A piezoelectric device comprises a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer provided above the first electrode, and a second electrode provided above the piezoelectric layer. The piezoelectric layer comprises a mixed crystal containing at least bismuth ferrate and barium titanate. The piezoelectric layer comprises a first piezoelectric layer and a second piezoelectric layer which is disposed between at least one of the first and second electrodes and the first piezoelectric layer. The barium titanate content of the second piezoelectric layer is at least 10 mole percent higher than the barium titanate content of the first piezoelectric layer.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to liquid-ejecting heads having piezoelectric devices that cause a pressure change in pressure-generating chambers communicating with nozzle orifices and that include a piezoelectric layer and electrodes that apply a voltage to the piezoelectric layer, and also relates to liquid-ejecting apparatuses and piezoelectric devices.
2. Related Art
Among piezoelectric devices is one including a piezoelectric layer (piezoelectric film) formed of a piezoelectric material having an electromechanical conversion function, for example, a crystallized piezoelectric material, and two electrodes between which the piezoelectric layer is disposed. This type of piezoelectric device is provided on a liquid-ejecting head, for example, as an actuator that operates in a flexural vibration mode. A typical example of a liquid-ejecting head is an ink-jet recording head including a diaphragm that defines part of a pressure-generating chamber communicating with a nozzle orifice from which ink droplets are ejected and a piezoelectric device that deforms the diaphragm to pressurize ink in the pressure-generating chamber to eject ink droplets from the nozzle orifice.
The piezoelectric layer included in the piezoelectric device requires the use of a piezoelectric material with high piezoelectricity, a typical example of which is lead zirconate titanate (PZT) (see JP-A-2001-223404). From the viewpoint of environmental issues, on the other hand, there is a demand for a piezoelectric material with a lower lead content. Examples of lead-free piezoelectric materials include BiFeO3-based piezoelectric materials containing bismuth and iron, one specific example being a multiple oxide represented as a mixed crystal of bismuth manganate ferrate, such as Bi(Fe,Mn)O3, and barium titanate, such as BaTiO3 (see JP-A-2009-252789).
However, a piezoelectric layer formed of a mixed crystal of bismuth manganate ferrate and barium titanate has the problem of leakage current. This problem is not unique to liquid-ejecting heads such as ink-jet recording heads; other piezoelectric devices share the same problem.

Piezoelectric device, liquid-ejecting head, and liquid-ejecting apparatus


The present invention comprises a system and method of operation for evaluating body activity relative to an environment. According to an exemplary embodiment, the system comprises a processor that is associable with a sensor for sensing dynamic and static accelerative phenomena of the body. The processor is operable to process the sensed dynamic and static accelerative phenomena as a function of at least one accelerative event characteristic and an environmental representation to thereby determine whether the evaluated body activity is within environmental tolerance. The processor operates to monitor both activity and inactivity relative to the environmental representation.

Methods for determining specific movements of a body that use a variety of devices, apparatus and systems are, generally speaking, known. The term "body" is defined broadly hereafter and includes both organic and inorganic objects.
In point of fact, many methods are known for sensing body activity, including both movement and non-movement (i.e., sensed dynamic accelerations, including cessation of movement), as well as, for sensing body movement over time, which is commonly used to determine comparative levels of activity of a monitored body (See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,110,741, 4,292,630, 5,045,839, and 5,523,742). These methodologies, however, merely report various levels of body activity, and, simply stated, fail to recognize possible causes for any increased or decreased level of body activity.
In contrast, other methodologies have developed over time for the detection of falls (See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,829,285, 5,477,211, 5,554,975, and 5,751,214). These methodologies are largely based upon the utilization of one or more mechanical switches (e.g., mercury switches) that determine when a body has attained a horizontal position. These methods however fail to discern "normal," or acceptable, changes in levels of body activity. Stated another way, the foregoing fall detection methodologies provide no position change analysis and, therefore, cannot determine whether a change in position, once attained, is acceptable or unacceptable.
For instance, in veterinary applications, it is well known that horses sleep while standing and that their breathing is less effectively if they are lying down, particularly if on a side. If a high value mare in foal lies down for a period of time (i.e., is inactive), there is an appreciable economic risk. Contemporary systems and methodologies do not provide activity monitors that "warn" or "alarm" that the absence of movement within a specific environment is dangerous.
As a further example, if a body under consideration was an extraction pump and the environment were either a sump near a subway station, in addition to monitoring for normal operation, which is very episodic and activated by accumulating water, the pump should be monitored for inactivity over some period of time as indicia that the pump may be malfunctioning and jeopardizing the nearby subway tunnel. Warning of the absence of activity of machinery, depending upon the environment, can have significant safety, economic, and like effect.
Various training methods have been conceived for sensing relative tilt of a body (See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,300,921 and 5,430,435), and some such methodologies have employed two-axis accelerometers. The output of these devices, however, have reported only static acceleration of the body (i.e., the position of a body relative to earth within broad limits). It should be appreciated that static acceleration, or gravity, is not the same as a lack of dynamic acceleration (i.e., vibration, body movement, and the like), but is instead a gauge of position. While accelerometers that measure both static and dynamic acceleration are known, their primary use has heretofore been substantially confined to applications directed to measuring one or the other, but not both. For instance, the absence of activity/movement for a period of time for a snowmobile or other all-terrain vehicle in the field may signal an equipment breakdown placing the safety of the user at risk.
It may be seen that the various conventional detectors fall into one of two varieties, those that gauge movement of the body and those that gauge a body's position by various means, with neither type capable of analyzing body activity to determine whether the same is normal or abnormal; and if abnormal, whether such activity (including inactivity) is so abnormal to be beyond tolerance, for instance, to be damaging, destructive, crippling, harmful, injurious, or otherwise alarming or, possibly, distressing to the body.
None of the methodologies heretofore known have provided a suitable means to evaluate body activity over time and to determine whether such activity is tolerable. Further improvement could thus be utilized.

System and method for analyzing activity of a body


A prog analysis and execution system and method. The system includes a computer control system, an interface engine in communication with the computer control system, the interface engine being configured to receive prog information, and an action item development engine in communication with the control system, the action item development engine being configured to analyze received prog information and to determine corresponding action items. The system further includes a sensor engine in communication with the computer control system, the sensor engine being configured to receive input from at least one sensor for use in controlling a well drilling operation, and an operational equipment engine in communication with the computer control system, the operational equipment engine being configured to receive input from the computer control system and to control the well drilling operation in accordance with the determined action items in the prog.

A well prognosis (prog) is generally understood in the drilling industry to be a detailed and lengthy document containing specifications, goals, plans, etc. for drilling and completing a well, and most drilling companies have a preferred format and structure for their progs. However, there is no universal standardization for progs, and therefore each company's format and structure is generally distinct. However, despite the distinctive structure and format of progs, there are certain types of information, generally referred to herein as critical information, that are generally included in every prog. Critical information may be distinguishable or identified by particular elements in the prog, such as words, characters, symbols, or phrases that are generally associated with the particular critical information. These identifying elements generally indicate to one skilled in the drilling art that a particular event, activity, routine, occurrence, or other happening, within the drilling operation is being addressed in the prog. The information contained in the prog adjacent to these identifying elements is likely to pertain to the corresponding event indicated by the identifying elements (simply by proximity). These corresponding events may be action items that require some action to be taken to ensure that the event is performed according to the prog.
An example of an event for which information is typically included in a drilling operation prog may include a general description of the well to be drilled. This general description may be considered to be an objective of the prog. In a drilling operation, other activities generally detailed in a prog may include operational instructions based on well depth, spud details, such as the drive pipe depth, cementing details, filing of governmental forms, running surface pipe, when to order more pipe or cement, testing the shoe, intermediate casing completion, liner run, reaching total depth, logs to run, notifications to make, well log samples to deliver, information of interest about the formation, including depths for expected overpressure and depletion, disaster plans, logging run notifications, sample distributions lists, joint service agreements ("JSA's") for specific tasks, other well control procedures, directional programs, expected days versus depth data, etc.
It would be a valuable addition to the field to provide an automated system having a computer system and an action item development engine, where the system would assist an operator to compile and assess a detailed well prog in order to identify potential action items, define actions to be taken upon encountering the identified action item, and document the defined actions in order to trigger automated alerts and reminders to take the actions when a particular action item is encountered. Such a system would enable methods of compiling, assessing, and documenting detailed project plans, including assessing a project plan for potential action items, defining and documenting actions to be taken upon encountering actual action items, and executing the project plan, providing alerts and reminders of actions to be taken when particular action items are encountered. The response to the alerts and the actions taken as the result of process could then be recorded versus the timeline or schedule of the program to close the loop on the collaboration process.

Well prog execution facilitation system and method


A jewelry clasp is provided with a male element and a female element. The female element has a chamber with a frame and an internal stop element that is integral with the frame. The chamber includes a pivot for a pivotally-mounted spring-biased latch element so that the latch element is not placed in the trajectory of the entry path of the male element into the entry port of the chamber, and the latch element is configured to abut the chamber frame such that, in every position, the latch element remains within the chamber frame and does not extend beyond the frame when the male element is engaging, engaged, disengaging or disengaged.

