The present invention relates to a directional flooding method in a wireless sensor network. Transfer of a packet between respective sensor nodes and a sink node in a wireless sensor network is made with the directivity. To this end, when the packet is transmitted from the sensor nodes to the sink node, only the sensor nodes having a minimum hop count for the sink node are involved in transmission of the packet. Meanwhile, if the packet is sent from the sink node to the sensor nodes within a given destination area, after the packet reaches a corresponding destination area, only sensor nodes located within the destination area transmit the packet. The present invention has an effect that it can improve energy consumed on average and a total number of packets transmitted when transmitting the packets in a wireless sensor network compared to a conventional simple flooding method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a directional flooding method in a wireless sensor network in which packets transferred between respective nodes are induced toward a destination direction through directional information, thus obviating transmission of unnecessary packets to allow for efficient transmission of the packets.
2. Background of the Related Art
A wireless sensor network recently attracts academic interests due to its several unique characteristics different from a wireless ad hoc network. For example, in the wireless sensor network, a great number of sensor nodes having very limited energy and computing resources are crowded to form a network. Furthermore, each of the sensor nodes usually does not have a global identification such as an IP address.
The wireless sensor network is, however, still considered as a kind of the ad hoc wireless network. This is because the two networks are very similar in terms of various points. For instance, the sensor network and the ad hoc network are self-configured and self-maintained independently without intervention from the outside. They are also similar in that transmission of packets is accomplished through multi-hop of a wireless link (multi-hop routing). In the mobile ad hoc network, researches on a routing protocol have been actively made. There already exist several protocols.
On the contrary, in the wireless sensor network, lots of attention to routing from a sensor node to a sink node (data dissemination) has recently been paid. In the above, the sink node refers to a node that transfers data sensed in the sensor network to a person, or is connected to a base network to transfer data.
Routing methods in the wireless ad hoc network or the wireless sensor network are mostly based on flooding. They have a problem that the cost is high. Furthermore, in most MAC protocols used in the mobile ad hoc network and the wireless sensor network, CSMA/CA for sensing carriers and supporting multiple access of a medium in order to avoid collision is used. Thus, if several neighboring nodes broadcast at the same time, the network can fall into a severe contention state. Broadcasting that is unnecessarily overlapped with this contention state and collision of signals may cause a broadcast storm problem.
Therefore, this simple flooding scheme needs to be improved in a more effective manner. In the ad hoc network environment, researches for solving this problem have been made and several algorithms have been proposed. Ideas on which these algorithms are based are to form an optimal broadcast tree so that packets can be transferred from a source to all nodes within the network.
However, the method of forming this optimal tree may be improper since unnecessary overhead is generated in the wireless sensor network environment. This is because data packets need not to be transmitted to all nodes within the network in the sensor network. In particular, it is sufficient that data sensed by common sensors are usually transmitted to a single destination node, i.e., only a sink node.
It will be examined how the methods that are searched so far in the mobile ad hoc network environment for more efficient flooding can be optimal solutions even in the wireless sensor network.
For example, in order to minimize defects of flooding called the broadcast storm, several methods in which the simple flooding method is modified a little have been proposed under an ad hoc network environment. Most of these methods are for minimizing the number of packets transmitted in the whole flooding process on the basis of ideas that an optimal broadcast tree is generated.
A method of simply flooding all the nodes and a method of using an optimal flooding tree will now be compared with reference to FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1(a), if a simple flooding scheme is used, all nodes have to send packets in order to transmit packet once. Such a simple flooding scheme can transmit the packet very reliably, but requires high cost. For example, in FIG. 1(a), a total of 25-packet transmissions occurs.
For more efficient flooding, it is required that an optimal broadcast tree be found in order to minimize the number of packets transmitted. Even in this case, the packet sent by the source node can be still transferred to all the nodes. In FIG. 1(b), only 12 transmissions are required in order to transmit the packets to all the nodes.
However, a document "W. Liang" constructing Minimum-Energy Broadcast Trees in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks, "in proc. of ACM Mobihoc '02, pp. 112-123, June 2002." demonstrates that a problem to find such an optimal broadcast tree is NP-complete. Accordingly, for an efficient flooding method, an alternative solution capable of forming a form close to the optimal broadcast tree was proposed.
For example, there were proposed a method in which an intermediate node determines whether to broadcast a packet again with a predetermined probability, a method in which the intermediate node uses a pre-calculated coverage and a method in which the intermediate node selectively floods by determining whether to transmit a packet using information on neighboring nodes. These methods have their objects to form a tree that can be broadcast more efficiently using an adaptive and heuristic algorithm.
Meanwhile, in the wireless sensor network, it is highly probable that the flooding method for forming this optimal broadcast tree cannot be the most effective flooding method. Forming the optimal broadcast tree is for meeting a premise that the packet has to be transferred to all the nodes in the network. This is because the premise itself is unnecessary in the wireless sensor network.
The purpose of flooding in the wireless sensor network is not to transfer the packet to all the nodes but to a single or several destination nodes like Unicast or Geocast. This means that transmission of the packet using the flooding method may have the directivity toward a specific destination node.
FIG. 2 shows a tree formed by a directional flooding method. In order to transmit a packet from a source node to a destination node, only four transmissions are enough.
Documents [C. Intanagonwiwat, R. Govinda, D. Estrin, and J. Heidemann, "Directed Diffusion for Wireless Sensor Networking," in IEEE/ACM Transaction on Networking, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 2-16, February 2003], [F. Ye, G. Zhong, S. Lu, L. Zhang, "GRAdient Broadcast: A Robust Data Delivery Protocol for Large Scale Sensor Networks," to appear at the ACM WINET Journal.], etc. disclose recent researches in association with efficient transmission of data in the wireless sensor network.
These methods determine whether to transmit the packet or not based on routing cost.
If the type of a network is frequently changed, however, these protocols require that information on neighboring nodes be updated on a regular basis. This may result in lots of overhead in the number of packets, energy consumption and delay.

Directional flooding method in wireless sensor network

AJOO University Industry Cooperation Foundation


A method, system, and computer program product for a data modelling platform to engage with a user via a user interface is provided. A predictive data model is displayed based on the user query. Provenance and evidence is provided based on a user selected result. The ground truth dataset is modified in response to receiving a user action via the user interface.

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to computer systems, and more specifically to predictive data modelling platforms and their user interfaces.
Predictive models are built by synthesizing massive public and private datasets in both structured and unstructured formats. Natural language processing enables the predictive modelling platform to read millions of pages of public and private datasets to understand the contextual meaning of the parts of speech in the text. The resulting ground truth forms the basis for supervised training of predictive models.
An easy and efficient approach to curate the ground truth in a targeted way can improve data models and result in more accurate predictions.

Data curation on predictive data modelling platform

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus for renewing cryptographic material are disclosed. In the method and apparatus a cryptographic material renewal entity of a computing resource service provider detects that cryptographic material stored by a secure module is to be renewed. Renewing the cryptographic material may include rekeying a private key associated with a certificate. Further, a digital certificate may be renewed, and the renewed certificate may be provided for use by the computing resource. The cryptographic material is used to fulfill requests made by a computing resource provisioned by the computing resource service provider for a customer. The renewed cryptographic material is provided to the secure module, whereby the renewed cryptographic material is used by the secure module to fulfill further requests made by the computing resource.

The use of remote computing resources has proliferated in recent years. The resources for remote computing are often provided by computing resource service providers who leverage large-scale networks of computers, servers and storage drives to enable customers, including organizations of various sizes, to host and execute a variety of applications and services. Customers, who traditionally used on-premises computing resources often forego on-premises computing and turn to using the computing resources of the computing resource providers. The usage of network computing allows customers to efficiently and adaptively satisfy their computing needs, whereby the computing resources may be added or removed from a large pool provided by the computing resource provider on an on-demand basis.
It is important to enable the computing resources provided by a services provider to communicate securely with other computing resources within or outside of the provider's networks, whereby the secure communication may be performed using cryptographic techniques. Accordingly, it is often challenging to distribute cryptographic material that is used for securing communications to computing resources provided by a service provider and ensure that the cryptographic material is safely stored without exposure or compromise. Furthermore, it is also challenging to ensure that the cryptographic material is renewed and updated so as to enable computing resources to securely communicate without interruption.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method, system, computer system, and computer program product to provide an infrastructure for replicating data across multiple nodes in a network. Changes to data are written to each of a set of mirrored copies of a log on one node. When a storage area containing a portion of one of the mirrored copies of the log becomes full, the storage area is disassociated from the set of mirrored copies. After detaching the storage area, changes are no longer written to the storage area, thereby providing a stable image of that portion of the log data. Log data stored in the storage area are replicated from the storage area to another node. By replicating from a separate detached storage area, log data are replicated without disturbing the disk heads writing changes to each of the set of mirrored copies of the log.

