The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of an immunogenic lysate from mesothelioma tumor cells, to such a lysate and to dendritic cells loaded with the lysate, the present invention further relates a pharmaceutical composition comprising such lysate or dendritic cells, to the use of the lysate, and to said loaded dendritic cells or said pharmaceutical composition for use in the prevention or treatment of mesothelioma.

Malignant mesothelioma of the pleural cavity is a highly lethal neoplasm. With median survival durations of 9-15 months from the onset of symptoms, the prognosis is poor. To date, there is no standard curative therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma (hereinafter: mesothelioma). Surgical approaches such as pleurectomy and extrapleural pneumonectomy result in high local recurrence rates and questionable survival benefit. The only treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is pemetrexed (Alimta)/cisplatin and has a median survival benefit of three months. Because of the limited success of current treatments, novel therapeutic regimens are urgently needed. The potential to harness the potency and the specificity of the immune system underlies the growing interest in cancer immunotherapy. One approach to activate the patient's immune system uses dendritic cells to present tumor-associated antigens and thereby generating anti-tumor specific responses.
Dendritic cells are highly mobile and extremely potent antigen presenting cells located at strategic places where the body comes in contact with its environment. In these locations they pick up antigens and transport them to the secondary lymphoid organs where they instruct and control activation of natural killer cells, B and T-lymphocytes, and efficiently activate them against the antigens [1]. This property makes them attractive candidates for use in therapeutic strategies against cancer [2-3]. Dendritic cells can be generated in large numbers in vitro; bypassing antigen presentation deficiencies caused by the immune suppressing tumor environment [4-7], and can subsequently be injected in a mature state to induce anti-tumoral responses [8-11].
Dendritic cell based immunotherapy has been found to induce protective and anti-tumor immunity in experimental animals and in some cancers in humans e.g. renal cell carcinoma, melanoma, glioma and lung cancer [12]. This has also been proven for mesothelioma. It has particularly been found that dendritic cell based immunotherapy had a beneficial effect on survival and reducing tumor growth in a mouse model for malignant mesothelioma [13].
Based on these preclinical findings in laboratory animals, a clinical trial was initiated to address the safety and feasibility of pulsed dendritic cells to induce tumor-specific cytotoxic T-cell responses in mesothelioma patients [14]. Ten patients were treated with chemotherapy (pemetrexed/cisplatin) followed by three vaccinations of autologous tumor lysate-loaded monocyte-derived dendritic cells. Chemotherapy was given prior to dendritic cell vaccination in order to reduce tumor load, thereby potentially augmenting the efficacy of the vaccination, as was earlier found in mice. From this study it became clear that injection of autologous tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cells in mesothelioma patients after chemotherapy was safe and well tolerated.
However, using autologous tumor cell lysate to load dendritic cells has certain theoretical and practical disadvantages. A key problem associated with the autologous approach is that the number of tumor cells from resected tumor material of thoracic malignancies, in particular mesothelioma (either pleural fluid or biopsy) is very limited. As an example, in the first human clinical trial with dendritic cell based immunotherapy in mesothelioma, most patients were excluded from participation [14]. From a total number of 57 mesothelioma patients only ten patients were able to provide enough tumor material, although all patients had high tumor burden on CT/MRI scan.
Furthermore, autologous tumor material obtained from patients suffering from mesothelioma is very divers in total tumor amount and "contamination" with other cells. This results in highly variable tumor cell lysates making standardization extremely difficult. When such tumor material is loaded onto autologous dendritic cells different outcomes of the phenotype and stimulatory capacity are awaited. Moreover, preparing the autologous tumor material for each individual patient is time consuming and laborious. Also, quality tests are needed on each patient's lysate batch, making the procedure of dendritic cell based immunotherapy with autologous tumor lysate very expensive.
Another limitation associated with the use of autologous mesothelioma tumor cells, is the difficulty of in vitro manipulation of tumor derived cells. Different approaches to optimally prepare tumor cell derivatives (apoptotic or necrotic fragments), increasing the immunogenicity or enrichment by protein fractionation, and other important steps to increase efficacy, cannot be performed directly on autologous tumor material. Culturing autologous cells ex-vivo, until the number of cells is adequate for manipulation, is not an option for reasons that even short term culture of mesothelioma cells mostly failed to produce cell lines. Another reason why using autologous tumor cells is not feasible is the fact that relatively long culture periods are needed, during which the patient's disease progresses further.
In the prior art it has been suggested to use apoptotic allogeneic mesothelioma tumor cells for loading autologous dendritic cells. In this regard reference is made to the article of Ebstein et al, 2003, in the American Journal of Respiration and Critical Care Medicine. In this article intact apoptotic allogeneic mesothelioma tumor cells derived from one cell line are used in an in vitro study wherein autologous dendritic cells are loaded with said intact apoptotic tumor cells.
Although it was shown in this study that dendritic cells fed with apoptotic heat shock protein over-expressing mesothelioma tumor cells induced a cytotoxic T cell response, the method and cells used by Ebstein are not clinically useable. The cells used by Ebstein originate from one cell-line, consequently the antigens provided to the dendritic cells will be relatively limited and would thus seriously reduce it clinical use. This is also exemplified by the fact that the cell-lines used only show a positive result if the tumor cells have been subjected to a prior heat-shock treatment. More importantly, Ebstein uses intact tumor cells which have only been treated with UV-B to induce apoptosis. Since many cells may survive such an UV-B treatment, they are unsuitable for administration to patients. In this regard reference is made to Chalmers A. H. et al., 1976, in Cancer Research and to Salucci S. et al., 2013, in International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
Hence, a need remains for the provision of a safe and reliable method for treating patients suffering from mesothelioma and for the provision of medicaments and pharmaceutical compositions for use in the prevention or treatment of mesothelioma.

Method for preparing an immunogenic lysate, the lysate obtained, dendritic cells loaded with such lysate and a pharmaceutical composition comprising the lysate or the dendritic cells


One embodiment is related to a method for setting a tenant context for an application in a multi-tenancy environment, comprising: identifying a tenant identity for a tenant request, wherein the tenant identity is included in the tenant request; and setting a proper context for a first service of the application based on the identified tenant identity.

Multi-tenancy is an architecture in which a single instance or a load-balanced farm of identical instances of a software application serves multiple customers. Each customer is referred to as a tenant. Each tenant's data is isolated and invisible to other tenants. Multi-tenancy can be economical because software development and maintenance costs are shared.
Deploying a software application that supports multi-tenancy comes with its own challenges. The application architecture needs to be adapted to cope with multi-tenancy requirements. Compared to traditional n-tier deployments where each customer installs its own services and storage, a cloud application that supports multi-tenancy leverages the benefits of shared resources to maximize the resources throughout all customers. Therefore, application components and databases need to be changed in order to support multi-tenancy.
In many scenarios, due to customer limitations relating to the "cloud offering," two versions of a same software application need to be developed and maintained, one designed for the on-premises architecture without multi-tenancy features, and the other with multi-tenancy features. This leads to increased development and maintenance costs for service providers.
Moreover, while some components like databases and messaging systems have introduced support for multi-tenancy abstractions, manual set-up and coordination is still required to enable a software application to support multi-tenancy.

Plug and play multi tenancy support for cloud applications


A method of fabricating a fluid ejection device comprises providing a barrier layer which defines fluidic spaces. The fluidic spaces defined by the barrier layer are filled with filler. A throughway is etched through the substrate. The filler is removed from the fluidic spaces after etching the throughway.

Some fluid ejection devices, such as ink jet printheads, are fabricated using a sacrificial material that is later removed. The fluid ejection circuitry is fabricated on a die using thin film techniques. A barrier layer is disposed over the thin film stack. Fluidic structures defined within the barrier layer are filled with a sacrificial filler material Which is later removed through orifices in an orifice layer disposed over the barrier layer. The ability to remove sacrificial material through the orifices in a given time and at a given cost is limited by the size of the nozzle and width of the fluidics. At the same time, it is desired by designers of ink jet printheads to decrease nozzle size to increase resolution. However, the ability to fabricate smaller orifices is limited by the ability to remove the sacrificial material through the orifices during device fabrication.

Method for fabricating a fluid ejection device

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A sink device is bi-directionally communicably connected to the source device. The sink device includes a first memory, and a controller. Stored in the first memory is a plurality of pieces of audio format information including information representing an audio format that the sink device can process. The controller selects, from among the plurality of pieces of audio format information stored in the first memory, one piece of audio format information corresponding to receiver format information representing an audio format that a receiver device connected to the sink device can process. The controller then outputs the selected audio format information to the source device.

