Systems and methods for intrusion and virus detection in computer networks. Data from a file, network byte stream, or other source is segmented and resulting data items are subjected to multiple processing techniques to obtain respective result values, or thumbprints. The multiple thumbprints for respective data items are then aggregated to obtain a single result value, or aggregate thumbprint. The components of the aggregate thumbprint may be “fuzzified” to allow for less preciseness in the single result value. The aggregate thumbprint is compared to other similarly generated aggregate thumbprints stored in a library. Alerts may be generated when the same aggregate thumbprint is detected multiple times.

Systems and methods developed to characterize digital data (or byte) streams are known. Such systems and methods are often used to detect computer viruses and worms and the like. More specifically, intrusion detection and antivirus systems typically use "signatures" to detect specific patterns or characters or digital bytes. Hashes, checksums and other numeric calculations are frequently used to characterize digital files and bytes streams, including legitimate software files and malware. These techniques are used to identify items that are identical to the source of the signature. Generally speaking, they are not intended or even capable of detecting similar, but non-identical, items.
There is, however, a known approach, as described in Todd Heberlein, Worm Detection and Prevention: Concept, Approach, and Experience, 14 Aug. 2002, NetSquared, Inc. (2002, unpublished) ("Heberlein"), that is capable of detecting similarity among selected sets of data. As explained by Heberlein, it is possible to characterize a selected portion of data using a "thumbprint." In this case, the thumbprint is represented by the result of a hash function applied to the selected portion of data.
FIG. 6 shows the basic approach according to Heberlein. The original content, "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." is sent through a hash function that generates a number. The original content consisted of 360 bits (8 bits per character times 45 characters) and the result is a single 32-bit number (a typical unsigned integer on most computers).
This number can serve as type of compact representation (i.e., the "thumbprint") of the original content. For example, suppose a document is processed by this technique. A hash number is computed for each sentence in the document, and then the computed hash numbers are stored together in a hash table. Later, if a user provides a sample sentence and asks if that sentence is in the document, the following algorithm can be used to very quickly determine the answer. First, the hash value of the sample sentence is computed. Second, the hash table is queried to see if that number exists in the table. If it is not in the table, then the sample sentence is not in the document. Third, if there is a match, then the sentence (or sentences) in the original document that created the hash value is examined and it is determined if it, indeed, matches the sample sentence.
As further explained by Heberlein, traditional hash functions do not work well in certain scenarios. Specifically, most hash functions are designed to produce a completely different hash number even if the content only varies by a single byte. For example, referring again to FIG. 6, if the original sentence is only slightly modified by changing the word "dog" to "dogs," then a completely different hash number may be generated. In fact, using traditional hashing functions, a review of the resulting numbers for each string would not indicate that the two sentences were very similar at all.
Heberlein goes on to explain that in order to diminish gross discrepancies between seemingly similar collections of data, it is possible to employ a multivariate statistical analysis technique called principal component analysis (CPA) to the selected data, and, as a result, the gross discrepancies can be significantly diminished.
Despite the advances described by Heberlein, there remains a desire to provide improved systems and methods for detecting computer viruses, worms, other computer attacks and/or any other data that may repeatedly pass over a network.


A system which includes at least one client, a plurality of file servers, each having a file system, and a switch logically arranged between the client and the plurality of file servers to provide file access services which virtually render the plurality of file systems accessible as a single file system, termed a ‘pseudo file system’, when viewed from the terminal. The switch distributes a command that starts generation of snapshots to the plurality of file servers, which file servers formulate respective snapshots responsive to the command that starts formation of the snapshots. The switch sets the plurality of snapshots, generated by the plurality of file servers, so as to be associated with the file system structure of the virtual file system at the time of formation of the snapshots.

As a network storage system employing the NFS (Network File System)/CIFS (Common Internet File System), as a protocol, and which enables accessing the file systems from plural hosts, the NAS (Network Attached System), for example, is currently used. The NAS means a computer or a device co-owning files via NFS and CIFS.
Data recorded in a storage are periodically backed up on a medium, such as a tape, in order to make it possible to restore data for the possible case e.g. of occurrence of malfunctions. Of these backed-up data, a snapshot is a read-only file system holding an image of a file system structure at a certain point in time. By taking the snapshot, a fixed image of the file system structure at the time point of formation of the snapshot may be accessed, while data at the time point of formation of the snapshot may be restored, that is, the logical volume may be restored. For this reason, the snapshot may be used as an example for taking consolidated backup of the snapped file system. As for the snapshot, reference may be had to e.g. the Patent Document 1 and the Non-Patent Document 1. According to the present invention, the processing for interlinking the plural snapshots is carried out, as later explained. For aiding in the understanding of the relevant technology, the snapshot will now be explained, based on the description of the Patent Document 1. Meanwhile, in this Patent Document 1, there is disclosed a method for managing a plurality of snapshots in case these snapshots are supplied. With this method, a series of metadata representing a file system are included in the file system, so that snapshot of the file system will include relevant metadata.
If an image of a file system structure at a certain point in time has snapped a file system as shown for example in FIG. 13A, a snapshot inode, shown for example in FIG. 13B, is generated as an image of a file system structure at a certain point in time. Meanwhile, the inode is a data structure for a file system layer to specify a file. A snapshot inode is a replication of a root inode of a file system structure and includes the pointer information to an inode indirect block, an inode file data block and to file data blocks A to C, as in FIG. 13A. Since the snapshot may be generated by simply acquiring the pointer information, the time needed for generating the snapshot is on the order of several seconds, even for a large volume of data. If, after generating the snapshot, the file data block C, for example, is changed, the inode file data block, pointing to the so changed file data block, is changed to reflect a new location C′ of the so changed file data block (in the case of WAFL (Write Anywhere File Layout)), as shown in FIG. 13C. The snapshot inode includes a pointer pointing to the original inode file system indirect block, while the inode file data block includes pointers to the original file data blocks A to C. That is, the snapshot holds a fixed image of the file system as of the snapping time point. On the other hand, the newly written inode file data block holds pointers to the file data blocks A and B and the pointer information to the changed file data block C′. There is also known a configuration in which, when a snapped file system is subsequently changed, pre-change data, such as the file data block C of FIG. 13C, is copied to a snapshot area, and in which, in reading the snapshot, the changed original data, such as the file data block C of FIG. 13C, for example, is read from the snapshot (see e.g. Non-Patent Document 1).
If, after generation of a snapshot, a file is changed, the inode structure of the file system may be restored to that at the time point of snapshot generation, by accessing the snapshot inode. More specifically, by following the pointers retained by the snapshot inode, through the inode file indirect block and the inode file data block, up to the unchanged file data blocks A to C, the file system structure may be restored up to the state at the time point of formation of the snapshot. It is noted that the 'SNAPSHOT' is a trademark owned by Network Appliance Inc. However, of course, the 'snapshot' in the context of the present specification is not limited to the snapshot directed to the WAFL (Write Anywhere File layout) of Network Appliance Inc. and means a fixed image of a file system.
As for use of the snapshots, the date and time of snapshot generation may be recorded, by way of generation management, and plural snapshots may be managed within the same file system, depending on the particular type of the snapshot forming software. The file system structure snapped may be accessed via e.g. an alias.
The basic configuration of the backup/recovery of the file servers in the conventional network file system environment is the individual backup/recovery by each file server. In this case, a client accesses a file server, such as NAS, by e.g. an NFS protocol, over a network, to make a remote login. Or, the client makes a local login to take a backup on e.g. a local tape drive, using CLI (Command Line Interface), such as rsh or ssh. Alternatively, such a method may be used in which a backup server, as a computer responsible for taking a backup, is NFS/CIFS mounted to a file system of a backup client (file server computer), to take a backup. Still alternatively, a backup client (file server) may be connected to a backup server, using a protocol other than the NFS protocol, such as SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), as with the NDMP (Network Data Management Protocol) prescribing the backup/recovery communication protocol between a primary storage (storage for storing a file system currently in use) and a secondary storage (storage for data retention), or a tape library may be co-owned by plural file servers.
There is also known a configuration in which a switch 100′, virtually consolidating the resources of plural file servers 3, is logically provided across the file servers 3 and the client 1, for consolidating the plural file systems, in order to provide file services of a virtually single system image, that is, SSI (Single System Image), as shown in FIG. 14 (see e.g. Patent Documents 2 and 3, indicated hereinbelow). This switch 100′ provides file services of the single system image, such as a single NAS, by consolidating and managing plural servers, without tampering with pre-existing systems, provided only that the client and the server support the standard protocol (NFS). Reference is also made to the disclosure of, for example, the Patent Document 4, as a similar virtual file system technique, a system for virtually unifying plural network storages to a single storage, to enable accessing from the client to, as it were, a single network storage. The system differs in configuration from the switch 100′ of FIG. 14.    [Patent Document 1]
JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2004-38929A    [Patent Document 2]
JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2003-203029A    [Patent Document 3]
JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2004-54607A    [Patent Document 4]
JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2003-345643A    [Non- Patent Document 1]
'HP JFS 3.3/HP OnlineJFS 3.3VERITAS@ File System 3.3System Management Guide', 4Online Backup, p75to 81

Switch device, system, backup method and computer program


A virtualized gateway for applications in a zero trust network access environment is managed from a cloud-based threat management facility for an enterprise network. In order to facilitate creation of a new, centrally managed gateway, a one-time passcode for registration of the gateway to the threat management facility is encoded onto a virtual disk and distributed to a host platform along with a base gateway image for the gateway. This advantageously permits the new gateway to boot and securely register with the threat management facility without further administrative intervention.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) environments assume that there is no trusted network and no implicit trust applied to users and devices trying to access enterprise resources such as applications, services, and data. Instead, a typical ZTNA solution provide a software-defined perimeter for enterprise resources by separately authenticating each endpoint to each requested resource. This approach can significantly reduce security risks by limiting or preventing lateral movement throughout an enterprise network by a compromised device. However, there remains a need for improved centralized threat management for enterprises employing ZTNA solutions.