Information drives business. For businesses which increasingly depend on such information for their day-to-day operations, improving the accessibility and usability of data and preventing or quickly recovering from unexpected downtime caused by data loss or corruption are of paramount importance. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sep. 11, 2001, disaster recovery has received heightened emphasis in the business-critical resource planning process, and replication of business critical information has become a top priority. As business data grows, replication of the business data consumes increasing amounts of time of information technology workers, as well as bandwidth on production servers. Replication infrastructures can become very complex to construct and manage.
To increase data accessibility and usability and to minimize the impact of data corruption and loss, a number of techniques have been developed and implemented. One such technique involves the creation of one or more "mirror" copies of data.
Mirrored data is typically generated by duplicating data and update operations (e.g., write operations) from a primary data storage area to a mirror or "replicated" storage area in real time as updates are made to primary data. Such duplication may be performed by software (e.g., a volume manager, operating system, file system, etc.) or hardware (e.g., a storage device controller). The mirrored data may then be used to facilitate failover recovery, load balancing, and/or to generate frozen images (e.g., snapshots) used in performing various on-host and off-host processing functions (e.g., backups, data analysis, etc.). A snapshot is typically generated by "detaching" a mirror being updated in real time so that it is no longer updated. Detaching the mirror involves halting transactions being applied to the primary data storage area and to the mirror for a very brief time period to allow existing transactions to complete. A snapshot is then taken, which serves as a frozen or "point-in-time" image and provides a logically consistent copy of the primary data.
FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate the generation and use of data mirrors according to the prior art. In FIG. 1A, two mirrors of data 110 are maintained within a storage environment 100, and corresponding updates are made to mirrors 120A and 120B when an update, such as update 104A, is made to data 110. For example, update 104B is made to mirror 120A residing on mirror data storage area 122, and corresponding update 104C is made to mirror 120B residing on mirror data storage area 124 when update 104A is made to data 110. In a conventional data storage system, each mirror resides on a separate physical storage device from the data for which the mirror serves as a backup, and therefore, data storage areas 112, 122, and 124 may represent three physical storage devices.
A snapshot of data can then be made by "detaching," or "splitting," a mirror of the data so that the mirror is no longer being updated. FIG. 1B shows storage environment 100 after detaching mirror 120B. Detached mirror (snapshot) 120B serves as a snapshot of data 110 as it appeared at the point in time that mirror 120B was detached. When another update 106A is made to data 110, a corresponding update 106B is made to mirror 120A. However, no update is made to detached mirror (snapshot) 120B. Instead, a pointer to the data changed in update 106A is retained in a data change log 130, which tracks changes in primary data with respect to detached mirror (snapshot) 120B.
In a typical data storage system, resynchronization allows snapshots to be refreshed and re-used rather than discarded. A snapshot such as snapshot 120B can be quickly re-associated with the primary data which it previously mirrored in a process sometimes referred to as a "snapback." Updates made to the primary volume while the snapshot was unavailable for update are tracked using data change log 130. When the snapshot is "re-attached" to again serve as a mirror, only the updates that were missed are applied to re-synchronize the snapshot with the primary data. For example, if the storage device storing detached mirror (snapshot) 120B will be again used to serve as a mirror for production data, an update applying the change made in update 106A would be applied to snapshot 120B before other updates are made.
In FIG. 1C, mirrors (e.g., mirror 120A and detached mirror 120B) are used to facilitate failover recovery and provide consistent access to a frozen image of primary data 110. Following a failure of storage area 112 after which data 110 is no longer accessible, mirror 120A residing on mirror data storage area 122 may be used in place of primary data 110 to ensure the availability of data stored within storage environment 100. Updates (e.g., update 108) are subsequently performed on mirror 120A with no corresponding updates being done on data 110 (which is inaccessible due to failure) or detached mirror 124 (which is being maintained as a read-only, point-in-time image of primary data 110).
While the failover recovery technique may be used to provide access to both point-in-time and real-time or "live" images of primary data following the failure of an associated storage area, it requires the creation and maintenance of at least one duplicate mirror of primary data. Conventional storage environments may include additional mirrors to avoid dependency on a single data mirror in the event of such a failure, thereby increasing the amount of resources necessary to provide such functionality. Consequently, using mirrors for failover and disaster recovery has some undesirable characteristics.
While snapshot technology enables point-in-time images of data to be maintained on a single node, replicating the data to different nodes for disaster recovery purposes introduces another level of complexity. Storage space must be managed at multiple sites, and large amounts of data must be transferred across a network without disrupting the business activities of the organization or degrading performance of business-critical systems. Complex storage configurations on one node require corresponding complex storage configurations on replication nodes.
What is needed is a system that efficiently replicates data shared by multiple nodes without degrading the performance of the application writing the data.

Snapshot-based replication infrastructure for efficient logging with minimal performance effect


A retractable safety cover for a slitting blade edge. This cover pivots about an axis that is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the blade edge. The cover is spring loaded in the open direction and is held in the covered orientation by a spring loaded moveable block. By retracting the moveable block the blade edge is exposed for use.

The invention relates to the web manufacturing industry. Materials like paper, films and various laminates are typically manufactured as a continuous sheet or web of material. During the processing of a continuous web, the web is handled by cylindrical rolls and cut into continuous strips. This cutting is typically required for downstream handling or for producing a final product such as a roll of tape.
The instant invention is an accessory for use on a typical slitting device. The slitting device includes a sharp circular blade and a blade actuator referred to as a knifeholder. The knifeholder typically includes a means of extending and translating the circular blade into an anvil or cutting edge. The invention is a guard that covers the blade while the slitter is not engaged with the anvil or cutting edge.
The prior art cited in U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,840 Dienes teaches a guard mechanism which is manually set and pivots along the circumference of the blade. This exposes the operator to the blade and the operator can be cut by the blade during handling. If the operator elects not to use the guard, for instance, the guard will not be covering the blade and he/she can easily be cut by the blade. Especially during maintenance when the knife holder is removed from supporting equipment.
Other prior art is cited which includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,424 Nagashima. This patent teaches the use of two side plates which are D-shaped to surround the exposed half of a circular blade. This invention requires the operator to connect the edges of the two side plates and so while the operator is attaching the two side plates he or she is exposed to the sharp edge of the blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 441,823 Ashbrook discloses a guard for a web slitter. This patent also teaches a two piece guard. One guard piece is attached to a body that supports a circular blade. This guard is manually adjustable along with the circular blade. A second guard piece overs all of the blade but a small cutting area. This cover is attached to the other guard by screws engaging slots on the second guard. These screws and slots are used to adjust the amount of blade exposed for cutting. In this case the blade is exposed during handling of the slitter.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,939 Adachi, teaches a guard mechanism that includes an interlock device. The guard mechanism consists of a static guard and a pivoting guard. The pivoting guard pivots away from the cutting edge of the blade about an axis that is parallel to the axis of rotation of the circular blade. This increases the amount of space required. The interlock device prevents a blade attaching and detaching device being attached when the cover is in a closed position. In this invention the blade is only guarded while attached to the slitting assembly and the cutting portion is still exposed to an operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,223,163 Neumeier, teaches a two piece guard in which a pivoting piece rotates about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of the blade. This guard is also manually adjusted and so relies on the operator to extend the pivoting piece when the device is not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,628,682 Andrasic, teaches a detachable guard. This guard consists of two sections, a cover section and an attaching section. The guard section is semi-circular in shape, the gripping section is attached to the guard section at the center of the semi-circular radius. The gripping section includes a handle which engages teeth and pivots into a locking position while gripping a cylindrical tool housing.
The applicant is also aware of a guard fitted to a slitter which was/is provided by Dienes. A patent covering this design was not found. This guard included a semi-circular piece, a flexible mounting for the semi-circular piece and features located on a vertical blade actuator. In this design the vertical actuator moves the blade vertically toward an anvil. During this movement the features on the actuator cause the guard to flex away from the blade. This movement allows the blade to extend toward the anvil and the guard simultaneously moves out of the way. This design however does not provide adequate protection for an operator. The flexible guard can easily be pushed in such a way to expose the cutting edge of the blade possibly injuring the operator.