PTL 1 discloses a television receiver (hereinafter referred to as a "sink device"). In this sink device, when an Audio Visual (AV) amplifier (hereinafter referred to as a "receiver device") is connected, via a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) (registered trademark), to the sink device, Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) of the sink device can be overwritten to EDID corresponding to audio that the receiver device can output. For example, when a receiver device outputs higher quality audio than audio output by the sink device, and the like, the sink device can output audio from the receiver device.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A novel reusable container in combination with tie rope securement means comprised of a rectangular box or receptacle defining a pair of generally V-shaped cutouts in first and second adjacent vertical side walls and tie rope dispensing means associated with the third and fourth vertical side walls of said rectangular receptacle. One or more tie ropes of suitable length are dispensed from said dispensing means and draped across the bottom of the receptacle and oriented such that the free ends of said ropes protrude through the V-shaped cutouts. Newspapers are then stacked on top of the tie rope until the height of the stack reaches the upper edge of the container or any other desired height. The free ends of the tie ropes or the like are then tensioned tightly around the bundle and twisted or knotted securely about one another such that a uniform bundle is formed. The bundle may then be removed from the container and transported to a recycling collection site or stored without risk of the securement means becoming loose or broken. The now empty cardboard container is then available for similarly collecting another set of newspapers. The pair of tie ropes are dispensed and oriented at right angles to each other across the bottom panel of the receptacle across the length dimension and the width dimension, respectively, with the free ends thereof disposed through said cutouts during stacking.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to paper storage and baling or bundling devices and more particularly to a paper storage and recycling container for newspapers and other recyclable paper products consisting of a reusable storage box equipped with tie ropes or the like to secure papers in a bundle type arrangement.
2. Prior Art
The recycling of newspapers and other paper items has become important in the conservation effort. However, when one attempts to save newspapers for an extended period of time for recycling, the problem of storage space and organization arises. The accumulation of more than a few days, newspapers creates an unsightly, disorganized array if the papers are merely allowed to pile up.
In the past, people have attempted to remedy this problem by binding a sizable stack of old papers with rope or twine wherein the rope or twine is tied taut around the bundle thereby compressing the stack and creating a more uniform bundle configuration which can be stacked on similarly formed bundles for storage or transport. However, when attempting to bundle stacks of newspapers one must consistently keep a supply of rope or twine in convenient access and furthermore one must monitor the accumulated stack of newspapers to determine when there is a sufficient quantity of newspapers to be contained in a single bundle Additionally, the problem frequently arises wherein the securement of the rope or twine around the bundle becomes loosened or broken over time and with handling, thereby creating the possibility of individual newspapers sliding out of the bundle configuration causing disorganization. One must then reconfigure the bundle and locate a second length of rope or twine for securement. This has become a burden and a source of frustration for the individual involved in recycling newspapers.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a paper storage and baling device which facilitates convenient storage of paper items such as newspaper and the like and additionally includes a built-in reliable means for securing the same into bales or bundles once a sufficient quantity has accumulated.
Further, most papers are secured with non-degradable twine or rope, which interferes with the recycling process to the point where such process becomes unable to be performed.


The present invention relates to an electrolyte composition and method of making thereof. The proton conducting electrolyte composition i.e. Sr1-xBaxCe0.5Zr0.35Y0.1Sm0.05O3-δ, comprises combination of doped BaCeO3 and BaZrO3 by their doping in Sr, Y, and Sm, wherein x=0 to 0.99, and δ=0 to 0.1. The proton conducting electrolyte is used as at least one component, among others, of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells such Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) can easily be operated at intermediate temperature about 600° C. thereby making the SOFC cost effective and reliable and showing highest power density.

With the purpose in searching green energy resources, SOFC has become alternative choice since it is practicable in variety of fuels and low emission. The state-of-the-art oxide ion conducting electrolyte for SOFC is yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) which operates at high temperature (800° C.-1000° C.). Due to some disadvantages of high temperature operation, intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs) are becoming more and more attractive.
Proton conducting generally electrolytes operates at 400-700° C. In this intermediate temperature range, several perovskite electrolytes i.e. ABO3 exhibit good electrochemical properties in term of proton conductivity. Although using oxide ion conductor in SOFC is typical, the troubles are still presence in terms of mismatched materials, low tolerance in operating conditions and fuel efficiencies. Enhanced proton conductor shows promise to improve the performances in operating. Higher efficiency of proton conducting solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC—H+) than oxide ion conducting solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC—O2−) can be obtained although its maximum voltage and power density are still lower. The doped BaCeO3 has been found to be one of the best proton conductors but it is unstable in CO2 and H2O containing atmosphere. The conductivity of BaZrO3 is less than BaCeO3 but stable under CO2 and steam atmosphere, particularly 10 mol % Y doped BaZrO3.
The Combination of doped BaCeO3 and BaZrO3 has become motivating due to their high proton conductivity and good stability in humid atmosphere. Several dopants have been studied in order to improve stability and conductivity. In most of the works, some percentage of Ce and/or Zr was substituted by tri-valent cations like Y, Yb, Sc, Pr, Sm etc. at the B-site to make oxygen vacancies to enhance the proton conductivity. Hence, Ce was doped by Zr to increase proton conductivity and chemical stability as investigating on BaCe0.9-xZrxY0.1O2.95 series which show good chemical stability in steam and carbon dioxide atmospheres. Y doping shows potential to enhance conductivity in conventional materials of BaZrO3 and BaCeO3. Y doped BaZrO3 exhibit high conductivity of 7.38 mS/cm at 650° C. Percentage of Ce at B-site has strong effect on proton concentration in perovskite materials.
Sm-doped proton conductors also show promising performance for ITSOFCs. However, very little work has been done to substitute Ba by Sr or Ca which can also have good effect on protonic conductivity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,330 describes a proton conducting oxides BaCe1−xMxO3, where M is a metal dopant, have high proton conductivity at elevated temperatures. Likewise, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,235,417 and 6,296,687 also disclose electrode materials for SOFCs. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,842,200, 7,413,678, and 8,012,380 are relevant to the present invention which relates the development of proton conducting electrolytes.
There exist some other patent i.e. U.S. Pat. No. 8,932,781, US20130143142A1, and US2011195342A2 and non-patent prior art (Kang-Rong Lee (a, b), DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.01.043) which disclose proton conducting electrolyte for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell, and fuel cells. However, none of them discloses a combination of doped BaCeO3 and BaZrO3 by doping Sr, Y, and Sm metals.
In order to overcome the aforementioned problems, significant efforts have been devoted to the development of new proton conducting electrolyte for SOFCs.
The present invention discloses a novel proton conducting electrolyte composition having good protonic conductivity and chemical stability at low temperature.

Proton conducting electrolyte composition and method of preparation thereof


The disclosure generally describes methods, software, and systems for comparing different configurations of the same system. A query for determining differences between a first system and a different second system is received at a central server. Both systems are remote from the central server and have configurations related to a particular application. Using stored metadata at the central server, a difference is determined between a first customized configuration of the first system and a different second customized configuration of the different second system. The stored metadata identifies tables defining a scoping of each of the first system and the different second system. The difference is provided by the central server in response to the received query.

The present disclosure relates to comparing different configurations of the same system. For example, separate versions or configurations of the same system may exist at different locations, or may be used for different purposes. A productive system, which may be accessible through the cloud, may be in use by customers. At the same time, a development, quality assurance (QA), or test system may also be in use, for example, at a remote location. Changes made in one system may not be replicated immediately in the other system, and the versions may be out of sync.

Cloud-based comparison of different remote configurations of a same system


A turbomachine foot unit with a plurality of feet is provided. The plurality of feet is fastened to a turbomachine. The turbomachine stands upright on a horizontal base. The turbomachine foot includes fastening devices for fastening the feet to the base. At least one of the feet is mounted in a horizontally moveable manner relative to one of the fastening devices fastening the foot to the base.

Turbomachines for industrial purposes or in power stations are often connected to an electrical machine, for example a turbocompressor is connected to an electric motor for driving the turbocompressor or a turbine is connected to a generator for the transmission of force from the turbine to the generator. So as not to subject the connecting shaft to excessively high load when force is transmitted between the machines, such a turbomachine is usually fastened on a base, for example a foundation or base frame. The turbomachine rests on this so as to be firmly fixed during operation, the firm fixing also counteracting vibrations of the turbomachine.
To fasten the turbomachine on a base, it is known to place the turbomachine on feet which are screwed firmly to the base. The feet are themselves connected to the turbomachine, for example welded or cast in one piece with a housing element, so that the turbomachine is firmly anchored in the base.
EP 1 176286 A1 already discloses a turbocharger with symmetrical long hole fastening. U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,452 A, U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,258 A and WO 98/53183 A1 show turbines with various bearer constructions.


A safety module (24) is adapted to be connected to one or more smoke detectors (36) and mounted adjacent circuit breakers (12, 14) on a switch board (10). The safety module has an arm (26) that overlies the circuit breaker levers (28, 30) of the adjacent circuit breakers (12, 14). When a smoke alarm activates the arm (26) moves the circuit breaker levers (28, 30) to an open position.

