Disclosed are benzonaphthyridinyl derivative compounds and analogs thereof, pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds and processes for preparing the same. The compounds are useful in the treatment of diseases amenable to kinase signal transduction inhibition, regulation or modulation.

The present invention relates to protein kinase inhibitors, compositions comprising such inhibitors, and methods of use thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to inhibitors of Aurora protein kinase. The invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions, as well as to methods of treating diseases associated with protein kinases, especially diseases associated with Aurora A and Aurora B, such as cancer and further proliferative diseases.
Protein kinases represent a large family of proteins, which play a central role in the regulation of a wide variety of cellular processes, thus maintaining control over cellular function. A partial list of such kinases includes Akt, Axl, Aurora A, Aurora B, dyrk2, epha2, fgfr3, flt-3, vegfr3, igf1r, IKK2, JNK3, Vegfr2, MEK1, MET, P70s6K, Plk1, RSK1, Src, TrkA, Zap70, cKit, bRaf, EGFR, Jak2, PI3K, NPM-Alk, c-Abl, BTK, FAK, PDGFR, TAK1, LimK, Flt3, Flt1, PDK1 and Erk. Inhibition of such kinases has become an important therapeutic target.
Many diseases are associated with abnormal cellular responses triggered by protein kinase-mediated events. These diseases include autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, allergies and asthma, Alzheimer's disease or hormone-related diseases. Accordingly, there has been a substantial effort in medicinal chemistry to find protein kinase inhibitors that are effective as therapeutic agents.
The compounds of the invention are novel, selective, and highly potent adenosine triphosphate (ATP) competitive inhibitors of Aurora kinases (A, B and C). The Aurora family of conserved serine/threonine kinases perform essential functions during cell division. The three mammalian paralogues are very similar in sequence, but differ significantly in their localization, function, substrates and regulatory partners. Aurora A is mainly associated with the spindle poles during mitosis, where it is required for centrosome separation and maturation (Sausville EA. Aurora kinases dawn as cancer drug targets, Nat. Med., (2004)10: 234-235 (2004). Spindle assembly requires that targeting protein for XKLP 2 (TPX2) targets Aurora A to spindle pole microtubules through a mechanism that requires Ran-GTP (Marumoto T, Zhang D, Saya H. Aurora A—A guardian of poles, Nature, (2005) δ 42-50 (2005). Aurora A also functions in meiosis promoting oocyte maturation, polar-body extrusion, spindle positioning and exit from metaphase I. Regulation of Aurora A occurs through phosphorylation/dephosphorylation and degradation. Protein phosphatase 1 negatively regulates Aurora and this interaction is modulated by TPX2. Aurora B is a chromosomal-passenger protein with multiple functions in mitosis. Inner centromere protein (INCENP) and survivin, two other components of the passenger complex, function as targeting and regulatory factors for the kinase (Bishop J D and Shumacher J M. Phosphorylation of the Carboxyl Terminus of Inner Centromere Protein (INCENP) by the aurora B Kinase Stimulates aurora B Kinase Activity, J. Biol. Chem. (2002) 277:27577-27580. Aurora B is required for phosphorylation of histone H3, targeting of condensin and normal chromosome compaction. It has also been recently shown to be essential for chromosome biorientation, kinetochore-microtubule interactions and the spindle-assembly checkpoint. Aurora B is essential for completion of cytokinesis. Myosin II regulatory chain, vimentin, desmin and glial fibrillary acidic protein are among its cleavage furrow substrates. Aurora B phosphorylates MgcRacGAP, transforming it into an activator of RhoA in the contractile ring (Minoshima Y, Kawashima T, Hirose K, Tonozuka Y, Kawajiri A, Bao Y, Deng X, Tatsuka M, Narumiya S, May W Phosphorylation by aurora B converts MgcRacGAP to a RhoGAP during cytokinesis. Dev. Cell, (2003) 4:549-560. Much less is known about Aurora C kinase, other than that it seems to be preferentially expressed in meiotic cells. During the cell cycle, Aurora kinases travel to their subcellular targets aided by their binding partner-substrates, INCENP, survivin and TPX2. This provides an additional level of regulation that might be essential for the choreography of mitotic events.
Aurora A and B kinases are frequently elevated in human cancers making them attractive targets for therapeutic intervention. Small molecule inhibitors of Aurora kinases have recently been reported, but their effect on cytokinesis has yet to be investigated in detail. For example a high selective and potent small-molecule inhibitor of Aurora kinases, VX-680, blocks cell-cycle progression and induces apoptosis in a diverse range of human tumor types. This compound causes profound inhibition of tumor growth in a variety of in vivo xenograft models, leading to regression of leukemia, colon and pancreatic tumors at well-tolerated doses (Harrington E A, Bebbington D, Moore J, Rasmussen R K, Ajose-Adeogun A O, Nakayama T. Graham J A, Demur C, Hercend T, Diu-Hercend A, Su M, Golec J M, Miller K M VX-680, a potent and selective small-molecule inhibitor of the aurora kinases, suppresses tumor growth in vivo, Nat. Med., (2004) 10: 262-267. Another novel cell cycle inhibitor, JNJ-7706621, showed potent inhibition of several cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) and Aurora kinases and selectively blocked proliferation of tumor cells of various origins, but was about 10-fold less effective at inhibiting normal human cell growth in vitro. In human cancer cells, treatment with JNJ-7706621 inhibited cell growth independent of p53, retinoblastoma, or P-glycoprotein status; activated apoptosis; and reduced colony formation. At low concentrations, JNJ-7706621 slowed the growth of cells and at higher concentrations induced cytotoxicity. Inhibition of CDK1 kinase activity, altered CDK1 phosphorylation status, and interference with downstream substrates such as retinoblastoma were also shown in human tumor cells following drug treatment. JNJ-7706621 delayed progression through G1 and arrested the cell cycle at the G2-M phase (Emanuel S, Rugg C A, Gruninger R H, Lin R, Fuentes-Pesquera A, Connolly P J, Wetter S K, Hollister B, Kruger W W, Napier C, Jolliffe L, Middleton S A, The in vitro and in vivo effects of JNJ-7706621: A dual inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases and aurora kinases, Cancer Res., (2005) 65:9038-9046). Additional cellular effects due to inhibition of Aurora kinases included endoreduplication and inhibition of histone H3 phosphorylation. In a human tumor xenograft model, several intermittent dosing schedules were identified that produced significant antitumor activity.
As noted above, Aurora kinases are overexpressed in certain types of cancers, including colon, breast, and other solid-tumor cancers. The genes encoding the Aurora B and A kinases tend to be amplified in certain types of cancers, while the gene encoding the Aurora C kinase resides in a region of the chromosome that is subject to rearrangement and deletion. Aurora A has been associated with a variety of malignancies, including primary colon, colorectal, breast, stomach, ovarian, prostate, and cervical cancer, neuroblastoma, and other solid-tumor cancers (Warner et al. (2003) Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2:589-95).
Hauf et al. (J. Cell. Biol. (2003) 161:281-294) identified the indolinone (Hesperadin) as an inhibitor of Aurora B, which causes cells to enter anaphase with monooriented chromosomes, having both sister kinetochores attached to a single spindle pole (a condition known as syntelic attachment).
Ditchfield et al. (J. Cell. Biol. (2003) 161:267-280) described ZM447-439 ((4-(4-(N-benzoylamino)anilino)-6-methoxy-7-(3-(1-morpholino)propoxy) quinazoline), an Aurora kinase inhibitor which interferes with chromosome alignment, segregation, and cytokinesis.
The present invention specifically relates to compounds of the formula I which inhibit, regulate and/or modulate signal transduction by Aurora kinase, to compositions which comprise these compounds, and to processes for the use thereof for the treatment of Aurora kinase-induced diseases and complaints, such as angiogenesis, cancer, tumour formation, growth and propagation, arteriosclerosis, ocular diseases, such as age-induced macular degeneration, choroidal neovascularisation and diabetic retinopathy, inflammatory diseases, arthritis, thrombosis, fibrosis, glomerulonephritis, neurodegeneration, psoriasis, restenosis, wound healing, transplant rejection, metabolic diseases and diseases of the immune system, also autoimmune diseases, cirrhosis, diabetes and diseases of the blood vessels, also instability and permeability and the like in mammals.
Solid tumours, in particular fast-growing tumours, can be treated with Aurora kinase inhibitors. These solid tumours include monocytic leukaemia, brain, urogenital, lymphatic system, stomach, laryngeal and lung carcinoma, including lung adenocarcinoma and small-cell lung carcinoma.
The present invention is directed to processes for the regulation, modulation or inhibition of Aurora kinase for the prevention and/or treatment of diseases in connection with unregulated or disturbed Aurora kinase activity. In particular, the compounds of the formula I can also be employed in the treatment of certain forms of cancer. The compounds of the formula I can furthermore be used to provide additive or synergistic effects in certain existing cancer chemotherapies, and/or can be used to restore the efficacy of certain existing cancer chemotherapies and radiotherapies.
The compounds of the formula I can furthermore be used for the isolation and investigation of the activity or expression of Aurora kinase. In addition, they are particularly suitable for use in diagnostic methods for diseases in connection with unregulated or disturbed Aurora kinase activity.
It can be shown that the compounds of the invention have an antiproliferative action in vivo in a xenotransplant tumour model. The compounds according to the invention are administered to a patient having a hyperproliferative disease, for example to inhibit tumour growth, to reduce inflammation associated with a lymphoproliferative disease, to inhibit transplant rejection or neurological damage due to tissue repair, etc. The present compounds are suitable for prophylactic or therapeutic purposes. As used herein, the term "treatment" is used to refer to both prevention of diseases and treatment of pre-existing conditions. The prevention of proliferation is achieved by administration of the compounds according to the invention prior to the development of overt disease, for example to prevent the growth of tumours, prevent metastatic growth, diminish restenosis associated with cardiovascular surgery, etc. Alternatively, the compounds are used for the treatment of ongoing diseases by stabilising or improving the clinical symptoms of the patient.
The host or patient can belong to any mammalian species, for example a primate species, particularly humans; rodents, including mice, rats and hamsters; rabbits; horses, cows, dogs, cats, etc. Animal models are of interest for experimental investigations, providing a model for treatment of human disease.
The susceptibility of a particular cell to treatment with the compounds according to the invention can be determined by in vitro tests. Typically, a culture of the cell is combined with a compound according to the invention at various concentrations for a period of time which is sufficient to allow the active agents to induce cell death or to inhibit migration, usually between about one hour and one week. In vitro testing can be carried out using cultivated cells from a biopsy sample. The viable cells remaining after the treatment are then counted.
The dose varies depending on the specific compound used, the specific disease, the patient status, etc. A therapeutic dose is typically sufficient considerably to reduce the undesired cell population in the target tissue while the viability of the patient is maintained. The treatment is generally continued until a considerable reduction has occurred, for example an at least about 50% reduction in the cell burden, and may be continued until essentially no more undesired cells are detected in the body.
For identification of a signal transduction pathway and for detection of interactions between various signal transduction pathways, various scientists have developed suitable models or model systems, for example cell culture models (for example Khwaja et al., EMBO, (1997), 16: 2783-93) and models of transgenic animals (for example White et al., Oncogene, (2001), 20: 7064-7072). For the determination of certain stages in the signal transduction cascade, interacting compounds can be utilised in order to modulate the signal (for example Stephens et al., Biochemical J., (2000), 351:95-105). The compounds according to the invention can also be used as reagents for testing kinase-dependent signal transduction pathways in animals and/or cell culture models or in the clinical diseases mentioned in this application.
Measurement of the kinase activity is a technique which is well known to the person skilled in the art. Generic test systems for the determination of the kinase activity using substrates, for example histone (for example Alessi et al., FEBS Lett. (1996), 399(3): 333-338) or the basic myelin protein, are described in the literature (for example Campos-González, R. and Glenney, Jr., J. R., J. Biol. Chem. (1992), 267:14535).
For the identification of kinase inhibitors, various assay systems are available. In scintillation proximity assay (Sorg et al., J. of. Biomolecular Screening, (2002), 7:11-19) and flashplate assay, the radioactive phosphorylation of a protein or peptide as substrate with γATP is measured. In the presence of an inhibitory compound, a decreased radioactive signal, or none at all, is detectable. Furthermore, homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (HTR-FRET) and fluorescence polarisation (FP) technologies are suitable as assay methods (Sills et al., J. of Biomolecular Screening, (2002) 191-214). Another possibility is the use of a caliper test as exemplified in example 151.
Other non-radioactive ELISA assay methods use specific phospho-antibodies (phospho-ABs). The phospho-AB binds only the phosphorylated substrate. This binding can be detected by chemiluminescence using a second peroxidase-conjugated anti-sheep antibody (Ross et al., 2002, Biochem. J.).
There are many diseases associated with deregulation of cellular proliferation and cell death (apoptosis). The conditions of interest include, but are not limited to, the following. The compounds according to the invention are suitable for the treatment of various conditions where there is proliferation and/or migration of smooth muscle cells and/or inflammatory cells into the intimal layer of a vessel, resulting in restricted blood flow through that vessel, for example in the case of neointimal occlusive lesions. Occlusive graft vascular diseases of interest include atherosclerosis, coronary vascular disease after grafting, vein graft stenosis, peri-anastomatic prosthetic restenosis, restenosis after angioplasty or stent placement, and the like.
Accordingly, kinase inhibitors, particularly inhibitors of Aurora kinases, are of particular interest in treating certain disorders, including cancer and other proliferative diseases. Compounds exhibiting such inhibition are of particular value.