Conventional jewelry clasps for securing two ends of a piece of jewelry together have several deficiencies. For instance, conventional jewelry clasps are difficult to engage and disengage; they are prone to breaking over time; they snag on clothing and hair; they are unnecessarily complex in mechanical design; and they lack security as they often inadvertently open, inter alia.
Specifically, in conventional clasps, the friction and tension of component parts on other component parts and with external objects, including but not limited to hair and clothing, cause wear over time. Such wear is one reason that these clasps often break or inadvertently disengage, and the like. Accordingly, a wearer must carefully engage and secure the jewelry clasp, making sure that overuse and stress on the clasp does not cause the clasp to break or inadvertently disengage, and the like. The result of a broken or inadvertently disengaged clasp can result in a very expensive item falling off of a wearer's arm or neck, or being lost, for example.
It has long been a goal of jewelry clasps to be simple to operate, of a simple mechanical design, and durably made, to name just a few of the generally sought after qualities of jewelry clasp users. It is also desirable to have a locking mechanism for the clasp that has a completely internal engagement mechanism design, both when the two engaging elements are engaged and during the entire process of engaging and disengaging the two component parts. For example, many of the conventional mechanisms aver to be "internal only." However, they are only internal when the two parts are engaged, not during the process of engagement and disengagement. Having a completely internal clasping/locking mechanism is an important desire of jewelry clasp users because the latch or hook of a clasp is often protruding from the chamber or housing of the lock when the clasp is opened. The moment when the clasp is open also happens to be a time in which a user is likely to catch the apparatus on clothing and hair. Accordingly, having a hook tip that is internal will prevent a major source of snagging and breaking.
It is further desirable to have a completely internal, simple and durable stop mechanism. Conventionally, this goal has been achieved by having the existing components of the lock or clasp serve as the stop. This is thought to eliminate the need to add additional components to the clasp. For example, a pivot pin element is often used as the stop mechanism merely because it lies in the trajectory of the entering male element and is therefore going to stop the entering male element when they contact one another. However, this design has the disadvantage of putting pressure on the pivot pin element, for example, every time the engaging action is taken. Additionally, to remove the male element, a release tab or the like is usually depressed, which causes the pivot pin to force the male element out of the housing. This conventional disengagement action requires more force to be applied to the release tab as well as adding additional friction of the component parts between one another. Although this may not be a significant amount of force on the pin or other components, a person who wears jewelry with a clasp three times per week will engage and disengage the jewelry a minimum of 780 times over a five year period, and 1,560 times over a ten year period. A small amount of pressure so many times can result in breakage.
Thus, a device that it simple, entirely internal to a housing, and one that limits the stress of years of snagging, engaging, disengaging, etc., is highly desirable and not disclosed by any previous art. Some of the previous art is described below, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety as if they were repeated in full herein.
One type of conventional mechanical stop is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,814 (hereinafter "the '814 patent"), and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The '814 patent explains that most mechanical devices are increasingly reliable as the construction of the device becomes simpler. Thus, with this general idea in mind, a clasp with one hundred component parts, with everything else being equal, will be less reliable than a device performing the same function with only five component parts. Therefore, a simple mechanical stop, for example, is desirable.
An example of an entire clasp is provided for in U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,069 (hereinafter "the '069 patent"), and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The '069 patent shows a clasp having an external mechanical stop comprising a sleeve that protrudes outside of the general frame of the housing. In addition, the '069 patent places the pivot directly in the trajectory of the male engaging part, which requires larger pivot range to engage and disengage the two component parts. Finally, the apparatus of the '069 patent is not entirely internal, as FIG. 6, in particular, shows that the entire latch raises outside and beyond the periphery of the general structure when it is in the process of preparing to receive the male component.
Another example of a entire clasp is provided for in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,562 (hereinafter "the '562 patent"), and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The '562 patent shows a clasp with an externally-protruding stop, a pin directly in the trajectory of the male engaging element, and a male engaging element that directly contacts the hook. Therefore, friction exists between the hook and the pin, such that disengaging the clasp requires more force and wear and tear over time is likely to increase. Additionally, when the groove in the apparatus of the '562 patent is depressed, the hook extends well beyond the periphery/frame of the device, which increases the likelihood that such extensions will get caught on external objects.
Yet another example of an entire clasp is described in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2003/0066171 (hereinafter "Terzian"), and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Terzian shows a hook that, when opened, extends well outside of the frame of the clasped device. In addition, the insertion element in Terzian directly abuts the stop portion, which is integral with the catch element. Further, the trajectory of the insertion element is directed towards the pin of the pivot. Even further, the male element has a circular notch which acts as an external catch.


There is provided an information processing apparatus including a detection unit for detecting operation performed with a manipulating object on a display screen to connect to one or more apparatuses, and a determining unit for determining a relative orientation of another apparatus to which the information processing apparatus connects, based on the operation of the manipulating object detected by the detection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program capable of connecting to a plurality of apparatuses with intuitive operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless LAN such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (registered trademark), and short-range wireless communication have become widely present these days. Accordingly, multicast data transfer to multiple terminals and selective data transfer from multiple terminals are desired in data transfer between terminals. In order to communicate/connect with multiple terminals and transfer data to multiple terminals, it is necessary to select each terminal with which connection is made and to which data are transferred. In order to establish connection when multiple terminals are linked with each other, a user has to understand the name, the identification number, and the like designating each terminal. Therefore, there is an issue in that the user is not capable of performing communication/connection and data transfer with intuitive operation. Moreover, there is an issue in that, when data are transferred, it is difficult to understand which terminal transfers data to which terminal and how the data are transferred.
Japanese Patent No. 4164758, Japanese Patent No. 3900605, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-99064 disclose techniques for achieving connection and transfer with intuitive operation. For example, terminals are bumped together to establish connection and transfer data, and an orientation of a terminal is virtually displayed and a transfer object is flicked in that direction. In addition, a technique for obtaining directionality of data transfer by using a sensor for detecting an arrangement of terminals is also disclosed.

Method and apparatus for gesture manipulation across multiple devices


An integrated circuit includes programmable logic circuitry and control circuitry that is operable to enable the integrated circuit to make a connection to an external source of data for configuring the programmable logic circuitry. The integrated circuit may include dedicated communications port circuitry that can be used in making the above-mentioned connection, or the programmable logic circuitry itself can be configured for operation as communications port circuitry for use in making the connection. The programmable logic circuitry may be configured any number of times.

This invention relates to integrated circuit devices, and more particularly to integrated circuit devices that include both programmable logic and microprocessor circuitry or capabilities.
Programmable logic integrated circuit devices are well known, as is shown, for example, by Jefferson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,326. Consideration is now being given to various ways of combining programmable logic circuitry, microprocessor-type circuitry, and possibly other types of circuitry on a single integrated circuit to provide even more powerful devices.

Configuration and/or reconfiguration of integrated circuit devices that include programmable logic and microprocessor circuitry


A clothes treatment apparatus includes a cabinet defining a treatment chamber configured to accommodate hanging clothes and a cycle chamber configured to house machinery, the cycle chamber being positioned vertically below the treatment chamber. The clothes treatment apparatus also includes a partition plate that partitions the treatment chamber from the cycle chamber, a door configured to open and close the cabinet, a door liner disposed at an inside of the door and configured to guide condensed water generated in the treatment chamber to an upper side of the partition plate, a condensed water guide member disposed at the partition plate and configured to guide the condensed water from the door liner into the treatment chamber.

Clothes treatment apparatuses are apparatuses that can treat clothes, e.g. wash and dry clothes and smooth wrinkles in clothes, at home or at laundromats.
Clothes treatment apparatuses may be classified into a washer for washing clothes, a dryer for drying clothes, a washer/dryer having both a washing function and a drying function, a refresher for refreshing clothes, and a steamer for removing unnecessary wrinkles in clothes.
The refresher is an apparatus that can keep clothes comfortable and fresh. The refresher functions, for example, to dry clothes, to supply fragrance to clothes, to prevent the occurrence of static electricity in clothes, or to remove wrinkles from clothes.
The steamer is an apparatus that may simply supply steam to clothes in order to remove wrinkles from the clothes. Unlike a general iron, the steamer can remove wrinkles from the clothes without directly applying heat to the clothes.
A clothes treatment apparatus having both the functions of a refresher and a steamer may remove wrinkles from clothes received in the clothes treatment apparatus, and may additionally deodorize the clothes, using steam and hot air.


