This invention pertains to an improved process for preparing chiral or racemic phenylalaninol (PAO) by hydrogenation of L(+)- or racemic 2-amino-1-phenyl-1,3-propanediol (APPD) in the presence of a strong volatile acid. Furthermore, a more valuable form of PAO such like N-blocked PAO was found to be directly produceable from the hydrogenation mixture without isolation of PAO, when a volatile acid was used as the medium of the hydrogenation reaction.

The present invention relates to a convenient method for preparing optically active or racemic phenylalaninols and their derivatives. More specifically the invention pertains to a method for producing those compounds by hydrogenation of 2-amino-1-phenyl-1,3-propanediol (APPD) in the presence of a strong volatile acid.
Optically pure phenylalaninols are interesting compounds useful as optical-resolution agents (Japanese Patent 5959651 ), renin inhibitors (Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 143,44 (1987)), and C-terminal protecting group in peptide synthesis (J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. I, 535 (1988)).
The classical method of preparing phenylalaninol is the reduction of a phenylalanine derivative by lithium aluminium or borane hydrides. However, this is a rather expensive process and dependent on the availability of L- or D-phenylalanine. Another approach to prepare D-phenylalaninol is starting from L(+)-2-amino-1-phenyl-1,3-propanediol(APPD), which can be obtained as the by-product from chloramphenicol or thiamphenicol synthesis.
There are many possible methods for hydrogenating the hydroxyl group at benzyl position of APPD. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,099 issued to Hays et al. describes a method of preparing 1-benzyl-iso-propyl amine from 1phenyl-2-methyl-2-amino-propanol by hydrogenation in 57% hydriodic acid with red phosphorous. However, the strongly acidic condition of this system may induce iodination of other hydroxyl groups. In fact, the hydrogenation of APPD in the above conditions produced 1-phenyl-2-amino-3-iodopropane instead of phenylalaninol, as disclosed in Japanese Patent 3910914. Other approaches were made by two independent groups, Boerner et al. prepared D-phenylalaninol from L(+)-APPD by 4 steps with a total yield of 31% (Pharmazie 45, 531 (1990)). On the other hand, the hydrogenation of L(+)-APPD in the presence of sulfuric acid was found to give D-phenylalaninol (D-PAO)in 73-85% yield (Hashizume, Japanese Patent 63255254). It is obvious that the latter is quite cost-effective. However, in this process, it is necessary to use excess amounts of base to neutralize the reaction mixture for the recovery of D-PAO because an excess amount of sulfuric acid is used. When the pH of the reaction mixture is adjusted to above 11, large amounts of salts are produced and some of them, including small amount of D-PAO, are precipitated. This phenomenon makes the work-up process very complicated. Furthermore, it makes it impossible to derivatize phenylalaninol into desired forms such as N-terminal blocked phenylalaninols without isolation of phenylalaninol.
In order to overcome these disadvantages, it would be desirable to provide an improved process for preparing optically active phenylalaninol or their derivatives, and for preparing N-blocked phenylalaninols without isolation of phenylalaninol or their derivatives.

Convenient process for the preparation of chiral or racemic phenylalaninols and their N-blocked derivatives


A system includes an aerial drone. The aerial drone includes first and second electrically conductive end effectors. The first and second electrically conductive end effectors are electrically connected to a power source.

Vehicles relying on an internal combustion engine may require an alternate source of electricity when an onboard electric power source, such as a battery, is inadequate to actuate a starter motor of the vehicle. For example, electricity may be provided via a "jump start," e.g. a user connecting the onboard electrical source to an alternate electrical power source, such as a battery of another vehicle. However, in many situations, jump starts are currently unavailable.


A refractory anchor for lining a thermal vessel including (a) a mounting element positioned in the center of the refractory anchor that is adapted for mounting the refractory anchor to the thermal vessel; (b) two three-anchor fin arrangements that are each directly connected to the mounting element by a first anchor fin positioned in each three-anchor fin arrangement, wherein each three-anchor fin arrangement is positioned on opposite sides of the mounting element relative to one another such that the first anchor fins of each three-anchor fin arrangement are angled (a) relative to one another; and (c) optionally a reinforcement fin connected to and extending away from one of the three-anchor fin arrangements.

Thermal vessels are used in chemical and petrochemical refining and processes. These vessels are frequently subjected to harsh conditions (e.g., high-temperature and harsh pH environments and frequent movement of solid and semi-solid abrasive materials contained within the vessels), which may further weaken these vessels thereby decreasing vessel lifespan. To combat these harsh conditions and increase lifespan of these vessels, the inside walls of these vessels are frequently reinforced with refractory anchors/anchor assemblies arranged in a predetermined pattern that are further coated with a liner material. Generally speaking, two categories of refractory anchors and anchoring assemblies exist. In particular, those that are mounted on a metal object before liner material in liquid form is applied, and those that are pre-installed in cured liner material. Both categories comprise a variety of different types of anchor assemblies, all of which transfer loads from the anchor assembly to the cured liner material in a variety of ways, which at least depends on the actual design of the anchor assemblies.
The above-mentioned loads are considered to be either static or dynamic. Static loads comprise, for example, tension, shear, or a combination of both. Dynamic loads on the other hand comprise, for example, seismic, fatigue, wind and/or shock. The design of an anchor assembly determines whether it is suitable or unsuitable for the above-mentioned load types.
Several techniques are known in the art to transfer the load, such as keying, friction and bonding techniques. Keying, for example, is considered to be the direct transfer of a load from the anchor assembly into the cured liner material by bearing forces in a same direction of loading the anchor assembly.
Friction is based on transferring a load through friction between expansion sleeves of the anchor assembly and the wall of the drilled hole in the concrete. The effect is similar as is reached by a standard plug in a wall. Finally, bonding takes place when resins or grouts are used around the anchor, which is usually the case with post-installed anchor assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,789 generally discloses conventional refractory anchor assemblies that are mounted on a metal object within, for example, a thermal vessel before liner material is applied. These assemblies are generally cumbersome to assemble because they require clamping or crimping tools to assemble each refractory anchor. Thus, assembling each refractory anchor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,789 is time consuming and laborious—leading to increased installation time(s) even before application of the liner material.
After installation of the above mentioned conventional refractory anchors/anchor assemblies in a desired pattern in the thermal vessel, further problems arise during application of the liner material, during curing of the liner material, and/or post-curing of the liner material while the vessel is in use. These problems are related to the structural features of these anchors and anchor assemblies in U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,789 (as well as other anchors and anchor assemblies known in the art having similar features). In particular, because (1) the outermost peripheral edges that form the upper surface completely reside in the same plane (e.g., a plane that is horizontal to the longitudinal axis of the anchor), (2) the outermost peripheral edges that form the lower surface reside substantially in the same plane (e.g., a plane that is horizontal to the longitudinal axis of the anchor), and (3) the outermost edges of each fin reside in the same plane (e.g., a plane that is transverse/perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the anchor), the likelihood of liner cracking or biscuiting is increased because the configuration of the above mentioned outermost peripheral edges impedes liner material flow and dispersion during application of the liner material, which ultimately leads to heterogeneous and uneven application and curing of the liner material. Furthermore, air micropockets may form between the interface of the anchor and liner material due to heterogeneous and uneven application of the liner material resulting from the above-mentioned structural features of conventional refractory anchors, which further leads to the increased likelihood of premature liner cracking and/or biscuiting within the thermal vessel.
Moreover and with specific reference to outermost peripheral edges that form the upper surface of the refractory anchors depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,789, the upper surface of the refractory anchors remain exposed post-curing of the liner material and subsequently while the thermal vessel is in use. While the thermal vessel is in use, the upper surface of the anchor as well as the liner (i.e., cured liner material) are exposed to solids moving at high speeds in an abrasive environment. The liner material has a relatively high abrasion resistance especially when compared to the anchor. Because of the differences in abrasion resistance between the liner and the upper surface of the refractory anchor (such as those depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,789 and/or having outermost peripheral edges that form the upper surface of the refractory anchors that completely reside in the same plane), the anchors, and more particularly the exposed portions of the anchors in the upper surface thereof, are more prone to corrode over time than the liner, which further leads to liner cracking and overall weakening of the thermal vessel liner due to disassociation of the anchor from the liner.

Refractory anchor(s), systems and methods of use


Sensor information and map information may be obtained. The sensor information may characterize positions of objects in an environment of a sensor. The map information may characterize a road configuration in an environment of a vehicle. A sensor range configuration for the vehicle may be determined based on the road configuration in the environment of the vehicle. A portion of the sensor information may be processed for vehicle navigation based on the sensor range configuration.

Navigation for a vehicle, such as an autonomous vehicle, may be provided based on objects within an environment of the vehicle. Objects within the environment of the vehicle may be detected based on processing of sensor data, such as data generated by a LIDAR of the vehicle. Processing of sensor data may be process intensive, requiring high expenditure of processing power and time. Having insufficient processing resources may result in delayed or inaccurate detection of objects within the environment of the vehicle.

