An apparatus and method for delivering asphalt-aggregate material from a plurality of supply trucks to a finishing machine. In a preferred form of the invention, the apparatus is a self-propelled storage vehicle including a hopper having a capacity substantially equal to the capacity of one of the supply trucks, a high capacity loading conveyor, and a high capacity unloading conveyor system. A tranversely disposed screw auger is provided for remixing the asphalt-aggregate material in the hopper prior to its discharge to the finishing machine. In the first method of operation the storage vehicle shuttles between the finishing machine and a remote location of the supply trucks and in the second method of operation the storage vehicle travels in tandem with the finishing machine as the paving operation is performed. The high capacity loading conveyor can be equipped with an extendable trough which has a pivotally attached trough floor with front and side plates. The extendable trough provides a large area which facilitates discharge of paving material from frameless trailers and allows for the early departure of the supply trucks from the conveyor. The final discharged paving material is gradually emptied from the extendable trough into the conveyor by hydraulic cylinders which tilt the trough to slide the material in the trough into the infeed end of the conveyor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to methods and apparatus for making an asphalt-aggregate pavement. In particular, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for transporting the asphalt-aggregate material from the delivery trucks to the screed of a finishing machine.
2. Summary Of The Prior Art
The conventional method of laying an asphalt-aggregate roadway mat includes the use of a finishing machine and a number of delivery trucks to transport the asphalt-aggregate material from the asphalt plant to the job site. Finishing machines of the type hereunder consideration, sometimes called pavers, are well-known to those skilled in the art. Such a finishing machine has a so-called floating screed at its rear end, usually provided with some form of vibratory means, to form the asphalt mat. The finishing machine also includes a hopper at its front end for receiving the asphalt-aggregate material and suitable conveyor means, usually slat conveyors and screw augers, for delivering the material from the hopper to a position just in advance of the screed.
A typical finishing machine has a hopper with a capacity of approximately 5 tons. A typical delivery truck, usually a dump truck, will have a capacity of approximately 20 tons. The technique for transferring the asphalt-aggregate material from the dump truck to the hopper of the finishing machine screed normally requires the truck driver to position his vehicle immediately in front of the finishing machine, the latter being provided with rollers which engage the rear tires of the truck. During the time that the material is being transferred from the dump truck to the hopper of the finishing machine, the latter is advancing along the subgrade as it forms the asphalt-aggregate mat and in doing so pushes the truck forwardly in tandem therewith.
A number of problems arise when operating the finishing machine and the delivery trucks in the manner just described. Quite frequently, the hopper of the finishing machine will be nearly empty and thus ready to be refilled, but a loaded dump truck will not be available at the job site. The absence of a loaded delivery truck at the required time is most often due to traffic conditions which prevent the delivery trucks from arriving at the job site at the proper time intervals. When this occurs, the finishing machine must obviously stop and await the arrival of another delivery truck.
As is known to those skilled in the art, when a finishing machine stops, even momentarily, the screed will tend to settle into the freshly laid mat. When the finishing machine then commences forward travel, the screed will tend to ride upwardly momentarily thus depositing an excessive amount of material. Consequently, the stopping of the finishing machine causes a depression and bump in the surface of the asphalt-aggregate mat resulting in an uneven pavement surface. Needless to say, it is desirable to produce the smoothest possible surface.
It is often necessary to stop the finishing machine even though one or more loaded delivery trucks are available at the job site. This is so since quite often it is simply impossible for the truck drivers to remove the empty delivery truck from the front of the finishing machine and to maneuver a full delivery truck into a position in advance of the finishing machine before the finishing machine runs out of material. As illustrated in Table I (set forth below), as the paving rate of the paver, in tons per hour (TPH), increases the available truck exchange time decreases.
TABLE I ______________________________________ TRUCK EXCHANGE TIME FOR A CONVENTIONAL FINISHING MACHINE OPERATING DISCONTINUOUSLY FINISHING MACHINE WITH 5 TON HOPPER CAPACITY OPERATES CONTINUOUSLY WITH 20 TON CAPACITY TRUCKS 20 TON TIME AT TRUCK PAVING TRUCK PAVER EXCHANGE RATE INTERVAL W/5 TON TIME (TPH) (MINUTES) LIVE HOPPER AVAILABLE ______________________________________ 200 6 4.5 1.5 300 4 3.0 1.0 400 3 2.2 0.8 600 2 1.5 0.5 ______________________________________
As is known to those skilled in the art, at least 1.5 minutes are required to perform the truck exchanging operation. Therefore, it is apparent from the data in Table I that a finishing machine using the conventional supply methods cannot operate continuously at a rate greater than 200 TPH. In order to operate at a higher paving rate and still provide sufficient time to exchange trucks, the paver must stop each time the hopper's supply of paving material is exhausted. This situation is illustrated in Table II (set forth below), where the finishing machine, running discontinuously, can operate at a rate of 800-1200 TPH while still providing the necessary 1.5 minutes for the truck exchanging operation.
TABLE II ______________________________________ TRUCK EXCHANGE TIME FOR A CONVENTIONAL FINISHING MACHINE OPERATING DISCONTINUOUSLY FINISHING MACHINE WITH 5 TON HOPPER CAPACITY OPERATES DISCONTINUOUSLY WITH 20 TON CAPACITY TRUCKS 20 TON TRUCK TRUCK TIME EXCHANGE PAVER INTERVAL AT TIME TPH (MINUTES) PAVER AVAILABLE ______________________________________ 400 6.0 2.3 3.7 600 4.0 1.5 2.5 800 3.0 1.0 2.0 1200 2.0 0.8 1.2 ______________________________________
However, this discontinuous operation of the finishing machine results in an undesirable depression and hump on the pavement mat each time the finishing machine is stopped to perform the truck exchanging operation, as previously explained.
There have been two general approaches in the prior art in an attempt to deal with the problems just mentioned. The first approach involves providing a delivery truck with a very substantial capacity. Representative prior art showing such trucks include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,647,096; 3,731,825; 3,750,802; 3,794,194; and German Patent Publication 22 60 396 (1972), all in the name of John H. Holland. The provision of such large capacity trucks really does not solve the problem since the finishing machine still must be stopped if one of such trucks is not available in a loaded condition at the finishing machine hopper when its hopper is nearly empty. Further, the trucks shown in the aforesaid Holland patents are of the trailer-truck type making it even more difficult for the truck operator to maneuver the vehicle in advance of the finishing machine hopper.
Another approach, in an attempt to solve the finishing machine stopping problem referred to herein, involves dumping of the asphalt-aggregate material on the subgrade in the form of a windrow in advance of the path of travel of the finishing machine. According to this technique, a windrow loader machine, such as the machine shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,512, is provided for picking up the material from the subgrade and for delivering the material into the hopper of the finishing machine.
This windrow approach has not proved to be very satisfactory. Although a delivery truck can normally dump its contents more rapidly in forming a windrow rather than remaining with the finishing machine when discharging the contents directly into the hopper of the latter, considerable skill is required on the part of the delivery truck driver to form a proper windrow. Accordingly, considerable time is still required to discharge the contents of the delivery truck. Thus, the delivery truck may be required to remain at the job site longer than desirable thereby delaying departure of the truck to the asphalt plant for picking up another load of the asphalt-aggregate material. Another disadvantage to the windrow technique results from the fact that the material is dumped onto the subgrade and hence some of the material picked up by the windrow loader may be contaminated with the subgrade material. Moreover, weather conditions can adversely affect the exposed asphalt material that forms the windrow.

Methods and apparatus for making an asphalt-aggregate pavement


A method and apparatus is described which pertains to load sharing/trunking in a communication device used in unicast and/or multicasting interchange of information. A plurality of available ports in the interface cards of the device is identified. More than one port is selected to be configured as a Multi-Link Trunk (MLT) even through the ports may be located on different interface cards.