Gateway management for a zero trust environment


Systems and methods that address the gap, security, and robustness limitations of known door and window contact systems and methods without increasing the overall cost thereof are provided. Some systems can include an accelerometer and a magnetometer for mounting in or on a first portion of a window or door unit and a microcontroller unit in communication with each of the accelerometer and the magnetometer. The accelerometer can measure acceleration or vibration relative to a second portion of the window or door unit and transmit the measured acceleration or vibration to the microcontroller unit, the magnetometer can measure magnetic field relative to a sensor magnet mounted on or embedded in the second portion of the window or door unit and transmit the measured magnetic field to the microcontroller unit, and the microcontroller unit can use the measured acceleration or vibration and the measured magnetic field to make a security determination.

Known intrusion detection systems can include door and window contact systems and methods that are based on reed and magnet technology. While inexpensive to implement, reed and magnet technology presents at least three significant limitations.
First, in reed and magnet technology, there are limitations on a distance of a gap between electrical contacts of a reed switch. "Wide-gap" reed switches have had their maximum functional gap stretched to reliable limits through various methods. However, mounting the electrical contacts of the reed switch on surfaces constructed of ferrous metal materials can result in a magnetic field flux interference that reduces a maximum operating gap. To maximize an effective gap, an expensive magnet is required, which is undesirable.
Second, reed and magnet technology is vulnerable to attempts to defeat (AtD) a system by an intruder. For example, the electrical contacts in the reed switch can be defeated by the intruder introducing a magnet in close proximity to the switch. Some systems and methods are known to reduce such security vulnerability, but all incur additional cost, which is undesirable.
Furthermore, in some situations, a user may wish to arm the system while a window(s) is in a partially opened position. However, such a position will likely exceed the maximum functional gap of the electrical contacts of the reed switch. Accordingly, a "bypass" mode can be invoked, but the "bypass" mode can further compromise perimeter intrusion detection, thereby making attempts to defeat by the intruder more likely to be successful.
Finally, when reed and magnet technology is employed, a magnet must be installed in the system. Such an installation further adds to overall cost.
In view of the above, there is a continuing, ongoing need for a system and method to address the gap, security, and robustness limitations of known door and window contact systems and methods without increasing the overall cost thereof.

Door and window contact systems and methods that include MEMS accelerometers and MEMS magnetometers


This invention relates to a method of making a laminated window such as a vehicle windshield. At least one of the two glass substrates of the window is ion beam milled prior to heat treatment and lamination. As a result, defects in the resulting window and/or haze may be reduced.

Vehicle windshields typically include a pair of bent glass substrates laminated together via a polymer interlayer such as polyvinyl butyral (PVB). It is known that one of the two glass substrates may have a coating (e.g., low-E coating) thereon for solar control purposes such as reflecting IR and/or UV radiation, so that the vehicle interior can be more comfortable in certain weather conditions.
Conventional windshields are made as follows. First and second flat glass substrates are provided, one of them having a low-E coating sputtered thereon. The pair of glass substrates are washed and booked together (i.e., stacked on one another), and then while booked are heat bent together into the desired windshield shape at a high temperature(s) (e.g., 8 minutes at about 600-625 degrees C.). The two bent glass substrates are then laminated together via the polymer interlayer to form the vehicle windshield.
Unfortunately, yields for such windshields are often as low as 70% (i.e. up to 30% may have to be thrown out). These rather low yields are caused by a number of factors, some of which are now described.
The glass substrates are typically made by the known float process which is very efficient and effective. During the glass making process, SO2 is often used and tends to collect on the non-tin side of the glass. The presence of SO2 deposits at the glass surface is not an immediate problem, but upon heat treatment (HT) at the high glass bending temperatures mentioned above the presence of this material can cause blemishes or imperfections (e.g., sometimes known as fish-eyes) to appear in the final vehicle windshield. Other undesirable surface deposits which can occur on the glass surface and which may ultimately cause significant blemishes or imperfections in a resulting windshield include: suction cup marks made during handling, grease pencil marks, glove marks, spray paint marks, scratch(es), thin film(s) of impurities, stains, oil/grease, and/or the like. Again, one or more of these undesirable deposits can result in windshield blemish(es) which may cause the windshield to have to be thrown away thereby resulting in low yields at a significant cost to the windshield manufacturer.
In view of the above, a need in the art exists for improving yields in vehicle windshield production and/or reducing the occurrence of significant blemishes in vehicle windshields (e.g. fish-eyes). It is an object of certain embodiments of this invention to fulfill one or more of these needs, and/or other needs which may become apparent to the skilled artisan from the description herein.
An object of this invention is to provide a method of making vehicle windshields and/or other laminated windows in an improved manner.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making vehicle windshields and/or other laminated windows in a manner so as to improve production yields and/or reduce the occurrence of significant blemish(es) or imperfections therein.
Another object of this invention is to, in a method of making a vehicle windshield or other laminated window, ion beam mill a surface of at least one of the glass substrates prior to lamination in order to remove certain undesirable surface deposits. Advantageously, such ion beam milling has been found to improve yields and/or improve window quality.
Another object of this invention is to fulfill one or more of the above-listed objects and/or needs.
Generally speaking, certain example embodiments of this invention fulfill one or more of the above listed objects and/or needs by providing a method of making a vehicle windshield, the method comprising: providing first and second glass substrates; on beam milling at least one surface of the first glass substrate so as to remove at least 2 xc3x85 of glass from at least a portion of the first substrate and form an ion beam milled surface of the first substrate; sputtering a coating, including at least one infrared (IR) reflecting layer, on the ion beam milled surface of the first substrate; and laminating the first substrate with the coating thereon to the second substrate via a polymer inclusive interlayer so that the coating and the interlayer are provided between the first and second substrates.
Other example embodiments of this invention fulfill one or more of the above listed objects and/or needs by providing a method of making a laminated window, the method comprising: providing first and second glass substrates; ion beam milling at least one surface of the first glass substrate so as to remove at least 2 xc3x85 of glass from at least a portion of the first substrate and form an ion beam milled surface of the first substrate; forming a coating on the ion beam milled surface of the first substrate; and laminating the first substrate with the coating thereon to the second substrate via a polymer inclusive interlayer so that the coating and the interlayer are provided between the first and second substrates.
Still other example embodiments of this invention fulfill one or more of the above-listed objects and/or needs by providing a vehicle windshield comprising: first and second glass substrates laminated to one another via a polymer inclusive interlayer; wherein at least one surface of the first glass substrate is ion beam milled; and wherein the windshield has a visible transmittance of at least 70%.
Yet other example embodiments of this invention fulfill one or more of the above-listed objects and/or needs by providing a method of making a vehicle windshield with reduced haze, the method comprising: ion beam milling a first substrate, laminating the first substrate to a second substrate via an interlayer to form the windshield, and wherein the ion beam milling causes haze in the windshield to be reduced by at least 20%.
Still other example embodiments of this invention fulfill one or more of the above-listed objects by providing a method of making a window unit, the method comprising: providing first and second glass substrates; ion beam milling at least one surface of the first glass substrate so as to remove at least 2 xc3x85 of glass from at least a portion of the first substrate and form an ion beam milled surface of the first substrate; forming a coating on the ion beam milled surface of the first substrate; and coupling the first substrate with the coating thereon to the second substrate so that the coating is provided between the first and second substrates. In this regard, the window unit may be a vehicle windshield, an insulating glass (IG) window unit, or any other type of window unit.

Method of manufacturing windshield using ion beam milling of glass substrate(s)


Embodiments are described of an apparatus including a computer to which are coupled a user identification device to identify an authorized user, a transceiver to receive and transmit user data between the computer and one or more user data sources associated with the authorized user, a navigation system, and one or more displays coupled to the computer. The computer constructs a timeline for the authorized user based on the user data over a specified time interval, wherein the timeline displays every user event that falls within the specified time interval, and simultaneously display the timeline and a map on one of the one or more displays, wherein the user's current position and the position of at least one user event from the timeline are identified on the map. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed.