A hydraulic pressure control apparatus for a brake including a brake cylinder activated by a pressurized fluid for braking a wheel of a vehicle, a reservoir for storing the fluid discharged from the brake cylinder, and a pump for pumping up the fluid from the reservoir, the apparatus including a pressure control device which discharges the fluid from the brake cylinder, into the reservoir, to reduce a pressure of the fluid in the brake cylinder, and supplies the fluid pumped up from the reservoir, to the brake cylinder, to increase the pressure of the fluid in the brake cylinder, a reservoir fluid amount estimating device for estimating a cumulative amount of flow of the fluid from the brake cylinder into the reservoir and a cumulative amount of flow of the fluid out of the reservoir, and estimating an amount of the fluid stored in the reservoir on the basis of the estimated cumulative amount of flow of the fluid into the reservoir and the estimated cumulative amount of flow of the fluid out of the reservoir; and an estimated fluid amount changing device for changing the estimated reservoir fluid amount provided by the reservoir fluid amount estimating device, to a predetermined value, when an operating state of the hydraulic pressure control apparatus satisfies a predetermined condition during an operation of the pressure control device to control the pressure of the fluid in the brake cylinder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a hydraulic pressure control apparatus or hydraulic braking apparatus of a motor vehicle, which is capable of controlling a pressure in a wheel brake cylinder of a hydraulically operated brake for braking a wheel of the vehicle. In particular, the present invention relates to such an apparatus which includes a device for estimating an amount of fluid stored in a reservoir to which the fluid is discharged to reduce the pressure in the brake cylinder.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
An example of a hydraulically operated braking apparatus of the type indicated above is disclosed in JP-A1-119462. This braking apparatus includes a hydraulic pressure control apparatus for a brake including a brake cylinder activated by a pressurized fluid for braking a wheel of a vehicle, a reservoir for storing the fluid discharged from the brake cylinder, and a pump for pumping up the fluid from the reservoir, and the control apparatus includes (a) a pressure control device which discharges the fluid from the brake cylinder, into the reservoir, to reduce a pressure of the fluid in the brake cylinder, and supplies the fluid pumped up from the reservoir, to the brake cylinder, to increase the pressure of the fluid in the brake cylinder; and (b) reservoir fluid amount estimating means for estimating a cumulative amount of flow of the fluid from the brake cylinder into the reservoir and a cumulative amount of flow of the fluid out of the reservoir, and estimating an amount of the fluid stored in the reservoir on the basis of the estimated cumulative amount of flow of the fluid into the reservoir and the estimated cumulative amount of flow of the fluid out of the reservoir.
In the prior control apparatus, the reservoir fluid amount estimating means estimates the cumulative amount of flow of the fluid into the reservoir based on a pressure reducing time during which the pressure in the brake cylinder is reduced by the pressure control device, and estimates the cumulative amount of flow of the fluid out of the reservoir based on a pumping-up time during which the fluid is pumped up from the reservoir by the pump.
Once the reservoir fluid amount estimating means starts its operation, it continues to estimate the amount of the fluid stored in the reservoir (hereinafter referred to as the "reservoir fluid amount") until a continuous pressure control operation is finished by the pressure control device. However, as the estimating operation continues, the estimated reservoir fluid amount may largely deviate from the actual reservoir fluid amount. In this case, the estimating operation should be stopped. In addition, there are some cases where it is desirable not to continue the estimation though the estimated reservoir fluid amount value is not different from the actual value. For example, in the case where the prior control apparatus includes a control means for performing a predetermined control operation when the estimated reservoir fluid amount value coincides with a predetermined value, there are some cases where it is desirable to operate the control means compulsorily by changing the current estimated reservoir fluid amount value to the predetermined value.

Hydraulic pressure control apparatus having device for estimating amount of fluid in reservoir to which the fluid is discharged to reduce cylinder pressure


A window unit for windows in motor vehicles and the like, including a glazing panel and a frame with a profile that encompasses at least partially the peripheral sides of the glazing panel. The frame includes a primary part which is in the form of a hard component and features an exterior profile where the primary part has at least one inner profile line with at least one notch and/or one protrusion extending from the peripheral side of the glazing panel to the center of the window unit. The primary part is capable of being fixed onto another object like a car body, a decorative object, a building, a door frame, or the like.

The injection of a primary part around a glazing panel can cause one of the major drawbacks is the presence of permanent force applied to the glazing panel. This effort is caused by the withdrawal related to the injection process of the primary part on the glazing panel and especially when the primary part is injected on the major part of peripheral sides of the glazing panel and due to the shrinkage of the primary part during the cooling step of the process of making the window unit.
Often, the glazing panel is not totally flat even has a defined curvature. The shrinkage of the primary part surrounding the edge of the window unit causes a narrowing of the primary part. Then, the primary part peels off the glazing panel by the same phenomenon as a bow that stretches. Thus, a gap between the primary part and the glazing panel occurs.
One solution to reduce this gap is to add in addition to a secondary part a primer material with a 2K process. The primer material is deposited on a surface of the glazing panel where the primary part will be not present. The secondary part is deposed on the primary part and on this surface to fix the primary part on the glazing panel. This increases the complexity of the process of fabrication and increases the cost. Furthermore, this solution is not applicable when the window unit is made only of hard material.

Window unit comprising a glazing panel and a frame


A system and method that analyzes employee data and assists management with surplus determinations is used for automated resource reduction analysis. Areas within the organization are identified that include surplus resources. These areas are further identified to determine which skill groups have surplus skills. Skill groups can be broken down by level. A determination is made as to what decreases are desired for the identified skill groups and levels. Employees within the identified skill groups and levels are evaluated using common evaluation templates that set forth the expected skills employees should have for a given skill group and level. The evaluated employee records are sorted by the evaluations to determine the spectrum of skills within a particular skill group and level. The desired reduction percentage is then applied to the sorted records to identify surplus employees. These identified surplus employees are then reviewed using organizational surplus guidelines and applicable laws.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for managing human resources for an organization. More particularly, the present invention the present invention relates to a system and method for automatically analyzing employees and recommending employees for resource reduction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Managers in modern business organizations have increasingly complex roles to perform in managing the various facets of the business organization. While managers differ greatly in the objectives and goals of their respective departments or areas, a key element that most managers deal with are the employees in their department or area and their efforts to retain a highly talented pool of employees while staying within given resource requirements, such as salary and stock budgets. Analyzing and assessing organizational goals and objectives is also important in determining which employees to retain during resource reduction exercises.
Periodically, due to business conditions and business performance, organizations trim their workforces by terminating (i.e., laying off) surplus employee resources. Reducing the number of employees is usually a management intensive task wherein managers determine which employees are laid-off and which employees are retained. The typical goal of resource reduction activities is to retain the higher skilled workers in a given skill group and level while reducing the number of lower skilled employees or those employees that detract from the achievement of overall organizational goals.
Using traditional human resources tools, managers manually and subjectively determine which employees should be laid-off. Whether the manager analyzes employees' skills and past job performances is often a determination left to the individual managers. Because of this, managers' biases towards or against various employees often plays a most key role in actual determinations. Higher revel managers typically lack fundamental data needed to make detailed analyses of managers' reduction decisions. Furthermore, higher level managers lack tools that would assist them in objectively reviewing managers' decisions in an efficient and timely basis. Because of these challenges, more skilled employees may be removed from the organization leaving less skilled employees to take their jobs. This talent void can be detrimental to the organization's technical and financial well being.
Additionally, traditional systems evaluate individual employees differently even though groups of employees are in similar skill groups. Managers of employees often evaluate employees based upon review criteria that is established loosely, at best, by the organization. Each manager may evaluate employees in his or her area differently based largely upon criteria developed by the manager, rather than the organization. Even if standard evaluation criteria is provided to management, there is little ability for program administers to check whether managers are actually using the standard evaluation materials.
Furthermore, the impact of a resource reduction action is typically difficult to analyze and even more difficult to estimate beforehand. When conducting a resource reduction exercise, the organization usually has a vague idea of the savings that will be achieved and the costs, in terms of severance packages and diminished employees, of the resource reduction. Impact estimates are often use crude formulas that simply reduce a percentage of the overall workforce without taking into account individual salaries in surplus skill groups. Likewise, the impact of the actual resource reduction is often difficult to ascertain without compiling lists of affected employees. These lists often do not indicate the numbers of surplus employees that were identified in various skill groups and levels.
Finally, traditional systems have little ability to assure that surplus employees are individually notified and little, if any, data is maintained evidencing employees' receipt of information regarding the resource reduction action. Some managers may fail to notify affected employees in a timely fashion and administrators of the resource reduction have little ability to ascertain which employees have been notified without manually surveying the affected employees. Surplus employees that are in possession of trade secrets or other confidential information are often not informed of their confidentiality, and often non-compete, obligations upon being laid-off from an organization.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method that assists management by analyzing employee data to determine which employees should remain with the organization and which employees are surplus.

