A method for performing a matrix multiplication operation being secure against side-channel attacks according to one embodiment, which is performed by a computing device comprising one or more processors and a memory storing one or more programs to be executed by the one or more processors, includes shuffling an order of execution of multiplication operations between elements of a first matrix and elements of a second matrix for a matrix multiplication operation between the first matrix and the second matrix; and performing the matrix multiplication operation based on the shuffled order of execution.

Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) and elliptic curve cryptography, which are currently used public-key cryptography techniques, are based on mathematical problems, such as prime factorization of large numbers, the discrete logarithm problem in a ring or finite field, and the like. However, quantum computing technology can quickly solve problems that are difficult to solve with computing power currently in use. Moreover, the algorithm proposed by Shor in 1995 can solve the integer factorization problem and the discrete logarithm problem on a quantum computer in polynomial time. This means that most of the current public-key cryptosystems can be broken, and hence public key infrastructure on which web infrastructure relies may be put at risk. Thus, there is an increasing demand for post-quantum cryptography (PQC) as an alternative against these threats.
Currently, many algorithms proposed as PQC algorithms mainly use matrix operations. The matrix operations are used because design of a cryptographic algorithm that is secure even against a quantum computer can be configured by performing a matrix multiplication operation. However, matrix multiplication is vulnerable to side-channel attacks, such as a simple power analysis (SPA) attack, a differential power analysis (DPA) attack, a collision attack, and the like, and thus the currently proposed PQC algorithms using matrix multiplication are all vulnerable to side-channel attacks.
The disclosed embodiments are intended to provide an apparatus and method for performing a matrix multiplication operation being secure against side-channel attacks.
In one general aspect, there is provided a method, which is performed by a computing device comprising one or more processors and a memory storing one or more programs to be executed by the one or more processors, comprising: shuffling an order of execution of multiplication operations between elements of a first matrix and elements of a second matrix for a matrix multiplication operation between the first matrix and the second matrix; and performing the matrix multiplication operation based on the shuffled order of execution.
The matrix multiplication operation may be performed for at least one of encryption and decryption based on a post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) algorithm.
At least one of the first matrix and the second matrix may be secret information that is repeatedly used for performing at least one of the encryption and the decryption.
The shuffling may comprise shuffling the order of execution of the multiplication operations between the elements of the first matrix and the elements of the second matrix by changing an order of execution of vector multiplication operations for the matrix multiplication operation.
The shuffling may comprise shuffling the order of execution of the multiplication operations between the elements of the first matrix and the elements of the second matrix by changing an order of execution of multiplication operations between elements of a row vector and elements of a column vector for at least one of vector multiplication operations for the matrix multiplication operation.
The shuffling may comprise generating one or more progressions based on dimensions of the first matrix and the second matrix and shuffling the order of execution of the multiplication operations between the elements of the first matrix and the elements of the second matrix based on the one or more progressions.
In another general aspect, there is provided an apparatus including one or more processors; and a memory storing one or more programs to be executed by the one or more processors, wherein the programs include commands for perform operations comprising: shuffling an order of execution of multiplication operations between elements of a first matrix and elements of a second matrix for a matrix multiplication operation between the first matrix and the second matrix and performing the matrix multiplication operation based on the shuffled order of execution.
The matrix multiplication operation may be performed for at least one of encryption and decryption based on a PQC algorithm.
At least one of the first matrix and the second matrix may be secret information that is repeatedly used for performing at least one of the encryption and the decryption.
The shuffling may include shuffling the order of execution of the multiplication operations between the elements of the first matrix and the elements of the second matrix by changing an order of execution of vector multiplication operations for the matrix multiplication operation.
The shuffling may include shuffling the order of execution of the multiplication operations between the elements of the first matrix and the elements of the second matrix by changing an order of execution of multiplication operations between elements of a row vector and elements of a column vector for at least one of vector multiplication operations for the matrix multiplication operation.
The shuffling may include generating one or more progressions based on dimensions of the first matrix and the second matrix and shuffling the order of execution of the multiplication operations between the elements of the first matrix and the elements of the second matrix based on the one or more progressions.
According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the order of multiplication operations that can be independently performed for a matrix multiplication operation is shuffled and the matrix multiplication operation is performed according to the shuffled order, so that a probability of the same intermediate value occurring at a specific time can be reduced and accordingly, the number of power waveforms required for side-channel attacks is increased, thereby effectively preventing side-channel attacks.

Apparatus and method for performing matrix multiplication operation being secure against side channel attack

Kookmin University Industry Academnv Cooperation Foundation


An effluent pumping method and system include a pump having a rotor and a stator, the rotor being fastened by a first end to a tubular driving string; a device for driving the string into rotation; and a riser having at least one orifice. The riser is fastened to the rotor at the second end thereof, and the rotor includes a line which communicates the inner space of the driving string with the inner space of the riser.

Document FR-2,692,320 describes a pumping device for viscous fluids, comprising injection of a fluidifying product upstream from the pump inlet. This device notably has the drawback of requiring an additional operation of setting a special line for injection of the product.
Document FR-2,727,475 describes a pumping device driven by a continuous tube wound from the surface, said tube allowing an additive to be injected downstream from the pump discharge end. However, the fluid at the pump inlet is not in contact with the additive and keeps such a high viscosity that the pumping efficiency can be affected thereby.

Method and system for pumping in an oil well


When it is determined in a disk replacement determining section that a disk has been replaced during system operation, a reference disk device is selected by a reference disk selecting section from disk devices other than a disk device having been replaced. The firmware (firmware storing area) of the reference disk device is copied into the replaced disk device.

Currently, a magnetic disk device, which is regarded as one satisfying requirements such as large capacity and rapid data transfer, is widely used as an external storage device for a computer system.
In recent years, a disk array device has received attention as a device which further satisfies high reliability and low price in addition to the above requirements. The disk array device is obtained by arranging a plurality of compact disk devices into which data is distributed for storage therein respectively.
David A. Patterson et al. of the University of California at Berkeley released a paper in which a large amount of data was distributed to many physical disks, and a disk array device for realizing redundancy of data in the event of disk failure was evaluated with classification thereof from Level 1 to Level 5 (ACM SIGMOD Conference, Chicago, Jun. 1-3, 1988, P109 to P116). The levels 1 to 5 for classifying a disk array device proposed by David A. Patterson et al. are referred to as RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks) 1 to 5.
All the disk array devices have redundant data therein. Accordingly, even if a disk device constituting an array can not be used because of some problem and data can not be read out therefrom, it is possible to recover disappeared data by using the redundant data and remaining data.
However, if any of the disk devices remains faulty, the redundancy of the disk array device is low although recovery of the data is possible with difficulty. For this reason, when a disk device constituting the array is faulty, the disk device is removed from the arrayed disk devices as quickly as possible and a normal disk device needs to be incorporated therein anew.
Accordingly, when a disk device is faulty, the faulty disk is replaced with another disk for maintenance. But a version number of the firmware recorded in the disk device used for maintenance may be different from that of the disk devices which are already operating in the disk array device.
As the arrayed disk devices are operated by logically correlating a plurality of disk devices to each other as described above, it is desirable that all operations be the same on the correlated disks. That is because usage of disk devices with different version numbers of the firmware may cause contradiction in control logic, which may in turn generate an operational error.

Disk array device for ensuring stable operation when a constituent disk device is replaced


A system and method are provided for controlling power mode transitions. The system has a plurality of power domains, where each power domain has one or more components, and a plurality of power controllers, where each power domain is associated with one of the power controllers. For each power domain, the associated power controller controls transition of that power domain between a plurality of power modes. The power controllers are connected by communication links in order to implement a hierarchical relationship between the power controllers that comprises two or more hierarchical levels. Each power controller other than a highest level power controller in the hierarchical relationship is connected by a communication link to an associated higher level power controller at a higher hierarchical level in the hierarchical relationship. Each given power controller is arranged to implement a power mode transition policy in order to control transition of the associated power domain between the plurality of power modes. The power mode transition policy takes into account power mode information received from any other power controller that a given power controller is connected to by a communication link, so as to constrain the power mode transitions within the associated power domain in accordance with the hierarchical relationship. This provides an efficient and effective mechanism for handling transitions in power modes of power domains that are related to each other, but managed by different power controllers.

The present technique relates to a system and method for controlling power mode transitions.
In particular, a system may be provided that has a plurality of power domains, where each power domain comprises one or more components. In addition, a plurality of power controllers may be provided, where each power domain is associated with one of the power controllers, and the associated power controller is used to control transition of that power domain between a plurality of power modes.
Whilst each of the power controller may be designed so that they can operate independently to control the supply of power to each associated power domain, there may be a certain relationship between the various power domains. Due to this relationship, it may be the case that the power mode of a certain power domain cannot be changed unless one or more other power domains are in a compatible power mode.
It is hence desirable to provide an efficient mechanism that enables the various power controllers to control the power modes of their associated power domains whilst taking into account the relationship between the various power domains, and any constraints that that relationship may place on how the power modes of individual power domains are changed.

System and method for controlling power mode transitions


The present invention provides novel compounds of formula I wherein W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, B, X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, E and L are as defined herein; invention compounds are gamma amino butyrique acid receptor-subtype B (“GABAB”) positive allosteric modulators (enhancers), which are useful to provide methods of treating or preventing diseases or disorders, including treatment of anxiety, depression, epilepsy, schizophrenia, cognitive disorders, spasticity and skeletal muscle rigidity, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cerebral palsy, neuropathic pain and craving associated with cocaine and nicotine, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorders, urge urinary incontinence, gastroesophageal reflux disease, transient lower oesophageal sphincter relaxations, functional gastrointestinal disorders and irritable bowel syndrome.

