A first device that implements one or more first virtual machines and a second device that implements one or more second virtual machines are communicatively connected. The first device notifies the second device being a communication-connection-destination of the first appliance that the first appliance has been connected to the first device. The first device transmits first data received from the second device to the first appliance, and transmits second data received from the first appliance to the second device. The second device notifies the second virtual machine that the first appliance has been connected when the connection is permitted. The second device transmits data received from the first device to the second virtual machine and transmits data received from the second virtual machine to the first device.

Normally, dedicated pieces of software are prepared for both a client and a server when a remote operation is performed between the client and the server. By causing the dedicated pieces of software to run in collaboration with each other, the server can be operated from the client, and processing results of the server can be displayed on the client.
For example, with remote operations using a technique such as VNC (Virtual Network Computing), remote desktop or the like, an operation of a keyboard or a mouse connected to a client is notified from the client to a server. Then, the server executes a process as if a keyboard or a mouse connected to the server is operated. Then, the server transmits its output screen to the client. The client displays the output screen of the server on an output screen of the client itself.
In association with the above described technique, a calculating machine system having an I/O device virtualized to allow an I/O device of a server computer to be used from a client computer is known.
Also a process for selectively leading or re-leading an access and a control, which are performed for a USB device connected to the client computer, for the server computer is known.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-258840    Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-195981

Virtual calculating machine system, virtual calculating machine control apparatus and virtual calculating machine control method


A fault monitoring system for an electrical substation includes one or more arrays of acoustic sensors placed around a substation boundary and configured to measure acoustic pressure waves. A processing circuitry in the fault monitoring system localizes and identifies faults in the substation and includes a sound source localization module to identify an area of a sound source based on the acoustic pressure waves. A beamforming module of processing circuitry provides enhanced acoustic pressure waves by eliminating background noise and interfering noise from the acoustic pressure waves and a component signature classification module in the processing circuitry compares enhanced acoustic pressure waves with component signatures to classify the acoustic pressure waves into various events to detect faults in the electrical substation.

The invention relates generally to electrical substations and more specifically to fault monitoring and diagnostics in electrical substations.
Electrical substations are an important component of the electrical power distribution system. Substations typically include a number of assets such as transformers, circuit breakers, substation batteries and battery chargers, capacitor banks, and underground cables, to name but a few. Optimizing the maintenance, repair, and replacement of these and other assets is a challenging task, particularly when system reliability is taken into consideration.
Most of the substation assets are high-voltage structures which deteriorate with time. There is a significant economic benefit in being able to selectively identify and replace those assets that have deteriorated significantly. The principal mechanisms that are responsible for the long-term degradation of these assets are erosion and cracking within or on the surface of the insulation. Thus, in the long term, monitoring the condition of these assets assists in the planning of asset replacement. More immediately it enables suspect components to be identified and replaced which extends the lives of assets.
The state of the art in substation inspection is manual inspection by trained personnel, usually performed about once a year. During manual inspection, human auditory assessment is usually employed, but it cannot cover the frequency range of digital equipment, and further it cannot be used for 24×7 surveillance. Infrared imaging is also an effective wide-area assessment method, but it has higher power requirements and is costly.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved substation fault monitoring and diagnostics system and method to address one or more aforementioned issues.

Electrical substation fault monitoring and diagnostics


A system for serving and collecting items on board an aircraft includes a track located overhead and a container assembly that is pendently supported from that track. The container assembly includes a handle for manually moving the assembly and a motorized unit. The motorized unit also includes a circuit for causing the assembly to stop according to a preprogrammed sequence and to return to a galley area.

Many aircraft flights include the serving of food and drink items as well as the dispensing of various other items, such as magazines and the like. Serving and dispensing items also requires collection of such items sometime before the flight lands. At present, both the distribution and collection of items requires one or more flight attendants to traverse the aisle in the passenger cabin. On large airplanes, several flight attendants will be in the aisle at the same time carrying out various tasks. This situation can create a serious congestion problem, especially if one or more passengers attempts to use the aisle.
Such congestion not only can be annoying to other passengers, especially if they are trying to watch an in-flight movie, it is an inefficient way to dispense and collect items. While most flight attendants are extremely efficient, this manual dispensing and collecting process is limited and such limitations are especially apparent on either large planes or on short flights.
Therefore, there is a need for a system for serving and collecting items on board an aircraft which is efficient, out of the way, and can be used by one or two flight attendants even in large airplanes or on short flights to dispense food and other items to the passengers and to collect items associated therewith without generating congestion in the aisle of the passenger cabin.

System for serving and collecting items on board an aircraft


The present invention relates to a micro-channel reactor for producing synthetic natural gas, and more particularly, to a micro-channel reactor for producing synthetic natural gas containing methane gas from synthetic gas, including a porous nickel plate catalyst part.

In order to solve a price increase of crude oil and natural gas and a global warming problem caused by the use of fossil fuel, an effort for deviating from dependence on the existing fossil fuel has recently been actively conducted. However, the fossil fuel is occupying a substantial portion of energy consumed all over the world up to now, and an energy consumption structure in which the fossil fuel is mainly used is expected to continue for the present.
Coal has a reserve life of two hundred years or more, which is longest among those of current fossil fuels, has a relatively cheap cost per heat amount, and may be mined at various regions. Due to the above-mentioned advantages, research into various methods of obtaining natural gas from the coal has been conducted.
The natural gas obtained from the coal has been called methane or substitute natural gas (hereinafter, referred to as synthetic natural gas) and has been expressed as synthetic or substitute natural gas (SNG). As a method of obtaining the SNG from the coal, there are a method of obtaining the SNG through a methane synthetic reaction using synthetic gas obtained through gasification of the coal as a catalyst (a gasification method), a method of obtaining the SNG by allowing the coal to react directly to hydrogen (a hydrogasification method), and a method of obtaining the SNG by allowing the coal to react to vapor at a low temperature using a catalyst (a catalytic gasification method). The method of producing the SNG based on the gasification in which the SNG is synthesized from the synthetic gas (having CO and H2 as main components) obtained by performing gasification of the coal (CO+3H2→CH4+H2O) is classified into an indirect method, and the hydrogasification method in which the SNG is obtained by allowing carbon within the coal to directly react to hydrogen supplied from the outside (C+2H2→CH4) and the catalytic gasification method in which the SGN is obtained by allowing carbon within the coal to react to vapor (2C+2H2O→CH4+CO2) are classified into a direct method.
Describing the method of producing the SNG from the synthetic gas obtained through the gasification of the coal (the indirect method) among the above-mentioned methods, a process of producing the SNG from the coal is mainly divided into a synthetic gas producing process (a process of producing the synthetic gas having CO and H2 as the main components from the coal) and a process of synthesizing the SNG using a catalyst (a process of synthesizing the SNG from the synthetic gas having CO and H2 as the main components), wherein the synthetic gas producing process is configured to be significantly similar to a gasification process and a synthetic gas purification process in an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) process. However, since a ratio of H2 to CO within the synthetic gas discharged during gasification of the coal is 1.0 or less, a water gas conversion process (CO+H2O→H2+CO2) of increasing a concentration so that the ratio of H2 to CO becomes about 3.0 is required, and a purification process having a higher degree than that of the purification process in the existing IGCC due to characteristics of the SNG requiring a H2S concentration at a ppb level within the synthetic gas is required.
Meanwhile, the synthetic gas subjected to the water gas conversion process and the synthetic gas purification process may be converted into methane under a catalyst having Ni supported on a ceramic support as a main component. Since the methanation reaction (3H2+CO→CH4+H2O) is a very strong exothermic reaction (having reaction heat of 206.1 kJ/mol), in the case of using the catalyst produced using the ceramic support having low thermal conductivity, catalyst activity is deteriorated due to sintering, or the like, caused by an increase in catalyst temperature. Design of a methanation reactor capable of easily performing heat control may be the most important core technology.
As a method used in order to prevent a rapid increase in temperature in this reaction process, methods such as a gas recycling method of recycling a portion of reduced gas toward an introduction side of a methanation reactor, a gas distributing method of distributing synthetic gas introduced into a methanation reactor, and a reactor serial connection method of preventing an increase in temperature due to a rapid reaction in a single reactor by sequentially connecting several reactors in series with each other, or the like, have been attempted. However, in a reactor design technology for efficiently controlling reaction heat in a methanation reaction, continuous improvement or introduction of a new technology has been demanded even up to now.

Micro-channel reactor for producing synthetic natural gas


A sewing machine includes a sewing portion, a detector, a processor, and a memory. The sewing portion includes a needle bar and a transport portion. The needle bar is configured to have a sewing needle on a lower end. The transport portion is configured to move a work cloth. The detector is configured to detect ultrasonic waves. The memory stores computer-readable instructions that instruct the processor to perform specifying a position of a transmission source of the ultrasonic waves based on the ultrasonic waves that are detected by the detector, specifying sewing information based on the specified position of the transmission source, the sewing information being information that pertains to sewing, and controlling the sewing portion based on the specified sewing information.