A diagnostic method for a motor vehicle having an internal combustion engine operable in a plurality of compression ratio operating states includes the steps of determining a change in idle air flow of the engine as the engine is operated in selected ones of the compression ratio operating states, and evaluating operation of the internal combustion engine based at least in part on the change in idle air flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to variable compression ratio internal combustion engines. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and system for diagnosing operation of a compression ratio setting apparatus of a variable compression ratio internal combustion engine.
2. Background Art
The xe2x80x9ccompression ratioxe2x80x9d of an internal combustion engine is defined as the ratio of the cylinder volume when the piston is at bottom-dead-center (BDC) to the cylinder volume when the piston is at top-dead-center (TDC). Generally, the higher the compression ratio, the higher the thermal efficiency and fuel economy of the internal combustion engine. So-called xe2x80x9cvariable compression ratioxe2x80x9d internal combustion engines have been developed, for example, having higher compression ratios during low load conditions and lower compression ratios during high load conditions. Various techniques have been disclosed for varying compression ratio, including for example, using xe2x80x9csub-chambers and xe2x80x9csub-pistonsxe2x80x9d to vary the volume of a cylinder, see for example patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,873 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,552; varying the actual dimensions of all or a portion of a piston attached to a fixed length connecting rod, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,092; varying the actual length of the connecting rod itself, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,724,863 and 5,146,879; and using eccentric rings or bushings either at the lower xe2x80x9clargexe2x80x9d end of a connecting rod or the upper xe2x80x9csmallxe2x80x9d end of the connecting rod for varying the length of the connecting rod or height of the reciprocating piston, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,068, U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,750, U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,185 and Japanese Publication JP-03092552.
When controlling the operation of a variable compression ratio engine, it is essential to accurately and reliably determine whether a compression ratio setting device for varying an engine""s compression ratio is functioning as required. This is especially important, for example, when controlling ignition timing in the engine. In order to maximize fuel economy while minimizing engine knock, especially in high load conditions, it may be desirable to vary the engine""s ignition timing based on a detected compression ratio of the engine. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,031. In such case, a dedicated sensor, such as combustion pressure sensor or piston position sensor, is used to determine the compression ratio operating mode of the variable compression ratio internal combustion engine.
As such, the inventor herein has recognized the need for a method of diagnosing operation of a variable compression ratio device that does not rely on dedicated sensors within the internal combustion engine.
A method is provided for diagnosing operation of an internal combustion engine having a plurality of compression ratio operating states. The method includes the steps of determining a change in idle air flow of the engine as the engine is operated in selected ones of the compression ratio operating states; and evaluating operation of the internal combustion engine based at least in part on the change in idle air flow. Preferably, a first idle air flow is determined while the engine is operated a first of the compression ratio operating states, and a second idle air flow determined at a second of the compression ratio operating states. A difference between the first and second idle air flows is determined and an indication of engine operation provided based on a comparison of the difference to a predetermined limit. The indication can be for example a status flag set in computer memory, and/or an audible or visible indication. The disclosed method can be used with a variable compression ratio engine having discrete compression ratio operating modes, for example a xe2x80x9chighxe2x80x9d and a xe2x80x9clowxe2x80x9d compression ratio, or with a continuously variable compression ratio engine having a plurality of intermediate compression ratio operating modes.
Advantageously, the operation of a variable compression engine in one or more compression ratio operating states can be accurately and reliably determined without relying on one or more dedicated sensors, such as pressure sensors or proximity or position sensors. The methods described herein, which can be implemented solely in computer code, can be used for diagnostic purposes to evaluate operation of a compression ratio setting apparatus, such as a retractable connecting rod or piston head or combustion sub-chamber. The disclosed invention therefore reduces costs and complexity associated with the manufacture, assembly, operation and maintenance of a variable compression ratio internal combustion engine.
In accordance with a related aspect of the present invention, a corresponding system is provided for operating a variable compression ratio internal combustion engine. The system includes a sensor disposed within the engine for generating a signal representing idle air flow into the engine, a compression ratio setting apparatus for configuring the engine in selected compression ratio operating states of the engine, and a controller in communication with the sensor and the compression ratio apparatus for determining a change in the idle air flow of the engine as the engine is commanded by the controller to operate the engine in selected ones of the compression ratio operating states and for evaluating operation of the internal combustion engine based at least in part on the change in idle air flow. Preferably, the sensor is an air mass flow (MAF) sensor disposed within the throttle port of the engine. A notification device in communication with the controller provides information relating to the operation of the compression ratio setting apparatus to a vehicle operator.
Further advantages, objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures showing illustrative embodiments of the invention.

Diagnostic method for variable compression ratio engine


A temperature responsive sheet is disclosed that comprises a chemically modified water-soluble elastin obtained by N-acylating at least some of the primary amines and secondary amines contained in a high molecular weight water-soluble elastin molecule and coupling some or all of carboxyl groups contained in the molecule with a glycine alkyl ester. Also is disclosed a process for producing a cell sheet that comprises preparing above the temperature responsive sheet a film that functions as a scaffold for animal cells, culturing specific cells on the film so as to prepare a cell sheet, and subsequently separating the cell sheet and the temperature responsive sheet comprising the chemically modified water-soluble elastin under conditions of no greater than the culturing temperature for the cells.

In recent years, regenerative medicine employing cell sheet engineering techniques has been attracting attention, and a large number of attempts to graft various types of cell sheets have been carried out. When grafting, a cell sheet is used in methods in which a single layer sheet is grafted, a uniform tissue formed by layering identical cell sheets is grafted, a tissue having a layered structure formed by layering several different types of cell sheets is grafted, etc. 20 to 30 types of cell sheets are currently produced, and progress has been made in clinical applications employing epithelial cell systems such as those of the cornea, retina, skin, the bladder epithelium, and the periodontal ligament.
However, there is a problem with the production of a cell sheet. The problem is that when peeling off cultured cells or a cell sheet from a culture dish, since cells adhere strongly to an adhesion protein on the culture dish, it is necessary to use a proteolytic enzyme, and as a result cells and extracellular matrix are damaged. Recently, a method that does not use a proteolytic enzyme, that is, a method for recovering a cell sheet in which a culture dish surface is coated with an N-isopropylacrylamide polymer (PIPAAm), which is a polyacrylamide for which the surface properties change depending on the temperature, has been developed. PIPAAm is a material whose affinity for water changes greatly on either side of 32° C. When this PIPAAm is fixed to a culture dish surface at a uniform nano-order thickness, the surface becomes hydrophobic at 37° C., which is suitable for culturing cells, and the cells adhere and proliferate. On the other hand, when the temperature is decreased to 32° C. or below after culturing, the surface becomes hydrophilic, and sheet-form cells can be peeled off without being damaged (ref. e.g. Patent Documents 1 and 2).
However, although an acrylamide polymer like PIPAAm does not itself have toxicity such as that shown by an acrylamide monomer, there is a possibility that, in the production process for an acrylamide polymer, unpolymerized acrylamide monomer, which has toxicity, will remain within the polymer, and this problem has been pointed out.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Temperature responsive sheet that displays reversible properties and cell sheet production method using same


A modular irrigation controller includes a processor capable of executing a stored watering program and controlling a plurality of removable station modules in accordance with the watering program. Each station module includes a station module circuit for opening and closing a plurality of values. A plurality of connectors can mate each mate to establish a communications link between the station modules and the processor. A plurality of terminals are each connectable with a corresponding one of a plurality of field valve lines from the valves. The terminals are mounted separate from the station modules and are connected to the connectors. This allows the irrigation controller to have a more compact design, provides connection terminals for spare field valve lines, and eliminates malfunctions due to erroneous re-connection of field valve lines during station module replacement.

In many parts of the world due to inadequate rainfall it is necessary at some times during the year to artificially water turf and landscaping. Residential and commercial irrigation systems typically include one or more solenoid operated valves that are turned ON and OFF by an electronic irrigation controller. The valves admit water to various subterranean branch lines usually made of PVC pipe that typically have several sprinklers connected to risers coupled to the branch lines at spaced intervals. Each combination of a solenoid valve and its associated sprinklers is referred to in the irrigation industry as a zone or station. A modern electronic irrigation controller typically includes a microprocessor and separate memory, or a micro-computer with on-chip memory, that stores and executes one or more watering programs. The watering programs can be pre-programmed by the user via push button and/or rotary controls. The controller usually has an LCD or other display to facilitate programming by the user. The microprocessor controls the solenoid valves via suitable drivers and switching devices. The valves are opened and closed by the microprocessor in accordance with the pre-programmed run and cycle times for each of the stations. The goal is to uniformly distribute the optimum amount of water over a given area.
Modular expandable irrigation controllers have gained increasing popularity in both residential and commercial landscape environments. In these controllers, the base portion of the system contains the microprocessor and user actuated controls. Each station is then controlled by a corresponding station module which comprises a plastic housing that encloses and supports a station module circuit, as well as wire connection terminals for connecting wires to a plurality of solenoid actuated valves. Typically each station module can independently control more than one solenoid actuated valve, i.e., station. The station modules contain pins, sockets, card edge connectors or some other standard form of electromechanical connectors for allowing them to be inserted into slots or receptacles in either the housing that contains the microprocessor or a separate back panel hinged to the microprocessor housing. The advantage of this configuration is that the controller need only be equipped with the minimum number of station modules that can control the total number of stations. Thus, for example, an irrigation system may have only three zones, requiring only a single station module, while another may have twelve stations which might require four station modules. Considerable cost savings are thus achieved. Moreover, if an irrigation system expands after initial installation because the landscaping has increased, additional station modules can be added.
A modular irrigation controller is typically connected to each solenoid actuated valve by a dedicated field valve line, for example, twelve gauge wire. A common return line is connected between all of the valves and the controller. Triacs in the station module circuit are used to switch a twenty-four volt AC signal ON and OFF each relative to each of the field valve lines. In conventional modular irrigation controllers, the stripped ends of the field valve lines are connected to screw type terminals or lever type terminals on the station modules themselves.
One of the drawbacks of conventional modular irrigation controllers is that they are usually larger than non-modular irrigation controllers capable of controlling the same number of stations. Since all of the field valve lines must be separately connected to corresponding modules, the modules must be oriented so that their terminals are all readily accessible for connection of the field valve lines. This requirement in turn prevents the modules from being stacked to reduce the overall size of the irrigation controller.
Another downside to conventional modular irrigation controllers involves the installation and connection of the field valve lines. Often contractors run spare field valve lines for later expansion of the irrigation system, but since the extra station modules will not be inserted into the controller until a later date, there are no terminals for the extra field valve lines. This can lead to mis-connection of extra field valve lines at a later date. If not properly labeled, it can be tedious to determine the zones that the extra field valve lines control. Moreover if the extra field valve lines that are unconnected are stripped of insulation, they can cause shorts.
Another problem with conventional modular expandable irrigation controllers arises when a station module is damaged and therefore must be removed and replaced. The station module that needs to be removed is sometimes "covered" with existing field valve lines that must be displaced. Sliding or other movement required to remove a station module may be impaired by the field valve lines attached to the defective station module or adjacent station modules. Moreover, quite often the installer mistakenly re-connects the field valve lines to the wrong terminals of the new station module so that the different stations that are supposed to be controlled by the module either do not run at all, or they do not run with the correct cycle and run times.