Protein kinase inhibitors and use thereof


There is provided by this invention a controller for cavity dumping a laser which maintains a consistent output pulse energy level. The constant output pulse energy level is due to the clipping of the circulating power within the laser's cavity upon its reaching a threshold level. In order to further insure that the output pulses are of equal energy even within a laser that is pulse interval modulated, the threshold level for the circulating power within the laser's cavity is adjusted according to a predetermined ratio of the number of times the circulating power is clipped to the number of times the circulating power is not clipped so that the predetermined ratio is maintained.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to methods of controlling pulsed lasers, and more particularly, to a method of cavity dumping lasers to generate high repetition rates with frequency modulation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In applications of lasers to communication systems there exist a requirement that the lasers operate at a high frequency, generally, 100 to 1000 kilopulses per second (kpps). These pulses can be generated by cavity dumping the laser. In order to achieve bit error rates of 10.sup.-6 or lower, the energy per pulse must be stabilized. The percentage of pulses below a specific minimum energy level must be very small. While cavity dumping at a constant frequency may be stable, data encoding by pulse interval modulation, as well as various noise sources, introduce large variations in output pulse energy. A method of controlling the buildup of circulating power in the laser must be implemented, so that the amount of energy in the cavity at the time of cavity dumping is nearly constant. The method of control must be adaptable to work over the operating range of the laser. In two-way communication systems, the laser controls must not cause energy to leak out of the laser between pulses, since such energy increases the background noise for the receiving part of the communication system. It would be desirable if there was provided a laser and laser controller that regulated the circulating power buildup, thereby controlling the output pulse energy levels and providing a control loop which maintains a low level of circulating power in the laser cavity between pulses until a fixed time before the next output pulse would occur.


This ventilation system (1), notably for a gas turbine, comprises at least one fan (2) opening into an air extraction duct (5).

(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to ventilation systems for turbines.
More specifically, the invention relates to a ventilation system capable of adapting to suit different air extraction flow rates.
One particularly beneficial application of the invention relates to a ventilation system for a gas turbine.
(B) Description of the Related Art
Gas turbines, particularly industrial turbines developing powers of between 40 and 130 megawatts, generally use ventilation systems in order to avoid thermal deformation in the spool or stator of the turbine.
A ventilation system generally comprises at least one motor-driven fan and air inlet and extraction ducts connected to the turbine compartment. It also comprises a device for attenuating nuisance noise acting on the ventilation air inlet and extraction ducts.
As environmental standards and European directives are becoming increasingly tight, ventilation systems operating in an "explosive atmosphere" are subject to very strict regulations, dictating the design of such ventilation systems.
What is meant by an "explosive atmosphere" is an atmosphere that could become explosive as a result of local conditions (the presence of air, fuel, and a source of heat or a spark). This is a mixture of air with flammable substances in the form of gas, vapour or dust, in which, following ignition, combustion spreads throughout the mixture of unburnt gases.
In order to comply with all these standards and directives, the ventilation system needs either to prevent an explosive atmosphere from forming or, where this is not possible, prevent an explosive atmosphere from igniting and lessen the detrimental effects of an explosion.
In order to do that, a ventilation system has to continuously renew the air in the ventilated compartment, dilute any leaks of gas that may occur, and ensure that nuisance noise is kept to a minimum.
Moreover, leaks of gas in air extraction ducts may be due to potential leaks in the flanges of the pipework resulting from vibrations caused by the turbine or from thermal expansions due to excessive temperatures within the turbine.
When the compartment does exhibit potential leaks of gas, there are a number of devices that propose creating a reduced pressure in this compartment. Thus, the gases at high pressure are sucked out by the air at a lower pressure.
In order to comply with environmental standards, the ventilation systems have become increasingly complex, through the addition of several motor driven fan units, providing redundancy, the disadvantage here being the increase in the size and weight of such systems and making on-site assembly and maintenance more difficult.
The prior art has already attempted to achieve these objectives. Documents US 2004/0231418, JP 59015636 and US 2007/249279 in this regard propose solutions capable of achieving these objectives.
However, particular reference may be made to document US 2001/0003242 which proposes a ventilation system made up of fans and of ducts arranged vertically in the rear part of the turbine compartment.
This then reduces the size of the system and makes on-site assembly and maintenance easier.
Most conventional ventilation systems use non-return valves situated in the ducts, of round or square section. These valves are unable to seal the system completely and the frequent sticking of these valve shutters leads to air leaking between the fans, thus altering the flow and the profile of the ventilation. These shortcomings are due to the mechanical stresses applied on closing and opening these valves and to the vibrations caused by the passage of air through the valves in the air extraction duct.
Moreover, one gas turbine requires an air flow rate of 15 m3/s and an air flow axial to the turbine, whereas another device may require an air extraction flow rate of 2 m3/s with the air flow vertical to the device.
The solutions proposed in the prior art are unable to offer a ventilation system capable of adapting to suit different air extraction flow rates.