The amino acid GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the adult mammalian brain and regulates many physiological and psychological processes. GABA acts through two major classes of receptors: ionotropic GABAA (including GABAC) receptors and metabotropic GABAB receptors (Hill and Bowery, Nature 1981, 290, 149-152; Bormann, J., Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 2000, 21, 16-19). GABAB receptors are present in most regions of the mammalian brain on presynaptic terminals and postsynaptic neurons, and are involved in the fine-tuning of inhibitory synaptic transmission. Due to their strategic position in neuronal networks to modulate the activity of the various neurotransmitter systems, GABAB receptors are a target of choice for pharmacological agents intended to treat central and peripheral nervous systems disorders (Bettler et al., Physiol Rev. 2004, 84, 835-867; Cryan and Kaupmann, Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2005, 26, 36-43).
The GABAB receptor belongs to the Class-III family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), as are the receptors for glutamate, Ca2+, pheromones and putative taste compounds (Pin et al., Pharmaco. Ther. 2003, 98, 325-354). All members of this family share the characteristic of a large extracellular amino-terminal domain that contains a so-called "Venus Flytrap" orthosteric ligand binding site and seven transmembrane (7TM) helical segments plus an intracellular carboxyl-terminal domain that are involved in receptor activation and G-protein coupling (Bockaert and Pin, EMBO J. 1999, 18, 1723; Galvez et al, J. Biol. Chem. 1999, 274, 13362-13369). A distinct feature, however, of the GABAB receptor is that it operates as a heterodimer of at least two homologous subunits termed GABAB1 and GABAB2 (Kaupman et al, Nature 1997, 386, 239-246; Gordon et al, J. Biol. Chem. 1999, 12, 7607-7610; Margeta-Mitrovic et al, PNAS 2001, 98, 14649-14654; Bettler et al, Physiol Rev. 2004, 84, 835-867). Orthosteric GABAB receptor ligands bind only at the N-terminal Venus flytrap region of the GABAB1 subunit, which in turn activates the associated GABAB2 subunit of the heterodimer. It is this later subunit that is responsible for coupling and activation of G-protein (Galvez et al, EMBO J. 2001, 20, 2152-2159; Duthey et al, J. Biol. Chem. 2002, 277, 3236-3241; Pin et al, Biochem. Pharmacol. 2004, 68, 1565-1572). The resulting effect is an inhibition of the adenylyl cyclase activity and subsequent cyclic AMP formation and the modulation of activity of inwardly rectifying potassium channels and voltage-sensitive calcium channels.
Several studies using knock-out (KO) mice have demonstrated the role of the heterodimeric GABAB1B2 receptor in several CNS disorders. Mice lacking the GABAB1 subunit exhibit spontaneous seizures and hyperalgesia (Schuler et al, Neuron 2001, 31, 47-58). These behavioral characteristics are paralleled by a loss of all biochemical and electrophysiological GABAB responses in these KO mice. In these studies, a clear impairment of passive avoidance performance was also observed indicating impaired memory processes. GABAB1 deficient mice were also found to be more anxious than their wild-type counterparts (Mombereau et al, Neuropsychopharmacology 2004, 29, 1050-1062). Analogous results were obtained with GABAB2 KO mice, which presented all the same behavioural characteristics than the one observed for the GABAB1 KO mice (Gassman et al, J. Neurosci. 2004, 24, 6086-6097). Moreover, it has also been shown that a hypoactivity of the GABA system was linked to spasticity, epilepsy, anxiety, stress, sleep disorders, depression, addiction, and pain (Dalvi and Rodgers, Psychopharmacology 1996, 128, 380-397; for a recent review Ong and Kerr, CNS Drug Dev. 2005, 11, 317-334); while on the contrary, a hyperactivity of the GABAergic system was associated with schizophrenia (Blum and Mann, Int. J. Neuropsychopharmacol. 2002, 5, 159-179).
Baclofen is a potent and selective agonist at the GABAB receptor and is presently a frequently and only used clinical drug in the treatment of spasticity and rigidity (Montane et al, Neurology 2004, 63, 1357-1363). Moreover, all effective pharmacological agents used to treat panic disorder increase GABA synaptic transmission and anxiolytics and antidepressants that lack GABA activity are not effective in panic disorders. Baclofen was shown to be significantly effective in reducing the number of panic attacks and symptoms of anxiety as assessed with the Hamilton anxiety scale, Zung Scale, and Katz-R nervousness subscale (Breslow et al, Am. J. Psychiatry 1989, 146, 353-356). Drake and co-workers, hypothesized that baclofen would be an effective treatment in the symptomatic management of veterans with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Their results demonstrated that the therapy, well tolerated, resulted in significant improvements of the overall symptoms of PTSD and co-morbide depression and anxiety in patients with chronic PTSD due to combat (Drake et al, Ann. Pharmacother. 2003, 37, 1177-1181). More recently, a study looking at the effect of baclofen on the prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response (ASR), proposed GABAB receptors as putative new targets in the pharmacological therapy of psychotic disorders (Bortalo et al, Psychopharmacology 2004, 171, 322-330). Despite the demonstration of baclofen as being a potential therapeutic tool for the treatment of disorders such as anxiety and spasticity, its use has been limited due to its poor blood-brain-barrier penetration, very short duration of action, muscle relaxing property, hypothermic and sedative side effects, as well as patients' increasing tolerance (Hefferan et al, Neuroscience Letters 2006, 403, 195-200).
A new avenue for developing selective compounds acting at GPCRs is to identify molecules that act through allosteric mechanisms, modulating the receptor by binding to a site different from the highly conserved orthosteric binding site. This concept has assumed a greater importance in the pharmacology of family III receptors in general. For example, allosteric modulators have been described for Ca2+-sensing receptors (Nemeth et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,003), for metabotropic glutamate receptors (reviewed in Mutel, Expert Opin. Ther. Patents 12:1-8, 2002; Ritzen, Mathiesen and Thomsen, Basic Clin. Pharmacol. Toxicol 97:202-13, 2005), and most recently for GABAB receptors (Urwyler et al, Mol. Pharmacol. 2001, 60, 963-971; WO 2005/094828; WO 2006/001750; WO 2006/063732; WO 2006/048146; WO 2006/07486; WO 2006/136442; WO 2007/014843; US 2007/027204; WO 2007/073297; WO 2007/073298; WO 2007/073299; WO 2007/073300). These ligands do not activate the receptor by themselves, but, for example in the case of the GABAB receptor, increase the potency of GABA in the presence of this endogenous agonist (Pin et al, Mol. Pharmacol. 2001, 60, 881-884; Urwyler et al, Neuropharmacol. 2005, 48, 343-353). Mutational analyses have demonstrated unequivocally that the binding of known GABAB receptor positive allosteric modulators does not occur at the orthosteric site, but instead at an allosteric site within the seven transmembrane region of the GABAB2 subunit at least for CGP7930 (Binet et al, J. Biol. Chem. 2004, 279, 29085-29901).
As a therapeutic principle, positive allosteric modulators are expected to have several advantages over compounds acting as orthosteric agonists, because they are only effective in the presence of the endogenous ligand and therefore act in line with physiological neurotransmission in its temporal and spatial organization. Orthosteric agonists, on the other hand, activate receptors independently of synaptic activity, possibly leading to unwanted side effects.
Cryan and co-workers suggested in a recent study, using GS39783 (N,N′-Dicyclopentyl-2-methylsulfanyl-5-nitro-pyrimidine-4,6-diamine), that a positive modulation of GABAB receptors may serve as a novel therapeutic strategy for the development of anxiolytics with a better side effect profile as compared to baclofen (Cryan et al, J. Pharm. Exp. Therap. 2004, 310, 952-963). They showed that GS39783 is active in models of anxiety such as elevated plus maze (rat), elevated zero maze (mice and rats), and the stress-induced hyperthermia (mice) tests. Moreover, as expected for a positive allosteric modulator that do not have any effect on receptor activity in absence of GABA, but do enhance allosterically the affinity of the GABAB receptor for the endogenous GABA, no side effect on locomotor activity, rotarod, body temperature and traction test was observed for doses ranging from 0.1 to 200 mg/kg, p.o. In comparison baclofen presented those side effects even at efficacious doses in anxiety models. In conclusion, those data suggest that GS39783, and positive allosteric modulators of GABAB receptors in general, are useful and innovative anxiolytics without side-effects associated with baclofen. An interesting example of the use of such compounds in preclinical studies have been done for CGP7930 and GS39783 for the treatment of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) and cocain self-administration in rats, where those compounds were found active (Smith et al, Psychopharmacology 2004, 173, 105-111; WO 03/090731).
Recently the 3,3′-diarylpropyl-1-arylethylamines and 3-aryl propyl-1-arylethylamine have been reported as a new class of GABAB receptor modulators as they potentiate baclofen-induced responses in the brain (Kerr et al, Aust. J. Chem. 2006, 59, 445-456) and they modulate both pre- and postsynaptic GABAB receptors in rat brain slices (Ong et al, Eur. J. Pharm. 2005, 507, 35-42).
Patent Publications DE10255416 and WO9730980 describe triazinediones derivatives having herbicidal properties. These triazinediones are also described in the field of fungicide (EP0438717), growth of protozoa (EP0232932, WO00006172), binding to PPAR-α and -γ (FR02866339), P2X7 inhibitors (U.S. Pat. No. 25,288,288, WO04058270) and IL-5 production inhibitors (WO09902505).
None of the specifically disclosed compounds are structurally related to the compounds of the present invention. It has now surprisingly been found that the compounds of general Formula I show potent activity and selectivity on GABAB receptor.
The present invention relates to a method of treating or preventing a condition in a mammal, including a human, the treatment or prevention of which is affected or facilitated by the neuromodulatory effect of GABAB modulators.