Modular irrigation controller with separate field valve line wiring terminals


The processing window for thermosetting resins that contain particulate hardeners is prolonged using the combined steps of heat-treating the resin to form a low-viscosity resin mixture in which the particles are dissolved and then molding the low-viscosity resin mixture at temperatures below the dissolution temperature of the particles to infuse a fibrous preform. The infused resin preform is heated to the curing temperature of the resin to provide final curing of the resin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to liquid composite moulding (LCM) processes in which a thermosetting resin is injected into a mold that contains a fibrous body. The resin infuses throughout the fibrous body and is cured within the mold to form a final composite structure. More particularly, the present invention is directed to prolonging the processing window of LCM resins so that the resins can be infused into larger and more complex structures.
2. Description of Related Art
Composite materials are used in a wide variety of endeavors where a structure must have a high strength to weight ratio. The two basic components of composite materials are a resin matrix and a fibrous support structure that reinforces the resin. There are a wide variety of processes for combining resins and fibrous supports together to form structures that can be cured to form final composite structures. The particular process that is used depends on many factors including resin and fiber types, size of the structure, complexity, cost, weight/strength requirements and quality control issues.
For example, in many instances an adequate process for making composite structures is simply to manually impregnate the resin into the fibrous support using a brush or roller. In other situations, the resin is impregnated into the fibrous support using specialized equipment to form a pre-impregnated fibrous support (prepreg). One or more layers of prepreg are then placed on or in a mold to form the desired shape, which is then cured to form the final composite structure.
Liquid composite moulding (LCM) processes are popular processes that have been used widely for making composite structures. Two examples of LCM processes are resin transfer moulding (RTM) and liquid resin infusion (LRI). RTM and LRI are used widely in industries, such as aerospace, where it is necessary to make complex parts or structures that must reliably and reproducibly meet strict limits with respect to strength and weight. RTM processes generally involve injection of the resin into a mould that contains a pre-formed fibrous support. The amount of resin that is injected into the mould and the process conditions within the mould are carefully controlled to insure that the resin is infused completely and uniformly throughout the fibrous support. LRI processes use a mould that has a flexible membrane as the upper tooling surface. The liquid resin is drawn into the mould by applying a vacuum to the mould. The resin passes rapidly over the surface of the fibre preform by means of a layer of highly porous "flow media". The resin is infused through the thickness of the preform and then cured before demoulding of the finished fibre-resin assembly.
The resins that are used in LCM processes are commonly referred to as LCM resins. Bismaleimide resins and epoxy resins are both popular LCM resins. A particular type of epoxy LCM resin that contains a particulate amine hardener is useful in situations where high toughness is desired. This type of LCM resin is available commercially from Hexcel Corporation (Dublin, Calif.) and Cytec Corporation (Anaheim, Calif.) under the trade names ST15 and PR520, respectively. These epoxy LCM resins contain an epoxy resin component and an amine hardener. The amine hardener is present as particles, which are dispersed throughout the epoxy resin component. In practice, it has been found that the hardener particles are larger than the openings in many fibrous supports. As a result, the particles are inherently filtered out of the LCM resin by the fibrous support when the resin is injected into the mould.
An important consideration for any LCM process that uses particulate hardeners is to make sure that the hardener particles are dissolved before they can be filtered out by the fibrous support. The amine hardener particles that are typically used in amine-hardened epoxy LCM resins dissolve in the epoxy resin component at temperatures on the order of 150° C. to 160° C. This particle dissolution temperature is only 30° C. to 40° C. below the moulding or curing temperature that is normally used for these resins. Accordingly, LCM processors continually face the problem of heating the resin enough to insure particle dissolution, while at the same time avoiding premature gelling or curing of the LCM resin.
The conventional procedure for processing epoxy LCM resins that contain amine particle hardeners is to use a combination of pre-injection heating and mould heating to insure that the hardener particles are dissolved before they can be trapped by the fibrous support. Typically, the mould temperature is kept above the dissolution temperature and the resin is pre-heated to the dissolution temperature prior to injection for only the time necessary to insure that the combination of pre-heating and mould temperature results in dissolution of the particles in a timely fashion. The temperature of the mould is raised to the final curing temperature only after the fibrous structure is completely saturated. This procedure has worked well and insures that the amine hardener is uniformly distributed along with the resin.
The viscosity of the LCM resin, when it is injected into the mould, must be sufficiently low to allow the resin to permeate the fibrous support. The viscosity of the resin does increase gradually over time due to chemical reaction until it reaches a point where the resin can no longer flow and further infusion of the fibrous support is halted. The "processing window" is the time it takes for the resin to go from relatively low viscosity material that flows through the fibrous support to a relatively high viscosity material, which does not flow and makes further resin infusion difficult, if not impossible.
The processing window for LCM resins, which include a particulate amine hardener, in the conventional process described above is on the order of 30 to 45 minutes. This length of processing window works well for many situations where the fibrous structure is sufficiently small and the fibrous support is sufficiently porous to allow complete resin infusion before the resin becomes too viscous. However, there are a number of situations where it can take well over 45 minutes to completely infuse the LCM resin into the fibrous preform. This is especially the case for large and/or complex structures. Accordingly, it is desirable to prolong the LCM processing window for LCM resins that contain particulate hardeners, so that a wider range of composite structures can be moulded.

Process for prolonging the processing window of thermosetting resins


A phase locked loop circuit (PLL) has a reference terminal for receiving a reference signal and an output terminal for providing an output signal. The PLL comprises a phase comparator having first and second inputs and having an output at which it provides a signal that depends on phase difference between signals received at the first and second inputs respectively, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) having a control input coupled to the output of the phase comparator and having an output coupled to the output terminal of the PLL, the VCO generating an output signal having a frequency that depends on the voltage of a signal received at the control input of the VCO, a feedback path coupled to the output of the VCO for providing a feedback signal, and a bitstream generator for generating first and second pseudo random bitstreams (PRBSs) in response to the reference signal and the feedback signal respectively and applying the first and second PRBSs to the first and second inputs respectively of the phase comparator.

This invention relates to a phase locked loop circuit.
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a conventional phase locked loop circuit (PLL) comprises a phase comparator 10, a low pass filter 14, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 18 and a divider 22. A reference signal source, such as a crystal oscillator 26, provides a reference signal at a frequency FR to one input of the phase comparator and the output of the divider is connected to the other input of the phase comparator. The phase comparator generates as its output signal a pulse train in which the pulses have a duration that depends on the phase difference between the output signal of the divider and the reference signal. The low pass filter 14 integrates the pulse signal of the phase comparator over a period substantially greater than the interval between pulses and provides a DC output signal at a voltage that depends on the duration of the pulses provided by the phase comparator. The VCO generates an output signal at a frequency that is a function of the voltage of the DC signal provided by the low pass filter. The divider divides the frequency of the VCO output signal by a selected factor D. The output signal of the divider is fed back to the second input of the phase comparator. The PLL forces the feedback signal into phase with the reference signal by causing the VCO to oscillate at a frequency FR*D. For example, in the event that the reference signal is a 10 MHz signal and the divider divides by 10, the VCO output signal is at a frequency of 100 MHz.
In the case of the conventional PLL, as shown in FIG. 1, the pulses produced by the phase comparator occur at the reference frequency FR and the low pass filter 14 passes signal energy at the reference frequency to the VCO. Accordingly the energy spectrum of the output signal of the VCO has a primary lobe at the frequency FR*D and also includes secondary lobes at the frequencies FR*D+/−FR. It is desirable to minimize energy at frequencies other than FR*D.
One technique for reducing the height of the secondary lobes would be to employ a fractional N PLL. For example, one could control the divider to divide part of the time by the factor 9.9, part of the time by the factor 10 and part of the time by the factor 10.1, so that the average factor is 10, and in this case the energy of the secondary lobes would be distributed over multiple lobes, each of which would contain less energy than the secondary lobes in the case that the factor were 10 at all times. However, this solution is subject to the disadvantage that the primary lobe is wider and lower than if the factor were 10 at all times.