The present disclosure relates to a sewing machine that performs sewing based on sewing information that has been received from a user.
A sewing machine performs sewing on a work cloth by operating a needle bar, a feed dog, and the like based on various types of information (hereinafter referred to as the sewing information) that pertains to the sewing. The sewing information may include a swing width for a stitch, the length of a stitch, and a base line position that indicates a needle drop position for a sewing needle that is mounted on a needle bar, as well as the size, angle, and the like for a decorative stitch or an embroidery pattern. The sewing information is input by the user. For example, a sewing machine is known that is provided with a liquid crystal display and a transparent touch panel and performs sewing based on the sewing information that is received from the user through the touch panel. The sewing machine displays a menu screen on the liquid crystal display. Through the touch panel, the sewing machine receives the sewing information that is selected by the user.


A method (400) and corresponding data processing system (209) of detecting cloned or duplicated communication units based on received signals is described. The method comprise receiving a signal (403) comprising a sequence of data symbols; and determining (405) whether the signal originated from a plurality of communication units based on a parameter, such as power or quality level of a group of the data symbols.

One problem that operators and users of communications systems and particularly wireless communication systems often need to address is that of security or privacy for communications on these systems. This problem may be particularly pronounced in systems that provide service to a multitude of users via communications units, such as cellular phones. One technique used by miscreants to monitor another's communication includes using a cloned communication unit or phone, where a cloned unit is configured to duplicate all identification characteristics, such as identification/serial numbers of a legitimate/authorized phone.
Many such systems and standards that define such systems include provisions for authorizing and authenticating communication units that utilize the services. For example the cellular system defined by the well known IS-2000 standards specifies procedures for authentication, however these procedures and the requisite equipment can be a financial burden for a system operator and typically add latency to obtaining or acquiring services, e.g. while the phone is being authenticated, etc.
Clearly a need exists for cost effective approaches for detecting cloned communication units.


An optical connector plug to be inserted to an adapter, is arranged such that a pair of engaging parts for expanding an elastic locking piece provided on a side of the adapter by a taper part and locking it with a step part is provided on a tip part of a plug frame which is a body of the plug; a locking releasing piece movable along an insertion-extraction direction is provided between the pair of engaging parts; a taper part for releasing a locking action of the elastic locking piece when extracting the plug is provided at a rear end of the locking releasing piece; and the taper part of the engaging parts has such a shape that the connecting stress is not lowered before being locked when inserting the plug.

In recent years, along with the development of FTTH, the opportunity for ordinary people other than a special construction dealer to touch an optical connector is increasing. In connector operations, when inserting and extracting the conventional SC type connector plug into and from a connector adapter, the connector plug remains in the connector adapter in the half-way in insertion or extraction, and it is known that a so-called half-way insertion occurs. In order to avoid this state, conventionally a marking was put on a part of the connector plug, and the connector plug was inserted or extracted so that the marking is invisible.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A coke over door jamb cleaner utilizing a unique supporting arrangement, scraper-type cleaning elements and a floor or hearth cleaning tool for effectively cleaning the sealing surfaces of a coke oven door jamb and the floor or hearth of the coke oven adjacent the door.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a coke oven door jamb cleaner utilizing a unique supporting arrangement, scraper-type cleaning elements and a floor or hearth cleaning tool for effectively cleaning the sealing surfaces of a coke oven door jamb and the floor or hearth of the coke oven adjacent the door.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,110,171 issued Aug. 29, 1978 discloses a jamb cleaner for a coke oven door jamb utilizing electrically operated screw jack type of supporting arrangement, vertically movable carriage and rotatable cleaning elements. The structural features disclosed in this patent and all of the other patents of record therein, which are incorporated herein by reference thereto, are not equivalent to the structure incorporated into this invention.


A cutting board with scrap bin includes a generally planar cutting surface that can rest on a countertop to enable cutting. One portion of the cutting board is adapted to attach to a scrap bin, with the scrap bin being selectively attachable or detachable as desired. In some versions the scrap bin is also collapsible, making it smaller for storage.

In food preparation, it is often useful to have a cutting board that can be placed on any countertop in order to cut the food items at any desired location without damaging the countertop. The cutting process often separates peels, stems, leaves, cores, or other food scraps that are to be discarded. Because it can be inconvenient to carry the scraps back and forth to a discard container contemporaneously as they are produced, it is useful to have a scrap bin associated with the cutting board. Unfortunately, a cutting board with an attached scrap bin is typically bulky and difficult to store.


A sensor apparatus includes a heating element comprising an upstream side and a downstream side. A first heat sensing set is generally configured adjacent to the upstream side of the heating element and comprises a first sensing element and a second sensing element, the first and second sensing elements configured in a serpentine, interdigitated pattern. A second heat sensing set can be configured adjacent to the downstream side of the heating element and comprises a third sensing element and a fourth sensing element, the third and fourth sensing elements configured in a serpentine, interdigitated pattern.

Sensors are utilized in a variety of sensing applications, such as, for example, detecting and/or quantifying the composition of matter, detecting and/or quantifying the presence of a particular substance from among many substances, and detecting and/or quantifying a mass flow rate of a substance. The industrial, commercial, medical, and automotive industries in particular require many ways to quantify the amount of gaseous and liquid mass flow rates. For example, in the medical industry, an airflow sensor is often employed to monitor and/or control a patient's breathing. Two examples of this include sleep apnea devices and oxygen conserving devices. Similarly, airflow sensors are often employed in microcomputer cooling units to detect the presence and amount of local airflow in, through, and around the cooling units.
Historically, mass flow sensors have been constructed with one temperature-sensing resistor "upstream" and one temperature sensing resistor "downstream," where "upstream" and "downstream" generally indicate the direction of mass flow. One advancement in mass flow sensors in microchip environments, the "Wheatstone bridge" circuit, is often configured with external, off the chip, resistors. This historical configuration can be improved by implementing a full Wheatstone bridge, all four resistors, each a temperature sensing resistor, on the sensing chip, to allow for a larger signal to noise ratio and better immunity to ambient temperature noise.
Wheatstone bridges can be used to detect mass flow. For example, in a "full" Wheatstone bridge configuration, all four legs comprise variable resistors. In one configuration, resistive temperature detectors—resistors that vary in resistance with temperature—are used in each leg. A heating element situated between the two sides creates a roughly even thermal distribution about the heating element. As air, for example, passes from one side to the other side of the bridge, heat is conducted away from the "upstream" side to the "downstream" side, cooling the upstream side and heating the downstream side.
As the resistance of the two sides varies with temperature, the resultant temperature differential between the two sides causes a measurable voltage difference between the two sides. This voltage difference can be correlated to the difference in temperature. As the temperature change is a function of the air mass flow rate, the voltage difference can also be correlated to the mass flow rate.
However, previous full Wheatstone bridge configurations also often incur a low signal to noise ratio, particularly for very high or very low flow rates. A low signal to noise ratio reduces the accuracy and resolution of the bridge measurements and can cause difficulties in quantifying the mass flow rates under investigation.
Therefore, what is required is a system, apparatus, and/or method that provides an improved sensitivity to high and/or low flow rates that overcomes at least some of the limitations of previous systems and/or methods.

Interdigitated, full wheatstone bridge flow sensor transducer


A method for manufacturing magnetic paint or non-magnetic paint, which can produce a magnetic recording medium having excellent surface smoothness by appropriately setting the condition of a dispersion process for improving the dispersibility of the paint, and a magnetic recording medium are provided. The magnetic paint or the non-magnetic paint is produced by performing a dispersion process of a mixed solution, in which a magnetic powder or a non-magnetic powder is mixed into a binder solution containing a binder and a solvent, with a medium dispersion device. The method includes the steps of adjusting the viscosity of the mixed solution to 1,500 cP or less on a BL type viscometer at 20 rpm basis, and performing a dispersion process with the medium dispersion device using dispersion media having an average particle diameter of 0.5 mm or less at a dispersion circumferential speed of 8 to 15 m/s.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing magnetic paint, a method for manufacturing non-magnetic paint and a magnetic recording medium. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing magnetic paint and a method for manufacturing non-magnetic paint, which can produce a magnetic recording medium having excellent surface smoothness by improving the dispersion condition during a dispersion process using a medium dispersion device, and to a magnetic recording medium using the magnetic paint and the non-magnetic paint (hereafter may be collectively, briefly referred to as "paint") produced by the respective methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, magnetic paint or non-magnetic paint for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium is manufactured through, for example, steps of supplying a magnetic paint composition or a non-magnetic paint composition composed of a magnetic powder or a non-magnetic powder, a binder, an organic solvent and other necessary components into, e.g. a medium dispersion type mill, in which dispersion media, e.g. glass beads, are filled in a mixing tank, and performing forced-agitation together with the dispersion media by using an agitator built in the mixing tank.
On the other hand, regarding magnetic recording media used for videos, audio equipment, computers or the like, recording densities have been more and more increased in recent years. Consequently, there is a trend toward reduction of the minimum recording unit by reducing recording wavelengths, reducing track widths and reducing recording medium thicknesses. In order to match them, a ferromagnetic metal powder composed of fine particles having large magnetic energy is now going into use as the magnetic powder. However, the cohesion of individual particles in the magnetic powder is enhanced with a decrease in particle size or an increase in magnetic energy. As a result, in a method for manufacturing magnetic paint by using glass beads as dispersion media, there are problems in that dispersibility and surface smoothness required for achieving a high playback output of short wavelength recording and an excellent S/N ratio cannot be sufficiently attained.
In order to overcome the problems, methods using ceramic beads, e.g. zircon beads and zirconia beads, having specific gravities larger than that of glass beads as dispersion media are proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 60-211637, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 64-57422, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-290122 and the like.
However, when ceramic beads having a relatively large specific gravity, in particular zirconia beads (specific gravity 6 g/cc) are used as dispersion media, there are problems in that the magnetic powder is damaged, and the electromagnetic transducing characteristic is degraded because the specific gravity is too large. In order to avoid this problem, some methods are considered in which the viscosity of the mixed solution to be subjected to a dispersion process is increased, or the agitator of the dispersion device is operated at a circumferential speed lower than that in a conventional condition. However, these methods cause problems of the applicability and the dispersibility of the paint.
On the other hand, the applicant of the present invention proposed a technology relating to a method for manufacturing magnetic paint, in which a predetermined dispersion media were used during preparation of paint, and a dispersion process performed under a predetermined condition, and to a magnetic recording medium in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-81406. According to this technology, magnetic paint having various excellent medium characteristics, and by extension, a magnetic recording medium can be produced without causing the above-mentioned problems.
In order to achieve reduction in thickness of a magnetic recording medium in response to the above-mentioned requirement for an increase in recording density, it is important that the magnetic layer or the non-magnetic layer is formed from a thin film. However, in the technology described in the above-mentioned publication, the condition of the formation using a thin film is not sufficiently discussed. Since the surface property of the magnetic recording medium directly exerts an effect on the medium characteristics, the surface smoothness of the magnetic recording medium must be increased in order to attain excellent medium characteristics. Consequently, regarding the manufacture of the magnetic recording medium including a non-magnetic layer and a magnetic layer, each having a small thickness, a technology for achieving excellent dispersibility and for realizing a magnetic recording medium having excellent surface smoothness has been required.