Smoke alarms are common in both residential and commercial buildings. However, they merely warn of a fire and do nothing to disconnect electrical power. Many fires are caused by electrical products, either due to failure or inappropriate positioning or use. For example, an electric heater may be covered or knocked over or hard wired items, such as an electric stove, may cause a fire.
If no one is present then no action will probably occur. With electrical items, power will remain supplied until the electrical item is sufficiently damaged that a short circuit of some form occurs, tripping a fuse, circuit breaker (CB) or Residual Current Detector (RCD). However, by this stage a fire will usually have been established and be self fuelling—removing the electrical supply will not help.
In addition, electrical faults are a relatively common occurrence in electrical switch boards. These are typically located outside of a building or in a wiring closet. If the switch board is outside, an internal smoke detector will not detect the smoke generated by a switch board fault. If the switch board is in an internal wiring closet, a fire may be established before sufficient smoke escapes the closet to be detected. Further, whether inside or outside a building, a fire in a switch board can easily penetrate into roof spaces or internal cavities because the electrical wires inherently breach any fire walls or other barriers that impede spread of fire.

Electrical switch board smoke detector unit


Systems and methods for generating a process tree of a process are provided. An event log of the process is received. It is determined whether a base case applies to the event log and, in response to determining that the base case applies to the event log, one or more nodes are added to the process tree. In response to determining that the base case does not apply to the event log, the event log is split into sub-event logs based on a frequency of directly follows relations and a frequency of strictly indirectly follows relations for pairs of activities in the event log and one or more nodes are added to the process tree. The steps of determining whether a base case applies and splitting the event log are repeatedly performed for each respective sub-event log using the respective sub-event log as the event log until it is determined that the base case applies to the event log. The process tree is output. The process may be a robotic process automation process.

Computer processes are sequences of activities executed by one or more computers to provide various services. In process mining, process model discovery techniques are applied for generating process models that represent execution of processes. Existing process model discovery techniques generate formal process models capable of expressing complex behavior such as parallelism. However, existing process model discovery techniques generate process models that are too complex to be utilized in many applications.

Process tree discovery using a probabilistic inductive miner


In order to reduce an unnecessary handover process incident to a sudden change in communication quality, a collection circuit collects information as to the signal quality between a mobile station and respective base stations. A learning circuit learns data for judging handover, based on the signal quality. A determination circuit determines matching between the data for judging the handover and the signal quality collected by the collection circuit. A handover control circuit performs control on handover between the mobile station and a base station brought to a handover additional or deletion candidate of the mobile station, based on the result of determination by the determination circuit.

The present invention relates to a mobile radio communication system (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cCDMA mobile communication systemxe2x80x9d) using code segmenting multiplex connection technology, and to a technique for performing more optimum handover.
In a mobile communication system, a mobile station selects or performs switching to a base station used as a communicating partner according to its movement, whereby the mobile station is able to communicate therewith continuously even if it moves. This base station switching operation is called xe2x80x9chandoverxe2x80x9d. A base station controller selects a base station low in pass loss of an electromagnetic wave transferred between a mobile station and each base station and large in signal to interference power ratio (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cSIRxe2x80x9d) and connects the selected base station and the mobile station. In the present application, this operation is called xe2x80x9chandover adding operationxe2x80x9d. On the other hand, the base station controller releases or sets free a connection to a base station related to handover, which is large in pass loss and low in SIR in order to reduce the occupation of an unnecessary radio line. In the present application, this operation is called xe2x80x9chandover deleting operationxe2x80x9d. Thus, the mobile station is connected to a plurality of base stations which resembles in pass loss and SIR and sets free the connection to unnecessary base stations, whereby a high-quality communication state thereof is kept with the required minimum radio resources. Incidentally, the inventions disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open Nos. Hei 5-316023 and Hei 10-200946 are known as prior arts.
On the other hand, when a mobile station moves in building-dense regions such as cities, a pass loss and SIR suddenly change. Since only line quality of a perch channel at the present time makes an opportunity to perform handover in the related art, a handover adding operation and a handover deleting operation are frequently carried out when the pass loss and SIR continuously change suddenly.
The related art is based on the premise that a mobile station is connected to one base station alone, and never communicates with a plurality of base stations simultaneously. On the other hand, a CDMA mobile station is capable of being connected to a plurality of base stations simultaneously by taking advantage of a CDMA system (it is not uncommon that the mobile station is connected to three base stations simultaneously). Therefore, it is difficult to suitably select a base station brought to a handover additional candidate or a base station brought to a handover deletion candidate. Thus, an unsuitable candidate might be selected. Since the handover is processed using a connected time or the mean value of maximum transmitter power levels in the related art, a base station which is free of existence in a moving direction, i.e., is not to be originally connected, is brought to a handover candidate depending on a call time or the like of a mobile station having carried out the handover in the past. Also, even in the case of a sector type base station in which one cell is divided into a plurality of areas, handover processing much than required might be performed. There is, for example, a case in which a mobile station approaches right at the sector base station and radio waves from a plurality of sectors can be received with substantially the same pass loss and SIR.
If the base station not to be connected or originally set free is taken as the candidate for handover processing in this way, then the repetition of unnecessary handover adding/deleting operations might occur continuously. Thus, if the unnecessary handover adding operation and handover deleting operation are repeated, various resources such as CPU, a radio resource, etc. are consumed than required by the mobile station, base stations and base station controller. This consumption would bring about a delay with respect to the operation to be originally performed by the corresponding mobile station or another mobile station, thus leading to degradation in communication state. Further, the unsuitable execution of handover results in cutting-off of a calling.
Therefore, an object of the invention of the present application is to effectively take advantage of resources by reducing unnecessary handover. Another object of the invention of the present application is to reduce unnecessary handover so as to improve a processing delay of a system and provide more stable and high-quality communications.
According to the invention of the present application, as a method of solving the above-described problem, time-sequential data about pass losses and SIR (or transmitter power level and communication quality at base stations) of channels intended for the measurement of received levels, which are transmitted from connected base stations and non-connected base stations to a mobile station, and learning data are compared, and a handover additional base station or a handover deletion base station is selected from the degree of similarity thereof. As the learning data, ones (hereinafter called xe2x80x9creference tablesxe2x80x9d) obtained by updating the above-described time-sequential data, based on the result of the past handover adding operation and handover deleting operation are used. A handover candidate base station is selected based on time-sequential data about pass losses and SIR (or transmitter power level and communication quality at base stations) from a plurality of base stations, i.e., the transition of their change. Thus, since the suitable base station can be selected, it is possible to restrain the repetition of the handover operation, control the use of unnecessary radio resources in its turn and suppress the influence of communication quality to the corresponding mobile station and other mobile stations. The use of information from connected base stations and non-connected base stations makes it possible to provide satisfactory handover even in the case of a CDMA mobile communication system connected to a plurality of base stations simultaneously.
Further, handover operating conditions are determined based on combinations of time-sequential data such as the aforementioned pass losses and SIR or pass losses and transmitter power levels, or pass losses and frame error rate (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cFERxe2x80x9d), etc. so that connections much than required are avoided when the state of communications with each connected base station is good. When the state of the communications with each connected base station is poor in reverse, a handover adding operation is executed earlier rather than when the state of the communications therewith is good, so that the corresponding mobile station can be connected to a plurality of base stations.

Mobile communication system having a learning-type handover control method


A portable field antenna platform supports an L-band antenna and communicating via a cable. The platform includes several tubes, a shock cord, and an antenna mount. Each tube has a sleeve and a ferrule inserted therein at a first end of that sleeve. The ferrule of a first tube detachably inserts into a second end of the sleeve of a second adjacent tube. The shock cord passes through each tube to connect all the tubes together by elastic tension. The antenna mount attaches to the antenna and connects a cable to the terminal. The mount includes an antenna connector for connecting the cable to the antenna. The tubes either collapse into a zig-zag bundle in a stow configuration or deploy as a mast.