A neural net processor provides twin processing paths trainable using different moments of the input data, one moment providing a proxy for uncertainty. Subsequent operation of the trained neural net allows monitoring of the uncertainty proxy to provide real-time assessment of neural net model-based uncertainty.

The present invention relates generally to computer architectures and, in particular, to a neural network architecture that can produce a concurrent output of uncertainty with respect to the prediction of the neural network.
Artificial neural networks (henceforth neural networks) are computing systems generally inspired by the brain. A common design of a neural net provides multiple layers of "neurons" where each layer has multiple connections to preceding and/or succeeding layers. Each of the multiple inputs to each neuron is associated with a weight, and the neuron provides an output that is a function of the weighted sum of the data from the input connections.
The final layer of the neural net may provide a classification or prediction, for example, expressed as an output vector having elements associated with different classification or prediction possibilities. In a common example of a neural net that is trained to review image data and classify that image data, the output vector may classify the image according to whether it shows a particular object, for example, an automobile or a pedestrian.
The weights of the neural network are obtained by a training process in which example data with known classification is provided in a "training set" to the neural network and the weights adjusted iteratively so that the output classification converges to the known classification of the training set data. This process may be conducted "off-line" before the neural network is used.
During use, a neural net processor is loaded with the trained weights and proceeds to categorize data using those weights by passing data through the connections between neurons to the final classification layer. A significant benefit to neural network architectures is that specific
A variation in design of neural nets is a so-called "recurrent neural net" in which the multiple layers of the network are implemented by looping the data in multiple passes through the neuron-like "units". Such recurrent neural networks are particularly useful in sequence prediction tasks such as machine translation, speech recognition, and some medical applications. Example recurrent neural networks include the "Long- and Short-Term Memory" (LSTM) and the "Gated Recurrent Unit" (GRU) generally known in the art.
The prediction output of a neural network can have varying degrees of unpredictability produced by inaccuracies in the input data itself (e.g., noise), uncertainty introduced by the neural net model itself ("model uncertainty"), or uncertainty because the data processed by the neural net differs fundamentally from the data used in training the neural net ("out-of-domain uncertainty").
The fact that a neural net is operating to produce an output prediction generally does not indicate how much uncertainty there is in the output prediction. Yet, having an understanding of the uncertainty experience by the neural net is clearly important in many neural net applications. As one example, when such neural net systems are used in autonomous vehicle control, a measurement of uncertainty could indicate a risk of vehicle error such as failure to detect a pedestrian. Similarly, when a neural net system is used for disease prediction, a measure of uncertainty might be necessary for regulatory approvals.
Some work has been done in measuring the uncertainty of neural nets using "sampling." In sampling, in between each input, operation of the neural net is paused, and the hidden state of the neural net is investigated by probing the neural net with a set of randomly generated samples and measuring the statistical variation in the output. This approach may not be computationally feasible for many practical neural network applications.

Neural network architecture with concurrent uncertainty output


Apparatuses, methods, systems, and program products are disclosed for digital password protection. An apparatus includes a processor and a memory that stores code executable by the processor. The memory stores code executable by the processor to monitor a volatile data storage area for data written to and read from the volatile data storage area. The memory stores code executable by the processor to, in response to data being one of written to and read from the volatile data storage area, analyze the data to identify a potential password. The memory stores code executable by the processor to perform one or more actions for protecting the identified potential password prior to the potential password being one of written to and read from the volatile data storage area.

Copy and paste operations are convenient for allowing a user to copy data from one location and paste the copy of the data in a different location. Users may have passwords that are difficult to memorize or remember, and therefore it may be more convenient to copy a stored password and paste the password in a different location. However, the user may forget that the password has been copied and may inadvertently leave the password available for future paste operations, inadvertently paste the password into an unintended area, or the like, which may provide unauthorized access or exposure to the password.


Optical parametric oscillators (OPO) and systems are provided. The OPO has a non-linear optical material located between two optical elements where the product of the reflection coefficients of the optical elements are higher at the output wavelength than at either the pump or idler wavelength. The OPO output may be amplified using an additional optical parametric amplifier (OPA) stage.

Existing Nd:YAG-pumped dye lasers or optical parametric oscillators may be used for combustion diagnostic techniques such as absorption spectroscopy, cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS), laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), laser-induced polarization spectroscopy (LIPS), and degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM). These existing sources typically have frequency bandwidths of the order of 3 GHz and exhibit multiple longitudinal frequency modes. The use of these multi-longitudinal-mode laser sources can cause numerous complications in signal analysis and greatly increase pulse-to-pulse signal fluctuations in techniques such as LIPS and CRDS.
Injection-seeded LiNbO3 optical parametric oscillators (OPO) with a resonant cavity locked to the frequency of the seed beam have been developed. However, the injection-seeding laser source is a continuous wave (cw) Nd:YAG laser and is not tunable. An OPO with beta-barium-borate (β-BBO) crystals has also been developed. This OPO system was pumped with the 355-nm third-harmonic beam from a single-mode Nd:YAG laser, and injection seeding with the pulsed 532-nm and 1064-nm beams from the same laser was also demonstrated. One attempt has seeded an OPO with a tunable cw color center laser at 1500 nm. The cavity was locked to the frequency of the seed laser beam. Other attempts have used a cw titanium-doped sapphire laser to seed an actively-locked ring cavity OPO.
Other related developments include injection-seeded systems with cavities resonant at the seed wavelength, and cavities that incorporate periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystals. A high-resolution OPO that is seeded with a continuous wave (cw) ring dye laser has also been demonstrated. High-resolution, injection-seeded OPO and optical parameter generator (OPG) systems have been developed for infrared differential absorption spectroscopy. Single-mode, tunable pulsed systems in which an external-cavity diode laser is used to injection seed a modeless dye laser are known, as well as systems that utilize four β-BBO crystals, but without a resonant cavity, injection-seeded with an 810-nm ECDL at the idler wavelength. One advantage of this system is that the operation of the system is simpler, although the use of four β-BBO crystals is required to obtain output pulse energies of several millijoules.
Thus, there is a need for a compact, affordable laser source for the generation of tunable, high-resolution pulsed radiation over a wide range of wavelengths which would be a major step forward in the field of combustion diagnostics and for other laser spectroscopic applications.

Injection-seeded optical parametric oscillator and system


A semiconductor memory device includes: plural semiconductor memory chips to store information depending on an amount of accumulated charge; plural parameter storage units provided in correspondence with the semiconductor memory chips, each parameter to store therein a parameter that defines an electrical characteristic of a signal used for writing information into or reading information from a corresponding one of the semiconductor memory chips; an error correction encoding unit configured to generate a first correction code capable of correcting an error in the information stored in a number of semiconductor memory chips no greater than a predetermined number out of the semiconductor memory chips, from the information stored in the semiconductor memory chips; and a parameter processing unit configured to change the parameters respectively corresponding to the number of semiconductor memory chips no greater than the predetermined number, and write the parameters changed into the parameter storage units, respectively.

A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device is an information storage device including a memory (nonvolatile semiconductor memory) configured of semiconductor elements that maintain stored information after the power supply is turned off. Some types of nonvolatile semiconductor memories hold information in accordance with the amount of charge that corresponds to the applied voltage or the like. In such nonvolatile semiconductor memories, information is read depending on whether the amount of charge is larger than a threshold value.
Furthermore, in some types of nonvolatile semiconductor memories, parameters that are required when the amount of accumulated charge exceeds the threshold value differ among nonvolatile semiconductor memory chips or among blocks that are units of data erasing in accordance with electrical characteristics of the chips.
In addition, there are some types in which the insulators of memory cells become deteriorated in accordance with the number of times of accumulating charge in the memory cells and the number of times of removing charge from the memory cells and thus parameters required when the voltage exceeds the threshold value become different.
Examples of such nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices include a nonvolatile semiconductor memory using NAND-type flash memories as memory cells.
To cope with differences in necessary threshold voltages for different chips or different blocks of a NAND-type flash memory, a technology has been proposed that the minimum value and distribution of gate voltages corresponding to the applied write pulse voltage are obtained, and write pulse voltages are changed in accordance with the electrical characteristics of the memory cell for each chip or block. In this manner, no excessive stress caused by the electric field between the semiconductor substrate and the floating gate is applied to the tunnel oxide film of the memory cell at the time of erasing data. Furthermore, the data holding reliability of the flash memory is prevented from being degraded, and the data writing speed is also prevented from being lowered because the threshold voltage of the memory cell is brought to a level greater than or equal to the reference threshold voltage by applying a data write pulse voltage.
To cope with the differences in necessary threshold voltages caused by the deteriorated insulators of the memory cells, a technology of checking an appropriate value for a parameter by use of a deterioration monitoring cell to which the same level of stress as the one to the memory cells is applied has been proposed. Test data is written into and read from the deterioration monitoring cell to find a parameter with which information can be accurately read and no excessive stress is applied to the tunnel insulation film, and a pulse is applied to the memory cells by use of this parameter. In this manner, an application voltage can be selected in accordance with the deterioration level of the tunnel insulation film of the memory cells. Hence, the threshold value can be changed in accordance with the deterioration level of the tunnel insulation film caused by the data writing and erasing, the excessive stress placed onto the tunnel insulation film can be alleviated, and the data holding reliability of the flash memory can be prevented from being deteriorated.
With the conventional technology, however, a monitoring cell is required for each chip or block and for each number of writing and erasing operations to change the pulse voltage in accordance with the electrical characteristics of the memory cells for each chip or block and also with the number of information writing and erasing operations. If monitoring cells are prepared for all the chips and blocks and for all the numbers of writing and erasing operations, the number of memory cells that store therein information has to be reduced.