A buffer employs an input stage with an active, LC load. The active load includes integrated inductors that combine with the parasitic gate capacitances of a pair of transistors in a negative-transconductance (xe2x88x92Gm) booster configuration. The resulting active load emphasizes a desired frequency, improving the quality, or xe2x80x9cQ,xe2x80x9d of the input stage, and consequently of the entire buffer.

Modern high-speed digital communication systems employ data transmit and recovery circuits operating at or above ten gigabits per second. Due to the bandwidth limitations of conventional CMOS processes, it is difficult to produce an amplifier capable of driving a significant load with better than unity gain at frequencies above about five gigahertz (GHz). At frequencies approaching five GHz, amplifier gain is at the tail portion of the roll-off characteristic.
FIG. 1A (prior art) is a Bode plot depicting a roll-off characteristic for a typical CMOS amplifier. The roll-off (xe2x88x923 dB) frequency Fo is around several hundred MHz. More exotic processes, such as those employing silicon germanium or gallium arsenide, provide improved high-frequency response; unfortunately, this improvement comes at considerable expense.
FIG. 1B (prior art) depicts a communication system 100 that includes a transmitting integrated circuit (IC) 105 and a receiving IC 110. Transmitting IC 105 includes an output amplifier 115 driving an external pin 120 via a bond pad 125 and a bond wire 130. An electrostatic-discharge (ESD) circuit 135 connects to bond pad 125 and the output of amplifier 115 to protect IC 105 from damage due to ESD events. IC 110 includes an input amplifier 140 that receives the output of IC 105 via a printed-circuit-board (PCB) trace 145, an input pin 150, a bond wire 155, and a bond pad 160. IC 110 also includes an ESD circuit 165 connected to the signal line between pad 160 and the input to amplifier 140.
System 100 illustrates that amplifiers intended to drive signals off chip must contend with capacitive loading far greater than normally experienced on chip. Such signals encounter capacitive loading from e.g. bond pads 125 and 160, bond wires 130 and 155, ESD circuits 135 and 165, PCB trace 145, and the input of amplifier 140. These capacitances collectively shift the pole of output amplifier 115 toward zero, exacerbating the problem of communicating at high frequency.
Also problematic, increased load capacitance reduces amplifier bandwidth. The unity-gain bandwidth of amplifier 115 is defined by gm/Cld, where gm is the amplifier transconductance and Cld is the capacitive load on the amplifier. Load capacitance Cld is typically in the neighborhood of 1.2 pf, providing a bandwidth typically in the range of several hundred megahertz.
An article by Savoj and Razavi entitled xe2x80x9cA 10 Gb/s CMOS Clock and Data Recovery Circuit with Frequency Detection,xe2x80x9d 2001 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, describes a CDR circuit that addresses the problem of providing high-frequency signals off chip using relatively inexpensive CMOS processes. That article is incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 2 (prior art) depicts the output buffer (amplifier) 200 described in the Savoj and Razavi article. Buffer 200 includes an input stage 205 and an output stage 210. Output stage 210 experiences the capacitive loading described above in connection with FIG. 1B. The transistors associated with output stage 210 are relatively large, helping output stage 210 contend with the load. Due to their size, the transistors of output stage 210 present a significant capacitive load (e.g., 0.5 picofarads) to input stage 205. Input stage 205 employs inductive peaking to increase high-frequency, small-signal gain in the face of the input capacitance of output stage 210Still, there is always a demand for higher performance.
A buffer in accordance with the invention employs an input stage with an active, LC load. The active load includes integrated inductors that combine with the parasitic gate capacitances of a pair of transistors in a negative-transconductance (xe2x88x92Gm) booster configuration. The resulting active load emphasizes a desired frequency, improving the quality, or xe2x80x9cQ,xe2x80x9d of the input stage, and consequently of the entire buffer.
This summary does not define the scope of the invention, which is instead defined by the appended claims.

Q-emphasized amplifier with inductor-based bandwidth booster


An image pickup apparatus for outputting an image pickup signal by forming an image of a subject on an image pickup element through an optical system includes a determining circuit for picking up a plurality of color information signals from the image pickup element, comparing the color information signals with a predetermined reference value to determine that the color information signals reach a predetermined level and detecting quantity of a skin color signal component; and a control circuit for controlling the exposure of the image pickup element in accordance with the result of the determination.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image pickup apparatus, and, more particularly to an image pickup apparatus for a TV camera which enables the most favorable exposure when humans are the subject of the image.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a type of image pickup apparatus for a TV camera which automatically controls exposure at the most suitable level, it being classified into two types as follows: that is, a full-plane average light measuring type, and a center-weighted light measuring (spot measuring) type.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an essential portion of a conventional image pickup apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, an operation will be briefly described.
Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 represents a lens, and reference numeral 102 represents a diaphragm (iris) for controlling the quantity of light. Reference numeral 103 represents an image pickup element, reference numeral 104 represents an amplifier, and reference numeral 340 represents a gate circuit. Reference numeral 330 represents an integrator, reference numeral 181 represents a comparator, reference numeral 112 represents an iris driving circuit, and reference numeral 350 represents a gate signal generator.
Incidental light from a subject, via the lens 101, reaches the iris 102 at which the quantity of light is adjusted properly, and is introduced into the image pickup element 103. Next, a signal voltage (current) in accordance with the light from the subject is obtained. This signal is amplified by the liner amplifier 104 so as to be introduced into a monitor 104" via the ensuing processing circuit 104'. The gate circuit 340 controlled by the gate signal generator 350 determines a light measuring frame of the picture plane for the output signal from the amplifier 104. Only the signal within this light measuring frame is introduced into the integrator 330 where the same is integrated. The thus-integrated signal is compared with a reference level 182 by the comparator 181, and the output therefrom controls the iris 102 via the iris driving circuit 112. At this time, if the gain of the comparator 181 is sufficiently great, the iris 102 is controlled by a controlling loop thereof in such a manner that the integrated value of the image signal within the light measuring frame becomes the same as the reference value 182. If the light measuring frame determined by the gate circuit 340 comprises the entire picture plane, the system can be called a full-plane average light measuring type, while the system can be called a center-weighted light measuring or the spot measuring type. In a case of the center-weighted light measuring method, weighting is sometimes performed so as to make the central portion of the picture plane maximum. Since such weighting of the type described above cannot be performed by a mere gate circuit shown in FIG. 1, the product of the image signal and the weight signal needs to be obtained by using, for example, a multiplier.
However, a conventional light measuring method of the type described above involves the following problems: that is, in the full-plane average light measuring, since the subject image disposed against the light exhibits great luminance in the portion against the light, the diaphragm moves to be closed if the diaphragm is controlled by an averaged signal, causing for the subject image to be darkened and hidden.
On the other hand, in a case where a brilliant subject image is disposed in front of a dark background, the diaphragm is moved in the direction to be opened since the average level of the image signal is reduced. Therefore, the subject image becomes excessively highlighted.
In a case where the center-weighted light measuring method, the most suitable exposure can be obtained when the subject image is disposed at the central portion of the picture plane. However, if the subject image deviates off the central portion, the similar phenomenon to the full-plane average light measuring occurs. That is, in a case where the subject is disposed against light, the subject becomes dark and hidden, while in a case where the same is disposed in the dark background, the subject image becomes excessively highlighted.
In particular, since a video camera of the type described above performs the signal detection in response to a luminance signal lacking a red or blue component, the diaphragm cannot be adjusted suitably if the color of the subject image disposed in the above-described specific portion is thick (in particular in a blue of red case), causing the diaphragm to be excessively opened.
As described above, in the conventional image pickup apparatus, since signal detection is performed in response to the luminance signal lacking a blue or red component, a problem arises in that the degree of diaphragm setting cannot be suitably adjusted depending upon the color of the subject image when the incidental light is diaphragm-controlled by using a specific portion of the image signal.

Image pickup apparatus having exposure control for human subjects


2-substitutedmethylamino-amino 5-(hydroxy or alkoxy) pyridines and derivatives thereof are disclosed. The compounds are inhibitors of leukotriene synthesis and are therefore useful for the treatment of pulmonary, inflammatory, dermatological, allergic and cardiovascular diseases.