System and method for automated resource reduction analysis


A method for detecting a cardiac arrhythmia from an electrocardiogram includes the steps of identifying a plurality of R-waves in the electrocardiogram during a predetermined time interval; extracting heartbeat complexes corresponding to the identified R-waves; identifying a key region within each heartbeat complex that is morphologically altered in the event of the cardiac arrhythmia; calculating a statistical measurement of an ensemble of the key regions from each of the heartbeat complexes; and determining from the statistical measurement whether the cardiac arrhythmia occurred during the predetermined time interval. An apparatus is also provided that includes a processor that is coupled to receive an electrocardiogram, and is configured in response thereof to perform the method for detecting a cardiac arrhythmia.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a condition during which there is disorganized electrical conduction in the atria, resulting in ineffective pumping of blood into the ventricle. If AF is detected, pharmacological cardioversion medication and electrical cardioversion are often effective at restoring and maintaining sinus rhythm. However, half of the recurrent episodes of AF are asymptomatic or "silent" and consequently can go undetected by a patient or physician. It is important to detect even asymptomatic AF because asymptomatic periods contribute to continued stroke risk and atrial remodeling.
Until recently, real time analysis of an intra-cardiac electrogram (EGM) has been based on coupling cardiac event detection with at least one algorithm that makes determinations based on sensed intervals. Generally, sensing cardiac events includes the reduction of information contained in the EGM to a binary event that signals the occurrence of atrial or ventricular activation. A sequence of such binary events is subsequently used to detect an abnormality, such as AF, by applying a process that analyzes a time relationship between the sensed binary events and triggers prescribed therapies based on the time relationship.
The introduction of real-time digital signal processing technology in implantable devices has added new dimensions to cardiac signal analysis. In addition to event based processing, digital signal processing technology enables morphological analysis of an EGM. There is great potential for the application of digital signal processing technology to combine algorithms based on morphological analysis with established event based algorithms to analyze cardiac signals and provide an early determination that asymptomatic AF is occurring with a patient.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus that enable detection of AF in patients, and particularly in patients that in which AF may be recurring. In addition, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus that combines morphological analysis algorithms with event based analysis algorithms to enable detection of AF in patients. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Algorithms for detecting cardiac arrhythmia and methods and apparatuses utilizing the algorithms


The present invention relates to a method of preparing a phenoxy alkanoic, alkenoic, or alkynoic acid or a salt thereof from a phenoxy containing compound via a dicarboxylate intermediate. The phenoxy alkanoic, alkenoic, and alkynoic acids and salts thereof prepared by this method are suitable for use in composition for delivering active agents via oral or other routes of administration to animals. Furthermore, the present invention relates to phenoxy dicarboxylic acids and their salts for delivering active agents, such as biologically or chemically active agents, to a target.

International Publication No. WO 01/32596 discloses phenoxy alkanoic, alkenoic, and alkynoic acids and salts thereof for the delivery of active agents and methods for preparing the same.
Alternate methods of producing phenoxy alkanoic, alkenoic, and alkynoic acids and salts thereof would be useful, especially where raw materials are expensive, yields are low, and reaction conditions are difficult.
Therefore, there is a need for simpler and less expensive methods of preparing phenoxy alkanoic, alkenoic, and alkynoic acids and salts thereof.

Method of preparing phenoxy alkanoic, alkenoic, and alkynoic acids and salts thereof via a dicarboxylate intermediate


The present invention is intended to provide an audio playback apparatus which is capable of randomly reproducing music on an album basis or a folder basis. In a sound source in which a plurality of music files are hierarchically recorded, a unit of music file groups in each of which music files are reproduced in a batch is specified, music file groups are randomly selected in the specified unit, and all music files included in each of the selected music file groups are reproduced.

The present invention relates generally to an audio playback apparatus and, more particularly, to an audio playback apparatus which is capable of randomly reproducing music.
Related-art audio playback apparatuses are configured such that, when reproducing music recorded to recording media such as CD (Compact Disk) and MD (Mini Disk), the recorded music may be reproduced in a random manner. Especially, with in-vehicle audio playback systems, random playback is often used for the safety reason that an operation for music selection during driving may endanger driving. With such random playback, although a range of music to be reproduced may be specified in a limited manner, the music to be randomly selected is limited to only one piece of music at a time.
Technologies are known in which, when randomly selecting music files to be reproduced, one of the areas (folders) each directly storing music files is randomly selected, then one of the music files is selectively reproduced, and, after the reproduction, folder selection is executed again to randomly selectively reproduce one of the music files (for example, refer to patent document 1).
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-269958
However, with the related-art playback apparatuses for reproducing small-size recording media such as CD and MD, it is enough for the random playback of one piece of music at a time; with recently-developed audio playback apparatuses which use large-size recording media such as DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and hard disk and therefore may record stacks of music albums, needs are increasing for the random playback of music on an album or folder basis in addition to the random playback of one piece of music at a time.
Especially, with in-vehicle audio playback apparatuses, random playback is often used because the acts during driving of selecting one album from among many and selecting desired pieces of music from the selected album pose a danger to driving; with the related-art random playback in which playback is performed in unit of one piece of music, if a desired piece of music has been reproduced and the user wants to listen to all pieces of music in the album in which the piece of music just reproduced is contained, the user must executes cumbersome operations of clearing the random playback mode and, after listening to that album, entering the random playback mode again. Thus, although the capabilities of random reproduction on an album or a folder basis provide very high user-friendliness, none of the related-art audio playback apparatuses have these capabilities to the knowledge of the applicant thereof.
It should be noted that the technology disclosed in the above-mentioned patent document 1 is associated with a random playback apparatus which provides the random playback in unit of one piece of music by repeating random playback operations by executing the selection on a folder basis as first selection means and then selecting one of the music files contained in the selected folder file as second selection means, thereby minimizing the continuous selection of music files in the same folder. Also, the above-mentioned patent document does not disclose an effective technology which supports the random playback in unit of an album or a folder.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an audio playback apparatus capable of performing random playback in unit of an album or a folder.

Audio playback apparatus, audio playback method, and program


An improvement in the luer taper connectors used to join two fluid conduits, especially in medical applications. Construction of one, the other, or both luer taper members from a soft, resilient, elastomeric material makes it unnecessary to provide a separate threaded luer lock connection, thereby minimizing fluid leaks, thread stripping, cross-threading, infections and thrombus formation associated with rigid and semi-rigid luer taper connectors.

The combination of a male luer connector with a female luer member is widely used in the medical field to connect two fluid conduits end to end. Such male/female sets are employed to join hypodermic needles to syringes and one catheter to another catheter, for example, in order to provide liquid leakproof and mechanically secure connections. A luer connection comprises two distinct elements, a tapered fitting called a "luer-slip" and a subordinate fitting to add additional strength to the connection. The subordinate fitting is generally a "luer-lock" threaded fitting.
The first element, the luer-slip fitting, involves the mating of a conical male nozzle member with a conically-hollowed female socket member. Both members are also hollowed axially to provide communication of the fluid passage between them. The tapers of the two cones are similar, so that, upon slipping the conical male nozzle member into the conically-hollowed female socket member, a frictional seal is achieved which is substantially fluid-tight. The conical tapers of the two members are prescribed by an industry standard, which sets the "luer taper" for such fittings.
The second aspect of a luer taper connection is a subordinate fitting, commonly a threaded connection, between the male and female members which engages to establish an axial force tending to maintain the frictional seal established by the slip fitting. Typically, the male taper member has a coaxial cylindrical skirt which carries internally one component of the threaded connector, while the female taper member carries the other part of the threaded connector externally. The female member may carry a full thread but, more commonly, only an abbreviated thread, in the form of a pair of lugs, is provided. This type of threaded fitting is called a "luer-lock" fitting.
The American National Standard Institute (ANSI) first proposed an American National Standard in 1955 to make luer slip fittings and luer-lock fittings uniform from manufacturer to manufacturer. ANSI MD70.1-1955 was subsequently adopted by the industry. Thus, individual luer fittings for use in medical device applications can make leakproof and mechanically secure connection with any other available individual mating luer fitting. At the time the standard was written the luer taper dimensions required a cone 4.318 mm in diameter at the large end, 3.937 mm in diameter at the small end and 6.350 mm in length, i.e., a 6% taper. In 1955, luer taper fittings were generally made of rigid glass or metal, but semi-rigid thermoplastic fittings of polycarbonate, polypropylene, etc. now predominate.
With reference to semi-rigid luer taper fittings, according to a proposed revision of the 1955 ANSI Standard, the diameter of the small end of the male nozzle member must lie in the range 3.925-4.027 mm, and the minimum length of the nozzle must be 7.500 mm. The diameter at the large end of the female socket member must lie in the range 4.270-4.315 mm, and the minimum depth of the socket must be 7.500 mm. The minimum length of engagement between the male nozzle and the female socket must be 4.050 mm. The Standard also provided requirements for luer-lock fittings, such as the root and crest diameters for the thread, thread pitch and thread angle, but the proposed revision technically applied only to rigid materials. The thread is generally a 1.5 turn, 0.25 inch advance thread of a rather crude design. The most recent Standard is ANSI MD70.1-1992. Reference to the most recent revision of the ANSI Standard should, of course, be made when any new luer taper fitting is being designed.
Whereas the adoption of industry standards for luerslip and luer-lock fittings has encouraged the use of such connectors, their use is not free from problems. Such problems include fluid leaks due to mismatching of the sealing edges, cross-threading and thread stripping. Whereas the ANSI Standard provides certain dimensions for luer slip fittings, dimensions appear as ranges, and variations between manufacturers within those ranges lead to misfits and leakage. Cross-threading of luer-lock fittings generally occurs when excessive force is applied upon thread engagement, or the members of the fitting are misaligned as the threads are engaged. The result is uneven mechanical force applied to the luer slip fitting and possible leakage thereof. The threads in a luer-lock fitting can be stripped by overzealous application of force upon connection and can lead to misalignment and fluid leakage as the fitting is engaged and disengaged several times, with increasing damage to the threads and slip fit.
Another set of problems arises because the luer taper fittings of metal, glass or thermoplastic, materials believed to be necessary because of the frequent engagement, disengagement and rough handling they receive, are often used to connect soft, resilient elastomeric cathether materials, typically made of silicone rubber. These connections are usually made with an adhesive. Unless great care is taken to smooth the transitions from one material to the other, sharp steps and cavitations are often present in the resultant cathether terminated with a luer taper fitting. These steps and cavitations tend to collect material from the fluid passing through the connected conduits, and the residue is nearly impossible to flush out. This residue is known to be responsible for partial occlusions and infections. The abrupt transition in materials can also be the cause of thrombus formation when blood is transported through the conduits.
It is to the solution of the aforesaid problems that this invention is directed.