System and method for ventilating a turbine

Abstract: It comprises at least one device (6) for varying the pressure drop in the air extraction duct (5), comprising a means (8) of regulating the air flow rate in the air extraction duct (5).


A system and method can determine a time-varying position of a sound in a multi-channel audio signal. At least one processor can: receive a multi-channel audio signal representing a sound, each channel of the multi-channel audio signal providing audio associated with a corresponding channel position around a perimeter of a soundstage; determine a time-varying volume level for each channel of the multi-channel audio signal; determine, from the time-varying volume levels and the channel positions, a time-varying position in the soundstage of the sound; and generate a location data signal representing the time-varying position of the sound. The channel positions can be time-invariant. The position magnitude can be scaled to provide a unit magnitude as a sound pans from a channel to an adjacent channel. The position azimuth angle can be scaled to account for center location bias.

Users interacting in a real, and/or simulated environment can require or prefer assistance identifying when meaningful sounds occur, and/or where sounds in the environment are coming from, relative to the user.
For example, when a user is within a surround audio environment, localizing sound can be difficult due to limitations of spatial audio reproduction. As another example, when a user is wearing headphones, intensity panning, down-mix methods, binaural virtualization, and ambisonic renderings can be insufficient for accurately localizing sound due to limitations such as a front/back cone of confusion. As another example, localizing sound can be difficult even in real environments, due to factors such as hearing loss, high noise levels, reflections, and activity levels.
As a result, there exists a need for identifying when meaningful sounds occur in multi-channel audio, and/or identifying where such sounds are located in the soundstage of the multi-channel audio.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. The configurations shown in the drawings are merely examples, and should not be construed as limiting the scope in any manner.

Determining sound locations in multi-channel audio


A grill assembly for cooking human food is disclosed that comprises a housing having a support frame, a plurality of tubular cooking members rotatably mounted with said support frame, a drive assembly for driving the tubular cooking members to rotate relative to the frame comprising an electric motor having a drive shaft, a drive chain, a drive sprocket drivingly connected with the motor shaft, the tubular members having sprockets with teeth for engaging the drive chain, and a drive chain tensioned assembly.

This invention relates to assemblies for cooking human food, and in particular to such assemblies that use heated tubes that are rotatably mounted to a housing so that food can be placed upon the roller tubes to be heated. The invention also relates to guard covers for human food cooking assemblies so that germs such as from sneezing, and contaminants in the ambient air, are blocked from impinging upon the food. The invention further relates to a mechanism for preventing a drive chain from being displaced or disengaged from a drive mechanism or drive chain.
Heretofore, heating and cooking assemblies have used rotatable roller tubes for heating and cooking food. Roller tube cooking is especially adaptable to heating and cooking products that have an elongated shape, such as hot dogs and wieners. In the prior art, the roller tubes had been mounted to the housing by bearings. However, the load exerted by the tube upon such bearings has caused deformation, and has caused wear and tear upon the bearing so that grease and other liquids have passed through the bearing seals to enter other parts of the housing such as the drive assembly of the housing.
Prior roller tube heating assemblies have used drive systems that have employed a chain driven by a rotatable sprocket or gear. The chain has been connected to sprockets or gears mounted at the ends of the roller tubes so that rotation of the drive sprocket or drive gear rotates the roller tubes. In the prior art, the roller heating tubes have been mounted in a row horizontally relative to the housing, or in some cases, at an angle of about 15 degrees relative to the housing, with their central axes extending in a straight line. However, there have been problems caused by the application of the drive chain force from the drive member directly to pulling a roller tube. This has resulted in distorting the end of that roller tube, and also in distorting the bearing with which the roller tube is mounted to allow grease and liquids to pass by the bearing into enclosures such as into the area housing the drive components. It has also been found that when cleaning roller tubes if force is exerted on one or more of the roller tubes it may displace or disengage the drive chain from the drive member or drive assembly. There are also situations where exerting force to one or more of the roller tubes will result in the drive chain being jammed within the roller grill assembly that causes the roller heating tubes to malfunction or not to rotate. In either of these events the roller grill assembly needs to be disassembled to repair the roller grill assembly or to place the drive chain back on the drive member or mechanism.
Further, with roller tubes aligned at an angle of about 15° relative to the housing in the prior art, inconvenience has arisen in an operator trying to serve food from the grill when the operator is located at the end of the grill at the upper incline of the tubes. Additionally, with a 15° incline of the tubes, food products can roll down toward the bottom of the tubes if they are bumped by a serving instrument during the serving process or a rearrangement process.
A consideration in roller grills is conservation and distribution of the heat that is applied to the roller tubes. Prior heated roller tubes have had elongated, spiral heating elements covered by sheathes, which extend through the center of the tubes. However, because heat is lost at the ends of the roller tubes, it is desirable to a greater distribution of heat at the ends of the tubes than in the center part of the tubes to provide a more uniform temperature along the entire roller tube. There is also a need to provide heat to the roller tubes so that the food products are maintained at a sanitary temperature of 140° Fahrenheit.
Previous food cooking heating assemblies have employed controls for controlling the supply of power, controlling the temperature of the roller tubes, controlling the heating time, and using display lights to indicate the state of control members. Such controls have been mounted on a control panel of a food cooking assembly. Such controls have been exposed to view during operation, and also exposed to possible impingement or bumping by a person or by some object moved about the assembly, to change the setting of a control. In the prior art, drawers or containers have been used to store items such as buns or other foods, in proximity with a heating assembly.
Heretofore, guards have been used to cover food cooking and heating assemblies to help resist germs and contaminants from coming into contact with the food located with a heating or cooking assembly. Such guards have been comprised of transparent material, such as plastic. In the prior art, such guards have had hinged components which can be lifted to allow access to the food under the guard cover. A problem with this type of unit has been that the operators using them have, at times, lifted the component up to have access to the food, but not returned the hinged member to a lower position to better cover the food. Prior guards have had pass-through types of structure wherein there are openings at the ends of the guard with a passage connecting the openings. A problem with these guards is that one could sneeze or cough into the openings into the passage to contaminate the food, or other contaminants could float through the openings to contact the food. In the prior art, food guards have used openings covered by flaps with the guard structure including a rigid ledge connecting the bottom part of the guard beneath the opening. A problem with these types of guards is that the ledge at the bottom of the opening hinders accessibility to food and makes it more difficult to see the food.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Roller grill assembly for cooking human food


An apparatus is for use with an aircraft radar system having a radar antenna. The apparatus comprises processing electronics configured to provide image data associated with an image associated with radar return data from the radar system. The radar return data is updated at a first frequency. The processing electronics are configured to update the image data at a second frequency greater than the first frequency.

The present disclosure relates generally to weather radar data. The disclosure more specifically relates to an apparatus and method for display of weather data.
Displays are used in head down display (HDD) systems, head up display (HUD) systems and wearable displays, such as, helmet mounted display (HMD) systems. In aircraft applications, HUD, HDD and HMD systems advantageously display information from aircraft systems and sensors in a graphical and alphanumeric format. The display information can include an enhanced vision image from a camera or other imaging sensor (such as a visible light imaging sensor, infrared imaging sensor, millimeter wave radar imager, etc.) and/or a synthetic vision image from a synthetic vision computer in certain applications. The enhanced vision image can be merged with a synthetic vision image to provide a single image to the pilot.
Enhanced vision systems have certain disadvantages. For example, enhanced vision systems add extra weight and cost to the aircraft. In addition, enhanced vision images are not always able to sense objects or terrain through all types of weather and require a noticeable bump in the nose of the aircraft where a camera or other sensor is installed.
FAA-certified enhanced flight vision systems can allow pilots landing under instrument flight rules to operate below certain specified altitudes during instrument approaches even when the airport environment is not visible. Conventional SVS cannot provide enhanced flight visibility, especially the capability to show a real-time image of an aircraft, vehicle or other obstacle on the runway during an impending landing. Although SVS has been approved for flying an instrument approach procedure, SVS has not been approved for operations below authorized decision height (DH) or minimum descent altitude (MDA). The use of an integrity monitor for a SVS may allow for higher design assurance levels which could lead to the use of monitored SVS for lower landing minimum credit (e.g., would allow a pilot with a monitored SVS display system to land where a non-monitored SVS pilot would not be otherwise allowed to land due to the current low visibility runway visible range (RVR) restrictions). Accordingly, there have been proposals to provide a monitor for an SVS system based upon various instruments. The use of additional equipment to provide an integrity monitor for the SVS can add to the cost and weight of the aircraft.
Weather radar systems can provide images of an environment outside the aircraft. However, such images are only available after a radar sweep is completed which can require a significant period of time. Accordingly, images from weather radar systems are not conventionally used to replace real time images from EVS.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems for and methods of displaying images derived from weather data. There is still a further need for systems for and methods of providing real time images derived from weather data. Yet further, there is a need for a HUD including a merged SVS image and a real time image derived from weather radar data or providing a real time image derived from weather radar data. There is also a need for a system for and method of providing an integrity check for an SVS without use of additional systems. There is also a need for systems for and methods of providing integration of a synthetic image and an image based upon weather data.
It would be desirable to provide a system and/or method that provides one or more of these or other advantageous features. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the aforementioned needs.