This invention relates to hydroxy and alkoxy substituted pyridines, more particularly, to 2-substituted amino 5-(hydroxy or alkoxy) pyridines and acyl derivatives thereof. The compounds of this invention are inhibitors of leukotriene syntheses and are therefore useful in the treatment of pulmonary, inflammatory, dermatological, allergic and cardiovascular diseases.
Watnick et al., Arch. Int. Pharmaeodyn., 190, 78-90 (1971), refer to the anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of clonixin (2-(2'-methyl-3'-chloroanilino) nicotinic acid).
Nantha et al., Acta Pol. Pharm., 33(1), 7-11(1976), refer to certain derivatives of 2-anilino-5-hydroxynicotinic acid, including 6-methyl-2-anilino-5-hydroxynicotinic acid.
Shen et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,396, refer to the anti-inflammatory properties of certain oxazolo[4,5-b]pyridines.
Moore et al., J. Org. Chem., 32, 1353-1360 (1966) refer to the production of certain 2-carbonylamino-3-phenyl-4-methyl-5-hydroxy pyridines by heating unsaturated acyldiazabicyclic ketones in methanol.
Moore et al., J. Org. Chem., 30, 1887-9 (1964), refer to the production of 2-methylamino-3-phenyl-4-methyl-5-hydroxy pyridine by heating 2,5-dimethyl-4-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-6H-diazapin-6-one in a base.
Lombardino et al., J. Med. Chem., 24, 39-42 (1981), refers to 2-amino-5-methoxy pyridine as an intermediate in the synthesis of certain metabolites of the anti-inflammatory agent piroxicam.
Current treatment of asthma focuses on the relief of acute bronchospasm through the use of bronchodilators. It is thought that acute bronchospasm is only an overt manifestation of chronic inflammation. Leukotrienes may play a role both in the bronchospasm and the chronic inflammation. They are known to be potent vasodilators and chemotactic agents. They are also produced in allergic reactions and bring about slow contraction of lung tissue in vitro. An inhibitor of leukotriene synthesis should therefore be of use in the treatment of asthma and other pulmonary diseases.
Chronic gastric and duodenal ulcers, together known as peptic ulcers, are the subject of a variety of treatments, including special diets, drug therapy and surgery, depending upon the severity of the condition. Particularly valuable therapeutic agents useful for the treatment of gastric hyperacidity and peptic ulcers are the histamine-H.sub.2 receptor antagonists, which block the action of the physiologically-active compound histamine at the H.sub.2 -receptor sites in the animal body and thereby inhibit the secretion of gastric acid.

Leukotriene-synthesis-inhibiting 2-substitutedmethylamino-5-(hydroxy or alkoxy)pyridines


A layered organic light emitting diode (OLED) device comprises a buckled structure over a portion of the light emitting face to provide improved light output relative to flat OLED devices. The buckled structure has a fine buckling and a gross buckling, which are quasi-periodic. Embodiments of the invention are directed to a method of producing the OLED device comprising a buckled structure, where a transparent substrate coated with a transparent elastomeric layer has a thin metal layer deposited on a portion of the elastomeric layer at an elevated temperature. Upon cooling the metal layer buckles with the formation of the quasi-periodic buckling. Subsequently the metal layer is oxidized to a metal oxide layer that retains the buckling. An OLED with a buckling structure over a portion of the emitting face is constructed on the metal oxide layer and retains the buckling of the metal oxide layer.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) suffer from a relatively low efficiency of emitted light relative to that generated because of light trapping due to a refractive index mismatch between the air (n=1), glass substrate (n=1.52), and an electrode/active layer, for example, an ITO/organic layer (˜1.7 to ˜2.0) in waveguide modes. The imposition of a periodic microstructure into an OLED permits the recovery of a portion of the lost light. Unfortunately, although improvement of the light output has occurred, the cost to achieve the periodic microstructure is that of complicating the process with lithographic and imprinting steps to prepare and transfer the microstructure to the OLED.
Bowden et al., Nature 1998, 393, 146-9 demonstrated the preparation of buckled structure by the deposition of metal films on a thermally expanded 1 cm thick polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) rubber film, where upon subsequent cooling of the films, buckling of the metal film results from the compressive stress imposed by the cooling rubber where the buckles display a uniform wavelength of 20-50 micrometers. The buckles had periodicities between 20 and 50 μm; with a depth from the crest to the trough of 1.5 μm for metal deposition performed without external heating, where the temperature imposed by the hot evaporating metal appeared to result in a surface temperature of about 110° C., and depths of 3.9 μm for deposition conducted with external heating to 300° C. Regularly buckled semiconductor ribbons were disclosed by Khang et al., Science 2006, 311, 208-12 and Jiang et al., Applied Physics Letters 2007, 90, 133119, where a PDMS rubber is deformed along a single axis resulting in a periodically buckled semiconductor ribbon with periodic lengths in excess of a micron. Yu et al., Applied Physics Letters 2010, 96, 041111 demonstrated regular buckled patterns with submicron periodicity by controlling the thickness of the metal films to about 10 nm on 1 mm thick PDMS rubber strips that were pre-stretched along one axis at a desired pre-strain.
Koo et al., Nature Photonics 2010, 4, 222-6 extended the use of buckled metal surfaces to the preparation of OLEDs. PDMS was cured at 100° C. and an aluminum layer was deposited on the rubber at a thickness of about 10 nm. Upon cooling, a quasi-periodic buckled surface formed and was used to mold a PDMS replica of the buckled surface, which is subsequently metallated with Al and used to form a UV cured resin replica of the PDMS replica, where the final resin replica is used as a master template. The template was used to form a second PDMS replica after Al deposition, followed by forming a second resin replica, which, upon removal of the PDMS replica, is UV-ozone treated and used as a substrate that is sputtered with an ITO glass to form an anode. Subsequently an OLED is formed upon deposition of a hole transport layer, a light emission-electron transport layer, an electron injection layer, and an Al cathode layer. This OLED had an enhancement of the emitted intensity of about 2.2 fold at 525 nm and about fourfold at 655 nm.
There remains a need to achieve a periodic or a quasi-periodic microstructure that does not require a significant departure from existing fabrication techniques of an OLED. Particularly desirable is a quasi-periodic structure where the observed efficiency of the light output is improved by the relationship of the emission wavelength to the polar angles and azimuthal angles of the quasi-periodic structure and in a manner where the light output is not blurred because of the buckled structure.

Buckled organic light emitting diode for light extraction without blurring

University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated


A hydraulic arrangement includes a pump for delivering a hydraulic medium in a direction of a hydraulic working load. The pump includes an adjusting input for adjusting a delivery flow thereof. The arrangement also includes an accumulator unit hydraulically coupled on an output side to the pump and a charging valve unit hydraulically coupled on the output side of the pump between the pump and the accumulator unit. The charging valve unit is configured to function as a disconnectable hydraulic connection between the pump and the accumulator unit.

A pump of a hydraulic arrangement delivers the hydraulic medium with a discrete displacement volume. This can lead to volume flow pulsations and therefore pressure pulsations, which are effectively reduced or avoided by an accumulator unit connected to the pump. The accumulator unit, however, can influence the hydraulic behavior of the arrangement.
There is a need therefore for improving the hydraulic behavior of the hydraulic arrangement.


A timing controller, a display panel and a driving method are proposed. The display panel includes a display sub-pixel and a virtual sub-pixel. The display sub-pixel includes first sub-pixels, second sub-pixels and third sub-pixels. If the grayscale information of the two adjacent first sub-pixels are the same, then a driving signal of the virtual sub-pixel is the same as a driving signal of a third sub-pixel close to the virtual sub-pixel; otherwise, the driving signal of the virtual sub-pixel is the same as a driving signal of the third sub-pixels, which are outnumbered in the histogram.

The LCD panel is widely used in all kinds of displays. It utilizes switches to modulate the luminance of the backlight module to display images. The LCD panel utilize thin film transistors (TFTs) to apply voltages corresponding to grayscale values on the pixels. Usually, the sources of the TFTs of a row of pixels are connected to a signal line (i.e. data line). The signal line is used to transfer the driving signal to the TFTs of the pixels. However, if the driving signal of the virtual pixel is not appropriate or has errors, the display panel may have a display problem, such as a bright line on the side.
Therefore, the conventional display has a display issue and needs to be improved.

Timing controller, display panel and related driving method thereof

TCL CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A pattern selecting portion selects a desired embroidery pattern from a plurality of embroidery patterns. A pattern editing portion edits the embroidery pattern displayed on the display. A first determining portion determines, before the selected embroidery pattern is edited by the pattern editing portion, whether each of a plurality of embroidery frames is usable for sewing the selected embroidery pattern based on embroidery data for the selected embroidery pattern. A second determining portion determines, after the selected embroidery pattern is edited by the pattern editing portion, whether each of the plurality of embroidery frames is usable for sewing the edited embroidery pattern based on embroidery data for the edited embroidery pattern. A reporting portion reports when at least one embroidery frame determined to be usable by the second determining portion is different from at least one embroidery frame determined to be usable by the first determining portion.