Dynamic sensor range detection for vehicle navigation


An optical unit with a shake correction function has a shake correction function for correcting a shake of an optical module. The optical unit with a shake correction function includes: a movable body including the optical module; a fixed body disposed outward of the movable body in a radial direction with respect to an optical axis of the optical module; and a support part disposed between the movable body and the fixed body in the radial direction and structured to support the movable body such that the movable body is swingable relative to the fixed body. The movable body and the support part or the support part and the fixed body have, in a pair, a swing mechanism structured to allow the movable body to swing relative to the fixed body. The swing mechanism includes a protruded spherical portion and a recessed spherical portion that is larger in radius of curvature than the protruded spherical portion.

In the known art, an optical unit to be mounted on a portable terminal or a movement body is provided with a mechanism for correcting a shake by causing a movable body having a lens to swing or turn. Such a mechanism is provided for restraining disturbance of an image photographed when a portable terminal or a movement body is moved.
A conventional imaging device includes a support means for supporting a movable member structured to support at least a part of an imaging means for obtaining an image of an object such that the movable member is swingable around a swing center point on an optical axis of an optical system relative to a fixed member. In the imaging device, the movable member has a supported face that forms a part of a spherical face having a center located on the swing center point. The imaging device also includes a holding member that is movable in an approaching and separating direction so as to change a distance from the fixed member to the supported face. The imaging device also includes a plurality of positional balls that are held with their positions fixed relative to the fixed member, are in point-contact with the supported face, and are different from one another in a circumferential position about the optical axis. The imaging device also includes a plurality of adjustment balls that are held between the supported face and the holding member, are in point-contact with the supported face, and are different from one another in a circumferential position. The supported face forms a part of the spherical face having the center located on the swing center point of the movable body.
According to a configuration in which a support mechanism for supporting a movable body includes a plurality of balls rollable between a fixed body and the movable body, there is a possibility that the balls are handled with difficulty in manufacturing a device. In a case where the movable body having a protruded spherical face supports the balls each having a protruded spherical face such that the balls are rollable, there is a possibility that the structure of the support mechanism becomes complicated.

Optical unit with shake correction function


A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell configured to produce electrical power by a chemical reaction of a flow of fuel and a flow of oxygen or air with an electrolyte and a cooling system configured to remove thermal energy from the fuel cell via a flow of coolant through the fuel cell. The fuel cell system includes one or more conductivity sensors configured to measure a change in conductivity of the coolant flow. A method of operating a fuel cell system includes producing electrical power at a fuel cell by a chemical reaction of a flow of fuel and a flow of air with an electrolyte, urging a flow of coolant through the fuel cell to remove thermal energy and ions from the fuel cell, and measuring a conductivity of the flow of coolant via one or more conductivity sensors.

Exemplary embodiments pertain to the art of fuel cells, and in particular to hydrogen detection in fuel cell systems.
A flow of hydrogen rich, catalytically reformed fuel and a flow of oxygen or air are introduced to a fuel cell and chemically react to produce electricity and water. The reaction also produces heat, and a cooling system is utilized which circulates a water coolant stream through the fuel cell to remove the heat from the fuel cell. Reformed gas from the fuel can leak into the coolant stream, which can indicate internal cell stack failure and potentially cause a hazard due to the hydrogen content of the gas. The art would readily appreciate a means of detection of hydrogen in the coolant stream based on the reformed gas constituents to provide warning of the presence of hydrogen.


A micro-radiation therapy apparatus includes an isotope-based micro-radiotherapy brachytherapy small animal irradiator useful for radiating a biological system, the irradiator having an external radiation source proximate the biological system comprising a collimated radiation beam. A method of effectively irradiating at least one cell in a biological system includes applying micro-radiation from an isotope-based micro-radiation small animal irradiator, the irradiator having an external radiation source proximate the biological system including a collimated radiation beam to a target cell of the biological system.

Cancer (malignant neoplasm) is characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells in a living animal and is one of the leading killer diseases of mankind in history. Each year in the U.S. more than a million people are diagnosed with cancer and half of those people so diagnosed will ultimately die from cancer. Cancer presents itself in human and non-human mammals and kills both.
Massive discovery efforts having been ongoing for years into discovering effective anti-cancer therapies including radiation therapy which can exterminate cancer in some instances and block the spread of cancer in some instances. In that regard, use of laboratory animal models (the use of small animals instead of humans for treatment including testing) and cell cultures are carried out (under accepted and approved protocol and standards) to determine radiation response of tumors and normal organs to an applied dose of radiation.
One present laboratory practice of irradiating animals employs ionizing radiation energy from teletherapy sources (for example, Cobalt-60) or generated x-rays. Such sources are sources which are commonly referred to as external beam radiation and are typically provided by an extended linear accelerator or radioactive source. External beam radiation and external beam radiation therapy is a form of radiation therapy in which the radiation is delivered by a machine pointed at the target area to be radiated and located external to that area, with the source relatively far from i.e. non-local to the patient, animal, or sample (80 cm-100 cm). Modern radiation therapy involving external beam sources include linear accelerators such as those produced by Varian Medical Systems 3100 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, Calif. 94304 USA (such as a Clinac 2300 medical linear accelerator).
During such radiation therapy, it is desired to predict or measure the radiation effect on tumorous tissue and normal organ tissue for the research to be effective. Further, it is desired to measure the extent, biological environmental progression and to measure physiologic quantities relating to the radiation response in small animal tumors, normal organs, or organ systems and so analytical measurements are required.
Presently in some instances radiation is used to therapeutically treat living non-human animals, usually of the order Rodentia, and pets or cattle having cancer, using equipment that is the same or similar to that used on humans. However, the smaller scale size of these animals compared to humans, for example rats and mice, makes the precise irradiation of these animals relatively difficult. Thus it is highly desired to have an apparatus and a method for effectively therapeutically treating animals that is more application selective as to the radiation impacted/targeted tissue locus.
Although currently extremity-implanted tumors can be homogeneously irradiated while shielding the rest of the animal, conformal techniques are desired for evaluating heterogeneous tumor irradiation response, in-situ tumor response, and normal organ response. The use of human-scaled equipment for delivery of conformal techniques remains unacceptable for treating small animals with irradiation.
More particularly in irradiating a small animal such as a mouse or rat, present radiation apparatus provide relatively undesirable large radiation beams to the target small animal. Therefore it is difficult to restrict the radiation distribution to the intended biological system target so that the distribution is well controlled. For example, the application of irradiation to target mouse tumors is difficult without also undesirably irradiating a substantial portion of a normal part of the mouse, causing undesired collateral radiation response effects on the non-desired tissue that obscure the response to the desired tissue tumor irradiation. Similar undesired complications are encountered when irradiating small animals for determining radiation response of their normal organs using present apparatus.
Progress has been more rapid in some areas of research than other areas. For example development of small animal imaging systems, such as micro-positron emission tomography (PET) and micro-computed tomography (CT) and micro-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has spawned a flurry of development of imaging agents to measure the extent, biological environment, progression, and response to diseases such as cancer, and to measure physiologic quantities of small animal normal organs or organ systems. However for radiation response, there has not been a similar development that allows one to take advantage of the available impressive imaging resolution. For some members of the small animal classification, such as cell cultures, accurate irradiation using a dose distribution with a controlled variation in intensity and spatial extent is virtually impossible with existing technology. The existing irradiators for small animals are unacceptably cumbersome and may not support the numerous radiation response tests needed.

Enhanced micro-radiation therapy and a method of micro-irradiating biological systems


An SRAM-type memory cell that includes a semiconductor on insulator substrate having a thin film of semiconductor material separated from a base substrate by an insulating layer; and six transistors such as two access transistors, two conduction transistors and two charge transistors arranged so as to form with the conduction transistors two back-coupled inverters. Each of the transistors has a back control gate formed in the base substrate below the channel and able to be biased in order to modulate the threshold voltage of the transistor, with a first back gate line connecting the back control gates of the access transistors to a first potential and a second back gate line connecting the back control gates of the conduction transistors and charge transistors to a second potential. The first and second potentials can be modulated according to the type of cell control operation.

