Apparatus and method for processing a process fluid at a remote location, with the apparatus including a pump located at a first location and configured to provide a pressurized working fluid. The apparatus also includes an umbilical coupled to the pump such that the umbilical receives the pressurized working fluid from the pump and transports the pressurized working fluid therefrom. The apparatus further includes a hydraulic turbine disposed at the remote location and coupled to the umbilical such that the hydraulic turbine receives the pressurized working fluid from the umbilical. The apparatus additionally includes one or more shaft energy conversion devices operatively coupled to the hydraulic turbine and disposed at the remote location.

This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/334,393, which was filed May 13, 2010. This priority application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present application, to the extent that it is not inconsistent with the present application.
In subsea hydrocarbon production and transmission, it is possible to have a compressor system positioned in a remote location, i.e., subsea. These subsea compressor systems are generally powered by an electric motor connected to a centrifugal compressor that receives electrical power from a shore or platform-based electrical source. As such, the electrical power is supplied to the electric motor via an umbilical that extends from the electrical source to the remotely located compressor system. However, this configuration presents several challenges as the extended length of the umbilical leads to significant electrical line losses, e.g., up to two-thirds of the total power consumed in some cases. Furthermore, the large amount of power needed to power the high-speed motors that are often used in the compression field requires multiple and/or heavy gauge wires, thereby requiring a large diameter conduit, umbilical cord, or cable, which has a significant cost implication, i.e., millions of dollars per mile. Additionally, servicing or maintaining the electric motor and an accompanying electric switchgear becomes a significant challenge in remote installations, especially in hostile environments like subsea applications.
What is needed, therefore, is an efficient apparatus and method for compressing gas at a remote location, including subsea locations, that does not suffer from these and other drawbacks inherent in conventional systems.


The present invention relates to an interventional device for interacting with occlusive material. A wall attachment jet moves and removes particulate from lumens such as vessels.

Catheters which are used to remove occlusive material from lumens within the body are well known. They range from simple aspiration devices to complex high energy devices
Occlusive materials such as plaque, atheroma, and emboli vary in their mechanical properties and various energy sources have been proposed to break up occlusive material. These proposals include the use of high energy fluid jets or the circulation of abrasive slurry within the vessel. The use of mechanical impellers and/or blades has been proposed and clinical work has been performed with a "rotorblader" device.
Laser light energy and either ultrasonic or acoustic energy have been proposed to breakdown occlusive material. The use of radio frequency electromagnetic energy has been proposed as well.
For example fluid pressure thrombectomy systems are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,672 to Veltrup among others. In the Veltrup device, a reward-facing jet entrains thrombus and blood from the patient, and ejects these into a secondary discharge lumen, which removes both thrombus and blood from the body.
Impeller based cutting devices are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,763 among others. In this device the mechanically rotated blade interacts directly with the occlusive material.
Ultrasonic based devices are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,557. In this device the ultrasonic energy is used to break up the occlusive material and a fluid is supplied to cool the ultrasonic tip.

Method of removing particulate debris with an interventional device


The present invention provides a blend which exhibits enhanced hiding power and comprises (a) at least one effect pigment and (b) aluminum pigment. The present blend is advantageously used in automotive and industrial paint applications.

Effect pigments, also known as nacreous pigments and pearlescent pigments, are lustrous specialty chemical products that are widely used in a variety of high-end applications such as automotive finishes. Effect pigments simulate pearly luster or have effects that range from silky sheen to metallic luster as disclosed in L. M. Greenstein, "Nacreous (Pearlescent) Pigments and Interference Pigments", The Pigment Handbook, Volume 1, Properties & Economics, Second Edition, Edited by Peter A. Lewis, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1988). One of the attributes of the effect pigments is that they can generate a range of optical effects depending on the angle at which they are viewed.
Pearlescent or nacreous pigments simulate the effect of natural pearl and are composed of thin platelets which are transparent in the visible region of the spectrum. The platelets are very smooth and part of the light which strikes the platelets is reflected and part is transmitted through the platelets. That part of the light that is transmitted is subsequently reflected by other layers of platelets. The result is that multiple reflections from many layers occur and this results in depth of sheen since the eye cannot focus on one particular layer.
The reflection that occurs is specular in that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. The amount of light reflected at non-specular angles is small and the amount of light reflected diminishes very quickly as the specular angle is passed. The result is that pearlescent pigments are extremely sensitive to viewing angle. In order for the maximum amount of light to be reflected, the platelets must be extremely smooth. Any surface roughness causes light to be scattered in a non-specular manner and diminishes the lustrous effect.
The platelets must be aligned parallel to each other and to the substrate for maximum reflectivity. If not so aligned, light will be reflected randomly and again, luster will diminish. The amount of light that is reflected depends on the index of refraction. As the index of refraction increases, the amount of reflected light increases.
However, in a number of applications, the effect materials have a lesser degree of hiding power than desired. To remedy this problem, a variety of materials have been incorporated in effect pigment formulations.
Effect pigments are often based on platelet shaped particles. Because the optical effect is the result of multiple reflections and transmission of light, it is desirable to provide particles that will align in the medium in which they are found and to optimize the desired effect. The presence of either misaligned particles or particles of an additive, or both, interferes with this objective and diminishes the optical effect of the pigment. It is therefore generally considered to be desirable for any additive being used for increased hiding to be somehow bound to the platelets rather than present as part of a physical mixture.
Effect pigments, particularly pigments based on mica, have long been used in automotive top coats in order to achieve a colored metallic effect, among other reasons. That metallic effect can be characterized by the flip-flop of light to dark as the viewing angle is changed. In the case of mica pigments, that flip-flop is from the reflection color of the mica to dark. Most automotive top coats are required to be opaque to ultraviolet light and also to visible light when applied at a conventional thickness of about 0.5 to 1.2 mils (about 12.7-30.5 μm) for a variety of reasons. It has been a challenge to maintain the "face" or reflection color which is contributed by the mica pigment while at the same time developing hiding in that it is known that opaque pigments greatly reduce the color/effect of the mica pigments.
Metallic flake pigments such as aluminum are opaque to light, i.e., no light is transmitted. Because of the preceding property, metallic flake pigments cover well and thus, the substrate over which they are coated can be completed hidden. This property is known as hiding power.
Blends of aluminum metal pigments with mica pigments (such as TiO2-coated mica pigment) are well known. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,965 teaches an ink which can contain a non-fluorescent pigment alone or a mixture of two or more non-fluorescent pigments which can be selected from a long list of such pigments, including aluminum flake pigments (with thickness ranging from about 0.1 to about 2 microns) and TiO2- and Fe2O3-coated mica pigments. U.S. Pat. No. 2,278,970 teaches that thin mica flakes are suitable for use as an inert filler in combination with aluminum flake pigment to extend the covering quality of the latter. U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,326 teaches coating a primer and/or a first metallic paint containing a non-leafing type aluminum flake, and then applying a second metallic paint containing small thin flakes. The primer can be blended with a flat pigment, such as the thin aluminum flakes as well as flaky mica, to increase hiding power or hiding sand scratches on the substrate.                U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,931 teaches the use of preferred aluminum flake pigments that have median particle size of about 100 microns or less or especially 10 microns or less for incorporation into a coating. U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,861 teaches the use of an aluminum flake pigment having a diameter range of 6 microns to 600 microns for coatings.        Silberline.com advertises that its vacuum metallized aluminum flake can be used in cosmetics to achieve a smooth, mirror-like metallic effect and to deliver highly reflective, brilliant finishes.
Blends of aluminum with non-effect materials are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,274 teaches mixing aluminum flake pigments with ultrafine materials such as titanium dioxide. This coating composition does not include any interference (effect) mica pigments but is said to be still capable of providing an effect like those coatings containing the interference mica pigments and aluminum flake.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,810 teaches the use of a pigment comprising 15 grams of Cromal IV (Eckart) Al 14-18 microns and 15 grams of Fe2O3-coated Al2O3 flakes of particle size 5-60 microns in a printing ink in Example 2. No mention is made as to the effect, if any, provided by this pigment.
On May 11, 2004, Eckart (see eckartamerica.com) reported that METALURE® pigments are microscopically thin aluminum platelets manufactured in a physical vapor deposition process to provide pigments with uniform thickness and homogeneous smooth surface. The average particle size range was 10-13 microns. On May 11, 2004, it was reported that Eckart's METALURE® ultra brilliant aluminum dispersion when mixed with pearlescent provides polychromatic effects. The article is silent on the thickness of the aluminum pigment or the percentage of aluminum pigment used in combination with pearlescent (see cosmetics.com).
The provision of new high hiding power compositions is still desired and it is the object of the present invention is to provide such compositions. This and other objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description.


An adsorbent construction for use in an electronic enclosure is disclosed. In certain embodiments the adsorbent construction comprises an adsorbent material and a polymeric material substantially surrounding the adsorbent material. The polymeric material regulates the flow of water vapor into and out of the adsorbent material. In example implementations one or more openings are present in the polymeric cover, the openings permitting flow of water vapor through the polymeric cover. A filter material can cover the opening in the polymeric cover. The adsorbent material can comprise, for example, activated carbon, silica gel, or a combination thereof.

It is desirable for the interior of many enclosures, such as electronic enclosures containing disk drives, to be maintained at a controlled humidity. Maintaining a controlled low humidity can have the benefit of avoiding corrosion and deterioration of the electronic components. Similarly, it is often desirable to control the humidity within certain ranges, even when the humidity is not necessarily minimized. For example, in the case of disk drive enclosures, the amount of water vapor within the disk drive enclosure will affect air density, thereby impacting the fly height of read-write heads. In these situations it is desirable to keep a controlled, consistent humidity so that the read-write head height can be kept within specific narrow ranges.
It is possible to place an adsorbent material inside an electronic enclosure to absorb ambient moisture. Silica gel is a particularly common adsorbent for this purpose. Even activated carbon has considerable water adsorbing properties. However, the mere addition of an adsorbent into a disk drive enclosure does not necessarily solve all the water control problems, because the manner in which the water is adsorbed and desorbed during the production, storage, and operation of the disk drive. Specifically, the challenge of controlling humidity within disk drives is compounded by the variable conditions in which electronic enclosures are manufactured and used: disk drive enclosures are often assembled in an open environment where the interior of the drive enclosure, including any adsorbent that is present, can readily absorb atmospheric moisture. It can be appreciated that by limiting the water uptake from the manufacturing environment we can preserve the water capacity for when the disk drive enclosure is subsequently completely or nearly completely sealed.
In some situations the moisture that accumulates within the adsorbent will be released into the sealed (or nearly sealed) electronic enclosure when the disk drive is turned on and heated up, causing an increase in absolute humidity that can influence read-write head fly heights. Other examples of the varying conditions experienced by hard disk drives include exposure to a wide range of environments, such as tropical to temperate to even arctic, as well as operating conditions ranging from frequent on-off cycles of notebook computer drives to constant-on use of server drives. All of these environments and operating conditions can cause disruptions in performance if water content within the drive enclosure is not properly managed.
Therefore, a need exists for the ability to control moisture within electronic enclosures, in particular the ability to control moisture within disk drive enclosures.

Controlled moisture vapor transmission filter assembly for electronic enclosures


An Off Net scenario may occur during primary communications between a first and second caller, in which the second caller is connected to a network over a data channel and receives a second call over a voice channel resulting in an interruption of the primary communications between the original callers. In the Off Net scenario, a message indicating the original communication has been interrupted is received by a carrier. The carrier substitutes another communication device in place of the second caller's communication device to establish a secondary communication between the first caller's communication device and the third communication device. The secondary communication may inform the first caller of the interruption of the primary communication and may provide options regarding the primary communication to the first caller.

For many years, people have communicated over traditional landline phones on a PSTN connection and, more recently, over cellular telephones. Increasingly, smartphones are being used over cellular networks providing, among other things, the ability to communicate both voice and data, and allows users to perform a wide range of computing tasks through the availability of mobile "apps," which may be provided by third-party developers.
Smartphones provide for both increased computing features and data network access, and developers provide apps that allow voice communication over the data channel, i.e., voice-over-IP (VoIP). Because these apps use the data channel instead of the voice channel, certain savings may be realized.
However, the use of VoIP apps in place of the voice channel communication that is provided native to the smartphone introduces some challenges. One example is the ability to provide an on-hold message to the other caller. For calls where both callers are on the PSTN or cellular voice channel, if the first caller receives another call and wants to put the second caller on hold, a signal (such as one sent over the SS7 network) may be sent from the second caller's device to the first caller's device instructing it to play an on-hold indicator tone locally. Similarly, where both callers have the VoIP app, conveying on-hold status is readily done; the VoIP provider can provide a signaling message over the VoIP network conveying the on-hold status. However, this does not work if the second caller is communicating over a VoIP app on the data channel and the first caller is on PSTN or cellular voice channel. This is because the second caller's mobile carrier does not recognize that the second caller is even on a call (since it's not using the voice channel and did not otherwise set up a call on the voice channel); and the first caller's carrier may not be equipped to recognize a proprietary on-hold signal from the second caller's VoIP provider. Usually, the voice call over the voice channel will take priority over any other running applications on the second caller's phone, including the VoIP app, which will effectively, put the first caller on hold.
What is needed is a way to convey to the first caller (PSTN/cellular voice) that the call with the second caller has been put on hold. The VoIP user might not actively put the other person on hold. It can happen whenever the VoIP user receives an incoming voice call during a VoIP call. Usually, the voice call will take priority over any other running app, including the VoIP app, which will effectively, put the other side on hold.
In order to obviate the deficiencies in the art, the disclosed subject matter presents a novel method of providing secondary communication to a first communication device, wherein the first communication device is in primary communication with a second communication device via a network and the first communication device is in communication with the network over a voice channel and the second communication device is in communication with the network over a data channel. The method includes receiving a signaling message from the second communication device when the primary communication is interrupted and substituting the second communication device with a third communication device to establish a secondary communication between the first communication device and the third communication device.
The disclosed subject matter also presents a novel method for alerting the first caller that the second caller has placed the first call between the first caller and the second caller on hold. The method including determining an interruption, has occurred at the second caller's device of the first call; sending a message to a carrier and receiving the message at the carrier. In response to the message, the method includes disconnecting the second caller from the first call; connecting a third party to the first call in place of the second caller; and providing communications from the third party to the first caller.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present subject matter will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of preferred embodiments.

Method and system for on-hold messaging for off network calls


Actual-rotational-difference absorption-torque calculation means 150 inputs a rate-of-change ΔNe of an engine speed during shifting to an actual rotational difference absorption torque-ΔNe table 160 so that an actual-rotational-difference absorption-torque average value during shifting is calculated. Engine-torque calculation means 180 inputs a throttle opening and an engine speed to engine-torque estimation-value map 190, and derives an engine torque during shifting. An actual clutch capacity is calculated from the sum of the actual-rotational-difference absorption-torque average value and the engine torque average value during shifting. From the ratio of the actual clutch capacity and a demanded clutch capacity, μ-correction-coefficient calculation means 130 calculates a μ correction coefficient. By using a control correction amount calculated on the basis of the μ correction coefficient, a transmission control unit 100 drive-controls a first clutch CL1 and a second clutch CL2. Thus, correction on the clutch capacity is performed during running.

A clutch device has been known conventionally in which a clutch for transmitting a rotational driving force of a power source to a drive wheel by a frictional force of a friction plate (clutch plate) is drive-controlled by an actuator. In such a clutch device, for example, when the clutch plate is worn out and becomes thin, the same frictional force may not be acquired even if a drive amount of the actuator is the same as before. Such a problem can be solved by for example, detecting a movement amount required for clutch plates, which are apart from each other, to come into contact with each other, and by increasing the drive amount of the actuator in accordance with an increase of this movement amount.
Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which a movement amount required for clutch plates to come into contact with each other is detected on the basis of a position of a member displaced by an actuator.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-197842

Clutch control device and μ correction coefficient calculating method


A denture liner composition is provided comprising a methacrylate polymer and/or copolymer in powder form to be wetted by a liquid composition containing dimethacrylate, butyl methacrylate, and long chain methacrylate monomers, the mixture setting upon wetting and being polymerized by visible light and chemical action. A method for using the composition in denture liner formation is also provided.

Many dentures require taking a new impression of the mouth and relining to result in better fitting dentures. Changes in the mouth tissue and distortion of the size and shape of the prosthesis cause dentures to loosen and become uncomfortable for the patient.
Usual relining procedures require taking a new impression of the patient's mouth and sending it, with the denture, to a dental laboratory where it is relined. This normally takes at least one day. Many patients are reluctant to be without their denture even for one meal or overnight. Such patients usually resort to chairside procedures or do-it-yourself denture liners which only provide temporary relief. Several premixed or powder/liquid materials have been introduced for chairside use. With these reline systems, the dentist is able to reline the denture with the patient in the chair and cure the denture chairside by means of a visible light source. The prime objections to the use of these materials have been that the premixed materials are too stiff to obtain an accurate impression, or are too soft to maintain the impression, or are not fully cured by the visible light. Any one of these problems can result in an unsatisfactory denture liner.
Other denture liner formulations (premixed or powder/liquid) of impression quality with a chairside procedure offer only temporary relief for the patient. Many of these reline materials are adversely affected by the oral environment with softening and staining. Further, prior formulations would set up in the mouth and become so rigid as to be difficult to remove and cause distortion of the impression.
A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved denture liner composition.
A further object of this invention is to provide a denture liner composition which will set up in the mouth but have such resiliency as to be removable without distortion of the impression and curable to a hard condition.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a denture composition which is readily cured by visible light.
Another object is the provision of an improved denture composition which can exist in the oral environment without significant softening and/or staining.


A continuous wave ion linear accelerator PET radioisotope system is disclosed. The system includes a high brightness H− ion source, a continuous wave RF quadrupole structure, and continuous wave RF interdigital structures to accelerate the ion beam to about 14 MeV. A high energy beam transport system is also described that includes a photo-detachment beam splitter and a magnet lattice for forming the proton beam into a beam having a Waterbag beam profile. The system also includes one or more targets upon which the proton beam is incident. The targets are either a high power metallic target oriented at about 10 degrees or a low thermal conductivity target oriented at about 35 degrees. The invention includes a method of producing PET isotopes by use of the systems described.

Longer lived PET radioisotopes are widely recognized to play a growingly significant role in radioimmunoimaging protocols. Such protocols are needed for patient selection and assessment of response to immunotherapies, which are poised to become the backbone of all cancer treatment regimens. Such radioimmunoimaging protocols, also called "immuno-PET," have eluded translation into clinical practice due to the mismatch in pharmacokinetics of routine PET isotopes such as fluorine-18 with immunotherapies, such as antibodies. Large-scale, economical, reliable production of the longer-lived PET radioisotopes zirconium-89, iodine-124, and copper-64 is a long-standing problem. For many years, various researchers at different laboratories have employed compact cyclotrons using solid phase targets in the quest to supply clinically significant quantities of these isotopes. Such small-scale production is not economically attractive. The high costs of these methods are reflected in the scarcity and high prices. These are widely recognized barriers for clinical translation of immuno-PET into the standard of care.
Centralized, economical, large-scale production is cited as a critical need by the National Cancer Institute in a review article by T. Nayak and M. W. Brechbiel ("Radioimmunoimaging with Longer-Lived Positron-Emitting Radionuclides: Potentials and Challenges," Bioconj. Chem., 20(5): 825-841, May 20, 2009). In an authoritative review publication by sixteen radioisotope production experts for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the reason given for the limited support for such large-scale production by the radiopharmaceutical industry is its being viewed as technically not achievable ("Cyclotron Produced Radionuclides: Emerging Positron Emitters for Medical Applications: 64Cu and 124I," IAEA Radioisotopes and Radiopharmaceuticals Report No. 1, March 2016). The IAEA report's authors call for the development of high-current, high-power acceptance targets. By accelerator physics convention, the term high-current refers to multi-milliampere beam current (A. W. Chao, et al. "Handbook of Accelerator Physics and Engineering," World Scientific, 2013). This convention applies to all references herein.
Commercial cyclotrons presently available for production of longer-lived isotopes push the limits of current, up to ˜1 mA, according to A. W. Chao, et al. ("Handbook of Accelerator Physics and Engineering," World Scientific, 2013). The azimuthally varying field (AVF) cyclotron, with magnetic field on hills and valleys—the industrial "deep valley" design—is the present state-of-the-art for PET and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) isotope production. The deep valley field provides the necessary strong focusing and small beam size.
The resonant family of particle accelerators is comprised of cyclotrons, linacs, and synchrotrons. As multi-pass accelerators, cyclotrons achieve their final energy by circulating the charged particle beam in isochronous orbits several hundred times through an accelerating gradient generated by a single radio-frequency (RF) cavity in resonance. Operationally, RF amplifier power faults are one of the most common failure modes for resonant accelerators. Having just one RF cavity for acceleration, cyclotrons cannot be made fault-tolerant.
Cyclotrons are limited to simultaneous irradiation of dual targets, a significant restriction on scalability. Cyclotron target power acceptance has a ceiling of ˜2 kW. Beam windows, typically titanium or gridded aluminum, deliver a multiply-scattered, Gaussian beam profile to the dual targets. The use of non-linear focusing, i.e., octupole magnetic fields, to "flat-top" the Gaussian beam is an intractable problem, as existing cyclotron facilities have been built in such a manner as to preclude proper placement of the octupoles. Irradiation of solid phase targets is performed by "rastering" the Gaussian beam-sweeping the beam back-and-forth and up-and-down the face of the target plate using active beamline elements (magnets). This limits the time the peak power density is incident of any portion of the target substrate material to minimize the potential for damage due to melting.
High-brightness H− ion source development solved many of the thermal, mechanical, and radio-activation problems associated with cyclotron dual beam extraction. Most compact cyclotron designs use an internal ion source, suited only for low to moderate beam currents-150 to 300 μA. Internal ion sources place many constraints on the design of a new cyclotron central region, making beam matching, bunching, and manipulation impossible. An internal ion source places a gas leak directly into the cyclotron, which is bad for negative ions such as H− and raises vacuum requirements.
An external ion source is required for multi-milliampere beam currents. These are incorporated into the higher-energy cyclotrons used for production of longer-lived isotopes referenced by A. W. Chao. External ion sources are used in the industry's flagship cyclotrons, e.g., the Advanced Cyclotron Systems, Inc. (ACSI) TR-30, making 90% of the thallium-201, iodine-123, gallium-67, and indium-111 supplied in North America, with its 1.2 mA rating, and the Ion Beam Applications (IBA), S. A., Cyclone 30 VHC cyclotron, also rated at 1.2 mA.
Recent data support the inference that cyclotrons are not a viable technology platform for true high-current targets as they have reached their technology limit at 3 mA. Study data compiled by R. A. Baartman of H− cyclotron design at TRIUMF using the ACSI TR30/CRM model determined that fundamental limits on beam current exist due to space charge effects, both transverse and longitudinal ("Intensity Limits in Compact H− Cyclotrons," Proc. 14th Intl. Conf. on Cyclotrons and their Applications, Cape Town, South Africa, 2013). Space charge reduces vertical focusing, placing an upper limit on instantaneous current. Longitudinal space charge reduces acceptance as well as average current per the author. These limits cannot be economically overcome. The author's data and derived relation predict an upper limit on beam current extracted (Iextr) from the TR30 cyclotron of 3.3 mA for an injected current (Iinj) of 30 mA:
      I    extr    =                    I        inj            5                  [                        (                                    60                                                                                mA                        -                          I              inj                                )                          54                                                              mA                    ]      The current record of 3 mA is held by the TR30/CRM at TRIUMF. Due to the unavoidable losses of 20% of extractable beam current on each of the cyclotron's two target beamline collimators, multi-millampere target currents are not obtainable. The engineering solution is an uneconomical dramatic increase (>44%) in cyclotron size, driving a further need for more heavy concrete for the machine vault, and a corresponding increase in decommissioning costs. Even with external ion sources, cyclotron technology has fundamental limits on beam current due to space charge, which have hampered the development of high-current targets for large-scale iodine-124, copper-64, and zirconium-89 production.
The capability to accelerate H− ions at higher intensities, at low emittance, than is presently available will contribute to isotope production. For high beam currents in the range of 10-200 mA, a radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) is one of the required accelerating structures. Linear accelerators (linacs), employing RFQs in their design, represent one of the main technologies for the acceleration of charged particles (atomic ions) from a source (ion source) to the desired final energy. A 14 MeV proton beam is optimal for production of zirconium-89, copper-64, and iodine-124 via their respective high-purity, proton-neutron exchange nuclear reactions:89Y(p,n)89Zr,64Ni(p,n)64Cu,and124Te(p,n)124I.The needs of the first two target materials are quite different from the third: yttrium-89 and nickel-64 are representative metallic target substrates, while the tellurium-124 enriched TeO2 is a low thermal conductivity oxide. Tellurium-124 enriched oxide is preferred over metallic tellurium-124 for iodine-124 manufacture. The former requires only thermo-chromatographic separation ("dry distillation") of the iodide oxidation species, while the latter involves arduous wet chemical processing. Both metallic and low thermal conductivity target variants benefit from a constant proton fluence rate on the target plate. It is essential for the latter target variant to avoid thermal shocks and consequent losses of expensive enriched material (e.g., tellurium-124) during irradiations at high power acceptance. Thus, two high power target station variants are warranted for longer-lived PET isotope production, and a constant proton fluence rate is highly advantageous for low production costs.
A high-duty-factor linac is necessary to avoid the high peak currents associated with the Alvarez drift-tube linac (DTL). For a high-duty-factor-here 100%, or continuous-wave (CW)—linac, the cooling of the RFQs and downstream accelerating structures' copper cavities becomes an important engineering constraint. This reflects one of the disadvantages of normal conducting (or room temperature) copper-cavity linacs: the large radio frequency (RF) power required due to ohmic dissipation in the cavity walls. As a result, both RF power amplification and AC power for operations are major costs for a copper cavity CW ion linac.
New linac designs are evaluated for application of superconducting RF cavities for their advantages over normal conducting copper cavities. The use of superconducting niobium cavities allows for a reduction in RF surface resistance on the order of 105 when compared with room temperature copper. Therefore, application of superconducting RF cavities (SCRF) as linac accelerating structures is recognized as offering better performance and lower AC power and RF power costs. Some of this gain in reduced surface resistance is offset by the inefficiency of cryogenic refrigeration for liquid helium at 4 K or below with superconducting RF cavities of niobium. Another disadvantage is the significantly increased cost and complexity of a superconducting linac, with less advantage in lower RF power costs for low-β (0.1-0.2 in units of the velocity of light) applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,777,893, entitled "Radio Frequency Focused Interdigital Linear Accelerator," to Swenson, introduced an RF focused interdigital linac, or "RFI" accelerating structure as the basis for a normal conducting copper cavity linac. This structure incorporates RF focusing into the drift tubes of an interdigital linac structure which is more compact and energy efficient. It has been used, also by Swenson, to extend the performance of a proton RFQ linac structure to 2.5 MeV for the Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) application. For the application of longer lived PET radioisotope production, it is useful to extend the performance of the RFQ to 14 MeV. The RFI linac is ten times more efficient than the RFQ in the 6-14 MeV energy range. Furthermore, it is desirable to scale the RF power amplification in modular fashion. Since the linac is a single-pass accelerator, fault-tolerance for reliability in operations may be engineered into a PET radioisotope system based on the CW ion linac.
Economical scalability requires the simultaneous delivery of high current proton beams to multiple high-power acceptance isotope production targets from a single particle accelerator. However, splitting a high current proton beam between multiple targets to deliver a constant proton fluence rate on the target plate while preserving parent beam parameters is an intractable problem. This requires negative ions for extraction of target current by charge-exchange reactions. Thus, a high-brightness H− ion source must undergo matching of the injected beam ellipse to the focusing system of the RFQ. The RFI linac structure of Swenson can accommodate acceleration and focusing of negative ions by shifting the phase of all fields by one half cycle. The subsequent beam splitting operation should preserve the parameters of the parent beam, including size, divergence, energy, energy spread, and phase spread. Y. Liu ("Laser Wire Beam Profile Monitor in the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) Superconducting Linac," Nucl. Inst. Meth. Phys. Res. A612, 241-153, 2010) describes a laser-photo-detachment ("laser-wire") method that has been put in practice at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) for beam diagnostics applications on the 1 GeV superconducting H− linac to parasitically monitor beam parameters. In units of the velocity of light, the SNS H− linac has β=0.875. A CW ion linac for long-lived PET radioisotope production of iodine-124 and zirconium-89 has β=0.1734 for 14 MeV protons.
Following this, beam manipulation by a non-linear focusing magnet in a lattice arrangement could reduce the peak power density for achieving higher power acceptances. This would result in "flat-topping" the Gaussian beam profile to deliver a constant proton fluence rate on the target plate. This delivers the so-called Waterbag beam profile. Beam uniformization to the Waterbag profile substantially reduces the peak power density, allowing much higher beam currents and higher power acceptance without risk of target damage by approaching any of the melting points of the target plate or deposited substrate undergoing irradiation, the latter often comprised of expensive enriched stable isotopes.
As a beam window between the incident proton beam and target plate results in a multiply-scattered, Gaussian beam profile, high-power acceptance targets must be present in a "windowless" configuration to use the Waterbag beam distribution. This configuration eliminates the typical grid-supported aluminum foil which provides both a vacuum boundary and a seal for chilled helium gas cooling on the face of the target plate common to solid phase cyclotron targets.
For high-power acceptance, target cooling systems must handle high incident heat fluxes, exceeding 1 kW/cm2, to achieve large-scale production capacity. This heat flux represents the practical limit of water cooling technology. The use of high-velocity water jets for cooling targets at 1 kW/cm2 is suited only for small targets. For the large metallic targets of the present invention, conditions will exceed the critical heat flux (CHF) limit for water cooling (500 W/cm2). Beyond this limit, heat flow is unstable, vapor blankets the heated surface of the back of the target plate, and temperatures jump to very large values. This heat flow regime is governed by film boiling and radiative transfer, called burnout.
The replacement of water as the coolant working fluid with a eutectic Ga—Sn alloy offers substantial heat transfer benefits with few drawbacks. Eutectic Ga—Sn alloy offers fifty times better thermal conductivity than water with linear heat removal all the way up to its boiling point of 1200° C. However, gallium is compatible with target materials such as stainless-steel, titanium, and elastomers, but corrodes aluminum. The target plate irradiation capsule, or "rabbit," must be an aluminum exclusion zone. Above 300° C., desirable metals are limited to cobalt, chromium, titanium, tantalum, niobium, molybdenum, rhenium, and tungsten. With appropriate materials selection, the high-power acceptance target provides sufficient cooling margin to protect against reaching any target material melting points. Together, beam uniformization and cooling capacity margin of safety prevent unacceptable losses of the aforementioned enriched target materials.

Scalable continuous-wave ion linac PET radioisotope system


A nano-electrode or nano-wire may be etched centrally to form a gap between nano-electrode portions. The portions may ultimately constitute a single electron transistor. The source and drain formed from the electrode portions are self-aligned with one another. Using spacer technology, the gap between the electrodes may be made very small.

This invention relates generally to nanotechnology and to the fabrication of very small electronic devices.
In nanotechnology, very small electronic devices may be fabricated from physical parts. For example, a field effect transistor may be made of sources and drains fabricated from nano-wires such as carbon nanotubes.
Carbon nanotubes are graphene cylinders whose ends are closed by caps, including pentagonal rings. The nanotube is an hexagonal network of carbon atoms forming a seamless cylinder. These cylinders can be as little as a nanometer in diameter with lengths of tens of microns, in some cases. Depending on how they are made, the tubes can be multiple walled or single walled.
The nano-wires may be utilized to form the source and drain of a transistor. However, the source and drain must be aligned with one another and a channel must be defined between the carbon nanotubes. The channel or gap between the two nano-wires is very small.
Thus, there is a need for better ways to make nano-devices using nano-wires having relatively small nano-gaps between the nano-wires.


A new and distinct Hosta plant named ‘Dancing with Dragons’ of arching, ovate, strongly glaucous, blue-green leaves having a near white underside and wavy margins. The blue-green leaf coloration remains until near the end of the growing season. The flowers with white tepals having light lavender centers are tightly congested in verticils and individually on scapes above the foliage. ‘Dancing with Dragons’ has excellent compact mounded habit and is useful in the landscape, in containers, as a specimen or en masse.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct hosta plant, Hosta 'Dancing with Dragons' hereinafter also referred to as the new plant or by the cultivar name, 'Dancing with Dragons'. Hosta 'Dancing with Dragons' was a cross by the inventor between two non-patented, unreleased, proprietary hybrids on Jul. 26, 2012 at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Mich., USA. The female parent was identified as H10-132-1 and the male parent was identified as H10-366-1. The new plant was assigned the breeder code 12-132-4 and passed the initial evaluation in the summer of 2014. It has been asexually propagated by division at the same nursery since 2017 and also by careful shoot tip plant tissue culture with the resultant asexually propagated plants having retained all the same traits as the original plant. Hosta 'Dancing with Dragons' is stable and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
There are nearly 6,000 registered and unregistered hostas with The American Hosta Society, which is the International Cultivar Registration Authority for the genus Hosta, and a similar or larger number of unregistered cultivars. Several of these have blue-green leaf blades with ruffled margins. The most similar hosta cultivars known to the applicant are the female parent, H10-132-1; the male parent, H10-366-1; 'Diamond Lake' U.S. Plant Pat. No. 30,769; 'Joy Ride' (not patented); 'Neptune' U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,674 and 'Waterslide' U.S. Plant Pat. No. 30,303. The female parent has is smaller in habit with smaller foliage. The male parent has broader foliage with more ruffles and forms a larger clump. Both parents have glaucous blue foliage. 'Diamond Lake' has much larger habit and broader foliage than the new plant, and also has more rugose leaf surface. 'Joy Ride' is larger in habit with a wider longer leaf blade and has less glaucous covering over the leaf blade. 'Neptune' is larger in habit and has leaves that are broader and longer. 'Waterslide' is smaller in habit, with less glaucous leaf blades, and the leaf blades are also more folded than the flatter leaves of the new plant. 'Fulda' (not patented) has a smaller habit, has a smaller, narrower leaf without the sinuate margin. 'Medusa' (not patented) has a smaller habit with narrower shiny leaves without glaucous surfaces that are variegated with a near white center and the flowers are deep purple.
Other Hosta cultivars may have medium-sized leaf blades with heavily glaucous leaves bases and stiff, thick leaf substance or other individual traits similar to 'Dancing with Dragons' but the new plant differs from the above listed cultivars and all other hostas known to the applicant, by the combination of the following traits.                1. Leaves are medium-sized, ovate, with narrowly acute apices and cordate base;        2. Arching leaves have a moderately wavy margin.        3. Strongly glaucous blue-green surfaces that hold all season.        4. Underside of leaf near-white with strongly glaucous covering.        5. Compact mounded habit and useful in the garden as edging or front border, in containers, as a specimen or en masse.        6. Flowers are white, broadly striped down the center of the tepals with light lavender and densely arranged in verticils and individually above foliage.


An approach is provided for using a dialog-style API for a machine learning solution. A server receives from a client a first call to a dialog-style application programming interface (API) as a first request having an incomplete set of data items. The API determines that one or more data items required by the first request are missing from the incomplete set of data items. First metadata that describes the one or more missing data items are sent to the client. The server receives from the client a second call to the API as a second request having a complete set of data items which includes the one or more data items. The server sends to the client a reply having values of data items in a response to the second request and second metadata that describes the data items in the response.

The present invention relates to a machine learning solution, and more particularly to providing a dialog-style application programming interface (API) for a machine learning solution.
Existing machine learning solutions provide valuable insight into healthcare situations. Using key features from similar historical situations, an existing machine learning solution is trained to provide assessments and make recommendations. The assessments and recommendations support the decision-making of patients, caregivers, clinicians, and administrators. Guideline-based rules may be included to provide additional value in the machine learning solution.
An existing machine learning solution may provide an API that accepts the feature values that are appropriate for a situation and respond with an assessment, recommendation, and explanation. This style of API is familiar to developers of existing machine learning solutions and developers of clients that call the existing machine learning solutions.

Dialog-style application programming interface for a machine learning solution

International Business Machines Corporation


An embossed seal is formed in a cavity in the neck of a corked bottle over a cork using a die having a die surface with a die image. A first molten seal material is introduced into a die cavity. The die cavity is formed in part with the die surface. The introduction of the first molten seal material deposits an embossed seal portion with an embossed surface. The embossed seal portion is allowed to cool. A second molten seal material is introduced into the cavity of the neck of the corked bottle. The embossed seal portion is brought into contact with the molten seal material in the bottle cavity with the embossed surface disposed on top facing away from the molten seal material. The molten seal material partially melts the embossed seal portion to form a single seal upon cooling. The embossed seal portion is sufficiently cooled and solidified to prevent melting and damage of the embossed surface. An automated apparatus is provided for carrying out the two-stage procedure of forming the seal to produce high quality embossed seals at an economically desirable rate. A die truck assembly is used to form the embossed seal portion. The assembly includes three springs to provide a triple telescoping action that allows the assembly to be engaged with the bottle necks and maintains the engagement along a specific travel path to form the seal to seal the bottle. The triple telescoping action also releases the embossed seal portion from the die cavity of the die truck assembly into the molten seal material in the cavity over the cork in the bottle neck. It further allows the die truck assembly easily to self-adjust and compensate for varying bottle heights and varying cork heights so as to exert a generally consistent pressure on the embossed seal portion and molten seal material to form the finished seal.

This invention relates generally to sealing corked bottles and, more particularly, to automated methods and apparatus for forming embossed seals on corked bottles having high-quality embossed images at a commercially desirable process rate.
One of the methods of sealing corked bottles involves the use of thermoplastic seals. A thermoplastic material is typically injected in liquefied form into the mouth of the neck of a corked bottle and placed on top of the cork wherein it hardens and forms a seal with the interior surface of the bottle neck and the cork. Thermoplastic seals are generally preferred over lead-containing metal foils and more aesthetically pleasing than plastic seals. Thermoplastic seals that include an aesthetic finish of an embossed design or logo on the exposed top surface are often desirable. Embossed thermoplastic seals can also be tamper-evident.
Finishing or embossing a thermoplastic seal on a corked bottle presents production problems. The time it takes for the liquefied thermoplastic material to harden can severely impact production speed. If the liquefied thermoplastic material is not allowed to harden sufficiently, the residual heat may melt part or all of the hardened finish and ruin the embossing. In addition, the embossing step requires precise control to ensure that the embossing is uniform for each seal. Uniformity must be achieved without sacrificing production speed.


An improved connecting structure of a series-parallel lighting string comprises a base having provided on the connecting end thereof three semicircular grooves, in which the in-between one sits on a lower position than the others, to receive three lead wires arranged in a triangular array so that a conventional structure constituted of a base and a top cap that accommodate only two wires can be adapted for more wires, significantly widening the scope of its applications.

To facilitate the connection of a conducting copper strip with wires of a series-parallel lighting string, a conventional connecting structure makes use of sharpened tips of a copper strip piercing the outer insulation of lead wires to reach internal metal conductors. For example, the structures disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,051,877 and 4,777,573 have a construction in which semicircular grooves are provided on the connecting end of a husk of the lampholder and the corresponding cap to form wireways to secure the cord. However, to increase the variations in the twinkles of a lighting string, sometimes, it has to use two, three, or even four sets of lead wires; then, such a prior art structure must have a larger connecting end as well as a proportionally enlarged cap with three, four, or more semicircular grooves provided thereon. Consequently, a prior art connecting structure will lead to an oversize and overweight lighting string due to increasing functions of a lighting string and is not cost-effective.

Connecting structure of a series-parallel lighting string


A mechanism for releasing an eye strip from a backing material card is described. The backing material card includes a movable flap that releases a right and/or left undamaged end of a strip (for right or left hand preference) into free space in order to conveniently lift the strip off the backing material, preferably between the user's thumb and index finger, for proper orientation and placement on the eyelid.

To achieve a more youthful eyelid appearance, an adhesive eye strip can be placed on the upper eyelid of a user to tuck and hold droopy upper eyelid skin in its youthful position. One side of the strip is convex and is placed toward the back of the upper eyelid in order to recreate the person's natural eyelid crease, causing the eyelid skin to assume a more youthful position and not droop toward or over the border of the upper lid. More details about adhesive eye strips as referred to in the present application can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,190,346 and 6,193,741, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. One example of an adhesive eye strip includes a small adhesive strip with one straight edge and one convex edge, the strip having an overall midline length of approximately 25 mm, and a width of about 5 mm wide at its midpoint, and a width of about 1.7 mm at each of its rounded ends. Any type of adhesive eye strip may be used with the removal mechanism of the present invention.
The adhesive eye strip can achieve its desired function only if it can be placed properly on the eyelid by the user. The most difficult challenge in doing so is removing the small, thin, adhesive coated strip from its backing material, first without damaging it and second, in a manner that enables lifting the strip off the backing material with the proper orientation for application. In order to have the greatest ease in orienting the strip properly on the eyelid it is preferable to be able to pick one end of it off the backing material between the user's thumb and index finger of their left or right hand, whichever is preferred.
Each eye strip consists of a thin and flexible or very flexible material coated with an adhesive layer (in one example, the total strip thickness is approximately 0.004 inches) and adhered to a backing material having a release coating. Due to the thinness of the strip material and adhesive coating and the small size of each end, it is difficult to remove it from its backing material without damaging it. Often, strip removal from the backing material using one's fingernail to pry up one end of the strip causes it to fold under and adhere to itself (adhesive to adhesive) rendering the strip useless or causing an upward curling of the end making placement more difficult and making it less likely to adhere to the skin.

Removal mechanism for adhesive eye strips


A conveyance device has a high-temperature pulley and a low-temperature pulley rotatably mounted on a chassis at a prescribed distance from each other and an endless belt constituted of a shape memory alloy is wound around the two pulleys. The high-temperature pulley is maintained at a temperature higher, and the low-temperature pulley at a temperature lower, than the transformation temperature of the shape memory alloy. The pulleys are rotated and the chassis powered to move by the force produced by the shape memory alloy when it restores to its memorized shape.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a conveyance device in which the motion of a chassis is powered using a shape memory alloy.
2. Prior Art Statement
Conveyance devices are generally driven either by energy supplied from the exterior or by mechanical driving power generated by an energy source mounted on the device. The energy is ordinarily supplied as electrical or thermal energy which is converted into kinetic energy by a power mechanism such as a motor or an engine and the kinetic energy is used to drive the chassis of the device.
The power conversion mechanism for converting the electric or thermal energy into mechanical energy is, however, generally relatively large in size and weight and, moreover, is complex in structure. Thus when it is mounted on the conveyance device it disadvantageously makes the device considerably larger.
It is, therefore, difficult to apply the conventional power mechanism to a small conveyance device, a small scale transport operation or the like.
One object of the invention is to provide a conveyance device having a power mechanism enabling thermal energy to be converted directly into mechanical driving power by a simple mechanism, obviating the need for a power mechanism of large size or weight.
This invention realizes this object by providing a conveyance device comprising a chassis, a pair of pulleys consisting of a high-temperature pulley constituted as a heat storage body and a low-temperature pulley rotatably supported on the chassis, a belt made of a shape memory alloy wound around the pulleys and memorizing a shape arcing in the direction opposite to the direction the belt arcs by being wound around the pulleys, and a drive wheel for moving the chassis by rotating power from the pulleys.
The high-temperature pulley constituted as a heat storage body is maintained at a temperature slightly higher than the transformation temperature of the shape memory alloy constituting the belt. When the temperature of the portion of the belt in contact with the high-temperature pulley rises above the transformation temperature, a force arises in this portion of the belt for restoring it to the memorized shape. This force operates to move this portion of the belt in the direction of separating it from the high-temperature pulley. This movement of the belt rotates the pulley and the rotation of the pulley is used to power the motion of the chassis.
The present invention thus enables the conveyance device to be powered very economically by a simple mechanism of a belt wound about a pair of pulleys.
The above and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Agency of Industrial Science & Technology, Ministry of International Trade & Industry


The present invention is directed to a method to diversify the chemical composition of proteins produced in vivo comprising the step of disabling, particularly by mutagenesis, the editing function of one of its aminoacyl tRNA synthetases. The present invention is also directed to nucleic acid sequences encoding such mutated aminoacyl tRNA synthetases having their editing site mutated and capable of mischarging its cognate tRNA with a noncanonical amino acid. Also described herein is an improved method for obtaining transformed cells capable of synthetizing in vivo proteins comprising at least a noncanonical amino acid and their use for the production of such proteins.

Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases establish the rules of the genetic code by catalyzing the aminoacylation of transfer RNAs. The chemical invariance of the twenty amino acid building blocks of proteins is well established. The only known extensions to this invariant set are formyl-methionine (1) and selenocysteine (2), both incorporated in response to punctuation signals during translation in certain organisms.
Thus, although species have colonized dissimilar terrestrial habitats throughout geological times, this diversification has not been mirrored in the evolution of organisms to include specialized sets of amino acids. For instance, thermophilic, mesophilic, and psychrophilic organisms all assemble proteins by combining the same types of twenty canonical amino acids into different protein sequences. Standing as the "missing link" between alanine and valine (3), aminobutyrate (Abu, also known as butyrine) can be generated by transamination from the physiological metabolite 2-oxo-butyrate and should thus be considered as a latent metabolite (4). Its absence is therefore particularly conspicuous in the proteins of extant organisms.
The selection of amino acids for protein synthesis is done by aminoacyl tRNA synthetases. Typically, each of twenty synthetases catalyzes the attachment of its cognate amino acid to the 3′-end of its cognate tRNA and amino acids are, in this way, associated with specific triplets of the genetic code (5). The active site of several of these enzymes inherently lack the capacity to discriminate between closely similar amino acids at a level sufficient to explain the high accuracy of the code. For that reason, a given enzyme may misactivate closely similar (in size and shape) amino acids at a low frequency (0.1 to 1%) (6). To correct these errors, in many cases, a hydrolytic editing function, at a separate active site, has developed (7-10). One example of a synthetase that has editing activity is valyl-tRNA synthetase (ValRS), which misactivates the isosteric natural amino acid Thr (9), as well as the non-natural Abu (11). Misactivation of these amino acids leads to transient mischarging of tRNAVal, followed by hydrolytic deacylation (editing) of the mischarged amino acid from the tRNA.
The present work aimed to establish conditions of artificial selection that promoted usage of non-canonical amino acids, such as Abu, that were not retained by natural selection. Others have attempted to incorporate a non-canonical amino acid into a protein by introducing a foreign, "orthogonal" tRNA/synthetase pair that can insert the amino acid at a specialized stop codon (12).
However, such approaches are laborious, as they require selection, identification, cloning, and study of individual mutant strains.
In order to facilitate the in vivo production of proteins comprising noncanonical amino acids, it would be desirable to have a rapid and generalized method allowing to genetically modify and select cells capable of achieving the in vivo production of such proteins.
Such a desirable method will allow to enlarge the chemistry of translation by having a non-canonical amino acid "infiltrate" all of the codons normally associated with one of the natural amino acids. Indeed, by assigning two amino acids (a cognate and a non-cognate) to a specific set of codons so as to provide a selective advantage to the reprogrammed cells, global changes in the amino acid compositions of all cellular proteins could be made. The present invention addresses this need.

Method for diversifying the chemical composition of proteins produced in vivo by genetically disabling the editing function of their aminoacyl tRNA synthetases


A method for improving the insulation characteristics of a cryogenic piping system wherein an insulation volume defined by a jacket coaxial to an inner pipe is evacuated to a moderate vacuum and then filled with a condensable gas in one or more evacuation and filling cycles, and then, after evacuation to a moderate vacuum, the condensable gas is condensed to effect a high vacuum within the insulation volume.

It is very important in the operation of a cryogenic pipeline which serves to transport a cryogenic fluid that heat inflow to the cryogenic fluid from the ambient air be minimized. Currently there are two general approaches to insulating cryogenic pipelines. In general, acceptable thermal performance is achieved when the outside surface temperature of the insulation is higher than the dew point under normal weather conditions, so that water and ice do not accumulate on its surface.
High temperature insulations such as those used on steam pipes are often applied in cryogenic service. This is a low cost method with relatively short life in cryogenic service. Such insulation degrades quickly in cryogenic service due to two mechanisms. The cryogenic temperatures result in a low partial pressure of water in the insulation. Water from the atmosphere diffuses into the insulation particularly along seams, joints and crevices. The water freezes at these sites, accumulates and thereby mechanically breaks the insulation down particularly in freeze-thaw cycles. In addition, the pipe contracts approximately 3 inches per 100 feet as the temperature is reduced from ambient to cryogenic temperature. This contraction also works to break up the insulation mechanically.
Acceptable thermal performance generally requires more than three inches of this insulation. The standard jacket for 1-inch nominal pipe is 8 inch OD jacket. This is space consuming.
Various attempts to minimize water penetration of seams and joints, and methods to accommodate thermal contraction of the pipe are offered commercially. Closed cell polyurethane, pre-foamed within in a PVC jacket is available. The PVC jacket and closed cell form of the polyurethane help to prevent water penetration from the radial surface. However, there is no cost effective way to seal the end joints and there is no offering for taking up the thermal contraction. Ice balls are common at joints and the useful life is perhaps 5 years. Preformed polyurethane insulation is available in lengths each of which has fiberglass end caps that are sealed with mastic and are intended to protect the ends from water penetration and to accommodate the thermal shrinkage of the pipe within the section. The elaborate end caps cannot be formed in the field meaning that on-site changes are difficult. The insulation joints are field formed in two steps each requiring an estimated 4 hours labor. Available designs of jog joints to accommodate the cumulative contraction of multiple sections break down typically within months of normal service, resulting in ice balls at these locations. The useful life is perhaps 15 years.
Vacuum-jacketed piping was designed to deliver high performance insulation with indefinite useful life. This approach uses multi-layer radiation shields in a vacuum commonly referred to as super insulation. Typically, the piping is made in lengths that are pre-evacuated in the factory. Each end terminates in a bayonet, which is used to assemble the piping system in the field. In operation the jacket remains at near ambient temperature while the inner pipe operates at cryogenic temperature when it contains product. Bellows are placed either in the jacket or the pipe or both to allow the contraction in the pipe to proceed. The bellows are often placed in the jacket because in this case the bellows are exposed to vacuum pressure rather than process pressure. The chief disadvantage of this placement is that at operating temperature, the length of the jacket is reduced and the pipe support system must be designed to accommodate the movement. Although the bellows are exposed to environmental and mechanical damage, in the event of failure the consequence is limited to loss of vacuum.
As an alternative, the bellows may be placed in the inner pipe. In this case the length of the jacket is not reduced at operating temperature. However the bellows are subject to operating pressure and as such must be heavier and impose increased loading on the thin metal welds that join them to the inner pipe. Significant piping system failures have been experienced with this configuration where the lading is oxygen.
The vacuums required in these systems result in long pump out times. Several steps are taken to facilitate the evacuation process. A vacuum pump is normally connected for several days. The evacuation connection must have a large size opening to allow passage of the molecules out of the insulation space. This is because the difference in pressure at the vacuum pump inlet and the insulation space approaches zero. The practical length of the prefabricated sections is limited due to the length that can efficiently be transported and handled. In addition, pump out times are proportional to the length. The vacuum space is normally heated during the evacuation process to drive out gases impregnated in the insulation and absorbed on metal surfaces and to increase the diffusion rate of molecules in the insulation space toward the evacuation connection.
Elaborate steps are taken to preserve the vacuum once it is achieved. The evacuation connection is often designed to serve as the pressure relief device to protect the jacket in the event it is pressurized due to failure of the inner line. This reduces the number of connections and therefore the number of potential leaks. Palladium oxide is often employed to chemically bind any hydrogen that off gases from the metal over the long term. The reaction produces pure palladium, which in turn further chemisorbs further hydrogen. The resulting palladium with chemisorbed hydrogen is highly reactive to oxygen and has been involved in several explosions where oxygen is the transferred commodity. In these cases the inner pipe has failed releasing oxygen into the insulation space which subsequently reacted with the palladium. This highly exothermic reaction subsequently ignites aluminum foil used in the multi-wrap insulation, which burns violently in the presence of oxygen. In spite of this careful packaging the heat of reaction of palladium and oxygen can be increased substantially in the event of concurrent impact. Such impact may occur during the turbulent pressurization of the outer jacket that may occur in the event of failure of the inner pipe. The off gassing of hydrogen is a long-term process. Experience has shown that vacuum often degrades due to leakage, particularly at the evacuation connection long before hydrogen off gassing is a factor.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a cryogenic piping system which has improved insulation characteristics over those of conventional piping systems.


A radioisotope production facility (12) produces radioisotopes having application to Positron Emission Tomography. The radioisotopes produced include .sup.18 F, .sup.13 N, .sup.15 O, and .sup.11 C, and are produced by irradiating a selected target material (40) with a high energy .sup.3 He.sup.++ beam accelerated in a radio frequency quadruple (RFQ) linear accelerator (34). The facility includes, in addition to the RFQ linear accelerator and the selected target, a source of .sup.3 He.sup.++ ions (30), low energy transport means (32) for focusing the .sup.3 He.sup.++ beam into the RFQ linear accelerator, and a high energy transport means (36) for directing the accelerated .sup.3 He.sup.++ beam at the selected target. Further included is a target subsystem (16) that holds the target, automatically prepares precursors containing the .sup.18 F, .sup.13 N, .sup.15 O, and .sup.11 C radioisotopes, and an automated radiopharmaceutical subsystem (22) that prepares suitable radiopharmaceuticals from the desired precursors.