An improved method and apparatus for the photoplethysmographic monitoring of blood analyte parameters, specifically oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin (reduced hemoglobin), carboxyhemoglobin and, in addition, in a four emitter apparatus, methemoglobin, uses a plurality of beams of light having different spectral contents to trans-illuminate the tissue of a patient. The apparatus and method require the application of an emitter set comprised of four emitters. The emitters may be LED's or laser diodes. In the three analyte system the center wavelength of the emitters must fall within three specific bands. In the four emitter system (capable of measuring methemoglobin) the center wavelength of the emitters in the emitter set must fall within four predetermined bands and the emitters having the two lowest center wavelengths must be at least 5 nanometers apart. The apparatus can use emitters which are located either in a probe, or, preferably, in the monitor, as well as a photodiode which can either be located in the patient probe or in the monitor.

The present invention generally concerns the monitoring of a patient's tissue using a photoplethysmographic device to generate information related to the concentration of oxyhemoglobin (O2Hb), deoxyhemoglobin or reduced hemoglobin (RHb), carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) and, additionally, methemoglobin (MetHb) in the patient's blood. More specifically, the application relates to a device for the measurement of such blood analytes using a set of emitters having optimal spectral contents defined by a set of specific wavelength ranges.
During emergency evaluation, surgery and other medical procedures, clinicians often want to know the oxygen concentration of the blood, as well as other factors. In pulse oximetry the relative concentration of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin is displayed as a percentage of total hemoglobin in order to provide data on the oxygenation of the patient's blood. Blood oxygenation can be adversely affected by the generation of additional hemoglobin species, called dyshemoglobins. Most notably, carboxyhemoglobin is generated when carbon monoxide molecules bind to the hemoglobin in blood. An accurate measurement of carboxyhemoglobin concentration in the patient's blood may be needed when the patient is a smoker or if carbon monoxide poisoning is suspected. Additionally, elevated methemoglobin levels in the blood can be caused by various medications, illegal drugs and certain pathological conditions such as sickle cell anemia. Therefore measurement of the methemoglobin concentration is also useful during patient evaluation.
Pulse-oximeters have been commercially available for measuring the oxygen saturation, or percent oxyhemoglobin, in arterial blood. These instruments rely on time-varying absorption of light by tissue supplied with pulsating arterial blood with a technique known generally as photoplethysmography. Conventional pulse oximeter instruments transmit light having spectral contents defined by two different center wavelengths through tissue.
The basic physical property that allows the measurement of arterial oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry is that the blood changes color with saturation. A pulse oximeter measures the "color" of the arterial blood and correlates this "color" to a given oxygen saturation to be displayed. When blood is well oxygenated it does not absorb a great deal of red light but as it desaturates it absorbs more and more red light giving the blood a darker appearance. The opposite behavior occurs in the near infrared region (from about 810 nanometers to 1000 nanometers) where hemoglobin absorbs more light when saturated with oxygen than when desaturated. For this reason current pulse oximeters use two emitters, usually light emitting diodes (LED's), one generating light in the red region, having a spectral content usually centered around 660 nanometers, and one generating light in the near infrared region having a spectral content usually centered around 925 or 940 nanometers.
The most obvious limitation of pulse oximetry derives from the fact that it is only a two channel (two wavelength bands) system and therefore can only solve for two components in the blood. Pulse oximetry makes the assumption that only oxyhemoglobin and reduced hemoglobin are present in the arterial blood. Any additional chromophores that are present in arterial blood and which absorb light in the wavelength bands used by the instrument will lead to erroneous readings. Two such chromophores are carboxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin. In particular, if carboxyhemoglobin or methemoglobin is present in above normal levels, a conventional pulse oximeter will give falsely high readings for the arterial oxygen saturation. This is one of the most serious and potentially dangerous limitations of current pulse oximetry.
Prior art pulse oximeters have so far lacked a means to compensate for errors in the measurement of oxyhemoglobin and reduced hemoglobin due to the presence of carboxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin in the blood. The manufacture of non-invasive devices which measure the concentration of various blood analytes such as oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, carboxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin has been attempted by others. However, there has been no successful low-cost commercial implementation of a photoplethysmographic monitor which is capable of accurately measuring all four blood analytes. The present invention overcomes this deficiency by providing a novel method and apparatus for generating accurate concentration estimates for either three or four blood analytes: oxyhemoglobin, reduced hemoglobin, carboxyhemoglobin and, in the four analyte embodiment, methemoglobin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,100 to Barthelemy et al. (the "Barthelemy patent") describes a photoplethysmographic device for measuring oxyhemoglobin, reduced hemoglobin, and carboxyhemoglobin using three laser diode emitters having spectral contents characterized by the center wavelengths of 660 nm, 750 nm and 940 nm. By using an emitter having a spectral content characterized by a center wavelength of 660 nm as the lowest of the three spectral contents, a photoplethysmographic monitor designed according to Barthelemy et al. cannot accurately measure carboxyhemoglobin. No commercially acceptable photoplethysmographic device for the measurement of oxyhemoglobin, carboxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin has been developed based on the use of light detected from emitters having spectral contents as defined in the Barthelemy patent.

Apparatus and method for improved photoplethysmographic monitoring of multiple hemoglobin species using emitters having optimized center wavelengths