The invention relates generally to the field of radio antennas, and more specifically to portable radio antennas used by military personnel for radio communications in the field
Prevailing in a battlefield environment requires maintaining command and control over troops deployed in the field, and this entails ability for those troops to communicate their status and situation back to their commanders. Advances in communication gear currently enable deployed troops to employ a variety of radios with different capabilities, but those radios must be able to send signals that can be received by other communication gear available to commanders. For example, many units of the United States Army and Marine Corps deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan carry radios that are part of the Distributed Tactical Communications System (DTCS). The DTCS radios transmit their communication signals to low-earth orbit Iridium satellites that retransmit those radio communications back to command positions. The DTCS system uses line-of-sight radios that must be positioned where their signals can reach the satellite to complete a successful communication.
Frequently, the antenna that affixed to the DTCS radio is not in position to successfully send the signal to the satellite. That means the radio operator must reposition himself to a location where the radio and its antenna can communicate with the satellite system, which can potentially expose the operator to dangerous conditions. Alternatively, due to terrain or man-made obstructions, sometimes the field unit must connect their radios to a deployed field antenna or field antenna array that can transmit their radio communications to the satellite system.
The current field antenna used by the Army, Marines, and other components of the American military is designated as the OE-254. This consists of several metal tubes that must be connected together and then raised to an upright position. When erected to its 42-foot full height, the OE-254 requires eight guy-lines to securely tie it down so that it does not fall over. Proper deployment of the eight guy-lines requires an open area with a 50-foot diameter, which complicates deployment in restricted areas such as heavy vegetation or crowded urban neighborhoods. Upon deployment, the OE-254 constitutes a static antenna that cannot be relocated without significant disassembly.
The OE-254 has other disadvantages, such as requiring at least two people to set up, and indeed typically needing four to five people. Full assembly takes up to 15 minutes. The OE-254 weighs approximately 50 pounds and stowed in a bag measuring approximately 36″×18″×6″ ("″" denoting inches), which is too heavy for personnel on foot to carry for any significant distance, particularly in rugged terrain. In addition, the OE-254 is quite visible once deployed, and so provides hostile forces with an indicator of the presence of the unit using it. The OE-254 is also not designed to attach to a building or other objects, which hampers deployment in urban areas.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A non-rotational drill bit for a down-the-hole drill hammer is provided that includes a head and a shank extending from the head. The head includes a plurality of axisymmetric cutting members about its working face. The drill bit also includes a porting system that includes a central through hole, an air inlet port, an exhaust outlet port and a central exhaust port for exhausting air from an interior of the drill hammer and for clearing drilling debris from the face of the drill bit.

The present invention relates generally to down-the-hole drill (DHD) hammers. In particular, the present invention relates to a non-rotating drill bit for a down-the-hole drill hammer.
Typical DHDs include a hammer having a piston that is moved cyclically with high pressure gas (e.g., air). The piston generally has two end surfaces that are exposed to working air volumes (i.e., a return volume and a drive volume) that are filled and exhausted with each cycle of the piston. The return volume pushes the piston away from its impact point on a bit end of the hammer. The drive volume accelerates the piston toward its impact location on the back end of the drill bit. The overall result is a percussive drilling action.
Conventional drill bits 100, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A, used in DHD applications are typically constructed to include cutting inserts 102 that are positioned at a bottom end face of the drill bit. The cutting inserts 102 serve to cut rock or other material upon impact. However, due to the structure and spacing of the inserts 102, the drill bit must be rotated or indexed a certain amount after each cycle of the piston to reposition the cutting inserts upon a different region of a bore hole.
The need to rotate the drill bit in conventional DHD hammers imparts complexity in design of the DHD hammer as it necessitates a mechanism to rotate the drill bit. Increased complexity in DHD hammers consequently increases the likelihood that such hammers will fail during operational use, which occurs in very harsh environments over prolonged periods of time.
As such, a need exists for a DHD hammer than can address the foregoing needs of conventional DHD hammers. Such needs are satisfied by the DHD hammer of the present invention.

Non-rotating drill bit for a down-the-hole drill hammer


A compound that includes a dextran backbone having at least one C-type lectin targeting moieties attached thereto. Also disclosed are embodiments of the compound that include at least one therapeutic agent and/or at least one detection label attached to the dextran backbone. The compound may be effective for treatment of Corona Covid-19 (SARS-covid-2) virus, its variants and other related viral diseases, and disorders. Further disclosed are methods for diagnosing and treating diseases and/or disorders directly using the disclosed compounds.

SARS-covid-2 disease (Covid-19) (sometimes also referred to as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2 and/or COVID-19; exemplification sometimes referred to as Wuhan virus, Chinese corona virus, and/or Covid-19), can cause Covid-19 virus disease (or, at times, referred to as SARS) and is the strain of corona-virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (hereinafter generally referred to as "COVID-19"), a respiratory illness. Colloquially known as coronavirus, COVID-19 was previously referred to by its provisional name 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). As described by the National Institutes of Health, COVID-19 is the successor to SARS-CoV-1. COVID-19 is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus. It is contagious in humans, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 (temporally, December, 2019 through months of 2020, and beyond) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Taxonomically, SARS-CoV-2 is a strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARSrCoV). It is believed to have zoonotic origins and has close genetic similarity to bat coronaviruses, suggesting it emerged from a bat-borne virus. The virus shows little genetic diversity, indicating that the spillover event introducing SARS-CoV-2 to humans is likely to have occurred in late 2019.
Epidemiological studies estimate each infection results in 1.4 to 3.9 new ones when no members of the community are immune and no preventive measures are taken. The virus primarily spreads between people through close contact and via respiratory droplets produced from coughs or sneezes. It mainly enters human cells by binding to the receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) of the upper respiratory tract and nares. While the Covid-19 virus has been shown to expressly enter and infect cells and human subjects via the ACE2 receptor (angiotension converting enzyme-2, ACE-2), presented herein are unexpected findings that macrophages in the lungs and liver are solely the harbingers of the Covid-19 virus and that this relationship appears to be the driving element of the disposition of the pulmonary disease as well as the disseminated involvement of other organs leading to the thrombosis cascade within the alveoli and vessels of the lungs and other larger bodily blood vessels.
While there is no known Covid-19 virus-specific treatment, the combination of hydroxychloroquine and/or azithromycin+zinc supplementation and/or Remdesivir® and/or steroids, may help with the symptoms. But these treatments are marginally adequate and are non-specific relative to the data-based targeting approach presented here, which includes a biologically more adequate address to the entirety of the infection process where key reactions of macrophages are activated pathologically, particularly in latter disease stages where in the lung, such macrophages appear to drive a thrombolytic cascade that is also diffuse (liver, bowel, and large vessels). Other prior art medications or vaccines have failed to cytologically target the ongoing Covid-19 disease process.
In January 2020, the President of the United States, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued travel prohibitions on affected countries, including the use of enhanced precautions. As such, needs exist to establish a way of effectively treating and/or preventing Covid-19 virus morbidity and mortality.
On Jan. 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding neurological disorders associated with Covid-19. At present, neither vaccination nor specific prophylactic antiviral therapies are readily available to prevent Covid-19 infections, though certain vaccinations are presently undergoing development and clinical trials, demonstrating the international need for embodiments of the inventions described herein.
Embodiments of the present invention are generally directed to compounds and compositions for targeting macrophages, which may include a dextran-based molecular entity in exemplary embodiments. The present invention also includes methods of making such compounds and compositions. The present invention also includes methods of treatment using such compounds and compositions. The present invention also provides diagnostic methods, including, but not limited to, identification of macrophages in the lungs and liver, most particularly in tissues derived from cadavers of Covid-19 victims.
CD206 is a C-type lectin protein found on macrophage phenotypes and other cells, e.g., Kupffer cells of the liver and mesangial cells of the kidney.
In one aspect, the present invention provides compounds, compositions and methods for the diagnosis and/or treatment of diseases mediated by CD206-high expressing cells using synthetic macromolecules (e.g., about 2-30 kDa). These diseases may include any condition where macrophages or other CD206-high expressing cells are involved or recruited, such as those where the number of macrophages or other CD206-high expressing cells is increased and/or such cells are metabolically abnormal, such as, but not limited to, in viral infections, tumor environments, combinations thereof, or the like. Such diseases may include immune diseases, inflammatory diseases, and infectious diseases to name a few examples.
In another aspect, the present invention provides compounds, compositions and methods for the diagnosis and/or treatment of diseases mediated by non CD206-expressing cells using synthetic macromolecules.
Disclosed includes compounds and methods for treating diseases or disorders.
In exemplary embodiments, the compound is a compound according to Formula (II):
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. X may independently comprise a hydrogen, L1-A, or L2-R. L1 may comprise a linker. A may independently comprise a hydrogen, a therapeutic agent, or a detection label that is attached to L1. L2 may comprise a linker. R may independently comprise a hydrogen or a CD206 targeting moiety that is attached to L2. n may comprise an integer greater than zero. The compound may include at least one L1-A, such as wherein the A is a CD206 targeting moiety. The compound may further comprise at least one L2-R.
In another embodiment, the compound may include a dextran backbone having at least one C-type lectin targeting moieties and at least one therapeutic agent attached thereto, wherein said compound is effective for treatment of Corona Covid-19 (SARS-covid-2) virus.
In exemplary embodiments, a method of treatment may include administering, to a subject afflicted with a disease or disorder, a compound comprising a C-type lectin targeting moiety. The method may further include delivering, to cells of the subject that comprise C-type lectin, at least one of a therapeutic agent and a detection label.
In exemplary embodiments, a method of diagnosing may include identification of macrophages in the lungs and liver.
Further features and advantages of the systems and methods disclosed herein, as well as the structure and operation of various aspects of the present disclosure, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying figures.