Semiconductor memory device and controlling method


A one piece container, particularly adapted for the packaging of grapes and fashioned of corrugated paperboard, exhibits three thicknesses of paperboard over the major extent of its end walls. Each of two top closure panels is provided with latching tongues for insertion into slots in respective upstanding ears at each end wall. The upstanding ears are adapted to fit in complementary recesses in the bottom of a similar container stacked thereon. Vertically extending channels are located at respective corners of the container for stacking strength.

This invention relates to containers fashioned from corrugated paperboard and more particularly to a container fashioned from a unitary blank of corrugated paperboard end particularly adapted to hold grapes. The containers are usually stacked during shipment and hence must exhibit significant edge load strength. Containers of this general configuration and formed from a unitary blank are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,207,899 issued to Greve and 4,056,223 issued to Williams.


In accordance with a method of producing metal sinter bodies, the bodies are provided with degassing openings which are made preferably before sintering of an initial press body part.

The present invention relates to a method of producing large sinter bodies of hard alloy (hard metal). More particularly, it relates to a method of producing hard alloy plungers and hard alloy matrixes which are used as pressing tools for the ultrahigh pressure synthesis of diamonds or cubic boron nitride as well as for the ultrahigh pressure sintering of polychrystalline diamond or polychrystalline cubic boron nitride.
Such hard alloy plungers and hard alloy matrixes are substantial components of the "belt" or "girdle" pressing apparatus. Other ultrahigh pressure pressing apparatuses are designed in accordance with the multiple plunger principle. They require no matrix. For example, the tetraeder pressing apparatus has four plungers and the cubic pressing apparatus has six plungers. In these pressing apparatuses the shape of the plunger is similar to the shape of the plungers in the above mentioned pressing apparatuses. Instead of truncated cones, they have a truncated triangular pyramid or a truncated square pyramid.
The production of hard alloy plungers and matrixes for smaller apparatuses which are sufficient for experimental synthesis does not pause significant problems in the prior art. For the industrial production of diamonds and cubic boron nitrides or for the above mentioned polychrystalline products, increasing greater pressing apparatuses are required with correspondingly greater plungers and matrixes.
They deal with plungers having a diameter of the pressing surface greater than 40 mm, a diameter of the basic surface greater than 80 mm, and a height greater than 60 mm. Correspondingly, the matrixes have the inner diameter greater than 40 mm, the outer diameter greater than 120 mm, and the height greater than 60 mm. Since the development of greater ultrahigh pressure pressing apparatuses has been maintained, an upper limit of the dimensions of such hard alloy plungers and matrixes at this time is not conceivable.
A typical example for large plunger and matrix are the plunger with a diameter of a pressing surface of 120 mm, the diameter of the basic surface 240 mm, and the height 180 mm. The corresponding matrixes have an inner diameter of approximately 120 mm, an outer diameter of approximately 360 mm, and a height of 120 mm. The greater the plunger and matrixes, the more problematic is the sintering process for their production.
Production of hard alloy parts formed by pressing and sintering of powder mixtures composed of hard carbide and binding metal. Plungers and matrixes for the ultrahigh pressure technique are preferably produced from mixtures of tungsten carbide and cobalt as binding metal.
The initial powders have fine grains, and by joint wet milling are further comminuted and thoroughly mixed. Subsequently, the powder mixture for the pressing process is prepared by granulation. For this purpose a granulating medium is utilized, which conventionally is composed of paraffin or wax and has a fraction of approximately 0.5 weight percent--2 weight percent. The pressing of larger "green products" (raw bodies) is performed preferably in a rubber form with a pressure of 100-200 MPa in cold isostatic pressing processes. By shaping for correcting the mass can be performed by material removal, during which the shrinking (linearly approximately 20%) produced during sintering is taken into consideration. In many cases however the shaping machining is performed after the presintering.
The presintering of the pressing parts is performed with increasing temperature. The end temperature amounts to approximately 970 K.-1,170 K. in a first part of the presintering, in the temperature region up to approximately 700 K the granulating binding medium is evaporated ("degrowth"). The gases (CO, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 O, CH.sub.4) which escape in subsequent higher temperature region of the presintering, are produced under the alternating action of residual metal oxide with the carbon fraction and the oven atmosphere in the sinter body.
At the end of presintering, the sinter body has fine pores, and is significantly pure, or in other words it is released from steam or gas emitting residues.
Due to the presintering there is no high sintering shrinkage. The parts can be however well handled and mechanically worked to achieve the predetermined final dimensions in correspondence with the expected total shrinkage during subsequent sintering process per se.
The final sintering of the hard alloy parts is performed in a hydrogen atmosphere or preferably in vacuum. During temperature increase to the end temperature, a liquid phase occurs depending on the hard alloy type, or in other words depending on the composition and desired structure, and between 1,600 K. and 1,900 K. It finally leads to pore-free or almost pore-free tight sintering.
The production sequence of the hard alloy sintering which has been described above is only exemplary and typical for the production of plungers and matrixes for the ultrahigh pressure technique.
A critical part of the process for producing the above mentioned large hard metal parts is the presintering, especially the degrowing and the degassing. Moreover, it is also true for the first portion of the final sintering in which the open pores still exist so that many reactive gases can reach them or the pores must be released from gases by vacuum.
The driving out of the wax or paraffin fractions the reactive gas exchange and the degassing must be performed in the large sinter bodies with fine-grain, substantially precompressed pressing structure over relatively long, multiple branched and very narrow passages. These conditions in small sinter bodies are relatively favorable due to the short path from the interior to the outer surface and do not pause substantial problems. In large sinter bodies there are however long passages which are not favorable. The time for the intermediate temperatures of the presintering must be therefore extended over proportionally to the size of the parts. The danger that despite the increased time for the degrowing, composition residues remain and lead to false carbon content or during the evaporation of the growth residues for forming pores increases with the size of the sinter cross-section. Moreover, the conditions for the reduction of residual oxides are unfavorable since the hydrogen supply and the deviation of the gaseous oxidation products are significantly hindered. Finally, the degassing of the pores performed by the outwardly acting vacuum is hindered in the interior of great cross-sections.
Since the large hard alloy sinter parts are provided for extreme loads so that in their maximum stressed cross-sections the elasticity region is more or less exceeded, the smallest quality or strength reduction influences their technical loading ability and thereby is decisive for their operational reliability.

Method of producing metallic sinter bodies, as well as sinter body in particular pressing tool

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A cable retention device is disclosed. The device may be used to restrain electrical cables routed along a cable support structure. These support structures are used in both internal and external settings, and the structures provide some physical support and protection to the electrical cables. In some high-power settings, these cables run from substations or electrical generators to a point within a facility. The support structures typically used in these settings do not fully restrain the cables. External forces, such as those that may occur during short circuit conditions, may result in movement of the electrical cables, which can lead to damage. Cable retention devices, referred to at times as cleats or clamps, are needed to restrain the cables. The cable retention device disclosed herein simultaneously restrains the cables and secures the cables to the cable support structure. The device comprises a base and cap that are secured to each other to enclose a part of the cables and the cable support structure.