A method and apparatus is described that pertains to load sharing/trunking in a communication device used in unicast and/or multicast interchange of information.
Networking is generally known as a configuration of computers, software and communication devices interconnected together as to facilitate the interchange of information. A networking system may be divided into a plurality of links. One type of link is a local area network (LAN) that connects a plurality of computers together within a close proximity. Another link type is a wide area network (WAN) which connects a plurality of LANs over greater distances.
For information traffic purposes, information transmitted through the networking system is generally segmented into quantifiable packets known as xe2x80x9cframesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccellsxe2x80x9d depending on the type of communication protocol used in the system. One such protocol is the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) in which information is segmented into a plurality of fixed length packets called cells. The cells are then attached with destination addresses and transmitted at predetermined transmission rates through the networking system until the cells reach their destination which usually are xe2x80x9cports.xe2x80x9d
Network devices such as xe2x80x9cswitchesxe2x80x9d allow users, servers, and LANs to communicate over the networking system. As an example, switches known as xe2x80x9cedge switchesxe2x80x9d contain interface cards that allow users, servers, and LANs to communicate with xe2x80x9ccorexe2x80x9d devices that perhaps make up the WAN. xe2x80x9cCore switchesxe2x80x9d on the other hand, also known as xe2x80x9ctrunk cardsxe2x80x9d, generally contain WAN interface cards to communicate with other core switches.
An interface card generally has one or more physical ports that send or receive information that may be segmented, such as cells. A switch interconnects the physical ports on one interface card to the physical ports on another interface card to facilitate information interchange in the networking system. Each physical port becomes a xe2x80x9csourcexe2x80x9d port or a xe2x80x9cdestinationxe2x80x9d port depending on whether the port is transmitting or receiving information. In addition, each physical port is assigned an xe2x80x9caddressxe2x80x9d which becomes a xe2x80x9csourcexe2x80x9d address or a xe2x80x9cdestinationxe2x80x9d address again depending on whether the port is transmitting or receiving information.
One type of trunk card contains a plurality of ports that are physically designated as a Multi-Link Trunk (MLT). A xe2x80x9cMulti-Link Trunkxe2x80x9d (MLT) is a group of physical ports associated together to act as one logical port. As an example, a group of 100 megabytes per second (Mbps) ports can be associated together for increasing bandwidth between two devices where a gigabyte ethernet is either unavailable or deemed too costly. However, a problem associated with such trunk cards is that if one of the ports failed, the bandwidth of the MLT is reduced proportionally. In the case where the reduced bandwidth is insufficient for the link, the information interchange through the MLT is suspended.
Using MLT presents other problems. For example, in multicast or broadcast situation, traffic received on one port of the interface card should only broadcast out on one port of an MLT. Otherwise, undesirable echoes would result at the destination end of the MLT. In a previous method, one port of the MLT was designated as a multicast port. Thus, that port transmitted all the information related to multicast. A problem exists in that the information transmitted is not load shared. Thus, the bandwidth of the multicast link is limited to the bandwidth of the designated multicast port. Moreover, a failure of the designated port causes a multicast failure of the link represented by the port.
Widespread use of the networking system are made by various entities such as telecommunication companies, brokerage firms, banks, large manufacturing companies, electronic commerce and so forth. For these entities, reliability is of utmost importance. A breakdown of information interchange in the links within the networking system generally brings about great economic loss and hardship.
A method and apparatus is described which pertains to load sharing/trunking in a communication device used in unicast and/or multicasting interchange of information. In one embodiment, a plurality of available ports in the interface cards of the device is identified. A group of the available ports is selected to be configured as a Multi-Link Trunk (MLT) even though the ports may be located on different interface cards. Many advantages are attainable from the above configuration.
For example, because any suitable ports may be selected for the MLT, the bandwidth of the MLT is scalable to accommodate the transmission rate required of the MLT. Also, if one of the selected ports fail, another port is selected from the table that is suitable for the MLT. In this manner, the resiliency of the MLT is sustained.
In one embodiment, a load sharing/trunking circuit generates an identification for the packet to be transmitted in an MLT and uses the identification to determine the physical port in which the data is to be transmitted. One advantage is that packets belonging to the same conversation are transmitted in the same physical port while achieving reasonable load sharing. This overcomes a problem in which packets of the same conversation is transmitted to a destination through different physical ports. Such packets may arrive at the destination in a different sequential order which complicates the de-segmentation of the packets.
In one embodiment, problems associated with implementing an MLT in a flooded traffic situation such as multicast or broadcast are overcome. According to the embodiment, the load sharing/trunking circuit selects an Multicast Group Identification (MGID) which identifies a plurality of physical ports in which packets are to be multicasted. One advantage is that packets to be multicasted are load shared in an MLT in a multicasting environment.
Additional features, embodiments, and benefits will be evident in view of the figures and detailed description presented herein.


Disclosed are a method and device for determining a preamble sequence of a physical random access channel. The method includes in a previous stage, receiving respective preamble sub-sequences, and determining instances of time at which the respective preamble sub-sequences are detected in a detection window; in a current stage, receiving respective preamble sub-sequences, and determining instances of time at which the respective preamble sub-sequences are detected in the detection window; and determining preamble sub-sequences belonging to a same preamble sequence according to the instances of time at which the respective preamble sub-sequences are detected in the current stage, and the instances of time at which the respective preamble sub-sequences are detected in the previous stage.

In the study on a preamble sequence on a New Radio (NR) Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) in a 5th-Generation (5G) mobile communication system, in order to further improve the performance of detecting a preamble, and to lower the probability that short preamble sequences collide with each other, a multi-stage (M-stage) preamble sequence has been designed, where an M-stage preamble sequence including M number of preamble sub-sequences is used for Msg1 transmission in a random access. A User Equipment (UE) selects an M-stage preamble sequence from a predefined or network-configured set of M-stage preamble sequences, and transmits it over a network-configured time-frequency resource. The network (a next-Generation Node B (gNB) or a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP)) detects the time-frequency resource respectively for M preamble sub-sequences in the M-stage preamble sequence. The M-stage preamble sequence can be detected correctly only if all of the M preamble sub-sequences are detected correctly.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of a designed M-stage preamble sequence on an NR-PRACH, where M=2, that is, a 2-stage preamble sequence includes two preamble sub-sequences (Preamble-1 and Preamble-2 as illustrated). There are respective Cyclic Prefixes (CPs) of two consecutive preamble sub-sequences (Preamble-1 and Preamble-2), and a Guard Time (GT) interval is reserved at the tail of the 2-stage preamble sequence. The respective preamble sub-sequences are selected separately by the UE to compose the 2-stage preamble sequence, transmitted as Msg1, and detected respectively at the network side. The 2-stage preamble sequence can be detected correctly only if both of the preamble sub-sequences are detected correctly.
For a root sequence on a PRACH, the root sequence is a Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence (simply a ZC root sequence), and since 64 preamble sequences of each cell are generated by cyclically shifting (Ncs, i.e., zero-correlation configuration) the ZC root sequence, and the preamble sequence of the UE is selected randomly, or allocated by the gNB, in order to alleviate the preamble sequences of the adjacent cells from interfering with each other, the indexes of ZC root sequences shall be planned correctly. The indexes of the ZC root sequences are planned by allocating them so that different preamble sequences are generated for the adjacent cells using the indexes to thereby avoid the adjacent cell with the same preamble sequence from interfering with each other.
A Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence with a root index uth is defined in Equation (1) of:
                                                        x              u                                                  (              n              )                                =                      e                                          -                j                                                                            π                                                                                un                                                              (                                              n                        +                        1                                            )                                                                                N                  ZC                                                                    ,                  0          ≤          n          ≤                                    N              ZC                        -            1                          ,                            (        1        )
Where NZC represents the length of the ZC sequence, u represents the root index of the ZC sequence, j=sqrt(−1), and n represents the index of a sequence element. A random access preamble is obtained by cyclically shifting the ZC sequence with the root index uth in Equation (2) of:Xu,v(n)=xu((n+Cv)mod NZC),  (2)
Where Cv represents a cyclic shift, Cv=vNcs, and v represents the V-th cyclic shift Ncs in the range of 0,1, . . . ,└NZC/NCS┘, where └.┘ represents rounding off.
A drawback in the prior art lies in that if a plurality of UEs transmits over the same time-frequency resource, then a preamble sequence may not be detected accurately in the existing M-stage preamble sequence solution.

Method and device for determining preamble sequence of physical random access channel

CHINA ACADEMY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY


The present invention relates to a synchronous flyback converter circuit (1) for operating an illuminant line (4) having at least one illuminant (5), more particularly having at least one light emitting diode, the synchronous flyback converter circuit (1) comprising: a transformer (T), having a primary winding (Np), which is electrically connected to a first switch (S1), and a secondary winding (Ns), which is electrically connected to an output (A1, A1′) of the synchronous flyback converter circuit via a second switch (S2), the illuminant line (4) being able to be connected to the output; and a control unit (2), which is designed to control the first switch (S1) and the second switch (S2). According to a first embodiment according to the invention, the synchronous flyback converter circuit (1) comprises a sensing circuit (3), which is designed to capture a temporal mean of the switch current (IS1) flowing through the first switch (Si) and to feed at least one signal (Sg) conveying said temporal mean to the control unit (2), the control unit (2) being designed to separately determine, on the basis of the signal (Sg) fed from the sensing circuit (3), a temporal mean of the positive component of the switch current (IS1) flowing through the first switch (Si) and a temporal mean of the negative component of the switch current (IS1) flowing through the first switch (S1). According to a second embodiment according to the invention, the synchronous flyback converter circuit (1) comprises a sensing circuit (3), which is designed to separately capture a temporal mean of the positive component of the switch current (IS1) flowing through the first switch and a temporal mean of the negative component of the switch current (IS1) flowing through the first switch and to feed a first signal conveying the temporal mean of the negative component of the switch current (IS1) and a second signal conveying the temporal mean of the positive component of the switch current (IS1) to the control unit (2).