Car navigation system have revolutionized driving by providing accurate step-by-step instruction on how to go to a specified destination. But despite their enormous benefits, one problem with existing navigation system is that data entry is awkward. Each destination must generally be entered into the system one at a time, and the data entry process can be made difficult by awkward user interfaces. Even after all the destination data is entered, the user interfaces usually make any follow-on interaction with the navigation system awkward as well.


The carrier has two spaced clips attached to a rear wall thereof. Each clip includes a downwardly extending tapered finger. The system includes two receiving elements, centrally mounted on the handle bar, each receiving element receiving a respective one of the downwardly extending fingers. A bar spaces the receiving elements on the handle bar such that the spacing between the receiving elements corresponds with the spacing between the downwardly extending fingers. The receiving elements are removably affixed at either end of the bar.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a support system for mounting a carrier on the frame of a bicycle, and more specifically, the handle bars of the bicycle. The invention also relates to the support system and the carrier mounted by the support system.
2. Description of Prior Art
Known in the art are various systems for supporting steel wire, wooden weave, or canvas carriers on the handle bars of a bicycle. Examples of such systems are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,010,479, Dennis, Aug. 6, 1935, U.S. Pat. No. 2,439,376, Aleks, Apr. 13, 1948, U.S. Pat. No. 2,498,446, Pawsat, Feb. 21, 1950, U.S. Pat. No. 2,457,624, Aleks, Dec. 28, 1948, U.S. Pat. No. 2,209,846, Pawsat, Jul. 30, 1940, U.S. Pat. No. 2,576,111, Glenny et al, Nov. 27, 1951 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,318, Irwin, Jan. 17, 1989. In all of the patented systems, the systems include clamp means mounted on the handle bars. In all of the patents except the Irwin patent, the carriers are attached to the clamp means either by brackets or by screw and bolt arrangements. In the Irwin patent, clamp means 12 are included as part of the bracket 10. The bracket engages with an attachment sleeve 18 which is mounted on the back wall of the frame 16 of a bag.


This invention discloses a method for treating human patients suffering from dermatitis, particularly severe dermatitis which does not respond adequately to non-prescription drugs. Such patients are treated using dextromethorphan (DM), an antitussive agent normally used in cough syrup. If the patient is a so-called "extensive metabolizer," an antioxidant drug (such as quinidine) can be coadministered to inhibit the DM-degrading activity of debrisoquin hydroxylase, an enzyme that will rapidly convert DM into its metabolite, dextrorphan. This treatment has been shown to be highly effective in treating severe dermatitis, and in most patients this drug combination causes no significant adverse side effects.

This invention relates to pharmacology, and to the use of dextromethorphan in conjunction with a second drug that inhibits enzymatic oxidation of dextromethorphan.
Dextromethorphan (frequently abbreviated as DM) is the common name for (+)-3-methoxy-N-methylmorphinan. It is a non-addictive opioid comprising a dextrorotatory enantiomer (mirror image) of the morphinan ring structure which forms the molecular core of most opiates. DM is widely used as an antitussive agent (i.e., as a cough suppressant) in over-the counter formulations such as cough syrup. It is also being evaluated as a possible treatment for certain types of excitotoxic brain damage caused by ischemia (low blood flow) and hypoxia (inadequate oxygen supply), which are caused by events such as stroke, cardiac arrest, and asphyxia. This anti-excitotoxic activity is discussed in items such as Choi 1987 (full citations to articles are provided below), Wong et al 1988, Steinberg et al 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,543 (Choi 1989).
The antitussive activity of DM is believed to be due primarily to its activity at a class of neuronal receptors known as sigma receptors. These receptors are inhibitory, which means that activation of these receptors suppresses certain types of nerve signals. Sigma receptors are often referred to as sigma opiate receptors, but there is some question as to whether they are true opiate receptors, so many researchers refer to them simply as sigma receptors. Some researchers refer to "high-affinity dextromethorphan receptors;" this category apparently includes but may not be limited to sigma receptors.
The anti-excitotoxic effects of DM are believed to be primarily due to its activity at another class of receptors known as N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, which are one type of excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptor. Unlike its agonist activity at sigma receptors, DM acts as an antagonist at NMDA receptors, which means that DM suppresses the transmission of nerve impulses mediated via NMDA receptors, Since NMDA receptors are excitatory receptors, the activity of DM as an NMDA antagonist also leads to the suppression of certain types of nerve signals.
Because of its activity as an NMDA antagonist which may be able to block excitotoxic damage to neurons, DM is also of interest as a potential treatment for neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease), all of which are suspected of containing an excitotoxic aspect of their etiology. Reports of this field of research include Walker and Hunt 1989, Albers et al 1991, and Applebaum et al 1991.
Dextromethorphan has also been reported to suppress neural activity mediated by neuronal calcium channels (Carpenter et al 1988).
Because DM activity apparently involves at least three classes of neuronal receptors, it is difficult to clearly attribute the effects of DM in suppressing nerve impulses to a single type of receptors. Nevertheless, the chemistry and structure of DM are well-known, and the pharmacology is described in standard texts such as Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics and Rodd 1960, and in articles such as Tortella et al 1989, Leander 1989, Koyuncuoglu & Saydam 1990, Ferkany et al 1988, George et at 1988, Prince & Feeser 1988, Feeser et al 1988, Craviso and Musacchio 1983, and Musacchio et al 1988.

Use of dextromethorphan and an oxidase inhibitor to treat dermatitis


PQQGDH having an improved substrate specificity or having an improved specific activity in an assay system using ferricyanide ion as a mediator is provided. Modified PQQGDH having the enhanced substrate specificity by introducing an amino acid mutation in a particular region of PQQGDH, and a method of enhancing the specific activity compared with a wild type in the assay system using the ferricyanide ion as the mediator by deleting, substituting, or adding one or more amino acids in an amino acid sequence of the wild type pyrroloquinoline quinone dependent glucose dehydrogenase.

PQQGDH is glucose dehydrogenase using pyrroloquinoline quinone as a coenzyme, and can be used for assay of blood glucose because it catalyzes a reaction in which glucose is oxidized to produce gluconolactone. A glucose concentration in blood is a very important indicator as an important marker for diabetes in clinical diagnosis. At present, the glucose concentration in blood is primarily measured by a biosensor using glucose oxidase, but some errors have been likely observed in measured values because the reaction is affected by a dissolved oxygen concentration. PQQ dependent glucose dehydrogenase has been noticed as a new enzyme in place of this glucose oxidase.
Our group has found that Acinetobacter baumannii NCIMB11517 strain produces PQQ dependent glucose dehydrogenase, cloned a gene thereof and constructed a high expression system thereof (see Patent document 1). PQQ dependent glucose dehydrogenase has had an issue with substrate specificity compared to glucose oxidase
[Patent document 1] JP HEI-11-243949 A Publication
When pyrroloquinoline quinone dependent glucose dehydrogenase is used for the biosensor, the ferricyanide ion is used as the mediator in a common blood glucose monitor. An enzyme is dissolved in blood of a specimen on its strip. The blood has higher viscosity and lower solubility than water and solvents used for other general reagents. Therefore, it is desirable that an amount of the enzyme to be added on the strip is small as the amount of a protein. Thus, it has been desired to acquire pyrroloquinoline quinone dependent glucose dehydrogenase which has an enhanced enzyme activity per unit protein, i.e., an enhanced specific activity.
There has been no report concerning modified pyrroloquinoline quinone dependent glucose dehydrogenase whose specific activity has been enhanced in the assay system using the ferricyanide ion as the mediator.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Modified pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) dependent glucose dehydrogenase excellent in substrate specificity


A method for automating process development in a bioprocessing environment is provided. The method comprising: executing a first experiment run according to a set of parameters; retrieving a first real-time set of data of the experiment run while the experiment run is being executed; retrieving a second real-time set of data of an experiment run being executed in parallel, analysing the retrieved first real-time set of data and the second real-time set of data to determine an adjusted set of parameters; and, modifying, based on the analysis, the parameters upon which the experiment run is being executed during execution of the run such that the run continues to be executed according to the modified set of parameters. A system, computer program and computer readable medium are also provided.