A switching power supply unit includes first and second switching circuits which alternately turn first and second switching elements on and off with an intermediate period in which both are turned off, and energy is stored in a primary winding of a transformer during an ON period of the first switching element and the energy is discharged from a secondary winding of the transformer during an OFF period of the first switching element. A control circuit includes an OFF period extending circuit connected to a control terminal of the first switching element, such that a transistor remains turned on for a desired period even after the energy has been discharged from the secondary winding, extending the OFF period of the first switching element for the desired period. In a light load operation, a phototransistor in the second control circuit is turned on so that the ON period of the second switching element will be shorter than the time required to discharge the energy from the secondary winding.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to switching power supply units, and more specifically, to a switching power supply unit that improves efficiency and performance in a light load operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Switching power supply units related to the present invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,061,252 and 6,201,713.
FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a switching power supply unit disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,252.
In the switching power supply unit, a transformer T having a primary winding T1 and a secondary winding T2, a first switching circuit S1, and an input power supply E are connected in series, and a series circuit of a second switching circuit S2 and a capacitor C is connected in parallel to the primary winding T1 of the transformer T. Furthermore, a rectifying and smoothing circuit including a rectifier element Ds is connected to the secondary winding T2 of the transformer T, and a capacitor Cs is connected in parallel to the rectifier element Ds. Furthermore, the transformer T includes a first drive winding T3 and a second drive winding T4. The first drive winding T3 is connected to a first control circuit 11 and the second drive winding T4 is connected to a second control circuit 12. The control circuits 11 and 12 which constitute a switching control circuit control the ON/OFF of the first and the second switching elements Q1 and Q2, respectively.
The first switching circuit S1 is defined by a parallel connection circuit including a first switching element Q1, a first diode D1, and a first capacitor C1. The second switching circuit S2 is defined by a parallel connection circuit including a second switching element Q2, a second diode D2, and a second capacitor C2. L indicates a leakage inductor in the primary winding T1 or an inductor that is connected separately.
In the configuration described above, the first and the second control circuits 11 and 12 constituting the switching control circuit control the first switching circuit S1 and the second switching circuit S2 to alternately turn the switching circuits S1 and S2 on and off with an intermediate period in which both of the switching circuits S1 and S2 are turned off, such that energy is stored in the primary winding T1 of the transformer T during an ON period of the first switching circuit S1 and the energy is discharged from the secondary winding T2 of the transformer T during an OFF period of the first switching circuit S1. The operation cycle is repeated such that energy is received from the secondary winding T2 and a power is supplied to the load. The first and the second control circuits 11 and 12 include transistors connected to the control terminals of the switching elements Q1 and Q2, and time constant circuits connected to the control terminals of the transistors, so that the circuits control when the switching elements Q1 and Q2 are turned on and off.
FIG. 2 is an operation waveform chart of the switching power supply unit. Referring to FIG. 2, Q1 and Q2 indicate when the switching elements Q1 and Q2 are turned on and off, respectively. Vds1 and Id1 indicate a voltage across and a current through the switching element Q1, respectively. Vds2 and Id2 indicate a voltage across and a current through the switching element Q2, respectively. Vs and Is indicate a voltage across the rectifier element Ds and a current through the secondary winding T2, respectively.
In the configuration described above, when the first switching element Q1 is turned off, a voltage is generated on the drive winding T4 for the second switching element Q2, whereby the second switching element Q2 is turned on. Then, the transistor in the control circuit 12 is turned on after a certain period of time determined by the time constant circuit has elapsed, whereby the second switching element Q2 is turned off. At this time, a voltage is generated in the drive winding T3 for the first switching element Q1 when the rectifier element Ds on the secondary side is turned off if the rectifier element Ds has been turned on, or when the second switching element Q2 is turned off if the rectifier element Ds has been turned off. That is, a voltage is generated when both of the second switching element Q2 and the rectifier element Ds are turned off, whereby the first switching element Q1 is turned on. By the operation described above, the first switching element Q1 and the second switching element Q2 are controlled to alternately turn on and off with an intermediate period in which both of the switching elements Q1 and Q2 are turned off, such that an energy which is stored on the primary winding of the transformer T during an ON period of the first switching element Q1 is output from the secondary winding T2 as electric energy during an OFF period of the first switching element Q1.
In the switching power supply unit described above, a zero-voltage switching operation is performed in which the first and the second switching elements Q1 and Q2 are turned on after voltages applied across each of the switching elements drops to zero. This reduces switching loss and prevents switching surge, to thereby improve efficiency and performance.
However, in the switching power supply unit described above, when the load is light, a portion of the energy stored in the primary winding T1 of the transformer T during an ON period of the first switching element Q1 is regenerated on the input side. In FIG. 3, regenerative current is shown as an area indicated by A. The regenerative current becomes a circulating current that does not contribute to output. If the ON period of the switching element Q2 is fixed, the circulating current increases as the output power decreases (as the load becomes lighter). A large circulating current greatly increases conduction loss in the first and the second switching elements Q1 and Q2 and the transformer T, resulting in greatly reduced efficiency under light load operation.
Accordingly, in a switching power supply unit according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,713, circulating current is reduced by shortening the ON period of the second switching element Q2 in a light load operation, thereby improving efficiency. However, a reduction in circulating current causes an increase in the switching frequency. This increase in switching frequency produces an increase in switching loss including loss in drive circuits for switching elements.
That is, if circulating current is large, switching loss is small because the switching frequency is low. However, conduction loss associated with the circulating current increases. On the other hand, if circulating current is reduced, conduction loss is reduced. However, switching loss increases due to the higher switching frequency.
To overcome the above-described problems, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a switching power supply unit that reduces circulating current and thereby reduces conduction loss under light load operation or no load operation, and that also reduces switching loss and switching surge, thus improving the efficiency and reducing the size and weight of a switching power supply unit.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a switching power supply unit including a first switching circuit including a parallel connection circuit that includes a first switching element, a first diode, and a first capacitor; a second switching circuit including a parallel connection circuit that includes a second switching element, a second diode, and a second capacitor; a capacitor connected in series to the second switching circuit, the series circuit of the capacitor and the second switching circuit are connected to one end of the first switching circuit; a transformer including a primary winding and a secondary winding; a rectifying and smoothing circuit including a rectifier element, connected to the secondary winding of the transformer; an input power supply connected in series to the first switching circuit and the transformer; and a switching control circuit which alternately turns the first switching element and the second switching element on and off with an intermediate period in which both of the switching elements are turned off, such that energy is stored in the primary winding of the transformer during an ON period of the first switching element and the energy is discharged from the secondary winding of the transformer during an OFF period of the first switching element; wherein the switching control circuit includes an OFF period extending device which permits an OFF period of the first switching element to be continued for a desired amount of time even after the energy has been discharged from the secondary winding, thereby lowering the switching frequency.
According to the prior art, when energy is discharged from the secondary winding, a voltage is generated in the drive winding for the first switching element when the rectifier element in the rectifying and smoothing circuit is turned off or when the second switching element is turned off. That is, the voltage is generated when both of the second switching element and the rectifier element are turned off, whereby the first switching element is turned on via the first control circuit.
According to the above-described preferred embodiment of the present invention invention, the OFF period extending device that permits the OFF period of the first switching element to be continued for the desired amount of time is provided. Thus, the first switching element is turned on with a delay, thereby lowering the switching frequency, whereby switching loss is reduced. Furthermore, the series circuit of the second switching element and the capacitor defines a voltage clamping circuit, thereby preventing a voltage surge across the first and the second switching elements. This allows for the use of low-voltage switching elements. Because low-voltage switching elements have small resistance values when turned on and are inexpensive, use of low-voltage switching elements greatly reduces loss, greatly improves efficiency, and greatly reduces cost.
The switching control circuit of another preferred embodiment of the present invention preferably includes a device for limiting an ON period of the second switching element to less than the time required to discharge the energy from the secondary winding.
By providing the device for limiting the ON period of the second switching element to less than the time required to discharge the energy from the secondary winding, i.e., a device for decreasing regenerative current, the discharge time of the capacitor connected in series to the second switching circuit is reduced in light load operation or no load operation. This reduces circulating current, and thereby greatly reduces conduction loss associated with the circulating current.
The OFF period extending device is defined by a transistor connected in series to the control terminal of the first switching element, the transistor remaining turned off even after the energy has been discharged from the secondary winding, such that the OFF period of the first switching element is extended for a desired amount of time.
For example, a device for detecting whether the load is light or heavy is provided for the secondary winding of the transformer, such that the transistor is controlled to remain turned off even after the energy has been discharged from the secondary winding if a light load is detected. According to this arrangement, a single transistor is required to define a switching element for driving the switching elements. Thus, the number of components is reduced, thus greatly reducing the size, weight and cost of the switching power supply unit.
Alternatively, the OFF period extending device may be defined by a transistor connected in parallel to the control terminal of the first switching element, the transistor remaining turned on even after the energy has been discharged from the secondary winding, such that the OFF period of the first switching element is extended for a desired time.
In contrast to the arrangement described above, in which the transistor is connected in series to the control terminal of the first switching element, in this arrangement, the transistor is connected in parallel to the control terminal of the first switching element, which also achieves the same advantages described above.
The switching control circuit preferably includes a transistor connected to the control terminal of the first switching element, and a time constant circuit defined by a capacitor and an impedance circuit connected to the control terminal of the transistor, such that the output voltage is controlled by controlling the ON period of the first switching element.
The time constant circuit is provided to turn on the transistor after a desired period of time elapses from an increase in voltage in the drive winding and to thereby quickly turn off the first switching element. The output voltage is easily controlled by adjusting the time constant of the time constant circuit, thus reducing the size, weight and cost of the switching power supply unit.
Furthermore, the switching control circuit preferably includes a transistor connected to the control terminal of the second switching element, and a time constant circuit including a capacitor and an impedance circuit connected to the control terminal of the transistor, such that the discharge current from the capacitor connected in series to the second switching circuit is controlled by controlling the ON period of the second switching element.
In this arrangement as well, similar to the arrangement described above, the output voltage is controlled by adjusting the time constant of the time constant circuit, thus reducing the size, weight and cost of the switching power supply unit.
The OFF period extending device preferably operates in a light load operation, and does not operate in at least a heavy load operation.
The OFF period extending device produces optimal operation in accordance with the load when it operates in a light load operation in response to a signal indicating detection of the light load operation and does not operate in at least a heavy load operation. This achieves highly efficient operation in no load, light load, and heavy load operations.
The first switching element and the second switching element preferably include field-effect transistors.
By constructing the first and the second switching elements using field-effect transistors, parasitic capacitances of the field-effect transistors are used as the first capacitor and the second capacitor, and parasitic diodes of the field-effect transistors are used as the first diode and the second diode. This eliminates the need to provide the diodes and the capacitors as separate components, thus further reducing the size, weight and cost of the switching power supply unit.
The transformer preferably includes a first drive winding and a second drive winding for generating voltages that turn on the first and the second switching elements to produce a self-excited oscillation.
Because the drive windings are provided in the transformer to produce a self-excited oscillation, ICs such as an oscillation circuit and a control circuit are not required, thus further reducing the size, weight and cost of the switching power supply unit.
The switching power supply unit may further include a leakage inductor induced in a magnetic circuit including the primary winding and the secondary winding of the transformer or an inductor connected in series to the transformer, wherein the inductor and the capacitor connected in series to the second switching element define an oscillation circuit.
The capacitor and the leakage inductor in the transformer or the inductor separately connected define an oscillation circuit that generates oscillation. Thus, energy stored in the inductor is output to avoid loss, and improve efficiency. In addition, the second switching element is turned off with a zero current to reduce switching loss.
Preferably, the rectifying and smoothing circuit includes a diode as the rectifier element, and a capacitive impedance is connected in parallel to the diode.
By connecting the capacitive impedance to the rectifier element, the reverse recovery loss of the rectifier is greatly reduced and efficiency is greatly improved. In addition, energy transmitted to the secondary winding is supplied to the load via the capacitive impedance without passing the rectifier element, so that rectification loss is reduced. Furthermore, the capacitance of the first capacitor and the second capacitor in the first switching circuit and the second switching circuit respectively, is greatly reduced.
Other features, elements, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.


