Elastomers having a polyurethane binder are formed from a mixture including tetrastar polyethylene oxide polyol with a molecular weight of at least 16000 daltons and a plasticizer present in a ratio of at least five parts by weight to one part of the polyol and provide high tensile strength, extreme elongation, great flexibility, and absence of voids. Energetic elastomers use a nitrate ester plasticizer with a curative having a functionality of at least three and an NCO/OH equivalent ratio of about 2.5 and may include an energetic particulate filler. Inert elastomers use a non-volatile ester plasticizer, as dimethyl phthalate, with a curative having a functionality of two and an NCO/OH equivalent ratio not over 2.0. Inert elastomers simulating mechanical properties of energetic elastomers including a nitrate ester use plasticizers, as a non-volatile ester and a mixture including a bromoaromatic derivative, having densities above and below the nitrate ester density, 1,2,4-butanetriol trinitrate being replaced with dimethyl phthalate and a mixture of pentabromodiphenyl ether and an aryl phosphate. A particulate energetic organic filler is simulated by an inert organic chlorine derivative of similar density, cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine being replaced by 1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10,13,14,14-dodecachloro-1,4,4a,5,6,6a,7,10,10a,11,12,12a-do decahydro-1,4,7,10-dimethanodibenzo (a,e) cyclooctene and permitting particulate aluminum to be used in the same proportions as in an energetic elastomer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of elastomers having a polyurethane binder. More particularly, it pertains to such elastomers formed from a polyol mixture having a high proportion of plasticizer, the elastomers being useful for voidless films, energetic compositions, and inert simulants for energetic compositions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Elastomeric materials which have high tensile strength and great elongation to failure are desired for a variety of purposes. It is highly desirable that such elastomeric materials retain these properties although including fillers and adventious materials that are not elastomeric. These properties are enhanced by the absence of voids, and voidless elastomeric materials are required for leak-proof articles formed of films of such materials. Elastomers generated by curing from a liquid are particularly desirable since they may be formed by a variety of processes and in many shapes.
Elastomeric characteristics of materials related to the present invention are provided by the bending, rotation, and uncoiling of cross-linked polymeric chains or backbones forming a binder which determines the ultimate properties of the materials. In a relaxed state of the materials, flexible segments of the chains form coils which uncoil upon extension until rupture occurs. The length of the coiled segments between cross-links or rigid chain portions such as urethanes thus limits the extension that can be achieved prior to rupture.
However for elongation to occur, the chains must be separated by non-volatile liquid plasticizers which allow portions of the chains to move relatively. As a result, the toughness of an elastomer, which for the purposes of the present application is represented by the area under the stress/strain curve of the elastomer, is mainly determined by interaction between the binder and plasticizer, although dependent on other factors such as the kind and amount of curative and interactions of the binder and plasticizer with any relatively rigid fillers, for example, the particulate materials typically used to provide additional energy in energetic elastomeric materials. Toughness contributes to the insensitivity of energetic elastomers materials to undesired initiation and is, of course, highly desirable in other elastomeric articles such as coatings, flexible and expansible containers, caulking compounds, potting materials, adhesives, and articles formed by films or membranes.
Many binder and plasticizer materials are known; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,980 to Reed, Jr., one of the present inventors, which issued 24 Jan. 1989 and which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a variety of elastomers formed of these materials and useful for energetic materials, that is, explosives and propellants. Such energetic materials typically include particulate organic fillers and metals and yet must retain their elastomeric properties. However, elastomeric materials using the same or similar binders are useful for inert simulants for the energetic elastomers and are useful for elastomeric articles for any purposes wherein high tensile strength, great elongation, and toughness are desirable.
A particular problem with elastomeric materials is the presence of voids and microporosities which reduce strength and elongation and whose absence is essential for protective coatings and for articles such as containers, including bladders for supplying fluids, and for articles, such as condoms and gloves, for preventing the transmission of viruses and other substances injurious to health. Elastomers formed by evaporation of a liquid, which may be a solvent or may be a carrier liquid as in latexes, tend to develop voids. Voids also develop where polymerization or coagulation of particles is interrupted by solid impurities that are not wetted by the curing elastomer, as is the case with the macromolecules forming latexes.
It is thus highly desirable to provide elastomers formed without volatile solvents and from liquids composed of relatively small molecules that are able to penetrate into the surface microstructure of solids. Voids are also avoided by elastomers formed by polymerization, so that there is essentially no shrinkage, and by polyols having sufficient molecular weight to minimize exothermic effects. For avoidance of voids it is desirable that an elastomer have polar groups that enhance bonding to many substances although without forming bonds rigid enough to reduce elongation. Such elastomers formed without volatile solvents and by polymerization of microstructure penetrating molecules without shrinkage and with polar bonding, as to substrates, without forming bonds rigid enough to reduce elongation are also elastomers most effective for coating, caulking, potting, and adhesive purposes.
A desirable feature of elastomers used for certain purposes, such as bladders, is that the polymer chains of the elastomer be uncoiled easily so stress increases slowly with increasing strain. This provides a relatively constant force over a wide range of elongation. However, continued elongation brings the chains closer together so that interaction between cross-links or chains occurs and provides high ultimate strength.
For processing, as by casting or extrusion, it is required that an elastomeric material have suitable rheological properties before curing and even though including particulate fillers. Also for processing, it is highly desirable that an elastomeric system having a variety of uses be adapted to vary the rate of curing and that curing be possible over a range of easily provided temperatures. It is further desirable that polymerization be possible in situ at the microsurfaces of solid fillers and impurities for adhesion of the binder thereto.
It is also desirable that an elastomers be adapted for the inclusion of solid ingredients as medicinals or antiseptics by dissolving them in the liquid binder solution.