The present disclosure relates to an embroidery data editor for editing a user-selected embroidery pattern based on embroidery data corresponding to the embroidery pattern, and particularly to an embroidery data editor that displays appropriate embroidery frames for use when sewing the embroidery pattern after the pattern has been edited.
Conventional embroidery sewing machines used to sew embroidery patterns on a cloth workpiece employ embroidery frames. The workpiece is mounted in the embroidery frame, and the embroidery frame is mounted on the embroidery sewing machine. Obviously, the embroidery frame must be sufficiently larger than the embroidery pattern to be sewed. However, when a plurality of embroidery frames having different sizes is employed, the user may become confused in determining which frame to use.
If the user mistakenly selects an embroidery frame that is smaller in size than the pattern to be sewn, the sewing needle will strike the embroidery frame and become damaged. Therefore, embroidery data editors have been proposed with a function to display appropriate embroidery frames for sewing an embroidery pattern selected and edited by the user.
For example, the embroidery data editor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,986 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI-9-164282) is configured to display a plurality of embroidery patterns on a display device based on embroidery data corresponding to the embroidery patterns, enabling the user to select a desired embroidery pattern from among those displayed. Further, the embroidery data editor displays usable embroidery frames for the selected embroidery pattern, or alternatively deletes all unusable embroidery patterns, after the user has arranged the selected embroidery pattern in a desired position and orientation. The embroidery data editor having this configuration facilitates the user in determining a suitable embroidery frame and prevents the user from mistakenly selecting an unusable frame.
One such embroidery data editor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,986 displays on a display device embroidery frames that can be used for sewing a selected embroidery pattern or deletes unusable embroidery frames. At this time, if the user performs a desired editing process on the selected embroidery pattern in order to enlarge the pattern size, rotate the pattern, or shift the position of the pattern, for example, the usable embroidery frames displayed in the display device are changed.

Embroidery data editor that displays usable embroidery frame


A controller performs network-wide congestion control in a split architecture network. The controller receives flow statistics from switches for each entity that communicates via the network. The controller chooses a most congested link as a bottleneck link based on a packet loss rate that is derived from the flow statistics and estimated for each entity on each link of the network. The controller identifies a target path in the network that passes through the bottleneck link and carries the most traffic, and calculates a throttling probability for each sharing entity that shares the target path based on the capacity of the bottleneck link, capacity of the first link of the target path, bandwidth consumption and packet loss rate of each sharing entity. The controller then transmits the throttling probability of each sharing entity to the ingress switch of the target path to reduce the congestion on the bottleneck link.

Congestion control and resource sharing techniques implemented in today's networks have limited performance and effectiveness. This is mainly because network congestion information is distributed and is based on limited knowledge about the congestion status of the network. Decisions on how to adjust transmission rates are independently made by each node. This independent decision process is the fundamental reason of sub-optimal resource utilization and unfairness experienced by the users.
On the Internet, packet loss can occur as a result of transmission errors, but most commonly as a result of congestion. The end-to-end congestion control mechanism used by Transport Control Protocol (TCP) reacts to packet loss by reducing the number of outstanding unacknowledged data segments allowed in the network. More specifically, TCP flows with similar round-trip times (RTTs) that share a common bottleneck reduce their rates so that the available bandwidth will be, in the ideal case, distributed equally among them. TCP's end-to-end congestion control mechanism, as well as other existing congestion control techniques, control relative flow rates using distributed methods. These distributed methods are designed to achieve certain defined goals, such as flow rate fairness, examples of which include weighted fair queuing, TCP congestion control and TCP-friendly rate control.
However, the distributed methods used in today's networks generally require the cooperation of end hosts. As the decisions are made distributedly by each individual end host (e.g., router), the decisions may sometimes unable to reflect the real-time changing conditions of the networks. Thus, the existing distributed techniques often lead to sub-optimal decisions. Therefore, there is a need for improving the congestion control techniques for large scale carrier networks.

Congestion control and resource allocation in split architecture networks


An OLED display device and a method of fabricating the device utilize a patterned layer of conductive pads formed over a substrate to fabricate a cathode layer without the need to subsequently pattern the cathode layer to create individually addressable cathodes. The design of the OLED display device is such that the cathode layer is positioned below the anode layer. The OLED display device may be configured to emit light through the substrate or through the top layer, i.e., the anode layer. In a first embodiment, the conductive pads have sharp edges that effectively pattern the cathode layer when it is formed over the pads. In a second embodiment, the conductive pads do not include sharp edges. In this embodiment, the cathode layer is made of a composite material, which includes cathode components and non-conducting components. The composite material allows the resulting cathode layer to have the desired characteristics to effectively inject electrons vertically into the EL region of the device, while limiting lateral conduction between the conductive pads.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are electroluminescent (EL) devices that emit light generated by radiative recombination of injected electrons and holes within one or more organic EL layers of the OLEDs. OLEDs have electrical and optical characteristics which are attractive for operation within pixel-addressed displays. For example, OLEDs operate at low voltages and are relatively efficient. In addition, OLEDs can be fabricated into thin, lightweight display devices. Furthermore, OLEDs can be designed to emit light of different colors to create color display devices.
In FIG. 1, an OLED display device 10 in accordance with the prior art is illustrated. The OLED display device includes a substrate 12, an anode layer 14, an organic electroluminescent (EL) region 16, and a cathode layer 18. The substrate may be transparent or opaque. Thus, the display device may be configured to emit light through the substrate, or through the cathode layer. If the substrate is transparent, the substrate may be made of silica or plastic. However, if the substrate is opaque, the substrate may be made of Si, plastic or a flexible metal foil. The anode layer is typically made of a transparent conducting material, such as Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), while the cathode layer is typically made of a conducting metal with a low work function, such as Ca or Mg. The anode layer and the cathode layer are patterned, so that individual pixels of the display device can be addressed. The organic EL region is composed of at least one organic or polymer layer.
Although the relative positions of the anode and cathode layers 14 and 18 may be inverted, conventional OLED display devices have typically been configured with the anode layer located between the cathode layer and the substrate, as illustrated by the OLED display device 10 of FIG. 1. The reason for this preference is that the cathode layer is typically made of a low work function metal, which is difficult to pattern, easily oxidized, and not amenable to lithography. Nevertheless, various OLED devices having the alternative orientation of the two layers are known.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,287 to Hung et al. describes an OLED display device that includes a cathode layer disposed on a substrate with an anode layer formed over the EL region and the cathode layer. The cathode layer is formed of either metal silicides, such as rare earth silicides, or metal borides, such as lanthanum boride and chromium boride, having a work function of 4.0 eV or less. The composition of the cathode layer is described to provide protection from atmospheric corrosion during fabrication. Another OLED display device that includes a cathode layer disposed directly on a substrate is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,560 to Norman et al. In this device, the cathode layer is formed of low work function material, such as heavily doped diamond, or a conductive metal incorporating Ce, Ca or the like.
Although these known OLED display devices operate well for their intended purpose, what is needed is an OLED display device having a patterned cathode layer positioned below the anode layer and a method of fabricating the display device that eases the process for patterning the cathode layer.

OLED display device and method for patterning cathodes of the device


A support, and a method for attaching said support, for providing additional strength to existing regurgitant or prolapsed valve leaflets. The support restores an otherwise non-functioning, or poorly functioning, native valve to a functioning condition, obviating the need for a complete valve removal or replacement. The support may also be applied to a functioning valve leaflet as a prophylactic measure against future failure. The delivery method includes a delivery mechanism for attaching the support to the native valve leaflet.

Blood vessel valves include flexible tissue leaflets that passively alternate between open and closed positions as the forces of a blood stream act upon them. As blood flows in a first direction, the leaflets are urged apart from each other, and allow the blood to pass. Between pulses, as the blood attempts to flow in a reverse direction, the blood acts upon upstream surfaces of the individual leaflets, causing the leaflets to move inwardly. As the leaflets move inwardly, the edges of the individual leaflets (two, in the case of bicuspid valves, and three in the case of tricuspid valves) abut against each other, effectively blocking the blood flow in the reverse direction.
If the individual leaflets suffer degradation in structural integrity, such as degeneration, a prolapse condition may result. FIGS. 1 through 3 demonstrate the mechanics of a regurgitant valve with leaflet prolapse. FIGS. 1a and 1b show a healthy tricuspid valve 1 in the open position. The direction of blood flow is indicated by arrow 2. The valve 1 includes three leaflets 3 growing into the lumen of a blood vessel 4. It can be seen that when the blood is flowing in the direction shown by arrow 2 of FIG. 1a, the flexible valve leaflets 3 naturally fold themselves against the interior walls of the blood vessel 4, thereby minimizing their impact on blood flow in that direction.
As depicted in FIG. 2a, when blood attempts to flow in the reverse direction, between cardiac pulses, these valve leaflets 3 move inward, toward each other. As best shown in FIG. 2b, when the leaflets 3 abut, they form a seal 5, effectively preventing fluid flow in the direction of arrows 2 from FIG. 2a. The seal 5 can only be formed if all three valve leaflets 3 are structurally sound.
When a valve, such as valve 1 of FIG. 3, has a prolapsed leaflet 3a, the seal 5 cannot be effectively formed. Leaflet 3a lacks the structural integrity of the healthy leaflets 3. When the flow is reversed, as indicated by arrow 2, the healthy leaflets 3 balloon inwardly. However, the prolapsed leaflet 3a falls away from the seal 5, leaving a significant gap 6 in the seal 5. Blood passes through the gap 6, resulting in a loss of systolic pressure, as well as a reduction in the pumping efficacy of the heart.
Current methods of repairing prolapsed valves involve replacing the valve entirely with a prosthetic valve. The structurally sound leaflets are not preserved. It would be advantageous to provide a method of repairing a prolapsed valve, leaving as much of the native valve as possible intact, thereby minimizing the risk of rejection, and preserving the healthy leaflets. Percutaneous treatment would obviate the risks associated with open heart surgery.