A housing body of a fuel injector has a multi-part design; it includes a base member and at least one calibrating sleeve. Air is supplied and metered in through the calibrating sleeve, while the base member is used for sealing and attachment purposes. A dimensionally accurate machining of calibrating sleeves can be carried out simply and cost-effectively. The structural design easily yields many different variants. The fuel injector is especially suited for fuel-injection systems of mixture-compressing internal combustion engines having externally supplied ignition.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,716 describes a fuel injector for injecting an air-fuel mixture which, at the downstream end of a nozzle body, has an adapter into which air can be introduced. The air is supplied via two supply ducts or supply orifices, which run obliquely to the longitudinal valve axis and open through into an inner spray-discharge region of the adapter to allow the air to collide with the fuel either upstream or downstream from a centrally arranged collision surface. The collision surface partitions the fuel into two spray-discharge orifices. Over their length, the air-supply ducts have a constant diameter and a circular cross-section. To assure a precise metering-in of the air, the metering cross-section must be fabricated to very exact dimensions. Since the entire adapter has to be manipulated when the supply ducts are inserted, this machining step is relatively costly. Moreover, once the supply ducts have been inserted, one can no longer vary their size.
The above applies to fuel injectors as well, as disclosed, for example, in German Patent No. 41 03 918 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,358. Here, as well, air supply ducts, which always exhibit a constant diameter and circular cross-section, are provided in an adapter housing body on the valve. The supply ducts are, again, inserted directly in the housing body, so that the entire housing body has to be handled in order to machine them.
Therefore, in known injectors where air is supplied in an ancillary housing body, the two functions of supplying or metering air and of mounting on the injector must be jointly approached, so that it is hardly possible to optimally realize both functions because of the integration.
Therefore, in known fuel injectors, air is supplied in a housing body through air-supply ducts which are directed toward the fuel in a central orifice. These housing bodies are formed in one piece, making it impossible to variably meter in air and aggravating the insertion of the air-supply ducts.


The invention relates to the optimized management of one or more fluid production units, especially those involving fluid separation treatment, comprising: a) a data collection step, the data being on one or more values of current parameters defining a current operating point of the production unit, on a future production demand and on at least one optimization criterion; and b) a computation step for computing one or more parameters defining a new operating point of the unit, at least in accordance with this demand. The computation step b) comprises at least: 1) an estimation of at least one optimum solution for defining the new operating point; and 2) a validity test carried out on this optimum solution, at least in accordance with an analysis of the transition of the production unit from the current operating point to the new operating point.

Hereinbelow, the principle of a unit for separating fluids, such as air gases, is not described in detail, it being a principle widely described in the literature.
All that is indicated here is that this method, for example for separating the constituents of air, is used to produce oxygen, nitrogen and argon (more rarely krypton and xenon):                in gaseous form, or        in liquid form.
The gases produced (for example oxygen and nitrogen) are generally compressed at different pressure levels and sent to one or more final consumption points. These points may be local or remote. In the case of remote consumption points, the fluids pass through a distribution network (via pipelines for example).
The liquids produced (for example oxygen, nitrogen, argon, krypton or xenon) are, for their part, stored in cryogenic tanks then transported by trucks or wagons to the final consumption points.
The difficulty in managing such a unit stems notably from the fact that all the productions of these fluids are interlinked and the increase in quantity of one or more product leads inevitably:                to the reduction of one or more other products, if it concerns, for example, a consideration of gaseous phase in relation to a liquid phase of one and the same species,        or to their increase, if it concerns, for example, a consideration of one species relative to others (for example oxygen relative to nitrogen, argon, krypton or xenon).
Furthermore, the means used for the compression or liquefaction, on a production site (which may comprise a plurality of production units), are multiple. It is therefore best to optimize the use of these means in order to both satisfy the production constraints and minimize the energy consumed for the production. In practice, as an indication, 60% of the costs of production of air gases are generally linked to the consumption in particular of electricity.
The choice of the operating parameters (air charge, liquid production, choice of compression means, and other) is generally entrusted to operators (physical individuals). In some cases, automatic systems drive the production unit (or set of units) by using sophisticated control tools which typically handle the management of a transitional state from a first unit operating point A to a second operating point B.
Different types of control tools are known for managing the production load variations of a production unit. These tools generally use predictive control of the type:                with multi-variable predictive control, "MVPC",        or even, for example, with advanced predictive control, or advanced feed-forward (AFF) control strategy.
The tools of the first type (MVPC) generally make it possible to achieve a high degree of optimization because they can drive the system at a point close to its limits (property known as "constraint pushing"). This type of technique may have an optimizer, more often than not linear, associated with it.
One the main gaps to be overcome generally, for these types of tool, is an integration of the problem of optimization (which answers the question: "where do we go?") and the problem of control (which answers the question: "how do we get there?"). This integration may provoke certain useless oscillations through the feedback, in particular in a transitional phase.
Moreover, this type of control presents a difficulty, even an impossibility, in using logic variables (stopping or starting equipment for example).
This type of control takes no account of any notion of time in the production objectives, but simply defines setpoints to be reached as quickly as possible.
Only the constraints that have a linear (or pseudo-linear) relationship with one or more degrees of freedom (defined by control variables) can be managed appropriately. For example, the releasing of a product into the air (due to a difference between consumption and instantaneous production) is difficult to control by this type of system because the gain (in the dynamic sense) is cancelled suddenly when the corresponding valve is closed.
Such a control, even though it is well suited to performing changes of load (management of the production dynamics), is not truly suitable for determining an operating point that optimizes the use of the energy of the site.
There has been proposed an adaptation of this type of optimizer according to a static form that makes it possible, for example, to manage the liquid production of units connected to a network (document U.S. Pat. No. 7,092,893). This optimizer defines objectives, or targets, with a load change controller (MVPC type). Provision is made in particular to use a predefined time interval (more specifically, a fixed period) to send targets to the controller.
However, such an implementation risks provoking oscillations, or even non-optimal results (typically, a static optimization in a method in a non-stationary state). Moreover, the feedback, in this type of configuration, can be taken into account only with difficulty, and therefore with a risk of offset between the model and the real state of the production unit. Furthermore, it would appear that this type of optimization can be executed only with a very slow and fixed rate.
The present invention improves the situation.