various aspects of elastomers related to the present invention will now be discussed in greater detail. One aspect is that the functionality of polyols used to form elastomeric compositions has a dominant effect on the area under the stress-strain curve of the elastomer. For example, compositions having a difunctional polyethylene glycol (PEG) binder display a slowly rising area as chain length, measured by backbone atoms, increases. In such a difunctional PEG there are two carbons and one oxygen, or three skeletal atoms per mer unit. As these units are increased, elongation at rupture increases modestly while stress decreases because of the continuing decrease in cross-link density. Plasticized compositions containing a difunctional PEG having a molecular weight of 4500 daltons, such as those widely used in modern high energy, high elongation propellants, tend to have values of tensile stress at failure and elongations that are one-half or less than those of corresponding tetrafunctional polyalkalyene oxide (PAO) compositions. Such properties are the result of incomplete cross-linking and a partially formed polymer network; and it has been reported that cross-link density of PEG/nitroglycerine (NG) elastomers decrease markedly as a plasticizer/binder ratio by weight (Pl/Po) of 3 is exceeded.
However, compositions containing polyols with functionality of three or four are much tougher and exhibit a greater dependence on skeletal atoms. In these compositions, all hydroxyl groups should have equal reactivity so that a regular network can be formed, and the hydroxyls should be unhindered and primary since secondary hydroxyl groups react more slowly and, perhaps, less completely, than primary and thus limit the molecular weight of the network. Similarly, it is desirable that the urethane forming groups of a curative have equal reactivity.
At the higher functionalities, a given chain length is more effective because the quaternary and tertiary carbon cross-links are more efficient than urethane cross-links which may be relatively fragile, since they are polar and rigid in nature, as compared to the resilient carbon cross-links in the polyol moiety. As a result, carbon cross-links are critical in attaining regular and fully cross-linked polymer networks. As a polyether elastomer having such networks is extended, the polyether is uncoiled easily so that stress increases slowly as strain increases with continued elongation bringing the chains closer together so that interaction between urethane cross-links or chains occurs and the stress rises increasingly with further strain.
Films and adherent coatings formed from hydroxyl terminated polyethers provide liquid curable, plasticized urethanes which are single-phase and contain no volatile solvents or other substances to create voids and for which nonvolatile polyols capped with isocyanates are effective as relatively non-toxic plasticizers. As before mentioned, liquids that can be polymerized to form elastomers have an inherent ability to bond to fillers and to substrates since these liquids are composed of relatively small molecules that are able to penetrate into the surface microstructure of solids to a degree not possible for the macromolecules contained in many lattices and since in situ polymerization of polyols occurring in the microsurface tends to enhance adhesion between the polymer-filler adhesion. Voids are also avoided by binders formed from relatively high molecular weight polyols, such as those having a weight of 15,000 or more daltons, which have essentially no shrinkage as polymerization occurs. Polyols of such weights also minimize polymerization exothermic effects that might damage binders or fillers.
Polyether binders have an affinity for polar solids forming substrates, intentional fillers, and adventious impurities. While solids that have a strong affinity for binders are generally not desirable because they reduce elongation, as by preventing the formation of coiled flexible segments; binders and solids with no affinity undergo early and irreversible dewetting, the tendency of a binder to pull away from such solids when the composite of binder, plasticizer, and composite undergoes tensile stress. However, the weak affinity of hard urethane linkages for such solids desirably reduces dewetting without adversely reducing elongation.
This advantage of urethane groups is also provided by the amide linkage in proteins, which bonds tenaciously to polar substrates of polar materials. However, the amide units are not separated by long flexible segments so that the proteins have little elasticity and synthetic amides are not conveniently formed by the curing of liquids at ambient temperature.
Polyols, such as the oxetanes, having large pendant groups tend to have reduced toughness, perhaps because of internal plasticization contributed by the pendant group which, in any event, reduces the number of load-bearing atoms between cross-links.
Despite the advantages of liquid polyethers, some such as polypropylene glycol (PPG), polytetramethylene glycol (PTMG), and butylene glycol (BG), are incompatible with inert and energetic plasticizers. PPG and BG also have secondary hydroxyl groups which react more slowly and less completely than primary hydroxyls. It is thus more difficult to attain toughness with these glycols than with other liquid polyalkylene glycols. Even with binders which are predominately PEG, some plasticizers such as the nitrate esters used in energetic elastomers tend to inhibit cross-linking and thus limit molecular weight after polymerization, toughness, and plasticizer retention.
From the above it is believed apparent that elastomeric compositions having a polyurethane binder formed from a curable liquid which includes, together with a suitable plasticizer and a suitable curative, a tetrafunctional polyalkalyene oxide polyol having a relatively high molecular weight would have favorable tensile strength, elongation, bonding with fillers and impurities, and absence of voids. However, heretofore those skilled in the art have limited the plasticizer/binder ratio of such compositions to about 3.0 since, in related prior art compositions, the excess plasticizer exudes making these compositions dangerous, as with nitrate ester plasticizers, impractical as with health care articles and containers and, at least, undesirable for many purposes as where long storage and high ambient temperatures are involved. In the prior art it was also believed that, as pointed out above in connection with of polyethylene glycol/nitroglycerine elastomers, such a high Pl/Po decreases cross-link density resulting in lower tensile strength or elongation without any improvement in toughness and flexibility without breakage. As a result and when use of such a tetrafunctional polyalkalyene oxide polyol was contemplated in the prior art--see for example composition "DRX-4" of Table 2 of in the above U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,980 to one of the present inventors wherein the Pl/Po ratio was limited to 3.16 although the invention was directed to tough energetic compositions--relatively no more plasticizer was used than previously employed with difunctional polyalkalyene oxide derived compositions.
Explosive compositions which have high performance, toughness, and flexibility and which can be loaded into relatively long lengths of plastic tubing are believed unreported in the prior art. Curable such explosive compositions having elastomeric binders lack toughness and flexibility and thus break when bent. Also, the curable compositions cannot be loaded into such lengths of tubing because they contain high levels (.gtoreq.280%) of relatively coarse solids (.gtoreq.2150 m particle diameter). Such explosive compositions have been provided in the form of noncurable pastes; but these pastes are unsatisfactory because they separate when loaded into tubes stored in a folded configuration. In these prior art compositions, breakage and separation adversely affects detonation propagation; and the performance of these compositions is limited because their limited flexibility requires a relatively high weight of inert tubing.
For development of and training in the use of a system using such a net and for evaluation of the properties of any explosive used therein--as well as for any other elastomeric explosive and propellant compositions, it is highly desirable that inert simulants be provided having substantially the same physical and mechanical properties as such energetic compositions.