Method for manufacturing magnetic paint, method for manufacturing non-magnetic paint and magnetic recording medium


A fluid dynamic bearing includes: a shaft arranged along a center axis; an annular portion expanding radially outwards from the shaft; a sleeve having a top surface opposed to an under surface of the annular portion to support the shaft and the annular portion in a relatively rotatable manner; and a lubricating fluid interposed between the shaft and annular portion and the sleeve. The fluid dynamic bearing further includes a substantially annular edge surrounding the center axis on the under surface and a solid lubricating film on the radially outer side of the edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a production method of a fluid dynamic bearing, a fluid dynamic bearing, a spindle motor, and a disk driving apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hard disk drive or an optical disk drive is provided with a spindle motor to rotate a disk around a center axis thereof. The spindle motor relatively rotates a stationary portion and a rotating portion via a bearing. In recent years, a fluid dynamic bearing is often used as a bearing for the spindle motor. In the fluid dynamic bearing, lubricating fluid is interposed between a shaft and a sleeve, so as to relatively rotate the shaft and the sleeve by means of dynamic pressure in the lubricating fluid.
The construction of such a fluid dynamic bearing is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-88042, for example.
In a conventional fluid dynamic bearing, an annular rotor hub extending in a radial direction is fixed to an upper portion of a shaft. On the other hand, a bottom surface of a rotor hub is opposed to a top surface of the sleeve via the lubricating fluid. In order to increase the sliding property between the rotor hub and the sleeve, or in order to suppress the damage due to the contact between the rotor hub and the sleeve, a film with high lubricating property is sometimes formed on the bottom surface of the rotor hub, or the like.
The film is generally formed in such a manner that a liquid for forming the film is applied and spread, and then the solvent is dehydrated. However, if the film is formed beyond the range to be coated with the film, the film may disadvantageously be in contact with another member on the outside of the desired range. This possibly causes the rotational characteristics of the motor to significantly deteriorate, or causes device defect to occur. For this reason, a technique for forming the film only in a required range is desired.

Production method of fluid dynamic bearing, fluid dynamic bearing, spindle motor, and disk driving apparatus


In the two-stage conversion type of digital-to-analog converter, the m most significant bits in a digital signal are provided to a first-stage selector, selecting a pair of adjacent lower and upper limit voltages among 2m+1 different stepwise voltages generated by a resistive voltage divider. The resistors divide the voltage between the lower and upper limits into different divided voltages. A second-stage selector selects corresponding one of the divided voltages according to two least significant bits in the digital signal. When the digital signal changes, a load signal is provided for a predetermined time period, allowing switches to short-circuit respective component resistors. The output of the second-stage selector is thus quickly charged to the upper limit voltage when the digital signal changes. When the load signal subsequently stops, the normal divided voltage is generated, providing the target output voltage. Thus, the conversion accuracy and response speed are improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter, which is applicable to a liquid crystal display drive circuit or the like that generates a voltage in response to a digital signal to drive a liquid crystal display device.
2. Description of the Background Art
Reference is first made to FIG. 2, which is a schematic block diagram showing a conventional digital-to-analog converter disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,556,162 to Brownlow et al. The digital-to-analog converter is a two-stage conversion system that comprises a first-stage converter section 1 and a second-stage converter section 2. The first-stage converter section 1 selects, according to the m most significant bits (MSBs) in the digital signal DI of k (=m+n) bits, a pair of adjacent voltages from the voltages of 0 to 2m. The first-stage converter section 1 then outputs the selected voltages as an upper voltage limit VH and a lower voltage limit VL. The second-stage converter section 2 divides the voltage between the upper voltage limit VH and the lower voltage limit VL into 2n segment voltages which are equal to each other. The second-stage converter section 2 then selects one of the segment voltages according to the n least significant bits (LSBs) in the digital signal DI.
The second-stage converter section 2 comprises: a resistive voltage divider 3 which divides the voltage between the upper limit voltage VH and the lower limit voltage VL into the 2n equal segment voltages; a switch group 4 which selects one of the 2n segment voltages to output the selected one; and a decoder (DEC) 2a which decodes the n bits to turn on a corresponding switch of the switch group 4.
To the output of the second-stage converter section 2, i.e., to the output of the switch group 4, a capacitive load CL such as a liquid crystal display device is connected via an output buffer including a voltage-follower-connected operational amplifier (OP) 5.
In the digital-to-analog converter, the first-stage converter section 1 selects, in response to the MSB bit in the digital signal DI, a pair of adjacent voltages VH and VL from the voltages of 0 to 2m provided by the low-impedance reference voltage source. The second-stage converter section 2 selects a voltage specified by the LSB bit in the digital signal DI from the 2n equal segment voltages divided from the voltage between the voltage limits VH and VL.
In the above-described digital-to-analog converter, however, the voltages of 0 to 2m that are provided to the first-stage converter section 1a are generated generally by a resistive voltage divider having lower resistance. Between the voltages VH and VL outputted from the first-stage converter section 1 connected in parallel is the resistive voltage divider 3 of the second-stage converter section 2. Smaller resistance of the resistive voltage divider 3 may therefore vary the voltages VH and VL, providing inaccurate analog voltages. The liquid crystal display device or the like will require as many digital-to-analog converters as the number of display electrodes to be connected in parallel with the resistive voltage divider having lower resistance. A plurality of digital-to-analog converters operating at the same time may cause the reference voltage to vary more significantly.
Larger resistance of the resistive voltage divider 3 may increase the time constant of the integrator circuit. The time constant comes from the combination of that resistance with the input capacitance of the operational amplifier 5. A larger time constant may provide a lower response speed, which causes the display device not to follow the fast motion of a displayed image.

Digital-to-analog converter with short integration time constant


Developer and runtime environments supporting multi-modal input for computing systems are disclosed. The developer environment includes a gesture library of human body gestures (e.g., hand gestures) that a previously-trained, system-level gesture recognition machine is configured to recognize. The developer environment further includes a user interface for linking a gesture of the gesture library with a semantic descriptor that is assigned to a function of the application program. The application program is executable to implement the function responsive to receiving an indication of the gesture recognized by the gesture recognition machine within image data captured by a camera. The semantic descriptor may be additionally linked to a different input modality than the gesture, such as a natural language input.

Application developers create application programs that implement specified functions that are responsive to user input. For example, an application program may include a graphical user interface that has a selector that enables a user to initiate a corresponding function of the application program. Other forms of user input include text-based input provided through a text field or speech inputs as may be detected through speech recognition algorithms.