SRAM ("Static Random Access Memory") type memory cells are static ram memories, that is to say memories that do not require periodic refreshing.
Such memory cells are constructed from a set of transistors.
A general concern in this field is how to reduce the size of the cells and how to reduce the leakage currents.
When an SRAM cell is fabricated on a bulk substrate, the size reduction results in a greater variability, which means that the dimensions of the transistors must not be reduced too much, and the read and write components must be separated in order to find an operating point.
This may entail increasing the number of transistors (thus increasing from 6 to 8, or even 10 transistors), with an attendant penalty in terms of surface area.
Moreover, on a "bulk" type substrate, the transistors have different dimensions, depending on their function within the cell (transfer, charge, conduction).
Authors have proposed using FD-SOI type transistors (an acronym standing for "Fully-Depleted SOI", which describes a fully depleted structure produced on a silicon on insulator substrate) comprising a back control gate.
Reference in this respect can be made to the publications by Yamaoka et al. ("SRAM Circuit With Expanded Operating Margin and Reduced Stand-By Leakage Current Using Thin-BOX FD-SOI Transistors", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 41, No 11, November 2006) and by Tsuchiya et al. ("Silicon on Thin BOX: A New Paradigm of the CMOSFET for Low-Power and High-Performance Application Featuring Wide-Range Back-Bias Control", IEEE 2004).
A conventional SRAM cell typically comprises six transistors, namely:
two access or transfer transistors: these are generally N channel field-effect transistors (NFETs), and
two charge transistors and two conduction transistors, linked in pairs so as to form two back-coupled inverters: the charge transistors are, in theory, P channel FET transistors (PFETs) and the conduction transistors are NFET transistors.
In the abovementioned publications, the back control gate, which is formed under the insulator, is used to control the operating conditions of the transistors more accurately.
The back control gate is a doped region formed under each transistor, each group of transistors and the underlying gate corresponding to an N+ or P+ type island being insulated from the others by so-called "STI" ("Shallow Trench Isolation")
Thus, in an SRAM cell, the PFET transistors belong to one and the same island, while the NFET transistors are grouped in pairs (access transistors and conduction transistors respectively) in islands separated by the P region.
In practice, these two N regions are linked together at the periphery and to the other regions of the same type for the other columns. The same applies for the P region.
For N channel transistors, the region forming the back control gate is of P+ type, and is separated from the P type base substrate by a layer of N conductivity.
For the P channel transistors, the region forming the back control gate is of N+ type.
The article by Yamaoka et al. discloses a back control gate common to the two charge transistors, which are of P type, and a back control gate common to the access transistors and to the conduction transistors which are of N type.
In the article by Tsuchiya et al., the access transistors have a back control gate linked to ground and each pair formed by a charge transistor and a conduction transistor has a common back control gate.
However, in these devices, the back control gate simply comprises a well which is limited by the isolating trench.
Moreover, the choice of working in columns of wells does not favour the facilitation of the operating modes.
For example, the article by Yamaoka et al. describes N access transistors and N conduction transistors having the same back control gate such that their ratio remains constant regardless of the operating mode, thereby limiting the margin for improvement for the various functional modes.
Research is therefore focused on obviating the drawbacks of the existing devices and further reducing the dimensions of the SRAM-type memory cells, so as to conform roughly to Moore's law, while improving the performance levels of such cells.


Provided is a charge pump circuit which is preferably used for reducing noise generated when electric charges are accumulated in a capacitor of the charge pump circuit. A load driving system 1 includes a charge pump circuit 2, a clock generation circuit 4, an amplifier circuit 6, and a load 8. The charge pump circuit 2 includes capacitors C1 and C2, a transistor PTr3 which is a P-channel MOS transistor and controls current supply to the C1, switching elements SW1 to SW3, and a supply current control circuit 20. The charge pump circuit 2 switches the SW1 to SW3, to thereby perform the accumulation of electric charges to the C1 and the transfer of the accumulated electric charges to the C2 for generating a negative power source. The supply current control circuit 20 includes a transistor PTr4, a switching element SW4, and a transistor NTr6 which forms a current mirror with a transistor NTr5 which constitutes an output stage of the amplifier circuit 6. The C1 is charged with a supply current which is positively correlated with a load current via the NTr6, the SW4, the PTr3, and the PTr4.

Up to now, as a circuit which is driven by a single power source, that is, one positive power source and outputs a signal to a small resistor terminated at the ground, Patent document 1 discloses a technology for a charge pump circuit which drives a video amplifier as illustrated in FIG. 13. In this conventional technology, the charge pump circuit generates a negative power source (VEE) based on a positive power source (VCC) and a ground voltage (GND), and a driven circuit which is driven between the positive power source (VCC) and the negative power source (VEE) directly drives a load without using a capacitor for cutting a DC (direct current) with the ground voltage (GND) being as a central level, whereby a signal is outputted.
In the charge pump circuit used in this technology, during a first period of a clock signal, a capacitor is directly connected between a supplied positive voltage and the ground voltage to accumulate electric charges, and during a second period of the clock signal, the capacitor is directly connected between the ground voltage and a negative voltage terminal which generates a negative voltage to transfer the accumulated electric charges. This series of operations is repeatedly performed, to thereby generate the negative voltage.
In such a charge pump circuit, during the period during which the electric charges are accumulated in the capacitor, a current amount is large during the earlier half of the period, gradually decreases with time, and becomes smaller during the latter half of the period. When the amount of the current consumed by the video amplifier and the load thereof is large, the large current flowing during the earlier half of the period causes problems such as power source noise and consumption beyond the current supply capability.
As a technology for solving these problems, Patent document 2 discloses a technology for a charge pump circuit which drives a video amplifier as illustrated in FIG. 14. According to this technology, the current amount during the period during which the electric charges are accumulated in the capacitor of the charge pump circuit is set to be constant. In this technology, a constant current is generated by using an internal constant current circuit irrespective of the amount of the current consumed by the video amplifier, and this constant current is used for accumulating the electric charges in the capacitor. Therefore, the equivalent amounts of currents flow between the earlier half and the latter half of the period during which the electric charges are accumulated, and hence it is possible to prevent the large current from flowing only during the earlier half of the period.

Charge pump circuit and semiconductor integrated circuit


An improved nib for writing with ink on media that comprises a tube having a proximal opening, a slanted distal opening, an interior wall and an exterior wall, an exposed writing tip at a distal end of the nib, wherein the tip has a groove extending from the tip along at least a portion of the interior wall, and a slit extending from the tip along a part of the nib, wherein the tip is made of a ceramic material.

Applying ink by using a writing utensil hails back to the times Pharaohs, when scribes wrote on papyrus scrolls using reeds. In general, writing ends of nibs in pens (hereinbelow referred to as tips) may be for example round, stub, italic, calligraphic, and/or oblique. The exact shape affects the shape and thickness of the written characters, which also depend on how the pen is held, such as what the orientation of the tip length and width is relative to the media, in which hand the pen is held etc (see http://www.pentrace.net/article052501085.html).
U.S. Pat. No. 293,545 to Waterman describes a fountain pen having the following components: a slit nib; a barrel, which holds an ink reservoir, and a cap, which fits over the nib of the pen to protect it from damage. The slit at the tip controls the flow of ink. The pen operates by air inducing flow of ink from the barrel to the nib tip, and capillary action along the slit at the tip inducing flow of ink along the nib, to provide a steady and even flow of ink from the fountain pen.
Another type of sophisticated writing tool is a calligraphic pen. Today calligraphy is performed using special writing utensils in which the tip may be flat rather than slanted typical in fountain pens. The flat end allows for applying strokes of adjustable width according to the rotation of a handheld barrel during the process of writing. Although ballpoint pens have replaced the fountain pen as the universal writing tool, fountain and calligraphic pens continue to be popular with collectors as well as those who desire a more elegant and sophisticated writing tool.
For example, calligraphic style of writing and tips are used for example in writing Jewish scrolls.
Writing on Jewish scrolls must be manually performed on leather parchment using special black ink. Very high demands are made of the ink. It must be coal black, without even a slightest tint, highly viscous to prevent it from soaking and spreading on the scroll and to allow it to emboss the characters and symbols, and durable and resilient in the face of centuries of existence. The ink is usually made of: coal, gals (small epiphyllous balls on oak leaves), wood rosin, and blue vitriol. This mixture makes the ink ineffaceable.
The special characteristics of the ink as well as other special religious requirements, pose rigorous requirements on the writing technique, as well as on the suitable utensil. The tip of a quill is traditionally used for writing scripture on parchment. The bottom part is specially prepared using a knife or other sharp edged instrument, by cutting and suitably configuring the tip.
The viscosity of the special ink requires pressing of the tip to the scroll to allow expansion of the slit of the tip and thus flow of the ink. However, the rough hide of the scroll quickly wears out soft quill tips, consequently requiring frequent and lengthy sharpening of the quill, and it is difficult to reproduce the tip in a desired profile.
Other feasible writing utensils may be prepared from reeds or thermoplastic imitation quills. The flexible tips allow easy expansion of the slit for broad strokes and application of light thin strokes by minimal expansion of the slit; however, rigid nibs have several important advantages as they tend to produce a cleaner, more defined writing line, and their ink flow is likely to be more consistent.
Indeed, the first fountain pen nibs were made of gold alloys, often dipped in a hard metal called iridium for strength and resistance to corrosion and wear. However, when gold alloy nibs became too expensive to mass-produce, steel was adopted as the material of choice.
IL patent 131687 describes a specially configured and dimensioned nib, for traditionally writing Jewish scripture on parchment. The nib is described as made of material selected from the group consisting of a metal, a metal alloy, and a plastic.
Despite the advantages related above, metal nibs are religiously problematic for writing in Jewish scriptures. Moreover, the special ink tends to corrode the metal (to counter precipitation in the ink, the ink is typically made more acidic with vinegar or even hydrochloric or sulfuric acid, which tend to cause galvanic corrosion of the nib, particularly in the slit). Furthermore, the rough scroll erodes even metal nibs as well, so that periodic grinding of the nibs is required. Even nibs of pens such as fountain pens, used for writing on plain smooth paper, may require periodic grinding maintenance. Although the grinding of a metal nib is obviously required less frequently than the sharpening of a quill tip, proper and satisfactory grinding of the metal nibs can be very difficult to master (http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/aboutpens/ludwig-tan.html).
Another problem with quills is that they require frequent dipping in an inkwell. Pens suitably configured for writing Jewish scriptures, equipped with an ink reservoir such as in modern pens, would save this effort. However, leaks of ink from various pens with ink reservoirs can be a significant problem. Such leaks may be caused by excessive pressure on the nibs or tips, which may cause excessive widening of the slit, or changes in the viscosity of the ink from body (hand) warmth and/or changes in the room temperature. Such leaks might disqualify a piece of scroll which has been toiled over for many hours.
U.S. 2008181715 describes a fountain pen for traditional writing Jewish of scripture on parchment, that includes a configured nib, an ink loader for feeding ink to said nib, a reservoir for storing said ink, a piston for creating a customable pressure inside said reservoir, and a hollow barrel having an open front and rear ends for housing said piston, ink loader, nib and reservoir.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,765 describes a composite ceramics material suited for balls of ball-point pens, and a method of manufacturing composite ceramics balls for ball-point pens, that have affinity for both oil-based ink and water-based ink. The composite ceramics, whose main components are mullite and zirconia (ZrO2) at the ratio of 50-95% to 5-50% by weight, is polished into mirror-finished balls and then chemical processing or physical processing is performed on the ball surfaces to form indentations in the ball surfaces.
Despite the many developments of writing utensils, there is an unmet need for simple fountain/calligraphic pens that write flawlessly, have a pleasant writing feel, and transform one's handwriting for the better—a pen that is an extension of the hand, rather than an impediment to it. ]
There is a need for pens that allow easy control and adjustment of the flow of ink; there is also need of pens that require minimal upkeep.
Another aim is to improve calligraphic writing efficiency.


