Mutant strains of Rhodococcus equi are disclosed, and vaccines comprising same.

The facultative intracellular actinomycete, Rhodococcus equi, is a frequent and serious pathogen of young horses (foals) and an occasional but equally serious opportunistic pathogen of immunocompromised people [Emmons, 1991 #402]. It is one of the few bacteria capable of intramacrophage survival and replication, and thus, the study of this organism can provide insights into the biology of intracellular parasitism. The native host cell of R. equi is the alveolar macrophage, infected through inhalation of bacteria present in contaminated soil or dust. Pyogranulomatous pneumonia ensues which can be life threatening if appropriate long-term antibiotic therapy is not initiated or continued. Strains of R. equi isolated from pneumonic foals all possess a large (80.6 kb) virulence plasmid [Tkachuk-Saad, 1991 #382] [Takai, 1991 #383], the entire nucleotide sequence of which has been recently determined [Takai, 2000 #43]. This plasmid is essential for virulence, as plasmid curing attenuates the bacterium and renders it harmless to foals [Giguere, 1999 #87]. Plasmid loss yields a strain incapable of replicating intracellularly and thus, plasmid encoded factors are necessary for both intramacrophage growth and disease development in horses [Hondalus, 1994 #275][Giguere, 1999 #87]. Interestingly, the virulence plasmid is only present in a subset of R. equi strains isolated from humans [Takai, 1995 #236] with rhodococcal pneumonia, indicating that chromosomally derived gene products also influence the disease process.
At present, a fundamental understanding of most aspects of R. equi pathogenesis is lacking. Very little is known about the genetic basis for R. equi virulence, and no single gene product has been definitely identified as a determinate of virulence. There is therefore a need to establish the bacterial requirements for virulence, to understand why disease develops in some hosts and not others, to ascertain how best to treat rhodococcal disease when it does develop, and importantly, to construct preventative vaccines. In order to meet these goals, R. equi mutant strains must be created, the study of which will aid in the dissection of the molecular basis of R. equi pathogenesis.
Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is the precursor of the coenzymes flavin mononucleotide phosphate (FMN) and flavin adenine dinucleotide phosphate (FAD), compounds essential for growth and cell division. Riboflavin is synthesized by plants, fungi and bacteria but not by higher eukaryotes. Some bacteria are readily able to make use of exogenous sources of riboflavin, but a number, for example E. coli and other Enterobacteriaceae lack a transport system for riboflavin uptake and thus, are unable to efficiently utilize environmental sources of riboflavin. Even if a bacterium is in possession of an adequate uptake system, the mammalian environment may be so limiting in riboflavin availability that bacterial growth is prevented. Such a scenario was documented by studies of the veterinary pathogen Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, in which a riboflavin auxotroph was demonstrated to be incapable of causing disease in swine.

Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College


Provided is a mesh data creation method allowing appropriate expression of population densities while making a balance between accuracy and granularity. In the mesh data creation method, when the number of samples in a region of reference mesh data with a predetermined size is not less than a threshold, divided mesh data is created by dividing the region of the reference mesh data. Namely, each portion with a high population density can be expressed by a fine region of mesh data and each portion with a low population density by a coarse region of mesh data. The above makes it feasible to prevent meshes from becoming too fine to ensure accuracy or, conversely, from becoming too coarse to maintain granularity, thereby resulting in failing to achieve a detailed grasp of population densities, and thus to achieve appropriate expression of population densities while making a balance between accuracy and granularity.

A known conventional method to express population densities (distribution) is, for example, to divide a map into meshed regions and color-code the divided regions according to their respective population densities (e.g., cf. Patent Literature 1). The population density expression method of this kind is effective, for example, to cases where a large number of samples (complete survey) are targets, for example, like a census or the like.


A body part of a vehicle, the body part having: an outer sheet that will form a part of the vehicle exterior surface; an inner part disposed between the outer sheet and the passenger compartment when the body part is assembled to the vehicle; a first infrared radiation reflecting layer on the outer surface of the outer sheet; and a second infrared radiation reflecting layer on the surface of the inner part that faces the outer sheet. The inner part includes a thermal insulation material. The outer sheet and the inner part delimit an air flow path for supporting a flow of air adjacent the outer sheet and in the direction of the length of the vehicle. The air flow path is distributed transversely to the length of the vehicle for transporting heat convectively away from the vehicle.

Efforts are being made in the motor vehicle industry, in particular in connection with passenger cars, to reduce fuel consumption and pollution. One approach to this objective is to reduce the weight of vehicles.
Parallel with this, there is an ongoing effort to make vehicles safer, which often results in a weight increase because of additional components, for example the installation of transverse rails in the doors and struts in the vehicle cage. The resulting additional weight cannot even remotely be compensated by savings in the interior fittings.
Because of the trend toward smaller engines with improved efficiency, it becomes increasingly necessary to install auxiliary heaters, especially in vehicles of smaller size and medium size, because smaller engines and improved engine efficiency can result in insufficient waste heat for satisfactorily heating vehicle passenger compartments in cold weather.
In a further, parallel occurring development, it is becoming increasingly common to equip even smaller and medium sized vehicles with air conditioners as standard equipment.
Because of the increased employment of auxiliary heaters and air conditioners, gains that have resulted in reductions in fuel consumption and emissions, have been lost, or at least reduced.
On the average, air conditioners weigh 15 to 16 kg, i.e. by far more than can ever be saved in components of the interior fittings. Added to this is that operation of an air conditioner causes an average fuel increase of 0.6 l per 100 km. If an air conditioner is installed, both the weight savings at other places and the reduced consumption achieved thereby are completely or mostly lost. Driving comfort is increased, but consumption and environmental stress are increased.
Auxiliary fuel heaters weigh 2 to 4 kg on the average and consume 0.2 to 0.4 l of fuel per hour. Passive auxiliary heaters, which recover heat from the waste air of the passenger compartment by means of a heat pump, desorption heaters, and the like are limited in their output, most are heavier than auxiliary fuel heaters and because of the use of electric energy are neither more efficient nor, in particular, more ecologically beneficial.
Thus, parallel developments in the manufacture of passenger cars, each of which, when examined by itself, can be considered to be an improvement, as a whole can cancel each other partially out in regard to their ecological consequences.
From the viewpoint of ecology, the strong trend toward air conditioners in particular is a serious backward step. It leads to a considerable increase in fuel consumption and therefore to increased emissions of pollutants. This becomes clear, inter alia, from the recent demands, even from the automobile club sector, to require that manufacturers of vehicles openly disclose, among other technical vehicle data, the increase in fuel consumption as a result of the use of air conditioners, so that the buyer can clearly see what additional operating costs he or she will face in connection with air conditioners, and most of all what he or she has to pay for the luxury of an air conditioner that imposes additional stresses on the environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,768,672 discloses a vehicle having partial thermal insulation, which consists of the attachment or connection of asbestos mats to surfaces of the interior bordering the exterior, and which is limited to this. The intended thermal insulation in this known solution has disadvantages, for example higher weight because of the asbestos mats, which neutralize at least a portion of the advantages of thermal insulation.
Thus, in the prior art, motor vehicles for carrying passengers are heat-insulated only in some regions, if at all. Systematic, complete heat insulation is known only in refrigerator vehicles in which heat-sensitive goods are transported.
As an alternative or supplement to air conditioning systems, there are known systems, for instance made by Audi, that remove heat that has already penetrated into the passenger compartment while the vehicle was parked, again using the vehicle blower. Solar cells integrated into the sunroof, for example, furnish the energy required to do so.
Instead of comprehensive heat insulation and flushing out of the heat that penetrates the outer skin, air conditioners, which provide cooled air that absorbs the heat after it has entered the passenger compartment, are being built into vehicles. Air conditioners present the drawbacks already noted above.
Parent U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,562 discloses the concept of insulating passenger-carrying vehicles as extensively as possible, in order to make air conditioners unnecessary, or at least to make it possible to use air conditioners of smaller capacity and thus, with fewer drawbacks. According to that patent, all of the parts of a vehicle forming its boundary with the outside, or at least those parts enclosing the passenger compartment, can be provided with insulating materials or molded insulating parts, in order to prevent the entry of heat into the vehicle interior in the summer and to prevent the loss of heat in winter. That patent also discloses the possibility of providing the roof of an automotive vehicle with a ventilation gap or ventilation channels that allow an air flow for conducting heat convectively to the exterior.

Motor vehicle passenger compartment heat insulation and dissipation


In a bubble-column vapor mixture condenser, a fluid source supplies a carrier-gas stream including a condensable fluid in vapor phase. The condensable fluid in liquid form is contained as a bath in a chamber in each stage of the condenser, and the carrier gas is bubbled through the bath to condense the condensable fluid into the bath. Energy from condensation is recovered to a coolant in a conduit that passes through the liquid in the stages of the condenser. The bubble-column vapor mixture condenser can be used, e.g., in a humidification-dehumidification system for purifying a liquid, such as water.