System for and method of displaying an image derived from weather radar data


Disclosed are various embodiments for an adjustable chute configured to funnel containers or packages into different types of bulk containers and bulk containers of different sizes. In one embodiment, the adjustable chute comprises a front panel, a rear panel, and first and second flexible sidewalls that can expand and contract between the front and rear panels. The front panel has a first hinged connection configured to move between a first position and a second position along a path of a chimney chute. The rear panel has a second hinged connection to the chimney chute.

In a product fulfillment context, an entity may have different conveyance structures arranged for moving packages throughout a facility in preparation for shipment. Several conveyance structures may be assembled for a single purpose, such as feeding packages to certain bulk containers. These conveyance structures may occupy considerable space within the facility and may take considerable time to construct.


A transmitting channel includes a pulse generator unit for generating frequency or phase code modulated pulses having a common centre frequency. The pulses are transformed to a transmitting frequency in the transmitting channel. An antenna, which is connected to the output of the transmitting channel, radiates the transformed frequency pulses and receives return signals. A receiver channel processes the return signals. The receiver channel includes a pulse compressor unit for compressing the return signals. Each pulse to be transmitted consists of two or more sub pulses, at least one of the sub pulses being substantially longer than at least another one of the sub pulses. Each sub pulse is coded with a different compression code. The compression code of each sub pulse having a low cross-correlation property with the compression codes of all other sub pulses, all sub pulses having the same center frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pulse compression system. More specifically, the invention relates to such a system which includes a generator for generating for transmission, frequency or phase modulated pulses, each pulse consisting of two or more sub pulses each of which is modulated by a different pulse compression code for detecting targets at short range and long range, the compression codes having low cross-correlation properties, the sub pulses having the same centre frequency, one of the sub pulses being substantially longer than the other sub pulse.
2. Description of Prior Art
Traditionally, because of limited peak transmission power, pulse compression systems with relatively high compression ratios, and therefore long frequency or phase modulated pulses, have been used for long range detection in radar systems. The pulse compression code allows the range resolution performance of a short pulse to be retained; however, these systems are limited in their ability to detect targets at short ranges since the radar is usually unable to receive the reflected pulse until transmission has ceased. To overcome this limitation, a system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,341, Mulder et al, Jan. 23, 1979, was introduced in which a second pulse is generated and the two different pulses are transmitted. While the first pulse is phase or frequency modulated, the second pulse is not modulated and its length is optimized to ensure adequate detection at range not covered by the long modulated pulse. The two pulses are separated in frequency (centre frequency of the modulated pulses) to ensure isolation and thus two separate channels and a combiner are required in the transmitter; and a splitter and two separate paths are required in the receiver. A second variation of this system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,361, Teulings, June 18, 1985, which modulates the short pulse for improved range resolution at the shorter ranges. The centre frequencies of the two modulated pulses are still different to ensure isolation of one pulse from the other in the receiver channel.
The prior art has further teachings relating to pulse compression systems as, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,852,746, Lowenschuss et al, Dec. 3, 1974; 3,860,926, Gillmer, Jan. 14, 1975; 4,096,478, Chavez, June 20, 1978; 4,153,900, Novak et al, May 8, 1979; 4,404,562, Kretschmer, Jr. et al, Sept. 13, 1983; 4,490,720, Kuntman, Dec. 25, 1984; 4,521,779, Lewis, June 4, 1985; 4,524,362, Lewis, June 18, 1985; 4,524,363, Kretschmer, June 18, 1985; 4,560,961, Kestenbaum, Dec. 24, 1985; 4,626,853, Lee et al, Dec. 2, 1986.
The '746 patent teaches an apparatus for generating a modulation signal in the transmitter of a pulse compression system, and specifically, a chirp modulation signal. The '926 patent relates to improved expansion and compression devices for transmitter pulses and receiver pulses of pulse compression systems.
The '478 patent teaches an MTI pulse compression system wherein two side by side pulses of equal length (see FIG. 2b of the patent) are transmitted. The first pulse is compression coded with an up chirp and the second pulse is compression coded with a down chirp. However, because the pulses are of equal length, the system in the '478 patent can be used only for a single range. In addition, the compressed pulses are substracted in the I.F. differencer (28 or FIG. 1 of the patent).
The '900 patent discloses two complimentary phase-coded signals which are synchronously transmitted in a pulse compression system such that, the two autocorrelation functions, when combined, are mutually cancelling except at the synchronous occurrence of the maxima of the autocorrelation functions. A doppler tolerant pulse compression system is described in the '562 patent. An analog-type linear FM modulated transmission pulse is used, and its echo is processed by baseband sampling at the Nyquist sampling rate and then converted to IF.
The '720 patent relates to a radar system where long and short pulses are alternately transmitted. However, this system does not use pulse compression techniques.
The '779 patent relates to a decoder for a pulse compression system. Both the '362 and '863 patents teach pulse compression systems using a fast Fourier transform circuit in a matched filter. In the '961 patent, a system for generating continuous waves useful in pulse compression systems is described. In the '853 patent, a processor for a pulse compression signal useful in a pulse compression system is described. The object of the processor is to enhance the resolvability of the returns.

Radar detection of targets at short and long range


Methods and circuits for balancing current in a transformer are disclosed herein. An embodiment of the method includes sensing the magnitude and direction of current flow through the primary side of the transformer. The magnitude of current flowing in a first direction is compared to the magnitude of current flowing in a second direction through the primary side of the transformer. An AC signal driving the primary side of the transformer is adjusted so that the current flow in the first direction is substantially the same as current flow in the second direction.

Full bridge converters use a switching circuit to generate a voltage, step a voltage up or down, or to isolate a voltage from a source. For example, a DC voltage may be input to the switching circuit. The switching circuit generates an AC signal based on the DC voltage to drive the primary side of a transformer (sometimes referred to herein simply as the "primary"). The transformer may step the voltage up or down. The AC voltage on the secondary side of the transformer (sometimes referred to herein simply as the "secondary") may be used or rectified to a DC voltage.
In order to accurately control the output on the secondary side of the transformer, the voltage on the primary is adjusted. For example, the switching circuit may generate a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal that is used to drive the primary of the transformer. By adjusting the duty cycle of the PWM signal, the amplitude of output voltage on the secondary can be adjusted.
Although the PWM signal provides for very accurate adjustment of the primary, and thus, the secondary, the positive and negative duty cycles may not be equal. Therefore, current flowing in a first direction through the primary of the transformer may not be equal to the current flowing in a second and opposite direction. The result is the accumulation of a DC flux in the transformer, which can cause transformer saturation and circuit failure. Many embodiments of full bridge converters use DC blocking capacitors in series with the primary to block the DC voltage. The blocking capacitors are subject to failure, especially when they are subjected to high current flow in a power supply. The failure of a blocking capacitor can damage components connected to the full bridge converter.


An implantable band for placement around an anatomical passageway, such as the stomach or other lumen, has the inner surfaces at each end attached to each other in the operative position. One end may include a passageway through which the other end extends. A lateral member may extend from the surface at one end and engage the other end.