Analysis information and event information to be executed when received E-mail corresponds to the analysis information are stored correspondingly. When the E-mail corresponding with the analysis information is received, the corresponding event is driven. Alternatively, the information specifying execution timing is added to the event information and, thereby, when the E-mail corresponding to the analysis information is received, the corresponding event information is defined as a monitoring object. When the execution timing specified in the execution timing information occurs, the event is driven.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an E-mail communication apparatus for executing E-mail communications using a communication line.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when E-mail is received, the contents of the E-mail are manually verified and a sentence is generated responding to the contents and the reply is transmitted.
Even in the case of an automatic reply method, a reply is immediately sent when the E-mail is received or, the reply is simply sent in a pre-determined format without verifying the contents of the received E-mail.
Further, when E-mail requesting a reply is transmitted to a plurality of distant parties (listings in a mailing list), replies from the recipients are sent manually and a reply is again requested from the recipients who have not yet replied.
Reply mail is basically transmitted manually and when a large amount of inquiry E-mails are received, many man-hours are required to reply to these E-mails.
In addition, even in the case of the automatic reply method, only a formatted E-mail is sent. Therefore, a manual process is essentially required to reply to different E-mail formats and, therefore, considerable labor is required.
Further, when an E-mail requesting a reply is transmitted to a plurality of parties (in the mailing list), replies from the original recipients are administrated manually and another request for a reply from recipients who have not yet replied must be transmitted. In addition, when the reply demand is done with E-mail, it is meaningless to demand a reply with the same E-mail in which a reply has not yet been received.
The present invention has been proposed to overcome the problems explained above and, therefore, it is an object of the present invention to automatically transmit E-mail in which the reply process for every E-mail pattern and the reply demand when no reply is sent are respectively considered for situations where the E-mail is received by the parties or not received by parties, and the reply requested E-mail is transmitted by selecting, case by case, the E-mail addresses of the requesting parties.
In view of solving the problems explained above, an E-mail communication apparatus has an E-mail receiver connected to a communication line receiving E-mails from the communication line, a storage device storing analysis information for analyzing contents of received E-mails and event information, corresponding to the analysis information, to be driven when the received E-mail corresponds to the analysis information, an E-mail analyzer analyzing contents of E-mails received by the E-mail receiver based on the analysis information stored in the storage device, and an event driver reading from the storage device when an E-mail received by the E-mail analyzer corresponds to the analysis information and driving the event based on the event information.
With the structure explained above, the event to be driven corresponding to receiving the E-mail can be automatically driven by storing corresponding information to pre-analyze the received E-mail and information about the event to be driven when E-mail conforming to the analysis information is received.
Further, even when E-mail conforming to the analysis information is received, the corresponding event need not be immediately executed. Rather, the event can be executed at any desired time by forming the event with an event information monitor so that when event information includes timing information and the E-mail received by the E-mail analyzer conforms to the stored analysis information, the event will be driven based on the event information at the specified time.
Moreover, an automatic reply can be generated by structuring an E-mail transmitter, which is connected to the communication line to transmit E-mail, so that the stored event includes an E-mail transmitting event containing a transmission destination address and a file name of the mail text. When the E-mail transmitting event is executed, the transmitter reads the file corresponding to the file name of the mail text as the mail text and transmits the E-mail to the transmission destination address.
Replies can also be sent with an attachment of any desired file by including the file name of the file to be attached in the event information. The E-mail transmitter then transmits the reply with the file corresponding to the attached file name attached to the reply when the E-mail transmission event is executed.
In addition, the reply can be automatically sent to the transmission destination address by structuring the E-mail transmitter such that the source address of the mail being replied to is used as the transmission destination address if the transmission destination address is not stored in the event information.
Moreover, management of reply E-mails is performed and the reply demand can be automatically executed by structuring a transmission destination address information storage device to store, in correspondence, event group ID, which relates a plurality of events, a transmission address, reply date and time, which indicate the date and time when the reply was received, and reply time limit information, which indicates a time limit for receiving the reply.
A process for inputting the reply time limit information and storing the reply time limit information, transmission address and event group ID to the transmission destination address information storage device, respectively, is also provided. A process is provided to store analysis information, including whether the event group ID is added to the received E-mail, and event information, which is driven when an E-mail having a corresponding analysis condition is received. A process for storing, as a monitoring object of an event information monitor when no reply to the original E-mail has been received, the event information for transmitting an E-mail requesting a reply according to predetermined execution timing is also provided. All of these processes described above are conducted when the original E-mail is transmitted.
When it is detected that the event group ID is included by analyzing the E-mail with the E-mail analyzer when the E-mail is received by the E-mail receiver, the event driver and/or the event information, as the monitoring object of the event information monitor, is/are executed based on the corresponding event information. Then, information indicating that the reply has already been transmitted is stored, respectively, for the transmission address information including the event group ID and transmission address, which are identical to that of the received E-mail stored in the transmission destination address information storage device.
When the event execution timing for transmitting the reply demand with the event information monitor is detected, the E-mail transmitter searches the transmission destination address information storage device to read the transmission destination address information in which the event group ID is already added but the no reply received information is stored and transmits the reply demand to the transmission destination address stored based on the event information for the preset transmission address.
When the transmission destination address of the reply demand mail is the transmission destination address of the E-mail stored in the transmission destination information, the reply demand can be issued directly to the transmission destination address.
Moreover, a more effective process for demanding a reply can be made by storing the transmission destination address as the transmission destination information and the setting the reply demand transmission address as the transmission destination address of the reply demand.
Moreover, replies and reply demands can be managed for a transmission destination address stored in a mailing list by generating transmission destination information for each transmission destination mail address stored in the mailing list. Then, each transmission destination address is stored in the transmission destination information storage device, when use of the mailing list is specified, as the transmission destination for transmission of the E-mail.
The event stored in the event information storage device may include not only the E-mail transmission event but also a program execution event to drive a desired program. The desired program may be driven when E-mail conforming to the analysis information is received by including in the event information of this program execution event information to designate a program execution path. The event driver then drives the relevant program by reading the execution path of the program at the time the program is executed.

Electronic mail communication apparatus and recording medium


An apparatus, a system and a method secures, attaches and/or detaches a device to a fixture. A post with an interior secures a retractable reel. The retractable reel has a cable that attaches, connects and/or secures the device to the fixture. The cable extends from the retractable reel and/or extends through the post. A head unit attaches to the device and has a fastening mechanism for connecting and/or for disconnecting the cable to the device. The post has a recession for receiving a head unit and/or for aligning the head unit and/or the device. A fastener and/or an adhesive connects, secures and/or attaches the device to the head unit. A key disconnects the cable from the head unit.