Electricity is ubiquitous to the modern industrial world. Manufacturing facilities and other industrial facilities require substantial electrical energy. To provide the necessary electrical energy to such facilities, electrical cables are needed. These cables may run from a substation or from electrical generators. But regardless of the source of the electrical energy, modern industrial facilities often involve extensive, and sometimes quite long, runs of large, insulated power supply electrical cables.
The cables used in these settings range greatly in size, varying in diameter from approximately 5 mm to greater than 150 mm. In most utility and industrial power supply cable runs, numerous cables are involved. A common arrangement found in these settings is the trefoil configuration, which includes three cables delivering a three-phase electrical power supply. The trefoil arrangement places two cables side-by-side at the base, with the third cable positioned above the other two, forming a sort of triangular cross-sectional shape. The trefoil arrangement is often used, resulting in groups of three cables run together in this roughly triangular arrangement. Groups of trefoil cables may be run or a mixture of cable arrangements may be involved.
The structures used to physically support these electrical cables take various forms. A common form of cable support structure resembles a ladder, with side rails providing substantial physical strength, and rungs extending from rail-to-rail. In this "ladder-type" structure, the cables are extended over the rungs. The cables may or may not be clamped or otherwise secured to the rungs. Groups of cables are typically secured together.
Different practices and standards have developed in Europe and North America for these types of cable runs. In Europe, electrical cables in these industrial cable runs must be secured to each other (i.e., restraining the cables from separating from each other) and to the cable support structures. To satisfy this requirement, the support structures used in Europe typically include rungs with slots or holes to facilitate the use of bolts for connecting cable clamps or cleats (these terms are used somewhat interchangeably, and the term "clamp" will be used herein to include all cable restraining devices of this type) to the rungs. These clamps, therefore, may be bolted directly to the rungs in many European industrial settings.
In North America, however, there are less explicit standards for securing cables to the cable support structures. Perhaps as a result, the cable support structures found in most industrial settings in North America do not include slots or holes in the rungs. This fact makes it difficult to secure cable restraints to the physical support structures. Adaptors have been developed for this purpose, but there remains a need for a better way to secure cables to each other and to the cable support structures used in North America.
Existing cable clamps also require that the electrical cables be lifted and inserted into the clamp. Perhaps because most clamps were developed to restrain cables to each other, the existing clamps are substantially easier to install when the clamps are not required to be secured to the rungs of a cable support structure. Most of the existing clamps require a two-step assembly. First, the clamp must be secured to the rung, typically using a through-bolt in the European industrial setting. Second, the cables must be lifted into the clamp, so that the clamp may then be fastened around the cables. This process may produce a secure arrangement if the clamp is sufficiently strong, but it requires a physically demanding and time consuming assembly process. These demands and difficulties are particularly challenging when there are multiple heavy cables involved. In some settings, the cables may weigh hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
The development of clamps used in these industrial settings has led to at least two shortcomings in the existing art. First, in all settings, including those where there is a ready means for securing the clamps to the rungs, the assembly process requires lifting and moving very large and heavy electrical cables. Second, in most settings in North America (and many other regions of the world) where the rungs have no slots or holes, there is a need for a better means for securing a clamp to the rung.
Some solutions used for securing cables together create risk of cutting the cable insulation. Metallic bands or straps have been widely used for this purpose. If the cables move over time, these types of bands or straps can cut into the insulation, possibly causing failure. It is, therefore, desirable to use a strong clamp that does not rely upon metallic bands or straps in direct, or close, contact with the cables.
The bands and straps described above use minimal space. Other solutions tend to take the opposite approach. Some clamping structures use large blocks of clamps in what is often identified as a cable bus arrangement. These clamps may work well at restraining cables, but require a large amount of space. In addition, if the cables must be lifted into the clamps, the large cable bus arrangement may require lifting cables several inches, or more, to position the cables within the clamps. This process of lifting the cables into the clamps can be time consuming and quite difficult to accomplish.
To fully appreciate the demands faced by these clamps, it is important to understand the magnitude of the forces that may result in the event of a short circuit. When a short circuit occurs, a very large instantaneous current results. Before a circuit breaker or other device may interrupt this current, the electrical cables through which the current flows will experience enormous physical forces. The magnetic fields generated by these large currents are extremely large and can result in flinging and whipping of the cables. When this happens, the cables experience very large axial, lateral, and torsional forces. The clamps needed to restrain cables under these conditions must be very strong. Thousands of pounds of force may exist in the cables during a short circuit situation.
Given these demands, there is a need for a cable restraining device that is capable of securing cables to each other and to the rung of a physical cable support structure whether the rung has slots or holes or no openings of either type. There is a further need for a restraining device that accomplishes these results without requiring excessive lifting or movement of electrical cables. There is need for a strong restraining device that is easy to install, sufficiently strong to restrain cables in even the most extreme short circuit conditions, and capable of being used with almost all types of physical cable support structures.


A terminal acquires and manages a shared candidate image to be a candidate for the next image shared with the other terminal, transmits or receives the image, and transmits or receives an image generated by superimposing handwritten data to be shared on a shared image. It switches an image display between the shared candidate image and an image to be displayed in such a way as to be triggered by a reception of a new shared image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal communicating with the other terminal by sharing images and handwritten data.
2. Description of the Related Art
By way of examples of a communications system capable of exchanging image data such as a still image and handwritten data, there have been disclosed "the telewriting device" in JP-A-6-284241 (Literature 1) and the video conference system and the multifunctional facsimile described regarding "the audio visual communication apparatus" in JP-A-2002-330244 (Literature 2).
The telewriting device is capable of writing a graphic or a text by means of a pointing device on a screen of a terminal fixed to a network such as a telephone line or an Ethernet™ and delivering the image written into the individual terminal between terminals to display the same image on the terminals.
The multifunctional facsimile is capable of storing a handwritten message acquired by a scanner or a message scribbled on a liquid crystal device once and calling a facsimile on the other end to transfer the stored image.
Furthermore, "the handwriting communications terminal" disclosed in JP-A-5-063874 is capable of exchanging shared image data such as a text in the field of education or materials for a meeting and displaying the image data between terminals during the meeting.


A method and apparatus are provided to perform controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (CAIPI) using time shifts between the radio frequency (RF) excitation pulses and the waveform of the slice-select gradient field to shift respective sampling points within the two-dimensions of k-space corresponding to phase encoding. Thus, a CAIPI sampling pattern is generated using time shifts, rather than by modulating the RF excitation pulses or gradient fields.

The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging scan method that magnetically excites nuclear spins of a subject placed in a magnetostatic field by a radio frequency (RF) pulse having a Larmor frequency thereof, to generate an image from magnetic resonance signal data generated with the excitation.
Accelerated imaging can be achieved using controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (CAIPI) techniques. For example, the number of samples can be reduced by skipping sample points in k-spaces and zero filing. However, skipping sample points in k-spaces can cause aliasing in the spatial domain, which can be difficult to separate. CAIPI techniques can be introduced to stagger the samples in k-space to more easily unalias the accelerated data. Current methods achieve the staggered sampling in k-space either by modulating the RF pulses (e.g., phase modulation) or by modulating the gradient fields (e.g., amplitude modulating the phase-encode gradients).
Other methods use k-space-based methods for the reconstruction of CAIPI acquisitions. These other methods include SENSE, GRAPPA, slice-GRAPPA (SG), and Auto-calibrating CAIPI.
Improved methods for moment shifting the samples in k-space are desired. These improved methods for shifting the samples in k-space can improve the simplicity and robustness of CAIPI techniques.

Apparatus and method using time shifts in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to implement controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (CAIPI)


Methods of treating, preventing or managing mantle cell lymphomas are disclosed. The methods encompass the administration of an immunomodulatory compound of the invention known as Revlimid® or lenalidomide. The invention further relates to methods of treatment using this compound with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, biological therapy or immunotherapy. Pharmaceutical compositions and single unit dosage forms suitable for use in the methods of the invention are also disclosed.

Cancer is characterized primarily by an increase in the number of abnormal cells derived from a given normal tissue, invasion of adjacent tissues by these abnormal cells, or lymphatic or blood-borne spread of malignant cells to regional lymph nodes and to distant sites (metastasis). Clinical data and molecular biologic studies indicate that cancer is a multistep process that begins with minor preneoplastic changes, which may under certain conditions progress to neoplasia. The neoplastic lesion may evolve clonally and develop an increasing capacity for invasion, growth, metastasis, and heterogeneity, especially under conditions in which the neoplastic cells escape the host's immune surveillance. Roitt, I., Brostoff, J. and Kale, D., Immunology, 17.1-17.12 (3rd ed., Mosby, St. Louis, Mo., 1993).
There is an enormous variety of cancers which are described in detail in the medical literature. Examples includes cancer of the blood, lung, colon, rectum, prostate, breast, brain, and intestine. The various forms of the cancers such as lymphomas are described in U.S. provisional application No. 60/380,842, filed May 17, 2002, the entireties of which are incorporated herein by reference (see, e.g., Section 2.2. Types of Cancers).
Lymphoma is a heterogenous group of neoplasms arising in the reticuloendothelial and lymphatic systems. The Merck Manual, 955 (17th ed. 1999). Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) refers to malignant monoclonal proliferation of lymphoid cells in the immune system, including lymph nodes, bone marrow, spleen, liver and gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The Merck Manual, at 958.
Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a distinct entity among the non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Drach J.; et al., Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy, 2005, 5(3), pp. 477-485. In the International Lymphoma Classification Project, MCL accounted for 8% of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas. MCL is recognized in the Revised European-American Lymphoma and World Health Organization classifications as a distinct clinicopathologic entity. MCL was not recognized by previous lymphoma classification schemes; and it was frequently categorized as diffuse small-cleaved cell lymphoma by the International Working Formulation or centrocytic lymphoma by the Kiel classification. The Merck Manual, at 958-959.
MCL is a lymphoproliferative disorder derived from a subset of naive pregerminal center cells localized in primary follicles or in the mantle region of secondary follicles. MCL is characterized by a specific chromosomal translocation, the t(11; 14)(q13;q32). Drach J.; et al., Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy, 2005, 5(3), pp. 477-485. This translocation involves the immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene on chromosome 14 and the BCL1 locus on chromosome 11. Drach J.; et al., p 477. The molecular consequence of translocation is overexpression of the protein cyclin D1 (coded by the PRAD1 gene located close to the breakpoint). Id. Cyclin D1 plays a key role in cell cycle regulation and progression of cells from G1 phase to S phase by activation of cyclin-dependent kinases. Id.
NHL has been associated with viral infection (Ebstein-Barr virus, HIV, human T-lymphotropic virus type 1, human herpesvirus 6), environmental factors (pesticides, hair dyes), and primary and secondary immunodeficiency. No causative factor has been identified for MCL or for most patients with NHL of other types.
MCL has poor clinical outcome and is an incurable lymphoma with limited therapeutic options for patients with relapsed or refractory disease. Drach J.; et al., p. 477. Therefore, a tremendous demand exists for new methods and compositions that can be used to treat patients with MCL.