In this century, the shortage of fresh water will surpass the shortage of energy as a global concern for humanity, and these two challenges are inexorably linked, as explained in the "Special Report on Water" in the 20 May 2010 issue of The Economist. Fresh water is one of the most fundamental needs of humans and other organisms; each human needs to consume a minimum of about two liters per day. The world also faces greater freshwater demands from farming and industrial processes.
The hazards posed by insufficient water supplies are particularly acute. A shortage of fresh water may lead to a variety of crises, including famine, disease, death, forced mass migration, cross-region conflict/war, and collapsed ecosystems. Despite the criticality of the need for fresh water and the profound consequences of shortages, supplies of fresh water are particularly constrained. 97.5% of the water on Earth is salty, and about 70% of the remainder is locked up as ice (mostly in ice caps and glaciers), leaving only a fraction of all water on Earth as available fresh (non-saline) water.
Moreover, the earth's water that is fresh and available is not evenly distributed. For example, heavily populated countries, such as India and China, have many regions that are subject to scarce supplies. Further still, the supply of fresh water is often seasonally inconsistent. Meanwhile, demands for fresh water are tightening across the globe. Reservoirs are drying up; aquifers are falling; rivers are dying; and glaciers and ice caps are retracting. Rising populations increase demand, as do shifts in farming and increased industrialization. Climate change poses even more threats in many regions. Consequently, the number of people facing water shortages is increasing. Naturally occurring fresh water, however, is typically confined to regional drainage basins; and transport of water is expensive and energy-intensive.
On the other hand, many of the existing processes for producing fresh water from seawater (or to a lesser degree, from brackish water) require massive amounts of energy. Reverse osmosis (RO) is currently the leading desalination technology. In large-scale plants, the specific electricity required can be as low as 4 kWh/m3 at 30% recovery, compared to the theoretical minimum of around 1 kWh/m3; smaller-scale RO systems (e.g., aboard ships) are less efficient.
Other existing seawater desalination systems include thermal-energy-based multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation, and multi-effect distillation (MED), both of which are energy- and capital-intensive processes. In MSF and MED systems, however, the maximum brine temperature and the maximum temperature of the heat input are limited in order to avoid calcium sulphate precipitation, which leads to the formation of hard scale on the heat transfer equipment.
Humidification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination systems include a humidifier and a dehumidifier as their main components and use a carrier gas (e.g., air) to communicate energy between the heat source and the brine. In the humidifier, hot seawater comes in direct contact with dry air, and this air becomes heated and humidified. In the dehumidifier, the heated and humidified air is brought into (indirect) contact with cold seawater and gets dehumidified, producing pure water and dehumidified air. Some of the present inventors were also inventors on the following patent applications that include additional discussion relating to HDH processes for purifying water: U.S. application Ser. No. 12/554,726, filed 4 Sep. 2009; U.S. application Ser. No. 12/573,221, filed 5 Oct. 2009; and U.S. application Ser. No. 13/028,170, filed 15 Feb. 2011.
An approach from the University of Florida, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,919,000 B2, reduced the thermal resistance associated with incondensable gases by using a direct-contact condenser instead of a standard, indirect contact dehumidifier. This method increases the heat transfer rates in the condenser at the expense of energy efficiency, as the energy from the humid air entering the dehumidifier is not directly recovered to preheat the seawater. Thus, although the cost of the dehumidification device is reduced, energy costs increase.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Humidification-dehumidification system including a bubble-column vapor mixture condenser

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals


A sensor assembly for being mounted on a circuit board comprises an interposer with at least one opening extending between a first and a second main surface of the interposer. The interposer comprises at least two stress decoupling elements, each comprising a flexible structure formed by a respective portion of the interposer being partially enclosed by one of the at least one opening. A sensor die is connected to the flexible structures on the first main surface. At least two board connection elements are arranged on the first main surface and adapted for connecting the assembly to the circuit board.

The disclosure relates to a sensor assembly for being mounted on a circuit board and to a sensor arrangement of a sensor assembly mounted on a circuit board. The disclosure further relates to a manufacturing method for such a sensor assembly.
Sensors, in particular sensor integrated circuits, ICs, may be highly susceptible to the influence of mechanical stress. The stress may be introduced to the system for example by deformation due to external forces. Another source of mechanical stress may be temperature variations or temperature stress for example during application of the sensor or when soldering the sensor system to a circuit board. This may be particularly relevant if packages including materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion, CTEs, are used. Furthermore, also humidity, in particular air humidity, may give rise to deformations for example due to a swelling of the circuit board.
In existing sensor assemblies, the mechanical stress on the sensor die, for example a MEMS device, may be high, leading for example to degradation of the sensor performance or physical damage. Some setups may be difficult to assemble or suffer from increased package costs and/or footprint. Other drawbacks of existing approaches may include an increased package size, in particular package height, decreased robustness and/or a process flow with increased complexity.

Sensor assembly and arrangement and method for manufacturing a sensor assembly


In the field of mixing rubber mixtures, the invention is directed to a rotor (100) for use in an internal mixer having a mixing vessel in which the rotor rotates, the rotor having one or more blades (104), each blade having a tip (104a) with a profile having a predefined curvature; and an anti-wear device detachably fixed to the tip (104a) of at least one blade, the anti-wear device including a plate (110) with a profile defined by a lower surface (112) with a curvature complementary to that of the tip 104a and an upper surface (114) with a curvature complementary to that of a wall of the vessel to define, between them, a zone of minimum distance that allows passage of the mixture between the plate (110) and the wall of the vessel. The invention is also directed to an internal mixer having at least one mixing vessel in which the disclosed rotor (100) rotates.

In the field of elastomer manufacturing, internal mixers are used for mixing raw materials. "Internal mixer" (or "mixer" or "MI") means a machine having a metal ram and two metal half-vessels (or "vessels"), each containing a metal rotor with one or more blades (for example, a Banbury or Intermix type machine for polymers). When the materials in a mixture are mixed, an elastomer in the process of being manufactured is subjected to significant stress. Referring to FIG. 1, this phenomenon is explained with reference to a rotor 10 that is arranged in a vessel 20 and that rotates in the direction of arrow A, the rotor 10 being part of a pair of rotors arranged in parallel so that they can rotate in mutually opposite directions. The rotor 10 has blades 12, and each blade has a tip 12a. As the tip 12a rotates, it will outline a circular path 12b as shown in FIG. 1. A gap E12 is defined between the wall 20a of a vessel 20 and the circular path 12b. The raw materials of the rubber mixture, which enter the vessel 20 through an inlet 22, pass through the gap E12 between the rotor blades and the wall of each vessel. The raw materials pass the tip 12a where high shear forces are realized that will generate areas of wear.
This phenomenon is present on rotors of the "monobloc" type in an internal mixer where it is noted that the worn zones are always located at the same place of the rotor blades. Referring to FIG. 2, a representative rotor of a monobloc type is represented by the rotor 30 that is arranged in a vessel 50 (the rotor 30 being disclosed by patent FR2632873). The rotor 30 has an axial shaft 32 with an axis of rotation around which the rotor is rotated in the direction of arrow B. An axial shaft 32 has a circumferential surface 32a from which one or more blades 34 extend radially. In a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rotor 30, a curvature of the profile of the blade 34 is defined by a center of curvature C and a radius of curvature R. This curvature corresponds to a curvature of the vessel wall 50. An edge 34a of the blade 34 defines, together with the vessel wall 50, a gap E30 along which the materials of the rubber mixture pass (as described in relation to the gap E12 in FIG. 1).
An area of very short length exists along the gap E30 where the level of work carried out is very intensive. With the current rubber formulations, which are evolving towards increasingly higher levels of reinforcing fillers (e.g., levels of carbon black and silica), the manufactured elastomers are highly abrasive for the metal surfaces of internal mixers. At the same time, mixing cycles are optimized to ensure maximum productivity.
The wear is not uniform: the rotor itself is eroded, and some more prominent parts of the rotor, such as the blades, are even more eroded. This results in the development of undesirable clearances between the blades and the wall, which have a negative impact on the productivity and quality of the rubber mixture. The consequence of these developments is a problem of premature wear that is found on mixer rotors. The observed wear can be up to several millimeters, while the rest of the metal surfaces of the mixer do not suffer the same level of wear. The service life of some mechanical parts such as rotors is reduced by up to 50%. The downtime for changing these rotors (assembly and disassembly) is long and expensive and requires the complete shutdown of the mixer. The production of semi-finished elastomers cannot be carried out as planned.
Among the recognized solutions for limiting this phenomenon, there is the device disclosed by the publication CN201389929. This device is directed to one or more anti-wear devices fixed to the circumferential surface of a vessel and/or along a surface of a blade of a rotor machined in a single piece. However, each known rotor is characterized by the blade profile (i.e., a flat section, taken perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rotor, which defines the blade profile as shown in FIG. 1) and by the positioning of the blades on a surface of the rotor. This solution describes only the direct placement of wear protection devices on a rotor machined from a single piece without explaining the potential impacts on its geometry and the corresponding rubber mixing performance.
In addition, contrary to the solution disclosed by the publication CN201389929, the addition of an anti-wear device decreases the cooling efficiency. However, it is particularly important to be able to cool the blade tip, because here the temperature increase is higher than in other areas of the rotor. For this reason, rotors are often equipped with cooling systems in the form of geometrical channels drilled into the interior of the rotor to control the temperature of the mixture during the mixing cycle, this temperature being able to reach approximately 150° C. to 170° C.
In order to preserve the rubber dispersion, the rubber mixing performance and the quality of the rubber mixture, the invention therefore concerns the installation of a removable anti-wear device on the rotor blades in the areas where wear occurs. The anti-wear device includes a plate that is detachably fixed to a rotor adapted to carry out its fixation. When attached to the rotor, the plate provides a means for easy replacement of a worn rotor part without changing the rotor geometry. The rotor therefore includes two parts, including one easily replaceable part, that function as a one-piece rotor at a lower cost.

Rotor with anti-wear device and means for attaching same

COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN


An improved substrate support system for clamping spring loaded pins that support substrates, such as printed circuit boards, which have even profiles, and uneven profiles due to components being installed on one side during manufacturing operations to the opposite side of the substrate. The substrate support system can utilize a cam lever, a knob, or a draw latch to move a clamping plate between an aligned position and a clamping position.

Printed circuit boards (PCB) have long been used as the base for sophisticated electronic systems. An electrically insulating sheet, originally phenolic impregnated fabrics and now generally fiberglass reinforced resins, is coated with copper cladding and has appropriate patterns etched into the cladding. In years past, most electronic components had wire leads that extended through holes drilled into the cladding pattern and filled with solder to make the required connections. More recently, surface bonding of relatively short leads to the cladding has become common, allowing for high-speed robotic placement of components.
Today, electronic devices are increasingly miniaturized and it has become desirable to mount component on both sides of a PCB. However, there are a number of problems associated with installing parts on the second side after components have been mounted on the first side. The board cannot be held flat with downwardly projecting components of various sizes and thicknesses mounted on the lower side. This problem is most acute when solder paste is to be printed on the second side. Holding the PCB flat and level under a paste application stencil during solder paste application and then during component placement is very difficult.
In high production run circumstances, aluminum plates or similar materials have been machined out in a pattern corresponding to the topography of the first side of the PCB with components installed. This approach is not practical for manufactures or subcontractors producing a limited quantity of a very great number of PCB configurations, each requiring its own "hogged-out" support plate.
Supports have also been made by casting a plaster-like material into a mold corresponding to a particular PCB to form a support having pockets for receiving the components on the downwardly extending board side.
While effective where a large number of identical boards are to be manufactured, these methods are not cost effective where only a few boards are to be made or where custom boards are being manufactured.
A number of different devices having a plurality of adjustable length upstanding fingers have been developed to support an irregularly shaped article. Typical of these devices is the device for supporting parts during machining as described by Barozzi in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,560, the casting support device describe by Godding in U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,272, and the core support system described by Bourassa et al. in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,994.
While these supports are generally effective for their intended purposes, they are overly complex, and do not always provide positive support across the supported object.
A circuit board support system using a plurality of spaced-apart, parallel, upwardly extending pistons is described by Fadiga et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,778. This support is used to press the back of the boards against test sensors. Since the pistons are not lockable to match a particular PCB, each succeeding board must be pressed down against the pistons, risking damage. Further, the system is not readily useful in installing components on the back of the board, since the pistons continue to press upwardly so that the board may not lie truly flat and may move during back-side component installation.
Thus, there is a continuing need for improved supports for holding a substrate, such as a printed circuit board, having components mounted on one side while additional components are installed on the opposite side, that will support the board in a precisely level position, that will provide strong, consistent support for the board during second surface stencil printing and soldering operations, that can easily be locked in the support position appropriate to a series of similarly configured boards, that precisely indexes board edges and that is easily unlocked and reconfigured for other boards.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,108 describes a series of plates with aligned holes through which spring loaded pins protrude. A top and bottom plate hold the pins in position laterally, while a middle plate is moved out of alignment to clamp the pins, holding the pins in vertical alignment to the underside topology of the substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,108 further describes a means for moving the middle plate out of alignment, and then describes two ways to do so.
The first way is to move the middle plate by applying force against the edge of the middle plate with screws. Typically, one of the middle plate's edges protrudes out further than the edges of the top and bottom plates while the pin holes are in alignment. Screws can then be placed through the frame that surrounds the three plates. The screws push against the middle plate's edge and move it out of alignment. While this method is simple, it will eventually permanently deform the middle plate at the point where force is applied.
The preferred way described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,108 is to use a cam, which uses holes in the top and bottom plates to anchor the cam at its ends. The cam's lobe is then pushed against the middle plate, thereby moving it out of alignment when the cam is rotated. This method is not as robust as it could be, in that the anchor points of the cam wear easily because the plates are very thin (typically 0.048″ thick) and made from aluminum.
FIGS. 1-3B illustrate a version of U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,108 that is currently used. It should be noted that while the patent shows a system with a wide array of pins, the units can be made in strips 2, typically three pins wide, having front-end rail 4, rear-end rail 6, and side rails 8. The strips 2 are then stacked next to each other to make up wider arrays as manufacturing operations, machine conditions and substrate size dictate (compare the first figure of the patent with FIG. 1 of the current method).
While this version still uses a cam 28, it no longer uses the top and bottom plates 22 and 18 as anchor points. Instead, a cam slot retainer (the cam receptacle) 32 is anchored to the middle (clamping) plate 20 with four screws 38. One end of the cam is then fixed with a cam block housing (the cam hub) 24, which in turn is anchored to the very bottom (base) plate 10 of the system. The cam block housing's position can be adjusted back and forth with an adjustment screw 26, and four screws 40 then hold the block in position to the bottom, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. Elastically compressible elements, such as pin springs 14, are positioned in recesses formed in base plate 10 and preferably separated by plastic insert plates 12. These compressible elements exert an upwardly directed biasing force on pins 16, which protrude through the apertures 36 in the bottom, middle and top plates. With the cam's hub 24 anchored at the base 10, the cam lobe rotates inside the cam slot retainer 32, which in turn moves the middle plate 20 out of alignment, thereby distorting and locking pins 16 in position. A T-handle Allen wrench 34 is used to engage the cam 28 and rotate it to its locked and unlocked positions.
There are also two plate return springs 30 that push against the front-end rail 4 and the cam slot retainer 32. When the pins 16 are unlocked by rotating the cam 28 to the unlocked position, the middle plate 20 is moved to its aligned position relative to the top and bottom plates 22 and 18 with the help of the springs 30. The cam slot retainer 32 was designed, not as a true cam receptacle (although it could have been, thus alleviating the need for the springs), but to have some "slop" built in to allow for manufacturing tolerances in the system. The springs 30 are therefore necessary to help the middle plate 20 to return to an aligned position. In addition, the pins 16, being made of an elastic material, help move the middle plate 20 to its aligned position when the plate is unlocked, but the springs 30 are used to finish the movement.
Not shown in the figures is a ball plunger that goes through the front-end rail 4 and screws into the cam slot retainer 32, pressing against the cam 28. The cam 28 has a dimple in its side so that when the cam 28 is in the locked position, the plunger engages the detent and keeps the cam 28 in the locked position.
The cam 28, the cam slot retainer 32 and the cam block housing 24 are expensive to manufacture (approximately $44.00 per unit). Furthermore, additional tooling is required (the Allen wrench—a $3.00 item). The present invention provides simpler methods, equally robust, which improve on the patented and current methods of manufacture.


A method for identifying a consumer-producer pattern in a multi-threaded application includes obtaining synchronization event data of the multi-threaded application, and identifying the consumer-producer communication pattern from the synchronization event data.

1. Technical Field The present application relates to multi-core/multi-threading machines and more particularly to locating bottleneck threads in multi-thread applications.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Multi-core/multi-threading machines, such as those having a plurality of central processing units (CPUs) or having a CPU with a plurality of multi-threading cores, are widely used. Workloads may take advantage of thread-level parallelism afforded by the multi-core/multi-threading machines to achieve high efficiency.
Analyzing and identifying performance bottlenecks that inhibit scaling can be difficult, requiring labor intensive data generation, expert knowledge of the application, libraries, middleware, operating system and hardware, and analytical tools. After a bottleneck is identified, determining how to eliminate the bottleneck is also difficult, requiring expert knowledge of the application, libraries, middleware, operating system and hardware, and analytical tools.
Therefore, a need exists for locating bottleneck threads in multi-thread applications and determining how to eliminate the bottleneck.

Locating bottleneck threads in multi-thread applications

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for monitoring a product under manufacture for possible deformation or changes in shape. In accordance with the method there is produced at given time intervals a series of halographic product images from which the rate at which possible changes in deformation take place in time can be estimated or evaluated. These estimated values relating to the rate of deformation and the rate of progressive changes therein are extrapolated so as to obtain the final value of the deformation of the product in relation to the state or form of the product immediately subsequent to the time of its manufacture. The process of manufacture is controlled on the basis of this final value, and the product is preferably cooled forcibly prior to producing the series of images.

The problem of estimating or measuring the change in shape, or deformation, of a manufactured product is one of a general character. There is today a general need to estimate or measure the change in shape or deformation of a product under manufacture, so that when carrying out prototype checks it is possible to anticipate what constructional changes, e.g. tool changes, will be needed and so that when carrying out production checks (quality checks) the need for taking rectifying measures, e.g. tool replacement because of worn tools, can be both observed and put into effect at an early stage, thereby greatly reducing the number of faulty goods which need to be rejected, if not avoiding the occurrence of rejects altogether, particularly when the product is manufactured in large numbers.
The problem of measuring or estimating the deformation or change in shape of a product is particularly prevalent in products produced from polymeric materials, due to the anisothropic properties of the injection moulded products; even though measurements are taken at given points, no definite knowledge can be obtained of the circumstances prevailing at the points therebetween. In addition, because the material is resilient it can readily be deformed or blemished by contact with gauges, templates, measuring probes etc., when the product is measured for distortion by means of a conventional contact method. Certain products are used normally in a humid atmosphere, and hence the lack of a practical method of measuring moist products is a distinct disadvantage.

Method for monitoring the manufacture of a product


A fragmentation casing is defined by a monolithic tube having a solid radial wall and a pattern of tunnels defined in the solid radial wall. The tunnels may be filled with air, a powder that is a powdered form of the material used to make the solid radial wall, or a solid material that is the same as the solid radial wall but whose mechanical attributes differ from those of the solid radial wall.

Fragmentation casings are used in warheads for bombs, missiles, and related devices. Typically, a fragmentation casing relies on controlled fragmentation of a metal body when subjected to rapid pressurization experienced from a detonating explosive fill. Conventional methods for fabricating fragmentation casings rely on either preformed fragments in a matrix or the use of scoring or notches to induce shear in specific orientations. These methods are limited in terms of their performance (e.g., caused by uneven distribution of fragments, parasitic mass, poor resistance to acceleration, poor fragment velocity, etc.) and manufacturing complexities.

Monolithic fragmentation casing with tunnel pattern

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


The data exchange processing apparatus pertaining to the present invention includes a cryptographic engine unit performing cryptographic processing and verification processing, a stream control unit outputting content while performing cryptographic processing of the content using the cryptographic engine unit, an unauthorized device list update unit verifying an unauthorized device list using the cryptographic engine unit, and a state management unit outputting a permission notification to the unauthorized device list update unit when detecting a low load section of the content according to metadata of the content and processing position of the stream control unit, the low load section being a section in which processing load on the cryptographic engine unit is lower than in other sections. The unauthorized device list update unit, when receiving the permission notification from the state management unit, causes the cryptographic engine unit to execute verification processing of the unauthorized device list.

In recent years, in-home networks are being realized in which domestic digital devices are connected to a network, and digital contents (referred to as "content" hereinafter) of various kinds are shared between the devices with the use of such networks.
Meanwhile, such contents as newly distributed movies and pay-per-view television programs need to be protected under copyright laws. One major means as to realize copyright protection of such contents is encryption of contents prior to transmission over the network. This technology is standardized in the DTCP-IP (Digital Transmission Content Protection over Internet Protocol) protocol.
The DTCP-IP protocol provides an authentication key exchange function compliant with AKE (Authentication and Key Exchange) and a key revocation function. Provided with such functions, DTCP guarantees safe reception of contents on authorized digital devices, while preventing fraudulent use of contents by unauthorized devices.
In addition to the above, the DTCP protocol establishes a higher extent of copyright protection by defining a technology in which transmission/reception of contents by unauthorized devices is further restrained through providing a list of unauthorized devices (specified as CRL [Certificate Revocation List] by the DTCP protocol) to each individual authorized digital device.
The unauthorized device list is distributed to each digital device by the DTLA (Digital Transmission Licensing Administrator). The unauthorized device list is subject to be updated every time a device deemed to be incompliant to the DTCP protocol is newly found and thus, a newly manufactured digital device may have a more recently updated version of the unauthorized device list compared with the unauthorized device lists held by devices manufactured earlier.
With the unauthorized device list having such characteristics, DTCP-compliant digital devices mutually exchange information on the unauthorized device lists they hold when performing transmission/reception of contents. When a list held by a local device is determined, according to the information exchanged above, to be older than a list held by a target device, the local device receives the newer list from the target device and updates the list to the newer list.
In relation to the present invention, Patent Literature 1 discloses, as a technology of exchanging the unauthorized device list, a technology of updating the unauthorized device list held by devices in a topology to the newest version on a constant basis by utilizing topology connection information.

Data exchange processing apparatus and data exchange processing method


An injection molding machine having a clamping unit and beams, which are disposed above the clamping unit and extend parallel and symmetrically to the vertical longitudinal plane of symmetry of the machine as far as to the rear end of the drive for the clamping unit. A pallet is provided, which is disposed over the drive and extends between the beams and has a supporting surface on which the moldings can be retained at predetermined locations, in which the moldings can be placed on the supporting surface by means of two carriages, which are horizontally movable in directions which are at right angles to each other. The carriages can be driven by flexible elements. Owing to such an arrangement, even delicate moldings can be removed from the injection molding machine, deposited and carried off quickly and in a gentle manner.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an injection molding machine comprising a clamping unit, which is provided with a movable mold support and with rearwardly extending drive means, which engage the movable mold support on the rear, also comprising a demolding device for linearly removing moldings from the injection mold when it is open, which demolding device comprises two horizontal beams, which extend above the clamping unit and are parallel and symmetrical to a vertical longitudinal plane of symmetry of the injection molding machine and are supported on the pedestal of the machine, also comprising a motor-driven first carriage, which is movable on rails provided on the beams from a demolding station disposed over the parting line of the injection mold to a delivery station, and a third carriage, which is supported by said first carriage and comprises a gripper, which is movable into the injection mold when it is open and adapted to remove the moldings out of said mold. The machine also comprises transfer means, which are disposed between said beams and operable to transfer said moldings to a conveyor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a known injection molding machine of that kind, which is known from German Patent Publication No. 23 52 736, the demolding device is designed only for association with a specific multiple-cavity injection mold and the moldings are carried off only in a blast passage, which extends transversely to the clamping direction of the clamping unit of the injection molding machine.
EP O 218 101 A1 discloses an injection molding machine in which the demolding device is asymmetrical and is so designed that a gripper can be moved only in the vertical longitudinal plane of symmetry of the injection mold.
Other known demolding devices comprise grippers, which are linearly movable only parallel to the parting line of the injection mold, i.e., transversely to the clamping direction of the clamping unit (DE 34 32 262 A1), or only in the clamping direction of the clamping unit.
Robots are also known, which are movable in all directions in accordance with a pregiven program (company prospectus of Reis, "Reis-Linear-Robot", of 1984).

Injection molding machine having an article transfer arrangement


A braking apparatus for a vehicle includes a permanent magnet synchronous motor including a rotor having a permanent magnet, and a stator capable of driving the rotor to rotate and configured to couple the rotor to each of at least a pair of wheels of the vehicle; a power accumulating portion that accumulates power to be supplied to the permanent magnet synchronous motor; a conversion control portion that converts the power of the power accumulating portion to excite the stator and control the rotation of the rotor; and an in-phase excitation control portion that applies exciting brake to the wheel by exciting the stator by supplying power in the same phase as the excitation with respect to the stator in the direction of rotation of the rotor according to the control performed by the conversion control portion, wherein the wheel is stopped by the exciting brake.

Examples of braking apparatuses for a vehicle generally include hydraulic brake equipment configured to apply a hydraulic brake. However, in electric motor vehicles or so-called hybrid motor vehicles in recent years, a regenerative brake using an electric motor is used. For example, a braking force control apparatus configured to generate allowance margins of motor torque for both the regenerating side and the power running side to enlarge a control width of the motor torque is disclosed in JP-2007-106385A (Reference 1). In JP-11-4504A (Reference 2), collaborative control of the regenerative brake and the hydraulic brake is performed. In contrast, in JP-2003-287069A (Reference 3), electric motor brake equipment configured to convert a rotary motion of an electric motor into a translatory motion to propel a piston and press a friction pad against a disk rotor to generate a braking force is disclosed. In this manner, the braking apparatus for a vehicle provided with an electric motor for driving employs also the frictional brake using a mechanical braking portion such as the hydraulic brake equipment or the electric motor brake equipment described above in addition to the regenerative brake (regenerative brake) by the electric motor.
In addition, in JP-2004-187445A (Reference 4), applying a brake by exciting the motor to rotate in the reverse direction is proposed. However, it is a general braking portion in an induction motor using no permanent magnet, and is employed in railway vehicles. In other words, in the railway vehicles (electric vehicles), since stopping is achieved only by the induction motor, a control apparatus for electric vehicles configured to apply a pure electric brake or an all-electric brake by applying an electric brake or a stop brake in addition to the regenerative brake is proposed, and braking on the basis of reverse-phase driving is employed in addition to the regenerative brake. For example, in JP-11-234804A (Reference 5), a reverse-phase electric brake configured to obtain a braking force by speed reduction and also by switching to reverse power running by a forward brake is disclosed. However, the frictional brake is still in combination use in actual railway vehicles, and, for example, an air brake system is also mounted.
As the braking apparatuses for electric motor vehicles or hybrid motor vehicles described above, a permanent magnet synchronous motor including a rotor having a permanent magnet and a stator configured to allow the rotor to be driven to rotate, and the rotor being coupled to respective wheels of the vehicle, and a power accumulating portion such as a battery configured to supply power to the permanent magnet synchronous motor to excite the stator are provided and configured to inhibit the rotation of the wheels by the permanent magnet synchronous motor and, more specifically, an embedded permanent magnet field synchronous motor (referred to as IPM) having the permanent magnet embedded into the rotor is used. Furthermore, an in-wheel motor (referred to as IWM) including the rotor and the stator of the electric motor accommodated in the wheel of the wheel is also proposed. Such an in-wheel motor, being disclosed in JP-2007-196904A (Reference 6), also employs the frictional brake in combination, and the wheel includes a hydraulic frictional brake equipment mounted thereon in addition to the electric motor.
As described above, a technology which allows the vehicle to stop only by the induction motor is focused in the railway vehicles (electric vehicles). However, in the electric motor vehicles or the hybrid motor vehicles, the frictional brake on the basis of the hydraulic fictional brake equipment is used in combination with the regenerative brake on the basis of the permanent magnet synchronous motor. Therefore, the hydraulic frictional brake equipment is essential also in the in-wheel motor in order to bring the wheels into a stop state. This may impair reduction in unsprung weight, and also impairs practical application of the in-wheel motor. In recent years, in the motor vehicles, a large cabin space such as a riding space or a luggage space is required. In the motor-driven electric motor vehicles, if a compact high-torque motor is developed in the future, reduction in diameter of the wheels is enabled, and enlargement of the cabin space is enabled correspondingly. However, as described above, since the frictional brake equipment arranged in the wheel is an essential configuration in the motor-driven vehicles in the related art, a problem that the frictional brake equipment impairs the reduction in diameter of the wheels exists.
A need thus exists for a braking apparatus for a vehicle configured to inhibit the rotation of wheels by an electric motor, in which the rotation of the wheels is inhibited only by controlling the electric motor, and a smooth and reliable braking force may be applied until the wheels are brought into a stop state without necessity of a frictional brake equipment.


An apparatus for properly adjusting an attitude of optical axes of head lamps on a vehicle includes a motor driven actuator and a controlling section. The motor driven actuator additionally includes a voltage dividing circuit comprising two resistors and one of a plurality of contact positions in the controlling section is earthed directly, whereby a resistance value of the controlling section becomes zero ohm when the angle of elevation assumed by the head lamps is maximized in an upward tilted state. A motor circuit in the motor driven actuator includes in a power supply line an element for preventing an excessive intensity of electric current from being fed to a motor when motor is held in a blocked state for some reason. Preferably, the element has positive temperature characteristics which suppress generation of heat when rotation of the motor is blocked.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for properly adjusting the optical axes of head lamps on a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improvement of the apparatus of the foregoing type for correctly adjusting the direction of light beams irradiated from the head lamps in response to variation of an attitude of the vehicle due to variation of a load caused when a driver rides on the vehicle or a cargo is placed on the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 8 is a block diagram which schematically illustrates by way of example a conventional apparatus for properly adjusting the optical axes of head lamps on a vehicle. Referring to FIG. 8, the apparatus is generally represented by reference numeral 31. The apparatus 31 includes a controlling section 32 on the driver's seat side and a motor driven actuator 35 on the head lamp side. Specifically, the controlling section 32 comprises a plurality of resistors 33 and a switch 34 so as to enable one of a plurality of position voltages to be selectively set by the switch 34. On the other hand, the motor driven actuator 35 comprises a voltage comparing circuit 36 into which the position voltage which has been set by the controlling section is inputted, a motor circuit to be described later and a potentiometer 39 for detecting an angle of elevation assumed by head lamps (not shown) in the form of an elevation angle voltage. The motor circuit comprises a driving circuit 37 and a motor 38. In response to an output from the voltage comparing circuit 36, the motor 38 is driven by the driving circuit 37 to correctly adjust the angle of elevation which has been assumed by the head lamps. To this end, the direction of rotation of the motor 38 and a quantity of rotation of the motor 38 are controlled by comparing the position voltage derived from the voltage comparing circuit 36 with the detected elevation angle voltage so that an angle of elevation to be assumed by the head lamps coincides with the angle of elevation which has been set by the controlling section 32.
In addition, FIG. 9 is a block diagram which schematically illustrates by way of example a conventional motor circuit which is an essential component for the apparatus shown in FIG. 8. The conventional motor circuit is generally represented by reference numeral 31. As is apparent from the drawing, the motor circuit 31 comprises a driving circuit 37 and a motor 38. A controlling circuit 20 is arranged upstream of the driving circuit 37. In response to a command signal from the controlling circuit 20 indicative of normal rotation, reverse rotation, high speed rotation or low speed rotation, the driving circuit 37 converts the received command signal into an electric signal for driving the motor 38 in conformity with the given command.
Additionally, to prevent the motor 38 from being excessively heated due to failure of its rotation when the motor 38 is brought in a blocked state for some reason, a protective element 34 for preventing an excessive intensity of electric current from being fed to the motor 38 is arranged between the driving circuit 37 and the motor 38 in a serial relationship relative to a connection line 33a extending therebetween. It is preferable that the element 34 has positive temperature characteristics.
With respect to the conventional apparatus 31 as described above with reference to FIG. 8, optimum electrical characteristics of the voltage comparing circuit 36 are primarily taken into account but no particular consideration is taken to make the apparatus 31 itself optimum. Thus, if a connection line extending between the controlling section 32 and the motor driven actuator 35 is inadvertently earthed (i.e. grounded) due to undesirable contact with a vehicle body, it becomes impossible that an angle of elevation to be correctly assumed by the head lamps matches with the angle of elevation derived from the voltage comparing circuit 36. This leads to malfunctions such that the motor 38 is excessively heated to failure of its rotation and optical axes of the head lamps are oriented in an excessively upward tilted state, resulting in normal traffic being obstructed by dazzling light irradiated from the head lamps.
Further, with respect to the conventional motor circuit included in the conventional apparatus, since the driving circuit 37 is connected directly to a power supply source, an excessive intensity of electric current may be fed to the motor 38 when rotation of the motor 38 is blocked, causing the motor 38 to be often damaged. At this time, the motor circuit 31 needs to be repaired.

Apparatus for adjusting attitude of optical axes of head lamps on vehicle


The invention provides a method and apparatus for recovering work from a heat source and providing a cooling source that comprises:. a. providing a selected working fluid comprising at least two components; to a first low pressure pump; PA1 b. feeding the selected working fluid to a dividing means; PA1 c. dividing the working fluid into a first stream and a second stream, PA1 d. feeding the first stream at a first low pressure to a first heat transfer zone to transfer heat to the working fluid stream heating the stream to a higher temperature, PA1 e. feeding the higher temperature stream to a separation means, PA1 f. separating a volatile component enriched stream and a volatile component depleted stream; PA1 g. heating the volatile component enriched stream; PA1 h. feeding the volatile component enriched stream to an expansion means PA1 i. expanding the volatile component enriched stream to a lower temperature and pressure; PA1 j. feeding the expanded lower temperature and pressure volatile component enriched stream to a mixing means; PA1 k. feeding the volatile component depleted stream to the mixing means; PA1 l. feeding the second working fluid stream to a high pressure pump and then to a second heat exchange zone wherein heat is transferred to the second working fluid stream to produce a higher temperature and pressure condition of the second working fluid stream; PA1 m. work expanding the higher temperature and pressure second working fluid stream to convert a portion of the heat energy to mechanical energy; PA1 n. feeding the work expanded second stream to the mixing means; PA1 o. mixing the streams to provide a combined working fluid stream; PA1 p. returning the combined working fluid stream to the feed-line of the first low pressure pumping stage to provide the selected working fluid.. Preferably, the selected working fluid is selected from the group consisting of ammonia and water; sulfur dioxide and water; mixed hydrocarbons; ammonia and brine; or sulfur dioxide and brine. More preferably, the selected working fluid comprises ammonia and water or ammonia, water and salts. Most preferably, the selected working fluid consists essentially of ammonia and water. In an especially preferred embodiment, the volatile component enriched stream is substantially a pure component. The invention also provides an apparatus specially configured to carry out the method claimed above.

Energy conversion engines have long been employed to recover process heat and convert it to mechanical energy as in the familiar Rankine cycle. Typical systems are in a series of patents by Alexander Kalina and various coworkers such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,095,708; 5,029,444; 4,982,568; 4,899,545; 4,732,005; 4,604,867; 4,586,340; 4,548,043; and 4,489,563. Scharpf, U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,345 teaches the use of two component working fluids, preferring ammonia and water, in a heat recovery method. DeVault U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,738, teaches use of an ammonia water refrigeration system to cool the inlet air of a gas turbine for improved efficiency.
The art has not heretofore recognized the unexpected advantage of using a two component working fluid which is separated into it's a more volatile and a less volatile component and the more volatile component used in a refrigerant loop to provide refrigeration capacity then recombined with the less volatile component to provide a multi-component working fluid for heat recovery.


A device (10) is placed on an object (30). A reference feature of the object (30) is aligned with a reference feature of the device (10). Based on signals transmitted between at least one measurement point of the device (10) and a further device (20), a position of the at least one measurement point is measured. The position of the object (30) is then determined based on the measured position of the at least one measurement point and based on information on arrangement of the at least one measurement point in relation to the reference feature of the device (10).

In various fields, it is desirable to determine a position and/or orientation of an object in three-dimensional space. One example is the field of robotics, where a robot may need to perform operations in relation to such object, e.g., picking up the object. In this case, the position and orientation of the object may need to be determined within a coordinate system used by the robot for controlling its operations. Other applications may involve indoor or outdoor tracking of objects.
However, determining the position or orientation of an object may be a complex task. For example, determining the position of the object with the aid of computer vision systems may require utilization of sophisticated image processing techniques. Further, computer vision systems are typically dependent on lighting, line-of-sight conditions, or the like.
Accordingly, there is a need for technologies which overcome the above-mentioned problems and allow for efficiently determining the position of an object.

Determination of object position by aligned device placement


Power distribution is managed in an elevator system including an elevator hoist motor (12), a primary power supply (20), and—an energy storage system (32). A predicted usage pattern for the hoist motor is established based on past hoist motor power demand in the elevator system or in similar elevator systems in similar buildings. A target storage state for the energy storage system is then set based on the predicted usage pattern. Power exchanged between the hoist motor, the primary power supply, and the energy storage system is controlled to address power demand of the hoist motor and to maintain the storage state of the energy storage system at about the target storage state.

The present invention relates to power systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for managing power in an elevator system from multiple sources based on elevator usage patterns.
Power demand for operating elevators range from positive, in which externally generated power (such as from a power utility) is used, to negative, in which the load in the elevator drives the motor so it produces electricity as a generator. The use of the motor to produce electricity as a generator is commonly called regeneration. In conventional systems, if the regenerated energy is not provided to another component of the elevator system or returned to the utility grid, it is dissipated through a dynamic brake resistor or other electrical load. In this configuration, all demand remains on the power utility to supply power to the elevator system, even during peak power conditions (e.g., when more than one motor starts simultaneously or during periods of high demand). Thus, components of the elevator system that deliver power from the power utility need to be sized to accommodate power demand, which may be more costly and require more space. Also, the regenerated energy that is dissipated is not used, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the power system.
In addition, an elevator drive system is typically designed to operate over a specific input voltage range from a power supply. The components of the drive have voltage and current ratings that allow the drive to continuously operate while the power supply remains within the designated input voltage range. In conventional systems, when the utility voltage sags beyond design limits, the elevator system faults. When a utility power failure occurs or under poor quality conditions in conventional systems, the elevator may become stalled between floors in the elevator hoistway until the power supply returns to normal operation or a mechanic intervenes.

Management of power from multiple sources based on elevator usage patterns


A stand having a stand head for holding an object, having a stand column which supports the stand head and stands with its lower end on the ground, having at least one support leg which stands with its free end on the ground and supports the stand column, having a first joint which connects the support legs to the stand column in a movable fashion, such that the inclination of the stand column can be set by means of an adjustment of the first joint, and having a detachable leg locking arrangement which locks the support leg in a defined position relative to the stand column, wherein a counterweight is attached to the lower end of the stand column.

To provide stable support for cameras, camera stands with three supporting legs are known, which are mounted foldably on a stand head and with their free ends form a stable multipoint support, the stand head comprising a mount for the attachment of a camera. In addition, camera stands of this type are known which comprise a stand head bearing a telescopic stand column, to the upper end of which a camera may be attached.
Another type of stand is known for example from DE 195 31 502 A1. The stand known from this publication comprises a stand column, which bears the stand head at its upper end and stands with its lower end on the floor. Moreover, this stand comprises two supporting legs, which are connected foldably to the stand column by means of a lockable revolute joint, such that the free ends of the supporting legs form a multipoint support together with the lower end of the stand column. The revolute joint is here fitted at floor-level at the lower end of the stand column, such that the supporting legs can be folded upwards so as to be able to store the stand in a space-saving manner. Furthermore, the inclination of the stand column and thus also of the stand head may be adjusted by changing the angle between the supporting legs and the stand column. A disadvantage of the known stand described above is, inter alia, the relatively high center of gravity, which has a negative effect on standing behaviour.
Another stand is known from DE 295 12 937 U1, in which the supporting legs are at a fixed angle to the stand column and may be displaced along the stand column by means of a prismatic joint. The inclination of the stand column may thus be varied in this case, by displacing the prismatic joint with the supporting legs along the stand column. However, this stand also has a relatively high center of gravity, which has a negative effect on standing behaviour.


A critical interface may be defined for a network device such that if the critical interface goes DOWN, the network device will perform a forced failover. IP addresses are assigned to interface groups, and interface groups are assigned to a critical interface. The critical interface will go DOWN if any one of the interface groups goes DOWN. The interface groups will not go DOWN, however, unless all members' IP addresses assigned to the interface group go DOWN. By configuring the critical interface in this manner, the network manager has increased flexibility in defining which events should and should not trigger failover of the network device. Additionally, combinations of events may be grouped to enable the network manager to take into account fairly complex failure scenarios and specify, with precision, the action to be taken by the network device under myriad possible situations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication networks and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for defining failover events in a network device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data communication networks may include various computers, servers, nodes, routers, switches, hubs, proxies, and other network devices coupled to and configured to pass data to one another. These various network elements will be referred to herein as "network devices." Data is communicated through the data communication network by passing data packets (or data cells or segments) between the network devices by utilizing one or more communication links between the devices. A particular packet may be handled by multiple network devices and cross multiple communication links as it travels between its source and its destination over the network.
A particular physical network device may be logically partitioned into multiple logical network devices to facilitate network management and increase the number and types of services offered by that network device. For example, a router may be partitioned into multiple virtual routers, each of which is a collection of threads, either static or dynamic, that provides routing and forwarding services much like physical routers. A virtual router need not be a separate operating system process (although it could be); it simply has to provide the illusion that a dedicated router is available to satisfy the needs of the network(s) to which it is connected.
As data networks have grown in complexity and speed, the network devices used in those networks have likewise increased in complexity and speed. Unfortunately, this complexity provides manifest opportunities for the network to fail. To increase the reliability of the network, networks are designed such that in the event of a failure of a network device or link, an alternate network device or link may be used until a repair can be made to the failed element. This notion will be referred to herein as "redundancy."
As services offered over networks become increasingly complex, for example layer 2 and layer 3 virtual private networks (VPNs) are deployed, and virtual private LAN segment (VPLS) services are made available, redundancy becomes increasingly important, and also increasingly difficult. Specifically, the redundant network devices must share information as to the types of tunnels, etc. that are being set up, so that in the event of failure of one network device another network device can continue to offer these specialized services. The process undertaken by the network device(s) to exchange responsibility for provision of services will be referred to herein as failover.
The various network devices on the communications network communicate with each other using predefined sets of rules, referred to herein as protocols. Different protocols are used to govern different aspects of the communication, such as how signals should be formed for transmission between network devices, various aspects of what the data packets should look like, and how packets should be handled by the network devices.
One particular protocol, known as Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), specifies an election protocol for use in a broadcast domain, such as an Ethernet domain, that dynamically assigns responsibility for a virtual router to one of the physical VRRP routers on a local area network. This allows any of the virtual router IP (internet protocol) addresses on the local area network (LAN) to be used as the default first hop router by end-hosts. VRRP is described in greater detail in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request For Comments (RFC) 2338, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
VRRP normally permits two or more routers to share state information so that one of the routers can function as a "hot standby" for the other. It is combined with a "keep alive" mechanism such that when the standby router detects a failure of the primary, it is able to then impersonate the primary router during failover. One advantage gained by using VRRP is a higher availability default party without requiring configuration of dynamic routing or router discovery protocols on the end hosts.
The events that trigger failover are limited in VRRP. Specifically, VRRP is designed to deal with a single point of failure and only provides failover of a particular router or virtual router when that particular router is experiencing failure. Unfortunately, this does not account for other conditions under which a network manager may desire to effect failover.
One conventional system (the Bay RS available from Nortel Networks) attempted to rectify some of the shortcomings of VRRP. Specifically, this system enabled the network manager to effect failover of the master in the event a designated IP address went down. While this provides a good first step to enabling failover control, it does not enable a network manager to account for the myriad possible failures in current and envisioned networks.

Method and apparatus for defining failover events in a network device


The present invention includes an apparatus and method to optimize a set of test designs to obtain complete coverage while reducing bit stream size for programmable fabric. Test designs are selected that do not result in lost coverage. The method selects a set of test designs, removes the set of test designs, and then determines if coverage is lost. If coverage is lost, the method creates a new set of test designs to test the lost coverage. If the new set of test designs is smaller than the removed set, the new set of test designs is added to the test design suite; otherwise the removed test designs are added back to the test design suite. The decision to add the new test designs or removed test designs is based on a number of criteria including evaluating the number of uniquely tested resources in each test design.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to integrated circuits and more particularly to testing of integrated circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated circuit devices include millions of components and logic devices for executing particular functions. Such functions include data processing, signal manipulation, communications, etc. Additionally, demands are being made for flexible architectures that operate at throughput rates and efficiencies heretofore only realized by application specific integrated circuit designs. Such flexible architectures typically include a combination of programmable logic, fixed logic, and software driven processor based logic.
Such new systems, however, are very complex and require complex testing plans. Moreover, the increased throughput demands are pushing some current integrated circuit manufacturing processes to their operating limits. Integrated circuit processing limits (e.g., device parasitics, trace sizes, propagation delays, device sizes) and integrated circuit (IC) fabrication limits (e.g., IC layout, frequency response of the packaging, frequency response of bonding wires) limit the speed at which the high throughput integrated circuit may operate without excessive jitter performance or phase noise performance.
Modern integrated circuit systems, including high data rate communication systems, typically include a plurality of circuit boards that communicate with each other by way of signal traces, bundled data lines, back planes, etc. Accordingly, designers of high data rate communication transceiver devices often have conflicting design goals that relate to the performance of the particular device. For example, there are many different communication protocols specified for data rates that range from 2.48832 gigabits-per-second for OC48, to 9.95 gigabits-per-second for OC192. Other known standards define data rates of 2.5 gigabits-per-second (INFINIBAND) or 3.125 gigabits-per-second (XAUI). For example, one protocol may specify a peak voltage range of 200-400 millivolts, while another standard specifies a mutually exclusive voltage range of 500-700 millivolts. Thus, a designer either cannot satisfy these mutually exclusive requirements (and therefore cannot support multiple protocols) or must design a high data rate transceiver device that can adapt according to the protocol being used for the communications.
Along these lines, programmable logic devices, and more particularly, field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuits are gaining in popularity for providing the required flexibility and adaptable performance, as described above, for those designers who seek to build one device that can operate according to multiple configurations. For example, parallel interface buses such as Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) and the newer high-speed PCI (PCI-X) may be programmed for a computer interface while high-speed serial I/O may be programmed to be compatible with 3G-IO, InfiniBand, or Rapid IO. Thus, while FPGA technology affords a designer an opportunity to develop flexible and configurable hardware circuits, the opportunity has come with increasingly complex designs that increase the cost of production testing.
Testing every functional logic device and every routing resource within the FPGA or other dense logic device requires a large number of test designs that further require long sequences of test bit streams that are clocked into the FPGA or dense logic device. This leads to increased testing time and costs. There is a need, therefore, for a method and apparatus to reduce the number of test designs in a manner that will reduce the overall test bit stream programming time and, therefore, the cost of testing.

Method and apparatus for reducing the number of test designs for device testing


A system and method for controlling a step-ratio transmission gearshift during a regenerative braking event for a hybrid vehicle having an engine selectively coupled to an electric machine and an automatic transmission control transmission input torque based on a measured shift profile and a target shift profile. A torque trim term may be added to the transmission input torque or electric machine output torque in response to a difference between the measured and target shift profiles. The torque trim term may be used to modify the transmission input torque to speed the shift up or shorten the shift time if the measured shift is progressing too slowly. Likewise, the torque trim term may be used to reduce the transmission input torque or electric machine output torque if the shift is progressing too quickly relative to the target shift profile.

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV's) utilize a combination of an internal combustion engine and an electric motor to provide the power needed to propel the vehicle. This arrangement provides improved fuel economy over a vehicle that has only an internal combustion engine. A hybrid vehicle powertrain includes an electric machine, such as an electric motor/generator, that may be used to propel the vehicle either alone or in combination with torque produced by the engine. When operating as a generator, the electric machine generates electric power for use by the vehicle or storage in an associated battery. The engine and motor torques are transferred to vehicle drive wheels through a transmission.
Various powertrain configurations for electric and hybrid electric vehicles have been developed using various types of transmissions and gearing arrangements. One configuration for a hybrid vehicle uses a step-ratio transmission similar to a conventional automatic transmission or automated mechanical transmission and may be referred to as a Modular Hybrid Transmission (MHT) vehicle design. The engine is selectively coupled to the motor by a disconnect clutch with the motor selectively coupled to the transmission gear box by a launch clutch The launch clutch may be integrated with the transmission torque converter in some applications.
Most electric and hybrid vehicles include regenerative braking to improve efficiency and increase the range of the vehicle. During regenerative braking, kinetic energy of the vehicle is converted to electric energy that is used to charge the high voltage battery using the electric machine as a brake and generator. As the vehicle speed decreases, the step-ratio transmission may be downshifted to provide an appropriate gear ratio for the current vehicle speed and requested wheel torque.
Closed loop control of clutch pressure for at least one of the clutches involved in a gear or ratio change may be performed during transmission shifting to provide shift robustness and repeatability. During the ratio change, the associated clutch is "slipping" until the speeds on both sides of the clutch are equal, then the shift is completed. If the shift is proceeding too fast, pressure is removed from the clutch during this slipping phase to prevent a harsh or objectionable shift. Conversely, if the shift is proceeding too slowly, pressure is added to the clutch during this slipping phase. Because the torque transmission through the slipping clutch is proportional to the clutch pressure applied, adding or subtracting clutch pressure to control the speed or completion of the shift will change the output torque delivered to the vehicle wheels, possibly up to 10%. This may be tolerated in conventional vehicles where drivers expect a firmer shift during power-on shifting under positive torque (when accelerating, for example). Similarly, torque variation during shifting while coasting with slightly negative torque (when decelerating, for example) is difficult to detect because the shift is spread over a longer time period. However, in hybrid vehicles, transmission shifting during regenerative braking may become more objectionable using closed-loop clutch pressure control to manage the shift timing and associated shift quality or feel.

Input torque trim for transmission shift control during regenerative braking


A method of separating a polyisoolefin elastomer from non-polymeric components in an organic solvent involves ultrafiltration of a solution of the polyisoolefin elastomer and non-polymeric components in an organic solvent through a semipermeable membrane to substantially retain the polyisoolefin elastomer in a retentate and provide the non-polymeric components in a permeate. Advantageously, stabilizers for the polyisoolefin elastomer are retained in the retentate along with the polyisoolefin elastomer, permeate flux through the membrane is higher as concentration of the polyisoolefin elastomer in the solution increases up to a concentration limit, the separated polyisoolefin elastomer in the retentate has a molecular weight that can be substantially unchanged even when ultrafiltration is conducted at elevated temperature and the amount of polyisoolefin elastomer in the permeate is unmeasurable providing an oligomer-rich permeate uncontaminated by polyisoolefin elastomer. A process for curing a polyisoolefin copolymer involves reducing content of an oligomer to 900 ppm or less in a mixture of the oligomer and the polyisoolefin copolymer to produce an oligomer-depleted mixture, and adding a resin cure system to the oligomer-depleted mixture to cure the polyisoolefin copolymer.

Poly(isobutylene-co-isoprene), or IIR, is a synthetic elastomer commonly known as butyl rubber which has been prepared since the 1940's through the random cationic copolymerization of isobutylene with small amounts of isoprene (1-5 mole %). As a result of its molecular structure, IIR possesses superior air impermeability, a high loss modulus, oxidative stability and extended fatigue resistance.
Butyl rubber is understood to be a copolymer of an isoolefin and one or more, preferably conjugated, multiolefins as comonomers. Commercial butyl comprises a major portion of isoolefin and a minor amount, usually not more than 2.5 mol %, of a conjugated multiolefin. Butyl rubber or butyl polymer is generally prepared in a slurry process using methyl chloride as a diluent and a Friedel-Crafts catalyst as part of the polymerization initiator. This process is further described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,356,128 and Ullmanns Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, volume A 23, 1993, pages 288-295.
Halogenation of butyl rubber produces reactive allylic halide functionality within the elastomer. Conventional butyl rubber halogenation processes are described in, for example, Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry (Fifth, Completely Revised Edition, Volume A231 Editors Elvers, et al.) and/or "Rubber Technology" (Third Edition) by Maurice Morton, Chapter 10 (Van Nostrand Reinhold Company© 1987), particularly pp. 297-300.
The presence of allylic halide functionalities allows for nucleophilic alkylation reactions. It has been recently shown that treatment of brominated butyl rubber (BIIR) with nitrogen and/or phosphorus based nucleophiles, in the solid state, leads to the generation of IIR-based ionomers with interesting physical and chemical properties (see: Parent J S, Liskova A, Whitney R A, Resendes R. Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry 43, 5671-5679, 2005; Parent J S, Liskova A, Resendes R. Polymer 45, 8091-8096, 2004; Parent J S, Penciu A, Guillen-Castellanos S A, Liskova A, Whitney R A. Macromolecules 37, 7477-7483, 2004). The ionomer functionality is generated from the reaction of a nitrogen or phosphorus based nucleophile and the allylic halide sites in the halogenated butyl rubber to produce a ammonium or phosphonium ionic group respectively. The physical properties of these halogenated butyl based ionomers, such as green strength, modulus, filler interactions etc., are superior to those of their non-ionomeric counterpart.
Butyl rubber production produces small amounts of cyclic oligomers as side products. Such cyclic oligomers may be undesirable in certain applications of butyl rubber, for example in pharmaceutical seals, closures, medical devices and food grade applications, therefore a reduction in cyclic oligomer levels in the butyl rubber may be desirable. Furthermore, such cyclic oligomers may themselves find utility in certain applications such as precursors for the production of lubricants and traction fluids, therefore obtaining the cyclic oligomers themselves may also be desirable.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,071,292 and European Patent Publication EP 2610296 that solutions of nitrile rubber and other elastomers in an organic solvent may be purified by ultrafiltration methods. Impurities removed by these processes include emulsifiers, organic and/or inorganic salts or acids such as fatty acids and resins, water, unreacted initiator residues and/or decomposition products, stabilizers, molecular weight regulators, monomers, processing agents, such as flocculants, oligomeric components with a molecular weight of less than 2000 g/mol and transition metal catalysts for the hydrogenation or metathesis, oxidizing and/or reducing agents and/or components of these transition metal catalysts, oxidizing and/or reducing agents preferred impurities are fatty acids, fatty acid esters and Na, K, Ca salts of fatty acids, or resin acids, stabilizers, flocculants water, catalyst components, and ligands.
There remains a need for a method of separating polyisoolefin elastomers, especially butyl rubber, from other components of a polyisoolefin elastomer solution, preferably while retaining sufficient levels of stabilizers in the polyisoolefin elastomer.

Ultrafiltration of polyisoolefin copolymers and polyisoolefin copolymers with reduced oligomer content


A self seating roller clutch cage is molded with lead in ramps next to its cam hook engaging reacting faces, so that the cage need only be partially registered with the cam race before it is pushed in. Pushing the cage straight in alone acts to twist the cage to the point where the reaction faces and cam hooks are fully aligned.