A flyback converter, also called a buck-boost converter, is an input-side actively clocked DC/DC converter or primary-clocked DC/DC converter which galvanically decouples or isolates (i.e., electrically isolates) electrical energy between an input side or primary side and an output side or secondary side by means of a transformer. With a flyback converter, a DC voltage fed to the input can be converted into a DC voltage with a different voltage level.
A flyback converter circuit for operating an illuminant line with at least one illuminant therefore comprises a primary-side controllable switch and a transformer with a primary winding, which is electrically connected to the switch, and with a secondary winding. The output of the flyback converter circuit is electrically connected to the secondary winding via a diode, the secondary-side diode serving for half-wave rectification.
It is now known from the prior art to replace the secondary-side diode by a secondary-side controllable switch, whereby a higher efficiency (lower electrical power losses) can be achieved. A flyback converter or a flyback converter circuit with a secondary-side switch instead of a diode for secondary-side rectification is also referred to as a synchronous flyback converter or synchronous flyback converter circuit. Consequently, in a synchronous flyback converter or in a synchronous flyback converter circuit, the secondary winding of the transformer is electrically connected to the output of the flyback converter circuit via a secondary-side switch.
Hereinafter, the primary-side switch will be referred to as the first switch and the secondary-side switch as the second switch.
In order to generate an output-side current for the operation of the illuminant line, in the case of a synchronous flyback converter circuit, the first switch and the second switch are operated alternately in the conductive state by a corresponding control unit. In particular, in order to reach a dimming level specified by a dimming signal, the first and second switches are operated alternately in the conductive state in accordance with the dimming signal.
If, during the on duration of the first switch, the first switch is in the conductive state and the second switch is in the non-conductive state, then, on the primary side of the synchronous flyback converter circuit, a current flows through the primary winding of the transformer and the conductive first switch, which is supplied by a supply voltage fed to the input, and electrical energy is stored in the primary winding. If the first switch is switched to non-conductive and the second switch is switched to conductive, then the electrical energy stored in the primary winding is transmitted to the secondary winding of the transformer. Consequently, during the on duration of the second switch (first switch non-conductive and second switch conductive), a current flows on the secondary side from the secondary winding via the conductive second switch to the illuminant line connected to the output. This current then consequently corresponds to the current provided on the output side by the synchronous flyback converter circuit for the operation of the illuminant line.
In order to dim the illuminant line, the temporal mean of the current which is fed on the output side to the illuminant line by the synchronous flyback converter circuit must be reduced. The lower or smaller the dimming level, the lower or less is the brightness of the light emitted by the illuminant line.
In order to achieve very low dimming levels, i.e., very low brightnesses, a correspondingly very small temporal mean of the current fed to the illuminant line must be achieved. Since the current supplied to the illuminant line corresponds to the current flowing through the secondary winding of the transformer of the synchronous flyback converter circuit, the temporal mean of the current flowing through the secondary winding or of the current provided on the output side via the transformer of the synchronous flyback converter circuit must therefore be set correspondingly small.
For this purpose, in the alternating clocking of the first and second switches, the on duration of the second switch can be dimensioned such that, during the on duration of the second switch, the polarity of the current flowing through the secondary winding and second switch changes from a positive polarity to a negative polarity and consequently the voltage at the secondary winding reverses, i.e., for example, from a positive polarity to a negative polarity or with respect to another reference voltage, such as a bus voltage. This means that the second switch is operated in the conductive state until the direction of the current flowing through the secondary winding reverses. When the first switch is subsequently switched on, the switch current flowing through the first switch then has a negative component and a positive component.
In that the current flowing through the secondary winding has a negative polarity at least temporarily, a particularly small temporal mean of the current flowing through the secondary winding can be achieved. The synchronous flyback converter circuit can thereby output on the output side a small current for the illuminant line. Accordingly, correspondingly low brightnesses of the light radiated by the illuminant line can be achieved for corresponding dimming signals for the illuminant line.
In order to regulate the electrical energy provided at the output by a synchronous flyback converter circuit or the current provided at the output for operating an illuminant line connected to the output of the synchronous flyback converter circuit with at least one illuminant, it is typically necessary to collect information relating to the temporal mean of the current (illuminant line current) flowing on the secondary side through the illuminant line connected to the output and feed it to the corresponding control unit provided for clocking the first and second switches.
A direct measurement of the illuminant line current on the secondary side is disadvantageous since the potential of the secondary side and the potential of the primary side are galvanically isolated from each other and a re-transmission of the measurement result from the secondary side to the primary side to the control unit consequently has to take place in an electrically isolated manner. This requires additional components, such as an optocoupler, which increases the size of the synchronous flyback converter circuit, i.e., it takes up more space. This is particularly disadvantageous with regard to an integration of the synchronous flyback converter circuit.
It is also important that the additional components make the synchronous flyback converter circuit more complex and expensive to produce.
Furthermore, in the operation of the synchronous flyback converter circuit described above for reaching a very low dimming level, a very complex and cost-intensive detection circuit is required for capturing the temporal mean of the current provided on the output side to the illuminant line by the synchronous flyback converter circuit since a very low dimming level is reached by a very small temporal mean of the current provided on the output side. Consequently, capture of this temporal mean can be easily falsified by noise.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a synchronous flyback converter circuit for operating an illuminant line with at least one illuminant, in which information relating to the temporal mean of the secondary-side current flowing through the illuminant line when the latter is connected to the output of the synchronous flyback converter circuit can be collected in a space-saving and cost-effective manner. In particular, it is a further object of the present invention that in such a synchronous flyback converter circuit, a less complex (for example, space-saving) and cost-effective capture can also take place at very low dimming levels of the illuminant line.
These and other objects, which will be mentioned during reading of the following description or which can be recognized by a person skilled in the art, are achieved by the subject-matter of the independent claims. The dependent claims develop the central idea of the present invention in a particularly advantageous manner.
The synchronous flyback converter circuit achieves the above objects since by means of a primary-side capture of a temporal mean of the switch current flowing through the first switch and by means of a primary-side separate determination, undertaken on the basis of this capture, of the temporal mean of the positive component of the switch current flowing through the first switch and of the temporal mean of the negative component of the switch current flowing through the first switch, information relating to the temporal mean of the current flowing on the secondary side and consequently of the illuminant line current can be collected in a space-saving and cost-effective way when the illuminant line is connected to the synchronous flyback converter circuit. This is because a combination of the temporal mean of the positive component of the switch current and the temporal mean of the negative component of the switch current can be used to determine the actual temporal mean of the switch current, which allows a conclusion to be drawn about the actual temporal mean of the secondary-side current.
The same applies to the corresponding method according to the invention.
The synchronous flyback converter circuit also achieves the above object since by means of a primary-side separate capture of the temporal mean of the positive component of the switch current flowing through the first switch and of the temporal mean of the negative component of the switch current flowing through the first switch, information relating to the temporal mean of the current flowing on the secondary side and consequently of the illuminant line current can be collected in a space-saving and cost-effective way when the illuminant line is connected to the synchronous flyback converter circuit. This is because a combination of the temporal mean of the positive component of the switch current and the temporal mean of the negative component of the switch current can be used to determine the actual temporal mean of the switch current, which allows a conclusion to be drawn about the actual temporal mean of the secondary-side current.
The same applies to the corresponding method according to the invention.

Synchronous flyback converter circuit for operating an illuminant line


A method of depositing a film comprising a monolayer of particles. The method includes providing a dispersion comprising particles and at least two liquids and depositing drops of the dispersion onto a substrate and evaporating the at least two liquids resulting in a film of a monolayer of the particles. One embodiment of the method includes a coating on the outer surface of particles such that the coating makes the particles substantially non-dispersible, substantially non-soluble and substantially non-suspendable in one of the liquids. A particulate film containing at least one layer of particles, wherein the at least one layer is substantially made of particles of a chemical composition and has uniform thickness. Optical devices containing a particulate film containing at least one layer of particles, wherein the at least one layer is substantially made of particles of a chemical composition and has uniform thickness.

This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, these statements are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is or is not prior art.
There are many industrial applications such as but not limited optoelectronics, electronic devices, sensors, and photovoltaic applications where uniform films of particles is required. By uniform, we mean uniform thickness such that variations across a particulate film are of the order of magnitude of the size of the particles comprising the film. Techniques used for this in the industry include Langmuir transfer techniques which is a vacuum-based technique. Other methods include chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition, which require complex equipment and have higher energy cost.
Thus, there exists a need for techniques for forming uniform films of particles that require no vacuum and no transfer techniques and are capable of forming films directly onto a desired substrate without the need for complex equipment and high energy cost.

Methods of forming particulate films and films and devices made therefrom


Disclosed are an amino acid sequence of myrmecia incise reisigl diacylgycerol acyltransferase, an encoding gene sequence and application thereof. Specifically, based on myrmecia incise reisigl transcriptome sequencing data, cloning to obtain full-length cDNA and full-length DNA sequences of a myrmecia incise reisigl diacylgycerol acyltransferase gene, and expressing the gene in yeast TAG synthesis defect strain H1246, finding that an encoded protein thereof has a capability for synthesizing a TAG, and using a substrate preference experiment to prove that the encoded protein of the gene tends to C18:1 fatty acid.