Methods using 3-(4-amino-1-oxo-1,3-dihydro-isoindol-2-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione for treatment of mantle cell lymphomas


An improved vane for use with a centrifugal throwing apparatus. The vane has a convex leading surface and flared edges to provide a consistent, broad blast pattern and improved vane wear characteristics. In one embodiment, the vane includes a pickup end, a discharge end opposed to the pickup end, and a leading surface connecting the pickup end to the discharge end. A portion of the leading surface is convex in cross section. Two opposed longitudinal edges define the leading surface, with at least one of the edges being outwardly flared. In an alternative embodiment, the vane includes a longitudinal raised rail formed near one edge of the leading surface, the rail being outwardly flared.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vane for a centrifugal throwing wheel and, more particularly, to a vane for a centrifugal throwing wheel which exhibits improved shot distribution and wear characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Centrifugal throwing wheels and vanes (blades) associated with them can be used to propel abrasive at high speed onto a work surface that is to be abraded, prepared or otherwise surface treated. Typically, a number of blades are radially attached to the throwing wheel and are configured such that abrasive material can be fed onto the heel of the blade and then accelerated along the length of the blade by the angular velocity of the wheel. The abrasive material leaves the outermost end of the vane and contacts the work surface. Depending on the specific application, a wide variety of abrasives may be used including steel shot, steel grit, wire, and crushed shells.
Often, it may be desirable to control the shot pattern that is obtained with a blasting apparatus. For different applications, the optimum shot pattern may be either tight and concentrated or broad and dispersed. When one of the goals of the shot blasting procedure is to quickly and evenly abrade a work surface, it may be desirable for the shot to cover as broad an area as possible, but the shot pattern should also be consistent to reduce uneven abrasion. Several different types of blade designs have been used in an effort to achieve this goal. For example, a vane with slightly flaring, rather than straight, sidewalls is disclosed by Carpenter in U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,297. This feature allows any particles that happen to be directed laterally to spread out rather than be contained by the channel provided by a vane with essentially parallel edges. Another approach was disclosed by Fuerst in U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,867, which discloses a vane having a leading surface that is convex in the direction of wheel rotation and parallel side walls. This convex shape serves to accelerate the particles laterally.
Another persistent, art-recognized problem is the uneven wearing of throwing vanes. As shot is accelerated down the surface of a vane, it tends to take the shortest path to the tip, absent any forces other than that supplied by the angular velocity of the wheel. As a result, conventional vanes exhibit excessive wear along their centerline and, consequently, they must be replaced more often than would be required if the shot wore the vanes evenly across the entire leading surface. Alternatively, vanes such as those described by Fuerst that distribute abrasive laterally tend to wear most quickly along the side walls where the majority of abrasive is concentrated. As the cost of abrasive material and replacement vanes for centrifugal throwing wheels has continued to rise, the surface treatment industry has developed a long felt, yet unsolved need for a centrifugal throwing vane having improved shot distribution and wear characteristics.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a vane for a centrifugal throwing apparatus. The vane has a convex leading surface and flared edges to provide a consistent, broad blast pattern and improved wear characteristics.
In one embodiment, the vane includes a pickup end, a discharge end opposed to the pickup end, and a leading surface connecting the pickup end to the discharge end. A portion of the leading surface is convex in cross section. Two opposed longitudinal edges define the leading surface, with at least one of the edges being outwardly flared.
In various alternative embodiments, both of the two opposed longitudinal edges may be outwardly flared. The leading surface may be convex from a point on the leading surface where laminar flow begins. The radius of convexity may increase between the pickup end and the discharge end of the vane. At least one of the edges may be flared outwardly at an increasing rate from the start of the flare to the discharge end of the vane.
In another alternative embodiment, the vane includes a longitudinal raised rail formed near one edge of the leading surface, the rail being outwardly flared. A portion of the leading surface is convex in cross section. The radius of convexity may increase between the pickup end and the discharge end of the vane. Alternatively, the vane may include a raised rail on each side of the leading surface, both of the rails being outwardly flared. At least one of the rails may be flared outwardly at an increasing rate from the start of the flare to the discharge end of the vane.

International Surface Preparation Group, Inc.


The disclosure provides method and kits for characterizing spliced m RNA isoforms. The disclosure also provides methods of screening for mutations and oligonucleotides that modulate splicing.

Pre-mRNA splicing is the process in eukaryotes in which newly transcribed RNA is processed to remove intronic sequences. Splicing is highly regulated and enables the production of different mRNAs and proteins from the same gene. This is important to provide increased complexity during evolution. Alternative splicing is regulated by proteins (i.e., trans-acting proteins) which bind to regulator elements (i.e., cis-acting elements). Cis-acting elements may be located either close to or more distant from the splice sites. These include the polypyrimidine tract, branchpoints, and loosely defined regulatory elements present in either exons (exonic splicing enhancers (ESEs) and exon splicing silencers ESSs) or introns (intronic splicing enhancers (ISEs) and intronic splicing silencers (ISSs)) (reviewed in [2]). In many human genetic diseases, DNA mutations can cause aberrant splicing resulting in partial or complete disruption of protein function. Various consequences of splicing mutations can be envisioned including exon skipping, exon inclusion, intron retention, utilization of a nearby cryptic splice site, or generation of a novel splice site.
Alternative splicing often leads to more than one species of mRNA being produced from a single genetic allele. In addition to the "alternatively/aberrantly spliced" variant being produced, there is often a small amount of the wild-type mRNA produced, which is termed leaky wild-type splicing. The extent of this leaky wild-type splicing can have a predictive factor for the disease severity resulting from a splicing mutant.
Mutations and polymorphisms affecting pre-mRNA splicing are difficult to predict due to the complex mechanism of splicing regulation. Many DNA mutations are known, however the effect of these mutations on splicing is largely unknown. A number of splicing prediction programs exists [3-6], but they may produce different predictions for the same mutation or polymorphism, obscuring data interpretation. Furthermore, when weakening of a splice site is likely from in silico predictions, the effect on splicing is even more difficult to predict. Diagnostic methods often involve sequencing of the exons and a small part of the introns only. This may lead to the detection of a mutation in an intron that may affect splicing. Exonic mutations are often investigated only for their effect on protein translation. However, certain exonic mutations may also affect splicing. Sequencing of the remaining part of the introns is often not performed, also because introns can be very large in size. Intronic mutations can affect splicing, even at large distances. For example, they can create a cryptic splice site, affect RNA structure, or affect ISSs or ISEs. Promoters and UTRs are also not sequenced in diagnostics. Mutations in promoters may affect mRNA expression by changing the efficiency of RNA polymerase II-directed transcription. Mutations in UTRs may affect mRNA stability, polyadenylation, and they may interfere with regulation by micro RNAs. Exonic mutations can be studied by introducing the mutation in a cDNA and testing the effect on protein activity in a transient transfection assay, however this requires prior knowledge of the mutation. If such mutation is unknown, one cannot perform the functional assay. Effects on splicing can be determined after identification of a mutation, followed by region-specific PCR analysis. However, this requires prior identification of the mutation. This approach falls short if the mutation is not found (e.g. because it lies outside the regions normally analyzed by sequencing). In addition, it is very difficult to predict whether a mutation will affect splicing, and if so, what the outcome will be.
For example, perfect skipping of an exon while the reading frame is unchanged may generate a truncated protein with significant residual activity, while a change of the reading frame results in a premature termination codon leading to mRNA degradation via the Nonsense Mediated Decay (NMD) pathway.
Therefore, a need exists for a generic assay to systemically identify and characterize the effects of sequence variants on splicing also in the absence of mutational data. Furthermore, there is a need for an assay that may identify and characterise mutations affecting splicing and mRNA expression. In addition there is a need for method for identifying sequences that affect pre-mRNA splicing for therapeutic use.

Methods for characterizing alternatively or aberrantly spliced mRNA isoforms

Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam