semiconductor circuit, an electro-optical device such as an active matrix type liquid crystal display device is typical.
The active matrix type liquid crystal display device is a monolithic display device in which a pixel matrix circuit and a driver circuit are provided on the same substrate. Moreover, development of a system-on-panel having a built-in logic circuit such as a memory circuit or a clock generating circuit has also been made.
Since the driver circuit or the logic circuit of the active matrix type liquid crystal display device is required to perform a high speed operation, it is unsuitable to use a noncrystalline silicon film (amorphous silicon film) as an active layer. Thus, under the present circumstances, a TFT having an active layer of a crystalline silicon film (polysilicon) has become the mainstream.
Since a TFT can be formed on a transparent glass substrate, application and development to an active matrix type display device has been actively made. Since a TFT using a polysilicon film can obtain a high mobility, it is possible to realize image display of high fineness by integrating functional circuits on the same substrate.
In the active matrix type display device, as the resolution of a screen becomes high, one million TFTs become necessary even for only pixels. Further, if a functional circuit is added, more than one million TFTs becomes necessary. In order to make the liquid crystal display device operate stably, it has been necessary to secure reliability of individual TFTs and to make them operate stably.
In such an active matrix type display device, especially in the case where a TFT is provided on a substrate (for example, a glass substrate) having bad thermal conductivity and good heat retaining property, since a large voltage and current is applied to a TFT of a peripheral driver circuit, a semiconductor layer generates heat and remarkably lowers the reliability of the TFT.

Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


An iron holder is provided allowing for fixation of an iron, such that the iron holder, and thereby also the iron housed therein, may be moved in all directions without the iron falling off the iron holder, while simultaneously keeping the heating surface of the iron in a covered position, such that said heating surface will not pose a threat to the health of the user or pose a risk for setting fire to flammable materials.

In the technical field of irons for ironing clothes etc., and holders for such irons, there may be problems accompanied the storing of the ironing equipment, such as irons, iron boards, etc. This is especially true with regard to storing ironing equipment in small spaces, such as hotel rooms or small apartments, where the storing space often is very limited. In these cases it is desired to provide storage for an iron and iron board when not in use, in a minimized space.
In this respect iron holders are provided, which for example may be attached to a support wall where the ironing of clothes is typically done. The support wall may also be a closet door or cabinet door. However, such iron holders can be attached to a support wall in only one orientation. Depending on the space provided in a cabinet or a closet in which the iron holder is mounted, or the position of the iron holder on a wall on which the iron holder is mounted, the iron holder may not be easily accessible to the user. Furthermore, the iron holder may not have provisions for storage of the power cord of the iron to be housed in the iron holder or accessories, such as an ironing board.
US 2004/0075029 discloses a holder for an iron for ironing clothes. This holder comprises a base plate, to be mounted on for example a wall, and a support arm, onto which the iron may be hung. The iron holder according to US 2004/0075029 is however accompanied by several problems. Firstly, the support arm has to be inserted in the opening providing the handle of the iron, thereby occupying the handle, which results in an inconvenient handling procedure to the user, since the hand of the user cannot grip the handle of the iron in the contemplated way. Secondly, if the iron holder is mounted on a surface that is movable, the iron holder fails to hinder the iron from falling off in at least one direction, i.e. in the direction the support arm is directed. Thirdly, the mounting of the iron holder renders it inconvenient for use of both right and left handed users, since the mounting of the iron holder fixates the direction in which the iron is removed from the iron holder, and right and left handed users preferably removes an iron in opposite directions.
WO 90/12915 discloses another iron holder for holding an iron. This iron holder comprises a base, which is attached to a board or wall and a cage for holding an iron to increase the stability of the iron on the board, which has been placed on end in an upright position. The cage comprises a front portion for preventing forward tipping of the iron, and two side portions, which hold the iron against falling sidewards. The iron holder according to WO 90/12915 is however accompanied by several problems. Firstly, the cage does not prevent the iron from moving forward and upward, which renders the iron holder unsuitable for holding an iron on a movable surface, such as the surface of the ironing board, which ironing board conveniently is movable into and out from a wardrobe. Secondly, when the iron is placed in an upright position, the heating surface is uncovered, resulting in health hazard to the user or pose a risk for setting fire to flammable materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,062,492 discloses a holder for a household appliance, such as an iron. Moreover, the holder is capable of vertical mounting which may contain both electrical steam or dry irons. However, a problem with U.S. Pat. No. 3,062,492 is that the holder is adapted for a specific iron having a certain size and shape. This results in that only irons having a certain size and shape may be connected to the holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,021 discloses a holder for electric irons such as steam or dry irons normally used in the home, and more particularly to wall brackets or holders for such irons. However, a problem with U.S. Pat. No. 3,062,492 is that the holder is adapted for a specific iron having a certain size and shape. This results in that only irons having a certain size and shape may be connected to the holder.
Hence, an improved iron holder would be advantageous and in particular an iron holder allowing for fixation of an iron, such that the iron holder, and thereby also the iron housed therein, may be moved in all directions without the iron falling off the iron holder, while simultaneously keeping the heating surface of the iron in a covered position, such that said heating surface will not pose a threat to the health of the user or pose a risk for setting fire to flammable materials. Also, an iron holder allowing for minimized discrimination between left and right-handed users would be advantageous. Furthermore, it would be advantageous to provide an iron holder that minimizes the storing space of the ironing equipment, such as the iron, ironing board, etc.


In an exemplary embodiment, a pair of sliding components has sliding surfaces that slide with respect to each other, wherein at least one of the sliding surfaces, sliding surface S, includes a random dimple group 11 in which plural dimples 10 are randomly arranged, and the random dimple group 11 is arranged to be biased in the circumferential direction of the sliding surface S. The sliding components have an improved lubricating property and reliability of a sealing property.

In a mechanical seal serving as an example of a sliding component, while maintaining a sealing property, sliding friction during rotation is required to be reduced to the extreme. By variously texturing the sliding surfaces, a method of reducing friction is realized. For example, as one of texturing, arrangement of dimples on the sliding surfaces is known.
Conventionally, in a case where dimples are provided on a sliding surface, plural dimples are arranged and aligned in order in general. For example, in the invention described in JP 2003-343741 A (hereinafter, referred to as "Patent Document 1"), for the purpose of reducing a friction coefficient of a sliding surface and improving a sealing ability, plural thin and long dimples are provided and aligned in order in a regular manner on the sliding surface so that the inclination directions of the dimples are different between the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side with a border reference line X as a borderline. Leading ends in the rotation direction of the dimples on the outer peripheral side are inclined toward the outer peripheral side, and leading ends in the rotation direction of the dimples on the inner peripheral side are inclined toward the inner peripheral side.
Conventionally, in order to improve a lubricating property, random arrangement of plural dimples is also known. For example, in the invention described in JP 2001-221179 A (hereinafter, referred to as "Patent Document 2"), plural dimples are randomly arranged on an inner wall of a cylinder of a rotary compressor and a leading end surface and both side end surfaces of a sliding vane.


A dart holder (10) comprising:                first positioning means (1),        holding means (3) for holding optionally at least the tip and/or part of the barrel of a dart in a settled position in the first positioning means (1) such that the barrel of said dart is accessible for being grabbed by a user's hand,        a first landing area (4) arranged on the first positioning means (1) in respect to the holding means (3) such that said first landing area (4) provides a reference to at least part of the hand for grabbing the barrel at a target position,wherein the holding means (3) is formed by a shaft (30) extending from the first landing area (4) at least partially through the first positioning means (1) up to a shaft end (31) facing away from the first landing area (4), wherein the shaft (30) is provided with a limitation reference means (8) to define a limitation for the tip of the barrel when it is inserted in the shaft (30).