Since the early 1980s, adjustable gastric bands have provided an effective alternative to gastric bypass and other irreversible surgical weight loss treatments for the morbidly obese. The gastric band is wrapped around an upper portion of the patient's stomach, forming a stoma that is less than the normal interior diameter of the stomach that restricts food passing from an upper portion to a lower digestive portion of the stomach. When the stoma is of the appropriate size, food held in the upper portion of the stomach provides a feeling of fullness that discourages overeating.
In addition to a latched position to set the diameter of the gastric band, adjustability of gastric bands is generally achieved with an inwardly directed inflatable balloon, similar to a blood pressure cuff, into which fluid, such as saline, is injected through a fluid injection port to achieve a desired diameter. The balloon is typically deflated or only partially inflated when first placed in the body to allow for body adjustments and healing around the new band site. Since adjustable gastric bands may remain in the patient for long periods of time, the fluid injection port is typically installed subcutaneously to avoid infection, for instance in front of the sternum. Following the initial implantation, the surgeon may adjust the band by loosing or tightening depending on the patients' needs. Adjusting the amount of fluid in the adjustable gastric band is achieved by inserting a Huber tip needle through the skin into a silicone septum of the injection port. Once the needle is removed, the septum seals against the hole by virtue of compressive load generated by the septum. A flexible conduit communicates between the injection port and the adjustable gastric band.
An attachment mechanism for the adjustable gastric band has to provide an initial sizing of the stoma of the stomach. One generally known attachment is to suture ends of the adjustable gastric band. Another generally known attachment includes one end of the gastric band terminating in a flexible conduit that has a flared portion that is drawn through an opening in a second end of the gastric band and then sutured to the encircling band portion—securing the band to the stomach. After the sutures are in place, the injection port is anchored at a convenient location.
While these known approaches are effective in securing the gastric band, further improvements are desired that simplify the clinical implantation procedure, that provide long-term reliability, and that facilitate readjustment or removal.
While sutures have been relied on as the most positive connection in the past, it is desirable to have a secure attachment that does not require sutures, yet does not require a large force to create the secure attachment. Otherwise, it may be difficult to adequately grip and perform the attachment with laparoscopic instruments. Consequently, a significant need exists for an adjustable gastric band having an improvement attachment mechanism.

Implantable band with attachment mechanism


An improved fire-resistant above-ground storage tank for flammable and combustible materials is fabricated from steel plates of at least 10 gauge, the sheets being made from a ferrous alloy having a maximum of approximately 0.15% carbon and a maximum of approximately 0.8% manganese and the steel plates welded in a specific way resulting in a tank that can withstand a 2000.degree. F. environment for a minimum of two hours.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an above-ground fire-resistant tank system for flammable and combustible material. More specifically, the invention relates to a tank, fabricated from a specific metal of a minimum thickness which is welded in a specific manner, which can withstand 2000.degree. F. environment for a minimum of two hours.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Numerous applications exist for above-ground tanks for flammable and combustible materials, i.e. gas stations, airports, and construction sites. In all these applications, and more, tanks storing flammable and combustible materials have a potential for fire and explosion, which should obviously be minimized. It has been determined that the risk is sufficiently minimized when a tank can withstand a 2000.degree. F. environment for two hours, as per Underwriters Laboratories test procedure 2085.
A number of different designs of above-ground fire-resistant tanks have been developed which meet the Underwriters Laboratories test procedures. One type of tank is encased in a thickness of cement, which increases the cost of a tank. Besides the economic penalty of adding another component to the tank, the cement is a minimum six inches thick which decreases its maneuverability. Another design requires constructing a storage tank, surrounding the storage tank with insulation, and constructing a secondary containment tank around the insulation. The insulation adds material cost to the tanks and increases the construction labor costs.
It is clear that there has existed a long and unfilled need in the prior art for an above-ground fire-resistant tank for flammable and combustible liquids which does not require additional components in order to withstand 2000.degree. F. for two hours.

Above-ground fire-resistant storage tank system and fabrication method


Overwriting part of compressed data without decompressing on-disk compressed data is implemented by receiving a write request for a block of data in a compression group from a client, wherein the compression group comprises a group of data blocks that is compressed, wherein the block of data is uncompressed. The storage server partially overwrites the compression group, wherein the compression group remains compressed while the partial overwriting is performed. The storage server determines whether the partially overwritten compression group including the uncompressed block of data should be compressed. The storage server defers compression of the partially overwritten compression group if the partially overwritten compression group should not be compressed. The storage server compresses the partially overwritten compression group if the partially overwritten compression group should be compressed.

Various forms of network-based storage systems exist today. These forms include network attached storage (NAS), storage area networks (SAN's), and others. Network-based storage systems are commonly used for a variety of purposes, such as providing multiple users with access to shared data, backing up critical data (e.g., by data mirroring), etc.
A network-based storage system typically includes at least one storage server, which is a processing system configured to store and retrieve data on behalf of one or more client processing systems (clients). The data is stored and retrieved as storage objects, such as blocks and/or files. A block is a sequence of bytes or bits of data having a predetermined length. A file is a collection of related bytes or bits having an arbitrary length. In the context of NAS, a storage server operates on behalf of one or more clients to store and manage file-level access to data. In the context of NAS, a storage server may be a file server, which is sometimes called a "filer". A filer operates on behalf of one or more clients to store and manage shared files. The files may be stored in a storage system that includes one or more arrays of mass storage devices, such as magnetic or optical disks or tapes, by using a data storage scheme such as Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). Additionally, the mass storage devices in each array may be organized into one or more separate RAID groups. In a SAN context, a storage server provides clients with block-level access to stored data, rather than file-level access. Some storage servers are capable of providing clients with both file-level access and block-level access, such as certain storage servers made by NetApp, Inc. (NetApp®) of Sunnyvale, Calif.
FIG. 1 is a prior art illustrative embodiment of a Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL) file system. Referring to FIG. 1, WAFL aggregate 100 is an instance of the WAFL file system. WAFL aggregate 100 includes one or more flexible volumes 110, one or more volume containers 120, and physical storage 130.
WAFL aggregate 100 is a physical storage container that can store data in the WAFL file system. Flexible volume 110 is a logical volume that allows the virtualization of the allocation of volumes on physical storage 130. Thereby multiple, independently managed flexible volumes 110 can share the same physical storage (e.g., physical storage 130). The virtualization requires mapping between virtual volume block numbers (VVBNs) used by flexible volume 110 and physical volume block numbers (PVBNs) used by WAFL aggregate 100 to access data stored in physical storage 130. A PVBN, as used herein, refers disk blocks that have been abstracted into a single linear sequence in the aggregate. Each volume container 120 corresponds to a flexible volume 110. Volume container 120 contains all the data blocks for a corresponding flexible volume 110.
As used herein, a block offset or an offset refers to a distance in blocks from the beginning of a storage object such as a volume, file, extent, etc. Block addresses used within flexible volume 110 refer to block offsets within volume container 120. Since volume container 120 contains every block within flexible volume 110, there are two ways to refer to the location of a particular block. The PVBN specifies the location of a block within WAFL aggregate 100. The VVBN specifies the offset of the block within the container file. When a block in a file is requested, flexible volume 110 translates the file offset into a VVBN. The VVBN is passed from flexible volume 110 to volume container 120. Volume container 120 translates the VVBN to a PBVN. The PVBN is then used to access the requested block in physical storage 130. Once a VVBN has been translated into a PVBN, the block pointer for the PVBN in flexible volume 110 is updated to include (e.g., in a cache) the PVBN for the VVBN. Thereby, the next time the requested block is required, the flexible volume 110 can use the stored PVBN to access physical storage 130.
Current implementations of WAFL define a file as a tree of indirect blocks. Each indirect block in the tree has a fixed span: a fixed number of entries, each pointing to another block in the tree. Extents are represented using an entry for each block within the extent. An extent, as used herein, refers a contiguous group of one or more blocks. As a result, the amount of indirect block metadata is linear with respect to the size of the file. Additionally, disk gardening techniques, such as segment cleaning, file reallocation, etc., are complicated by caching PVBN pointers in VVBN blocks.
Storage systems often use a predetermined block size for all internal operations. For example, WAFL uses 4 KB (e.g., 4096 bytes) blocks for both VVBN and PVBN, as do client-side file systems for file block numbers (FBN). Block boundaries are expected to occur every 4 KB from an initial offset (e.g., FBN 0). Since file systems usually offset individual files based on these block boundaries, application writers take advantage of a file system's block size and alignment to increase the performance of their input/output ("I/O") operations—for example, always performing I/O operations that are a multiple of 4 KB, and always aligning these operations to the beginning of a file. Other file systems or applications, such as a virtual machine, may use a block boundary of a different size (e.g., a virtual machine environment in which an initial master boot record block of 512 bytes is followed by the expected 4 KB blocks), resulting in misalignment between FBN's and PVBN's. Additionally, multiple virtual machines may share a single volume container 120 and each virtual machine may misaligned by a different amount.
Compression groups data blocks together to make a compression group. The data blocks in the compression group are compressed in a smaller number of physical data blocks than the number of logical data blocks. A typical compression group requires 8 (eight) logical data blocks to be grouped together such that compressed data can be stored in less than 8 physical data blocks. This mapping between physical data blocks and logical data blocks requires the compression groups to be written as a single data block. Therefore, the compression group is written to disk in full.
When a compression group is partially written by a user (e.g., one logical data block is modified in a compression group of 8 logical data blocks), all physical data blocks in the compression group are read, the physical data blocks in the compression group are uncompressed, and the modified data block is merged with the uncompressed data. If the system is using inline compression, then compression of modified compression groups is performed immediately prior to writing out data to a disk, and the compressed groups are all written out to disk. If a system is using background compression, then the compression of a modified compression group is performed in the background once the compression group has been modified, and the compressed data is written to disk. Random partial writes (partial writes to different compression groups) can therefore greatly affect performance of the storage system. In fact, write performance can be up to 15 times slower for compressed volumes than for uncompressed volumes. Therefore, although compression provides storage savings, the degradation of performance may be disadvantageous enough to not do compression in a storage system.