Bioprocess development typically involves statically designed experiments executed as a series of parallel runs in similar systems, in sequence on a single system or individually or in sequence in a parallel system capable of running parallel experiments but less than the total number of experiments required. The key material to be assessed in these experiments is valuable and limited in supply. Prior to experiment execution it is unknown how the material, for example a particular novel new candidate therapeutic protein or group of related such molecules, will respond to certain conditions. Indeed some materials can be particularly sensitive and very small changes in the material, for example a single amino acid in a protein can have a significant and unpredicted effect on the behaviour of the protein.
The current trends in development strategy add to the scale of the challenges in bioprocess development relating to the amount of material available for testing at early stages. One example of a group of such trends that create a specific challenge on material supply are:
i) an interest in understanding very early in the development process which of a number of identified therapeutic protein candidates are most suitable for the small set of manufacturing processes that a developer has adopted as their platform, often generally termed assessment of 'manufacturability';
ii) a focus on injectable formats for biological drugs creating a demand for very high protein concentrations in order to achieve the required dose within a volume that can be tolerated by the patient for injection; and,
iii) the increasing production of drugs in a competitive environment that adds to the constraints directing formulations to formats of high usability for patients.
At early stages of, or prior to process development, a critical point at which candidate molecule selection is carried out, typically all unit operations are inefficient and sub-optimal. One example of the type of issue that arises is illustrated by the assessment of the robustness of a protein drug candidate to manufacturing concentration and formulation processes involving ultra-filtration and diafiltration (UF/DF), typically one of the last stages of manufacturing prior to filling of the delivery container. Available bench scale systems for UF/DF have minimum recirculating (operating) volumes in the region of 20-30 ml. The focus for many protein therapeutics is on injectable formulations where in order to keep the injected volume tolerable for the patient but deliver the required dose very high protein concentrations are required, e.g. 150-200 mg/ml being targets for many developer companies. To achieve 200 mg/ml in 25 ml fluid requires 5 g of protein. Whilst 2-3 g/L of product can routinely be achieved as a titre in the manufacturing bioreactor for an optimised process, prior to or at the early stages of process development before optimization yields are much lower, not only in the bioreactor but also in multiple subsequent separation and purification unit operations that precede the UF/DF step. As such a single trial might require an initial supply bioreactor run of 20L or greater. The cost of such scale runs is high, added to this the cost of subsequent work to separate the product from the cell culture and purify the protein (UF/DF is typically the final or penultimate step) is high, which makes significant demand on human and facility resources and of long duration. Where multiple different trial UF/DF runs are required to assess the performance of the candidate in the UF/DF process the scale of the challenge becomes so large that historically such experimentation has been often not carried out and resulted in significant commercial problems where issues arise in late stage manufacturing development. This latter problem may be further exacerbated by approaches in which final process development is deferred until later clinical trial stages and small process changes may impact on protein stability after significant commercial commitment has been made.
An additional complication is that small-scale assessments, for example processes carried out in microtitre plates at μl volumes do not impose the same physical stress on the protein materials and as such do not fully indicate the relative performance of molecules in manufacturing type processes. As such there is a conflict between the cost/effort/duration of obtaining test material and the need for representative manufacturing like processes.
This is further complicated by the fact that multiple candidate molecules require assessment for the selection of the most appropriate ones for the manufacturing platform processes. Additionally, there will be multiple downstream process unit operations for which such assessments are required and further, there may exist multiple standard 'platform' manufacturing processes against which assessments are required, thus creating an extensive matrix of testing.
Additionally, the behaviour of therapeutic proteins may be unpredictable. Such candidate therapeutic proteins may have been modified for multiple purposes; they may be novel fusions of peptide regions never tested before, they may have had their amino acid sequence altered to enhance target binding or to reduce non-specific binding and toxicity issues. This is then to be combined with a range of purification and formulation conditions. As such whilst small-scale e.g. plate based models and in-silico methods can provide guidance the need for practical in-context testing remains.
Typical experimental procedures include statistically based DOE (Design of Experiment) procedures in which a test sample is exposed to a process under multiple sets of values for a defined sub-set of operating parameters. Typically, a full 2-factorial DOE experiment would involve 16 trials with statistically selected values for 2 operating parameters. The standard approach would be to set-up 16 experiments on the same material which further increases the need for test material. One problem is that the ranges selected for the operating parameter values may be unpredictably inappropriate for the test protein in question and it may become apparent during the experiment that the protein is, for example, unstable in a certain range of values for a particular parameter. As such all the material used in the proportion of the experiments using the aforesaid range is effectively wasted. Although contributing to the knowledge of the performance of the molecule the particular performance boundary may have been identified through the use of less test material.
Experimental procedures or individual runs can often take a long time to execute as well. For example, the duration of bioreactor runs may be in excess of 14 days and in the case of perfusion bioreactors over 60 days. In these scenarios it can be impossible to predict how the material will perform. This results in a delay in achieving meaningful results and a large amount of valuable material being wasted before a new experiment can be designed. Conventionally, as described above, the only way to speed up development was to run an ever increasing number of parallel experiments using different operating parameters. In practice in order to reduce the material wasted the number of parallel runs is balanced against the number of re-runs required to produce a meaningful result.
As above, the typical approach to process development is that the scientist uses accumulated knowledge to design a set of parallel experiments exploring multiple operating parameters thought to affect the characteristic(s) for which there is a desired outcome, for example running a bioreactor at different pH settings with different feeds profiles (e.g., feed type and timing/rate of feed delivery) may affect the product yield obtained. Typically, multiple cycles of experimentation are executed with rounds of data analysis and experimental design between them, gradually focusing in on the parameters that impact most on the desired outcome and refining the values for those parameters.
An example flow diagram illustrating such an approach is shown in FIG. 1. The experiment run is first designed manually using statistical design packages (step 10) to create a design for the experimental run (Run Design) (output/input 11). The experimental run is executed (step 12) and data is generated (output 13). The data is analysed manually (step 14) before being stored in a database (step 15). Analysis may of course utilize data already within the database. The results of the data analysis allow the designer to understand the experimental space more completely and to design a second experiment using different parameters focusing on the new defined area of uncertainty and the experiment process starts again. The entire process is iterative, each iteration leading the designer closer to a more certain solution. The use of data analysis packages to assess such experimental data and design an optimal set of experiments for the next stage is well known, for example, DOE or alternatively (an potentially including within them DOE) automated experimental design processes also often referred to as 'robot scientist' approaches.
In environments in which, for example, structure function relationships of molecules and synthetic processes are generally less complex than bioprocessing, such as small molecule synthesis, or for simple bioprocessing unit operations it is known to provide a degree of artificial intelligence, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The complexity and variables are reduced, analysis techniques more comprehensive and the data retrieved from a single run can be easily understood and analysed. The parameters for the experiment are first estimated using algorithm based approaches that might include or be considered to be artificial intelligence (AI, step 20) and then the process continues as illustrated in FIG. 1. Once the experimental data has been collected, it is analysed using the algorithms/AI (step 24) before being passed to a database for storage and retrieval (step 25) and the results being fed back in to the algorithms/AI to iterate to a new experiment design. Such design does not offer reduction in the volume of material required though it may theoretically reduce the number experimental steps to some degree. Such approaches still required significant volumes of material and place a demand on manual labour.
Development of processes and strategies for the manufacturing of biological molecules is complex. Taking the example of the production of therapeutic biological molecules through the culture of microorganisms such as the bacteria E. coli.
Firstly, there are multiple factors in the creation of such recombinant bacterial strains that add complexity. The details of the DNA constructs carrying the gene for a target protein can have a significant effect on the yield achievable, the growth conditions required to achieve any production and also the nature of the product with respect to stability, structure and function.
Additionally, there are interactions between such factors, for example it is widely known that the growth conditions, for example temperature at specific stages of the process may affect the yield of functional protein. At higher temperatures such as 37° C., typical growth conditions for E. coli, the organism may produce high yields of protein but due to the fact that recombinant protein sequences are generally derived from different organisms such proteins are not able to correctly form their 3 dimensional structure during the process of translation in the alien host production organism. Reducing the growth temperature and thus reducing the rate of protein production can in some cases enable the correct co-translational protein folding to occur. Thus, although the yield of the recombinant protein is less at lower temperature the actual yield of 'functional' protein is higher. The complexity of such systems is further illustrated by for example the fact that the nutrition supplied may limit the availability of certain amino acids essential for the target recombinant protein; this in turn may impact on the rates of production of the target protein, thus there being interactions between nutrition and temperature.
These are only two simple factors of many which include; media composition including amino acids, carbon source, micronutrients including metal cofactors and other modulating biological molecules, levels of dissolved gases including oxygen and CO2, pH, and osmolality.
Whilst such multiple factors are found within chemical synthesis processes the number of potential factors in bioprocessing exceeds that. Additionally different production host strains of E. coli will also respond differently to a given mix of growth conditions and DNA constructs. Searching combinations of DNA construct, host production strain and growth conditions occupies significant amount of time in bioprocessing and though some prediction can be made practical experimentation remains the mainstay of the industry due to the complexity.
A further level of complexity found in bioprocessing to a level exceeding that in chemical synthesis arises from the impact of the accumulated history of the production strain. The process used for the generation of sufficient quantity of the production organism to provide an inoculum may have an impact on the performance during the production run.
Additionally, history further has an impact during the production bioreactor run (and also in the inoculum preparation culture run). The conditions change during the culture process as biomass increases, waste product levels change and nutrient are consumed amongst other changes. Such changes also potentially affect the DNA construct itself. As such the complexity due to the number of interacting factors makes practical experimentation essential.
In mammalian cell cultures a further challenge arises from the fact that with most current established technologies the insertion of the DNA construct carrying the gene for the recombinant protein may be into the host cell genome may occur randomly. As such the nature of the DNA surrounding the insertion site can have a gross impact on the yield of the protein and the response to the factors described above.
There are of course many other factors impacting such processes.
Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2, the database in which the data is subsequently stored may exist in locally, at an enterprise level or be available more widely through internet-based access systems of varying degree of 'openness' commonly referred to as the 'cloud'. In cloud-based experimental design systems, data provided from a series of experimental sources may be curated and made available by different entities and then compared to improve subsequent experiment design.
In summary, known bioprocessing development systems require that a full cycle of experimentation be carried out before any refinement for the next set of test conditions are tested, there is an extended duration of development as the experiments iterate towards a conclusion and a very valuable input materials are used inefficiently much of it being wasted.