Darts is a form of throwing game in which small missiles (darts) are thrown at a dartboard. Many advances have been made in and for the various games of darts. Specific attention has been raised for the improvement of specific parts of the darts. The barrel, shaft and flight all have an impact on the consistency of throwing. The choice of the barrel, shaft and flight depends for a great deal on individual preferences and throwing style. The location of the grip on the barrel of the dart can have an effect on the flight path and stability of the dart. Therefore darts players spend many hours practicing finding the right grip position on the dart. To help find the best grip position many adjustments to the barrel have been made. Some barrels comprise carved out patterns to improve the grip while others comprise shapes such as dish-outs to enhance finding the best finger placement on the dart. Although these patterns and shapes on the barrel of the dart provide a guidance for finding the right grip position there is still room for improvement.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved guidance for finding the right grip position on the barrel of the dart.

Dart holder providing a grip position on a dart


There is provided in accord with the present invention a work vehicle having a fluid actuated and mechanically linked attachment, which attachment is operatively connected to a valve having a control valve spool reciprocally mounted in the control valve body and having a control valve lock mounted thereon. The control valve lock comprises a rod engaged at one end with the valve spool and having a groove at the other end, with the rod maintaining a centering spring assembly in contact with the valve spool. An actuator, such as a solenoid, is mounted and orientated normal to the rod. The actuator, such as a solenoid, has a pin aligned to selectively engage the groove in the rod. The solenoid is in operative communication with a control switch to selectively operate the solenoid.

Currently used hydraulically activated work vehicles, such as backhoes, front end loaders, skid steers, hydraulic cranes, etc. use fluid control valves to direct the motion of various functions on these machines, such as swinging, booming, bucket dipping and bucket rotation. These control valves allow fine control of the various functions as the associated valve spool is moved to and from its neutral position.
The typical function of hydraulic equipment currently uses valve timing, which is either slightly metered in, neutral or slightly metered out. Typically, valve designers avoid the use of heavy metering in or heavy metering out functions as a result of energy considerations. More specifically, depending upon the amount of metering, energy can be wasted since high metering restrictions usually result in the operation of the hydraulic pump such that the associated driving engine has to generate additional power to force fluid through restrictions associated with heavy metering. However, there are certain functions on hydraulic equipment, such as a backhoe, which are usually operated at relatively high pressures (e.g., the swinging motion), or having an overrunning load (e.g., the hydraulics associated with a boom) which have a potential to generate pressure appropriate to generate a metering out conditions. Most control valves have a spool which has metering notches which meter the flow when there is partial movement of the spool. Maintaining the control valve spool in a neutral position to prevent unwanted movement of a backhoe function resulting from fluid flow and pressure build-up through the spool metering notches is an important and desirable characteristic.
Existing devices for control valve locks include mounting a solenoid directly to the valve body to allow the solenoid rod to engage a recess in the valve spool. Locking of control valve spools using solenoids, in the part, required extensive use of levers as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,959. An alternative means for locking a valve spool in a desired location is use of a pin engaging a recessed area in the valve spool as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,378. Such arrangements require redesign of existing valve bodies to accommodate such locking devices which is expensive and in some cases not possible because of alignment difficulties. Retro-fitting control valves on equipment already in the market cannot be easily or inexpensively accomplished if the solenoid must be mounted on the control body.
Thus, there is a need for an interlock mechanism that will maintain a control valve spool in a neutral position to prevent fluid flow pressure from operating any of the work vehicle functions without selective control by an operator of the work vehicle. There is also a need for an interlock mechanism that can lock the control valve spool in a neutral position without mounting the actuator directly on the valve body. There is a further need for the ability to retro fit existing control valves with a valve lock without a complete redesign or extensive modifications to the valve body.

Interlock mechanism for controlling attachment to a work vehicle


A wheel formed by the assembly of a disc comprising a hub bearing surface, a transition zone and a radially outer edge, and of a rim with at least a first laminated composite structure formed of at least one fabric of long fibers which are oriented in two distinct directions and impregnated by a cross-linked resin, the radially outer surface of which corresponds to the radially outer surface of the rim or to part thereof, at least a second laminated composite structure formed of at least one fabric of long fibers which are oriented in two distinct directions and impregnated by a cross-linked resin, the radially outer surface of which corresponds to the radially inner surface of the rim or to part thereof, and at least a circumferential weight-reduction structure formed of a material of low density, arranged radially between the first and second laminated composite structures.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject of the invention is a wheel, composed of a disc and a rim, for a tire, able possibly to form, with a support ring for the tread of the tire and the tire, a rolling assembly which may be useful in the case of running when the inflation pressure drops abnormally relative to the normal pressure of use, referred to as rated service pressure, which pressure may possibly even become zero.
2. Description of the Related Art
The main difficulties encountered in the case of running on a flat tire or at low pressure relate to the risk of unseating of the beads of the tire and in particular the unseating of the bead located on the outside of the tire mounted on the outside of the vehicle when cornering. The well-known proposed techniques for avoiding such unseating, and in particular the one consisting of arranging a protrusion or hump of low height axially to the inside of the outer rim seat, do not appear to be completely satisfactory and tend to increase the difficulties of mounting and dismounting the tires.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,936 (which is a counterpart to Application WO 00/05083) describes by way of example, in order to solve the above problem effectively, an integral wheel such as shown in FIG. 1A. This wheel has a radially outer geometry comprising a first and a second seat which are intended to receive a tire bead, at least the first seat having a generatrix, the axially outer end of which is on a circle of diameter less than the diameter of the circle on which the axially inner end is located, said seats being extended axially to the outside by a protrusion or "hump" of low height, the first seat being extended axially to the inside by a cylindrical surface intended to receive a tread support ring. This wheel is such that the cylindrical surface is formed of a first and a second zone which are separated by a circumferential groove which opens out radially externally. It may be produced by molding an aluminum alloy in a single operation.
The presence of the circumferential groove is intended to reduce the weight of the wheel significantly. This wheel, which is optimized in terms of weight, does however have the drawback, when the outer profile comprises a mounting groove for a tire, of permitting the accumulation, beneath the axially outer portion relative to the mounting groove of the inner profile of the rim of this wheel, of all sorts of materials, such as mud mixed to a greater or lesser extent with stones, such as snow or ice in winter conditions, which materials are difficult to evacuate.

Wheel with composite rim produced by resin transfer molding


A photomask blank is prepared by forming a light-absorbing film on a transparent substrate, and irradiating the light-absorbing film with light from a flash lamp at an energy density of 3 to 40 J/cm2. A photomask is prepared by forming a resist pattern on the photomask blank by photolithography, etching away those portions of the light-absorbing film which are not covered with the resist pattern, and removing the resist.

While lithography is utilized in the fabrication of semiconductor integrated circuits having an ever increasing degree of integration, the exposure system is in advancement toward a shorter wavelength. Progressive shifts have been made from the ultraviolet radiation including g-line (436 nm) and i-line (365 nm) to deep ultraviolet radiation, typically KrF excimer laser (248 nm) and ArF excimer laser (193 nm) and even to F2 laser (157 nm).
The reduction of exposure wavelength improves the resolution, but reduces the depth of focus (DOF), which leads to a narrower process margin and lower stability, imposing detrimental impact on the manufacturing yield of products.
One approach for overcoming the problem is a phase shift method. Inter alia, the use of halftone phase shift masks improves DOF. Since an increase of DOF enlarges the process margin, this is indispensable for the future microprocessing technology. The future lithography candidates proposed by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) include a phase shift mask (PSM) adapted to exposure to ArF excimer laser as a candidate for the technology node 90 nm.
The phase shift mask has a phase shifter film through which exposure light is phase shifted 180 degrees. The light transmitted by the phase shifter film pattern and the light transmitted by the portion where the phase shifter film is absent have reverse phases. These lights of reverse phases overlap at the interface therebetween so that the light intensity becomes zero, yielding a light intensity distribution where an acute change appears at the interface. This results in an increased DOF and an improved image contrast.
The phase shift masks include Levenson, halftone and other types. Of the halftone phase shift masks proposed thus far, single layer halftone phase shift masks have a simple structure. The single layer halftone phase shift masks proposed thus far have phase shifter films made of amorphous silicon, silicon nitride, molybdenum silicide oxide (MoSiO) or molybdenum silicide oxynitride (MoSiON) as described in JP-A 7-140635.
In preparing these phase shift masks, a method of patterning a phase shift mask blank by lithography is typically employed. The lithography process involves applying a resist onto a phase shift mask blank, irradiating selected portions of the resist coating with electron beams or ultraviolet radiation, developing the resist coating until the phase shifter film surface is exposed in the irradiated portions, etching the phase shifter film through the patterned resist coating as a mask until the substrate is exposed, thereafter stripping the resist coating. A phase shift mask is obtained in this way.
In most photomask blanks as typified by phase shift mask blanks, a film such as phase shifter film is generally deposited on a substrate by sputtering. Stress is introduced into the film by which the underlying substrate is more or less distorted. The resulting photomask blank thus suffers warp due to the film stress. When a photomask is prepared by pattering such a warped photomask blank whereby the film is partially removed as a result of patterning, the film stress applied to the substrate is partially released so that the substrate is recovered from the warped state near to the state prior to the deposition. As a result, the substrate changes its flatness. This change introduces a positional shift between the stage of pattern exposure and the actually finished mask, which provides a greater influence as the mask pattern becomes finer. It also causes a focusing offset when pattern exposure is carried out using the photomask.

Preparation of photomask blank and photomask


The invention relates to a reactor for treatment of waste water for being subject to both anoxic/anaerobic and aerobic treatment within one single reactor volume. The anoxic/anaerobic reaction zone is separated from the aerobic reaction zone by a separator which also works as a hydrodynamic separator between the two reaction zones. The reactor makes it possible that the effluent water has a lower proportion of suspended solids and also that it produces less sludge than reactors of comparison. The reactor is further more energy efficient than prior art reactors. Several reactors according to the invention may be arranged in parallel so as for the inlet waste water may be treated in a modular way, and thus allowing the maintenance of the units to be facilitated.

Biological reactors or bioreactors have been widely used to biologically degrade contaminants such as biological-consumable organic or inorganic substances in municipal and industrial wastewaters in treatment systems. Typically, there are two types of biological reactors commercially used: i) activated sludge reactors, and ii) biofilm reactors. Conventional designs for biological wastewater treatment systems using conventional activated sludge and biofilm reactors require a unit for sludge or particle separation to remove some suspended solid in the effluents from the reactors before the effluents are discharged to natural water reservoirs. The capital cost for the wastewater treatment systems and also operating costs such as electricity consumption and chemical use would be reduced if the particle separation unit was not required.
Periodic maintenance of conventional biological wastewater treatment systems results in additional cost and loss in clean effluent productivity. Moreover, aerobic biological reactors of activated sludge and biofilm for wastewater treatment systems necessitate extra management for sludge disposals and thus incur additional costs for the sludge handling system. The excess sludge from the aerobic biological reactors of the background art is required to be properly managed and adequately disposed of.
High suspended solid concentrations in the effluents, high viscosities in the effluents, and excess sludge management in the conventional aerobic activated sludge biological reactors cause operational difficulties and incur extra capital costs of overall wastewater treatment systems and clean water production systems.
The present invention is arranged for handling at least some of the problems resulting from high suspended solid and excess aerobic sludge production in the feedwater treatment systems and thus to significantly reduce the costs of operation and maintenance in biological feedwater treatment systems.
The present invention provides a novel biological reactor designed to control the suspended solid in the reactor, to reduce amount of excess aerobic sludge produced from aerobic digestion, and to produce an effluent having a relatively low concentration of suspended solids.
General Biological Background
The composition of the wastewater may vary from one wastewater producing society to another, and depends on the water quality, the use and conservational practices, cultural attributes, industrial activity and kinds of industrial treatment executed on site. One problem caused by spilling raw wastewater to a recipient is eutrophication of the recipient due to the introduction of nutritional substances (nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter) which are limiting factors for biological growth. Spilling raw wastewater to the environment incurs the risk of spreading of pathogenic organisms and accumulation and storage of various heavy metals. Biological reactors are used to biodegrade organic or inorganic substances in municipal and industrial wastewaters in treatment systems.
Anaerobic/anoxic wastewater treatment is the biological treatment of wastewater generally without supplying air or elemental Oxygen. The organic compounds of the wastewater may be converted by anaerobic/anoxic micro organisms and produce gas containing a large proportion of methane and some carbon dioxide, known as biogas.
Denitrification takes place in an anaerobic/anoxic environment by anaerobic/anoxic bacteria. The denitrification process in an anoxic environment may convert Nitrite/Nitrate to Nitrogen gas which is generally harmless if released to the atmosphere. Nitrate, which may be undesired in the effluent and readily leached to the ground water where it may play an important role in europhication processes.
In the wastewater engineering field organic substances may be measured by the amount of oxygen it takes to oxidize it chemically. This amount of oxygen is referred to as the "chemical oxygen demand" (COD), which is basically a measure of organic matter content or concentration. A large fraction of COD in wastewater may be biodegradable and thus converted to sludge, which is expensive to remove and requires post-treatment. An aerobic wastewater treatment facility is essentially a "waste sludge factory". Oxygen must continuously be supplied by aerating the wastewater at the great expense of energy to operate the aerators.
Nitrification may take place in the biological aerobic zone. Nitrification is the biological oxidation of ammonia with oxygen into Nitrite followed by the oxidation of those Nitrites into Nitrates.
A main problem addressed by the present invention is that the amount of undesired components in wastewater should be reduced in order to prevent pollution by the effluent outlet.

Method and device for the treatment of waste water


A portable hand-held tool, such as a hammer drill or chisel hammer, includes a housing having a main vibration axis and a handle displaceably secured to the housing and movable toward the housing against compression springs. The springs have an axis of compression disposed at an angle to the main vibration axis. When the handle is displaced toward the housing, the spring is compressed. At the same time, however, the increased force of the spring is compensated by the increase in the angle of the spring relative to the main vibration axis. As a result, though the spring force increases, its component acting in the main vibration axis direction is reduced, and the spring force acting in the main vibration axis direction remains constant.

The present invention is directed to a portable hand-held device, such as a hammer drill or chisel hammer, comprising a housing containing a striking mechanism acting in a main vibration axis direction of the housing against a tool or bit. A handle is displaceably connected to the housing for movement substantially in the direction of the main vibration axis against the force of a compression spring.
In such hand-held tools, vibrations develop in the housing during the striking action produced by the striking mechanism. These vibrations are transmitted to the arms of the tool user through the handle. Such vibrations not only cause fatigue, but are also damaging to the user's health, particularly to his joints.
Various attempts have been made using springs, rubber elements, and the like to insulate the handle of the housing against vibrations. As an example, DE-PS 2 204 160 discloses a chisel hammer in which the handle is supported on the housing by a compression spring extending in the active direction of the tool. This solution has the disadvantage that the required force for displacing the handle along the active direction is not constant and the vibration insulation is insufficient.