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


A network-based system (and method) is disclosed for the collaboration of transmission nodes and receiver nodes for secure data interchange for radiological image data records including confidential components. The processing node provides a set of virtual clients, wherein a virtual client is associated with a respective receiver node and is intended to provide the intended pseudonymized image data record. A connection message is sent to the respective receiver nodes. The connection message includes a reference to the address of the virtual client that the receiver node can use to retrieve the pseudonymized image data record if it is situated outside a security domain of the transmission node. Furthermore, the connection message includes a reference to a memory address in the local PHI share memory unit that the receiver node can use to provide the original image data record if the receiver node is situated inside the security domain.

In modern medical engineering today, many processes and methods, such as the performance of an operation, treatment planning or reporting, are based on acquired medical images. One example of this is medical radiology. By way of example, many operations today are performed with the assistance of images, which means that the surgeon or doctor can also track and correct the intervention with the assistance of images.
For the benefit of the patient and to reduce the applied dose of radiation, it is naturally desirable for as few images as possible to need to be acquired in principle. Conversely, however, this means that images, once acquired, also need to be available for later processes and that the acquired images need to shared with other users, for example for the purposes of a clinical council or a comprehensive diagnosis. Furthermore, the medical images are frequently not acquired in one and the same medical entity (e.g. in a hospital), but rather are required at different locations, which likewise results in the respective image data needing to be interchanged between the processing entities involved.
For efficient cooperation of radiologists, it is indispensible for an efficient system for interchanging image data to be provided. However, it is necessary to ensure that the legal provisions concerning security are observed. These require security-critical or confidential data records not to be distributed beyond particular boundaries.
By way of example, it is necessary to ensure that information identifying the respective patient (such as name, age, date of birth, etc.) does not fall into unauthorized hands. These security-critical data records are frequently also called PHI information (PHI—protected health information). The data interchange therefore needs to take place in compliance with the rules, so that the PHI data records are visible only inside the respective hospital or inside the hospital department, for example.
In the prior art, there are two concepts, in principle, for information systems in order to allow collaboration between radiologists. A first approach is based on transmitting the complete screen interface content to another computer interface of the cooperating radiologist. A second concept is based on transmitting only the basic medical images.
However, the second approach requires the cooperating radiologist to whom the images are meant to be sent to himself have the appropriate software and hardware on his computer in order to be able to actually show the image data records. This means a corresponding level of installation and maintenance complexity. Problems arise particularly when the sending system and the receiving system do not have the same equipment on the computer.
For more extensive applications, it is furthermore necessary for the same tools to be available. In some cases, it is even necessary for the same version of a software application to be installed on both the sending appliance and the receiving appliance in order to be able to ensure error-free transmission. The known methods therefore have considerable disadvantages, since increased infrastructure complexity is incurred on both systems.
In the case of the first-mentioned systems, which thus involve the complete screen content being transmitted, problems also arise because the transmission of the images frequently does not comply with the security standard. By way of example, it may be a simple matter for the complete image data records to be sent to the cooperating radiologist even though the latter is situated outside a security domain (e.g. outside the hospital) of the sending radiologist. When the images are sent, confidential data records are automatically also transmitted beyond the security boundaries, which is not permissible.

Network-based collaboration for secure data interchange for image data records having confidential components


Apparatus for modifying a drive system for a lehr loader in which a rotating cam functions to raise and lower a pusher bar for moving ware from a cross-conveyor onto a lehr belt, with a crank arm being connected to the rotating cam and the pusher bar to effect forward and reverse movement of the loader bar. In this arrangement, the effective length of the crank arm which is moving the loader bar forward and backward in response to rotation of the rotating cam, is changed by having its connection to the rotating cam shiftable in response to the rotational position of the rotating cam. This changing position is accomplished by having the crank connected to the rotating cam through a radially extending slot, with the position of the crank connection in the slot being regulated by a stationary box cam that circumscribes the path of rotation of the rotating cam.