Roller clutches that operate between a cam race and a pathway race must be installed between the races at some point, an operation that is often done manually. Installation is eased by the fact that the rollers and springs of the clutch are usually retained to a clutch cage as a secure subassembly that can be handled and installed as a unit. Still, situations may arise where roller clutches designed for conventional installation may be difficult to handle.
Conventional roller clutch installation typically involves the initial step of installing the clutch to the cam race alone. This allows the pathway race to be added last by the so called ringing in technique, in which it is simultaneously pushed and twisted into place, which serves to set the rollers and springs in a proper operating position. The clutch itself is also generally installed to the cam race with a push and twist technique, sometimes called the twist lock method. However, the pushing and twisting motions are not simultaneous, as when the pathway race is rung in. An example of a clutch cage designed for twist lock installation to a cam race is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,661 to Lederman et al. Clutch 10 has a cage 12 molded with smaller reaction ears 44A on the lead axial side, and larger reaction ears 44B on the trailing axial side. Each reaction ear 44A and 44B is also axially adjacent to a sloped reaction face that is shaped to abut with a similarly sloped cam hook 26C on the cam race 22. To install clutch 10, cage 12 is first turned relative to cam race 22 to a point where the lead side reaction ears 44A will fit past the peak of the cam hooks 26C. Next, cage 12 is pushed axially over cam race 22 until the reaction ears 44A and 44B are both axially aligned with the end faces of the cam race 22. Finally, cage 12 is twisted through a small angle until the reaction faces are abutted with the cam hooks 26C, completing the installation to the cam race 22.
The twist lock installation method works best when the installer can see the cam race well. The installer can then see when the cage has been moved to the point where the reaction ears will clear the cam race, allowing the cage to be pushed on. It is also important that the installer be able to maintain a grip on the cage throughout the process, so that the final twist that brings the reaction faces up against the cam hooks can be easily applied. There may be situations where both visual and physical access are limited. For example, the cam race may be surrounded by other structure that blocks a clear view. The clutch may have to be inserted into an area where it becomes difficult to do anything more than push the clutch cage straight in once it has been inserted beyond a certain point, and even the pushing force may have to be applied indirectly. Such blind assembly situations do not work well with a cage designed for twist lock installation.

Roller clutch with simplified installation


A mixing bottle for mixing two liquids can include a first and a second storage compartment for storing liquids. The first and the second storage compartments can be separated from each other. The mixing bottle can further include a mixing compartment connected to the first storage compartment by a first dosing device of the mixing bottle, connected to the second storage compartment by a second dosing device of the mixing bottle, and connected to an outlet opening of the mixing bottle.

Bottles for providing liquids, for example liquids to be atomized by an electronic smoking device, typically have a storage compartment for storing the liquid. In case two liquids shall be mixed, each of the liquids is provided in a separate bottle and the liquids need to be mixed outside of the bottles. For example, a base liquid and an additional liquid for the electronic smoking device are provided separately and are mixed for consecutively filling the liquids into the smoking device.


Disclosed are novel peptides inhibitory of the activity of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and their use in the treatment of angiogenesis-related diseases, including cancer. A combinatorial library of peptides consisting of six amino acid residues were chemically synthesize and, from the library, specific amino acid residues for each amino acid position were screened by comparing their inhibitory activity against VEGF binding to the cell surface receptor. The novel peptide sequences thus obtained bind to VEGF and block the binding of VEGF to its receptors present on the surface of vascular endothelial cells, thereby inhibiting the hormonal activity of VEGF. The peptides inhibit the angiogenesis induced by VEGF and human cancer cells. Also, the peptides inhibit growth and metastasis of human cancer cells transplanted to mice. Thus, the peptides can be used to treat angiogenesis-related diseases, including cancer, diabetic retinopathy, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

With a definition for the generation of new blood vessels in adult tissues, but not for the vasculogenesis during embryogenesis or development, angiogenesis is a biological process in which angiogenic factors, substrate molecules and accessory cells are elaborately synchronized in time and space. The generation of blood vessels is achieved in complex, collective, multi-step bioreactions, playing a very important role in normal physiological functions, such as wound healing, embryogenesis, etc. In the body, angiogenesis is conducted at a necessary time in a necessary place for a required period under an elaborate system controlled by the balance between angiogenic factors and antiangiogenic factors (Loitta, L. A. et al., Cell, 64, 327 (1991)).
A failure in controlling the elaborate mechanism of angiogenesis results in various diseases, including cancers, diabetic retinopathy, rheumatoid arthritis, etc (Kohn, E. C. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 92, 1307 (1995); Folkman, J. et al., Science, 235, 442 (1997); Risau, W., Nature, 386, 671 (1997)). Also, angiogenesis is revealed to be indispensable for the growth and metastasis of cancer cells because it enables nutrients to be provided to cancer cells and makes passageways through which cancer cells are transferred to other sites (Hanahan, D. et al., Cell, 86, 353 (1996); Skobe, M. et al., Nature Med., 3, 1222 (1997)). In detail, cancerous cells grow to the size of 2 mm or larger, new blood vessels are formed around the tumor through which the supply of oxygen and nutrients and the removal of waste products are allowed (Fidler, I. J. et al., Cell, 79, 185 (1994)). In addition, the metastasis of cancerous cells can be accelerated through the vast capillary networks newly formed by various angiogenic factors secreted from cancerous cells or normal tissue cells (Biood, C. H. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta., 1032, 89 (1990)).
A limitation of conventional anticancer agents and chemical therapies is that various types of cancerous cells are present even in a single tumor and they have varying mutation and growth rates that are higher than those of normal cells and consequently they become resistant to the conventional anticancer agents. In contrast, anti-angiogenic therapies for cancer inhibit the growth of host normal cells (vascular endothelial cells), but not cancerous cells themselves, so that they are expected to overcome the problems of conventional therapies for cancer, which are due to the versatility and resistance of cancerous cells. Advantages of the antiangiogenic therapies to preexisting therapies for cancer is supported by various animal test results published by many researchers (Burrows, F. J. et al., Pharmac. Ther., 64, 155 (1994)).
In the body coexist angiogenic factors and antiangiogenic factors, through the balance of which angiogenesis is elaborately performed. Until now, there have been known dozens of cancer-relevant angiogenic factors, most of which do not act as growth factors for endothelial cells (Bussolino, F. et al., Trends. Biochem. Sci. 22, 251 (1997)). On the other hand, VEGF is known to act as an endothelial cell-specific growth factor in vitro (Gospodarowics, D, et al., Proc. Natl, Acad. Sci., USA, 86, 7311 (1989)), increases vascular permeability (Leung, D. W. et al., Science, 246, 1306 (1989), and induces the angiogenesis related to the progress of cancer in vivo (Plouet, J. et al., EMBO J., 8, 3801 (1989)).
It is revealed that VEGF is one of the most potent, angiogenic factors, whose expression is induced by a variety of stimuli, including hypoxia, and is indispensably required for the growth and metastasis of human cancerous cells in vivo (Connolly, D. T. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 264, 20017 (1989); Kim, K. J. et al., Nature 362, 841 (1993)). VEGF binds to heparin and shares homology in amino acid sequence with PLGF (placental growth factor) and PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor) (Conn, G. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 87, 2628 (1990); Keck, P. I. et al., Science, 246, 1309 (1989); Maglione, D. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 88, 9267 (1991)). Also, it is known that VEGF is expressed as four isoforms consisting of 121, 165, 189, and 206 amino acids, respectively, by alternative splicing (Tischer, E. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266, 11947 (1991)), of which the VEGF121 is not associated with heparin.
The signal transduction pathway of VEGF by which it exerts its functions as a growth factor starts with the binding of VEGF to cellular receptors (KDR/Flk-1 and Flt-1) which are specifically expressed on vascular endothelial cells (Millauer, B. et al., Cell, 72, 835 (1993), De Vries, C., et al., Science 255, 989 (1992)). The significance of VEGF in vasculogenesis during embryogenesis and in angiogenesis has been demonstrated by gene deletion studies of VEGF and VEGFR, (Fong, G. h. et al., Nature, 376, 66 (1995); Shalaby, F. et al., Nature, 376, 62 (1995); Carmeliet, P. et al., Nature, 380, 435 (1996); Ferrara, N. et al., Nature, 380, 439 (1996)), the malignant transformation of cancerous cells upon over-expression of VEGF in cancer cells (Zang, H. T. et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 87, 213 (1995)), and the inhibition of the growth of cancer cells by neutralizing anti-VEGF monoclonal antibodies and by the expression of soluble Flt-1 and dominant-negative KDR/FlK-1 (Kim, K. J. et al., Nature, 362, 841 (1993); Goldman, C. K. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 95, 8975 (1998)). In addition, there are reported other research results which prove that VEGF plays a key role in angiogenesis.
Therefore, materials which act to inhibit the association between VEGF and its receptors can suppress the angiogenesis driven by VEGF as well as the growth and metastasis of cancer cells, which secrete VEGF (Martiny-Baron, G. et al., Curr. Opin. Biotechnol., 6, 675 (1995)).

Arginine-rich anti-vascular endothelial growth factor peptides that inhibit growth and metastasis of human tumor cells by blocking angiogenesis