A display system provides temporal stochastic dithering to image data for storage in a frame buffer for display. Stochastic dithering is used to reduce the size of the frame buffer and the complexity of the drive circuitry that is used to display an image in accordance with the image data. The bit depth of the frame buffer is reduced by spatially dithering image data for the image data before the image data is written into the frame buffer. Additionally, the displayed image is temporally dithered by using a different dither pattern for successive frames. Uncorrelated stochastic dither patterns are used to minimize detection of the dither patterns within the displayed image.

The cost of a conventional display system may be lowered by reducing the number of tone scale levels of pixels within image data. An exemplary imaging system includes image data that is to be displayed may contain 24 bits of information, with eight bits each being reserved for red, green, and blue tone values. Many conventional display systems are able to display the image data at the resolution at which the image data was stored. Displaying the image data on such display systems typically results in a viewable image that is similar to the original image.
A typical method for reducing the cost of a display system is to limit the resolution of the digital-to-analog converters that are used to produce a video signal. Thus, pixel tone values are truncated when the resolution of the tone values exceed the resolution of the digital-to-analog converter used in a display system. However, truncated pixel tone values often result in perceptible, abrupt changes in tone in displayed images. Spatial dithering is often used to reduce the perceptibility of using truncated pixel tone values.

Display system with framestore and stochastic dithering


A hydraulic supply system provides hydraulic power to functional systems of a work vehicle and includes first and second hydraulic circuits. The first hydraulic circuit includes a first fluid pump operable to generate a first hydraulic fluid, a pressure storage reservoir coupled with the first fluid pump, and a first port coupled with the first fluid pump and with the pressure storage reservoir operable to store a reserve hydraulic fluid. The first port delivers a boost hydraulic fluid from the first circuit for use by the work vehicle to operate a first functional system of the work vehicle. The second hydraulic circuit includes a second fluid pump that generates a second hydraulic fluid, and a second port coupled with the second fluid pump delivers the second hydraulic fluid from the second hydraulic circuit for use by the work vehicle to operate a second functional system of the work vehicle.

Prior hydraulic supply systems and methods in work vehicles can sometimes be inefficient. This is due in part to tasking those systems with supporting an ever-increasing range of hydraulic power consuming systems, and the manufactures' willingness to integrate those power consuming systems into vehicles to satisfy customer demands for additional diverse functionalities. The hydraulic supply systems must also be able to support basing improvements made in the vehicle product offerings.
As an example, a hydraulic supply system that is used for providing high volume oil at a low continuous pressure to support lubrication and cooling functions in the work vehicle, might also be additionally tasked with servicing the periodic low volume high pressure demands of power shifting control functions of the work vehicle transmission for certain vehicle configuration packages or use configurations.
By way of background. FIG. 1 shows a representative prior hydraulic supply system 10 to illustrate the manner in which these inefficiencies may occur. The hydraulic supply system 10 supplies hydraulic fluid power to a control unit 20 of a power shift transmission 22 of a work vehicle 1. The hydraulic supply system 10 also supplies hydraulic fluid power to a set of one or more lubrication and cooling systems 30 of the work vehicle 1.
The hydraulic supply system 10 includes a prime mover element such as, for example, a motor 11 driving a pump 12 for supplying hydraulic oil under pressure to a regulator 13 via a supply line 14 including flow control devices such as a check valve 15 for example.
The regulator 13 interfaces the pump 12 with the control 20 of the power shift transmission 22 of the work vehicle via a transmission supply line 23, and also interfaces the pump 12 with the set of one or more lubrication and cooling systems 30 of the work vehicle via a lubrication supply line 31.
In typical work vehicle applications such as in farming tractors, for example, the control 20 of the power shift transmission 22 may require a supply of oil delivered at a high pressure in order to effect shifting operations in the transmissions, but usually only intermittently and only for short periods of time. A nominal example is 30 gallons per minute (GPM) delivered at 300 pounds per square inch (PSI) for about 500 ms.
Also in typical work vehicle applications such as in farming tractors, for example, the lubrication and cooling system 30 may require, nominally, oil delivered during operation of the tractor at a rate of about 10 GPM, and at a pressure of about 45 PSI.
As a practically matter, the pump 12 of the hydraulic supply system 10 must be sized to support the possibly simultaneous demands of both the control 20 of the power shift transmission 22 as well as the lubrication and cooling system 30 such as may occur during heavy use of the vehicle when both systems might operate at full use or duty cycle. That is, the pump 12 is typically sized to deliver the aggregate of the maximum overall volumes required and also to deliver the aggregate of the maximum of the overall pressures required. In the particular example, the pump 12 is therefore sized to supply about 40 GPM at about 300 PSI. The regulator 13 regulates down this high volume, high pressure supply to the appropriate levels as may be required locally by the control 20 of the power shift transmission 22 and the lubrication and cooling system 30. The regulator dumps extra unused oil to a return 16 via a return line 17. Operating in this mode the pump 12 might draw or otherwise consume about 5,000 Watts of power on a continual basis. Alternatively, the "extra" flow of the high volume pump can be dumped "over relief" and directed to line 31 to the lubrication and cooling system 30 to lubricate and potentially cool the transmission and thus removing the need for line 17. There is still a direct energy loss as this newly pressurized oil such as at, for example, 300 psi, is now dropped in pressure such as to, for example, 45 psi, and sent to the transmission 22 as low pressure lube and cooling flow. The energy of the pressure drop is converted to heat in the oil and thus may require additional cooling of the oil.
In the example, a relatively large displacement, relatively high pressure pump 12 is therefore required. Alternatively, a large variable pump capable of delivering the required aggregate of the pressures and flows may be specified for the application. In either case, however, it could be considered inefficient to provide a hydraulic supply system that stands ready at all times to deliver oil at a high pressure and volume when the high pressure is needed only intermittently, and only by a few (one in the example) fluid consumers. In essence, in the example, the prior hydraulic supply system 10 including both the pump 12 and the motor 11 sized to drive the pump 12, is sized overall to support peak power loading even though these peak demands may be relatively short-lived and infrequently experienced such as may occur during shifting of the transmission 22 or the like during heavy use of the vehicle.
It is therefore desirable to provide efficient hydraulic supply systems and methods to supply hydraulic power to functional systems of associated work vehicles such as tractors, for example.
It is further desirable to provide efficient hydraulic supply systems and methods that can simultaneously support both high pressure, low volume hydraulic power consuming loads, and low pressure, high volume hydraulic power consuming loads in work vehicles such as tractors.
It is further desirable to provide efficient hydraulic supply systems that can simultaneously support both the high pressure, low volume hydraulic, and the low pressure, high volume hydraulic power consuming loads in the work vehicles that are relatively smaller and more efficient than the prior large displacement, high pressure hydraulic supply systems that were otherwise required to supply hydraulic power to those loads.

Efficient hydraulic supply systems and methods for work vehicles


A drive axle system for a vehicle drive train having a clutching device is provided. The drive axle system includes a first shaft, a first axle assembly, a second axle assembly, a first clutching device, and a second clutching device. The first axle assembly is drivingly engaged with the first shaft through a first pinion gear. The first clutching device divides one of a pair of output axles into first and second portions. The second clutching device selectively engages a driving gear of the second axle assembly with a second pinion gear of the first axle assembly through a propeller shaft.

Vehicles incorporating multiple drive axles benefit in many ways over vehicles having a single driven axle. Drive axle systems in such vehicles may be configured to distribute torque proportionately or disproportionately between the axles. Additionally, shift mechanisms may be provided to such vehicles to permit the disengagement of one of the driven axles, and to transition from single axle operation to multiple axle operation during normal vehicle operation, among other benefits. However, such versatility typically requires the incorporation of additional drive train components into the vehicle at added expense and weight. Such added weight results in a decreased fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
Clutching devices in such drive axle systems also need to be selected based on a gear reduction ratio present in a wheel differential. Axle ratios may be of a two-speed configuration to permit the vehicle to operate in a low speed and high torque manner or in a high speed and low torque manner. It is preferred to drive multiple axles when the low speed and high torque manner of operation is desired (to distribute the higher torque amongst a greater number of wheels) and it is advantageous to operate a single axle when the high speed and low torque manner of operation is desired (to decrease windage and frictional losses when torque distribution is of lower concern). However, incorporation of both the two-speed configuration, an axle disconnect function, and an inter-axle differential may be prohibitive with respect to cost and weight. Such added weight, windage losses, and frictional losses result in a decreased fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
When multiple axles of a drive axle system having the inter-axle differential are operated in the low speed and high torque manner of operation, torque output at each of the axles should optimally be equal to prevent slippage of the axle having a greater torque. The inter-axle differential having a planetary style differential, by design, unequally divides torque. As a result, the inter-axle differential having the planetary style differential, when used with multiple drive axles having similar axle ratios, can slip as a result of unequal torque distribution when the vehicle having the inter-axle differential is operated on a low friction surface.
It would be advantageous to develop a drive axle system that is lightweight, reduces windage and frictional losses, can be operated in a low speed and high torque manner of operation and a high speed and low torque manner of operation without excessively increasing a cost of the drive axle system.