The Automation Partnership (Cambridge) Limited


An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure causes a computer of an information apparatus to: display on a display, a display screen representing at least a floor plan including one or more rooms; and when it is sensed that movement of a device icon that is movable within a region corresponding to a predetermined room associated with a type of the device icon, judge whether or not the device icon is moved out of the region corresponding to the predetermined room, and in the case where it is judged that the device icon is moved out of the region corresponding to the predetermined room, return the device icon to the region corresponding to the predetermined room.

Technologies for remotely monitoring or remotely controlling one or more target devices using one remote controller are proposed.
Patent Literature 1 relates to a technology for remotely controlling and remotely monitoring open/close operation and the state of an electric building material (such as a hallway door or a skylight). Specifically, a monitor screen of a personal computer displays floor plans for first and second floors of a property, a picture of the electric building material (such as a hallway door or a skylight) and a state display icon that indicates the open/close state of the electric building material are displayed at the corresponding position on the floor plans. When the state display icon is selected, an operation screen for the selected electric building material is displayed in another window. The operation screen includes an open operation button, a close operation button, an operation monitor screen, and a button for hiding the operation screen (paragraph [0025] and FIGS. 4, 5, and 6).
Patent Literature 2 discloses a user interface including a floor plan and an icon. Examples of the icon include an icon representing a receptacle, an icon representing a digital image frame, and an icon representing an illumination device (FIG. 8B).
However, Patent Literatures 1 and 2 described above need a further improvement.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-213107
Patent Literature 2: U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,223

Method for controlling information apparatus, computer-readable recording medium, and method for providing information

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA


An open optoelectrowetting (o-OEW) device for liquid droplet manipulations. The o-OEW device is realized by coplanar electrodes and a photoconductor. The local switching effect for electrowetting resulting from illumination is based on the tunable impedance of the photoconductor. Dynamic virtual electrodes are created using projected images, leading to free planar movements of droplets.

Digital microfluidics has been emerging as a promising development in lab-on-a-chip (LoC) systems [1-5]. A variety of droplet actuation methods have been conducted, including thermal Marangoni effect [6], photosensitive surface treatment [7], surface acoustic wave [8], liquid dielectrophoresis [9] and electrowetting [10, 16-19]. Among these techniques, electrowetting draws attention due to its high performance, reliability, simplicity and fast response. Based on the droplet manipulation, one is able to integrate different cumbersome laboratory operations in a microliter liquid, called lab-in-a-drop [11]. Increasing numbers of assays have benefited from this innovation, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [12] and cell sorting [13]. Lately, addressable electrowetting has been exploited to extend the technique [14]. An optoelectrowetting (OEW) approach proposed by Chiou et al. employs a photoconductor, making "virtual electrodes" [15]. The electrodes are generated dynamically with projected images, realizing multi-droplet and programmable manipulations. A voltage is applied across two parallel plates, one above and one below a droplet in a closed configuration which seriously inhibits integrating additional components or extensibility.

Open optoelectrowetting droplet actuation device and method


Graph transformations are used by a data management system to correct violations of service-level objectives (SLOs) in a data center. In one aspect, a process is provided to manage a data center by receiving an indication of a violation of a service-level objective associated with the data center from a server in the data center. A graph representation and a transformations data container are retrieved by the data management system from data storage accessible to the data management system. The transformations data container includes one or more transformations. The transformation is processed to create a mutated graph from a data center representation from the graph representation. An option for managing the data center is determined as a result of evaluating the mutated graphs.

A data center stores data for an organization and is managed by a data center management system. The data in the data center may be required to meet certain service-level objectives (SLOs), as set by a data administrator. Dynamism is a change in the total workload experienced by the data center management system. Dynamism can occur because of the large amounts of data in the data center and the large number of users using the data. Moreover, dynamism can occur when the set of applications running in the data center changes and as the storage workload generated by applications changes over time.
The data center management system for a data center primarily works with available storage resources, such as entire storage systems, aggregates of disk drives, etc. to address dynamism. Data center management systems typically rely on two methods to address dynamism: 1) pre-allocation of resources and 2) per-resource controllers.
In pre-allocation of resources, a data center management system pre-allocates resources to handle peak application needs. Examples of the pre-allocated resources include CPUs, memory, flash storage, disk drives, network, etc., or a combination thereof. The pre-allocated resources are often in the form of entire storage systems. Pre-allocation of resources often results in the use of more resources than necessary by the data center for current needs, thereby increasing cost, and possibly also resulting in resources not being available to satisfy new needs.
In per-resource controllers, a data center management system uses independent per-resource controllers to maintain service-level objectives (SLOs) for all applications. Because the per-resource controllers work independently, more resources may be expended than needed to address SLO needs. Moreover, the use of per-resource controllers may lead to additional SLO violations, useless work, and unavailability.

Graph transformations to correct violations of service level objections in a data center


An insulating liner for use with exhaust system or pollution control devices such as catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters or traps. The insulating liner is shown in relation to an end cone for use with a catalytic converter. The end cone includes an outer metallic end cone and a free-standing insulating cone positioned within the outer metallic end cone. A substantial portion of the inner surface of the insulating liner is exposed to hot exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine. The insulating liner is preferably formed of a composite containing inorganic fibers and/or particles, which makes the insulating liner rigid, yet capable of withstanding repeated mechanical and thermal shocks.

The present invention relates to exhaust system and pollution control devices, such as catalytic converters, diesel particulate filters or traps, exhaust pipes and the like. In particular, the invention relates to an internal insulating liner used in high temperature applications. The application describes the invention as it relates to an internally insulating end cone used to provide a transition from an exhaust pipe to the pollution control device. The end cone comprises a metal inlet or outlet cone housing with a free-standing fiber-based composite cone positioned within the metal cone housing. The internal fiber based cone does not require a protective metal internal cone housing.
Pollution control devices such as catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters or traps are well known, and are most typically used to purify the exhaust gasses produced by internal combustion engines. These types of pollution control devices typically comprise a metal housing with a monolithic element securely mounted within the casing by a resilient and flexible mounting mat.
Two types of devices are currently in wide spread usexe2x80x94catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters or traps. Catalytic converters contain a catalyst, which is typically coated on a monolithic structure mounted in the converter. Monolithic structures are typically ceramic, although metal monoliths have been used. The catalyst oxidizes carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, and reduces the oxides of nitrogen in automobile exhaust gases to control atmospheric pollution. Diesel particulate filters or traps are wall-flow filters which have honeycombed monolithic structures typically made from porous crystalline ceramic materials. Alternate cells of the honeycombed structure are typically plugged such that exhaust gas enters one cell and is forced through the porous wall of one cell and exits the structure through another cell.
Due to the relatively high temperatures encountered in pollution control devices, it is important that the device be well insulated. Insulation is typically provided by securely mounting the monolithic element within the casing using an insulating mounting mat comprised of a suitable material. In addition, inlet and outlet cones which provide a transition from the exhaust pipe to the pollution control device are also insulated. The inlet and outlet end cones have previously been insulated by providing a double-walled end cone comprising an outer metal housing and an inner metal housing, with a gap defined between the inner and outer cone housings. A suitable insulating material fills the gap between the inner and outer cone housings. Examples of dual-wall end cones can be seen, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,828 to Kreucher et al. Kreucher et al. shows the catalytic converter having a two-walled defuser leading from an exhaust pipe to the catalytic converter. A thermal insulating air barrier is provided between the inner wall and outer wall. Another example of double-walled end cones is seen in German Patent No. 3,700,070 A1 which shows an insulating mat placed between an outer and inner end cone.
The use of double-walled end cones has been required due to the nature of the insulating material used in pollution control devices. In particular, the use of low-density fibrous insulating materials requires an inner cone, because exposure to exhaust gases causes rapid erosion and destruction of the low-density fibrous insulating material. In addition, as it erodes the fibrous insulating material tends to clog the monolithic structure of the pollution control device and degrade its performance. Thus, the protective inner end cone was required to maintain the position and structural integrity of the insulating material. This is also true with other insulating materials which have been used as ceramic beads, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,127 to Moore, III. Moore shows an insulated exhaust manifold having a layer of insulating ceramic beads between an inner and outer exhaust manifold.
Although required for maintaining the position and structural integrity of the insulating layer of the inlet and outlet cones, the use of a protective metal inner cone has several disadvantages. In particular, use of an inner metal cone significantly increases the weight of the device, as well as the cost to manufacture the device. Therefore, what is needed is an insulating end cone which does not require use of a protective inner cone, and insulating material which is resistant to damage caused by exposure to hot exhaust gases and road shock.
The present invention provides a self-supporting insulating liner for use with exhaust systems and pollution control devices. The application describes the invention as it relates to an insulating end cone for use with pollution control devices such as catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters or traps. The end cone comprises an outer metallic end cone for connection to an exhaust system and a pollution control device. Within the outer end cone is an insulating cone positioned such that a substantial portion of the inner surface of the insulating cone is exposed to hot exhaust gases from the internal combustion engine, and the outer surface of the insulating cone is positioned adjacent the outer metallic end cone. The self supporting insulating liner thus eliminates the need for an inner metallic liner to protect the insulation. In a preferred embodiment, the insulating liner is formed of a composite material which utilizes glass or ceramic fibers mixed with a binder to create a rigid, yet shock resistant insulating end cone.