Compounds and methods for treating and diagnosing RNA virus infections


A floating magnetic head, which suppresses the effects of an external magnetic head and has rails of good flatness. The winding of the head can be wound at high efficiency. The number of turns n.sub.1 of the coil on the side of the leading end is set less than the number of turns n.sub.2 of the coil on the side of the trailing end. The product of the number of turns n.sub.1 of the coil on the side of the leading end and the cross-sectional area A.sub.1 of the core leg on the side of the trailing end is set substantially equal to the product of the number of turns n.sub.2 of the coil on the side of the tailing end and the cross-sectional area A.sub.2 of the core leg on the side of the trailing end. That is, n.sub.1 .multidot.A.sub.1 =n.sub.2 .multidot.A.sub.2. The magnitude of the noise voltage induced across the coil on the side of the leading end is substantially equal to the magnitude of the noise voltage induced across the coil on the side of the trailing end. Furthermore, the two coils are wound in opposite senses. Therefore, noise voltage produced in the whole floating magnetic head is null. In this manner, the generation of noise due to an external magnetic field is prevented. Since the number of turns n.sub.1 of the coil on the side of the leading end is smaller, the whole groove is not required to be made deep. Hence, the amount of the overhang of one rail can be reduced, whereby the flatness can be improved. Furthermore, the interference with the bottom of the groove can be avoided. This improves the efficiency of the operation to wind the coils.

A floating magnetic head of the composite type which has been heretofore frequently used is generally indicated by reference numeral 1 in FIG. 5. This head 1 has a substantially rectangular slider 2 made of a ceramic such as calcium titanate. Rails 3 and 4 for producing a floating force are mounted on the top surface of the slider 2 which is opposite to a magnetic recording medium. One rail 3 has a slit 6 of a given depth, the slit 6 extending longitudinally of the rail 3 on the side of its trailing end 5 at which the medium exits from the head. A head core 8 having a read/write gap 7 and made of a ferromagnetic substance such as a ferrite is inserted in the slit 6. The core 8 is rigidly mounted by sealing of glass or other bonding material.
A groove 10 which increases gradually in depth from its leading end 9 toward its trailing end 5 is formed at one corner of the slider 2. The groove 10 extends to the trailing end 5. The head core 8 has a leg 8a mounted in the groove 10 on the side of the trailing end 5. A coil 11 is wound around the leg 8a of the core.
In this floating magnetic head 1, the coil 11 is wound only on the core leg 8a disposed on the side of the trailing end 5. Therefore, if an external magnetic field which is perpendicular to the floating surfaces of the rails 3 and 4 acts on the floating surfaces, an electromotive force may be induced in the coil 11, whereby noise is produced.
It is sometimes necessary that the coil 11 is composed of a number of turns. In this case, the coil 11 is required to form multiplex winding because the width of the groove 10 is limited. However, where the coil 11 is built in multiplex winding, the outer portion of the coil 11 is inferior in sensitivity to the inner portion. Also, there is the possibility that the outer portion of the coil 11 is disarranged toward the rail 3 and makes contact with the magnetic recording medium, thus creating a breakage.
The present applicant in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/059,297 has already proposed an improved floating magnetic head to alleviate the foregoing problems. This head is generally indicated by numeral 1 in FIG. 6. It is to be noted that like components are indicated by like reference numerals in various figures. In FIG. 6, the head 1 has a head core 21 provided with a read/write gap 20. The core 21 has two legs 21a and 2lb which are located on the side of the entrance end 9 and on the side of the trailing end 5, respectively, of the groove 10. Coils 22 and 23 having the same number of turns are wound around the legs 21a and 21b, respectively, of the core.
In this floating magnetic head 1 shown in FIG. 6, when it undergoes an external magnetic field, the coil 22 wound on the core leg 21a on the side of the leading end 9 and the coil 23 wound on the core leg 21b on the side of the trailing end 5 cancel out the induced electromotive force. Thus, generation of noise is suppressed. Also, it follows that one coil is divided into the two equal coils 22 and 23 wound around the legs 21a and 21b, respectively. The number of turns of each of the coils 22 and 23 is reduced accordingly. This reduces the amount of lap winding to thereby prevent deterioration of the sensitivity. Hence, breakage of the coils due to disarrangement of the coils is prevented.
In the floating magnetic head 1 shown in FIG. 6, the groove 10 is formed obliquely such that its depth gradually increases from the leading end 9 toward the trailing end 5. The clearance L.sub.1 (see FIG. 2; the core leg 30a on the side of the entrance end shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the core leg 21a on the side of the leading end 9) between the core leg 21a on the side of the leading end 9 and the bottom 24 of the groove is different from the clearance L.sub.2 (see FIG. 2; the core leg 30b on the side of the exit end shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the core leg 21b on the side of the entrance end 9) between the core leg 21b on the side of the trailing end 5 and the bottom 24 of the groove. Consequently, the amount of the coil 22 wound around the core leg 21a on the side of the leading end 9 differs from the amount of the coil 23 wound around the core leg 21b on the side of the trailing end 5.
As shown in FIG. 6, in order to wind the equal amounts of the coils 22 and 23 on the core legs 21a and 21b, the groove 10 is made deeper more than needed. This may increase the amount of overhang of the rail 3 located over the groove 10, thus deteriorating the flatness of the rail 3. Where the coil 22 is wound around the core leg 21a on the side of the leading end 9, the winding operation is more difficult to perform than on the side of the trailing end 5 due to the interference with the bottom 24 of the groove. Also, a larger amount of work is needed.


The present invention relates to a method for frame memory access and a display driver using the same. The method is a data moving method for allowing a display driver integrated circuit built in a portrait style frame memory to be used in a landscape mode. The spirit of the method is to repeatedly read data from the portrait style frame memory to the shift register, and move the data on the shift register to put the data to the correct data latch to constitute complete scan line data. Therefore, the portrait style display driver integrated circuit may drive a landscape mode display panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technology of a display driver, and more particularly to a memory access method for a portrait display and a landscape display, and a display driver circuit.
2. Related Art
With the progress of the technology, mobile telephones become more and more popularized and have more and more functions. At present, the current mobile telephone starts to provide the digital television service. In order to satisfy the digital television specification, a portrait mode panel adopted in the conventional mobile telephone has to be changed to a landscape mode panel.
In order to utilize the resource effectively, one display driver integrated circuit is configured such that it can be applied to various panels. Taking the panels having the same resolution of 320×240 (Quarter Video Graphics Array, QVGA) as an example, the challenge induced when the same integrated circuit is applied to the portrait mode and the landscape mode panels is how to effectively apply the frame memory embedded in the integrated circuit. The capacities of the frame memories for the portrait mode and the landscape mode are the same, but the numbers of scan lines needed in one frame and the numbers of pixels needed on each scan line in the two modes are different. The portrait mode QVGA panel needs 320 scan lines, and 240 pixels are needed on each scan line. The landscape mode QVGA panel needs 240 scan lines, and 320 pixels are needed on each scan line.
Based on the display driver integrated circuit architecture, the frame memory is configured to satisfy the requirement of the resolution of the panel. If one QVGA panel needs 320 scan lines in the portrait mode, and each scan line needs 240 pixels, then the frame memory is configured to have 320 word lines each having 240×24 bit lines.
However, if the portrait mode display driver integrated circuit is applied to the landscape mode panel, the pixels on each word line of its internal frame memory are fewer than the 320 pixels required for a landscape display, and the lack of the required memory of 80 pixels on each word line of its internal frame memory will occur. Although the total capacity of the frame memory is kept unchanged, the number of pixels on each scan line is changed. Thus, the display driver integrated circuit cannot be simultaneously applied to the landscape mode panel and the portrait mode panel.

Method for frame memory access and display driver using the same


A read channel of a magnetic recording apparatus includes a filter that uses filter coefficients to process the data detected by a read head from the magnetic recordable media. The coefficients change with time and circumstances. When data is read and found to pass error detection, the filter coefficient set used for the data is stored in a memory as a last good coefficient set. Upon failure of the filtering process, the coefficient set used is replaced with a coefficient set stored in the memory as the last good coefficient set.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of read channel equalization in a magnetic recording device and in particular to a read equalization level control in a tape drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic recording devices such as magnetic tape drives are used for recording computer data for storage and retrieval. Various techniques have been developed over the years to improve the characteristics of data reading and writing on magnetic media.
On the read channel side, Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters are widely used as a means of equalizing the read channel response to a given target response, for example PR4, EPR4, or the like. The response of these filters is controlled by a set of coefficients. Often the response of the FIR filter is changed during the operation of the tape drive in order to compensate for changes in channel characteristics, for example, changes in the recording media, the recording head, the electronics, and the like. Tape drives in particular must deal with the variations in the channel characteristics caused by the interchange of the recording media.
A general method for changing the FIR filter coefficients in order to optimize the FIR filter responses is by implementing LMS (Least Mean Square) hardware adaptability. The LMS algorithm needs a coefficient set as a starting point. Importantly, this starting point must be good enough to detect data in order for the LMS algorithm to have a valid input on the ideal sample values. Further, the LMS coefficients may develop by themselves to be unsuitable for data detection during changes in channel response, for example in dropout situations. This can result in a deadlock situation occurring.
The prior art devices provide that, when starting the data detection, the starting point for the coefficients of the FIR filter by the channel control system may be embedded in firmware. This starting point for the coefficients is also provided when a deadlock situation is detected.