Drive axle system having a clutching device


A method, apparatus, system and computer program product are provided which permit the functionality of a device to be adapted or otherwise altered without requiring the device to be completely reprogrammed. In this regard, attributes which at least partially define the functionality of the device may be changed or supplemented in order to correspondingly alter the device functionality which, in turn, at least partially depends upon the attributes stored by the device.

The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansion of wireline and wireless networks. Computer networks, television networks, and telephony networks are experiencing an unprecedented technological expansion, fueled by consumer demand. Wireless and mobile networking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, while providing more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer.
Current and future networking technologies continue to facilitate ease of information transfer and convenience to users by expanding the capabilities of mobile electronic devices. To facilitate easier or faster information transfer and convenience, many electronic devices utilize firmware which is a combination of software and hardware. For instance, firmware may be a computer program that is embedded in a hardware device. Additionally, firmware may be the programmable content of a hardware device, which may consist of machine language instructions for a processor, or configuration settings for a device. These settings may at least partially define the functionality of an electronic device. Currently, if a manufacturer of an electronic device desires to update the functionality of the electronic device because of changes or additions to the potential functionality of the electronic device that were introduced following the deployment of the electronic device or for some other reason, the parameters, settings, instructions or the like that define the updated functionality of the electronic device may need to be flashed to the firmware of the electronic device. In other words, the settings or parameters relating to the functionality of the electronic device that reside in the firmware (e.g., a read only memory (ROM) and/or flash memory) of the electronic device may need to be re-programmed to update the functionality of the electronic device.
Making changes to firmware such as by re-programming the firmware in an electronic device(s) to change the functionality of an electronic device may be an expensive and time consuming task for a manufacturer, service provider or the like, especially in situations where there are many electronic devices (e.g., mobile phones) deployed in the marketplace.
As such, there is an existing need to be able to update the functionality of an electronic device in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. For example, it would be desirable to be able to update the parameters, settings, instructions or the like that at least partially define the functionality of an electronic device in an efficient manner.

Methods, apparatus and computer program product for altering device functionality


A T1-T2* measurement which permits speciation of different components with restricted mobility in samples where a T1-T2 measurement is impossible is disclosed. Tracking the T1-T2* coordinate, and associated signal intensity changes, can reveal additional structural and/or dynamic information such as phase changes in rigid/semi-rigid biopolymer samples or pore level changes in morphology of the water environments in cement-based materials. In another aspect, the T1-T2* measurement may also be employed to discriminate composition in solid mixtures, a very significant analytical problem in industry. In a further aspect, the T1-T2* measurement has particular value in permitting a simple assignment of T1 to different T2* populations.

Magnetic resonance ("MR") is a robust and non-destructive technique for characterizing the structure and dynamics of a wide variety of materials [1-5]. Magnetic resonance/magnetic resonance imaging ("MR/MRI") techniques, in principle, can readily quantify spin populations, discriminate species, and reveal changes in the structure and dynamics of these species.
Multi-dimensional correlation experiments are ubiquitous in MR spectroscopy for studies of molecular structure and dynamics [6]. Relaxation correlation experiments are more recent and include T1-T2 [5,7], T2-T1-δ [8], D-T2 [9], T2-T2 [10,11], T1-T1-δ [8], and D-D [12]. T1 and T2 are the longitudinal and transverse relaxation times, respectively, δ is the chemical shift, and D is the self-diffusion coefficient.
T1 saturation recovery measurements are commonly employed for broad line samples (short T2*) [18]. In addition, the T1-T2 experiment is among the most useful of the relaxation correlation experiments. The T1-T2 correlation experiment can be employed to identify oil and water fractions in reservoir rock core plugs [4]. The relaxation time ratio T1/T2 of fluids in petroleum reservoir rocks is associated with the strength of the surface interaction between the imbibed liquid and the pore matrix [10,13].
The T1-T2 measurement is commonly employed to discriminate spin populations in samples such as soft biopolymers and fluid bearing reservoir rocks [5,14,15]. However, the T1-T2 spectrum is difficult to acquire in samples with inherently short T2. Examples include many porous materials and large numbers of rigid solid-like materials. In addition, the prior art T1-T2 measurement has a minimum observation time limited by the echo time with subsequent data points acquired at intervals which are multiples of the echo time.
It would be useful for example to provide an alternative to a prior art T1-T2 measurement for systems with short T2 lifetimes.


A method of managing multiple wells connected to a reservoir comprises the steps of:                setting production and performance goals for each individual well;        monitoring the performance of each individual well;        enabling each individual well to assess its own situational state; and        enabling socially interactive corrective actions, comprising enabling collaboration and cooperation among the wells, such that the wells share with each other their situational states, goals, and plan data; developing and refining remediation strategies for problems detected within the wells; allowing execution of the remediation strategies either independently, or by operator intervention; applying the remediation strategies to each individual well; revising and resetting the goals, and integrating pattern recognition and machine learning within all preceding steps.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the monitoring and management of individual petroleum wells, to the management of multiple wells in a petroleum reservoir.
2. Description of Related Art
The oil and gas industry has attempted to achieve the highest value from a reservoir containing oil and gas by extracting as much as possible as quickly as possible from the wells. There have been many improvements over the last several years in extracting data from existing wells, and from seismic activities, in order to increase the percentage of hydrocarbons recovered from any particular reservoir:                1. Sensors are located temporarily or permanently in wells to indicate amounts from each production location and the condition of the reservoir through examination of pressure and temperatures.        2. Seismic data is now taken at frequent time intervals and combined with geologic and geophysical information to predict the flow of hydrocarbons though the reservoir towards the wells.        3. Large scale models have been built to simulate production under different assumptions.        4. Visualization systems have been developed to show operators in a three dimensional manner the interaction of all the information extracted from the sensors and demonstrate how the hydrocarbons are being produced.
In spite of these improvements, three core problems remain. First, production is managed with episodic interventions in each individual well's activity. Second, the amounts and types of data generated by sensing systems in wells cause a data overload problem for operators. Too much data is produced at rates which are too high for operators to assess and respond to abnormal conditions. The cost of moving this data throughout an organization, and managing its use, is high.
Third, even if operators were able to manage these large data streams, no methods exist for exploiting information about each individual well's production, so that production from the entire reservoir can be adjusted continuously. Such a method would enable increased production from the reservoir as a whole. This has been a difficult problem, one characterized by large amounts of data that describe complex environmental interactions. In addition, managing multiple wells in a reservoir demands that decisions be made within a timeframe that allows corrective action to be effective for increased hydrocarbon production.
What is needed is a method of managing multiple wells in a reservoir, including wells that have very little instrumentation (dumb wells); instrumented wells with surface controls (intelligent and smart wells); and reservoirs that are highly instrumented with fiber optic sensors, seismic sensors, flow meters, and other instruments and controls. In addition, such method should reduce the data overload on operators so they can be more efficient when human intervention is necessary, and the method would provide continuous adjustment of well conditions to achieve optimal production at all times.

Method for management of multiple wells in a reservoir


The invention relates to a ring (10) for a capsular bag, the ring being constituted by a curved elongate element presenting substantially constant thickness and having inner and outer edges. The elongate element comprises a first branch (30) extending between a first end (20) and a point B, and a second branch (32) extending between said point B and a second end (22), said outer edge of the elongate element when at rest and in its plane of symmetry being disposed substantially tangentially at a point A to a circle of center O and of radius R not less than the radius of the capsular bag, the outer edge of said first branch being defined by a portion of a circle of center Oxe2x80x2 and of radius Rxe2x80x2, where R less than Rxe2x80x2 less than 1.10R, the outer edge of the second branch of said elongate element being defined by a portion of a hyperbolic spiral of center O and connected tangentially to said portion of a circle at said point B.