Energy is the foundation of human society development. Facing the global energy crisis, the oil remains in short supply. Bio-energy has become a search focus due to its properties of renewability, and with the unique advantages of no need of food, land and forage, microalgae biodiesel has been attracting increasing attention around the world.
Different species of microalgae have various ability to synthesize triacylglycerol (TAG). It has been revealed that the eukaryotic microalgae (such as green algae or diatom etc.) has higher oil content, which is a promising alga species to produce biodiesel. Myrmecia incisa Reisigl H4301 is a single-cell freshwater microalga belonging to Chlorophyta with accumulated amounts of TAG, especially under a nitrogen starvation stress. Therefore, Myrmecia incisa can be regarded as a potential algal species for production of biodiesel.
TAG is the major storage form of lipid in plants, and plays an important role in the growth and development of plants. Three TAG synthesizing enzymes have been found: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT, EC 188.8.131.52), phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT, EC 220.127.116.11), and diacylglycerol transacylase (DGTA). Therein, DGAT, the most important enzyme in TAG synthesis, catalyzes the final step in TAG biosynthesis along Kennedy pathway and is also the only rate-limiting enzyme of this pathway. To date, three DGAT families have been discovered, which are DGAT1, DGAT2 and DGAT3.
A Chinese Paper was published which was titled "the transcriptome sequencing and function annotation of lipid metabolism-related genes in the green microalga Myrmecia incisa" in the Journal of Shanghai Ocean University, volume 21, NO. 5, September 2012. In order to give a deep insight of the metabolic process of arachidonic acid and lipid in Myrmecia incisa, high through-put transcriptome pyrosequencing of Myrmecia incisa was conducted using the sequencer Roche 454 GS FLX, and a total of 382 468 high quality reads were obtained, which accounts for 97.14% of the original reads, with an average length of 322 nucleotides totally 123 Mb. After clustering and assembly using the CAP3 software, these reads were assembled into 22 714 contigs and 25 621 singletons. Homology search, comparison and annotation and classification of gene function were performed against public data bases, and the lipid metabolism pathway in Myrmecia incisa Reisigl was established based on the annotated genes in the transcriptome. But this paper does not disclose Myrmecia incisa Reisigl diacylglycerol acyltransferase cDNA sequence, and it is recognized by those skilled in the art that the method of high-throughput sequencing is not 100% accurate and is highly possible for inaccuracy, thus according to the paper, a person of ordinary skill in the art is difficult to obtain the accurate gene sequence of Myrmecia incisa Reisigl diacylglycerol acyltransferase.
Chinese patent document CN201210477507.7 whose date of publication is Feb. 27, 2013, titled "a DNA sequence coding Myrmecia incisa Reisigl diacylglycerol acyltransferase and the use thereof shows that based on Myrmecia incisa Reisigl transcriptome sequencing data, a full-length cDNA sequence of a Myrmecia incisa Reisigl diacylglycerol acyltransferase (MiDGAT2) gene was obtained by screening. Homology alignment analysis indicated that the Myrmecia incisa Reisigl diacylglycerol acyltransferase gene was of the DAGT2-gene family. Further obtained was the full-length DNA sequence of MiDGAT2. Heterologous expression in a TAG synthesis defective strain H1246 of yeast, proved that the protein encoded by the gene has the capability of triacylglycerol synthesis. However, Myrmecia incisa Reisigl is a eukaryotic alga, and it may contain more than one diacylglycerol acyltransferase, and TAG synthesis may be catalyzed by multiple isozymes. An isozyme/isoenzyme refers to an enzyme that has different properties (different Vmax and/or Km) but catalyzes the same reaction, which is also called isofunctional enzymes. The amount of isoenzymes may vary between different organs and tissues in an organism, and the isoenzymes may also appear in different organelles of any eukaryotic cells. Their differences can be shown in the primary and quaternary structure of protein, or in the process after translation. Their enzymatic activity can be regulated in response to specific physiological conditions in the cell. Isoenzyme is the result of gene variation; while gene variation is the molecular evolution during the evolution process in order to adapt to the increasingly complex metabolism. Gene differentiation facilities the adaptation of different metabolic needs in different tissues or different organelles, and is the protein phenotype of gene coding. Therefore, finding and investigating Myrmecia incisa Reisigl diacylglycerol acyltransferase gene sequence is of great importance to the study of Myrmecia incisa Reisigl evolution, genetic variation and provides a new method of synthesizing TAG by genetic engineering.


A light-emitting device assembly includes a concave optical collector, a light-emitting device, and a light-escape surface. The collector redirects incident light by reflection, scattering, or reradiation. The light-emitting device emits device output light to propagate within the optical collector. The light-escape surface extends across an open end of the collector and exhibits (i) incidence-angle-dependent transmission of light that decreases with increasing incidence angle, or (ii) transmissive redirection of light to propagate at an angle less than a corresponding refracted angle, that are imparted by an array of nano-antennae, a partial photonic bandgap structure, a photonic crystal, an array of meta-atoms or meta-molecules, or a multi-layer dielectric thin film. Assembly output light transmitted by the light-escape surface includes first and second portions of the device output light that propagate within the collector without and with redirection, respectively, within the collector by the light-escape surface.

Typical light-emitting diodes emit radiation as an output beam with an angular intensity distribution that is roughly Lambertian (i.e., having intensity that varies as cos θ, where θ=0° defines the primary beam propagation direction, which in many examples is normal to the surface of the emitter). For many practical applications such an intensity distribution is too wide, with an unacceptably high fraction of the total optical output power propagating at angles too far from the primary beam direction to be useful. For example, for a Lambertian distribution only 50% of the total optical output power propagates within a cone defined by θ=45°, which subtends a solid angle of about 1.84 steradians (sr). Some conventional light-emitting device assemblies (sometimes referred to as "light-emitting packages" or "packaged optical sources" or "packaged light-emitting devices") include a concave optical collector with a reflective or scattering inner surface. The collector, in some common examples having a frusto-conical shape, redirects some peripheral portions of the device optical output beam to propagate closer to the primary beam direction, but the effectiveness of such collectors for reshaping the output beam is limited. Secondary optical elements (e.g., domes, lenses, and so forth) can be employed to reshape the angular intensity distribution to increase its directionality (i.e., shift some fraction of the output intensity to smaller angles θ), but such secondary optical elements are often bulky or lossy.

Light-emitting device assembly with light redirection or incidence-angle-dependent transmission through an escape surface


A surgical clip is provided for ligating or transecting tissue, such as vessels, other tubular ducts, and the like and a surgical clip applier device for delivering and applying the surgical clip to the tissue. The surgical clip can include a spine and opposed arms extending from the spine where the arms can define a clamping length. In a resting state, the clip can be biased to a closed position such that the ends of each opposed arm are disposed in proximity to each other. With such biasing, when applied to a tissue, such as with a surgical clip applier, the clip can exert a positive clamping pressure to the tissue along the clamping length to seal the tissue and limit passage of fluids, such as blood, from the tissue.

In recent years, surgery has markedly advanced through the performance of laparoscopic and endoscopic surgical procedures. Endoscopic procedures are performed through natural orifices, whereas laparoscopic surgical procedures are often accomplished through an access port such as a trocar assembly, which is a surgical instrument used to puncture a body cavity. The trocar typically contains a sharpened obturator tip and a trocar tube or cannula. The trocar cannula is inserted into the skin to access the body cavity, by using the obturator tip to penetrate the skin. After penetration, the obturator is removed and the trocar cannula remains in the body.
During many surgical procedures, a surgeon will have to close or ligate various blood vessels, ducts, and other tissues before severing them in order to prevent excessive bleeding, and to reduce the risk of other complications to the patient. It is also sometimes necessary to transect a vessel, duct, or organ by cutting and then sealing both ends of the vessel, duct, or organ using an instrument such as a linear cutter/stapler.
One surgical instrument that is commonly used endoscopically or laparoscopically ligate a vessel, duct, or organ is a surgical clip applier for ligating a blood vessel, a duct, shunt, or a portion of body tissue during surgery. Clip appliers typically have a handle with an elongate shaft having a pair of movable opposed jaws formed on an end thereof for holding and forming a ligation clip therebetween. The jaws are positioned around the vessel and the clip is secured to the vessel via mechanical deformation caused by closing of the jaws.
One drawback associated with some current clips used for ligating vessels is that the legs of the clip tend to separate to some extent following release from a clip applier. This phenomenon is called duck-billing. Duck-billing can result in insufficient ligation of a vessel, thus leading to excessive blood loss and/or unnecessary damage to the vessel. Further, some ligation clips are often difficult to advance into the jaws of a clip applier because of resistance between the tissue disposed between the jaws and the gripping features on the clip legs.
Despite existing technologies, there remains a need for improved surgical clip appliers, clips, and methods used for ligating and transecting tissue, such as blood vessels, other ducts, and the like.

Surgical clip and applier device and method of use


A device for converting cellulose to sugar has a reaction chamber with a plurality of control components, and a control assembly. The control assembly is operatively connected to the reaction chamber, a drive assembly and control components to transmit and receive interoperability signals. The device has an inlet hopper with a detector, a crusher, an outlet hopper, a sensor assembly, a steam inlet, and a carbon dioxide inlet. The inlet hopper is configured to receive and analyze proportion data of matters in a feedstock and catalyst mixture via the detector. The crusher receives and grinds the mixture from the inlet hopper to induce chemical reaction for producing sugar. The outlet hopper is configured to determine a proportion data of matter in the grinded mixture. The control assembly is configured to determine adjustments need to be performed on the components and drive assembly to optimize the sugar production.