Leaflet reinforcement for regurgitant valves


A cap (1) is provided for fitting to the end of a hollow post. A number of hollow posts are used in viticulture to support wires on which grape vines are trained to grow. Caps (1) are fitted to the ends of the posts to inhibit snagging of netting which is placed over the posts to attempt to protect a crop of grapes from being eaten by birds. The cap (1) has a generally domed head (3) and a stem (5). The stem (5) has at least one radially outwardly extending abutment (13, 15) which, in use, engages with an inner wall of a hollow post. The abutment (13, 15) provides an interference fit of the stem (5) in the post such that to insert the stem (5) substantially all the way into the post requires force fitting and either deformation or shearing of material from the abutment (13, 15).

The present invention relates to a cap for an end of a hollow post.
In viticulture it is common to train vines to grow along wires suspended between posts. In recent times, it has become usual for such posts to be formed of metal. Many such posts are formed by rolling or pressing lengths of metal sheet to form a multi-sided post, the post being hollow in the sense that it surrounds a hollow area. The posts are driven into the ground and wires are threaded through holes or cut-outs in the posts to form a trellis of wires. Vine plants are planted at the base of these wires and, as they grow, are trained to grow along the wires. Sometimes, netting is placed over the mature vines in order to make it harder for birds to eat the grapes. One problem with this technique is that the netting can easily snag on the top of the metal posts when it is being removed, hence damaging the netting. For this reason, post caps have been developed which are fitted to the top of the posts. The netting rests on the post cap, thereby preventing the netting from catching on the post.
The problem with caps currently on the market is that they do not fit tightly enough to the posts to prevent the caps from being pulled off by the nets when the nets are removed. Removal of the nets is done mechanically by a specially designed machine which is driven between two rows of vines to lift the net off the vines to allow the grapes to be harvested. The mechanical nature of the removal makes it difficult for it to be delicate enough to avoid removing the caps. The removal of the caps means that they must be gathered manually, hence increasing the labour component involved in removing the netting. Further, it will be appreciated that caps may be caught up in the netting and require removal and also that caps can be lost or damaged and require replacing.
Further, a number of different post designs are now on the market. Many such posts are formed of sheet metal cut to standard lengths and then rolled or bent to form a post which enclose a hollow such that the transverse cross-section of the post provides rigidity in the post and resists its deformation. Such posts may be open at one side or rolled so that there is only a small gap between the two free edges of the sheet. It is possible that a vine yard would employ a number of different styles of such postsxe2x80x94even for a single row of vines. A disadvantage of current post caps is that they do not fit more than one hollow post.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome one or more of the foregoing problems by providing an alternative post cap.
Accordingly the invention provides a cap for an end of a hollow post, said cap having a generally domed head which, in use, overlies a radially outermost portion of the end of the post, and under said domed head a stem for inserting within the hollow post,
said stem having at least one radially outwardly extending abutment means extending along the length of said stem for engaging with an inner wall of the post when said stem is inserted in end of the post,
said abutment means serving to provide an interference fit of the stem in the end of said post such that to insert said stem substantially all the way into the end of said post requires force fitting and either deformation or shearing of material from said abutment means.
Preferably, the cap is for an end of a post that has a transverse cross-sectional shape with multiple inner corners and where said abutment means includes at least two single wall flanges extending along the length of the stem, one flange being for engaging with one of said inner corners and the other flange being for engaging with another of said inner corners.
Preferably, said abutment means includes at least four flanges said flanges being arranged in pairs on opposite sides of said stem, the flanges of a pair being spaced apart from each other whereby each pair of flanges may engage a pair of inner corners of said posts.
Preferably, where said post has an opening extending along its length defined by two inturned lips of the posts, the inturned lips abut against one of the pairs of spaced flanges.
Preferably, said inturned lips engage with the sides of said flanges.
Preferably, said stem is hollow.
Preferably, the transverse cross-section of said stem has the shape of a flattened oval, the flattened portions being sides of said stem and the rounded portions being ends.
Preferably, said at least four flanges are located in two pairs on respective sides of said stem.
Preferably, said abutment means includes at least one flange on either end of the stem said flange is extending radially at an angle of approximately 90xc2x0 to said side flanges.
Preferably, said stem has a slot in each side to enable a wire to pass through said stem.
Preferably, the head is hollow and has radially extending head flanges formed on the undersurface of the dome, said head flanges having a slot therein to receive the thickness of the material of the end of the post when the cap is fitted as far as possible over the end of the post.
Preferably, said head flanges have slots at different radial distances to fit said cap to post having different transverse cross-sectional profiles
Preferably, said abutment means is spaced and sized to enable fitting of said cap to posts that have different transverse cross-sectional profiles so one of said caps can be fitted to one or other of the posts depending on which post is chosen.


Power combiner/divider includes a transmission line (TL) resonator having an inner conductor, an outer conductor that surrounds the inner conductor, and a cavity between the inner conductor and the outer conductor. The inner conductor and the outer conductor are electrically connected at a proximal end of the TL resonator. The power combiner/divider also includes coupling elements extending through respective openings of the outer conductor and into the cavity. The power combiner/divider also includes a capacitive element connected to at least one of the inner conductor or the outer conductor. The capacitive element capacitively couples the inner conductor and the outer conductor at a distal end of the TL resonator.

The subject matter herein relates generally to power combiners that combine radio frequency (RF) power from multiple sources to a common load or to power dividers that split the RF power from a common source to multiple loads.
High-power RF systems that operate at a designated frequency or within a frequency range are used within various technological fields, such as communication, industrial processing, medical imaging, and physics-related research. For example, particle accelerators may be used to generate isotopes. Particle accelerators, such as cyclotrons, include high-power RF generators that create electrical fields for accelerating particles. Static magnetic fields are provided by electromagnets and a magnet yoke that surrounds the acceleration chamber. The electrical fields are generated by a pair of RF dees that are located within the acceleration chamber. To operate the RF dees within the acceleration chamber, a considerable amount of RF power (e.g., 5 kilowatts to 2 megawatts) is generated by the RF power generator and delivered to the RF dees. The RF power generator may include, for example, oscillators, amplifiers, control circuitry, etc.
For applications that use a large amount of RF power, it may not be possible to receive the RF power from a single power source. In such instances, a power combiner combines the RF power from multiple RF power sources and then provides the RF power to the system (e.g., particle accelerator, heater, etc.). RF power combining can be a complex process that addresses various challenges, including impedance transformation and matching, losses, bandwidth, and power limitations. Size of the RF power combiner is another challenge, especially for applications in which the frequency range is less than 300 megahertz (MHz). The size of the RF power combiner is proportional to the wavelength, and the wavelength for 300 MHz or less is relatively large (e.g., one meter or more).
Several techniques for RF power combination are known, but each technique has one or more drawbacks. One technique that may be used to reduce the size of the RF power combiner uses coaxial cables that are wound about in compact space. However, it can be difficult to combine several RF power combiner units in one stage, thereby necessitating several power-combining stages. Each stage adds complexity, size, and additional RF losses to the overall system.
Power vacuum tubes are used for some high-power RF applications, particularly those applications that operate in the lower RF frequency bands. Power vacuum tubes, such as triodes and tetrodes, can be expensive. Although solid-state designs may be theoretically possible for lower RF frequency bands, power vacuum tubes are more cost-effective. For instance, power vacuum tubes are currently more capable of withstanding short-term overload conditions (e.g. output overvoltage, input overdrive, or mismatch load conditions). To address these overload conditions, a solid-state design may use protection circuitry. For example, a solid-state amplifier system that includes transistors may use circulators that direct reflected power to dummy loads to protect the transistors. Circulators can be expensive and also add complexity and size to the overall system. Other active feedback protection systems can be used, but they can also add complexity and size to the overall system.
Although the above discussion relates to power combiners, power dividers may have a similar structure for dividing or splitting the RF power. As such, power dividers may have similar challenges, such as those described above.