The conventional lehr loaders, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,424,030 issued Jan. 28, 1969 to J. L. Mennitt, which schematically shows the physical arrangement of a lehr loader and a cross-conveyor positioned in front of an annealing lehr, are being required to move greater numbers of articles or glass containers onto a lehr mat during a given time period.
Production of glass containers has increased in recent years such that a forming machine now will produce more than twice the number of bottles per minute as they previously did, this being due to the increase in the number of individual sections which form a complete forming machine of the wellknown Hartford I.S. type and also in the fact that many of these individual sections are capable of producing three containers at a time during each cycle of operation of the section. The loader which loads the ware onto the lehr by pushing a line of ware from a cross-conveyor across a dead plate onto the moving lehr mat has created problems in plant operation because it must move faster and is reaching the limit of its mechanical ability to move ware without tipping the ware over.
Another consideration is that because the cross-conveyor is moving at a greater speed in order to move the larger volume of the ware from the machines to the lehr, the loader, even if it is of the type which is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,434 issued Jan. 10, 1978 to E. H. Mumford, which follows in the direction of the movement of ware on the cross-conveyor at the time it moves across the line of ware, has been taxed almost beyond its mechanical capabilities.
Some lehrs may be as narrow as eight feet, while others, as wide as ten to twelve feet, are capable of receiving thirty containers in a row across the width of the lehr. As would be expected, when moving thirty containers at one time by pushing them from a moving conveyor at right angles to this movement onto a dead plate and then onto the receiving end of a moving lehr belt or mat, considerable force will be required. Movement of a pusher bar of this size and the further requirement that it move also in the direction of movement of the ware has become a major consideration in the production speeds of a glass plant. This movement has to be smooth; otherwise, if there is vibration, there is a tendency for the ware to be tipped. Also in these present lehr loaders there is a tendency, if the loader does not move through the row of ware fast enough, that the first incoming container that will form the next row may be struck by the end of the pusher bar, again tipping over a container. In any of the instances when a container is tipped over, it is likely to be damaged to the extent that it cannot be used and, therefore, becomes a discarded piece of ware that must be remelted.
With the foregoing in view, it is an object of this invention to provide a lehr loader in which the pusher bar may be moved forward at a slower rate to avoid high speed impact with the newly formed ware and to push the ware onto the lehr mat with a more controlled velocity than previously capable of being performed by existing lehr loaders. The timing cycle of the movement of the lehr bar is such that it may move back to its position preparatory to moving a row of ware more rapidly than the previous lehr loaders, thus providing additional time in the cycle for moving the ware from the cross-conveyor without interference and with a smoother, unhurried, movement.

Method and apparatus for reducing loader bar impact


Valuable pyridazinone intermediates to pharmaceutically useful compounds can be prepared in surprisingly high yields by the reaction of the corresponding monohydrazone with diketene, preferably in the presence of a basic catalyst. In an especially preferred embodiment, p,p'-dichlorobenzil monohydrazone and diketene are reacted in a xylene solvent in the presence of triethylamine to afford 4-acetyl-5,6-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2H-pyridazin-3-one, which can then be reacted with ethylene carbonate in the presence of potassium carbonate to afford the antihypertensive agent, 4-acetyl-5,6-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2-(2'-hydroxyethyl)-2H-pyridazine-3-one.

Substituted pyridazinone compounds having various substituents have heretofore been prepared and proposed for use in a wide range of different ultimate applications. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,657,242; 3,689,652; 3,746,712; 3,812,256; 3,822,260; 3,876,786; 3,876,787; 3,931,177; and 3,975,388 disclose a variety of pharmacologically active 4,5-dihydropyridazinones. As a chemical class, those compounds comprise dihydro (saturated)ketopyridazines.
Representative of another class of related compounds are the pyridaz-3-one compounds disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,532. The aforesaid patent is directed to 4,5-unsaturated pyridaz-3-one (or 3-ketopyridazine) compounds having a cyano, acetyl, carboxyl, carbethoxy or benzoyl group in the 4- position optionally substituted in the 5,6-positions by lower alkyl, phenyl or substituted phenyl residues. These compounds are disclosed as being useful as medicaments, particularly, analgesics, anesthetics, antibacterials or disinfectants.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,096 and British Pat. No. 840,522 are directed to other previously investigated pyridazone compounds. The aforementioned British patent pertains to 2-hydroxymethyl-6-phenyl-3-pyridazone and the analgesic utility thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,096 describes 2-pyridylalkylated-6-phenylpyridaz-3-one compounds possessing sedative, analgesic and antispasmodic properties, with occasional hypotensive effects being observed.
Copending Powers et al U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11,416, U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,490 filed Feb. 12, 1979, and assigned to the assignee hereof, describes novel pyridazin(2H)-3-ones of the general formula ##STR1## and pharmaceutically acceptable nontoxic salts thereof wherein R.sub.1 is hydrogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 hydroxyalkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 carbamylmethyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 carboxyalkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxycarbonyl(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6)alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6) alkyl; or the group ##STR2## where a is 1 to 4, inclusive, R.sub.2 is hydrogen or C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl and R.sub.3 is amino, methylthio, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylamino, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylimino, c.sub.1 -C.sub.6 acylamino, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxycarbonylamino, morpholinyl, piperazinyl, (C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxycarbonyl)piperazinyl, piperidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, glucuronyl or glucopyranosyl; or the group ##STR3## where R.sub.4 is hydrogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 carboxyalkyl, phenyl, phenyl(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6)alkyl, or R.sub.4 represents the group ##STR4## where b is 0 to 4, inclusive, R.sub.5 is hydrogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, methylthioethyl, benzyl, NH.sub.2, or benzyloxycarbamyl, and R.sub.6 is hydrogen, benzyloxycarbonyl, t-butyloxycarbonyl or ##STR5## R.sub.7 is acetyl, cyano, phenylsulfonyl, (C.sub.1 -C.sub.4)alkylhydrazono, naphthyl, phenyl or phenyl substituted with at least one substituent selected from the group consisting of halogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylamino and C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy; and
X.sub.c and Y.sub.c are the same or different and are independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl and C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy where c is 0, 1 or 2; PA0 subject to the provisos that when R.sub.7 is acetyl, phenyl or cyano, R.sub.1 is other than hydrogen; and when R.sub.7 is cyano, R.sub.1 is C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 hydroxyalkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 carboxyalkyl of the group ##STR6## where R.sub.4 is C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 carboxyalkyl and X.sub.c and Y.sub.c are halo, with c being at least 1;
and the enol tautomeric derivatives and metabolites thereof. Said compounds are useful therapeutic antihypertensive agents, as described in the aforesaid U.S. application Ser. No. 11,416, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,490 said application being hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and relied upon.
As used throughout the instant specification and claims, the expressions "alkyl" and "alkoxy" are inclusive of straight and branched chain carbon-carbon linkages, e.g., methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, isohexyl, etc. The expression "acyl" includes, e.g., formyl, acetyl, propionyl, butanoyl, pentanoyl, hexanoyl and the like. The term "halo" includes chlorine, fluorine, bromine and iodine. The expression "pharmaceutically acceptable nontoxic salts," as used herein, is intended to include those salts capable of being formed with the compounds of formula (I) without materially altering the chemical structure or pharmacological properties of the parent compounds. Representative of acids for reaction with sufficiently basic pyridazinone derivatives include hydrochloric, hydrobromic, hydroiodic, nitric, phosphoric, citric, etc. Alkali metal salts of carboxylic acid derivatives of formula (I) may be obtained by reaction with suitable bases, e.g., sodium hydroxide, potassium hyroxide, etc. Alkaline earth metal salts may be similarly obtained. Additionally, compounds of formula (I) containing amino acid residues, i.e., an .alpha.-amino acyl group, may be obtained as their hydrate salts such as mono- or di-hydrobromide, hydrochloride, etc., hydrate and such inorganic and organic acid addition salts of certain of the compounds of formula (I) and amino acid residues or derivatives may advantageously be employed to, for instance, alter solubility properties or augment bioavailability.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the keto compounds of formula (I) wherein R.sub.1 is hydrogen may be present in the enol tautomeric form. It is also noted that certain of the R.sub.1 substituents at the 2-position, e.g., hydroxyalkyl, carboxyalkyl, alkoxycarbonylalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, alkylaminoalkyl, glucuronyl, etc., constitute possible enolic derivatives and/or metabolites of compounds within the scope of the present invention.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11,416, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,490 teaches that the subject pyridazinones, i.e., substituted keto-pyridazine compounds of formula (I), may be prepared by various alternative methods theretofore employed in the synthesis of other pyridazinone compounds (e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,532) or modifications thereof to obtain the R.sub.1, R.sub.7, X.sub.c or Y.sub.c substituents thereon as defined above. In general, one method for the preparation of pyridazin(2H)-3-ones comprises reacting an appropriately substituted monohydrazone, with the appropriately substituted acetic acid ester or reacting the appropriately substituted benzil and appropriately substituted hydrazide under cyclization conditions, e.g., in the presence of suitable solvents, such as xylene, acetonitrile, methanol, benzene, etc., and alkaline condensing agents, such as hydroxides, alcoholates, hydrides, alkali or alkaline earth metals, tertiary amines, etc., to effect ring closure. The foregoing general reaction scheme may be depicted as follows ##STR7## wherein R is typically an alkyl group and R.sub.7 is not here restricted by the provisos set forth earlier. As will be apparent from the foregoing description of the formula (I) substituents, the formula (Ia) products are in some instances pharmacologically active compounds of formula (I), while in other instances the formula (Ia) products are intermediates which can be converted by subsequent reactions to the compounds of formula (I).
The monohydrazone reactants may be prepared by the reaction of an appropriate substituted benzil with hydrazine hydrate. Suitable benzil starting materials may be obtained commercially or prepared by known methods, for example, cyanide ion catalyzed benzoin condensation followed by oxidation. The pyridazin(2H)-3-one compounds thus prepared may be utilized following suitable recrystallization/purification as intermediates for the preparation of further 2-substituted derivatives in accordance with the above R.sub.1 definition.
Exemplary of preferred compounds for use in the antihypertensive compositions and methods of U.S. Ser. No. 11,416 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,490 are compounds of the above general formula (I) wherein, correspondingly, R.sub.1 represents C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 hydroxyalkyl (especially, hydroxyethyl), esters thereof, e.g., acetate, butyrate, propanoate, formate, hemisuccinate, octadecanoate, benzoate, etc.; amino acid esters thereof corresponding to the ##STR8## group defined hereinabove wherein R.sub.4 represents ##STR9## e.g., lysine, glycine, methionine, phenylalanine, etc.; or where R.sub.1 is C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 carbamylmethyl, e.g., .alpha.-acetamido; aminoalkyl, e.g., aminometyl, aminoethyl, etc.; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylaminoethyl, e.g., dimethylaminoethyl; glucopyranosyl; glucuronyl; 1-morpholinylethyl; 1-piperidinylethyl; 1-pyrrolidinylethyl and acetamidoethyl; and wherein R.sub.7 represents acetyl and X.sub.c and Y.sub.c are para-halo, preferably para-chloro. An especially preferred antihypertensive agent provided by U.S. Ser. No. 11,416, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,490 is 4-acetyl-5,6-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2-(2'-hydroxyethyl)-2H-pyridazin-3-one. According to the methods described in Ser. No. 11,416 U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,490, that compound is prepared by first reacting ethanol and sodium to form sodium ethoxide, then adding ethyl acetoacetate and p,p'-dichlorobenzil monohydrazone, to afford 4-acetyl-5,6-bis(p-chlorphenyl)-2H-pyridazin-3-one in 20% yield. That intermediate is then reacted with ethylene carbonate and potassium hydroxide in dimetylformamide to afford the desired final product. The intermediate 4-acetyl-5,6-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2H-pyridazin-3-one can be used to prepare other antihypertensive compounds of Ser. No. 11,416 U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,490 as well. See, for example, Examples 9, 10 and 11 therein. However, the poor yields heretofore obtained in the preparation of that key intermediate have been a serious problem standing in the way of commercialization of the final antihypertensive products such as 4-acetyl-5,6-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2-(2'-hydroxyethyl)-2H-pyridazin-3-one.
In view of the foregoing, it is apparent that a serious need exists for an improved process for the preparation of the antihypertensive agents of formula (I) and intermediates thereto.

Synthesis of pyridazinone pharmaceutical intermediates using diketene reactant


A cannula comprises a main body for accommodating both an endoscopic lumen and a working lumen. The main body of the cannula ends at a point proximal to the distal end of the cannula. Extending distally from the point at which the main body end is an endoscopic dissection shaft of decreased diameter, which houses the endoscopic lumen, but not the working lumen. A transparent tapered tip is positioned on the distal end of the endoscopic dissection shaft. Due to the decreased diameter of the endoscopic dissection shaft, the transparent tapered tip has a small diameter, The main body of the cannula ends in a smoothly contoured face that provides minimal trauma to vessel and other tissue that comes in contact with the face as the cannula is advanced through the surgical site. The endoscope is sealed in the endoscopic lumen by the transparent tapered tip to prevent smudging of the endoscope by surrounding blood or tissue during dissection and during surgical procedures performed by surgical tools housed in an auxiliary lumen. A flexible hood extends from the distal end of the working lumen to the proximal edge of the transparent tapered tip to form a tapered profile to facilitate low dissection force and improved maneuverability, and the flexible hood also prevents blood or tissue from entering into the working lumen.

Presently, endoscopic vessel harvesting is conducted in multiple steps. In one procedure, a surgeon inserts a cannula having a lumen housing an endoscope and a transparent tapered tip encasing the distal end of the cannula into an incision. The surgeon advances the cannula under endoscopic visualization through the transparent tip along the sides of a vessel to be harvested to dissect the vessel away from surrounding connective tissue. Then, in order to perform any other surgical procedure, the cannula must be withdrawn from the incision to detach the transparent tapered tip from the cannula to provide an open distal end. The open distal end permits endoscopic shears or other surgical tool to be extended out of the cannula and into the surgical site to perform a surgical procedure, such as cauterization and transection of vessel side branches in a saphenous vein harvesting procedure. As the transection is performed under endoscopic visualization, the cannula must be sufficiently large to accommodate both the endoscope and endoscopic shears. Thus, a cannula having a lumen that can accommodate an endoscope (typically 5 mm) and having at least one other lumen of sufficient diameter to accommodate a surgical tool such as endoscopic shears (typically 5 mm) must have a shaft that is typically 12 mm in diameter. Accordingly, a vessel harvesting cannula with a smaller distal profile is desired to improve maneuverability and to decrease dissection force required to advance the cannula through connective tissues.

Low-profile multi-function vessel harvester and method


An antenna, permitting the configuration of at least one radioelectric wave beam of at least one fixed wavelength, of the type including at least one transmitting element, preferably of the passive type, arranged in a set of essentially parallel, wave-reflecting wires or bars, made from a photonic band gap (BIP) material and forming a given structure. The given structure includes faults for shaping the at least one beam in a direction as a function of the position and/or the configuration of the faults. The wires or bars and the faults are arranged on a set of N curves which are closed and concentric on a plane, N being greater than or equal to 1 and the transmitting element is arranged within the innermost curve. The curves are preferably circular and the wires/bars can be controlled to pass from a wave-conducting/reflecting state to a transparent state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radioelectric antenna which enables to configure in space one or several lobes or beams, these terms being here equivalent, for transmitting/receiving electromagnetic waves and hence to configure its radiating diagram. It finds applications in the domain of the transmission/reception in radio electromagnetic waves and in particular as an antenna for mobile telephony. It enables in particular the shaping and the commutation of radioelectric beams or lobes within a base transceiver station of a telephony network or radiocommunication data transmission network with mobile stations as well in transmission as in reception (E/R).
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, to manufacture a directable shaped-beam antenna, there is provided on the one hand a structurally shaped-beam antenna and, on the other hand, it is moved in order to be directed in space, general in rotation, so that its electromagnetic radiation diagram is directed according to the direction requested. On top of the fact that the mechanical displacement of the antenna requires mechanical means which may be costly, are subjected to wear and are complex to be maintained, the antennas being generally in high locations and in severe weather conditions, the radiation diagram remains identical in its form throughout the rotation.
It is hence desirable to have non-mechanical means enabling to modify the orientation of the radiation diagram in space. Moreover, it also appears desirable to be able to modify the structure of the radiation diagram, in particular the number of transmission/reception lobes and/or their forms in space.
Indeed, for example in the case of new broadband radiocommunication services, it appears that only the dynamic systems fitted with smart antennas will enable optimal usage of the Hertzian spectrum while employing adaptation capacities of transmission/reception spatial configuration as shown in the articles "The path towards UMTS—Technologies for the information society", UMTS Forum 1998 and, "Une vue globale du concept d'UMTS" (a global view of the UMTS concept), S. Breyer, G. Dega, V. Kumar and L. Szabo, of Alcatel.
These smart antennas offer the possibility of increasing the capacity of the systems operating in particular in CDMA ("Code-Division-Multiple-Access") mode thanks to the use of a pseudo-SDMA ("Spatial-Division-Multiple Access") technique according to modalities known as described in the article "Smart antennas enhance cellular/PCS performance, part 1 & 2", C. B. Dietrich Jr. and W L Stuztman, in Microwaves & RF, April 1997. This technique enables to reduce the "co-channel" interferences in the downlink (base transceiver station towards the mobile phone) of the cellular networks in forming a shaped beam directed towards the mobile phone. It also enables rejection of the interferences in the uplink (mobile phone towards station base) with additionally the possibility of forming the diagram of the antenna of the base transceiver station so that it exhibits a reception valley in the direction of the interferences.
Generally two categories of so-called smart antennas can be distinguished and which have a variable radiation diagram: those made with beam-switching antenna networks and those made with adaptative antennas as presented in "Experiments on adaptative array diversity transceiver for base transceiver station application in W-CDMA mobile radio" par M. Sawahashi and S. Tanaka during the AP-S 2000, Salt Lake City, USA, July 2000.
The smart antennas made with adaptative antennas are generally constituted of a network of radiating elements controlled by a digital signal processor (DSP). They may adapt automatically their radiation diagram relative to the external signals received.
Unfortunately, the current digital technology does not appear mature enough for supporting the multiple frequency bands necessary in the mobile telephony, as well as the powers necessary for mastering this radio spectrum. Moreover, the technology of the smart and digital adaptative antennas is not very adapted to the existing technology in the base transceiver station BTS and hence would require too large investments to renew these as noticed in the presentation of M. Sawahashi quoted previously.
The smart antennas made with beam-switching antennas use the analogue synthesis of multiple beams. This approach keeps most features of the digital smart antennas, with however much smaller complexity and cost. It is compatible with the existing infrastructures (in particular the base transceiver stations) and enables significant increase in the capacity of the network with respect to the investment. Traditionally, the beam-switching antennas use a supply network with pre-set phase which provides several output ports corresponding, each, to a beam of fixed direction. Base transceiver stations of this type have been tried out by numerous companies in the United States and in Europe, in particular by: Celwave associated with BellSouth, Hazeltine Corp., Metawave Communications, ArrayConun Inc., Ericsson, Nortel, . . . . In addition to the articles and to the presentation quoted previously, information on that subject is also available in "Novel multiple-beam antenna array serves mobile BTS, part 1", L. Cellai and A. Ferrarotti, Microwaves & RF, August 1999 or in "Array antenna design for base transceiver station applications", B. Johannisson and A. Derneryd, Ericsson Microwave Systems AB.
The main shortcoming of this beam-switching technology is the great number of radiating elements and hence its cost. It has hence been suggested using an alternative solution to manufacture beam-switching type antennas while placing a passive radiating element at the core of a set of rods made of Photonic Band Gap (PBG) material, certain of these rods being rendered active by the insertion of switching components enabling, by an appropriate control, to force the rods to behave like discontinuous rods and for others such as continuous rods which exhibit different radioelectric features of the former. Information on this subject is available in the presentation "Beam switching smart antenna for hyperlan terminals" by A. Chelouah, A. Sibille, C. Roblin, during AP2000, Davos, April 2000, or, still, in the article of E. Yablonovitch in Physical Review Letters, vol. 58, n'20, 1987, p2059-2062.
This alternative solution does not involve any direct action on the excitation circuit of the radiating element but only on elements of its close environment, thereby limiting the losses. It is obtained by using the properties of the Photonic Band Gap (PBG) materials which are already known and for which articles have been published, in particular: "Photonic Band Gaps in experimentally realisable periodic dielectric structures", C. T. Chan, K. M. Ho and C. M. Soukoulis, Europhysics Letters, 16(6), pp 563-568, 7 Oct. 1991; or "Metallic Photonic band-gap materials", M. M. Sigalas, C. T. Chan, K. M. Ho and C. M. Soukoulis, Physical Review B, vol. 52, n'16, 15 Oct. 1995; or, finally, "Active Metallic Photonic B and Gap materials (MPBG): experimental results on beam shaper", G. Poilasne, P. Pouliguen, K. Mahdjoubi, L. Desclos and C. Terret, IEEE Trans. on Antennas and Propagation, January 1999.
The assembly of the rods forming the PBG material of this type of antenna is a periodic structure, so-called PBG structure, composed mainly of parallel conductors and wherein a radiating element acts. The electromagnetic features of this PBG structure depend mainly on the transmission/reception frequency of the radiating element. Its frequency response at a planar wave exhibits alternately frequency bands authorising or not propagation through the PBG structure. The response duality between a PBG material composed of continuous rods and a PBG material composed of discontinuous rods has been studied. These differences have been exploited for obtaining the switching and the spatial shaping of the radiation diagram by passing from one to another, continuous or discontinuous rods, of these PBG structures. It is thus that the presentations and articles have been produced in this field as in particular: "Numerical and experimental demonstration of an electronically controllable PBG in the frequency range 0 to 20 GHz", par A. De Lustrac, T. Brillat, F. Gadot, E. Akmansoy, during AP2000, Davos, avril 2000; and in "Experimental radiation pattern of dipole inside metallic photonic band-gap materials", of G. Poilasne, P. Pouliguen, K. MahdJoubi, C. Terret, P. Gelin and L. Desclos, in Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, vol. 22, Issue 1, July 1999.
Currently, the PBG structures with square meshed are used. In other words, and as illustrated on FIG. 1 (cross-section with respect to the axis of the rods), the rods 1 constitute a square-mesh grid at the centre of which the passive radiating element 2 is situated.
It appears that this PBG material with square meshes exhibit two major shortcomings. First of all, it is ill-suited to excitations by cylindrical waves, hence a difficult study when a radiating element is placed at the centre of a PBG material with square meshes. Besides, it does not enable to create a constant beam rotating round 3600 with any pitch and any angle.

Configurable and orientable antenna and corresponding base station

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique


A diaphragm sealed, pressure balanced valve assembly includes a valve body and a cartridge connected to the valve body. The cartridge includes a cartridge loading end having a retaining member engaged to the cartridge loading end. A valve member slides coaxial to a longitudinal axis of the valve body. A resilient material first diaphragm is connected to and extends diametrically outward from the valve member having a diaphragm body clasped between the retaining member and the cartridge loading end, creating a first diaphragm fluid pressure boundary. A resilient material second diaphragm is connected to and extends diametrically outward from the valve member at an opposite end of the valve member with respect to the first diaphragm and has a diaphragm body clasped between first and second adjustable retention members, creating a second diaphragm fluid pressure boundary.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Solenoid operated valves are known which provide control of a fluid such as pressurized air for use in operating equipment such as sorters, packaging machines, food processors, and the like. In order to retain the solenoid operated valve in a closed position, biasing members such as springs are known.
It is also known, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,736 to Chorkey that an inlet pressure of the pressurized fluid can be balanced within the valve to reduce the force required by the solenoid assembly to move a valve member between closed and open positions. Known pressure balanced valve designs have several drawbacks which can include valve seals such as O-rings or D-rings in end pistons of the valve members which provide a moving seal to allow valve member sliding motion, which is also dependent on a surface finish of the bore receiving the D-ring. These seals, however, are susceptible to atmospheric contaminants entering the valve due to seal wear or when equalizing pressure to allow piston movement, and are also susceptible to creep when the valve is pressurized, which increases break-away friction and therefore lengthens valve opening time. Moisture and dirt as contaminants in the valve assembly can enter the solenoid assembly which can result in valve sticking, reduced valve power, delayed operating times, damage to the bore surface finish resulting in D-ring damage, or leakage.