Coefficient memory for least mean square finite impulse response filter


Disclosed is a variable interconnect geometry formed on a substrate that allows for increased electrical performance of the interconnects without compromising mechanical reliability. The compliance of the interconnects varies from the center of the substrate to edges of the substrate. The variation in compliance can either be step-wise or continuous. Exemplary low-compliance interconnects include columnar interconnects and exemplary high-compliance interconnects include helix interconnects. A cost-effective implementation using batch fabrication of the interconnects at a wafer level through sequential lithography and electroplating processes may be employed.

The present invention relates generally to using a variable interconnect geometry for first/second level interconnects in electronic packages, and methods for implementing the same.
Power and latency are fast becoming major bottlenecks in the design of high performance microprocessors and computers. Power relates to both consumption and dissipation, and therefore, effective power distribution design and thermal management solutions are required. Latency is caused by the global interconnects on an integrated circuit (IC) that span at least half a chip edge due to the RC and transmission line delay. Limits to chip power dissipation and power density and limits on hyper-pipelining in microprocessors threaten to impede the exponential growth in microprocessor performance. In contrast, multi-core processors can continue to provide a historical performance growth on most consumer and business applications provided that the power efficiency of the cores stays within reasonable power budgets. To sustain the dramatic performance growth, a rapid increase in the number of cores per die and a corresponding growth in off-chip bandwidth are required. Furthermore, to reduce the RC and transmission line delay, low-K dielectric/Cu and ultra-low-K dielectric/Cu interconnects on silicon will become increasingly common. In such ICs, the thermo-mechanical stresses induced by the chip-to-substrate interconnects could crack or delaminate the dielectric material causing reliability problems. On the other hand using a compliant structure as an off-chip interconnect allows for isolation of the die from the substrate. Therefore they would not crack or delaminate the low-K dielectric. However a compliant structure would have lower electrical performance. To address this, keeping in perspective the mechanical requirements, I/O customization could be utilized. This would allow off-chip interconnects to address the increasing demands on their electrical performance.
Conventional electronic packages typically include interconnects that are nearly identical in shape and size from the center to the edge. Flip chip solder bumps, BGA solder balls and CSP interconnects are some of the examples. However, as one moves from the center to the edge of a package or a chip, the differential expansion due to coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch (between chip and board or chip and interposer/substrate or package and board) increases. Hence, the choice of the interconnect design is such that the interconnect at the furthest distance from the center of the die, where the differential displacement between the die and the substrate due to CTE mismatch is maximum, has sufficient fatigue life and will not delaminate or crack the low-K dielectric in the die.
It would be desirable to have improved packaging techniques and methods and utilize a step wise or continuous variation of interconnect geometry in an electronic package. This would improve the electrical performance of electronic packages without compromising on mechanical reliability.

Variable interconnect geometry for electronic packages and fabrication methods


A zirconium oxide based dielectric material is used in the formation of decoupling capacitors employed in microelectronic logic circuits. In some embodiments, the zirconium oxide based dielectric is doped. In some embodiments, the dopant includes at least one of aluminum, silicon, or yttrium. In some embodiments, the zirconium oxide based dielectric is formed as a nanolaminate of zirconium oxide and a dopant metal oxide.

The power supply on a logic chip must accommodate variations in current draw from different parts of the on-chip circuit. Typically, there is a time lag between the changes in voltage within the circuit before the power supply responds. This requirement can be met by having an on-chip metal—insulator—metal (MIM) capacitor, consisting of a high-k dielectric layer formed between bottom and top electrodes. The capacitor can be used to provide a steady source of current during the response time of the power supply. The requirements for this high-k dielectric include providing sufficient capacitance or equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) (e.g. relative to silicon dioxide) to meet the requirements for charge storage, and having sufficiently low leakage to allow charge to be stored for at least 1 ms. Furthermore, the high-k dielectric should be able to operate reliably at typical sense voltages (˜1.0V) for the lifetime of the product (e.g. typically >10 years). Finally, the high-k dielectric should have a low defect density (e.g. pinhole defects or grain boundaries) which can be a source of leakage or charge loss in these capacitors. The defect density places an upper limit on the size of the capacitor that can be used in a chip. In some cases, the capacitor is divided into smaller capacitors which are connected in parallel to minimize the occurrence of these pinhole or grain boundary defects.
There is a need to develop dielectric materials and MIM capacitor stacks that meet these requirements as decoupling capacitors for advanced and future logic circuits.

ZrO-based high K dielectric stack for logic decoupling capacitor or embedded DRAM


An approach provides virtual circuit protection. Traffic is received at a network interface device configured to interface an Ethernet virtual circuit of a service provider transport network over a user network interface (UNI). The network interface device is configured as a demarcation point between a customer network and the service provider transport network. Circuit replication is performed over the virtual circuit to create a plurality of communication paths over the virtual circuit by assigning respective tags for independently switching the traffic over the communication paths. One of the communication paths is designated as a standby communication path.

Modern communication networks are growing in size and complexity. Given the highly competitive nature of the telecommunications industry, network service providers are increasingly relying on network performance as a key differentiator for delivering communication services. As the number of subscribers (e.g., customers) increases and services evolve in sophistication, the performance of these networks can degrade, in part, from constraints of the network equipment. In many instances, the impact of network failures or even lapses in network performance can result in substantial monetary losses. Consequently, the ability to assess and improve upon network performance is a critical business component for service providers. Moreover, customers are demanding greater resiliency in the services they purchase from a service provider. There are many levels of resiliency including transport, network element and circuit resiliency. The most resilient service offers two transport connections to the customer and carries circuits on diverse elements and transport throughout the network. However, this is expensive for the service provider and the customer.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach to cost-effectively provide network resiliency, while permitting ease of network diagnosis.

Method and apparatus for providing virtual circuit protection and traffic validation


A vessel hull robot garage includes a stowage compartment for stowing a hull robot and a rotation system for rotating the stowage compartment relative to the vessel between a launch/recovery attitude and a stowed position.

The frictional resistance of a vessel hull as it moves through the water can constitute 45% to 90% of the total resistance and may be increased by 6% up to 80% due to the fouling of the hull by algae, sea grass, barnacles, and the like. An added resistance of 30% due to moderate bio-fouling of a tanker hull can increase the fuel consumption of the vessel by twelve tons per day. The result is added cost to operate the vessel and increased emissions.
Accordingly, there are a variety of methods employed to lower the chance of bio-fouling and/or to clean the hull of vessels. For example, hull paints and coatings are used in an effort to decrease the chance of bio-fouling, but such treatments do not always work reliably. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,390,560. Also, the vessel must be dry docked for an extensive period of time while the paint and/or coating is applied. There are also environmental concerns with anti-fouling paints and coatings.
Most prior hull cleaning robots suffer from several potential shortcomings. Typically, the robots are connected to a cable and powered and controlled by an on-board power supply and control subsystem and are able to operate only on a stationary vessel.


A dough working device includes a rectangular body with a recess in the top surface thereof for receiving dough to be rolled; a plurality of thin plates for insertion into the recess for changing the depth thereof and consequently the thickness of the dough; a second, circular recess in the bottom surface of the body for carrying a turntable; a plug normally carried in a well in one side of the body for insertion into a well in the circular recess when the body is inverted for rotatably supporting the turntable; and a rubber pad supporting the body in either the dough rolling or turntable position.

This invention relates to a food processing device, and in particular to a dough working device.
Usually, dough is rolled using a rolling pin or other cylindrical object on any flat surface such as a kitchen counter or cutting board. While the conventional method is simple and effective, the resulting product is not necessarily of uniform thickness. Moreover, a separate implement is required when applying icing to a food product, or when decorating the product.
The object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple dough working device, which ensures uniform dough thickness, and which facilitates other work such as decorating a food product.


A spectroscopic analysis device for analysis of a sample comprises an input for receiving light from the sample and a photonic integrated circuit. This photonic optical filter comprises one or more tunable bandpass filters arranged to filter the received light. Furthermore, the device comprises a controller that is arranged—to control the one or more tunable bandpass filters, to receive filter results obtained from the one or more tunable bandpass filters, and to provide spectroscopic analysis results based on the received filter results.