Radiofrequency power combiner or divider having a transmission line resonator


This invention provides novel gene sequences, compositions and methods for enhancing the resistance in crops, in particular but not limited to, potato, to late blight caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the fourth most important crop and the most important non-cereal food crop in the world. In potato cultivation, the major natural factor which limits yield is late blight caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary. This devastating disease can result in complete loss of crop yield unless controlled (Świeżyński and Zimnoch-Guzowska 2001). Fungicide treatment is currently the most common method to control late blight. However, the high cost of fungicide application is problematic, especially in developing countries. Moreover, because fungicide application can impact on health and environmental safety, the use of the chemicals is becoming restricted. In addition, the pathogen quickly evolves and some of the new variants are insensitive to commonly used fungicides (Day and Shattock 1997; Goodwin et at 1996). Therefore, the introduction of genetic resistance into cultivated potato is considered a valuable method to achieve durable resistance to late blight.
Two main types of resistance to late blight have been described in potato (Umaerus and Umaerus 1994). First, general resistance is often based on a major quantitative trait loci (QTL) and a few minor QTLs and results in partial resistance. Second, specific resistance is based on major dominant resistance (R) genes. In early breeding programs during the first half of last century, 11 R genes (R1-R11) derived from S. demissum were identified. Nine R genes, R3 (now separated as R3a and R3b) and R5-R11 were localized on chromosome 11 (Bradshaw et al. 2006; El-Kharbotly 1994, 1996; Huang et al. 2004; Huang 2005). Other R genes originating from S. demissum were mapped to different locations including R1 on chromosome 5 (El-Kharbotly et al. 1994; Leonards-Schippers et al. 1992) and R2 on chromosome 4 (Li et al., 1998). All R genes introgressed from S. demissum to cultivated potatoes have been overcome by the pathogen as new strains rapidly evolve that are virulent on the previously resistant hosts (Umaerus and Umaerus 1994). Consequently, partial resistance conferred by QTLs was thought to be more durable than resistance conferred by single R genes (Turkensteen 1993). However, partial resistance is strongly correlated with maturity type and makes resistance breeding more difficult (Wastie 1991). Also the genetic positions of QTLs often correspond to the region of R gene clusters (Gebhart and Valkonen 2001; Grube et al. 2000).
Hence, recent efforts to identify late blight resistance have focused on major R genes conferring broad-spectrum resistance derived from diverse wild Solanum species. Beside S. demissum, other wild Solanum species such as S. acaule, S. chacoense, S. berthaultii, S. brevidens, S. bulbocastanum, S. microdontum, S. sparsipilum, S. spegazzinii, S. stoloniferum, S. sucrense, S. toralapanum, S. vernei and S. verrucosum have been reported as new sources for resistance to late blight (reviewed by Jansky 2000; Hawkes 1990). To date, three R genes, RB/Rpi-blb1, Rpi-blb2 and Rpi-blb3 from S. bulbocastanum have been mapped on chromosome 8, 6 and 4, respectively (Nasess et al. 2000; Park et al. 2005a; van der Vossen et al. 2003, 2005). Another R gene, Rpi-abpt, probably from S. bulbocastanum, has been localized on chromosome 4 (Park et al. 2005b). Rpi1 from S. pinnatisectum on chromosome 7 (Kuhl et al. 2001), Rpi-mcq1 from S. mochiquense (Smilde et al. 2005) and Rpi-phu1 from S. phureja on chromosome 9 (Śliwka et al. 2006) have also been reported.
It is evident from a review of the existing art in this area that a significant need remains for novel genes, compositions and methods for conferring late blight resistance. In this patent disclosure, we meet this need by screening wild Solanum species and by cloning, and introducing and expressing novel Rpi resistance genes into potato.

Late blight resistance genes and methods


In accordance with the purpose(s) of the present disclosure, as embodied and broadly described herein, embodiments of the present disclosure, in one aspect, relate to Raman imaging devices (e.g., Raman endoscope probes), methods of using Raman agents and Raman imaging devices to image or detect a signal, and the like.

Molecular imaging of living subjects provides the ability to study cellular and molecular processes that have the potential to impact many facets of biomedical research and clinical patient management. Imaging of small animal models is currently possible using positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), optical bioluminescence and fluorescence, high frequency ultrasound, as well as several other emerging modalities. However, no single modality currently meets the needs of high sensitivity, high spatial and temporal resolution, high multiplexing capacity, low cost, and high-throughput.
Raman spectroscopy can differentiate the spectral fingerprint of many molecules, resulting in very high multiplexing capabilities. Narrow spectral features are easily separated from the broadband autofluorescence since Raman is a scattering phenomenon, as opposed to absorption/emission in fluorescence, and Raman active molecules are more photostable compared with fluorophores that are rapidly photobleached. Unfortunately, the precise mechanism for photobleaching is not well understood. However, it has been linked to a transition from the excited singlet state to the excited triplet state. Photobleaching is significantly reduced for single molecules adsorbed onto metal particles due to the rapid quenching of excited electrons by the metal surface, thus preventing excited-state reactions and hence photobleaching. However, the inherently weak magnitude of the Raman effect (approximately one photon is inelastically scattered for every 107 elastically scattered photons) limits the sensitivity, and as a result the biomedical applications of Raman spectroscopy.
The discovery of the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) phenomenon offers an exciting opportunity to overcome this lack of sensitivity and introduce Raman spectroscopy into new fields. SERS is a plasmonic effect where molecules adsorbed onto nano-roughened noble metal surfaces (e.g., gold) experience a dramatic increase in the incident electromagnetic field resulting in high Raman intensities comparable to fluorescence.

Raman imaging devices and methods of molecular imaging

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A device and a method for closed-loop control of at least a first exhaust gas turbocharger with variable turbine geometry. In this regard, a first closed-loop control system is provided for automatically controlling the charge air pressure, and a second closed-loop control system is provided for automatically controlling the turbine speed. The second closed-loop control system is subordinate to the first closed-loop control system. The correcting variable (SG1) of the first closed-loop control system corresponds to the reference input of the second closed-loop control system.

The invention concerns a device and a method for the closed-loop control of an exhaust gas turbocharger with variable turbine geometry.
Exhaust gas turbochargers are used to boost the performance of internal combustion engines. The exhaust gas turbocharger can be better adapted to an operating point of the internal combustion engine by means of a variable turbine geometry, e.g., adjustable guide vanes. To guarantee constant setting accuracy, the exhaust gas turbocharger is operated in a closed-loop control system. In a closed-loop control system of this type, the exhaust gas turbocharger with variable turbine geometry is the controlled system. The actual charge air pressure is detected as the controlled variable and compared with the reference input, i.e., the set charge air pressure. A charge air pressure controller uses this control deviation to determine the correcting variable for acting on the controlled system. The correcting variable typically corresponds to the flow-through cross-sectional area of the turbine.
DE 697 12 056 T2 describes a control system for an exhaust gas turbocharger with variable turbine geometry. The control system comprises four closed-loop control systems arranged in parallel, namely, a first closed-loop control system for automatically controlling the exhaust gas pressure, a second closed-loop control system for automatically controlling the charge air pressure, a third closed-loop control system for automatically controlling the pressure difference between the exhaust gas pressure and the charge air pressure, and a fourth closed-loop control system for automatically controlling the turbine speed of the exhaust gas turbocharger. The four closed-loop control systems act on the same controlled system. During the operation of the internal combustion engine, only one of the closed-loop control systems is dominant, i.e., active, at any given time. The switching from one closed-loop control system to another closed-loop control system is event-controlled, e.g., as a function of a turbine speed limit or a braking mode. This control system conversion is complicated and allows automatic control of only a single controlled variable. The changes in dominance from one controller to another controller are likewise critical.

Device and method for the closed-loop control of an exhaust gas turbocharger with variable turbine geometry


A system for generating a three-dimensional model of an object from a two-dimensional image sequence. According to one embodiment, the system includes an image sensor for capturing a sequence of two-dimensional images of a scene, the scene including the object, a two-dimensional motion filter module in communication with the image sensor for determining from the sequence of images a plurality of two-dimensional motion parameters for the object, and a three-dimensional structure recovery module in communication with the two-dimensional motion filter module for estimating a set of three-dimensional shape parameters and a set of three-dimensional motion parameters from the set of two-dimensional motion parameters using a rank 1 factorization of a matrix.