Hand-held tool with displaceable spring loaded handle


An electrical connector comprising a body having at least two channels to receive a conducting electrical cable, a conducting inner compression locking sleeve positioned in each channel, preferably slotted to allow it to close about and grasp the cable, in electrical contact with an outer compression locking sleeve positioned slidably along each of said inner compression locking sleeve. A tab extends from the outer compression locking sleeve through a slot in the body to allow the outer compression locking sleeve to be moved by hand along the inner compression locking sleeve. The outer sleeve is preferably non conducting, thus allowing the tab to be formed as an integral part thereof. The inner sleeve has a larger diameter than the outer sleeve and to facilitate sliding the outer sleeve over the inner sleeve, such as a generally frustoconical cross section with the base portion having the largest diameter being distal from the outer sleeve in the open position. Sliding the outer sleeve along the inner sleeve toward the larger base will squeeze the larger base close about the cable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to connectors for electrical conductors. More particularly it relates to a novel quick connect electrical cable connector, for single or multiple conductor systems.
2. Related Art
Many different types of releasable electrical cable in-line single connectors are available where a male and female component are connected, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,366,392; 4,589,721 and 4,138,181. A releasable multiple connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,056.
It is an advantage of the present invention that it provides a simple device with few components, which is easily used to releasably connect electrical cable. It is a further advantage that the present connector may be in used in place of wire nuts for connecting two or more wires.
Briefly the present invention is an electrical connector comprising a body having at least two channels therein defining a space to receive a conducting electrical cable therein, a conducting inner compression locking sleeve positioned in each channel in electrical contact with a separate outer compression locking sleeve positioned slidably along each said inner compression locking sleeve. Preferably a tab extends from the outer compression locking sleeve through a slot in the body to allow the outer compression locking sleeve to be moved by hand along the inner compression locking sleeve.
Preferably the inner sleeve is a resilient material, such a metal spring which will be compressed about the cable (bare wire) to form a good electrical contact and which will return to is original form when the outer sleeve is withdrawn from the inner sleeve allowing the cable to be removed. Also the inner sleeve is slotted to allow it to close about and grasp the cable without crimping.
The outer sleeve is preferably non conducting, thus allowing the tab to be formed as an integral part thereof. Also the slot in the body is effectively closed by the outer sleeve and a non conductive material would prevent inadvertent contact with conducting components inside the body. To achieve the closure of the inner sleeve, it preferably has a larger diameter than the outer sleeve and to facilitate sliding the outer sleeve over the inner sleeve, the inner sleeve may have a generally frustoconical cross section with the base portion having the largest diameter being distal from the outer sleeve in the open position. Sliding the outer sleeve along the inner sleeve toward the larger base will squeeze the larger base close about the cable.
In one embodiment the present connector has a non releasable cable channel which is electrically connected to two or more releasable channels.


A method of and apparatus for the treatment and storage of nuclear power plant wastes utilizes a jacket heating a cast iron storage container directly to vaporize liquid radioactive waste under suction applied to the container with interposition of a baffle preventing entrainment of droplets from the container.

A lost concrete shielding container for the retention, storage and disposal of liquid radioactive wastes for a nuclear plant generating electric power is known. The container comprises a vessel having unitary walls and a floor. A lid sealingly closes an open mouth of the vessel and, like the walls and the floor, can be composed of concrete. The container can be filled with radioactive waste which can be mixed with cement or concrete can be poured into the partly filled container to seal the latter. A shield container of this type generally stores the radioactive waste without reduction of volume by vacuum or heating.
It is also known to transport and store spent fuel elements in cast iron or steel containers having a wall thickness of at least about 40 centimeters and sufficient, therefore, to provide a substantial shield effect. Generally these containers have heat exchange ribs and are closed by a casting of the same metal as forms the remainder of the container. Such containers have the advantage that they can be used to treat the waste, e.g. by heating them while exhausting vapors generated in them by the heat. In this manner wet but somewhat solid matter filtered from the cooling circuits of a nuclear-power plant can be dried out for permanent disposal in such containers.

Method of and apparatus for the storage of radioactive waste

GNS Gesellschaft fur Nuklear-Service mbH


Novel isoxazoline compounds, compositions containing the compounds and methods for making the compounds are disclosed. The compounds and compositions have pesticidal properties and are suitable for controlling ectoparasites on non-human animals.

PCT Patent Publication WO 2007/079162 discloses isoxazoline derivatives of Formula (A)
wherein, inter alia, each of A1-A6 and B1-B3 are C(R3), R1 is haloalkyl and W is O or S. The compounds are mainly used in the control of invertebrate, pests in agronomic environments. Many products are commercially available for these purposes, but the need continues for new compounds that are more effective, less costly, less toxic, environmentally safer or have different modes of action. It now has been surprisingly found that novel naphthyl derivatives with a modified heterocyclic side chain have superior properties in the control of pests.

Isoxazolines derivatives and their use as pesticide


A computer-implemented method of optimising an electronic shopping list is disclosed. The method comprises receiving, at a user equipment, a user list of products; receiving, at a user equipment, a store list of available products, each available product characterised by at least one variable; compiling a revised list from the user list and the store list, comprising associating each product from the user list with one or more available products and arranging an order of the revised list depending upon the at least one variable; and presenting the revised list using the user equipment.

Despite being a regular necessity for many, shopping in a physical store (which can be one or more shops, retail outlets, or in-store access to online, say) can be a frustrating and time consuming process. In particular, as the size of supermarkets, say, and the number of items ("products"; goods and/or services) that they offer for sale has grown, the time taken to find items to buy on a shopping list in such supermarkets has increased. The frustration this causes is compounded at the checkout when the shopper's items must be unpacked on to a conveyer belt to be scanned before being repacked and paid for.
There have been several approaches to assist shoppers and retailers alike. One approach has been to provide shoppers with handheld scanners so that they can scan items themselves as they shop. At the end of the shop, details of the scanned items are transferred from the scanner to the checkout system for payment by the shopper. This mitigates the need to unpack the items at the checkout because the items have already been scanned. However this doesn't assist shoppers with finding items on their shopping list in the shop, or assist shoppers to easily take advantage of promotions and loyalty cards, for instance.
Another approach has been to provide shoppers with an interface to generate a shopping list, prior to shopping, from a list of items in the shop; rather like online shopping. Unsatisfactorily, this approach requires a high level of user input in searching, and this takes time and is technically a burden to the user both in terms of complexity, time and resources—undermining the simplicity and speed of a traditional free form text shopping list.
A further suggestion has been to send shoppers a list from a store database and leave shoppers to search the list. This has proved an unwanted burden on the store's IT infrastructure, and has still required users to make time consuming choices from multiple options.
Not only have previous approaches therefore proved unsatisfactory for shoppers in terms of the technical difficulties described above, but they have also proved unsatisfactory for retailers. The optimisation of the shopping list, and data management have been unsatisfactory in terms of resource, time, and complexity; and it has been difficult to keep data up to date in real time. Previous approaches have not been helpful in improving the shopper's experience in terms of being simpler; and minimising time, resource and input burden, and have failed also to mitigate the risk of shop lifting, for example. Neither have previous approaches been readily compatible with existing supermarket infrastructure, such as existing point of sale (POS) systems. It has also proved difficult with previous approaches to successfully manage data flow to encourage loyalty card use and/or contribute to the collection of consumer data on shopper habits and tendencies. Neither does it enable users to archive, use and revise and retrieve their shopping history, spend and savings, for example; as well as electronic receipts
The present disclosure aims to address some of these problems.

Shopping method and system for compiling a revised user list on a portable user device using a store list downloaded from a remote database to the portable user device


Disclosed are systems, devices and methods for optimizing the manufacture and/or production of patient-specific orthopedic implants. The methods include obtaining image data of a patient, selecting a blank implant to be optimized for the patient, and modifying the blank implant utilizing techniques disclosed herein to alter specific features of the implant to conform to the patient's anatomy.

Joint implants are well known in the art. For example, one of the most common types of joint prosthetic devices is a knee implant including a femoral component and a tibial component. Other common joint implants are associated with, for example, the hip and shoulder, although many other implant locations are contemplate by the present disclosure, including the spine, spinal articulations, intervertebral discs, facet joints, shoulder joints, elbows, wrists, hands, finger joints, ankles, wrists, feet and toe joints.
The shape and size of various joint implants are becoming increasingly more complex and may include, for example, one or more concavities and/or convexities, as described in various literature, including U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/997,407, filed on Nov. 24, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Traditional implant manufacturing processes, which may even include manual steps, and which may be satisfactory for less complex shaping, are becoming inadequate. Traditionally, a diseased, injured or defective joint, such as, for example, a joint exhibiting osteoarthritis, would be repaired using standard off-the-shelf implants and other surgical devices. The drawback to this approach is that typically a decision must be made between devices that are either too large or too small or otherwise just not the right shape for the patient's anatomy. In order to make one of these sub-optimal devices fit properly, a surgeon must typically remove an undesirable or unacceptable amount of healthy or undamaged tissue from the surgical site, or accept using an implant that is not optimally sized or capable of being well positioned for the patient—settling for an implant and surgery that is "good enough" in the surgeon's estimation.
Furthermore, joint implants, such as a knee implant that includes tibial and femoral components, often require a relatively large cut on, for example, the tibia. This is due, in part, to satisfy a desired minimum thickness (for strength and/or reliability) of the materials of the component, such as polyurethane for a portion of a tibial component. The cut on the tibia, upon which the tibial component rests, provides space for the desired thickness of the polyurethane tibial component, desirably without overstuffing the joint. Such cuts can often be highly invasive, resulting in loss of valuable bone stock, and over time, osteolysis frequently leads to loosening of the prosthesis. Further, the area where the implant and the bone mate will typically degrade over sufficient time and loading cycles, requiring that the prosthesis be replaced. Since the patient's bone stock is limited, the number of possible replacement surgeries is also limited to a generally finite number of joint arthroplasties.
There are now various custom-made, patient-specific orthopedic implants known in the art, and such implants can be developed using software modeling programs. Such patient-specific implants, such as the iForma®, iUni® and iDuo® (commercially available from ConforMIS, Inc., Burlington, Mass.), offer advantages over the traditional "several-sizes-fit-all" approach such as a better fit, more natural movement, reduction in the amount of bone removed during surgery and a less invasive procedure. Such patient-specific implants generally can be created from images of the patient's joint and/or surrounding anatomical structures. Based on the images, the patient-specific implant can be created both to include surfaces that match existing surfaces in the joint, as well as to include surfaces that approximate an ideal and/or healthy surface that may not exist in the patient prior to any procedure. However, this patient-specific, tailor-made approach can be costly, both in terms of money and time. There remains a need in the art, therefore, for systems and methods of designing, manufacturing and implanting implants, including custom-made or modular implants as well as custom, patient-specific implants, in a more timely and cost effective manner.

Implant device and method for manufacture


A camera capable, upon insertion of a film cartridge having a leader of film outside the cartridge into a cartridge chamber of the camera leaving the leader outside the camera, of feeding the leader first backward into the interior of the camera and then forward to a film takeup spool of the camera, includes a closing mechanism for closing the cartridge chamber, a transporter for transporting the film, and an operating system for operating the closing mechanism by a driving power of the transporter means.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cameras and, more particularly, to improvements of the camera in which a film cartridge with the film leader out is inserted into the cartridge chamber and the lid therefor is closed leaving the film leader protruding outside, thereupon the film leader is pulled into the camera housing and then turned toward the takeup spool.
2. Description of the Related Art
The cameras of the type using roll film in the cartridge had the drawback that the film loading operation was troublesome. Therefore, until even now, various proposals for cameras of ever simpler film loading management in the above-described type have been made.
A novel camera of the film quick-load type which enables the film to be loaded very easily and quickly is proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,779,111, issued Oct. 18, 1988 and 4,780,734, issued Oct. 25, 1988; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 228,767, filed Aug. 4, 1988 (a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 134,614, filed Dec. 11, 1987 which was a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 026,267, filed Mar. 16, 1987, both now abandoned) and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 358,462, filed May 30, 1989 (a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 289,454, filed Dec. 22, 1988 which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 094,893, filed Sept. 10, 1987, both now abandoned). The two pending applications are being examined in Group 211.
The novel camera of the film quick-load type in the above-identified proposals is a camera that when being loaded with film, the film cartridge is inserted into the cartridge chamber, and, while the film leader protruding outwardly of the mouth of the cartridge is left outside the camera housing, the user only closes the lid of the cartridge chamber. Without having to do anything more, the film loading operation completes itself. In more detail, when that lid is closed, the film leader is automatically pulled into the interior of the camera housing, and a blank winding up follows until the film leader is connected to the takeup spool. Thus, the loading of the camera with film is completed.
In such a camera having the above function as previously proposed by the present patent application, a film loading operation is very simple, so that the camera is very easy to handle. However, there are the following problems to be solved.
That is, in the above-described camera, most of the mechanisms concerning the film loading operation are automated. Yet, as the lid of the cartridge chamber cannot close by itself, the user has to manipulate it carefully. On this point and others associated therewith, there remains room for further improvement.


The present invention provides methods and systems for testing voltage drops in positive and negative legs of an electrical system and for determining maximal current capacity of the electrical system based on the measured voltage drops. This is accomplished by connecting load leads of a testing unit at a starter or alternator of the electrical system, and connecting voltage leads of the testing unit at a battery of the electrical system. A load of known resistance is applied and a voltage at the load is measured. Voltage drops at the positive and negative legs of the electrical system are determined, based at least in part on the voltage at the load. A maximum current capacity of the electrical system is calculated based on the determined voltage drops.

The present invention relates generally to methods of and systems for testing voltage drops and current-carrying capacities of components of an electrical system, and more particularly to testing methods and systems that measure voltage drops in charging and starting components of the electrical system and compute the current carrying capacity and/or evaluate the condition of the components based thereon.
In an electrical system, loads and power sources are typically interconnected via wires, cables, bus bars, or other conductors. These conductors and the means of making connections therebetween may become loose, corroded, or damaged. It is therefore advantageous to test the conductors and the connections therebetween in electrical systems, especially those carrying large currents.
One example of such a system is an electrical system of an automobile or truck. Charging and starting portions of these electrical systems utilize very high currents, which are often as great as many hundreds of amps. Components of these electrical systems are frequently subjected to very harsh environments that include, for example, heat, moisture, large temperature changes, battery acid, and vibration. If the components become loose, corroded, or damaged, or are inadequate in size, their resistance will be too high for transmission of sufficient power from a source to a load of the electrical system. Higher resistances impede adequate current from flowing through the electrical system and create a voltage drop across the defective cables or bad connections, thereby reducing power to the load. In the charging portion of the electrical system high resistances can prevent necessary power from getting to a battery from the alternator. In the starting portion of the electrical system, adequate power may not be supplied to a starter from the battery.
A typical ohmmeter cannot be used to measure the resistance of cables and connections because the resistance in these components is typically very low (e.g., milliohms). To properly test the cables and the connections, voltage drops must be measured in the presence of a flowing current and calculations made based thereon using Ohm""s Law. In systems where the current varies, such as, for example, a charging portion, or in systems where the current is intermittent, such as, for example, a starting portion, steps must be taken to ensure that the voltage drop is measured during peak current flow. Voltage drop measurements under conditions of intermittent current have traditionally been tested by using a variable load tester having an auxiliary voltmeter. The variable load tester has typically been connected at the starter (or alternator) and auxiliary volt leads of the tester connected at the battery.
In such a procedure an operator applies and adjusts the current using the variable load tester. While current flows, the operator notes the voltage at the starter (or alternator), and also notes the voltage at the battery. The operator then subtracts one voltage from the other to obtain the voltage drop of the electrical system. If the voltage drop exceeds a specified amount (typically 0.5 volts), the electrical system is deemed problematic and the operator determines if the problem is in a positive leg or in a negative leg of the electrical system.
This determination is typically made by reconnecting the auxiliary volt leads to measure a voltage drop across the positive leg. The operator then applies and adjusts the load and notes the voltage across the positive leg. The voltage drop can not exceed one half of a maximal acceptable amount (i.e. 0.25 volts). A value exceeding one half of the maximal acceptable amount indicates a possible defect in the positive leg. To measure the voltage drop across a negative leg of the system, the auxiliary volt leads are moved to the negative leg. A load is applied and adjusted and the voltage drop across the negative leg is measured. A value exceeding one half of the maximal acceptable amount (i.e. 0.25 volts) indicates a possible defect in the negative leg.
Other variations of the aforementioned procedure, in which voltage drops are tested in an electrical system, have been attempted. For example, an inductive amp probe can be used to measure the current in the system and a variable load tester can be added to supplement the system load if needed. The operator is thereby allowed to connect the variable load tester at the battery; however, the operator is still required to perform multiple procedures and keep track of and subtract a series of voltages from one another. In addition, such approaches to testing voltage drops in an electrical system require the operator to perform multiple setups to completely test the positive and negative legs of the system.
Because voltage drop tests are so difficult to perform and require a significant amount of knowledge and skill by the operator, they are rarely performed. Often the battery, starter, or alternator is unnecessarily replaced, resulting in operations that fail to solve the underlying problem.
The present invention addresses these and other drawbacks by automatically determining current-carrying capacities and voltage drops in both positive and negative legs of an electrical system, after a setup procedure. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, load leads of a testing device are connected at a starter (or alternator) in an electrical system of, for example, an automotive vehicle, while voltage leads of the testing device are connected at a battery of the electrical system. The testing device then applies a load of known resistance and measures a voltage at the load. Voltage drops in cables of the system are calculated by measuring a difference in voltage of two positive leads (a positive leg of the system) and two negative leads (a negative leg of the system). From the voltage across the load of known resistance, a current drawn by the testing device of the present invention is calculated from Ohm""s law. This current, along with the voltage drops in the positive and negative legs, is used to calculate a resistance in the two legs. The current that would produce a maximum allowable drop in the system and the percentage of the voltage drop in the positive and negative legs may then be calculated and displayed. The maximum current or the voltage drops can be compared to acceptable values and a xe2x80x9cpassxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfailxe2x80x9d result can be given to the user.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method of measuring voltage drops in an electrical system is described, in which a plurality of load leads are connected to, for example, a charging component or a starting component, of the electrical system. The plurality of load leads includes a positive load lead and a negative load lead, each coupled to a testing device. Additionally, a plurality of voltage leads are connected to a battery or system of the electrical system. The plurality of voltage leads also includes a positive voltage lead and a negative voltage lead, each of which are coupled to the testing device. A load of known resistance is applied to the electrical system by the testing device and a voltage is measured at the load. Then, a first voltage drop is measured between the positive load lead and the positive voltage lead and a second voltage drop is measured between the negative load lead and the negative voltage lead, wherein measurements of the first and second voltage drops are based, at least in part, on the voltage at the load.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method of testing a magnetic switch circuit, which is coupled to a starter component in an electrical system, is described. The method begins with a step of first disconnecting the magnetic switch circuit from an xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d terminal of the starter component. A first positive lead of a plurality of load leads is connected to the xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d terminal. The plurality of load leads is also coupled to a testing device. A first negative lead of the plurality of load leads is connected to ground. At a second terminal of the starter component, a second positive lead of a plurality of voltage leads is connected. The plurality of voltage leads is also coupled to the testing device. A second negative lead from the plurality of voltage leads is connected to ground. The magnetic switch circuit is then energized and a first voltage drop, between the first positive lead and the first negative lead, and a second voltage drop, between the second positive lead and the second negative lead, is calculated. An indication of results obtained is provided, wherein the indication is based, at least in part, on the first and second voltage drops.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for testing and measuring voltage drops in a positive and a negative leg of an electrical system is provided. The apparatus includes a plurality of load leads adapted to connect to a charging or starting component of the electrical system, wherein the plurality of load leads includes a positive load lead and a negative load lead, a plurality of voltage leads adapted to connect to a battery or system of the electrical system, wherein the plurality of voltage leads includes a positive voltage lead and a negative voltage lead; a means for applying a load of known resistance to the electrical system; a means for measuring a voltage at the load; and a means for measuring a first voltage drop between the positive load lead and the positive voltage lead, and a second voltage drop between the negative load lead and the negative voltage lead, wherein measurements of the first and second voltage drops are based, at least in part, on the voltage at the load.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for testing a magnetic switch circuit coupled to a starter component, in an electrical system, is provided. The apparatus includes a means for disconnecting the magnetic switch circuit from an xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d terminal of the starter component; a first positive lead of a plurality of load leads adapted to connect to the xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d terminal, wherein the plurality of load leads is coupled to the tester; a first negative lead of the plurality of load leads adapted to connect to ground; a second positive lead from a plurality of voltage leads adapted to connect to a second terminal of the starter component, wherein the plurality of voltage leads is coupled to the tester, a second negative lead from the plurality of voltage leads adapted to connect to ground; a means for energizing the magnetic switch circuit; a means for calculating a first voltage drop between the first positive lead and the first negative lead and calculating a second voltage drop between the second positive lead and the second negative lead; and a first indicator, for providing a first indication of results obtained, wherein the first indication is based, at least in part, on the first and second voltage drops.

Microprocessor-based hand-held electrical-testing system and method


An article support rack rests on wheels fastened to walls of a washing machine tub. An axle having a partially knurled shaft is inserted through each wheel. A washer is placed over the axle to engage the knurled part and hold the wheel on the axle. The axle is secured in a hole in a wall of the tub.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to dishwashing machines and specifically to a novel rack support wheel assembly in a dishwashing machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Machines used for washing articles, such as dishes, typically include one or more racks to support the articles. The racks comprise a lattice of bent metal rods or molded plastic formed to support the articles while permitting water from jet sprays to contact the articles. To facilitate loading and unloading of articles, the racks are adapted to be at least partially removed from the machine.
In a household dishwasher, for example, the dishes are washed in an enclosure or tub having a front door which pivots downwardly. A lower rack has wheels journalled thereon. The wheels rest on flanges in the tub and permit the lower rack to be rolled out of the tub onto the open door. An upper rack is provided with a track or flange supported by pairs of vertically spaced wheels or rollers mounted on the interior walls of the tub. The upper rack has wheels journalled thereon and resting on or inside the track or flange. Since the rack is movable relative to the track which moves relative to the tub, the telescoping action allows the upper rack to be rolled completely out of the tub while providing complete support on the wheels and tracks which form a cantilever arrangement.
The wheels journalled on the wall of the tub or enclosure are mounted with a screw inserted through a central hole in each wheel. Usually, a washer is placed over the screw. Because the washer and wheel are likely to fall off the screw during assembly, a portion of the screw is deformed to hold the washer in place. Thus, the wheel is secured between the washer and the head of the screw. The screw is then threaded or otherwise secured in the wall of the enclosure.
It has been found that deforming the screw during assembly is time consuming and requires costly tooling. Interruption of the assembly process for the deforming step and for tooling changes is also costly. An assembly of a wheel, axle, and washer can be difficult to manipulate into position for deforming the shaft. Thus, when deforming the shaft, it is possible to inadvertently deform the threads on the shaft thereby adversely affecting installation in the wall. Further, an edge of the shaft which seats against the wall may be inadvertently deformed so that it does not seat well.
Another means of mounting a roller in a washing machine tub is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,483 to Afful et al. A mounting stud has an outer bearing surface on which the roller rotates and an inner bore for receiving a threaded fastener. The roller is placed on the stud and resilient fingers on an edge of the stud are displaced to hold the roller on the stud. The stud is placed against a wall of the tub and the threaded fastener is secured in the bore through the wall. The stud is a complex component having relatively fragile fingers. In addition, the roller assembly is not complete until it is installed in the tub. That is, there are two pieces which are assembled with the tub wall, one from the inside and one from the outside.

Rack support roller for dishwashing machine and method of assembly therefor


One or more processors analyze interaction data for two or more nodes within a plurality of nodes processing a computing transaction. One or more processors determine a number of inbound requests and a number of outbound requests for the two or more nodes within the plurality of nodes. One or more processors determine whether one or more nodes within the plurality of nodes are limiting computing performance.

The present invention relates generally to the field of application performance management (APM), and more particularly to determining where bottlenecks occur along transaction pathways.
APM is focused on monitoring applications and application environments to determine application health and efficiency. APM is used to monitor and predict performance issues and other application problems either in the application or in the environment in which the application runs.
APM software collects many metrics from the application environment including central processing unit (CPU) usage, memory usage, transaction, latency, transaction rates, interaction data (correlation data), response times, thread pool usage, garbage collection (GC) activity, etc. Large amounts of data are collected from many complex application environments. More and more software vendors and customers are focusing on analytics to uncover insights from the available application performance data.
When transaction response time is identified as excessive, APM attempts to isolate the cause or at least provide users with an indication or "best guess" as to the probable cause and where to focus on a problem resolution.

Determining where bottlenecks occur in multi-threaded multi-path computing systems

International Business Machines Corporation


Chromatography apparatus and methods are described, especially for expanded bed adsorption. A column tube has a process fluid input device at the bottom and a movable piston in the top. The piston is enclosed in the column by a cover plate. The piston body has an inflatable seal, and is connected by a frame to a contact ring which carries another inflatable member to contact the tube wall. Process fluid leaves the operating volume through an opening of the piston and flexible hose, through the enclosed space and out through the cover plate. The space above the piston can be pressurised to control piston movement. The contact ring maintains piston alignment. The inflatable seals are used to fix the piston in position, allow it to slide or allow washing. The piston outlet may include a vortex-inhibitor. Bed and piston levels may be monitored by ultrasound sensors.

This invention has to do with apparatus, systems and processes for chromatography. Aspects of the invention have particular relevance for expanded bed (fluidised bed) processes. These are processes in which a process liquid is contacted with a bed of solid particulate medium in a column, by passing the liquid through the column. Contact with the solid medium allows treatment of the liquid, in most cases the treatment constituting or comprising separation of a component of the process liquid by retention thereof on the medium.
Chromatography has traditionally used packed beds of particulate medium, retained between end retaining structures of the column tube which keep the bed of medium in place while allowing passage of the liquid components. The end retaining structures (sometimes called "cells") have a mesh through which liquid but not media particles can pass. The cells may be fixed to the column tube, or one or both of them may be operationally slidable within it, with a piston seal, for adjustment of bed height.
In recent years the industrial-scale production of biologically-produced molecules, e.g. for drugs, vaccines or diagnostic agents, has become of great technical and economic importance. Many such products are produced in cell cultures and they (or their precursors) must be separated from a culture product (e.g. homogenised broth or slurry) which typically contains insoluble solids such as cell debris as well as contaminants; it cannot be passed as mobile phase through a packed bed to adsorb the product chromatographically (preparative chromatography) because the solids would block the system. Rather, the culture product must first be processed to remove the solid matter and make a process liquid able to pass through stationary phase beds.
Expanded Bed Adsorption (EBA) enables separation of target components from such process liquids without preliminary centrifugation or filtration. In EBA the process liquid runs up through a bed of adsorbent medium particles in expanded (fluidised) state. Solid material in the process liquid passes up right through the bed to the outlet; the inlet and outlet are without meshes. Target product is adsorbed onto the particulate medium and is subsequently eluted (washed) from it, either downwardly with the bed packed or upwardly with the bed fluidised.
EBA therefore offers important efficiencies. For example, because it can directly process liquids containing high proportions of solids or of target substance, such as high cell density broths from a bioreactor, it enables the high productivity of such bioreactor processes to be carried through the later processing.
However EBA also presents major technical challenges. It is difficult to maintain the expanded bed in a stable and effective state, e.g. maintaining the vertical gradation of reducing particle size, and avoiding direct channelling of process liquid through the bed.
Measures taken to control bed behaviour include special process liquid injection arrangements at the bottom of the column, to produce plug-like flow e.g. by injecting the liquid through an array of holes distributed over the bottom cell, optionally stirring with a rotating stirrer. Or, an array of process liquid injection holes is in a motor-driven distribution rotor. At the top of the bed a movable piston or float may lie on the liquid surface to mount the process liquid outlet, or the outlet tube may simply dip into the clear liquid ("headspace" or supernatant) above the particle bed.
EBA columns are relatively tall, because of the bed expansion. Expanded bed height—which may be about twice the rest height—is controlled by adjustment of the liquid flow rate, optionally in conjunction with a top piston or float as mentioned. Top pistons are problematic because the mounting and control structure connecting them through the end of the column (usually a pipe incorporating the outlet conduit and/or guide rods) needs large vertical clearance.
Solids passing through the column may accumulate and foul the apparatus—cell materials are often sticky—which is then difficult to disassemble for cleaning. As the apparatus is scaled up, bed diameter increases, components become larger and heavier and serious operational difficulties may arise.
As a consequence of these various technical challenges, scale-up of EBA for industrial application has scarcely progressed despite the intrinsic merits of the EBA method in itself.

Chromatography system with tilt-prevention structure and associated process


Process and device for treating seeds in order to combat harmful organisms. According to the invention, in an initial stage of the process, the seeds are separated and distributed evenly in a free-fall process, subjected in a vacuum to irradiation by low energy electron beams and then immediately treated with fungicides and/or microbial antagonists or metabolic products and spores thereof and/or synergists.