The present invention generally relates to an apparatus, a system and a method for securing, for attaching and/or for detaching a device to a fixture. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus, a system and a method for securing, for attaching and/or for detaching a portable electronic device, such as, for example, a camera, a camcorder, a digital camera, a digital music player, a video game, a digital video player, a digital video recorder, a personal data assistant (hereinafter "a PDA"), a laptop or tablet computer, an E-book, an E-reader, a cellular telephone and/or the like. The apparatus, the system and the method for securing, for attaching and/or for detaching the device may attach the device to the fixture to deter and/or prevent theft and/or destruction of the device. The device may be a portable electronic device which may be, for example, displayed for sale by a retailer, a wholesaler and/or the like.
It is generally known, for example, that vendors, retailers and/or wholesalers may display a device to a customer at, for example, a retail store and/or a sales facility for examination and/or inspection by the customer. The device may be a portable electronic device, such as, for example, a camera, a digital camera, a compact disc player, an MP3 player, a PDA, a laptop or tablet computer, an E-book, an E-reader, a cellular telephone and/or the like. The device is traditionally displayed in conjunction with a fixture, such as, for example, a wall, a floor, a pillar, a support beam, a stair case or a fixture, such as, for example, a cabinet, a table, a shelf and/or the like.
Generally, the device is fixed to a surface of the fixture, and/or a cable attaches the device to the fixture. The cable is often not adjustable or has a limited length. In addition, the cable is often not detachable. As a result, the customer and/or the user is unable to examine the device while being independent of the cable and/or fixture. For example, pulling of the cable often prevents the customer and/or the user from examining the various characteristics of the device, such as, for example, the weight, the feel, and the portability of the device. Further, the attachment of the cable prevents the customer and/or the user from examining the size, weight and/or other dimensions of the device with respect to a laptop bag, a book bag, and/or a pant pocket, for example.
A need, therefore, exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for securing, for attaching and/or for detaching a device to a fixture. Additionally, a need exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for securing, for attaching and/or for detaching a device to a fixture which may allow a device to be detached from the fixture to allow a customer and/or a user to manipulate and/or examine the device. Moreover, a need exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for securing, for attaching and/or for detaching a device to a fixture which may allow a device to be re-attached to a fixture after detachment from the fixture. Further, a need exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for securing, for attaching and/or for detaching a device to a fixture which may provide electrical security to the device while the device is detached from a fixture. Even further, a need exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for securing, for attaching and/or for detaching a device to a fixture which may utilize a retractable reel for retracting a cable. Moreover, a need exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for securing, for attaching and/or for detaching a device to a fixture which may trigger an alarm for a separation of the device from the cable and/or the separation of the device from the apparatus.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System for securing, attaching and/or detaching a device to a fixture


An electromagnetic thermotherapeutic apparatus includes: a plurality of needle units respectively having head portions and needle portions; a base unit having a base plate that is formed with a plurality of first through holes, and a base pad that is formed with a plurality of second through holes, the needle portions of the needle units removably extending through the second and first through holes, the head portions of the needle units abutting against the base pad; a temperature monitor disposed between the base plate and the base pad; an upper unit disposed above the base pad and abutting against the head portions; and a clamp unit clamping and pressing the base unit against the upper unit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a therapeutic apparatus, more particularly to an electromagnetic thermotherapeutic apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional methods of treating hemorrhage are generally classified into physical or chemical methods. In the physical method, damaged blood vessels are ligated or obstructed using surgical techniques. In the chemical method, chemical hemostatic materials are directly applied to the damaged blood vessels. However, the physical method is usually time-consuming and may result in tissue damage, necrosis or other complications, and the chemical hemostatic materials used in the chemical method are unlikely to perfectly attach and cover the damaged blood vessels due to severe bleeding, thereby resulting in inefficient hemostasis effect.


Composite materials which contain small particles of metal or metal oxide an oxide matrix are prepared by a process which comprises a) subjecting (1) one or more metal compounds and (2) one or more bifunctional compounds which contain at least one group capable of complexing the metal and at least one group which forms an inorganic network during the polycondensation, and if appropriate (3) one or more network-forming agents which are capable of polycondensation to the conditions of a complexing reaction and hydrolytic polycondensation by the sol-gel process in a liquid reaction medium, compounds (1), (2) and (3) being soluble in the reaction medium, and b) oxidizing the resulting polycondensate to form a composite material which contains small metal oxide particles with the very narrow particle size distribution in an oxide matrix, and if appropriate c) reducing the metal oxide particles of the resulting composite material to the metal. These composite materials are used as catalysts and in electrical or electronic components.

The invention relates to a process for the preparation of composite materials which contain small particles of metal or metal oxide in an oxide matrix, the composite materials obtainable by this process and their use as catalysts and in electrical and electronic components.
For many uses, for example in the field of catalysis and in the field of electrical and electronic components, composite materials which contain small particles of metal or metal oxide in oxide matrices (ceramic matrices and ceramic-related matrices) are desirable. These are often achieved by impregnation of ceramic and ceramic-related bodies with metal salts and subsequent reduction thereof to the metal. However, metal particle sizes in the lower nanometer range as a rule cannot be achieved in this way. Moreover, the metal component is applied only to the outer surface of the ceramic material and not into the pores, and the charging of the support with metal is limited.
The sol-gel process on principle offers a solution for preparing composite materials having a high dispersion of the incorporated components, since the starting compounds can be mixed with one another at the molecular level. Several research groups have attempted to prepare composite materials of the type mentioned by the sol-gel process by subjecting silicic acid esters or aluminium nitrate to polycondensation in the presence of metal salts. Metal particles have been produced by subsequent reduction of the gels, but in most cases their diameters do not lie within the lower nanometer range. This method is described, for example, in the following publications: R. A. Roy, R. Roy, Mat. Res. Bull. 19 (1984), 169; R. Roy, S. Komarneni, D. M. Roy, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 21 (1984), 347; G. N. Subbanna, C. N. R. Rao, Mat. Res. Bull. 21 (1986), 1465; and F. Orgaz, H. Rawson, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 82 (1986), 378. The most important disadvantage of this method is that the metal particle size and distribution are scarcely controllable and meet the desired requirements (homogeneous dispersion, very small particle diameter, narrow particle size distribution) only in a few cases.
Ueno et al. (A. Ueno, H. Suzuki, Y Kotera, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans I 79 (1983), 127; K. Tohij, Y. Udagawa, S. Tanabe, A. Ueno, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 106 (1984), 612; H. Tanagawa, K. Oyama, T. Yamaguchi, H. Tanaka, H. Tsuiki, A. Ueno, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans I 83 (1987), 3189; S. Tanabe, T. Ida, M. Suginage, A. Ueno, Y. Kotera, K. Tohij, Y. Udagawa, Chem. Letters (1984), 1567; T. Akiyama, E. Tanigawa, T. Ida, H. Tsuiki, A. Ueno, Chem. Letters (1986), 723; and T. Seiji, F. Koga, S. Tanabe, A. Ueno, Y. Kotera, Nippon Kagaku Kaishi (1984), 998) have reported that composite materials with small and homogeneously distributed metal particles in SiO.sub.2 are obtainable from solutions of metal glycolates and tetraethoxysilane via the sol-gel process after corresponding after-treatment of the gels. The metal glycolates are produced in situ from the corresponding metal nitrates in ethylene glycol. It has been found by EXAFS spectroscopy that after addition of tetraethoxysilane to the solution of the metal glycolate, some glycolate radicals are replaced by OSi(OEt).sub.3 radicals. Linking of the metal ion to the silicate matrix which forms takes place via the alkoxysiloxyl radicals during the polycondensation. Small metal particles are formed by drying the gels and subsequent reduction. The limitation of this method is that composite materials can be prepared only with those metals which form glycolates, that is to say are oxophilic.

Process for the preparation of composite materials which contain small particles of metal or metal oxide in an oxide matrix and the composite materials prepared by the process

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V.


The brace includes, a body having a layer of mesh like breathable material having a light weight aluminum border on an outer surface thereof. Hook and loop straps with an elasticized center area are used to engage the brace about the knee joint and a slidable sleeve is provided to cover a portion of the hook and loop strap in the area behind the knee.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a knee brace. More specifically, the knee brace is particularly useful after knee replacement surgery to stabilize the joint and significantly reduce, if not eliminate, pain associated with such procedure. The brace is light, flexible, and caused virtually no sweating.
2. Prior Art
Heretofore various knee braces have been proposed. However, most are cumbersome, tight, restrictive and cause excessive sweating in the area underlying the brace.
Such disadvantages are overcome by the brace of the present invention.
According to the present invention there is provided a knee brace comprising a body having a layer of mesh like breathable material having a light weight aluminum border on an outer surface thereof and hook and loop straps for engaging the brace about a knee joint.


A drum sputtering device that can uniformly deposit target atoms on all over particles is provided. The drum sputtering device includes a vacuum container 2 that contains particles, a tubular drum 10 that is arranged inside the vacuum container 2 and at least one end face 10c of which is open, and a sputtering target 16 that is arranged inside the drum 10. With a supporting arm 11, a drive motor 12 for rotation, a drive motor 13 for swing, a first gear member 14, and a second gear member 15, the drum can be rotated around the axis of the drum 10 and the drum 10 can be swung so that one end portion 10e and the other end portion 10f in the axial direction of the drum 10 are relatively vertically switched.

Sputtering devices are typically designed to form a metal thin film on a flat substrate. When sputtering is performed on particles by such a typical sputtering device, it is necessary to spread particles all over a thin flat container and performs sputtering on the particles in this state. With this state, typical sputtering devices can deposit target atoms sputtering from a sputtering target only on the upper surfaces of particles, disadvantageously.
In this point, Patent Literature 1 discloses a barrel sputtering apparatus that uses a tubular barrel (drum) to form coatings on fine particles. A barrel sputtering apparatus disclosed in Patent Literature 2 includes a cylindrical vacuum container that has a polygonal internal shape on a cross section and contains fine particles. This vacuum container is rotated for sputtering.


A new and distinct cultivar of Poinsettia plant named ‘Gala White’, characterized by its long-lasting white colored flower bracts and dark green foliage.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Euphorbia pulcherrima known by the varietal name 'Gala White'.
The new cultivar was discovered in Florida as a naturally-occurring branch mutation of Poinsettia variety 'Gala Red' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,994). The new variety was first asexually reproduced by tip cuttings in Florida and has been repeatedly asexually reproduced by tip cuttings thereafter. Continued observations from the vegetative cuttings have confirmed that the distinguishing features of this new cultivar come true, remain stable and are retained through successive propagations.
The following traits are determined to be basic characteristics of this new cultivar which in combination distinguish this poinsettia as new and distinct:                1. Compact and upright growth habit.        2. Little or no growth regulators needed.        3. Striking white variety with dark leaves and broad bracts.        4. Does not heat delay under high night temperatures during bud set.        5. Highly branched after the removal of the apical meristem which provides a display of bracts over the top of the plant.        6. Long lasting, retaining leaves and bracts for an extended duration when displayed indoors.        7. Desirable cyathia size and retention under stressful environmental conditions.        8. Strong branches that can hold large bracts and exhibit good branch angles.        9. Free from major diseases or insect problems.
The following characteristics distinguish the new Poinsettia from other cultivated Poinsettias of this type known to the inventor. The characteristics are described with comparative reference to parent cultivar 'Gala Red' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,994).                1. 'Gala White' has 158D colored bracts, while 'Gala Red' has 45A colored bracts.        2. 'Gala White' has a leaf petiole color of 146D, while 'Gala Red' has a petiole leaf color of 184A.        3. 'Gala White' has a bract petiole color of 160C, while 'Gala Red' has a bract petiole color of 46A.        4. 'Gala White' has an anther color of 11B, while 'Gala Red' has an anther color of 185A.        5. 'Gala White' has a keeping quality of eight weeks or longer, while 'Gala Red' has a keeping quality of six weeks or longer.
The following characteristics also distinguish the new Poinsettia from other cultivated Poinsettias of this type known to the inventor. The characteristics are described with comparative reference to 'Festival White' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,804).                1. 'Gala White' has 158D colored bracts, while 'Festival White' has 158C colored bracts.        2. 'Gala White' has a plant height of 24 to 26 cm, while 'Festival White' has a plant height of 25 to 30 cm.        3. 'Gala White' has a keeping quality of eight weeks or longer, while 'Festival White' has a keeping quality of six weeks or longer.        4. 'Gala White' has a leaf length of 12 to 13 cm and a leaf width of 8 to 9 cm, while 'Festival White' has a leaf length of 10 to 11 cm and a leaf width of 7 to 8 cm.        5. 'Gala White' has a bract length of 12 to 13 cm and a bract width of 9 to 10 cm, while 'Festival White' has a bract length of 14 to 15 cm and a bract width of 8 to 9 cm.


A method for impulsive noise mitigation using an adaptive blanker based on BPSK modulation system includes estimating narrowband Middleton parameters of impulsive noise from signals received for a fixed time period; calculating a threshold using the estimated narrowband Middleton parameters; operating the first blanker to suppress impulsive noise from the signal received at a given point of time through the comparison of the SNR value of the received signal and the threshold. Further, the method includes operating the second blanker to suppress impulsive noise from the received signal through the comparison of the summation of the threshold and the SNR value with an absolute value of the received signal, when the SNR value is above the threshold.

In recent years, radio frequency interference has been greatly increased due to an explosion of the number of electronic devices, which may cause impulsive noise to wireless devices. In order to mitigate the performance deterioration of a wireless device due to the impulsive noise, there has been a proposed nonlinear block which allows increasing an output value in case of Gaussian noise, whereas allows reducing the output value in case of large impulsive noise.
How to design the nonlinear block includes a method for determining a weight using a blanker. In the related art, there is a disclosed method to reduce an influence of impulse-like noise by using respective weights in an OFDM system.
Further, in the existing method of designing the nonlinear block as described above, a threshold value of a blanker is expressed in an equation to determine the respective weights. However, the expressed equation is complex and the BER (Bit Error Rate) performance degradation is significant in a high SNR region.

Method and apparatus for impulsive noise mitigation using adaptive blanker based on BPSK modulation system

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute

INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY COOPERATION FOUNDATION HANYANG UNIVERSITY


The present invention provides a method of forming a leading edge for an aerofoil component e.g. an aerofoil blade. The method comprises forming a pre-form having a precursor edge and processing said precursor edge to form the leading edge. The pre-form is formed using metal injection molding. The leading edge may have an elliptical profile.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing components for gas turbine engines and, in particular, to a method of manufacturing a leading edge for an aerofoil component.
2. Description of the Related Art
With reference to FIG. 1, a ducted fan gas turbine engine is generally indicated at 10 and has a principal and rotational axis X-X. The engine comprises, in axial flow series, an air intake 11, a propulsive fan 12, an intermediate pressure compressor 13, a high-pressure compressor 14, combustion equipment 15, a high-pressure turbine 16, an intermediate pressure turbine 17, a low-pressure turbine 18 and a core engine exhaust nozzle 19. A nacelle 21 generally surrounds the engine 10 and defines the intake 11, a bypass duct 22 and a bypass exhaust nozzle 23.
During operation, air entering the intake 11 is accelerated by the fan 12 to produce two air flows: a first air flow A into the intermediate pressure compressor 13 and a second air flow B which passes through the bypass duct 22 to provide propulsive thrust. The intermediate pressure compressor 13 compresses the air flow A directed into it before delivering that air to the high pressure compressor 14 where further compression takes place.
The compressed air exhausted from the high-pressure compressor 14 is directed into the combustion equipment 15 where it is mixed with fuel and the mixture combusted. The resultant hot combustion products then expand through, and thereby drive the high, intermediate and low-pressure turbines 16, 17, 18 before being exhausted through the nozzle 19 to provide additional propulsive thrust. The high, intermediate and low-pressure turbines respectively drive the high and intermediate pressure compressors 14, 13 and the fan 12 by suitable interconnecting shafts.
Aerofoil components include blades and vanes which are incorporated in the propulsive fan 12, compressors 13, 14 and turbines 16, 17, 18.
As shown in FIG. 2 (which is cross-section through the leading edge of an aerofoil component), these aerofoil components each comprise a suction surface 25 and an opposing pressure surface 26 which meet at a leading edge 37 and a trailing edge (not shown), the two edges being axially opposed to one another. The aerofoil components are typically formed from cast or forged stock (which has the profile 38 shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2) which is processed to form a pre-form having a sharp precursor edge 39. This precursor edge 39 is subsequently processed to produce a radius e.g. to form a leading edge 37 with an elliptical profile.
Using this known method makes it difficult to reliably and consistently obtain the optimum profile of the leading edge. The processing of the cast or forged stock to create the pre-form takes no account of the quality or conformance of the cast/forged stock and thus the precursor edge can vary from the desired profile. Similarly, subsequent processing of the pre-form to create the leading edge takes no account of any variance of the precursor edge from the desired profile and thus it is difficult to ensure that the leading edge is formed with the optimum profile. Any deviation from the optimum profile of the leading edge can result in sub-optimal aerodynamic performance of the component which, in turn, leads to sub-optimal efficiency of the gas turbine engine.
In addition, the known method is difficult to apply at the portions of an aerofoil component where the leading edge joins the filleted mounting portions of the component (which are provided to mount at least one end of the component within the fan/compressor/turbine).
Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) is a known technique for producing metal components. Metal powder is mixed with a thermoplastic binder to generate a feedstock which is subsequently shaped by injection into a die to create a 'green' component. The green component is treated (e.g. thermally or chemically) to remove the binder and is then subjected to a sintering treatment to consolidate the metal and form the metal component (which may be subsequently surface finished).