PET is a nuclear medicine procedure for imaging and measuring physiologic processes within the body. It depends upon the distribution into the body of a systematically administered radiopharmaceutical labeled with a radioactive isotope ("radioisotope") that decays through the emission of positrons. This is very distinct from other nuclear imaging techniques such as Computed Tomography ("CT") which measures the distribution of electron density, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging ("MRI") which measures the distribution of protons in the body. There are literally hundreds of possible radiopharmaceuticals that find application to neurology, oncology, and cardiology. PET is typically directed to the study of metabolism processes, blood flow, blood pooling, and receptor sites in the brain.
In accordance with PET practice, a radiopharmaceutical (sometimes termed the "labeled compound") is injected into or inhaled by a patient after he or she has been positioned properly relative to an adjacent scanner device. It is the function of the scanner device to detect the gamma-rays that are produced when positrons emitted from the radioisotope annihilate with surrounding electrons. For example, a brain metabolism study might involve the injection of a fluorodeoxy-glucose radiopharmaceutical containing .sup.18 F into the blood stream so that it is taken up in the brain at sites of metabolic activity. When an .sup.18 F nucleus decays it emits a positron which, within a distance of a few millimeters, annihilates with an electron producing two oppositely directed 0.511 MeV gamma-rays. Crystal gamma-ray detectors in the scanner device surrounding the patient's head detect the arrival of the gamma-rays and identify the paths on which they traveled, defining the lines along which the annihilation events occurred. Time-of-flight techniques may also be used to locate the position of the events along the lines. Appropriate electronic circuits and a computer system(s) acquire data during the scan and map the distribution of the annihilation events, which coincide with the presence of the radioisotope. Quantitative evaluation of the function under study, as well as an image for display, are produced as a final product of the PET scan.
Radioisotopes are presently generated by accelerating protons to an energy of 12 MeV (or deuterons to an energy of 6 MeV) with a cyclotron. This proton/deuteron beam is extracted from the cyclotron and steered to a target material. Automatic chemical processors convert the target material into basic chemical building blocks, called "precursors", needed to make the radiopharmaceuticals of interest. Some state-of-the-art systems produce the final radiopharmaceutical with the aid of a programmed robot to avoid radiation exposure to a radiochemist. The PET scanner, which resembles a CT scanner in physical appearance, along with the cyclotron, targets, and chemical processors form the basic PET system.
Unfortunately, the half-life associated with many radioisotopes of interest to PET applications is very short (on the order of minutes), hence it is not possible to manufacture the radiopharmaceuticals at a manufacturing site and transport them to a patient location. Rather, the patient must travel to the site of the PET system where the needed radioisotopes can be produced and used immediately. Because of the sheer size, mass and expense of building and operating just the cyclotron (which is only one element of a PET system), there are relatively few PET facilities available throughout the world. (At present, it is estimated that there are only about 20 PET facilities in the United States, and about 60-70 worldwide.) Only the largest hospitals are able to afford, support and staff such systems. Thus, the benefits of PET remain available to relatively few. What is needed therefore is a PET system that is more affordable and accessible to a larger number of patients and doctors.
There are numerous disadvantages of existing low energy cyclotron-based PET systems. For example, some of the radionuclides are produced using a proton beam, while others are produced using a deuteron beam, therefore some beam switching apparatus is required. While such beam switching apparatus is well known in the art, it adds to the complexity and expense of the system. Further, large amounts of power are required for such systems to operate (e.g., the proton/deuteron cyclotron typically requires 100 kW of power to operate). Also, such systems require enriched target materials if the desired radionuclides are to be efficiently produced by the proton/deuteron beam. Such enriched target materials are not readily available, and are costly to produce. Still further, due to the inherent elliptical cross sectional shape of the proton/deuteron beam, the efficient utilization of the beam in a circular target chamber is made more difficult. Moreover, due to the secondary neutrons that are naturally produced from the proton/deuteron irradiation process, thick shields must be built around the target area to confine such neutron radiation. It is not uncommon, for example, for the target chamber of such systems to be surrounded by concrete walls that are a minimum of four feet thick. This shielding, coupled with the mass and weight associated with the other elements of the system, particularly the cyclotron, results in a system that weighs on the order of 300 tons. Such heavy systems can only be installed on a ground or basement floor, thereby severely restricting those facilities where a cyclotron-based PET system could be installed.
All of the above factors combine to make the proton/deuteron cyclotron-based PET systems very expensive to build, operate and maintain. As has been indicated, such expense disadvantageously limits the number of PET systems that are built and operated, thereby making the cyclotron-based PET systems generally inaccessible and/or unavailable to many patients, hospitals and doctors. What is needed, therefore, is a radioisotope production system which can produce sufficient quantities of all of the radioisotopes of interest (.sup.18 F, .sup.11 C, .sup.15 O, .sup.13 N) and minimize some or all of the disadvantages discussed above for existing systems. The present invention advantageously addresses this need.

Radioisotope production facility for use with positron emission tomography

Science Applications International Corporation


A method of forming a wiring structure for an integrated circuit device includes forming a first metal line within an interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer, and forming a second metal line in the ILD layer adjacent the first metal line; masking selected regions of the first and second metal lines; selectively plating metal cap regions over exposed regions of the first and second metal lines at periodic intervals such that a spacing between adjacent metal cap regions of an individual metal line corresponds to a critical length, L, at which a back stress gradient balances an electromigration force in the individual metal line, so as to suppress mass transport of electrons; and wherein the metal cap regions of the first metal line are formed at staggered locations with respect to the metal cap regions of the second metal line, along a common longitudinal axis.

The present disclosure relates generally to semiconductor device manufacturing techniques and, more particularly, to the formation of interconnect structures with selective local metal cap regions for improved electromigration behavior.
Integrated circuits are typically fabricated with multiple levels of patterned metallization lines, electrically separated from one another by interlayer dielectrics containing vias at selected locations to provide electrical connections between levels of the patterned metallization lines. As these integrated circuits are scaled to smaller dimensions in a continual effort to provide increased density and performance (e.g., by increasing device speed and providing greater circuit functionality within a given area chip), the interconnect linewidth dimension becomes increasingly narrow, which in turn renders them more susceptible to deleterious effects such as electromigration.
Electromigration is a term referring to the phenomenon of mass transport of metallic atoms (e.g., copper or aluminum) which make up the interconnect material, as a result of unidirectional or DC electrical current conduction therethrough. More specifically, the electron current collides with the diffusing metal atoms, thereby pushing them in the direction of current travel. Over an extended period of time, the accumulation of metal at the anode end of the interconnect material significantly increases the local mechanical stress in the system. This in turn may lead to delamination, cracking, and even metal extrusion from the metal wire, thereby causing an electrical short to adjacent interconnects. Electromigration becomes increasingly more significant in integrated circuit design, as relative current densities through metallization lines continue to increase as the linewidth dimensions shrink.

Selective local metal cap layer formation for improved electromigration behavior


DNA constructs containing translational control elements are provided. These 5′ regulatory segments facilitate high level expression of transgenes introduced into the plastids of higher plants.

Several publications are referenced in this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains. The disclosure of each of these publications is incorporated by reference herein.
The chloroplasts of higher plants accumulate individual components of the photosynthetic machinery as a relatively large fraction of total cellular protein. The best example is the enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco) involved in CO2 fixation which can make up 65% of the total leaf protein (Ellis, R. J. 1979). Because of the potentially attainable high protein levels, there is significant interest in exploring chloroplasts as an alternative system for protein expression. To date, protein levels expressed from transgenes in chloroplasts are below the levels of highly-expressed chloroplast genes. Highest levels reported thus far in leaves are as follows: 1% of neomycin phophotransferase (Carrer et al., 1993); 2.5% β-glucuronidase (Staub and Maliga, 1993) and 3-5% of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystal toxins (McBride et al., 1995). An alternative system, based on a nuclear-encoded, plastid-targeted T7 RNA polymerase may offer higher levels of protein expression (McBride t al., 1994), although this yield may come at a price.
In bacteria, the rate limiting step of protein synthesis is usually the initiation of translation, involving the binding of the initiator tRNA (formyl-methionyl-tRNAf) and mRNA to the 70S ribosome, recognition of the initiator codon, and the precise phasing of the reading frame of the mRNA. Translation initiation depends on three initiation factors (IF1, IF2, IF3) and requires GTP. The 30S subunit is guided to the initiation codon by RNA-RNA base pairing between the 3′ of the 16S rRNA and the mRNA ribosome binding site, or Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence, located about 10 nucleotides upstream of the translation initiation codon (Voorma, 1996). RNA-RNA interaction between the "downstream box" (DB), a 15 nt sequence downstream of the AUG translational initiation codon and complementary sequences in the 16S rRNA 3′ sequence or anti-downstream box (ADB; nucleotide positions 1469-1483) may also facilitate loading of the mRNA onto the 30S ribosome subunit (Sprengart et al., 1996). In addition, specific protein-RNA interactions may also facilitate translation initiation (Voorma, 1996).
Key components of the prokaryotic translation machinery have been identified in plastids, including homologues of the bacterial IF1, IF2 and IF3 initiation factors and an S1-like ribosomal protein (Stern et al., 1997). Most plastid mRNAs (92%) contain a ribosome binding site or SD sequence: GGAGG, or its truncated tri- or tetranucleotide variant. This sequence is similar to the bacterial SD consensus 5′-UAAGGAGGUGA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 28; Voorma, 1996). High level expression of foreign genes of interest in the plastids of higher plants is extremely desirable. The present invention provides novel genetic translational control elements for use in plastid transformation vectors. Incorporation of these elements into such vectors results in protein expression levels comparable to those observed for highly expressed chloroplast genes in both monocots and dicots.