Free-standing internally insulating liner


A method for treating material, the material contaminated with contaminants, the method including: introducing material with contaminants to a system for remediation including a thermal treatment system, a quench system, a weir tank system and a condensing system; feeding a slurry of the material to the thermal treatment system and heating the material therein producing heated discharge solids and a discharge stream with liquid and solids therein; optionally, discharging the heated discharge solids and feeding them to a mill system; feeding the discharge stream to a quench system producing a cooled discharge stream which is fed to the weir tank system; the weir tank system having a clean side and a dirty side; the cooled discharge stream fed to the dirty side of the weir tank system, and from the weir tank system producing at least one stream of cleaned liquid and a stream with contaminants therein; and, in one particular aspect, remediating drilled cuttings material using such a method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for cleaning contaminated soil and, in one particular aspect, to cleaning wellbore drilling cuttings, either on-shore or offshore.
2. Description of Related Art
In a variety of industrial methods, operations, and processes soil becomes contaminated with contaminants such as hydrocarbons and other volatile organic materials and substances. The prior art discloses a wide range of systems and methods for cleaning such soil and for disposal of such contaminants.
Drilling fluids used in hydrocarbon well drilling, as well known in the prior art, pick up solid cuttings and debris which must be removed if the fluid is to be re-used. Drilling fluid, called "mud," is typically either water based or oil-based. "Oil" includes, but is not limited to, diesel, crude oil, mineral oil and synthetic oil. Typically a mud with various additives is pumped down through a hollow drill string (pipe, drill collar, bit, etc.) into a well being drilled and exits through holes in a drillbit. The mud picks up cuttings (rock), other solids, and various contaminants, such as, but not limited to, crude oil, water influx, and salt from the well and carries them upwardly away from the bit and out of the well in a space between the well walls and the drill string. At the top of the well, the contaminated solids-laden mud is discharged over a shale shaker which has a series of screens that catch and remove solids from the mud as the mud passes through them. If drilled solids are not removed from the mud used during the drilling operation, recirculation of the drilled solids can create weight, viscosity, and gel problems in the mud, as well as increasing wear on mud pumps and other mechanical equipment used for drilling.
In one typical prior art system, land-based or offshore, (e.g. as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,645), a well is drilled by a bit carried on a string of drill pipe as drilling mud is pumped by a pump into the drill pipe and out through nozzles in the bit. The mud cools and cleans the cutters of the bit and then passes up through the well annulus flushing cuttings out with it. After the mud is removed from the well annulus, it is treated before being pumped back into the pipe. The mud enters a shale shaker where the relatively large cuttings are removed. The mud then enters a degasser where gas can be removed if necessary. The degasser may be automatically turned on and off, as needed, in response to an electric or other suitable signal produced by a computer and communicated to degasser. The computer produces the signal as a function of data from a sensor assembly associated with shale shaker. The mud then passes to a desander and (or a desilter, optionally mounted over a shale shaker to reduce liquid losses), for removal of smaller solids picked up in the well. In one aspect, the mud next passes to a treating station where, if necessary conditioning media, such as barite, may be added. Suitable flow controls e.g. a valve, control the flow of media. The valve may be automatically operated by an electric or other suitable signal produced by the computer as a function of the data from sensor assembly. From the treatment station, the mud is directed to a tank from which a pump takes suction, to be re-cycled through the well. Remediation of cuttings on-site at an offshore rig is a difficult and expensive operation. It is known to remove cuttings from a rig in a barge to a land-based facility.
Thermal desorption processes are well known for remediating contaminated soil, both indirect processes in which material is isolated from flame and heat is applied above the vaporization temperature of a contaminant and direct processes in which material is directly heated with a flame. Often in direct processes, volatile contaminants are destroyed by direct flame contact and a portion of them may be thermally destroyed in a downstream oxidizer.
There has long been a need for an effective and efficient system for treating contaminated soil and drilling cuttings.

Thermal drill cuttings treatment with weir system


A hangered shirt collar protector is provided comprising a strip of flexible material formed into a substantially cylindrical shape by fastening together opposite edges, and the flexible material further having a hole to receive the hook portion of a garment hanger. The protector will support the collar portion of a hangered shirt so that the collar will not become bent and wrinkled.

The present invention relates to collar protection for hangered shirts, and more particularly to a cylindrical member that is used on a garment hanger to support the collar portion of a shirt so that the collar will not become bent and wrinkled.
Generally, freshly pressed shirts are placed on garment hangers to await use. The hangers support only the shoulder portions of the shirt, so the collar portion tends to loose its shape. This problem is compounded when adjacent hangered shirts are closely spaced resulting in bent and wrinkled collars. A review of the prior art reveals several collar protectors, but these attempts have been costly, complex or ineffective.


A grinding machine having plurality of lift elements positioned within the rotating drum. The lift elements are provided with a central ridge contact surface portion with slanted side surfaces extending from the ridge contact portion in a downward and outward configuration. Adjacent pairs of side surfaces form valleys with the downwardly converging side surfaces. In the grinding process, this enhances the effectiveness of the grinding mill.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rock grinding mills and more particularly to rock grinding mills into which rocks to be ground and water are directed, and the grinding mill section is rotated about a longitudinal center axis to cause the rocks to travel upwardly in a curved path to tumble back to impact other rocks to cause the rock to break up into smaller fragments.
b) Background Art
For many industrial purposes it is necessary to reduce the size of rather large rocks to a much smaller particle size (commonly called "comminution"). For example, the rocks may be blasted out of an area, and these larger rocks (sometimes the size of boulders) are then directed into a grinding mill. One common form of a grinding mill is where there is a large cylindrical grinding section which often could have a diameter of as much as ten to fifty feet. The rocks along with water or air is directed into one end of the continuously rotating grinding section, and there are various types of lifting ribs positioned on the inside surface of the grinding section to carry the rocks upwardly in a curved upwardly directed path within the grinding chamber so that these tumble back onto other rocks in the lower part of the chamber. Thus, these rocks impact each other and are broken up into smaller rock fragments. Also, sometimes large iron balls (e.g., two to six inches in diameter) are placed in the grinding chamber to obtain improved results.
It takes a tremendous amount of power to operate these grinding mills, and also there are other substantial costs involved. There are a number of factors which relate to the effectiveness and the economy of the operation, and the embodiment of the present invention is directed toward improvements in such mills and the method employed.


A service tool that may be inserted into a tubular, the service tool includes an anchoring system. The anchoring system includes a body having a first end, a second end, and an opening extending along a portion of the body between the first end and the second end and a gripping assembly housed within and coupled to the body. The gripping assembly may anchor at least a portion of the service tool to the tubular, and the gripping assembly includes a plurality of anchor arms disposed within the opening and that may move relative to the body. The anchoring system also includes an actuator disposed within a central bore of the body and coupled to the gripping assembly. The actuator may apply a first axial input force in a first direction and a second axial input force in a second direction opposite the first direction to the gripping assembly, At least a portion of the gripping assembly translocates relative to the body in the first direction in response to the first axial input force to position the plurality of anchor arms in a radially expanded anchoring configuration, and the portion of the gripping assembly translocates relative to the body in the second direction in response to the second axial input force to position the plurality of anchor arms in a radially contracted configuration.