Broad-area synthesis of aligned and densely-packed carbon nanotubes (CNT) is disclosed. CNT are repeatedly synthesized and then drawn together to locally and globally achieve increased packing densities. The process synthesizes an aligned, relatively sparse forest of CNT on a catalyzed sacrificial substrate. The catalyst is removed, thereby releasing the CNT but leaving them in place on the substrate. A liquid-induced collapse produces regions of more densely packed CNT and regions where no CNT remain. A fresh catalyst is deposited on the exposed regions of the substrate and a sparse forest of aligned CNT is regrown in these regions. The CNT also may form on the tops of the densified regions of CNT. The top-growth CNT may be removed or incorporated into the solid such that the solid is expanded axially. This process, e.g., growth then densification, is repeated to form a near-continuous solid of aligned and densely packed CNT.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to car bon nanotubes and, in particular, to an improve and system and method for broad-area synthesis of aligned and densely-packed carbon nanotubes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have excellent structural, thermal and electrical properties, especially along their length. These properties, however, have not been even closely realized on the macro scale. Such a bulk material could be stronger than steel and more conductive than copper but lighter than aluminum. CNT grown on a substrate by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a promising synthesis technique since the CNT self-align perpendicular to the substrate resulting in a "forest" of CNT of fairly uniform height. Unfortunately, the packing density per area of the CNT is limited to about 10% for known CVD methods. Since the out-of-plane properties of the bulk CNT product should scale with packing density, it is desirable to pack as many CNT together per area as possible.
Small patches of CNT forests densified by liquid-induced collapse have been demonstrated by a few research groups with an area of 1 square centimeter or less. In particular, D. N. Futaba, et al (Nature Materials, December 2006) physically detached and removed the CNT forest prior to densification; whereas, N. Nicholas et al (unpublished) chemically detached the CNT forest but left it in place on the substrate. In both cases, the coverage area of the densified product was much smaller than the initial undensifed forest area. This was achieved with a single growth step and a single liquid-induced densification step. Although these solutions are viable, they have limited practical application and an improved solution would be desirable.

System and method for broad-area synthesis of aligned and densely-packed carbon nanotubes


A process monitoring system includes: a plurality of field devices configured to measure state quantities in an industrial process implemented in a plant; a trend calculation unit configured to determine the variation trend of the state quantities based on time-sequence data output from each of the plurality of field devices and classify each of the variation trends of the state quantities into one of a pre-established plurality of statuses; a state change judgment unit configured to judge the existence or non-existence of a pre-indicator of a change in the plant state, in accordance with the existence or non-existence of a change in at least one of the statuses classified by the trend calculation unit; and a notification unit configured to notify of judgment results of the state change judgment unit.

Field of Art
The present invention relates to a process monitoring system, apparatus, and method.
The present application claims priority based on Japanese patent application No. 2012-123948, filed on May 31, 2012, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Background Art
As will be made clear by citing patents, patent applications, patent publications, scientific references, and the like, the content thereof is incorporated herein for the purpose of better describing the prior art relative to the present.
Conventionally, in plants, factories, and the like, a process monitoring system is implemented for monitoring various state quantities (for example, pressure, temperature, and flow amount) in an industrial process. A high level of automated operation is achieved, based on the monitoring results of the process monitoring system. This process monitoring system is generally constituted by on-site devices (measuring instruments and actuators) known as field devices, a controller that controls them, and a process monitoring apparatus that monitors state quantities.
The above-noted process monitoring apparatus collects measurement results (information indicating various state quantities) of the field devices obtained by the controller. The process monitoring apparatus then displays a graph (trend graph) indicating the current values and time variations of the state quantities measured by one or more specific field device. The process monitoring apparatus, in addition to the current values and trend graphs of state quantities, displays thresholds (upper and lower thresholds) with respect to the state quantities. The process monitoring apparatus also generates an alarm to notify of an abnormality when a state quantity exceeds a threshold.
Japanese Patent No. 4483111 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H1-287419 disclose conventional process monitoring apparatuses to monitor a process. Specifically, Japanese Patent No. 4483111 discloses a process monitoring apparatuses that monitors a trend of gradual state variation in a plant by performing statistical processing with respect to time-sequence process data. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H1-287419 discloses a process monitoring apparatus that judges a variation trend of a process variable such as temperature, pressure, or flow amount (increasing trend, decreasing trend, oscillation, or the like) and displays the result of the judgment.
In recent years, efforts are being made to digitalize and impart intelligence to the above-described field devices, and it has become possible to collect a large amount of diverse information from field devices. With the ability to collect such a large amount of diverse information, because the amount of information required for process control becomes large, process control that is more accurate and more efficient than conventionally can be implemented. When the collected information becomes diverse and increases in quantity, however, along with an increase in the number of items to be monitored by plant operators, the scope of the monitoring broadens, as does the burden on operators.
To achieve process control that is both accurate and efficient, it is necessary to grasp fine variations in state quantities as quickly as possible. In addition, in order to improve the overall production efficiency in a plant or the like, it is insufficient to only control so as to achieve the optimum state in a part of the process steps, and it is necessary to implement high-level control that considers the states in upstream and downstream process steps relative to a particular process step. Conventionally, because an operator referred to the current values and trend graphs of state quantities to judge the state of the plant, unless the operator is sufficiently experienced, fine variations in state quantities are overlooked, making it difficult to achieve a highly efficient process.
If the art disclosed in the above-described Japanese Patent No. 4483111 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H1-287419 is used, an operator not having a high level of experience can be aided to some extent. However, because an operator must make the ultimate judgment of the state of the plant, the achievement of a high-efficiency process still requires an operator with a high level of experience. Additionally, in a situation in which the information obtained from field devices becomes diverse and increases in quantity, the burden on even a highly experienced operator increases, bringing conventional monitoring methods close to their limit.

Process monitoring system, apparatus and method


A system and method for determining whether persons depicted in images are wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) is disclosed. The system includes a PPE detection platform that, during a testing phase, comprises a person detector configured to detect persons in images and a deep neural network PPE classifier. The PPE classifier comprises a spatial attention module and is trained to predict whether or not a PPE item is present in the image sub-region corresponding to the detected person. During a training phase, the PPE detection platform comprises a body pose estimator that, based on the output of the person detector, determines a pose of the detected person's body and provides a spatial attention supervision signal used to train the spatial attention module of the PPE classifier and tune the PPE classifier. The PPE platform is configured to bypass the body pose estimator during the inference phase.

In many workplace environments, such as construction sites or oil & gas factories, there are potentially hazardous materials, dangerous chemicals or dangerous equipment (large moving parts, operating cranes), that present health or safety risks for the workers. In order to protect workers against accidents caused in hazardous or dangerous areas, the workers may be required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE). The personal protective equipment may include, but is not limited to, helmets, masks, glasses, coveralls, safety vests, reflective vests, boots, gloves, etc. In many countries, including the U.S., there are governmental regulations that require certain employees to be trained in the proper and effective use of personal protective equipment in hazardous or dangerous working environments. Nevertheless, in many cases the workers choose not to wear personal protective equipment items because these items are uncomfortable, potentially causing sweat or skin irritations, or because these items prevent the workers from executing their tasks with precision, for example screwing or unscrewing a small screw with gloves on. Managing such risks is of utter importance to employers that aim at preventing unnecessary health or safety accidents. In this context, a system, such as the one disclosed in the proposed invention, to automatically monitor the workers and verify if they are permanently wearing the mandatory personal protective equipment is needed.

System and method for automatic detection and recognition of people wearing personal protective equipment using deep learning


Object transformation based on object groupings is disclosed. A plurality of first data objects are accessed, each first data object having a predetermined first format comprising a plurality of first data fields, and each first data object being associated with a particular object group of a plurality of object groups. For each object group, a corresponding transformation policy of a plurality of different transformation policies is selected. The transformation policy that corresponds to the respective object group is applied to the first data objects to generate a plurality of second data objects, each second data object having a predetermined second format comprising a plurality of second data fields, the predetermined second format being different from the predetermined first format.

Electronic systems often operate on a collection of related data. The collection of related data may comprise one or more fields of data, each field corresponding to a different piece of information. Such a collection of related data will be referred to herein as a data object. As an example, a computing device in a retail store may maintain a collection of related data for each of its customers in customer data objects. Each customer data object may include, for example, a name field in which the name of the customer is stored, an address field in which an address of the customer is stored, and a billing information field in which a credit card number is stored. Such a retail store may, over time, create and store millions of customer data objects.
Often, as systems evolve, data objects in a first format need to be transformed into data objects of a different, second format. In the case of the second format being a strict superset of the first format, the transformation may be relatively straightforward. The field values from the data objects in the first format may be simply copied over to corresponding fields in a new object in the second format.
However, this approach works only if the new fields of the second format that do not correspond to fields in the first format can have default (possibly empty) values. Otherwise, some mechanism has to be developed to provide values for the new fields of the second format.
A computing device may maintain thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of data objects. It may be impractical, or impossible, for a human being to manually provide values for data fields in the second format that do not derive their value from data fields in the first format.