Devices for spectral tissue sensing and for other spectral sensing methods include a broadband light source and one or more broadband spectrometers. In practice, two of these are included because of the need to cover both the visible and the near infrared wavelength ranges. Example prior art for Spectral Tissue Sensing are disclosed in International Patent Applications WO2012/127378, WO2012/093309 and WO2013/001423. International Patent Application WO2011/132128 discloses an example where a limited number of wavelengths are used to detect water and lipid.
This Spectral Tissue Sensing has a great potential in many application areas, especially in the medical applications area. However, to become a success, both cost and form factor are of high importance. Current state of the art technology still requires systems that need to be transported on a separate cart and that involve high cost. The result is that these systems are only used in a hospital environment, where only a limited number of such devices will fit in the budget and workflow.
Document US20120226118A1 discloses an implantable sensor for sensing a substance such as glucose. The sensor comprises a photonic integrated circuit based radiation processor for spectrally processing radiation interacting with the sample.
Document US20070109550A1 discloses a system and method for detecting the optical spectrum of an optical input signal. The system includes a tunable optical filter having a microresonator that is tunable across a plurality of states and a processor. The input signal is coupled into the microresonator, which is continuously tuned across a spectral range that is narrow relative to the targeted detection range.
Document US2009/0245796 relates to the optical communications field and discloses a planar lightwave circuit that includes a substrate, a tunable filter, a demultiplexer, and an optical processor each disposed on the substrate. The tunable filter is configured to filter at least one of a bandwidth or a wavelength of a Wavelength Division Multiplexed optical input signal. The demultiplexer is connected to the tunable filter and configured to receive a filtered Wavelength Division Multiplexed optical input signal at an input and to supply one of a plurality of channels of the filtered Wavelength Division Multiplexed input signal at a respective one of a plurality of outputs. Each of the plurality of channels corresponds to one of a plurality of wavelengths of the filtered Wavelength Division Multiplexed input signal. The optical processor includes a bit-delay interferometer communicating with a respective one of the plurality of outputs of the demultiplexer. The optical processor is configured to receive one of the plurality of channels from the demultiplexer and output a plurality of demodulated optical signal components.


An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic drawing system capable of drawing a figure having a smooth and clear contour, in which a control apparatus, based on figure data of a planned drawing figure, by operation of a cartesian coordinate robot, moves a paint discharging apparatus parallel to a contour line of the planned drawing figure to be drawn at a planned drawing location, and along with this movement, the control apparatus executes contour parallel drawing control that causes the paint discharging apparatus to continuously perform a paint discharging operation, thereby drawing a contour portion of the planned drawing figure.

Conventionally, in this type of automatic drawing system (see Patent Document 1), in order to draw a planned drawing figure G such as a design or a character at a planned drawing location of a drawing target face S by discharging paint from a paint discharging apparatus, the following sort of method is adopted. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, each time an X-axis slider is moved by a set unit movement amount Δy in a Y-axis direction by operation of an Y-axis slider, the paint discharging apparatus is moved along the drawing target face S in a square wave-shaped movement path K in which the paint discharging apparatus is linearly moved in the X-axis direction by operation of the X-axis slider.
In the process of moving the paint discharging apparatus in the square wave-shaped movement path K, the control apparatus performs start/stop control of the paint discharging apparatus in which a paint discharging operation of the paint discharging apparatus is started every time the paint discharging apparatus enters the area of the planned drawing figure G (indicated by unfilled circles in FIG. 10), and the paint discharging operation of the paint discharging apparatus is stopped every time the paint discharging apparatus exits the area of the planned drawing figure G (indicated by solid circles in FIG. 10). Thus, the planned drawing figure G is drawn on the drawing target face S. (Hereinafter, this type of control is abbreviated as "X-axis parallel drawing control").

Automatic drawing system and method of operating automatic drawing system


A battery separator composed of a microporous sheet product having first and second major surfaces and a thickness of less than about 50 mils, formed from a uniform mixture of a thermoplastic polyurethane polymer having a high degree of hard segments with a filler or said polyurethane with a structure enhancing agent, said sheet product having a sheet embedded within said mixture and between the first and second major surfaces. The sheet product has porosity of at least about 50 volume percent composed of pores such that the nominal pore diameter increases from each major surface towards the interior, center of the sheet product's thickness.

The subject invention is directed to a sheet product which is useful in providing separator components for batteries and to improved batteries containing the formed separator. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a thin microporous sheet product composed of a highly filled polymeric matrix or a low-level filled (including unfilled) polymer matrix having a porous sheet embedded between the sheet product's first and second major surfaces and having an average pore size distribution across the thickness of the sheet product such that there is a gradient of nominal pore size increasing from each major surface towards the central, interior portion of the sheet product's thickness.
Membranes have been formed from various materials and used in various applications such as in ion exchange, osmotic and ultra filtration devices including desalinazation, kidney dialysis, gas separation and other applications. Macro and microporous membranes have been used as a means of insulating and separating electrodes in battery devices. Each application provides an environment and a set of desired parameters which are distinct to the specific application.
Storage batteries have at least one pair of electrodes of opposite polarity and, in general, have series of adjacent electrodes of alternating polarity. The current flow between these electrodes is maintained by an electrolyte which may be acidic, alkaline, or substantially neutral depending upon the nature of the battery system. Separators are located in batteries between adjacent electrodes of opposite polarity to prevent direct contact between the oppositely charged electrode plates while freely permitting electrolytic conduction. Separator components have taken many forms. In a modern battery design, the separator is in the form of a thin sheet or film or more preferably, a thin envelope surrounding each electrode plate of one polarity.
It is generally agreed that one of the critical elements in a battery design is the separator component and, to be highly effective in the design, the separator should have a combination of features. The battery separator must be resistant to degradation and instability with respect to the battery environment, including the other battery components and the battery chemistry. Thus, the battery separator must be capable of withstanding degradation of strong acids (such as sulfuric acid commonly used in acid battery designs) or strong alkali (such as potassium hydroxide used in alkaline battery designs) and to do so under ambient and elevated temperature conditions. Further, the separator should also be of a thin and highly porous character to provide a battery of high energy density. Although battery separators of thick or heavy design have been utilized in the past, such materials detract from the overall energy density of the battery by reducing the amount of electrodes that can be contained in a predetermined battery configuration and size. Another criteria is that the battery separator must be capable of allowing a high degree of electrolytic conductivity. Stated another way an effective separator membrane must exhibit a low electrical resistance when in the battery. The lower the electrical resistance the better the overall battery performance will be. A still further criteria is that the separator should be capable of inhibiting formation and growth of dendrites. Such dendrite formation occurs during battery operation when part of the electrode material becomes dissolved in the electrolyte and, while passing through the separator, deposits therein to develop a formation which can, after a period of time, bridge the thickness of the separator membrane and cause shorting between electrodes of opposite polarity.
In addition to meeting the above combination of properties, it is highly desired to have a sheet product which is capable of exhibiting good physical properties of tensile strength, flexibility and ductility to withstand the handling and processing without developing imperfections and cracks which would cause the sheet product to be unsuitable as a battery separator. Meeting this criteria is contrary to some of the above described properties (i.e. thin and light weight material and high porosity to provide good conductivity). In providing envelope type separators, these physical properties must also be accompanied by the ability of the material to be sealable by heat, or other means so as to provide a pocket design. As part of the physical property requirements, the sheet product must be capable of exhibiting a high degree of integrity during formation and use.
Various microporous membranes or sheet materials have been suggested for utilization as a battery separator. Separators conventionally used in present battery systems are formed of polymeric films which when placed in an electrolyte or an electrolyte system, are capable of exhibiting a high degree of conductivity while being stable to the environment presented by the battery system. The films include macroporous as well as microporous materials. The porosity permits transportation of the electrolyte. Examples of such separators include unfilled polyolefin sheets which have been stretched and annealed to provide microporosity to the sheet, such as is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,558,764; 3,679,538; and 3,853,601. In addition, polyolefin separators which include filler materials are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,351,495 and 4,024,323. In general, such polymer/filler compositions are friable materials and tend to exhibit electrical resistance which does not permit the formation of a highly efficient, high energy battery system. Other polymeric materials have been used to form battery separators but, in general, are not capable of forming a very thin, microporous sheet having the above properties. Although polyurethanes are well known polymers and are used in a variety of applications, they have had limited utility in forming battery separators due to their presumed instability in battery environments.
It is highly desired to have a battery separator which is capable of exhibiting very low electrical resistance while at the same time providing the combination of properties described above.

Microporous polyurethane based battery separator


The sealing sheath is for use with a prosthetic socket and associated liner. The sealing sheath includes a textile tube for surrounding at least a portion of a liner that is configured to wear on a residual limb. An annular seal, e.g. an elastomeric or silicone seal, is positioned adjacent a proximal end of the textile tube and continuously extends from an inside of the textile tube configured to be adjacent the liner, through the textile tube to an outside thereof configured to be adjacent an inside of the prosthetic socket. The annular seal may include a first wing on an inside of the textile tube configured to be adjacent the liner, a second wing on an outside of the textile tube configured to be adjacent an inside of the prosthetic socket, and a base connecting lower ends of the first and second wings to define a v-shaped cross-section of the annular seal.