The present invention relates to a capsular bag ring and to an assembly constituted by such a ring and an injector therefore.
More precisely, the invention relates to an elastically deformable ring for putting into place in the capsular bag after removal of the natural lens in order to maintain the natural circular shape of the capsular bag, and particularly but not exclusively in order to make it easy subsequently to put an intraocular implant into place in the capsular bag.
It is known that the so-called xe2x80x9ccataractxe2x80x9d operation consists in removing the lens while conserving the covering of the lens which is referred to as the capsule or capsular bag. However since the bag is made of a very fine membrane which is connected to the inside wall of the eye via a ring of fibers known as zonules, the membrane tends not to conserve its regular uniform circular shape.
It is also known that after the lens has been removed, an intraocular implant is put into place in the capsular bag, which implant consists essentially in an optical portion of substantially circular shape and an elastically deformable haptic portion which serves to center the optical portion of the intraocular implant in such a manner that its optical axis coincides substantially with the optical axis of the eye. To ensure that the haptic portions perform their functions adequately, i.e. that they hold the optical portion of the implant in a central position, it is necessary for the periphery of the capsular bag, against which the free ends of the haptic portions press, to retain its circular shape and in particular it is important to avoid folds forming in the capsular bag, so as to avoid complications such as zonules being torn or the capsular bag shrinking.
To keep the capsular bag in a circular shape, proposals have already been made to install a resilient ring, usually made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) whose elastic expansion serves to keep the capsular bag circular in shape. As a subsidiary point, the pressure exerted by the ring on the membrane constituting the capsular bag serves to avoid or at least limit the proliferation of parasitic cells that can obscure the capsular bag and thus degrade the patient""s vision. Such capsular bag rings are described in particular in European patent application No. 0 884 031. The ring described therein is symmetrical in shape. That shape does not make it possible to prevent folds forming in the capsular bag while the ring is being put into place. In addition, that shape does not make it possible to obtain substantially identical pressure over the entire periphery of the capsular bag.
An object of the present invention is to provide a capsular bag ring of a shape that facilitates insertion into the capsular bag without causing folds to form therein, and that enables the pressure exerted by the ring on the periphery of the capsular bag to be distributed better and thus more effectively so as to further improve maintenance of the natural circular shape of said capsular bag.
To achieve this object, the invention provides a capsular bag ring constituted by a curved elongate element presenting a first end and a second end provided with handling means, said elongate element presenting a plane of symmetry, thickness that is substantially constant in a direction orthogonal to said plane of symmetry, and inner and outer edges, said outer edge of the elongate element when at rest and in its plane of symmetry being disposed substantially tangentially at a point A to a circle of center O and of radius R that is not less than the radius of the capsular bag, said outer edge being located at the outside of said circle, said ring being characterized in that said elongate element further comprises a first branch extending between said first end and a point B, and a second branch extending between said point B and said second end, said elongate element being of a length that is substantially not less than the length of the perimeter of said circle of center O, the outer edge of said first branch being defined by a portion of a circle of center Oxe2x80x2 and of radius Rxe2x80x2, where R less than Rxe2x80x2 less than 1.10R, and in that the outer edge of the second branch of said elongate element is defined by a portion of a hyperbolic spiral of center O and joining tangentially with said portion of a circle at said point B, close to said tangential point A, whereby:
the length of any segment joining the center O to a point Mxe2x80x2 of the outer edge of the second branch is greater than the length of the segment joining the center O of the circle to a point Mxe2x80x2 of the outer edge of the first branch, the point M being such that the angle between the segment OM and the median diameter joining the center O to the tangential point A is equal to the angle between the segment OMxe2x80x2 and said median diameter; and
the radius of curvature at any point Mxe2x80x2 of the outer edge of the second branch is greater than the radius Rxe2x80x2.
It will be understood that the ring comprises a first branch substantially in the shape of a circular arc whose radius is slightly greater than that of the capsular bag and a second branch in the form of a portion of a hyperbolic spiral. The first branch is the branch that is inserted first into the capsular bag. Because this branch corresponds more or less to a semicircle of radius close to that of the capsular bag, it is easy to put this first branch into place in the capsular bag. It is only when the second branch of spiral shape is introduced into the capsular bag that the ring is subjected to significant elastic deformation of its second branch. In addition, because of its hyperbolic spiral shape, the extra diameter of the ring in said second branch compared with the diameter of the capsular bag increases only progressively. This makes it easier to put the second branch of the ring into place and thus to put the entire ring into place, since the second branch is compressed progressively.
In addition, since the elastic deformation of the ring which serves to keep the capsular bag in shape is distributed along the second branch of the ring which corresponds substantially to a semicircle, distribution of the stresses applied to the capsular bag is encouraged, thereby avoiding the risk of folds forming in said bag.
Another problem which arises is that of how to insert the ring inside the eye and the capsular bag. To do this, it is known to use an injector which is terminated by a cannula of small diameter so as to enable it to be inserted into the eye through an incision of small size, typically about 2.5 millimeters (mm) to 4 mm. The ring of the capsular bag has an orifice at at least one of its ends suitable for receiving a hook fixed to the end of a wire which enables the entire ring to be inserted inside the cannula and subsequently ejected from the cannula once the end of the cannula is inserted in the eye. Putting the end of the ring into place on the hook of the injector requires a certain amount of handling which is quite difficult because of the small dimensions of the ring and of the hook at the end of the injector wire.
There therefore exists a real problem relating to putting the capsular bag ring into place inside the injector in order to enable it to be inserted into the eye.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system comprising a capsular bag ring associated with an injector to avoid the above-mentioned prior handling.
The capsular bag ring system is characterized in that it comprises:
a capsular bag ring comprising two asymmetrical branches presenting different radii of curvature; and
a ring injector for putting said ring into place in the capsular bag, said injector comprising:
a cannula provided with an axial passage;
a body provided with a ring-handling mechanism, said mechanism comprising a flexible wire engaged in said axial passage, said wire having a first end provided with a handling member suitable for co-operating with the handling means of the ring to secure said wire temporarily to said ring, and a second end secured to means for moving said wire in said passage; and
in that when said handling member is secured to said handling means, said ring is engaged in the axial passage of said cannula via its second end over a suitable length of its second branch without applying any stress to the branch.
It will be understood that because, in accordance with the invention, the branch of the ring that is inserted in part into the cannula presents a radius of curvature that is much greater than that which is to be found in prior art rings, it is possible to insert one end of said branch into the cannula of the injector and to store the assembly until it is used by a surgeon.
Because of this large radius of curvature, the end of the second branch of the ring can remain stored in the cannula without that imparting significant deformation to the branch of the ring. It should be emphasized that such a disposition is not possible with standard type rings since the ends thereof present significant curvature which would give rise to stresses in the corresponding end of the ring likely to reduce its strength significantly after being stored for a certain length of time.

Capsular bag ring and an assembly constituted by such a ring and an injector therefor


The present invention relates to compositions comprising 1-hydroxyl 3,5-bis(4′hydroxyl styryl)benzene or cosmetically acceptable salt thereof, and methods of lightening skin using said compositions.

It is known to apply anti-inflammatory compounds to the skin to provide anti-pigmentation benefits. A particular class of anti-inflammatory agents used for this purpose is agents that reduce the amount of melanin in melanocytes by means of inhibiting inflammatory mediator molecules. However, only a relatively small group of compounds have been identified as suitable for topical use to regulate melanin formation in skin.

Skin lightening by topical application of 1-hydroxyl 3,5-bis(4′hydroxyl styryl)benzene

Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.


An apparatus for determining physical properties of a mask blank. The apparatus includes, for example, an illumination device for radiating a predetermined light laterally into the mask blank, a detection device opposite the illumination device for detecting the light which has been scattered and/or runs through the mask blank, and an evaluation device for determining predetermined properties of the mask blank from the light which has been scattered and/or has run through the mask blank and has been detected in the detection device. The present invention likewise provides a method for determining physical properties of a mask blank.

Mask blanks are used in machining tools for manufacturing integrated circuits in order to serve as an exposure mask for example in a stepper device. Usually, a mask blank comprises a carrier device, preferably made of glass having a thickness of about 6 mm, to which is applied a molybdenum-silicon nitride layer preferably having a thickness of 100 nm and, over the latter, a chromium layer likewise having a thickness of 100 nm as hard mask. Arranged above that is a photoresist layer having a thickness of 500 nm, for example.
In order to be able to serve as a patterned mask, the mask blank or the layers deposited on the glass must be patterned in various machining steps. This patterning is effected for example in pattern generators. For this purpose, the mask blank is quite generally clamped in a fixing or clamping device. Customary clamping devices clamp a mask blank by means of mechanical spring elements. This often leads to mechanical stresses or flexures of the mask blank and thus to a reduced quality of the patterned mask.
Hitherto, such dislocations and strains have only been detected or identified at the end of the process for producing the mask blank or the mask in the form of registration fluctuations, accuracy or position fluctuations and other faults. Mask blanks which lie outside a tolerance range have to be separated out by sorting.

Apparatus and method for determining physical properties of a mask blank


A method of manufacturing a bearing support structure of a gas turbine engine, includes: obtaining a bearing support and a casing assembly, the casing assembly having first and second casings extending around a central axis and connected together via struts, the bearing support securable to the first casing at attachment points; selecting a distance between the attachment points of the bearing support and the struts as a function of a required stiffness of the bearing support structure; and adjusting a position of the bearing support relative to the casing assembly until the attachment points are distanced from the struts by the selected distance and joining the bearing support to the casing assembly at the attachment points.

In a gas turbine engine, rotors including shafts, compressor/fan and/or turbine blades are rotatably mounted within a casing via bearings. The bearings are typically located radially inwards relative to the annular flow path formed by duct walls of the casing. A bearing housing usually encloses the bearings and defines a bearing cavity for receiving lubricant for lubricating the bearings. Due to the forces inherent to gas turbine engine operation, and as they are the interface between shafts and a support structure, the bearings are exposed to loads, vibrations, etc.

Bearing support structure with variable stiffness