Not Applicable.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to image and video processing and, more particularly, to systems and methods for generating three-dimensional models from two-dimensional image sequences.
2. Description of the Background
This invention concerns the automatic generation of a three-dimensional (3D) description of the real world environment. Target applications are found in several fields, including digital video, virtual reality, and robotics. In digital video, 3D models enable content-based representations suitable for powerful video editing and handling, video content addressing, very low bit rate compression, transmission of video over wireless and wireline links, and frame rate conversion. In virtual reality, 3D models of real world objects potentiate the merging of virtual and real entities and the virtual manipulation of real world objects. In robotics, the navigation of autonomous mobile vehicles in unknown environments demands the automatic generation of 3D models of the environment.
The problem of recovering the 3D structure (i.e., 3D shape and 3D motion) from a 2D video sequence has been widely considered by the computer vision community. Methods that infer 3D shape from a single frame are based on cues such as shading and defocus. These methods fail to give reliable 3D shape estimates for unconstrained real-world scenes. If no prior knowledge about the scene is available, the cue to estimating the 3D structure is the 2D motion of the brightness pattern in the image plane. For this reason, the problem is generally referred to as structure from motion. The two major steps in structure from motion are usually the following: compute the 2D motion in the image plane; and estimate the 3D shape and the 3D motion from the computed 2D motion.
Early approaches to structure from motion processed a single pair of consecutive frames and provided existence and uniqueness results to the problem of estimating 3D motion and absolute depth from the 2D motion in the camera plane between two frames. Two-frame based algorithms are highly sensitive to image noise, and, when the object is far from the camera, i.e., at a large distance when compared to object depth, they fail even at low level image noise. More recent research has been oriented towards the use of longer image sequences. These techniques require filtering algorithms that integrate along time a set of two-frame depth estimates. All of these approaches require the computationally-intensive task of computing an estimate of the absolute depth as an intermediate step.
According to one known technique which does not require computing of an estimate of the absolute depth as an intermediate step, the 3D positions of the feature points are expressed in terms of Cartesian coordinates in a world-centered coordinate system, and the images are modeled as orthographic projections. The 2D projection of each feature point is tracked along the image sequence. The 3D shape and motion are then estimated by factorizing a measurement matrix whose entries are the set of trajectories of the feature point projections. The factorization of the measurement matrix, which is rank 3 in a noiseless situation, is computed by using a Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) expansion technique.
When the goal is the recovery of a dense representation of the 3D shape, the SVD factorization approach may not solve the problem satisfactorily because of two drawbacks. First, being feature-based, it is necessary to track a large number of features to obtain a dense description of the 3D shape. This is usually impossible because only distinguished points, as brightness corners, can be accurately tracked. Second, even if it is possible to track a large number of features, the computational cost of the SVD involved in the factorization of the rank 3 measurement matrix would be very high. Thus, the decomposition and normalization stages involved in the factorization approach are complicated and the approach is more susceptible to noise.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the prior art for an efficient and less computationally-intensive technique to recover 3D structure from a 2D image sequence. There further exists a need for such a technique to be robust to noise. There further exists a need for such a technique to model occluded objects.
The present invention is directed to a system for generating a three-dimensional model of an object from a two-dimensional image sequence. According to one embodiment, the system includes: an image sensor for capturing a sequence of two-dimensional images of a scene, the scene including the object; a two-dimensional motion filter module in communication with the image sensor for determining from the sequence of images a plurality of two-dimensional motion parameters for the object; and a three-dimensional structure recovery module in communication with the two-dimensional motion filter module for estimating a set of three-dimensional shape parameters and a set of three-dimensional motion parameters from the set of two-dimensional motion parameters using a rank 1 factorization of a matrix. The system may also include a three-dimensional shape refinement module to refine the estimate of the three-dimensional shape using a coarse-to-fine continuation-type method.
According to another embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method for generating a three-dimensional model of an object from a two-dimensional image sequence. The method includes: capturing a sequence of images of a scene, the scene including the object; determining a plurality of two-dimensional motion parameters for the object from the sequence of images; and estimating a set of three-dimensional shape parameters and a set of three-dimensional motion parameters from the two-dimensional motion parameters using a rank 1 factorization of a matrix. The method may also include refining the estimate of the three-dimensional shape using a coarse-to-fine continuation type method.
The present invention provides numerous advantages over prior approaches for determining structure from motion in a video sequence. For instance, in contrast to prior techniques which also estimate 3D shape directly instead of estimating the absolute depth as an intermediate step, the present invention does not rely on the tracking of pointwise features. Instead, the present invention uses a parametric description of the shape and the induced optical flow parameterization. This approach yields several advantages. First, the tracking of feature points may be unreliable when processing noisy video sequences. As a result, to alleviate this situation in the prior art, it is known to assume a very short interval between frames for easy tracking. In contrast, according to the present invention, the 3D shape and motion parameters may be estimated from a sequence of just a few flow parameters, avoiding the need to process a large set of feature trajectories. Second, the relation between the optical flow parameters and the 3D rotation and 3D shape parameters enables the recovery of the 3D structure according to the approach of the present invention by a rank 1 factorization a matrix, instead of a rank 3 matrix as in the prior art. Consequently, the decomposition and normalization stages involved in the factorization approach of the present invention are simpler and more robust to noise.
In addition, the approach of the present invention handles general shaped structures. It is well suited to the analysis of scenes with polyhedral surfaces. This is particularly relevant in outdoor modeling of buildings with flat walls, where the optical flow model reduces to the affine motion model. Further, the present invention provides an advantage over the prior art in that the surface-based 2D shape representations (i.e., the 3D shape) are not restricted to a sparse set of 3D points, but rather may be represented by, for example, planar patches. In addition, the factorization approach of the present invention permits the specification of different reliability weights to different 2D motion parameters, thus improving the quality of the 3D structure recovered without additional computational cost. Additionally, the present invention permits the 3D modeling of occluded objects.
These and other benefits of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description hereinbelow.

System and method for generating a three-dimensional model from a two-dimensional image sequence


Use of a thermoplastic material for blocking an optical substrate (100) in a machining position, wherein the thermoplastic material is formulated from a composition comprising a shellac and a plasticizer where the shellac and the plasticizer are chosen so as to have the softening point of the thermoplastic material greater than or equal to 60° C. and smaller than or equal to 85° C.

The process of preparing optical or ophthalmic lenses begins usually with an unfinished or semi-finished glass or plastic lens blank. Typically a semi-finished lens blank has a finished polished front surface and an unfinished back surface. By grinding away material from the back surface of the lens blank the required corrective prescription is generated. Thereafter the surface, having had the corrective prescription imparted thereto, is polished and the peripheral edge of the thus processed lens blank is provided with a final desired contour thereby establishing a finished optical or ophthalmic lens. According to other processing methods, the finished ophthalmic lens can be directly processed from a lens blank using for example three directional machining. The lens blank can be either a plastic or a glass lens blank.
It is necessary during these various processing operations to securely maintain the lens blank in accurate alignment and in place on the lens blocking device. This procedure is often referred to as "lens blocking".
Heretofore, various materials were employed to secure the lens blank to the lens blocking device. These materials include glues, pitch and low temperature fusible metal alloys. The use of glues and pitch, in addition to being messy, suffers the further disadvantage of generally being non-reusable or non-reclaimable. While the prior art use of low temperature metal alloys eliminated some of these disadvantages experienced with the use of glues and pitch, nonetheless, the use of these metal alloys, both in their preparation and their reclamation caused significant environmental and health hazards especially since these alloys were most often fabricated from such metals as cadmium, tin, lead and bismuth. Of these metals, lead and cadmium are the most toxic. Lead is strong protoplasmic poison and can be introduced into the body by ingestion, inhalation and skin absorption. Cadmium poisoning is similar to lead in many ways and is introduced into the body in the same way as lead. Like lead, cadmium is stored in the liver, kidney and bone. Procedures for the formulation of such alloys and reclamation processes so as to enable its re-use as a material to secure a lens blank to a lens block thus exposes workers to serious environmental and health hazards. The formation of these alloys often is accomplished through the use of powdered or particulate metals which are subjected to a sintering and heat treating process. Fumes and/or dust particles of these metals are released to the ambient atmosphere thereby creating environmental and health hazards for those formulating these alloys. The same hazards exist for those attempting to reclaim the used low temperature metal alloy blocking material.
To overcome these issues, organic low shrinkage materials have been developed to be used as lens blocking materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,313 in the name of 3M Innovative Properties Company discloses examples of compound families suitable for lens blocking with thermoplastic materials.
The disclosed blocking compositions have many advantages over traditional metal alloy materials. For example, the lens blocking compositions are non-toxic, environmentally safe, and preferably biodegradable. The materials preferably can be used with existing processing equipment and may be recycled. An optical lens blocking device can be used that comprises a solidified mass of a thermoplastic blocking composition. The blocking composition is solid at 21° C. and has a low melting point.
There remains a need for improving blocking material for blocking a lens blank to a lens blocking device thanks a cheap, non-toxic and easy to handle material.

ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL (COMPAGNIE GENERALE D'OPTIQUE)


The present invention relates to a multilayered, breathable fabric and especially, but not exclusively, to a textile fabric for clothing purposes. In a special embodiment, the invention relates to a fabric for manufacturing articles of work clothing for protection against the effects of heat, flames or arcing and the like. Therefore, the invention also relates to an article of fire protection clothing with a novel, breathable, moisture-transporting fabric as the inner layer. However, the textile fabric can also be used in the leisure sector, for example, to manufacture functional undergarments.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayered, breathable—that is to say, moisture vapor permeable—textile (including woven and knitted) fabric and especially, but not exclusively, to a textile fabric for clothing purposes. In a special embodiment, the invention relates to a fabric for manufacturing articles of work clothing for protection against the effects of heat, flames, electric arc, and the like. Therefore, the invention also relates to an article of fire protection clothing with a novel, breathable, moisture-transporting fabric as an inner layer. However, the textile fabric can also be used in the leisure sector, for example, to manufacture functional undergarments.
2. Description of Related Art
The state of the art already describes "breathing" fabric constructions such as, those sold under the name GORETEX®. Breathable fabrics are essentially water impermeable on one side, while they allow water vapor to escape through the fabric on the other side. These fabrics are used for articles of clothing, especially for jackets and coats and pants. Here, the fabric is waterproof, while, at the same time, it prevents the collection of water vapor under the coat caused by perspiration. U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,685 describes a waterproof fabric that has at least two different layers.
German Patent DE 195 47 704 A1 describes a multilayered textile fabric consisting of two fabric layers with different denier values used to transport perspiration and other bodily fluids. The fabric layers have a material from the group consisting of polyester, nylon and acrylic resin. This fabric, however, is not suitable for manufacturing protective clothing.
German Patent DE 43 07 501 A1 describes a multilayered textile fabric with an inner layer of microfibers, whereby the fabric has a wicking or capillary effect and improves the water vapor transport from the inside to the outside. The described textile fabrics are used to manufacture sports clothing, leisure clothing and the like.
As a rule, protective clothing, for instance, for firefighters, is very heavy on its own. The protective outfits provide protection by being massive, but this greatly limits the wearer's ability to move and leads to severe heat stress, thus considerably impairing the wearing comfort.
Moreover, it has to be taken into consideration that fire protection clothing has to meet national standards, for example, the standards DIN EN 469 or SN 054551.
As explained above, it has been found that so far, due to the lack of perspiration transport out of the inner protective outfit, the persons in question, that is to say, firefighters, are very well protected against hazards from the outside, but the wearing comfort, in spite of the multilayered structure, is not optimal from a physiological standpoint. Moreover, a large accumulation of moisture on the skin is very dangerous in case of fire since severe burns are to be feared here as a result of the steam being generated.
Therefore, in the area of protective clothing for firefighters, there has long been a need to find materials that combine a protective function, flame retardation, as well as thermal insulation and greater wearing comfort through facilitated perspiration transport, without storing the moisture in the fiber.
Consequently, it is the objective of the invention to provide a novel multilayered, breathable fabric that can be used for manufacturing articles of clothing, especially fire protection clothing.