Developer and runtime environments supporting multi-input modalities


Time synchronization among nodes in a wireless mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is obtained using a cross layer approach. Each node maintains a routing table that contains entries corresponding to other nodes of the network that are one or more hops away from the node, and topology messages are exchanged periodically among the nodes in order to update their routing tables. A network master node is selected, and remaining nodes that are one or more hops away from the master node are defined as slave nodes. The master node includes master timing information in the topology messages it transmits. The timing information is concatenated to include a first time (T1) at which a topology message was received by the master from each of the slave nodes, and a second time (td) at which the master node transmits a topology message after receiving all the topology messages from the slave nodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless ad hoc networks, and particularly to obtaining time synchronization among member nodes in a mobile ad hoc network (MANET).
2. Discussion of the Known Art
Time synchronization is a critical requirement for wireless multi-hop mobile networks, especially tactical military networks. Such networks are typically characterized by rapidly changing topologies and high traffic loads, and present a constant challenge for traffic coordination in order to achieve efficient channel utilization. It is widely accepted that time division multiple access (TDMA) technology can improve channel access capacity over other contention-based access protocols. In TDMA systems, clear time slots and schedules are defined to ensure that member nodes transmit only during their assigned slots and that their transmissions do not overlap. Due to potential improvements in channel capacity and security requirements, TDMA channel access is widely used in military networks. Because all nodes throughout the network must operate according to a common time scale, the ability of each node to synchronize, i.e., to adjust the time at each node in order to conform with a common timing interface, is a fundamental requirement for tactical TDMA networks if collision free communications are to be maintained.
When applied to tactical MANETs, existing time synchronization protocols are limited by hardware and environmental restrictions. See, B. Kusy, et al., "Elapse Time on Arrival: A simple and versatile primitive for canonical time synchronization services", International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing, 2(1) (2006) and B. Kusy, et al., "Tracking Mobile Nodes Using RF Doppler Shifts", ACM Sensys Conference (2007), both of which are incorporated by reference. In addition, many existing techniques cannot satisfy all of the following requirements for tactical MANETs:
1. Scalable multiple hop networks
2. Rapid topology change from node mobility
3. Synchronization accuracy of 1 us
See also, F. Sivrikaya, et al., "Time synchronization in sensor networks: A Survey", IEEE Network, at pages 45-50 (July/August 2004); B. Sundararaman, et al., "Clock synchronization for wireless sensor networks: a survey", Ad Hoc Networks (Elsevier), vol. 3, no. 3, pages 281 to 323 (May 2005); M. L. Sichitiu, et al., "Simple, Accurate Time Synchronization for Wireless Sensor networks", WCNC (2003); J. Elson, et al., "Fine-grained network time synchronization using reference broadcasts", Proc. of 5th Symp. Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI), Boston, Mass. (December 2002); and C. H. Rentel, et al., "A Mutual Network Synchronization Method for Wireless Ad Hoc and Sensor networks", IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 7, no. 5, at pages 633 to 646 (May 2008), all of which are incorporated by reference.
For example, a so-called Reference Broadcast Synchronization (RBS) avoids the impact of processing delays at the transmitter side, but introduces propagation delays in clock skew and time offset estimation by about 1 us for each 300 meters. See, J. Elson, et al, "Fine-grained network time synchronization using reference broadcasts", cited above. Thus, while RBS may work well for sensor networks, it cannot be used reliably in MANETs. Other protocols rely exclusively on deterministic algorithms that enable quantification of an upper bound on the error in clock offset estimation, but they are vulnerable to a single node failure.
Clock-Sampling Mutual Network Synchronization (CS-MNS) is a distributed algorithm that does not rely on structured networks and, thus, may avoid a single node failure. See, C. H. Rentel, et al, "Clock-sampling mutual network synchronization for mobile multi-hop wireless ad hoc networks", cited above. In CS-MNS, each node adjusts its timing based on its neighbors' timing so that all nodes converge to a common timing. For example, assume a node n has clock hardware operating at a rate or frequency fn. The node n then uses timestamps it receives in its neighbors' messages to adjust the instant time determined by its clock hardware by a scale factor βn to achieve network time synchronization. Each node in the network then reaches such a state that βmfm=βnfn for any m≠n.
It can be seen, however, that CS-MNS may also arrive at other states in which αβmfm=αβnfn, where α≠1. Thus, if a network has a topology such as shown in FIG. 1, i.e., condensed nodes on two sides and sparse in between, it is possible for the disjoint subnets to settle into two different states, or α1≠α2. The CS-MNS protocol does not address how to resolve this problem if it occurs. In addition to the foregoing issues, many of the known algorithms address network time synchronization only in low traffic load networks, but fail to address operation in mobile and heavy loaded networks such as tactical MANETs.
For a distributed MANET, where there are no advantaged nodes that act as central controllers, time synchronization becomes even more challenging. While many of the known time synchronization protocols are scalable and efficient, they are intended for use in sensor networks and consume valuable channel resources if applied to mobile networks, leading to reduced channel efficiency. Furthermore, many of the algorithms only deal with time synchronization and while they may work well in low traffic load or sensor networks, they cannot operate properly in traffic loaded networks such as MANETs because of contention protocols and packet collisions in the latter.
Table 1, below, illustrates some of the functional and behavioral differences between tactical distributed MANETs and sensor networks, which preclude the effective use of a common time synchronization scheme for both types of networks.
TABLE 1TacticalSensorNetworksNetworksDistance0-10's km<10 metersMobility<10 m/sNoneTrafficMedium-highlowloadOperationHoursMonthstimePowerMediumhighefficiency
Distances between adjacent nodes in sensor networks are typically under 10 meters, causing not more than a 30 ns (30×10−9 sec.) propagation delay. Such a minimal delay can often be neglected when time synchronization of 1 us (1×10−6 sec.) is required. Distances between nodes in MANETs may reach tens of kilometers with about 30 us propagation delays, however. Such larger delays must therefore be considered for accurate time synchronization in MANETs.
Time synchronization is impossible without message exchanges among network nodes. For traffic loaded MANETs, this presents a challenge in scheduling the message transmissions to avoid contention and collision. The problem becomes even worse if mobility is considered. Because the typical operation time of each node in a MANET is much shorter than for nodes in sensor networks, however, power efficiency is not as critical in a MANET as it is for sensor networks.

Time synchronization for distributed mobile ad hoc networks

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


The present invention relates to a therapeutic composition including a ceramidase mixture and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, where the ceramidase mixture includes an inactive acid ceramidase precursor and an active acid ceramidase. The invention also relates to a method of acid ceramidase treatment, including formulating the acid ceramidase used in said treatment as a ceramidase mixture, where the ceramidase mixture includes an inactive acid ceramidase precursor and an active acid ceramidase. The invention further relates to a method of producing a therapeutic composition including providing a medium containing an inactive acid ceramidase precursor; incubating the medium under conditions effective to transform a portion of the inactive acid ceramidase precursor to active acid ceramidase; and recovering the incubated medium as a ceramidase mixture comprising the inactive acid ceramidase precursor and an active acid ceramidase. The present invention also relates to preparation of a therapeutic composition of a ceramidase lacking acid sphingomyelinase.

Due to its involvement in the human genetic disorder Farber Lipogranulomatosis ("FD"), Acid ceramidase ("AC;" N-acylsphingosine deacylase, I.U.B.M.B. Enzyme No. EC 22.214.171.124) is the most extensively studied member of the ceramidase enzyme family. The protein has been purified from several sources, and the human and mouse cDNAs and genes have been obtained (Bernardo et al., "Purification, Characterization, and Biosynthesis of Human Acid Ceramidase," J. Biol. Chem. 270:11098-102 (1995); Koch et al., "Molecular Cloning and Characterization of a Full-length Complementary DNA Encoding Human Acid Ceramidase. Identification of the First Molecular Lesion Causing Farber Disease," J. Biol. Chem. 2711:33110-5 (1996); Li et al., "Cloning and Characterization of the Full-length cDNA and Genomic Sequences Encoding Murine Acid Ceramidase," Genomics 50:267-74 (1998); Li et al., "The Human Acid Ceramidase Gene (ASAH): Chromosomal Location, Mutation Analysis, and Expression," Genomics 62:223-31 (1999)). Growing interest in the biology of this and other ceramidases stems from the fact that these enzymes play a central role in ceramide metabolism.
Ceramide is a signaling lipid that is produced in response to various stimuli and extrinsic factors, including serum deprivation and treatment with many chemotherapy drugs, as well as in many human diseases (Hannun, "Function of Ceramide in Coordinating Cellular Responses to Stress," Science 274:1855-9 (1996); Spiegel et al., "Signal Transduction Through Lipid Second Messengers," Curr. Opin. Cell. Biol. 8:159-67 (1996)). Inside cells, ceramide can influence growth and differentiation, regulate protein secretion, induce DNA fragmentation and apoptosis, and increase the synthesis and secretion of cytokines Normally present in low amounts, in response to these factors, ceramide is rapidly produced at the cell surface, leading to membrane re-organization and downstream signaling that results in apoptosis. After stimulation, AC and/or other ceramidases may then hydrolyze ceramide into the individual fatty acid and sphingosine components (Gatt, "Enzymic Hydrolysis and Synthesis of Ceramide," J. Biol. Chem. 238:3131-3 (1963); Gatt, "Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Sphingolipids. 1. Hydrolysis and Synthesis of Ceramides by an Enzyme from Rat Brain," J. Biol. Chem. 241:3724-31 (1966); Hassler & Bell, "Ceramidase: Enzymology and Metabolic Roles," Adv. Lip. Res. 26:49-57 (1993)). Because ceramide degradation is the only source of intracellular sphingosine (Rother et al., "Biosynthesis of Sphingolipids: Dihydroceramide and Not Sphinganine Is Desaturated by Cultured Cells," Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 189:14-20 (1992)), these enzymes may also be rate-limiting steps in determining the intracellular levels of this compound. Importantly, a derivative of sphingosine, sphingosine-1-phosphate ("S1P"), can counteract the apoptotic effects of ceramide (Cuvillier et al., "Suppression of Ceramide-mediated Programmed Cell Death by Sphingosine-1-phosphate," Nature 381:800-3 (1996)), leading to the suggestion that ceramidases can be "rheostats" that maintain a proper balance between cell growth and death (Spiegel & Merrill, "Sphingolipids Metabolism and Cell Growth Regulation," FASEB J. 10:1388-97 (1996)).
AC hydrolyzes the amide bond linking the sphingosine and fatty acid moieties of the lipid ceramide (Park and Schuchman, "Acid Ceramidase and Human Disease," Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1758(12): 2133-2138 (2006)). Ceramide, sphingosine (and its phosphorylated derivative S1P) are bioactive lipids, and thus the activity of AC must be carefully regulated in cells (Young et al., "Sphingolipids: Regulators of Crosstalk Between Apoptosis and Autophagy," J. Lipid Res. 54:5-19 (2013). One important mechanism by which AC activity is regulated is the cleavage of the inactive precursor polypeptide into the active enzyme consisting of an alpha and beta subunit linked via disulfide bonds (Shtraizent et al., "Autoproteolytic Cleavage and Activation of Human Acid Ceramidase," J. Biol. Chem. 283:11253-11259 (2008)). It has previously been shown that recombinant AC produced in Chinese Hamster ovary ("CHO") cells and secreted into the media is a mixture of inactive precursor and active (cleaved) enzyme (He et al., "Purification and Characterization of Recombinant, Human Acid Ceramidase," J. Biol. Chem. 278:32978-32986 (2003)).
The present invention is directed to overcoming these and other deficiencies in the art.