Translation control elements for high-level protein expression in the plastids of higher plants and methods of use thereof

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey


A large flow of high pressure fuel is supplied to a gas turbine engine by mounting a small modified vortex pump over or around a main high speed shaft. The pump includes a plurality of short, stubby impeller blades rotating at a very high speed within a fuel filled annular chamber having an axial fuel inlet and a tangential fuel outlet. A pump booster and priming system ensures the pump fills with fuel during operation.

Fuel and lubricant pumps for gas turbine engines have typically been offset from the centerline of the engine and driven, along with other accessories, by a gear train connected to the main shaft. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,521,505 and 3,576,375.
Due to the ever increasing number and complexity of engine accessories and the corresponding reduction of available space in the area of the accessory drive mechanism, it would be very desirable to locate such pumps within the main engine core.
Such an approach would not only conserve space but also eliminate the expense and weight of the gear train.
Several approaches have been tried in other types of turbomachinery to achieve similar benefits but the unique characteristics of high performance gas turbine engines prohibit easy adaptations of such prior designs. For example, large (and relatively crude) centrifugal turbopumps have been used to supply large quantities of fuel to the afterburner portion of military turbine engines and to liquid fueled rocket engines. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,606,501; 2,689,528: 2,778,312 and 2,956,502.
High speed, forced vortex pumps have been known since at least the early 1940's when they were investigated by Dr. U. M. Barske for use in rocket propulsion systems but they have not found wide commercial use since, probably because of their unfamiliar pumping characteristics. Physically, they somewhat resemble the common centrifugal pump but they operate on altogether different principles. A centrifugal pump uses a screw-shaped or scrolled impeller to force all the fluid which enters the pump to be thrown outwardly into an annular discharge channel. Since the fluid moves quickly through the pump, the residence time for any particular portion of the fluid is very short, often less than one revolution of the impeller, thus there is a considerable difference in relative speed between the fluid and the impeller. The characteristics of such pumps are generally well-known and they are commonly used to supply very large flows of fluid at low to moderate pressures.
In contrast, a forced vortex pump (not to be confused with a liquid-ring pump) is based on rapidly rotating a body of fluid and withdrawing only a relatively small portion of the fluid so that the remainder may be considered, for design purposes, almost as a rotating solid body. In its original form, such a pump consisted of a rotating drum with baffles or blades fixed to its inside walls for developing the rotating body. Fluid entered the drum through its hub and was picked up near its periphery by a stationary, internal pickup tube which exited the drum through the hub. Difficulties with adapting this design for various applications led to an inverted design in which a simple, straight impeller with long blades was used to create a rapidly rotating fluid vortex within a short cylindrical cavity within a fixed housing surrounding the rotating impeller. The outer portion of the fluid vortex adJacent the smooth housing wall, is at a high pressure while the inner portion is at a much lower pressure. Typically, the high pressure fluid is extracted from the housing through a tangential diffuser section where much of the kinetic energy (velocity) of the fluid is converted to static or potential energy (pressure). The pressure level at the discharge is determined by the diameter and rotational speed of the impeller, while the maximum output flow rate is directly related to the size of the diffuser throat at any given rotational speed. Very small, simple pumps can put out moderate flows at high pressure if all the components are carefully designed. In addition, these pumps can operate satisfactorily at very low input pressures, close to the vapor pressure of the fluid, without cavitation. More importantly, the output pressure is practically constant for all rates of flow at any given speed and the output capacity is approximately proportional to the impeller speed (up to a maximum value determined by the number and size of discharge).
However, such pumps are not readily adaptable to the physical limitations within the core of a gas turbine engine.
In view of the foregoing, it should be apparent that there is a need in the art for improvements in the construction and operation of fuel pumping and supply systems for small high performance gas turbine engines.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved methods and apparatus for supplying fuel to a gas turbine engine.
A further object of this invention is to provide a simple, highly reliable but low weight fuel supply system based on a modified vortex pump.
It is another object of the invention to provide a pumP design which may be mounted in the core of a gas turbine engine over or around the main shaft which connects the compressor to the turbine.


A slide switch includes a disk-shaped control member laid over a support member accommodated in a casing, a plurality of transverse contacts arranged in positions to surround the control member, and an annular vertical contact arranged outwardly of the transverse contacts to detect a sliding operation of the control member. Rod-shaped guide elements formed on peripheries of the support member are fitted into concaved engageable portions formed in the casing to be relatively movable in the pressing direction when the control member is pressed. The engageable portions and the guide elements constitute a posture maintaining mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a slide switch comprising a control member slidable along an imaginary plane and pressable in a direction perpendicular to the imaginary plane, a plurality of transverse contacts arranged to surround the control member, and a vertical contact having a plurality of electrode portions associated with the plurality of transverse contacts to be conductive with any one of the transverse contacts when the control member is slid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application "Kokai" No. 2003-31076 (paragraphs [0022] to [0038], and FIGS. 2 to 6) discloses a slide switch including an biasing member formed of elastomer, having four projections, and mounted in a casing, a sliding member fitted into a central portion of the biasing member, and a keytop connected to the sliding member. In this slide switch, four conductive elements are provided on outer peripheries of the biasing member while electrodes are arranged on inner walls of the casing in positions opposed to the conductive elements. With this arrangement, the keytop in a non-operative state is maintained in a neutral position by a biasing force exerted from the biasing member, and the conductive elements contact the electrodes to establish a conductive state when the keytop is operated. Also, this switch has a slider fitted into a side of the sliding member facing away from the keytop. The conductive elements are arranged in positions to contact the slider, and the electrodes are arranged in positions corresponding to the conductive elements. Each conductive element has a construction having a central portion projecting toward the slider. When the keytop is depressed, the conductive element is elastically deformed to contact the electrode thereby establishing a conductive state.
Japanese Patent Application "Kokai" No. 2003-50667 (paragraphs [0012] to [0026], and FIGS. 1 to 7) discloses a slide switch comprising a spacer, a control button, a return spring, a plunger, a sensing spring and a reverse spring laid one over another in a space between a base and a cover. In this slide switch, a knob of the control button projects to a center hole formed in the cover, and a biasing force is exerted on the control button from the return spring. A conductive rubber element is attached to a bottom surface of the control button, and guide projections are formed in a central portion of the bottom surface of the control button to be engageable with guide recesses formed in a top surface of the plunger. The guide recesses of the plunger are formed as grooves radially extending in eight directions from the center of the plunger. The plunger has a pressing projection formed in a bottom surface thereof, and an engaging projection formed in outer peripheries thereof to be engageable with the base for limiting rotation. The base has a central fixed contact provided in a circular recess formed in a central portion thereof, and peripheral fixed contacts formed in outer peripheries of the circular recess. The reverse spring and the sensing spring are arranged as corresponding to the circular recess.
With the construction of this conventional slide switch, the guide projections formed in the bottom surface of the control button are guided by the guide recesses of the plunger when the control button is slid, thereby allowing the button to be operated in eight directions. This sliding operation allows the conductive rubber element attached to the bottom surface of the control button to contact the peripheral vertical contacts of the base, thereby to electrically detect an operating direction. Further, when the control button is pressed while being slid, this operating force is transmitted to the reverse spring through the plunger. The central portion of the reverse spring contacts the central vertical contact thereby to electrically detect the pressing operation.
Recently, as switches provided in relatively small devices such as mobile phones, PDA's, game equipment controllers and remote controllers, and the like, high-performance switches capable of being slid and pressed such as the slide switches disclosed in the above-noted publications have been desired, along with their downsizing. Further, from the aspect of the sense of operation, the sense of click and a smooth sliding operation are often desired. Also, in executing the sliding operation and the pressing operation at the same time, the sense of operation is enhanced by stabilizing the posture of the control member when pressed.
According to the slide switches disclosed in the above-noted publications where the control member in a non-operative state is positioned in the central position in plan view, the contacts for detecting a pressing operation of the control member and the springs for biasing the control member upward are located in the central position. Thus, the pressing force acts upon a position offset from the central position when the control member is pressed while being slid. The control member is inclined by the force unevenly applied to the control member to vary the stroke of the pressing operation and weaken the sense of operation. Further, the inclination of the control member causes malfunction.
Moreover, in the case of a switch using a member having a dome-shaped construction as a spring for biasing the control member upward, when the control member is pressed while being slid, the pressing force acts on a position offset from the central position of the dome, as a result of which the life of the dome-shaped spring is shortened.


Contents of a memory are encrypted using an encryption key that is generated based on a random number and a memory location at which the contents are stored. Each of a plurality of locations of a memory can be associated with a respective unique pointer value, and an encryption key may be generated based on the unique pointer value and the random number. In some examples, the random number is unique to a power-up cycle of a system comprising the memory or is generated based on a time at which the data to be stored by the memory at the selected memory location is written to the memory.

Some digital electronic systems include a memory that stores data, such as instructions used to control the operation of the digital electronic system, proprietary data, intellectual property, or any combination thereof. In some cases, a digital electronic system that includes such a memory includes anti-tamper features that help protect the contents of the memory from unauthorized access.

Memory location specific data encryption key