This present disclosure relates to service tools, in particular to a mechanical intervention shifting tool used to exercise, shift or remove completion products. The service tool can be used to manipulate a variety of types and sizes of completion products with a single configuration, or for expanded sizes, with minimal configuration changes. The service tool is composed of three systems: the shifter, the linear actuator, and the anchor. The shifter system is a latching mechanism that enables gripping to the completion shifting profile feature with high accuracy and reliability via on-demand control of radial load acting on the completion profile feature. The axial push/pull load is generated via the linear actuator, but can also be generated by the tractor and/or wireline cable. The anchor system provides radial loads to react to the axial loads generated by the linear actuator. Both the shifter and anchor systems use linkage designs with large expansion ratios that enable passage through small diameters and deployment into large diameters while preserving capability of generating high loads. In addition, both the shifter and anchor systems are fail-safe and are able to fully retract within the tool outer diameter in case of power loss, including in high-debris environments. In addition to fail-safe or passive close, the anchor has the capability to power close or active close. The anchor mechanism is capable of applying a constant radial load that is independent of borehole size and effects from axial loads generated by the linear actuator. The anchor mechanism is self-centralizing, enabling uniform load distribution. The service tool uses force and displacement sensors that enable accurate real-time feedback on the state of the system. This disclosure is applicable to service tools including, but not limited to, downhole and surface applications.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admission of prior art.
Many types of mechanical operations are performed in the course of maintaining and optimizing production from wells. Performing some of these operations involve application of axial forces to a downhole tool located downhole in a completion assembly. For example, isolation valves located in production tubing may be opened or closed by pushing or pulling an internal feature. In other examples, axial forces are used in the retrieval of a plug or a gas valve and in various fishing operations.
In the case of opening or closing the isolation valve, the shifter system latching mechanism is deployed and translated axially using the linear actuator system. The latching mechanism is controlled via a variable pressure system that enables accurate locating of the shifter profile feature. Once the latching mechanism is positively latched into the shifting profile feature, the latching mechanism radial load can be increased using the variable pressure system to lock the latching mechanism to the shifting profile feature. After the latching mechanism is locked to the shifting profile feature, the anchor system gripping mechanism is deployed to apply a radial load to the tubular to react to the axial push and pull loads that are generated by the linear actuator system. Once the anchor system is anchored, the linear actuator is deployed to apply the push and/or pull load to move the shifting profile feature hence either opening or closing the isolation valve.

Systems and methods for manipulating wellbore completion products


A pipe hanging system for aligned installation of a pipe from a support system without the use of external measuring devices incudes a hanger assembly having one or more hanger members each having a cradle dimensioned to receive at least a portion of the pipe in a supported relation therein. The hanger members include a plurality of alignment marks disposed on and visible along at least a portion of the hanger member to facilitate positioning the hanger member relative to the support members without the use of external measuring devices. A mounting assembly to mount each hanger member to one of the plurality of support members in an aligned orientation, wherein an aligned orientation is at least partially defined by a portion of the cradle disposed a predetermined distance from a preselected portion of the support member onto which the hanger member is mounted.

Present-day construction of a new building whether for commercial or residential use include a complex array of utility and amenity services. These include utility services such as, electrical service, back-up electrical generator service, natural gas service, fuel oil service, water supply service, water drainage service, HVAC service and/or security system service, to name a few. More recently, amenity services such as home entertainment service, wired or wireless computer service, cable or satellite television service, etc., are commonplace today as well. It will be appreciated that this array of utility and amenity services are provided for in the construction of a new building, or while refurbishing an existing structure.
It is also common for one or more of the various services noted above to be provided to and distributed throughout a building via a network of pipes and/or conduits of various sizes, shapes, and materials of construction. Virtually every building constructed or refurbished today includes some form of water supply service and a corresponding water drainage service. A water supply service typically includes one or more of a meter or series of meters, numerous valves, such as shut off valves, pressure relief valves, etc., hot water heater supply and delivery lines, etc. Oftentimes, the majority of water supply service piping and appurtenances are installed below the main floor in a basement or designated utility service area of the building. Further, water supply service piping are often installed onto the underside of a support system of the main floor of the building, such as a truss or joist system.
Likewise, water drainage service lines are also commonly installed onto the underside of support system along with natural gas pipelines, electrical conduits, telecommunications lines, etc., just to name a few. Water drainage lines require special attention as they must maintain a proper slope to assure sufficient head pressure for gravity discharge from the building.
Typically, the array of pipes and/or conduits required to provide and distribute these various utility and or amenity services throughout a building are installed to individual support members, such as, a truss member or a joist member, primarily constructed of wood, by way of numerous individual straps or hangers which are nailed into each of the individual trusts or joist embers. Since about the 1980s, and continuing through today, TJI and TGI wood truss support systems became commonplace in new home construction.
In order to maintain some semblance of alignment in the installation of the various pipes and/or conduits to the plurality of truss or joist members, efforts are made to maintain a specified distance between the bottom of a truss or joist member and the top or bottom of a pipe or conduit being installed. More in particular, measurements must be made at each individual support member prior to nailing a strap or hanger thereto. As will be appreciated, this is time consuming at best, and in instances where a strap or hanger is already attached to a portion of a pipe or conduit, the installation process becomes quite difficult, and at times, downright dangerous. This is further compounded by the fact that the measurements and installation of the strap or hanger by nailing it to a truss or joist member occurs while an installer is in an elevated and partially inverted position on a ladder or a scaffold, or crouched down in a crawlspace beneath a support structure.
As will be further appreciated, despite best efforts to measure and accurately maintain a specified distance between the bottom of a truss or joist member in the top or bottom of the pipe or conduit being installed, it is all too common for pipe runs to be installed out of alignment, which can create considerable problems at terminal connections, particularly when dealing with longer pipe runs of 60 or 70 feet or more. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to find a pipe which is not properly seated in each and every strap or hanger utilized to install the pipe to the support members, which can result in undue tension when a strap or hanger is nailed to a support member short of the specified distance from the bottom of the support member. Conversely, if a strap or hanger is nailed to a support member in excess of the specified distance, the pipe may be free to swing or sway at that point in the installation. In addition, improper seating of pipes in straps or hangers can result in exacerbating the sounds of fluid flow through the pipe.
In either instance, inaccuracies in the positioning of the strap or hanger relative to the support members to which they are mounted create stress points which could ultimately result in a failure of the installation. Unfortunately, these inaccuracies are often undiscovered until the installation is complete and final expense inspection occurs, or worse, upon system failure. In order to correct inaccurately positioned straps or hangers, nails must be pulled from the truss or joist member, a process which may or may not irreparably damage strap or hanger itself, measuring, repositioning and re-nailing the strap or hanger at a proper height such that the pipe is properly seated therein. As will be appreciated, this results in an unnecessary waste of materials and installer time to correct.
Accordingly, there is an established need for a system which resolves one or more of the foregoing problems. Specifically, there is a need for a system which allows for quick and easy installation of a pipe or a conduit in precise alignment with a support system without the need for measurement during installation.


A dummy region varactor for improving a CMP process and improving electrical isolation from active areas and a method for forming the same, the varactor including a semiconductor substrate having a dummy region said dummy region including a first well region having a first polarity; shallow trench isolation (STI) structures disposed in the dummy region defining adjacent mesa regions comprising first, second, and third mesa regions; a second well region having a second polarity underlying the first mesa region having the second polarity to form a PN junction interface; wherein said second and third mesa regions having the first polarity are formed adjacent either side of said first mesa region.

During STI formation, CMP of an overlying STI oxide layer in the formation of STI structures generally leads to dishing or preferential polishing of the upper portion of the STI structure in relation to surrounding surfaces.
In addition, in logic and mixed signal operations, device elements such as resistors are formed in an active device area. Prior art methods have proposed forming dummy areas surrounding active areas to avoid dishing effects in CMP processes to form STI structures as well as improve the uniformity in polysilicon e.g., gate electrode etching processes.
However, a problem in the prior art is that the formation of dummy patterns has been found to undesirably affect the electrical performance of devices formed in the active areas by parasitic coupling phenomena.
There is therefore a need in the semiconductor device integrated circuit manufacturing art to develop an improved method to form dummy patterns to avoid active device performance degradation.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved method to form dummy patterns to avoid active device performance degradation, while overcoming other deficiencies and shortcomings of the prior art.

Controllable varactor within dummy substrate pattern

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


Disclosed are a method and a system for tin immersion and soldering of a core wire which includes: inserting a core wire row into molten tin vertically; moving the each core wire in the molten tin along a direction perpendicular to the core wire row to remove carbonized matter from each core wire on a moving direction side; pulling the each core wire out of the molten tin; and performing alignment, such that the inner core conductor of the each core wire on the moving direction side contacts with a bonding pad. According to the technical solution of the present disclosure, the carbonized matter on the core wire that aligned facing the bonding pad is removed, such that the temperature transfer effect of the automatic soldering is improved, the yield of the automatic soldering is improved, and the consistency and the yield of the automatic soldering are more stable.

With the development of the electronics industry, products tend to be miniaturized and complicated, and products with wires make the number of core wires more and more due to functional requirements. At present, the soldering of a plurality of strands of core wires is mostly completed by automatic soldering.
However, the core wire may generate carbonized matter during tin immersion, which will cause a gap between the bonding pad and the core wire during the automatic soldering process. Under the condition that time and the temperature of the automatic soldering are fixed, the soldering in this state is extremely unfavorable to the transfer of temperature, resulting in extremely poor stability of the automatic soldering.

Method and system for tin immersion and soldering of core wire


The disclosure concerns a water fountain for in-home delivery of drinkable water, the fountain including a combination of at least: a source, preferably a renewable source, of drinkable water, with a stock of packages, with a filling member for filling at least one package with drinkable water, and a sealing member for sealing individual filled packages before delivery to the consumer.

For providing water to the consumer at home, water fountains are known, which comprise a water supply that can be directly taken from tap water—that is to say from a public water supply—or from a disposable water container that can be adapted to the fountain in a leak-tight configuration.
Some of these water fountains include a system for refrigerating said water before it is dispensed to a consumer. The water is dispensed through a manual or electric dispensing pump system that conducts the water from the water supply to a cup that the consumer places below a tap-like opening of the fountain. A system of waste disposal is needed, in order to recuperate an overflow of the water.
The solutions disclosed above, however do not allow a consumer to take water from the fountain and transport or store for some time the water that is dispensed for an "on-the-go" consumption of said water, eg. for children taking water to school, or for in-car consumption. In these last two cases, the only way for a consumer to carry water is to go to a store and buy bottles of water. However, such bottles are heavy, and ecologically unfriendly as they require a large amount of packaging material, plus operations in the factories to close with closures or similar systems, print, gather in packs or otherwise pack in secondary packages before shipping—which shipping has a bad ecological footprint—.
The main problem to be solved by the present invention is therefore to provide a home delivery system for delivering at a low cost and ecologically, safe drinkable water, or other beverages, to consumers. Such a system shall be an easy to use, reduced in size, and be a cheap and ecological alternative to bottled water and to known water fountains for in-home usage.


A device carrier capable of reliably measuring electric characteristics of the device with accuracy and an auto-handle are provided. The device carrier holds an IC having terminals on a lower face thereof at multiple positions, and allows the terminals to be brought into contact with contacts provided on an IC socket, wherein the device carrier comprises an opening through which the device can pass, a support part disposed on the opening for supporting the lower face of the IC, and a hinge part for turnably supporting the support part, wherein said supporter part is turned to release the support of the device when the socket approaches thereto. The supporter part engages with the release pins as the device carrier approaches to the IC socket to be turned so as to release the support of the lower face of the IC. The IC which has been released from being supported by the supporter part passes through the opening and is placed on the IC socket.

The invention relates to a device carrier for allowing terminals provided on a device such as an IC to be brought into contact with contacts of a socket.
When measuring electric characteristics of an IC such as a ball grid array (BGA) type package IC, the IC is held by a device carrier and placed on an IC socket so that terminals formed of solder balls provided on the IC are allowed to be brought into contact with contacts provided on the IC socket.
FIG. 6 is a side partial view of a conventional device carrier for holding an IC (device). In FIG. 6, a device carrier 50 has a recess 51 formed in a rectangular shape in cross section and guide holes 53 wherein an IC (BGA type package IC) is placed on the recess 51. Guide pins 61 formed on an IC socket 60 are inserted into the holes 53 of the IC device carrier 50. That is, the device carrier 50 and the IC socket 60 IC are positioned with respect to each other by the guide pins 61. Multiple ball-like terminals (solder balls) B are provided on the lower face of the IC. A positioning plate part 52 is provided on the bottom of the recess 51 of the device carrier 50 for positioning the IC disposed on the recess 51 with respect to the device carrier 50. Multiple positioning holes 54 are formed on the positioning plate part 52, wherein when the terminals B are fitted in the positioning holes 54, the IC is positioned with respect to the device carrier 50. Contacts 62 of the IC socket 60 are inserted into the positioning holes 54 of the device carrier 50 from the lower side thereof. A socket board 70 is disposed under the IC socket 60 and the lower ends of the contacts 62 contact seat patterns 71 of the socket board 70.
When measuring electric characteristics of the IC, the IC is first conveyed on the IC socket 60 by the device carrier 50 so that the IC socket 60 and the device carrier 50 are positioned with respect to each other. Upon completion of the positioning between the device carrier 50 and IC socket 60, the contacts 62 provided on the IC socket 60 are allowed to be brought into contact with the terminals B of the IC held by the device carrier 50. In a state where the contacts 62 provided on the IC socket 60 and the terminals B of the IC held by the device carrier 50 contact one another, the electric characteristics of the IC is measured. At this time, the IC placed on the device carrier 50 which is disposed over the IC socket 60 is pressed by a contact pusher 80 having guide holes 81 through which the guide pins 61 of the IC socket 60 are inserted, thereby assuring the contact between the terminals B and the contacts 62. The positioning plate part 52 on which the IC is placed is formed of nonconductive synthetic resin so that the terminals B of the IC and the contacts 62 of the IC socket 60 are not short-circuited when they contact each other.
When measuring the electric characteristics of the IC using the IC socket 60 shown in FIG. 6, particularly measuring the electric characteristics in high frequency region, it is preferable that a distance between the terminals B of the IC and the seat patterns 71 of the socket board 70 is set to be as short as possible. That is, if the length of each contact 62 is set to be as short as possible, the electric characteristics of the IC can be measured stably with high accuracy.
Meanwhile, when the length of each contact 62 is set to be short, a thickness L of the positioning plate part 52 has to be set to be thin. However, since the positioning plate part 52 is made of synthetic resin as set forth above, if the thickness L of the positioning plate part 52 is set to be thin, the strength of the positioning plate part 52 is significantly lowered. If the contact pusher 80 presses the IC in a state where the thickness L of the positioning plate part 52 made of synthetic resin is set to be thin, a stress is localized, e.g., on steps 51a and the like inside the recess 51, so that the steps 51a are bent, causing a problem that the device carrier 50 can not stably hold the IC. Further, there occurs a case where the ends of the IC supported by the steps 51a are bent, so that the electric characteristics of the IC is not stably measured with high accuracy.
The invention has been developed in view of the circumstances as set forth above and it is an object of the invention to provide a device carrier capable of stably measuring properties of the device with high accuracy and an auto-handler.
achieve the above object, the device carrier for holding a device having terminals on a given face thereof at multiple positions, and allowing the terminals of the device to be brought into contact with contacts provided on an IC socket according to the first aspect of the invention is characterized in that the device carrier comprises an opening through which the device can pass, a support part disposed so as to close at least to a part of the opening for supporting the given face, and a hinge part for turnably supporting the support part, wherein said support part is turned to release the support of the given face of the device when it approaches to the socket.
According to the invention, the device carrier can hold the device stably by the support part which is disposed so as to close at least at a part of the opening through which the device can pass. Since the support part is turnably supported by the hinge part and is turned when it approaches to the socket, the opening is completely released when the support part is turned so that the device is moved toward the socket through the opening and it is directly placed on the socket. Since the device is directly placed on the socket when the support part is turned, so that the length of each contact of the socket can be set to be short. Accordingly, the properties of the device can be measured stably with high accuracy.
The device carrier according to the second aspect of the invention is characterized in that the hinge part according to the first aspect of the invention supports the device while biasing it in a direction to close the opening, and said support part is turned in a direction to open the opening while engaged with an engagement part provided on the socket.
According to the invention, the support part and the engagement part can be engaged with each other by merely approaching the device carrier and the socket to each other. As set forth above, the support of the device by the support part can be released by merely allowing the device carrier and the socket to approach to each other, so that the properties of the device can be easily and efficiently measured. Further, since the hinge part supports the support part while biasing the support part in the direction to close the opening, the support can stably support the given face of the device unless the support part of the device carrier and the engagement part of the socket are not engaged with each other.
The device carrier according to the third aspect of the invention is characterized in that the support part according to either first or second aspect of the invention comprises multiple support members for supporting multiple spots of the device at the given face thereof other than the spots where the terminals are provided.
According to the invention, since the support part comprises multiple support members and the multiple support members support given faces of the device, even if the size of one support member is small, the support members can stably support the device. Further, when the device is supported by the multiple support members, the size of each support member can be reduced. Accordingly, the turning space of each support member can be reduced, thereby making the device compact as a whole.
The device carrier according to the fourth aspect of the invention is characterized in that the device according to any of the first to third aspects of the invention further comprises a guide part provided on the device carrier at a portion in the vicinity of the opening for positioning the device while bringing into contact with the end face of the device.
According to the invention, since the guide part for positioning the device is provided in the vicinity of the opening, the terminals of the device which is moved from the device carrier to the socket and placed on the socket can be stabled made contact with the contacts of the socket with excellent accuracy.
The device carrier according to the fifth aspect of the invention is characterized in that the device according to any of the first to fourth aspects of the invention is a BGA type package IC having ball-like terminals.
According to the invention, even in the case of the device comprising a BGA type package IC having ball-like terminals, the contacts can be reliably positioned with respect to and brought into contact with the ball-like terminals.
An auto-handler provided according to the sixth aspect of the invention is characterized in having multiple device carriers according to any of claims 1 to 5.
According to the invention, since there are provided multiple device carriers enabling the terminals of the device and the contacts of the socket to be brought into contact with one another even if the length of each contact of the socket is short, it is possible to stably measure the electric characteristics of the device in the high frequency region without causing loose contact while multiple devices are brought into contact with the socket.