Liners provide a soft, flexible interface between a residual limb of an amputee and a hard socket to which a prosthetic device is secured. Such liners are typically made of an elastomer material such as silicone. Such liners may also be used in connection with orthotic devices. Suspension sleeves are a flexible tube used to secure the prosthetic device to the patients limb. The sleeve may be a sealing sleeve, or a suspension sleeve. Both types start on the prosthetic device and finish on the patients limb. Supportive sleeves can be used in an orthotic device to support a joint or limb of a patient.
Prosthetic suspension liners are described in prior patents, and may be fabricated of elastomer or rubber materials, and are used to cushion a post-operative stump or residual limb with respect to a prosthesis that is installed over the residual limb and coupled to the liner, e.g. by a conventional locking device.
Such liners should conform closely with the residual limb, accommodate all surface contours and sub-surface bone elements of the residual limb, and provide a comfortable cushion between the residual limb and the hard socket of the prosthesis that is to be fitted over the residual limb. Various silicone rubber or elastomer materials are used for suspension liners. Such elastomer materials having an appropriate hardness/softness, elongation, tensile, and other properties, such as bio-inertness (resulting in no skin reaction), have been successfully used for suspension liners.
The elastomer forming the liner or sleeve frictionally engages and remains attached to the skin of a residual limb so that the limb is retained within the prosthetic socket in a comfortable, non-irritating manner. For example, liners may be used for any level of amputation both upper and lower limb.
When an amputee walks air inside the socket allows the socket to fall away from the amputee during swing phase (the time the prosthesis is in the air between steps) causing an accelerated impact of the residual limb and the bottom of the socket when the heel hits the floor. By removing the air in the socket the prosthesis is held closer to the residual limb during swing phase reducing the accelerated impact at heel strike. There are various ways to seal the proximal portion of the socket and the liner that covers the amputee's residual limb. The most common is the use of a sealing sleeve. The sealing sleeve is attached to the outside of the socket and extends up onto the amputee's limb usually sealing on the liner.
Problems with sealing sleeves include, but are not limited to, punctures, bunching behind the knee, restricted knee flexion, and tearing along the brim of the socket.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,025,793 to Egilsson is directed to a seal but it is attached directly to the liner, which does not allow for optimal placement of the seal. The design configuration may not allow for higher vacuum sockets. Another existing seal is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,144,429 to Carstens. The seal arrangement includes a cuff-like base with a sealing lip on an outside thereof. The lip has two flaps to seal on both the liner and inner socket wall but nothing to hold the base in place, which may allow for the possibility of migration of the seal proximally during donning of the liner, compromising the seal.

Sealing sheath for prosthetic liner and related methods


A magnetic resonance (MR) imaging method of detecting and scoring motion artifacts in MR images of an object is provided. The method includes computing a k-space difference map based at least in part on first MR signals of the object acquired with a first coil and second MR signals of the object acquired with a second coil. The method also includes generating a difference plot based on the k-space difference map, the difference plot including a curve. The method further includes calculating a motion score based on the curve in the difference plot, wherein the motion score indicates the level of motion artifacts in the image caused by motion of the object during acquisition of the first MR signals and the second MR signals, and the motion score includes an area under the curve. Moreover, the method includes outputting the motion score.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to systems and methods of detecting and scoring motion artifacts, and more particularly, to systems and methods of automatically detecting and scoring motion artifacts in magnetic resonance (MR) images.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has proven useful in diagnosis of many diseases. MRI provides detailed images of soft tissues, abnormal tissues such as tumors, and other structures, which cannot be readily imaged by other imaging modalities, such as computed tomography (CT). Further, MRI operates without exposing patients to ionizing radiation experienced in modalities such as CT and x-rays.
Patient motion is one of the biggest sources of inefficiency in clinical MRI, often requiring re-scans or even second visits by the patient. In particular, patient motion can cause blurriness, artifacts, and other inconsistencies in MR images. Known approaches to detect motion require either additional hardware for monitoring the motion, which adds to cost and patient setup time, or navigator sequences, which take time away from the imaging sequence.

Systems and methods of automatically detecting and scoring motion artifacts in magnetic resonance imaging


A data management process in a storage system comprises a two-step deletion process with a confirmation hold. Data identified in a service request for deletion is encrypted using a one-time use public key to render the data inaccessible to users and system processes. The data is decrypted using a corresponding private key and verified that the data corresponds to the data and is quarantined to prevent access by changing permissions. The quarantined data is further analyzed using a set of criteria that to determine whether access to the data by system users or process is still needed. If not, the data is permanently deleted by securely deleting the encryption and decryption keys.

This invention relates generally to data management in data storage systems such as databases and file systems, and more particularly to methods and systems that render data indicated for deletion inaccessible but does not actually purge the data from storage. If deletion of the data is confirmed based upon predetermined criteria, the data may be rendered permanently inaccessible or purged.
Data management in large enterprises and other such organizations is essential for data integrity and to reduce data loss. Data that is stored in databases or in file systems may become invalid or useless and is no longer needed. In enterprise storage, it is desirable to delete or purge the data the data from storage systems to free up storage space. Additionally, since data may be inadvertently deleted by mistake, it may also be desirable to retain, at least temporarily, data intended for deletion until permanent deletion of the data is confirmed to be correct, and to inhibit access to the data to prevent its inadvertent use by business processes. Consider, for instance, data that is referenced by other data or processes. If potentially useful data is inadvertently deleted without full confirmation that it is no longer needed, important records and files could become lost, at worst, or require burdensome retrieval from backup media, at best. Moreover, having to deal with lost data could result in missed revenue opportunities, increased costs and operational downtime. Therefore, before permanently deleting data, review and confirmation of the decision to delete the data should be undertaken to ensure that the deletion decision is correct and to avoid subsequent problems where it is later found that the deleted data is actually needed.
There is a need for systems and methods that allow an initial decision to be made that certain designated data can be deleted and prevent further access to that data by system resources without actually removing the data from the system until the initial deletion decision is confirmed so that the data can be restored if needed. It is desirable to provide systems and methods that address these and other similar needs by enabling selected data to be designated for deletion and preventing further access to the data, without actually removing the data from the system, and that place a hold on the initial deletion decision until it is confirmed, thereby enabling the initial decision to be overturned and the data access to be restored if necessary. It is to these ends that this invention is directed.

Two-step data deletion having confirmation hold


A rotary clamp mechanism for holding a food mixer bowl on a support arm, wherein a rotary clamp actuation shaft has an axial hole and three radial holes extending from the axial hole to supply lubricating grease to the shaft surface. A grease fitting extends into the end of the axial hole for pumping grease into the hole system.

This invention relates to a clamp construction especially useful for clamping a food mixer bowl in a stationary position on a bowl-supporting stand.
Food mixing equipment is often used in bakeries, restaurants and pizza shops for mixing ingredients used to make bread, cakes, pizzas, etc. A typical mixer comprises a vertical axis agitator (beater) adapted to extend downwardly into a circular bowl containing the ingredients to be mixed. The bowl is removably supported on a horizontal semi-circular arm structure. Two manually-operated clamp mechanisms are carried on the bowl for firmly holding the bowl in place on the supporting arm structure while the agitator is in operation.
Many of these mixing machines are equipped with timer devices for automatically controlling the agitation period. During the agitation period the equipment may remain unattended Therefore it is desirable to have a bowl-clamping mechanism that is very reliable and resistant to vibration forces associated with agitator operations.
A typical bowl-clamping mechanism comprises a rotary shaft having a clamping jaw thereon adapted to register with a rib projecting from the bowl. Manual rotation of the shaft in one direction causes the associated jaw to rotate around the shaft axis so as to overlie the rib on the bowl. Rotation of the shaft in the other direction causes the jaw to move away from the rib on the bowl, thereby enabling the bowl to be lifted off a stationary support structure underlying the rib.
The food mixer bowl has two external clamp mechanisms thereon at two diametrically spaced points on the bowl surface. Each clamp mechanism has its own operating handle. When the two handles are operated in the clamping direction the rotary clamping jaws are advanced to positions overlying the rib along opposite sides of the bowl, thereby locking the bowl in a fixed position on a bowl-support arm structure. When the two handles are operated in the reverse (unclamping) direction the clamping jaws are released from pressure engagement with the bowl rim.
These food mixers operate in an environment containing airborne particulates and liquids (e.g. flour, sugar, condiments, milk, water, etc.). Such materials can, overtime, migrate into the sliding interfaces within the bowl clamping mechanisms, thereby interfering with rotary motions of the mechanisms and in some cases shortening the service life of the equipment.
The present invention contemplates a novel lubrication system for the bowl clamping mechanisms. The lubrication system includes an arrangement of lubrication holes designed to produce an even distribution of grease onto different areas of the interface between each rotary shaft and the associated cylindrical bore in which the shaft is mounted. The preferred grease will be a grease material approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in food processing equipment.