Cellulose is an organic compound with a general formula (C6HioO5)n, a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1,4) linked D-glucose units, joined by an oxygen (ether) linkage to form long molecular chains that are essentially linear. These linkages cause the cellulose to have a high crystallinity and thus a low accessibility to enzymes or acid catalysts. This phenomenon is known as recalcitrance.
Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and the oomycetes. It occurs in close proximity to hemicellulose and lignin, which together comprise the major components of plant fiber cells. In addition, some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Naturally formed by plants, cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on Earth.
Hydrolysis is what the enzymes do. Enzymes are a specific type of catalyst, like liquid or solid acids. Cellulose has many pathways to many products including nanocellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, glucose, many things you can make from glucose including ethanol and the many things you can make from ethanol as a chemical economy.
Hydrolysis, meaning water-cleavage is a reaction involving the breaking of a bond in a molecule using water. Hydrolysis of cellulose yields a mixture of simple reducing sugars, mainly glucose. These hydrolysis products can be converted to ethyl alcohol which can be used as a liquid fuel to replace petroleum, and results in more complete and cleaner combustion, they may also serve as fuel or intermediates in pathways to other fuels. In addition, products of hydrolysis can also be used to manufacture various organic chemicals presently produced from petroleum. In terms of available energy, expressed as the heat of combustion of cellulose or of the glucose product theoretically obtainable therefrom, a pound of cellulose is equivalent to approximately 0.35 lbs. of gasoline or other fuels.
On earth, it has been estimated that roughly 6.45×1011 tons of carbon are fixed and deposited every year by photosynthesis, out of which half appears in the form of cellulose. In addition, it has been estimated that about ¾ of the approximate of the biomass generated on cultivated lands and grasslands currently contribute to waste production. The utilization of such waste materials for developing alternative sources of fuels, chemicals and other useful products has long been desired. However, attempts to hydrolyze cellulose have not yet succeeded in providing an economically viable method for producing sugars, due primarily to the crystalline structure of cellulose and the presence of lignin therein. The sheer magnitude of this potential source dictates the necessity of improving the methods and systems for cellulose utilization.
Furthermore, in known processes and methods the chemical or thermal stress on the macromolecules, particularly when processing extremely viscous, highly substituted products, is so intense that during conversion macromolecules may be decomposed in the form of a chain scission, which is noticeable in particular by the more or less large decrease in viscosity compared to the starting products. Also, the surfaces of the products treated by the preliminary embrittlement or drying steps become rough. Furthermore, a common feature of known processes is the large amount of energy expended in converting cellulose derivatives after the preliminary drying, embrittlement or compaction.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved device, system and method to convert cellulosic materials into sugar that is cost effective and provides the greatest yield of sugar over time, as will be described in greater detail herein.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System to convert cellulosic materials into sugar and method of using the same


The lubricating oil used to lubricate diesel engines is stabilized against the detrimental degradation effects of biodiesel fuel by the addition to the lubricating oil of an additive concentrate comprising a premix of a first antioxidant, a second antioxidant of a type different from the first and an organometallic compound.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the lubrication of diesel engines run on biodiesel fuels and to the stabilization of the lubricating oil against degradation induced by the biodiesel fuels.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an effort to reduce the dependency on petroleum-based hydrocarbon fuels, various renewable sources of fuels have been identified and investigated.
Diesel fuels, traditionally petroleum hydrocarbon fractions or synthetic hydrocarbon fractions such as hydrocarbons derived from Fischer-Tropsch processes and boiling in the distillate boiling range of are viewed as non-renewable resource fuels, being produced either from crude oil or, by various synthetic reactions, from natural gas.
Lubricating oils containing one or more phenolic antioxidants and/or one or more aromatic amine antioxidants and/or zinc dialkyl diphenylamine are known in the literature.
EP 1,878,784 teaches a long life fuel saving engine oil composition comprising a mineral and/or synthetic base oil, an amine antioxidant and a phenolic antioxidant, and molybdenum dithiocarbamate. The oil is described as exhibiting excellent oxidative stability at high temperatures. In addition to the components recited above, the lubricating oil composition may also contain other additives such as detergent, zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate, ashless dispersants, VI improvers, pour point depressants, metal deactivators, rust preventors and anti-foaming agents. In the Examples, formulations containing phenolic antioxidants, amine antioxidants, MoDTC and further containing ZDDP are presented. The formulation exhibited excellent oxidation stability in the Sequence IIIG test.
U.S. 2006/0223724 teaches a lubricating oil of reduced phosphorus levels which retains excellent viscosity control; i.e., excellent oxidation stability. The oil comprises a major amount of one or more of a Group II, Group III, Group IV and synthetic ester base stock, 4,4′ methylenebis (2,6 ditertbutyl phenol), an alkylated diphenyl amine, a detergent and zinc dialkyldithiophosphate. Optionally an oil soluble organomolybdenum compound can be present, as can additional, different hindered phenolic antioxidants. The lubricant contains about 600 ppm or less phosphorus derived from the ZDDP. In the Examples, a preblend was prepared consisting of a 150N Group II base oil, an ashless dispersant, an overbased detergent, a neutral detergent and a secondary zinc dialkyldithiophosphate. To the preblend various other components were added individually, including various hindered phenols and aromatic amines. A number of examples contain all three of ZDDP, a hindered phenol and an aromatic amine.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,300,292 teaches an hydraulic oil of excellent oxidative stability comprising a vegetable oil base oil and at least one antioxidant selected from the group consisting of a phenol antioxidant, an amine antioxidant and a zinc dithiophosphate antioxidant in an amount of 0.01 to 5 wt % based on the total composition. The vegetable oil can be rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, mixed oil. The vegetable oil has a total degree of unsaturation of 0.3 or less and an oleic acid content of not less than 70% by mass in triglyceride-constituting fatty acids.
The antioxidants can be used individually or as a combination of two or three of such components. In a mixture of three components the ratio by weight may be 1:1:1. There are no examples of any formulation containing all three suggested antioxidant types, let alone as a premix.
EP 1,006,173 teaches a lubricant exhibiting extended oxidation stability comprising a hydraulic oil anti-wear component and a base oil and an additive comprising an amine antioxidant and at least one additional antioxidant selected from ashless dithiocarbamate, sulfurized olefin and phenolic antioxidant. The base oil can include animal oils and vegetable oils. The hydraulic oil anti-wear additive is hydraulic grade zinc dialkyldithiophosphate. Formulations containing ZDDP, a phenolic antioxidant and one or more aminic antioxidants are reported. It does not appear that a premix was employed.
EP 0,896,050 teaches a lubricating oil comprising a particular base oil and an oxidation inhibitor. The base oil is a mineral oil-derived lubricant having a saturated hydrocarbon content of 80% or more by mass and a viscosity-density constant of the saturated hydrocarbon component of 0.79 or less. The antioxidant is selected from the group consisting of hindered phenolic, aromatic aminic and sulfur containing antioxidants. Sulfur containing antioxidants include zinc dihydrocarbyl dithiophosphate. The antioxidant can be a single material or a mixture of two or more components in any ratio. There were no examples containing antioxidants from all three categories in a single formulation.
EP 0,725,130 teaches a lubricating oil highly resistant to oxidation by nitrogen oxides. The lubricant consists of a hydrocarbon oil base oil, molybdenum dithiocarbamate, zinc dithiophosphate and a phenol antioxidant. Additional additives can be present, including amine-based antioxidants. There were no examples of a lubricant containing an amine antioxidant in addition to the zinc dithiophosphate and phenol antioxidant.
"Additive Interactions and Depletion Processes in Fuel Effluent Engine Oils", Johnson, Millen, et al., SAE Technical Paper Seven 971694, May 5-8, 1997. This paper investigates the interaction between molybdenum dithiocarbamate and zinc dialkyldithiophosphate and phenolic antioxidants. The presence of the antioxidants inhibits oxidation caused by peroxy radicals by trapping the radicals and reducing the rate of oxidation. The use of additional presence of aminic antioxidants is not mentioned or discussed.
JP 09 272882 teaches a hydraulic oil comprising a mineral oil having an aromatic content of 1.5 mass % or less and dialkyl zinc dithiophosphate, 2,6 di-tert-butyl-4 methyl phenol and P-P′ dioctyl diphenyl amine.
JP 59 041388 teaches the stabilization of coal liquefaction oil by the addition of a radical stabilizer containing hindered phenol, aromatic sec- or tert-amine and metallic dithiophosphate. The stabilizer is added to the oil prior to heating and prevents coking.
Biodiesel fuels have been identified as an alternative to conventional distillate fuels.
Biodiesel fuels are based on the trans-esterification of triglyceride of fatty acids secured from vegetable oils and animal fats. Trans-esterification of the vegetable oils and animal fats into fatty acid alkyl esters is necessary to reduce the viscosity of the vegetable oils and/or animal fats to more closely resemble that of traditional diesel fuel.
Vegetable-based biodiesel is currently the more common of the biodiesel fuels. Vegetable oils used as base stock sources include soy, rapeseed, palm, cottonseed, peanut, sunflower, coconut, canola, etc. while animal fats include lard, tallow, fish oil, poultry fat, etc.
Trans-esterification employs alcohols in the presence of a catalyst. The alcohol can be any C1 to C5 alkyl alcohol, but, for the sake of economy, methanol is the most widely used alcohol. The biodiesel is commonly identified by reference to its plant source. Thus there exist soy alkyl ester, rapeseed alkyl ester, cottonseed alkyl ester, etc. fuels, typically soy methyl ester (SME) and rapeseed methyl ester (REM).
It is readily apparent, therefore, that such alkyl ester fuels are mixtures of molecules of various molecular weight with ester functionality and often with one or two double bonds in the alkyl group associated with the fatty acid starting materials.
Such ester functionalities and olefinic double bonds are chemically active groups making biodiesel fuel chemically and kinetically unstable, causing both the biodiesel fuel itself and the hydrocarbon-based lubricating oil to oxidize, prematurely resulting in sludge and deposit formation in the engine.
Despite this susceptibility to early oxidation, biodiesel is an attractive fuel source because in comparison to conventional diesel fuel, biodiesel fuels are derived from renewable sources and exhibit improved performance in CO2, CO, hydrocarbon and particulate matter emissions while having at least equivalent or in some instances superior cetane numbers.
Thus it would be an advance if a way could be found to reduce or eliminate the harmful early oxidation of the diesel lubricant associated with the use of biodiesel fuel.

Method for stabilizing diesel engine lubricating oil against degradation by biodiesel fuel

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A method for interference suppression of a sampling process includes sampling an analog signal with a sampling frequency f, and determining whether an interference amplitude is present. The method provides that if an interference amplitude is present, the sampling frequency f is increased or decreased, and the method begins again with the sampling of the analog signal with the increased or decreased sampling frequency. In addition, a device is described for carrying out the method.

For the digital evaluation of the measurement results of sensors, it is necessary to convert the analog sensor signal, or the signal sampled by sensors, into a digital signal. Frequently, for this purpose analog-digital converters are used, which make use of the advantages of an oversampling. Here, the narrow-band input signal is sampled with a high-frequency clock rate, and is subsequently digitized using an analog-digital converter. The bandwidth of the useful signal (also referred to as useful band or base band) is here significantly smaller than half the sampling frequency. If the input signal contains high-frequency interference signals, these may be convoluted down into the useful band due to the aliasing effect. In order to prevent this, standardly an anti-aliasing filter is used that filters out the high-frequency interference signals before the sampling.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a frequency diagram for such a situation. Analog useful signal 16 is sampled with a sampling frequency f. In an idealized circuit, or an idealized method, this takes place for example using a periodic clock signal having the period T=1/f, a sampled value being acquired in each case at a determined point in time within the period, for example when the periodic clock signal exceeds or falls below a specified voltage, so that the temporal distance between two successive sampling times corresponds in each case to the period T. The sampled useful signal then results, in the time representation, as the product of the input signal times a sampling function that is given by a sequence of equidistant sampling pulses with the temporal spacing T. In the frequency representation, this product corresponds to a convolution of the frequency spectrum of the input signal with the frequency spectrum of the sampling function, given by a sequence of equidistant spectral lines with the spacing f. Frequency spectrum 10 of a sampling function is shown in FIG. 1.
The input signal can contain superposed high-frequency interference signals, such as those that occur for example in the case of electromagnetic coupling in. According to the existing art, such an interference signal is filtered out before the sampling using an anti-alias filter, for example a low-pass filter having transmission function 14. Such a filtered high-frequency interference signal 12 is shown in FIG. 1 as an example, at a frequency that is slightly greater than twice the sampling frequency f. The point of intersection of transmission function 14 of the anti-aliasing filter with the frequency axis limits base band 1 to a range that extends from 0*f up to a frequency of f/2. Here, the low-pass filter is fashioned such that an analog useful signal 16 in base band 1 is allowed to pass through as unfiltered as possible at a typical useful frequency. A disadvantage of this solution is that an anti-aliasing filter has to be implemented. This results in development outlay and use of surface area, in particular if an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is realized.
FIG. 2 shows the frequency spectra of the sampling of an analog useful signal 16 without anti-aliasing filter. Base band 1 extends, as in the case of the filtering using an anti-aliasing filter, over a frequency range of from 0*f to f/2. However, interference amplitude 20, which represents the convolution of an unfiltered high-frequency interference signal 18 in the case of sampling without the use of the anti-aliasing filter, is for the most part convoluted directly into base band 1 and thus, given sampling with a sampling frequency f whose frequency spectrum 10 in FIG. 2 is depicted as equal to that in FIG. 1, is wrongly interpreted as useful signal 16.
In the article "Digital Alias-free signal processing in the GHz frequency Range" by I. Bilinksis, G. Cain, published in 1996, pages 6/1-6/6 (XP1133893), the authors discuss a sampling method freed from aliasing, in which the sampling times are shifted in time by an arbitrary amount of time with respect to a periodic sampling.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,273 discusses a resolution system reinforced by a ring laser gyroscope, in which a phase-locked loop circuit used for sampling frequency modulation is used in combination with a fast filter.
Moreover, EP 1 330 036 A1 discusses a method and a device for alias-suppressed digitization of analog signals of a high frequency, in which a clock pulse generator generates a sequence of electrical pulses of a predetermined frequency Fclk, the sequence being divided by a pseudo-arbitrary value for the purpose of selecting a pulse from the sequence.

Method for interference suppression of a sampling process and a device for carrying out the method


There is provided a colon cleaning device comprising: a tube through which liquid and fecal matter are removed from a colon of a patient, the tube having a longitudinal axis; a cleaning head positioned at the distal end of the tube, the cleaning head having at least one opening coaxial with the longitudinal axis, the at least one opening sized for fecal matter to enter the interior of the cleaning head from the colon; at least one disassembly element disposed within the cleaning head; and an actuating mechanism which actuates the disassembly element to perform sweeping displacement inside the cleaning head so that the at least one disassembly element rotates around the longitudinal axis to slice through the fecal matter; wherein the cleaning head and the tube are sized and shaped to be displaced along the colon of a patient.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to devices and methods for cleaning body cavities and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to devices and methods for cleaning a human colon.
Colonoscopy procedures have become relatively common, for example, for screening for colon cancer. In order to visualize the internal wall of the colon clearly, the fecal matter in the colon needs to be removed. Patients are prescribed a regimen of laxatives to empty out the colon before the procedure. The preparation, however, may not be complete, leaving fecal matter inside the colon that may obstruct full view of the internal colon.
Various devices and methods have been described for removing remaining fecal matter, which may be hiding a cancerous growth from view.
International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2011/158232 describes "presents methods and devices for continuously cleaning a colon by at least partially filling a segment of the colon with liquid and agitating the fluid to dislodge matter adhering to the colon walls. Methods for automatic maintenance of liquid levels in the colon during continuous cleaning are taught."
Additional background art includes:                U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0289892;        U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0289910;        International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2009/095915;        U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0256464.
The contents of the above applications are all incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein in their entirety.


A hydraulic tappet for an internal combustion engine has a collar located axially on a valve stem, the outer periphery of the collar slidably engaging a cylindrical bore which is coaxial with the valve stem. A cap having a central tubular formation which slidingly engages over the end of the valve stem and an outer periphery which engages the cylindrical bore, is separated axially of the collar, to define a first chamber between the cap and collar and a second chamber between the cap and the end of valve stem. An inlet for hydraulic fluid is provided to the first chamber and the first and second chambers one interconnected by a non-return valve which prevents flow from the second chamber. A controlled leakage path is provided from the second chamber and a spring biases the cap into engagement with a cam formation.

The present invention relates to hydraulic tappets and in particular hydraulic tappets for overhead cam shaft internal combustion engines.
In conventional overhead cam shaft internal combustion engines, a cup shaped tappet is located over the end of the valve stem with an adjusting shim interposed therebetween. The tappet is slidingly located in a bore in the cylinder head, so that the flat face thereof is engaged by a cam. In order to ensure that the valve will close fully in spite of thermal expansion of the components, it is necessary to maintain a clearance between the face of the tappet and the base circle diameter of the cam. The thickness of the adjusting shim is selected to provide a set clearance between the face of the tappet and the base circle diameter of the cam, so that a clearance will be maintained therebetween, over the operating temperature range of the engine, while noise created thereby is minimized.
The present invention provides a hydraulic tappet in which the inter-engaging surfaces of the cam and tappet are maintained in engagement, a clearance being provided between the tappet and valve stem, the load applied to the tappet being transmitted to the valve stem by means of hydraulic fluid.


Provided is a photographing apparatus including: first and second light sources that respectively transmit a first light having a first spectral radiant characteristic and a second light having a second spectral radiant characteristic; an image device that captures an image of a subject by using the transmitted lights sources; a storage unit that stores a first reference output ratio corresponding to the first light and a second reference output ratio corresponding to the second light; and a determiner that determines a regular reflection area of the light sources by using a first captured image acquired by capturing an image of the subject by using the first light, a second captured image acquired by capturing an image of the subject by using the second light, the first reference output ratio, and the second reference output ratio.

1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to a method and apparatus for photographing an image using light from multiple light sources.
2. Description of the Related Art
When pictures are taken in darkness using a photographing apparatus, auxiliary lighting is typically used. However, regular reflection from the auxiliary lighting is frequently captured, thus generating an unnatural image.

Method and apparatus for photographing an image using light from multiple light sources


A treatment planning apparatus comprises a means for receiving a three dimensional representation of a patient, a means for displaying at least a part of the representation, a means for user-designation of sub-regions of the representation, and a computing means adapted to segment the representation into a region within an anatomical structure and a region outside the anatomical structure on the basis of the locations of the sub-regions and the degree of similarity of voxels to neighboring voxels in the representation. The treatment planning apparatus preferably further comprises means for designating sub-regions as being inside the structure, means for designating sub-regions as being outside the structure, and/or means for designating sub-regions as being at a border of the structure. In the latter case, we prefer that the size of border sub-regions is adjustable. The computing means can segment the representation by minimizing a cost function. We also prefer that the initial values of the function in sub-regions designated as being in a border region are constrained to a different preset value. In an particularly useful aspect of this invention, after minimization of the function the values in sub-regions designated as being in a border region are then un-constrained, the remaining values are constrained, and the function is then minimized a second time.

Radiotherapy operates by directing a beam of harmful radiation towards a tumour. To avoid causing unnecessary harm to the healthy tissue surrounding the tumour, the beam is collimated to a suitable cross-sectional shape and is directed towards the tumour from a variety of directions.
The apparatus for producing and controlling this beam has become steadily more complex and capable over time. Current external beam radiotherapy can now direct the beam towards the patient from a steadily rotating gantry while collimating the beam to a complex and varying cross-sectional shape that is tailored to deliver a varying dose rate to the patient to create a three-dimensional dose distribution that is maximised in the tumour, minimised in any nearby sensitive structures, and optimised in other tissue. Multiple-source radiotherapy apparatus is able to deliver precise doses to specific small volumes in the head and neck and upper shoulder areas of the patient and build these up to form similarly complex dose distributions by accurate indexing of the patient position.
To control these types of apparatus, treatment planning computers employ complex software to convert a desired dose distribution or a set of treatment constraints into a series of instructions for the physical movement and operation of the apparatus. These computers obviously need to know where the tumour is located; this information is obtained from internal scans of the patient, such as CT scans or the like.
This requires that a physician "segment" the scan, i.e. outlines the volume containing the tumour and volumes containing any sensitive structures such as the optic nerve, the digestive system, etc. Segmenting structures is therefore an important task in treatment planning applications, since the treatment planning process depends (inter alia) on the accuracy of segmentation for the quality of its results. There are many segmentation tools, spanning from completely manual ones to fully automatic ones.
The advantage of manual methods however is that they provide full (or at least much more) control over the result. The drawback is that it is very time consuming, difficult, and tedious to segment large 3D structures manually.
One drawback of many automatic methods—especially advanced ones—is the lack of control of the result. No method can be expected to be fully accurate in all cases, and when the result is not acceptable, there is often no way to correct it, or it must be corrected with purely manual tools—thereby cancelling some of the benefits of automatic methods.
Our GammaPlan™ and SurgiPlan™ tools currently provide manual outlining and a simple semi-automatic tool that works for certain images with good contrast, between target and background. These tools are useful, but could benefit from being more powerful.

Radiotherapeutic treatment planning apparatus and methods


A downhole fluid control apparatus comprises first and second conduits for providing communication between a pressure source and a downhole device, and a valve provided within a housing and configurable between a first configuration in which the first and second conduits are in pressure communication via the valve, and a second configuration in which the first and second conduits are isolated from each other. The apparatus further comprises an actuator for operating the valve. The actuator is in pressure communication with the first and second conduits and with an ambient region external of the apparatus such that when the pressure within each of the first and second conduits is lower than the ambient pressure the valve is configured in its first configuration, and when the pressure within at least one of the first and second conduits exceeds the ambient pressure the valve is configured in its second configuration.

In the oil and gas industry the actuation or operation of downhole equipment, such as valves, sleeves, tools and the like may be achieved in many different ways, such as hydraulically, pneumatically, electrically, mechanically etc. In hydraulic systems hydraulic power may be provided from surface, or other location remote from the downhole equipment, via one or more hydraulic control lines. Such control lines may extend externally of a tubing string, such as a completion or production tubing string, and thus located within a wellbore annulus and exposed to ambient wellbore pressure.
As with any hydraulic system there is always a risk of leakage, either from the system into the environment, or, where pressure conditions dictate, from the environment into the hydraulic system. In circumstances where the ambient (for example annulus) pressure exceeds that within the control lines, for example where the ambient fluid has a higher density, in the event of a leak the control line may become pressurized. Such pressurization may cause undesired actuation of the associated downhole equipment.


The compositions for removing a mineral phase from a surface composition for removing a mineral phase of inorganic sulfate scale include a phosphonoalkyl aminopolycarboxylic acid chelating agent; a wettability modifier comprises a dibasic ester and a surfactant, wherein the surfactant comprises one or more of an anionic alkyl sulfonate or an anionic aryl sulfonate; a pH-adjusting agent; a scale converting agent; and water. The methods for removing a mineral phase from a surface include contacting the mineral phase with an aqueous dissolver fluid that is one of the present compositions; and removing the oil wet mineral phase from the surface with the aqueous dissolver fluid. The compositions and methods provide enhanced remediation of mineral phases from surfaces associated with wellbores.

The present disclosure relates to methods and fluid compositions for enhanced remediation of mineral phases from surfaces associated with wellbores.
Operations to extract a subterranean product from the earth through a well often use treatment fluids to facilitate or implement the operations. Hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas, are subterranean products commonly extracted from reservoirs, areas of the earth that contain the hydrocarbons. A reservoir may be deep below the surface of the earth and the earth may include one or more formations that are above and/or make up the reservoir. A formation is a region of the earth with a distinct lithology describing the physical characteristics of the rock in the formation, such as mineral content.
Illustrative extraction operations may include, for example, drilling, completion, stimulation, and production. Stimulation operations may include, for example, fracturing and acidizing. In various operations, a treatment fluid is delivered downhole. For example, illustrative treatment fluids include fracturing fluids, cementing fluids, completion fluids, drilling mud, and production chemical fluids. Hydrocarbons are extracted or the treatment fluids delivered downhole using systems which may include surfaces, such as metal surfaces, for example conduits, pipelines, flowlines, or equipment, including downhole tools and devices. Other surfaces contacting fluids extracted from or introduced to downhole include mineral matrices, for example subterranean formations.
Inorganic scale may accumulate on surfaces during extractions and recovery operations. Inorganic scales form by substances precipitating onto the surfaces from fluids contacting the surfaces during extraction operations. Inorganic scales tend to create restrictions leading to artificial choking of the production tubing or liner, thus yielding reduced production and costly equipment damage. The severity of such scaling can accumulate to the point where flow essentially is no longer economically viable for continued operations, where continued equipment interventions are required if no remedial actions are taken to remove the scale. Inorganic scale formation in the wellbore area, pipelines, and equipment remains a production-restricting problem. This precipitation or crystallization, or accumulation, can take place in or within a fracture naturally present or artificially created (hydraulic fracturing, "fracking"). Under certain circumstances the proppant pack placed, whether in a hydraulic fracture or a frac-pac, can experience scaling. In other operations, the scaling can take place in or within the reservoir itself when the well is an injector well. In such a case, the scaling may occur due to the introduction of improperly treated or conditioned water, and/or the processes associated with the introduction of an acidizing or another descaling treatment fluid. For example, formation damage may occur when an incorrect or inadequate fluid is first introduced into a well or reservoir and then contacted by a an acidizing or descaling fluid having incompatible physico-chemical characteristics.
The inorganic scale is typically oil-wet in a producing well, making it difficult to efficiently achieve near complete dissolution (>90%) with an aqueous-based dissolver fluid without incurring extended time periods (for example days) and the need for organic solvent flush or wash steps or stages before applying an aqueous dissolver fluid in order to remove the scale. Further, conventional processes of removing scale tend to involve flushing (a step referred as post-flush) with a sufficiently strong mineral acid such as hydrochloric acid, or a strong organic acid such methanesulfonic acid, or in other instances formic acid, or acetic acid after applying the aqueous dissolver fluid in order to remove the scale.

Removal of a mineral phase from a surface associated with a wellbore


The present invention is directed to methods of producing conjugates of Aβ peptide immunogens with protein/polypeptide carrier molecules, which are useful as immunogens, wherein peptide immunogens are conjugated to protein carriers via activated functional groups on amino acid residues of the carrier or of the optionally attached linker molecule, and wherein any unconjugated reactive functional groups on amino acid residues are inactivated via capping, thus retaining the immunological functionality of the carrier molecule, but reducing the propensity for undesirable reactions that could render the conjugate less safe or effective. Furthermore, the invention also relates to such immunogenic products and immunogenic compositions containing such immunogenic products made by such methods.

The essence of adaptive immunity is the ability of an organism to react to the presence of foreign substances and produce components (antibodies and cells) capable of specifically interacting with and protecting the host from their invasion. An "antigen" or "immunogen" is a substance that is able to elicit this type of immune response and also is capable of interacting with the sensitized cells and antibodies that are manufactured against it.
Antigens or immunogens are usually macromolecules that contain distinct antigenic sites or "epitopes" that are recognized and interact with the various components of the immune system. They can exist as individual molecules composed of synthetic organic chemicals, proteins, lipoproteins, glycoproteins, RNA, DNA, or polysaccharides, or they may be parts of cellular structures (bacteria or fungi) or viruses (Harlow and Lane 1988a, b, c; Male et al., 1987).
Small molecules like short peptides, although normally able to interact with the products of an immune response, often cannot cause a response on their own. These peptide immunogens or "haptens" as they are also called, are actually incomplete antigens, and, although not able by themselves to cause immunogenicity or to elicit antibody production, can be made immunogenic by coupling them to a suitable carrier. Carriers typically are protein antigens of higher molecular weight that are able to cause an immunological response when administered in vivo.
In an immune response, antibodies are produced and secreted by the B-lymphocytes in conjunction with the T-helper (TH) cells. In the majority of hapten-carrier systems, the B cells produce antibodies that are specific for both the hapten and the carrier. In these cases, the T lymphocytes will have specific binding domains on the carrier, but will not recognize the hapten alone. In a kind of synergism, the B and T cells cooperate to induce a hapten-specific antibody response. After such an immune response has taken place, if the host is subsequently challenged with only the hapten, usually it will respond by producing hapten-specific antibodies from memory cells formed after the initial immunization.
Synthetic haptens mimicking some critical epitopic structures on larger macromolecules are often conjugated to carriers to create an immune response to the larger "parent" molecule. For instance, short peptide segments can be synthesized from the known sequence of a protein and coupled to a carrier to induce immunogenicity toward the native protein. This type of synthetic approach to the immunogen production has become the basis of much of the current research into the creation of vaccines. However, in many instances, merely creating a B-cell response by using synthetic peptide-carrier conjugates, however well designed, will not always guarantee complete protective immunity toward an intact antigen. The immune response generated by a short peptide epitope from a larger viral particle or bacterial cell may only be sufficient to generate memory at the B cell level. In these cases it is generally now accepted that a cytotoxic T-cell response is a more important indicator of protective immunity. Designing peptide immunogens with the proper epitopic binding sites for both B-cell and T-cell recognition is one of the most challenging research areas in immunology today.
The approach to increasing immunogenicity of small or poorly immunogenic molecules by conjugating these molecules to large "carrier" molecules has been utilized successfully for decades (see, e.g., Goebel et al. (1939) J. Exp. Med. 69: 53). For example, many immunogenic compositions have been described in which purified capsular polymers have been conjugated to carrier proteins to create more effective immunogenic compositions by exploiting this "carrier effect." Schneerson et al. (1984) Infect. Immun. 45: 582-591). Conjugation has also been shown to bypass the poor antibody response usually observed in infants when immunized with a free polysaccharide (Anderson et al. (1985) J. Pediatr. 107: 346; Insel et al. (1986) J. Exp. Med. 158: 294).
Hapten-carrier conjugates have been successfully generated using various cross-linking/coupling reagents such as homobifunctional, heterobifunctional, or zero-length cross linkers. Many such methods are currently available for coupling of saccharides, proteins, and peptides to peptide carriers. Most methods create amine, amide, urethane, isothiourea, or disulfide bonds, or in some cases thioethers. A disadvantage to the use of coupling reagents, which introduce reactive sites in to the side chains of reactive amino acid molecules on carrier and/or hapten molecules, is that the reactive sites if not neutralized are free to react with any unwanted molecule either in vitro (thus adversely affecting the functionality or stability of the conjugate(s)) or in vivo (thus posing a potential risk of adverse events in persons or animals immunized with the preparations). Such excess reactive sites can be reacted or "capped", so as to inactivate these sites, utilizing various known chemical reactions, but these reactions may be otherwise disruptive to the functionality of the conjugates. This may be particularly problematic when attempting to create a conjugate by introducing the reactive sites into the carrier molecule, as its larger size and more complex structure (relative to the hapten) may render it more vulnerable to the disruptive effects of chemical treatment. In fact, no examples are known of methods whereby a conjugate is made by first activating the carrier, then reacting with the hapten in a conjugation reaction, and finally "capping" the remaining reactive sites, while preserving the ability of the resulting conjugate to function as an immunogenic composition having the desired properties of the "carrier effect".

Aβ immunogenic peptide carrier conjugates and methods of producing same


A compact sterilizable unit has a control box containing internal water and air supply networks and a sterilizable water supply bottle, dental handpiece and dental syringe removably connected to the control box by specially adapted connector fittings. The unit has a retrofit connection to a conventional four hole connector which supplies operating air in response to the conventional dental operatory foot control. Only sterile water is supplied to the patient from the sterile water bottle through the handpiece and syringe. The connection of the handpiece to the control box is through a high temperature resistant sterilizable tubing harness having an expanded sheath construction that does not inhibit bending. Short high temperature resistant tube sections which are strengthened by an expanded shrink fit covering sheath are disclosed. Special high temperature resistant tubing and seals are provided so that the entire unit may be sterilized.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of supplying sterile water or other sterile dental solutions through dental appliances in a portable standardly connectable unit.
2. Background of the Invention
The dental practice is increasingly concerned with the necessity of maintaining a sterile medical environment for the patient. The dental handpiece is most commonly an air operated turbine driven drill which necessarily includes a misting spray of cooling water to avoid heat buildup from friction generated during the drilling operation. Suction devices and dental syringes are employed to wash down and air dry the work area in the patient's mouth. Conventional dental handpieces and the syringes have extended length tubing harnesses which are connected to a stand mounted near the dentist's chair and supplied with a common source of potable water and pressurized operating air. Coolant and rinse fluids are necessarily introduced into the patient's oral cavity. Many standard dental procedures require exposure of the patient's blood system to these fluids through incisions, root canals and other standard dental operations.
In addition to the fact that the potable water supply is not really sterile, and can itself introduce microbial organisms to the patient, there is an increasingly serious concern about the possibility of cross-contamination occurring from patient to patient in connection with the AIDS epidemic. Many of the dental appliances themselves are not sterilizable. Attempts to sterilize them by soaking in alcohol, for example, are mostly ineffective and the tubing which carries the operating fluid and connectors for the tubing are not sterilizable at all.
It would be highly desirable to provide a portable unit which can be connected to a standard source of compressed air through a conventional standard dental fitting but which can provide a sterile solution through sterilizable dental appliances for use as a coolant and rinse in order to provide a substantially sterile environment for each individual patient, and to do so by means of a truly compact portable unit which is conveniently and easily movable from dental station to dental station within a dentist's office and to and from effective sterilizing equipment.

Portable sterilizable water supply for dental appliances


Aspects of the disclosure relate to complexes comprising a muscle-targeting agent covalently linked to a molecular payload. In some embodiments, the muscle-targeting agent specifically binds to an internalizing cell surface receptor on muscle cells. In some embodiments, the molecular payload promotes the expression or activity of a functional dystrophin protein. In some embodiments, the molecular payload is an oligonucleotide, such as an antisense oligonucleotide, e.g., an oligonucleotide that causes exon skipping in a mRNA expressed from a mutant DMD allele.

Dystrophinopathies are a group of distinct neuromuscular diseases that result from mutations in dystrophin gene. Dystrophinopathies include Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Becker muscular dystrophy, and X-linked dilated cardiomyopathy. Dystrophin (DMD) is a large gene, containing 79 exons and ˜2.6 million total base pairs. Numerous mutations in DMD, including exonic frameshift, deletion, substitution, and duplicative mutations, are able to diminish the expression of functional dystrophin, leading to dystrophinopathies. One agent that targets exon 51 of human DMD, eteplirsen, has been preliminarily approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) however its efficacy is still being evaluated.

Muscle targeting complexes and uses thereof for treating dystrophinopathies


Time-based media is distributed and promoted in a social networking environment. Accounts of a social networking system author social media content items (SMCIs) from which a social networking system infers relevance of content to users of those accounts. Content distributors submit time-based media content to the social networking system, which creates distributor SMCIs containing the time-based media content. Accounts are identified to receive distributor SMCIs based on SMCIs previously authored by those accounts as well as identifying information and the subject of the SMCI. Content promoters may add promotional material to distributor SMCIs, which the social networking service sends to additional accounts.

Online social media services, such as social networking systems and content sharing platforms, provide an environment for discussing time-based media (TBM) content. Accounts may discuss TBM content posted by other accounts through social media content items (SMCIs). These SMCIs may be indirectly associated with TBM content about news events, television shows, movies, sporting events, or concerts. However, entities that create and distribute TBM content may not know which accounts are interested in the TBM content. Content distributors and promoters may reach a target audience indirectly through broadcasting, but they lack a mechanism to send supplemental TBM content to the target audience directly.

Promoting time-based content through social networking systems