The present invention relates to a process and a device for treating seeds to combat seed- and/or soil-borne harmful organisms. The process and the device according to the present invention are intended for the treatment of agricultural, horticultural or forestry seeds, in particular, for the treatment of grain. The present invention is especially suited for combating smut in wheat or barley in agricultural production.
With specific cultivated varieties of grain, it is known that the seeds are dressed against seed-borne fungal pathogens. A plurality of chemical and physical treatment methods are known for this purpose. As a rule, the chemical treatment is carried out with dressing agents that contain one or several active substances. However, the specific pathogens of wheat smut (Ustilago tritici) and barley smut (Ustilago nuda) as well as other seed-borne harmful organisms can only be combated effectively by means of combined preparations which normally consist of a mercury compound and, a systemically attacking agent or of mercury-free combined preparations and at least one systemically attacking agent.
It is known in this connection that highly toxic chemicals are used. These have a wide range of action and are based on mercury compounds and their area of attack is the surface and seed shell of the seed corn. The mercury-free dressing agents which have either a small or a wide range of action make it possible to combat harmful organisms colonizing the deep regions of the seed corn. Furthermore, one expects of the above-described dressing operation with chemicals that these also protect the seed corn against soil-borne harmful organisms by adhering to the seed corn. Apart from a high deposition rate, the application of these agents requires specific devices which satisfy the conditions of application.
The disadvantages inherent to chemical dressing reside in the toxicity of the employed agents for warm-blooded animals and man and in developing resistance phenomena that can be observed during prolonged use with respect to specific harmful organisms. on the other hand, mercury-free dressing agents are much more expensive. Resistance also increases due to the fact that the standard treating agents (pesticides) contain the same active substances or active substances of the same groups as the dressing agents. Another aspect of the chemical dressing agents regards the residues thereof in cultivated plants and the associated negative effects on human and animal organisms. The amounts needed as well as metabolic phenomena are here of great importance. Finally, the known methods and devices for the chemical dressing of seeds have often the disadvantage that the fungicidal potency of the dressing agents is not fully exploited and that there is a potential risk of phytotoxic damage to the seeds caused by overdosage. The latter is often due to the uneven deposition of the dressing agent on the seed corns.
It is also known that the dressing agent is applied to the seeds in vacuum (DD-PS 18 675, DD-PS 23 421). The vacuum simultaneously serves to combat grain smut in an improved way through the additional action of moist heat. Devices of this type have however not gained any great importance because the procedure is very time-consuming and only a relatively small throughput can be achieved. Such a throughput does not meet the requirements of an efficient technological procedure, in particular in central seed processing installations.
Hot-water dressing has become known as a physical dressing method for combating barley smut. Although this method is very acceptable from an ecological point of view, as it is non-toxic and no harmful residues are left, it is not very successful and has thus not proved to be very efficient in practice.
The use of ionized high-energy rays, such as gamma or X-rays, to combat microbial harmful organisms on seeds is not possible because the necessary radiation dose would have mutagenic or phytotoxic effects on the seeds.
Furthermore, it is known that low energy electron beams are used in vacuum or in a free atmosphere to combat seed-borne harmful organisms (DD-PS 242 337, DD-PS 238 715, U.S. Pat. No. 4,633, 611). The electron energy and the radiation dose are chosen such that microbial harmful organisms are killed on the surface or in the near surface layers of the seed corn (caryopsis) without any produce affecting action or phytotoxic effects on the germ.
Although such a method has the advantage that it does not create any toxic effects and does thus not present any danger to man or his environment, seed-transferrable harmful organisms are not or only partly combated in the deep layers of the corn and in the germ, respectively, and the seeds are exposed to the attack of soil-borne harmful organisms in an unchecked way. Therefore, when barley or wheat smut causing agents are combated, electron dressing is not efficient enough because these agents colonize the deep layers of the caryopsis.
Biological combating methods which employ microbial antagonists that are used against seed-borne harmful organisms are now described more and more often (AT-PS 360 274, DE-OS 33 11 071, EP-PS 255 774, U.S. Pat. No. 4 798 723, etc.).
Bacterial antagonists, such as Bacillus spp., Streptomyces spp., Pseudomonas spp. and fungal antagonists, such as Chaetomium spp., Gliocladium spp., Penecillium spp., Trichoderma spp. and others are used. However, the good fungicidal effects found under laboratory conditions at optimum temperatures of more than 20xc2x0 C. are often not confirmed by outdoor tests, and there is considerable uncertainty about the effects thereof. To improve their efficiency, mixtures of microbial antagonists and fungicides were therefore used (see DE-OS 23 52 403, DE-OS 27 40 052, DD-PS 267 420).
At the present stage of the fight against harmful organisms by means of antagonists, it is regarded as a deficiency that the vitality and thus efficiency of these antagonists are limited by existing seed-borne harmful organisms, added fungicides with a wide range of action or unfavorable colonization conditions for the antagonists on the seed corn.
Finally, methods for the seed treatment with symbiotic microorganisms or mycorrhiza fungi have been suggested. It is the target of these measures to transfer microorganisms into the soil together with the seed corn. These microorganisms live in symbiosis with the useful plant or in the immediate vicinity thereof in the soil and provide important macronutrients for the useful plant through their metabolic products.
In this case, too, it might happen that above all seed-borne harmful organisms or fungicides with a wide range of action affect the development and thus efficiency of these microorganisms.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a process of the above-mentioned type which is more effective in combating seed- and/or soil-borne harmful organisms and less harmful to the environment and permits a high throughput. Moreover, the process is meant to combat the harmful organisms on the seeds more efficiently, i.e. independently of the localization of the population of harmful organisms on the seed corn.
Furthermore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a device for treating seeds to combat seed-borne and/or soil-borne harmful organisms, with the device permitting a high throughput during the treatment of the seeds as well as a highly efficient treatment on all sides thereof in the combat against harmful organisms, i.e. independently of the localization of said organisms on or in the seeds.
As for the seed treating process, this object is attained according to the invention in that the seeds are subjected in immediate sequential order to a combined treatment with low energy electron beams and, thereafter, with active chemical substances and/or biological material.
Surprisingly enough it has been found that when the seed treatment to combat harmful organisms is carried out in two steps immediately following each other, namely the irradiation of the seeds with low energy electrons on all sides thereof in a first step and the immediately following treatment of the seeds irradiated in this way with an application of active chemical substances and/or biological material in a second step, this has a synergistic effect and produces an unexpectedly good result when seed- and/or soil-borne harmful organisms are combated. This surprisingly good effect of the process according to the present invention is explained by the fact that the low energy electron beams first help to combat the fungal harmful organisms on the surface and in the near surface region of the seeds or seed corns. Harmful organisms that have not been killed are sensitized in said regions and can more effectively be combated due to this sensitization immediately after electron dressing with active chemical substances and/or with biological material (especially microbial antagonists). When active chemical substances are used, it is possible to achieve a higher combating rate even if the amounts used are smaller. Since the sensitivity accomplished through electron dressing will not last forever, the procedure of treating the seeds in accordance with the invention in a continuous treatment process divided into immediately subsequent steps produces especially good results when harmful organisms are combated. Moreover, an improved deposition of the chemical and/or biological application and an improved depth action for chemical agents or microbial antagonists are achieved through the inventive process. The penetration depth can additionally be controlled through the selection of the pressure stage for the application of the active chemical substances and/or the biological material.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the seeds are separated in a first step and moved through an irradiation chamber in a free-fall process and in vacuum, i.e. substantially evenly distributed in spaced-apart relationship, and are subjected, immediately thereafter in a second step, to an application with fungicides or the active substances and/or microbial antagonists thereof or the metabolic products and spores thereof and/or microorganisms (synergists) conducive to plant growth, possibly in conjunction with nutrients.
The seeds are preferably irradiated in the first step in a free-fall process in the irradiation region with quasi-monoenergetic electron beams on all sides, electrons of substantially reduced energy (scatter electrons) and plasma particles which act on the surface of the seed and a near surface layer outside the embryo.
In another preferred embodiment of the process of the invention the chemical and/or biological application of the second step is preferably carried out in vacuum, during the reduction of the vacuum after electron beam treatment of the seeds or under atmospheric pressure.
In case the treatment of the seeds is carried out after electron dressing in vacuum, a vacuum pressure is preferably chosen which corresponds approximately to the saturation vapour pressure of the application.
Other preferred embodiments of the process of the invention are shown in the remaining subclaims.
To attain the above-mentioned object with respect to the device for treating seeds to combat seed-borne and/or soil-borne harmful organisms, in particular to perform the above-explained process, the invention suggests a device which comprises an evacuated irradiation chamber into which the seeds can be introduced separately in a seed flow and through which the seeds are moved in a free-fall process, as well as electron beam generators for treating the seeds by spreading the electron beams in an irradiation region of the irradiation chamber, and at least one treatment chamber in flow communication with the irradiation chamber, connected to application devices for the chemical and/or biological treatment of the seeds.
The device preferably comprises an evacuated irradiation chamber with electron guns arranged thereon as well as feeders for the pressure-decoupled introduction and discharge of the seeds into and from the treatment chamber, furthermore a distribution device at an inlet point for the seeds into the irradiation chamber for separating the seeds, a fall shaft between the distribution means and an irradiation region of the irradiation chamber with at least two electron guns that are opposite to each other at the same level and with deflection devices which are used for spreading the electron beam and are assigned to the irradiation region, a treatment container, in particular a vacuum container, being in flow communication with the irradiation chamber downstream thereof via an intermediate feeder and comprising application devices for treating the seeds, which devices are preferably arranged inside the treatment container, and a supply vessel which is used for applying active chemical substances and/or biological material as well as microbial antagonists and is connected to the treatment container.
Other preferred embodiments of the device of the invention are outlined in the remaining subclaims.
Both with regard to the treatment of seeds with active fungicidal substances or agents and the treatment with antagonistic microorganisms and/or their nutrient broths, culture filtrates and antibiotic metabolic products following an irradiation of the seeds with low energy electrons, a surprising synergistic and increased effect was observed with respect to seed- and/or soil-borne harmful organisms without any produce-affecting phytotoxic effects. The low energy electron beam treatment in vacuum results in an advantageous predisposition to an essentially improved colonization of the seeds with used microorganisms or a permanent deposition of culture filtrates or antibiotic metabolic products on the seeds.