Multiple-level treatment for optimizing one or more fluid separation units

L'Air Liquide Société Anonyme Pour L'Étude Et L'Exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude


The group of inventions relates to the oil-and-gas extraction industry, in particular to equipment for removing deposits of asphaltenes, resins, paraffins, hydrates, calcium salts, etc. from tubing strings of oil and gas wells without extracting said tubing strings from the wells. This instrument can also be used for cleaning water-extracting wells and other wells. The internal surface of a tubing string is cleaned by a combined action (ultrasonic, mechanical, heat) on contaminants. Owing to the fact that operation of a well does not stop, dirt atomized by the combined action is raised to the surface and removed from the well by a stream of fluid. A system for ultrasonic cleaning of a tubing string consists of an ultrasonic generator and a downhole ultrasonic scraper, which comprises a converter converting electrical vibrations into mechanical vibrations, which is placed into a protective casing and is connected to a vibration transformer, which boosts the amplitude of vibrations of ultrasonic transducers. The use of the claimed group of inventions makes it possible to increase the efficiency and economy of an operation for cleaning a tubing string.

ARPD in the tubing reduce well productivity, increase equipment wear, energy consumption and pressure in the flow lines. Therefore, the struggle against ARPD is an urgent task with the intensification of oil production. Removal of ARPD is accomplished by means of cleaning the tubing surface and equipment by mechanical scrapers, thermal and chemical well treatment.
The tubing cleaning is also produced during major workovers or well servicing by means of its pulling from the well and carrying out cleaning and inspection by repair services. But the pulling and the subsequent hauling down of the tubing is rather a laborious process, which, in addition to the time and cost, entails the tubing life loss (thread galling). And removing the tubing from free-flow and gas-lift wells is impractical, especially in offshore wells, since it entails the suspending of oil production. So, the less the tubing will be removed from the well the lower production will cost. It is especially true for fields with high viscosity and paraffin oil where the tubing requires cleaning once a month and sometimes more often.
The primary tubing cleaning method that today is used to clean tubing without their removal from wells and without the suspending of oil production—is a mechanical one, and the main one—the scraper method. Therefore, the development of this mechanical cleaning field comprises the number of patents [1-9].
The equipment for implementation of the method structurally consists of a hoist with a drum connected to a motor, a cable fixed to the drum and passing through the system of rollers into the tubing with a scraper and a load attached to the cable end. The cleaning method consists in the sequential lowering and lifting up the scraper (system of scrapers, cutters) in the tubing, during which scrapers clean off the ARPD from the inner surface of the tubing.
The major efforts in the development of the known devices under consideration [1-9] are aimed to create a system of scrapers, which provides reduction of cutting resistance, cutting exertion, improvement in the quality of treatment, the conditions for the removal of sheared sediments and decreasing the probability of emergency situations.
The technical result of these devices is achieved by creating scrapers of special configuration [1, 6], supplying the system with electroheating to melt ARPD for facilitating its removal [4], using special scraper control and management systems [2, 3, 5], using the power of oil flow through the tubing to improve the scrapers efficiency [7], using the power of compressed air or liquid to give the scrapers rotary-translational movement [8, 9].
However, all methods of cleaning using scrapers of various configurations share the same disadvantages: scrapers often get stuck, the cable on which they fall gets cut off, and it results in pulling up the tubing and the increase of well costs.
Besides when using scrapers there remains a layer of ARPD equal to the difference between the inner diameter of the tubing and a diameter of scraper blades (cutters) which is 3-4 mm, so scrapers cannot make a perfectly clean and smooth surface. It is known from physics that the accumulation of sediments increases with increasing surface roughness. It is found that the higher the surface roughness, the more intense deposition of ARPD. At the same time on a smooth surface sediments are negligible, therefore, the cleaner processed surface, the longer the period between cleanings of the tubing, therefore, it reduces costs for well operation. Scrapers also cut large pieces of ARPD, the removal of which requires a powerful stream of fluid rising up in the tubing (which is always present in the running wells). If the flow is weak, then the elements of the ARPD will fall down to the bottom (at the free-flow or gas-lift operation) or to the pump outlet attached to the end of the tubing. In the first case, after several cycles the bottom hole will be clogged, and cleaning products may block the perforation zone. In the second case the engine will be put out of action. In both cases, the extraction of the tubing from the well will be needed as well as cleaning of blockages, which increases operating costs.
There is a known device and cleaning method [8] adopted as the prototype. With this method of cleaning, acoustic oscillations of the fluid create longitudinal and torsional vibrations of the cleaning head, which clean paraffin deposits by cutting elements of the cleaning head and the acoustic fluctuations of fluid. The device comprises a hollow housing with input and output channels, on the outer side of which is mounted a gasket, a spring-loaded cleaning head connected to the front of the housing, the ball is set into a gap with the possibility of its oscillations excitation. In the cleaning head there is made a toroidal chamber. The head is planted on the axis, is integral with the housing and provided with a ledge, which is interconnected with the bore, in the form of a cleaning head groove. The pumped liquid coming to the housing excites the vibrations of the ball. Vibrating motion of the ball creates a pulsating fluid flow. The flow entering the cleaning head, generates acoustic vibrations of high frequency. The ball, when pumping the washing liquid works like a vibrator that creates the pulsating fluid, due to this, the ball moves the device translationally, the fluid generates acoustic oscillations in the cleaning head while running through a toroidal chamber. (see Patent No. RU 2524581 PIPE INNER SURFACE CLEANER, 2013).
In the device description, the frequency of acoustic oscillations of the liquid is not described, so it is not clear what role is played by the acoustic oscillations. Apparently, there is just pulsing liquid involved in the treatment along with cleaning by the cutting elements of the head. It is not clear how the device descends in the tubing and how it is retrieved from it. For operation of the device the energy of the washing liquid is used, therefore, on the surface there must be a pump unit that could create a corresponding pressure. Thus, the device is more energy-intensive than conventional scrapers discussed above. The quality of cleaning will not materially differ from the quality of cleaning by conventional scrapers. Generally, the device is a piston moved by pressure of the washing fluid down the tubing. This means that there is no liquid flow upward which would bring elements of ARPD from the well, so they will settle down and create the problems described above. Large deposits of ARPD on the tubing string may lead to clogging of tubing elements by ARPD and subsequent jamming of the device under discussion in the pipe that will create an emergency situation.

Combined method for cleaning a tubing string and apparatus for carrying out said method

ILMASONIC-SCIENCE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY


The present invention is directed to coumarin derivatives, pharmaceutical compositions containing them and their use in the treatment of disorders related to ion channels such as potassium channels.

Ion channels play a fundamental role in the homeostasis of cell function through the regulation of the transmembrane movement of ions. Cellular activity can be affected by modifications of the activities of the ion channels. This leads to changes in membrane potential difference. Potassium channels are a diverse and ubiquitous group of ion channels. They principally regulate the resting membrane potential of the cell and attenuate the level of excitation of cells. A functional KATP channel is a hetero-octamer assembled from four inward rectifying potassium channel subunits (Kir6.2) and four sulfonylurea receptor (SUR) subunits. There are two SUR genes, SUR1 and SUR2. SUR1/Kir6.2 channels are found in the pancreas and brain. Two major splice variants arise from the SUR2 gene, SUR2A and SUR2B, that differ only at the C-terminal 42 amino acids. SUR2A/Kir6.2 channels are found in cardiac and skeletal tissues whereas SUR2B/Kir6.2 channels are found in smooth muscles of many tissues including bladder (Aguilar-Bryan, 1998). A number of diseases or conditions may be treated with potassium channel openers. This includes overactive bladder, urinary incontinence, male erectile dysfunction, female sexual disorders, premature labor, benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), dysmenorrhea, neurodegeneration, stroke, pain, coronary artery disease, angina, ischemia, eating disorders, irritable bowl syndrome and alopecia.
Urinary incontinence (UI) is a disease that can affect the overall quality of life of a patient. Overactive bladder (OAB) is the most prevalent form of UI, with reported prevalence rate from 40 to 70% of all diagnosed UI cases (Wein, 2000). OAB is characterized by the symptoms of increased urinary frequency, urgency, and involuntary loss of urine. A primary cause of OAB is an oversensitive bladder that contracts unexpectedly and involuntarily. The ideal pharmaceutical agent should suppress the involuntary contraction while leaving the normal voiding contractions intact. ATP-sensitive potassium channel openers (KCO) could serve as such agents. The ATP-sensitive potassium channels (KATP) are expressed in bladder smooth muscle and function as key regulators of the resting membrane potential in these cells. Compounds that selectively open these channels hyperpolarize the cell and decrease cellular excitability, resulting in suppression of involuntary bladder contractions, while leaving the normal micturition circuitry intact.

Coumarin derivatives as ion channel openers