Therapeutic acid ceramidase compositions and methods of making and using them


A corrugated-board machine for manufacturing corrugated board comprises a material-web output device for outputting a material web, a conveying device for conveying the material web along a material-web conveying path, a printing device disposed downstream of the material-web output device for producing at least one printed region on the material web, a printed-region drying arrangement disposed downstream of the printing device for drying the at least one printed region and a connecting device disposed downstream of the printed-region drying arrangement for the connection of the printed material web to at least one further material web in order to produce a printed corrugated-board web laminated on at least one side. A start of drying of the at least one printed region applied to the material web is influenceable by the printed-region drying arrangement.

The printing of corrugated board or respectively its material webs is generally known. Especially in the case of untreated material webs for manufacturing corrugated board, the colour acceptance or respectively colour absorption processes generally require extreme lengths of time. In the case of rapid drying or respectively excessively fast conveying speeds, patchy printed regions or respectively printed images frequently occur. By contrast, with treated material webs for manufacturing corrugated board, a rapid drying is often advantageous in order to prevent the formation of droplet merging.

BHS Corrugated Maschinen-und Anlagenbau GmbH


In a process for the production of a soluble native protein, such as immunoglobulin or methionine-prochymosin, in which an insoluble form of the protein is produced by a host organism transformed with a vector including a gene coding for the protein, the insoluble form of the protein is reversibly denatured in an alkaline aqueous solution at a pH selected to promote dissociation of a group or groups of the protein involved in maintaining the conformation of the protein, and the protein is subsequently allowed to renature by reducing the pH of the solution below a pH effective to denature the protein to produce the soluble native form of the protein. The pH of the alkaline aqueous is suitably in the range 9.0 to 11.5.

There are now numerous examples of commercially valuable proteins which may be produced in large quantities by culturing a host organism capable of expressing heterologous genetic material. Once a protein has been produced by a host organism it is usually necessary to treat the host organism in some way, in order to obtain the desired protein. In some cases, such as in the production of interferon in Escherichia coli a lysis or permeabilisation treatment alone may be sufficient to afford satisfactory yields. However, some proteins are produced within a host organism in the form of insoluble protein aggregates which are not susceptible to extraction by lysis or permeabilisation treatment alone. It has been reported that a human insulin fusion protein produced in E. coli forms insoluble protein aggregates (see D. C. Williams et al (1982) Science 215 687-689).
A protein exists as a chain of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. In the normal biologically active form of a protein (hereinafter referred to as the native form) the chain is folded into a thermodynamically preferred three dimensional structure, the conformation of which is maintained by relatively weak interatomic forces such as hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions and charge interactions. Covalent bonds between sulphur atoms may form intramolecular disulphide bridges in the polypeptide chain, as well as intermolecular disulphide bridges between separate polypeptide chains of multisubunit proteins, e.g. insulin. The insoluble proteins produced in some instances do not exhibit the functional activity of their natural counterparts and are therefore in general of little use as commercial products. The lack of functional activity may be due to a number of factors but it is likely that such proteins produced by transformed host organisms are formed in a conformation which differs from that of their native form. They may also possess unwanted intermolecular disulphide bonds not required for functional activity of the native protein in addition to intramolecular disulphide bonds. The altered three dimensional structure of such proteins not only leads to insolubility but also diminishes or abolishes the biological activity of the protein. It is not possible to predict whether a given protein expressed by a given host organism will be soluble or insoluble.
In our copending British Patent Application GB2100737A (an identical disclosure of which is contained in assignee's U.S. application Ser. No. 389,063, filed Jun. 16, 1982 now abandoned) we describe a process for the production of the proteolytic enzyme chymosin. The process involves cleaving a chymosin precursor protein produced by a host organism which has been transformed with a vector including a gene coding for the relevant protein. In the course of our work we discovered that the chymosin precursor proteins were not produced in their native form but as an insoluble aggregate. In order to produce a chymosin precursor in a native form which may be cleaved to form active native chymosin, the proteins produced by a host organism were solubilised and converted into their native form before the standard techniques of protein purification and cleavage could be applied.
In our copending published International Patent Application WO 83/04418 the methods used for the solubilisation of chymosin precursor proteins are described. In general the techniques described involve the denaturation of the protein followed by the removal of the denaturant thereby allowing renaturation of the protein. In one example the denaturant used is a compound such as urea or guanidine hydrochloride. When the insoluble precursor is treated with urea or guanidine hydrochloride it is solubilised. When the denaturant is removed, for example by dialysis, the protein returns to a thermodynamically stable conformation which, in the case of chymosin precursors, is a conformation capable of being converted to active chymosin.
The solubilised protein may be separated from insoluble cellular debris by centrifugation or filtration. The production of proteins from suitably transformed host organisms is potentially of great commercial value. The processes involved are of a type which may be scaled up from a laboratory scale to an industrial scale. However, where the protein produced is formed as an insoluble aggregate, potential complications in the process may increase the cost of production beyond a viable level. The solubilisation technique described above, whilst effective to solubilise such proteins, is relatively expensive and may represent a significant production cost.
We have discovered a generally applicable solubilisation process which, in its broadest aspect, does away with the requirement of relatively expensive reagents.

Process for the recovery of recombinantly produced protein from insoluble aggregate


A print control method executes a process of adding a command to print data output from an application to a communication port in a computer having a communication port and executing a specific process by an application installed on an application layer and operating under an operating system on the OS kernel layer, the method including: the computer acquiring the print data at the OS kernel layer before the print data is received by the communication port; determining on the application layer if each command of the acquired print data is a print instruction command for an object that should be printed at a different print speed than the standard speed; and adding and outputting to the communication port a command that changes the print speed before the print instruction command when the command is determined to be a print instruction command for printing an object at a different speed.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a print control method for a host device of a printer, and relates more particularly to a print control method that enables controlling the print speed to assure the desired print quality without changing existing applications or drivers.
2. Related Art
In POS systems used in supermarkets and other retail businesses, multiple terminal devices (registers) connected over a network to a server operate and run different processes according to applications locally installed on each terminal. A printer is typically connected to each terminal device (POS terminal), and produces receipts and coupons as instructed by the application. Systems that are configured similarly to a POS system and similarly produce printouts are used in hospitals and package delivery companies.
Advances in technology and the desire to improve business operations after such systems are deployed often create a need to modify and improve the system. However, because the system is central to business operation and typically constantly in use, and is often connected to other systems in complex ways, upgrading applications is normally not simple.
Attempts to solve this problem as it relates to output process functions including the following.
JP-A-8-69427 discloses a device that executes the functions of a modem in a personal computer in which the microprocessor and memory required by a conventional modem can be eliminated without needing to modify existing application programs.
JP-A-2006-338443 discloses a device that by accessing a single communication port can print simultaneously from a printer connected to another communication port and thereby enable duplicate printing without modifying the applications.
Because of how linear codes such as barcodes and two-dimensional code symbols that are printed on receipts, for example, are used, high print quality is important and may require printing at a slower print speed than when printing other objects. Even when control enabling changing the print speed is possible in the printer used to print such print objects, if the print data sent from the host device does not contain a command to change the print speed when printing such an object, the printer may not recognize that a print object requires changing the print speed, and may print the object at the normal print speed.
A system upgrade that resolves this problem preferably enables modifying the POS system or similar system without changing existing applications.
This problem cannot be solved by the methods disclosed in JP-A-8-69427 and JP-A-2006-338443. A further problem with processes handled at the operating system kernel layer as described in JP-A-2006-338443 is that creating functions (program development) at the kernel layer is not simple and functions are limited.

Print control method, print control device, and storage medium


A test apparatus and method for automatically testing computing equipment. The test apparatus comprises (1) a switch circuit, coupled to the computing equipment, capable of interrupting and restoring power to the computing equipment, (2) a timer, coupled to the switch circuit, capable of commanding the switch circuit to interrupt power to the computing equipment for a predetermined period of time and (3) a test circuit, coupled to the timer and the computing equipment, capable of determining when the switch circuit has restored power to the computing equipment and whether the computing equipment has successfully restarted following restoration of power. The test apparatus allows a laptop or desktop personal computer to be automatically boot tested, the apparatus having the capacity to display test status to remote users.

During manufacturing of computers, it is necessary to conduct a series of tests on the computers to determine whether they are ready to ship.
In the past, once a computer had been fully assembled, it was loaded with diagnostic test software which functioned to check the various components and peripherals constituting the computer. This test software was able to use the computer's own processor to operate. Thus, a computer could use its own resources to perform a self-test; operation of the test software was automatic.
Within the general framework of testing components and peripherals, it is highly desirable to test whether a computer can successfully initialize itself following initial application of power (typically called "booting" or a "boot"). This is an especially important test because booting is not a trivial task for the computer. When a computer boots, it preferably puts itself through a series of self-diagnostic tests designed to check proper functioning of memory, ports and peripheral devices as a condition precedent to successful operation of the computer. These tests are usually stored in read-only memory within the computer. Because of the complexity inherent in booting, it is unacceptable to ship a computer from the factory which has not been tested to see whether it can boot itself properly.
Unfortunately, to boot a computer requires complete removal of all power from the computer and, following a period of total lack of power, restoration of the power to begin a boot. Unlike other tests and diagnostics, which can operate using the computer's own processor, a processor, once unplugged, cannot plug itself back in. In other words, a processor can order its own death but, once it has died, it no longer has power to order its own rebirth. Therefore, in the past, boot tests had to be performed with human intervention. Thus, a person had to physically turn power off to a computer and wait for a predetermined period of time to then restore power to the computer by physically turning it on.
To successfully perform a boot test, the computer would have to remain off for a predetermined period of time to assure full removal of power from all components and peripherals and, possibly, to assure that the computer had to cool to a certain temperature. Therefore, the human test operator had to accurately time how long the computer has remained off before restoring its power. As with other processes requiring human intervention, this prior art method of testing resulted in errors in timing due to a human operator's lack of attention to the process. Occasionally, these errors might result in the computer's appearing to successfully complete a boot test which, had the boot test been properly performed, the computer should have failed. In today's environment of tight quality control, this is unacceptable. Furthermore, due to these varying periods of off time, a computer may be without power for too long a time. While this may not prejudice the test being performed, it nonetheless results in inefficiencies in the testing process because the testing process would take longer than it should.
Finally, it is expensive and boring for human operators to flip switches on computers all day long. This is so even if the above-noted deficiencies in human operation of the test were ignored.
Therefore, it is apparent that there is a need in the field of computer boot testing to provide an automatic computer boot testing apparatus and method to thereby allow a computer being tested to order its own power to be turned off and, following a precisely gauged period of time, have its power turned back on to determine whether it has properly booted itself.

Apparatus and method for automatically testing computing equipment


A molded plastic wheel having an integrally formed axle retainer which mates to an annular axle groove. In a blow molded wheel construction, a number of flexible tabs radially project into an axle bore. A portion of each tab is acutely displaced to the bore walls adjacent to a region of relief which facilitates tab flexion. The tabs are die cut from flashed material at the bore. Internal trusses formed intermediate external traction lugs at the tread to sidewall transition stabilize the wheel rim.

The present invention relates to molded plastic wheels and, in particular, to a light duty utility wheel such as used with trash containers, barbecues, lawn mowers, utility carts, etc.
A variety of utility wheels have been developed over the years for numerous light and medium duty applications. Inherent to the structural rigidity and durability of any wheel is the necessity of a secure attachment between the wheel and a supporting axle. Depending upon the loading and application, varieties of attachment mechanisms can be employed to retain the wheel to the axle. The simplicity or complexity of the attachment mechanism can affect the overall apparatus cost.
Utility wheels of the present type are commonly mounted to a supporting axle with the benefit of a spring biased pin. For many wheels, it has been necessary to insert mold or stake mount one or more pin containing retainers into the wheel, such that with subsequent mounting of the wheel, a spring biased pin is captured within an axle groove. Examples of spring biased pin retainer assemblies can be seen at U.S. Pat. Nos. 277,425; 390,465; 575,649; and 2,568,834.
End cap retainers, commonly referred to as pal nuts, having flexible fingers are also known and can be mounted over the exposed end of an axle to prevent wheel release. The fingers of a cap piece typically flex to frictionally engage the axle or a groove formed into the axle, for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 2,615,759.
A cotter pin and one or more washers may also be mounted to the axle to retain the wheel to the axle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,544,425 and 5,143,427 disclose bushings which can be separately mounted between a wheel and axle to provide a bearing surface and secure the wheel to the axle. The former patent includes a bushing containing a number of flexible fingers which mount into annular recesses at the axle. The latter patent discloses a bushing having end pieces which expand upon the insertion of the axle to simultaneously grip the axle and expand to grip a mating wheel surface.
Nowhere are wheels known having integrally formed members that flex to mate with the axle to retain the axle to the wheel.
In appreciation of the foregoing deficiencies, the presently improved wheel was developed to convert a normal molding inconvenience into a wheel of improved construction. The improved wheel securely mounts to available axles to provide a durable attachment with reduced assembly time and without component complexity.
The stability and loading characteristics of the wheel are also enhanced through a number of internal trusses that span the tread to sidewall transition. The trusses are formed intermediate external traction lugs that project from the tread surface.

Molded wheel with integral axle retainer


A verification supporting apparatus and a verification supporting method of a reconfigurable processor is provided. The verification supporting apparatus includes an invalid operation determiner configured to detect an invalid operation from a result of scheduling on a source code, and a masking hint generator configured to generate a masking hint for the detected invalid operation.

1. Field
The following description relates to a verification supporting apparatus and a verification supporting method of a reconfigurable processor.
2. Description of Related Art
A Coarse-Grained Array (CGA)-based reconfigurable processor has a complicated structure that includes function units (FUs), a global register file, a local register file, and other components that would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, detecting locations and time points at which a CGA executes erroneous computation is a difficult and lengthy process.
An error verification apparatus has been developed to find locations and time points at which a CGA has executed erroneous computation that is incorrect. The CGA-based reconfigurable processor is based on modulo-scheduling such that the prologue, body, and epilogue of a loop have the same configuration. Accordingly, invalid operations (that is, operations having a negative influence on the results of computation) may be executed in the prologue and epilogue of the loop. However, due to execution of the invalid operations, the error verification apparatus may output verification results that are erroneous.

Verification supporting apparatus and verification supporting method of reconfigurable processor


A lithium secondary battery having a high capacity and excellent in charge-discharge efficiency, cycle life, flatness of a discharge voltage, and rapid charge-discharge cycle characteristics is disclosed. This lithium secondary battery includes a positive electrode housed in a case, a negative electrode housed in the case and containing a carbonaceous material which has an exothermic peak at 700.degree. C. or more when measured by a differential thermal analysis and an intensity ratio P.sub.101 /P.sub.100 of a (101) diffraction peak P.sub.101 to a (100) diffraction peak P100 of a graphite structure, obtained by X-ray diffraction analysis, of 0.7 to 2.2, and absorbs and desorbs lithium ions, a separator housed in the case so as to be arranged between the positive and negative electrodes, and a nonaqueous electrolyte contained in the case.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithium secondary battery and, more particularly, to a lithium secondary battery which exhibits excellent battery characteristics by improving the constitution of a negative electrode. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a negative electrode carbonaceous material suitable for a lithium secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, nonaqueous electrolyte batteries using lithium as their negative electrode active materials have attracted attention as high-energy-density batteries. As an example, primary batteries using, e.g., manganese dioxide (MnO.sub.2), carbon fluoride [(CF.sub.2)n], and thionyl chloride (SOCl.sub.2), as their positive electrode materials, are widely used as power sources of calculators and watches and backup batteries of memories.
In addition, with recent reduction in size and weight of various electronic devices, such as VTRs and communication devices, a demand has increasingly arisen for high-energy-density secondary batteries as power sources of these devices. To meet this demand, active researches have been made on lithium secondary batteries using lithium as a negative electrode material.
These researches have been made on a lithium secondary battery comprising a negative electrode consisting of lithium; a nonaqueous electrolyte, in which a lithium salt, such as LiClO.sub.4, LiBF.sub.4, or LiAsF.sub.6, is dissolved in a nonaqueous solvent, such as propylene carbonate (PC), 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME), .gamma.-butyrolactone (.gamma.-BL), or tetrahydrofuran (THF), or a lithium-ion-conductive solid electrolytic salt; and a positive electrode containing an active material mainly consisting of a compound which topochemically reacts with lithium, such as TiS.sub.2, MoS.sub.2, V.sub.2 O.sub.5, V.sub.6 O.sub.13, and MnO.sub.2.
No lithium secondary battery with the above arrangement, however, has been put into practical use. This is so mainly because the charge-discharge efficiency is low and the number of times by which charge and discharge are possible is small (i.e., the cycle life is short). It is considered that the major cause for this is degradation in lithium due to the reaction between lithium of the negative electrode and the nonaqueous electrolyte. That is, the surface of lithium which is dissolved as lithium ions in the nonaqueous electrolyte during discharge is partially inactivated by reacting with the nonaqueous solvent contained in the electrolyte when it precipitates from the nonaqueous electrolyte during charge. As a result, when charge and discharge are repeatedly performed, lithium precipitates into dendrites or globules or leaves a collector of the negative electrode.
For these reasons, lithium secondary batteries having negative electrodes containing carbonaceous materials which absorb and desorb lithium ions, such as coke, a resin sintered product, a carbon fiber, and pyrolytic carbon, have been proposed. A lithium secondary battery having a negative electrode of this type can reduce degradation in negative electrode characteristics by suppressing the reaction between lithium and the nonaqueous electrolyte and hence the precipitation of dendrites.
It is considered that in the negative electrode containing the above carbonaceous material, absorption and desorption of lithium ions occur in a portion of a structure (graphite structure) in which hexagonal-net-plane layers consisting primarily of carbon atoms are stacked, particularly in portions between these hexagonal-net-plane layers, thereby causing charge and discharge. It is, therefore, required to use a carbonaceous material, in which a graphite structure is developed to some extent, as the negative electrode of a lithium secondary battery. However, the negative electrode containing the carbonaceous material obtained by powdering giant crystals that are highly graphitized decomposes the nonaqueous electrolyte, decreasing the capacity and the charge-discharge efficiency of a battery. Especially when a lithium secondary battery having the above negative electrode is operated at a high current density, the capacity, and the voltage during charge-discharge of the battery decrease significantly because of the diffusion limitation caused by the slow diffusion rate of lithium ions. In addition, the crystal structure or the fine structure of the carbonaceous material collapses as the charge-discharge cycle progresses. This impairs the ability of the material to absorb and desorb lithium ions, resulting in a short cycle life.
Furthermore, like the negative electrode containing the carbonaceous material obtained by powdering giant crystals such as natural graphite, a negative electrode containing a fine powder of carbon fibers which are highly graphitized decomposes the nonaqueous electrolyte, with the result that the performance as the negative electrode is largely degraded.
A carbonaceous material consisting of coke or carbon fibers with a low graphitization degree, on the other hand, can suppress decomposition of the solvent to some extent. A negative electrode containing a carbonaceous material of this type, however, has problems of a low capacity, a low charge-discharge efficiency, a high overvoltage during charge and discharge, a low flatness of the discharge voltage of a battery, and a short cycle life.
Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Nos. 62-268058, 2-82466, 4-61747, 4-115458, 4-184862, and 4-190557 disclose various carbonaceous materials which obtain optimal parameters of the graphite structure by controlling the degree of graphitization. However, negative electrodes containing these carbonaceous materials do not necessarily have sufficiently good characteristics.

Lithium secondary battery and method of manufacturing carbonaceous material for negative electrode of the battery


Methods and apparatus relate to producing hydrocarbons. Injecting a fluid mixture of steam and carbon dioxide into a hydrocarbon bearing formation facilitates recovery of the hydrocarbons. Further, limiting amounts of non-condensable gases in the mixture may promote dissolving of the carbon dioxide into the hydrocarbons upon contact of the mixture with the hydrocarbons.

Conventional processes for production of heavy hydrocarbons from heavy oil or bitumen containing formations utilize energy and cost intensive techniques. Expense of producing steam through indirect steam generation and expensive boiler feed water preparation contribute to inefficiencies in such techniques. Therefore, a need exists for improved processes for efficient production of heavy hydrocarbons from a formation.


A semi-conductor component test process, and a system for testing semi-conductor components, with which several different semi-conductor-component tests can be conducted in succession. A computer installation, in particular a test apparatus is provided, with which test result data obtained from a first test is evaluated, and which causes a further test provided after the first test), to be performed in an amended fashion, or to be dispensed with, depending on the test result data obtained from the first test.

Semi-conductor components, for instance corresponding integrated (analog and/or digital) computer circuits, semi-conductor memory components, for instance functional memory components (PLAs, PALs, etc.) and table memory components (e.g. ROMs or RAMs, in particular SRAMs and DRAMs) are subjected to extensive testing during the manufacturing process.
For the simultaneous manufacture of numerous (generally identical) semi-conductor components, a so-called wafer (i.e. a thin disk of monocrystalline silicon) is used. The wafer is appropriately treated (for instance subjected in succession to numerous coating, exposure, etching, diffusion and implantation process steps, etc.), and then for instance sliced up (or scored and snapped off), so that the individual components become available.
During the manufacture of semi-conductor components (for instance DRAMs (Dynamic Random Access Memories and/or dynamic read-write memories), in particular of DDR-DRAMs (Double Data Rate—DRAMs and/or DRAMs with double data rate)) semi-completed components (still on the wafer) can be subjected—even before the above process steps required for the wafer have been completed (i.e. even while the semi-conductor components are still in a semi-complete state)—to appropriate test processes at one or more test stations (for instance so-called kerf measurements at the wafer scoring frame) with the aid of one or more testing apparatuses.
After their completion, (i.e. after completion of all the above wafer processing steps) the semi-conductor components are subjected to further test procedures at one or more (further) test stations—for instance the completed components—still on the wafer—can be appropriately tested with the aid of corresponding (additional) test equipment ("slice tests").
After the wafers have been sliced up (and/or scored and snapped off), the—individually available—components are then each loaded onto a so-called carrier (i.e. a suitable mounting), whereupon the semi-conductor components—loaded into the carrier—can be subjected to one or several (further) test procedures corresponding to other test stations.
In the same way, one or more further tests (at corresponding test stations and with the use of appropriate additional test equipment) can be performed, for instance after the semi-conductor components have been mounted into the corresponding semi-conductor component housing, and/or for instance after the semi-conductor component housing (together with the semi-conductor components mounted onto it in each case) has been mounted (for so-called module tests) into a corresponding electronic module.
While testing the semi-conductor components, the so-called "DC test" and/or for instance the so-called "AC test" may be applied as a test procedure (for instance for the above slice tests, module tests, etc.) in each case.
For the DC test for instance, a particular voltage (or current)—at a certain fixed level—can be applied to the appropriate connection of a semi-conductor component to be tested, whereafter the level of the—resulting current (and/or voltage) can be measured—in particular to ascertain whether this current (and/or voltage) falls within certain predetermined desired critical limits.
During an AC test in contrast, voltages (or currents)—in particular appropriate test sample signals—at varying levels can for instance be applied to the appropriate connections of a semi-conductor component, with the aid of which appropriate function tests can be performed on each corresponding semi-conductor component.
With the help of the above test procedures defective semi-conductor components can be identified and removed (or possibly even repaired in part).
Furthermore the results obtained in the above tests can for instance also be used to improve and/or optimize the process steps applied during the manufacture of the semi-conductor components (for instance the coating, exposure, etching, diffusion and/or implantation process steps, etc.) thereby improving the yield during the manufacture of such semi-conductor components.
In order to achieve this, an attempt must be made to ascertain from the results obtained in the above tests what the—physical—causes of any possibly occurring faults may be.
This is generally done manually in conventional processes and usually always by individually examining the results obtained from each of the above tests.
Such a manual evaluation of test results for improved/optimized yield is time-consuming and expensive and often does not lead to satisfactory results.
In addition, the application of the above tests is relatively costly and time-consuming.
For this reason it is attempted to test as many components as possible at the same time (so-called "parallel" testing).
For instance, all the semi-conductor components arranged on a particular wafer can be tested at the same time (so-called "maximum" parallelism).
If the (total) time required for testing the components is (further) reduced, it may in conventional test procedures cause a substantial deterioration in the test quality (for instance, because some or several tests may be dispensed with due to the time and/or cost restraints).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Semi-conductor component test process and a system for testing semi-conductor components


A selectable one-way clutch includes an engagement mechanism. The engagement mechanism is configured to be switched between an engaged state and a disengaged state. The engaged state is a state in which relative rotation between a first and a second members in one of a positive rotational direction and a reverse rotational direction is restricted. The disengaged state is a state in which the relative rotation between the first member and the second member in both of the positive and the reverse rotational direction is permitted. The electronic control unit is configured to apply torque to the one of the first member or the second member by using a motor such that relative rotation in the other one of the positive or the reverse rotational direction is generated between the first member and the second member when the engagement mechanism is switched from the engaged state to the disengaged state.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control system that controls a, mechanism that transmits power for a travel of a vehicle. Particularly, the invention relates to a control system for a vehicle that includes, a selectable one-way clutch.
2. Description of Related Art
A vehicular transmission that includes a selectable one-way clutch (hereinafter described as an SOWC) is described in US 2009/0084653 A. The SOWC has paired rings that are arranged to face each other. One of the rings is provided with a strut that is projected toward the other ring. The other ring is provided with a pocket which a tip of the strut enters and is engaged with. The strut is housed in a through opening provided in the one ring. The strut is configured to be pressed and projected toward the pocket side by a projecting tooth via a spring, the projecting tooth being inserted in the through opening from a back surface side of the one ring (an opposite side of a surface that faces the other ring). In addition, a selector plate is arranged between the rings in a manner to rotate by a specified angle, the selector plate including a window through which the strut is inserted.
The selector plate rotates in a state that an elastic force of the spring presses the strut to the other ring side. Accordingly, the window of the selector plate corresponds to the through opening (that is, the strut) in a rotational direction thereof. In this way, the strut is projected to the other ring side and engaged with the pocket that is formed in the other ring. Meanwhile, the selector plate is rotated by a frictional force that is generated when contacting a front surface of the other ring. In addition, the projecting tooth is retracted in a state that the strut is engaged with the pocket. Accordingly, the strut is, no longer pressed to the pocket side. However, due to a frictional force between the strut and the pocket, an engaged state of the strut with the pocket is maintained. The retraction of the projecting tooth causes reduction of a load that presses the selector plate against the other ring. Here, the spring for rotating the selector plate is arranged between the one ring and the selector plate. Thus, when the projecting tooth is retracted, the selector plate is rotated by the elastic force, and the window is displaced from a position of the strut. In other words, the strut is pressed in the through opening by the selector plate and is thus separated from the pocket. As a result, the SOWC is switched to a disengaged state.