A base station in a cellular communications system is connected to a plurality of remote cellular sites by a communications link having a base terminal coupled to a remote terminal by two optical fibers. The base terminal receives RF downlink channels from the base station and optically transmits the RF channels as a non-overlapping composite signal to the remote terminal on a first fiber. The RF downlink channels are individually recovered at the remote terminal and distributed to disignated cell sites. The remote terminal also functions to receive RF uplink channels from the cell sites and optically transmit the RF channels as a non-overlapping composite signal to the base terminal on a second fiber. The RF uplink channels are indivicually recovered at the base terminal and forwarded to the base station.

In a cellular mobile communication system, the coverage area is divided into a number of cell sites each having antennas and associated equipment for transmitting and receiving signals. A base station controls the cells through an interconnecting network of high speed data and voice links between the cells and the base station. As traffic increases, a large cell may be split into smaller cells, thereby requiring additional high speed links to complete the network.
As indicated by Lee in "Mobile Cellular Telecommunications Systems," McGraw-Hill Book Company, pp. 337-354 (1989), either T1 lines, 800-MHz radio links, or microwave radio links may be used between the base station and cells.
In the cellular mobile phone system disclosed by Ehrlich et al. in "Advanced Mobile Phone Service: Cell Site Hardware," Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 153-199 (1979), a data bank is installed at each end of the T1 carrier. The data bank converts 20 voice channels along with system control data into a 1.54-Mbps data stream for transmission by a T1 cable. At the receiving end, the voice channels are demultiplexed and then sent to the radio frame for final radiation by an antenna.
In a 6-sector site supporting 90 radio channels (15 radio channels per sector), for example, four and one-half T1 cables are required for each direction. Disadvantageously, the use of T1 lines creates the possibility of service interruptions to the cellular mobile service provider since T1 lines are usually leased from telephone companies and are thereby subjected to rearrangements by the telephone company.
A microwave link operates similarly to the T1 cables, except that the T1 cables are replaced by a modulated microwave carrier and free space is used as the transmission medium. Although microwave links have the capacity to transmit as many as 900 channels, the links are subjected to the constraints of frequency coordination and outage due to multipath.
The frequency bands assigned to cellular mobile phone service are 824 MHz to 849 MHz for mobiles and 869 MHz to 894 MHz for land. The 25-MHz bandwidth is divided into two equal sets and awarded to two competing service providers in each area. Each 12.5 MHz bandwidth is divided into 416 channels with a bandwidth of 30 KHz. The total number of channels is divided into 21 channel-sets for frequency reuse. In each set, adjacent channels are spaced 20 channel-bandwidth apart to reduce adjacent channel interference. For instance, in a six-sector cell site, six different channel-sets are used. Though all channel frequencies are distinct, they nevertheless occupy the same 12.5 MHz bandwidth.

Fiber optic antenna remoting for multi-sector cell sites


A battery-less telephone subset retains data in its processor memory with a storage capacitor which is kept charged by three controlled charge circuits which deliver power from the line to the capacitor under various line conditions and phone states. The first charge circuit charges the circuit initially, the second charge circuit then charges the capacitor (6.8 v) while all subsets remain on-hook (line voltage 50 v). When a second subset goes off-hook and the line voltage drops (to about 10 v), the capacitor is charged by the third charge circuit at a lower voltage (3.5 v) that is nevertheless sufficiently high to maintain the first subset's on-hook functions. Preferably, the third circuit is controlled by the subset's line switch control circuit, thereby minimizing the number of required components.

Telephone subset microprocessors require relative high current for operation and normally, when one such subset is connected to a single exchange line and is in the on-hook mode, the microprocessor is energized by energy stored in a storage capacitor. The voltage across the storage capacitor is monitored such that when it is below a predetermined value a control circuit operates the line switch to rapidly charge the storage capacitor to a voltage sufficient to maintain the microprocessor. Thereafter the voltage on the storage capacitor is maintained via a bleed circuit.
When, however, two or more such subsets are connected in parallel to a single exchange line, a problem arises in providing sufficient energizing power to the microprocessor of any subset in the on-hook mode when one other subset is in the off-hook mode. Momentarily operating the line switch, as described above, in the subset/s in the on-hook mode is highly undesirable because of interference which this would cause to the transmission from the off-hook subset.

Circuit arrangement for providing power for an IC chip in a telephone subset


Disclosed is a fixing device including: a fixing belt provided across a fuser roller and a heating member in a tensioned state, which fixing belt is rotated; and a tension roller applying a load on the fixing belt from an inner circumferential side of the fixing belt, which tension roller is determined in position on the fixing belt so that a length of the fixing belt upstream of the fixing nip area in a fixing belt rotating direction, from the tension roller to the fixing member, is longer than that downstream of the fixing nip area in the fixing belt rotating direction, from the fixing member to the tension roller.

As fixing devices used in image forming apparatuses of an electrophotographic printing method for instance copying machines and printers, fixing devices of a heat roller fusing method have been frequently used. The fixing device of the heat roller fusing method includes: a pair of rollers (fuser roller and pressure roller) that are pressured against each other; and heating means made up of a halogen heater or the like, provided inside either both or one of the pair of rollers. After the heating means heats the pair of rollers to a set temperature (fixing temperature), a sheet (recording paper, recording sheet) on which an unfixed toner image is formed is fed to a pressure area (fixing nip area) of the pair of rollers; by causing the sheet to pass through the pressure area, the toner image is fused by the heat and pressure.
It is generally the case that in a fixing device provided in a color image forming apparatus, an elastic roller is used, which elastic roller is a fuser roller on which an elastic layer made of silicon rubber or the like is provided as its outermost layer. By having the fuser roller be an elastic roller, the surface of the fuser roller elastically changes in shape in accordance with an uneven surface of an unfixed toner image that comes in contact with the toner image, so as to cover up the toner image surface. This allows fusing, in a good manner, of a colored unfixed toner image which is greater in toner amount as compared to a black-and-white unfixed toner image.
Moreover, due to a warp-releasing effect of the elastic layer at the fixing nip area, it is possible to improve releasability of color toner that becomes more easily offset as compared to black-and-white toner. Furthermore, the nipping part in the fixing nip area has its top side (the fuser roller) protruding (what is called, reverse-nip shape), thereby improving the releasing property of the sheet. As a result, it is possible to release the sheet without using releasing means such as a releasing nail or the like (self-stripping). This overcomes the generation of an image defect caused by the releasing means.
In order to correspond to the speeding up of processing speed, it is necessary for the fixing device provided in such a color image forming apparatus to have a wide nip width in the fixing nip area. Examples of means for widening the nip width encompass: a method of thickening the elastic layer of the fuser roller; and a method of broadening a diameter of the fuser roller.
However, since the thermal conductivity of the elastic layer is extremely low, if heating means is provided as in the conventional fuser roller, inside the fuser roller which has the thickened elastic layer, this would result in insufficient heat supply in the case where the processing speed is sped up. As a result, a problem arises that the temperature of the fuser roller cannot keep up with the processing speed. On the other hand, if the diameter of the fuser roller is broadened, problems arise such as that more time is necessary to warm up the fuser roller and that the electricity consumption increases in amount.
In order to solve these problems, a fixing device of a belt fixing method (belt fixing device) such as one disclosed in Patent Literature 1 for example has been used in recent years as a fixing device provided in the color image forming apparatuses. The belt fixing device provides a heat roller externally of the fixing roller and provides a fixing belt across the fuser roller and the heat roller; the fuser roller and pressure roller are pressured against each other with the fixing belt being sandwiched between the fuser roller and the pressure roller.
The belt fixing device heats a fixing belt that has a small heat capacity, so it is therefore possible to shorten the time required for warming up. Moreover, no heat source such as a halogen lamp needs to be built in the fuser roller; this allows providing an elastic layer of a low hardness made of sponge rubber or the like, thereby making it possible to have a broad nip width.

Fixing device including endless fixing belt, heating member and tension roller


A source system comprises memory and a processor executing code to cause at least some of the memory to be migrated over a network to a target system. The processor causes the memory to be migrated by migrating some of the memory while a guest continues to write the memory, halts execution of the guest, and completes a remainder of the memory migration.

Situations exist in which memory from one computer is to be copied (migrated) to another computer. Depending on the amount of memory involved, the migration process may be substantially time consuming. Any application using such data, that is halted to allow the migration to occur, is inconvenienced (particularly to a user of such an application) to say the least, and may time-out if the migration takes too long.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.