Methods of forming interdigitated back contact (IBC) layers are provided. According to an aspect of the invention, a first layer having alternating regions of n-type amorphous hydrogenated silicon and p-type amorphous hydrogenated silicon is formed on a second layer of intrinsic amorphous hydrogenated silicon. The first layer and the second layer are then annealed, such that dopants from the first layer diffuse into the second layer, and the first layer and the second layer crystallize into polysilicon.

The present invention relates to methods of forming interdigitated back contact (IBC) layers that may be used in photovoltaic (PV) devices. IBC solar cells are the most efficient Si solar cells today. In IBC solar cells, both junctions that collect positive and negative photocarriers are on the back of the cell, while the front has no grid and thus no shading losses. However, the dopant patterning required for these back junctions is challenging. Heavily doped p-type and heavily doped n-type regions should be separated by a highly resistive gap that may be made of intrinsic polysilicon or another dielectric material, otherwise the cell may be shunted. Further, the doped regions should be several hundred microns wide with well-defined edges, in order not to shunt across the undoped gap. Thus, reliable, precise, and inexpensive dopant patterning is needed for IBC solar cells.
Related art dopant patterning techniques include ion implantation through a mask, plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) through a mask, and printed spin-on doping. However, these techniques can be costly, and may not be clean enough to enable high-efficiency IBC solar cells. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a simple, inexpensive, and precise dopant pattering technique that is compatible with solar cell processing.

Methods of forming interdigitated back contact layers


An aperture plate includes an opening and a surface adjacent to the opening. The opening passes electromagnetic energy such as light to a reflector that is aligned with the opening and that directs the electromagnetic energy to a location. The surface reflects incident electromagnetic energy away from the location in a direction that is outside of the range of directions. Such an aperture plate insures that electromagnetic energy, e.g., light, strikes only the desired portions of the reflector, and that peripheral light that is outside of the aperture opening is reflected away from the location, e.g., display screen, toward which the reflector directs the electromagnetic energy. Furthermore, because such an aperture plate is mounted near the reflector, the alignment tolerances are typically less stringent than for an aperture plate mounted near the energy source.

Scanned beam displays and image-capture devices have been developed to produce high-resolution images. As shown in FIG. 1, a modulated source 10 of light, which may include a modulated point source of light, is formed into a source beam 13 by optics, e.g., a focus lens 12, and directed by the lens onto a moving scan mirror 14, which reflects the beam onto an image curve or plane, such as a display screen 16, to create a viewable image. The mirror 14 may also scan the beam 13 directly into a viewer's eye (not shown in FIG. 1) to create the image directly on the viewer's retina. One application of this latter technique is for use in a head-worn personal display system, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,104, entitled VIRTUAL RETINAL DISPLAY (VRD), which is incorporated by reference. Furthermore, the mirror 14 may be a bi-axial microelectromechanical scanner (MEMS) that scans the beam in a raster pattern. Such a MEMS is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,790 entitled MICROMACHINED TORSIONAL SCANNER, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Still referring to FIG. 1, an aperture 18 may be placed away from the scan mirror 14, here intermediate the lens 12 and the mirror, to block unwanted light as indicated at 20 and to confine the beam 13 to a clear-optical-quality area of the mirror 14. Ideally, the beam 13 has a cross section equal to the cross section of the clear-optical-quality surface of the scanning mirror 34 at the scanning mirror. Generally, the wider the beam 13 at the scanning mirror 34, the smaller the achievable cross section of the beam at the image display 16, and hence the greater the resolution that the displayed image can have.
Typically, the cross section of the beam is expanded to be no larger than the area of the clear-optical-quality surface of the mirror 34, which is the area of the mirror having high optical quality. This is because the often poor-optical-quality perimeter of the mirror 34 and structure that supports the mirror (e.g., MEMS torsion arms) may scatter or otherwise reflect light from the periphery of the beam 13 (i.e., light that strikes beyond the boundary of the clear-optical-quality surface of the mirror) into the image, and thus create visible image artifacts. Because the mirror-support structures often have surfaces that lie in planes that are parallel to the planes that the mirror 34 moves through, these structures often cause bright spots in portions of the image. For example, if a mirror-support structure is coplanar with the at-rest (i.e., zero) scan position of the mirror 14, then peripheral beam light reflected by the structure may cause the center of the image to appear brighter than the periphery of the image. The perceived brightness of the image is the eyes' integration of the brightness of the scan beam 13 over the area of the image. That is, the scanning of the beam 13 "spreads out" the brightness of the beam over the area of the image. But because light reflected from the mirror-support structures is not scanned, the eyes do not integrate this light over the area of the image. Consequently, this reflected light may cause bright spots in the image. Even a relatively small amount of this unwanted reflected light can cause a visible artifact in the viewed image.
One way to limit or eliminate the peripheral light from the beam 13 that is outside the clear-optical-quality surface of the mirror 14 is to use the aperture plate 18, which is an opaque plate that defines an opening 22 through which the beam 13 propagates. The placement of the aperture plate 18 involves a number of considerations. One placement is as shown in FIG. 1, in the beam path between the lens 12 and mirror 14. The aperture plate 18 thus allows only a certain portion of the beam 13 to propagate through to the mirror. The size of the opening 22, which defines the size of the beam 13, can be calculated based on the distance along the optical path from the source 10 to the mirror 14 and on the focal length of the lens 12 so that the beam 13 fills the optical-quality surface of the mirror 34 completely but does not extend beyond this surface. Although the aperture plate 18 is shown between the mirror 14 and the lens 12, the aperture plate can also be located between the source 10 and the lens.
However, there are imaging systems where the placement of the aperture plate is more constrained. For example, if the system includes multiple sources 10 of light such as in certain types of color display or image capture systems, then the distance that the aperture plate can be from the sources on the source side of the lens 12 is limited by where the light from one source 10 overlaps the light from an adjacent source. That is, light from one source 10 may "leak through" the aperture-plate opening for another source—the aperture plate typically has one opening per source. The phenomenon of light from one source "leaking through" the aperture-plate opening for another source is often called cross talk. Many imaging systems include more than one light source. A color imaging system often uses different colored sources for creating full-color images. Furthermore, some systems include multiple sources of each primary color. For example, such systems may include 13 blue sources 10 to create 13 blue scan beams, 13 red sources 10 to create 13 red scan beams, and 26 green sources 10 to create 26 green scan beams. And these light sources 10 are often LEDs, not lasers. Because many LEDs radiate light over a range of angles, cross talk can be even more of a problem where LEDs are used, and thus aperture-plate placement in such systems may be constrained.
To prevent beam cross talk in scanned-beam systems having multiple sources 10, aperture plates are often placed in one of two locations: 1) close enough to the sources 10 so that light from one source does not propagate through the aperture opening of another source; and 2) close to the scan mirror (much closer than shown in FIG. 1) so that the aperture plate will not interfere with proper beam formation.
Locating an aperture plate close to the sources 10 may require precision in manufacture. For example, the distances between adjacent sources 10 may be on the order of 300 microns, and the diameters of the aperture-plate openings may be on the order of 10 microns. The alignment tolerance of the aperture openings relative to the sources 10 may be on the order of 6 microns. While it may be possible to manufacture an imaging system with such an aperture-plate alignment precision, the cost and difficulty may be prohibitive. Also, such designs may also impose restrictions on design of a corresponding lens assembly.
An aperture plate located close to the scan mirror may reflect the light from the periphery of the beams into the viewer's field of view, and thus cause artifacts in the image as discussed above. In such a location, the aperture plate is or is approximately parallel with the mirror in its rest position. Therefore, as discussed above, the plate may reflect peripheral light from the beams into the center of the image, and thus cause the center of the image to appear brighter than the periphery of the image. Even if the plate has an anti-reflective coating, it may still reflect enough of the peripheral light to create a visible artifact in the image.

Aperture plate and related system and method