Pressure balanced valve with diaphragm valve member end seal


The present specification suggests a method for improving performance degradation caused by frequent handovers when a terminal moves among several cells, particularly among dense small cells. To this end, required are cooperative transmission among cells and a new handover method. A base station receives RSRP information about an anchor cell and a neighboring cell and configures a cooperation-based cell cluster using the RSRP information. If RSRP values are compared and meet specific conditions, the anchor cell and the neighboring cell carry out cooperative communication. If the RSRP values of the anchor cell and an anchor candidate cell are compared during the cooperative communication and meet specific conditions, handover from the anchor cell to the anchor candidate cell is carried out. If the present invention is applied, when the terminal moves in an environment where small cells are dense, the number of handovers is greatly reduced and thus network burden can be lessened.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile communication and, more particularly, to a technique for cooperative transmission and handover in a mobile communication system.
Related Art
Since a user equipment (UE) as a representative mobile device has mobility, the UE may experience deterioration in the quality of a service currently provided and may discover a cell providing better services. Thus, the UE may move to a new cell, which is called a handover of the UE.
A microcell, femtocell, and picocell having small service coverage may be installed in a specific location within the coverage of a macrocell having wide coverage. Such cells may be referred to as small cells.
A heterogeneous network (HetNet) refers to a network in which diverse types of cells overlap to be managed simultaneously in the same area. As it becomes difficult to meet a growing demand for data from UEs with only one existing macrocell in recent times, an HeNet topology and small-cell dense structure are suggested to serve a local area using a low-output microcell, femtocell, picocell, radio repeater, or the like, thereby increasing overall network capacity and improving energy efficiency. With small and dense cells, an inter-cell cooperative transmission technique and a technique for processing a frequent handover of a UE with mobility receive attention.

Method and apparatus for carrying out cooperative cell clustering-based cooperative communication and handover

KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A network-on-chip (NoC) system includes a default communication path between a master device and a slave device, and a backup communication path between the master device and the slave device. The default communication path is configured to work in a normal operation state of the chip. The backup communication path is configured to replace the default communication path when a fault arises in the default communication path.

Network-on-chip (NoC) is an interconnect fabric technology used in system-on-chip (SoC) semiconductor designs for a variety of applications, for example, automotive, industrial and medical applications. These applications require resilience features that target mission critical use cases. NoC inside an SoC carries data traffic from a source processing end such as a central processing unit (CPU) to a destination processing end such as a memory device, and vice versa. While NoC architectures have emerged as a scalable and reliable alternative to the traditional bus-based communication paradigms, with continuous scaling of semiconductor technologies, reliability has become a primary concern in NoC designs.

Network-on-chip system and a method of generating the same

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited


An apparatus for exposing a substrate chucked on a substrate holder includes a substrate stocking device for stocking a plurality of substrates, a substrate conveying system for picking up the substrate from the substrate stocking device and conveying the substrate to the substrate, holder while chucking a portion of a rear surface of the substrate and a cleaning system for cleaning the rear surface of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and method for manufacturing semiconductor elements, display elements, and the like and, more particularly, to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which comprises a mechanism for automatically cleaning foreign matter attached to the rear surface of a wafer, and a semiconductor manufacturing method.
2. Related Background Art
A conventional exposure apparatus used in the manufacture of semiconductor elements, liquid crystal display elements, and the like has a substrate stage, and a substrate holder which is placed on the substrate stage and holds a photosensitive substrate (a wafer, glass substrate, or the like). The substrate holder has a vacuum chuck groove on its surface so as to immovably hold a substrate upon transfer of a pattern image on a mask onto the substrate. By reducing the pressure in the gap between the vacuum (reduced pressure) chuck groove on the substrate holder surface and the substrate, the substrate holder chucks or holds the rear surface of the substrate by vacuum suction.
Upon reduction of the pressure (vacuum suction) when the substrate holder chucks the substrate, if foreign matter (a fine particle as small as about 1 .mu.m) becomes attached to the rear surface of the substrate, the flatness of the exposure surface (front surface) of the substrate is impaired due to the influence of the foreign matter. The impaired flatness of the exposure surface causes a displacement error or a focus error in each shot area on the substrate, and seriously deteriorates the yield in the manufacturing processes of semiconductor elements and liquid crystal displays.
Conventionally, in order to prevent attachment of foreign matter, the rear surface of the substrate is washed in a pre-process, or the ratio of the contact area between the substrate holder and the substrate to the entire area of the substrate, i.e., the contact area ratio is reduced to about 6 to 7%.
However, in order to meet recent requirements for miniaturizing exposure patterns, the N.A. (numerical aperture) of an optical system (projection optical system) for transferring a pattern on a mask onto a substrate has increased, and the focal depth of the projection optical system has become increasingly small.
As the pattern is miniaturized, the allowable value of the displacement error also becomes small. Therefore, the allowable value of the size of foreign matter attached to the rear surface of the substrate becomes small upon miniaturization of exposure patterns.
Even when the rear surface of a substrate is washed in the pre-process, dust may be raised upon contact between a holding arm or the like of a conveying device and the rear surface of a wafer 1 during the conveyance of the substrate onto the substrate holder in the exposure apparatus, and foreign matter may become attached to the substrate.
The contact region of the rear surface of a wafer in the conventional exposure apparatus, and the influence of attached foreign matter will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.
FIG. 6A shows a contact surface shape between a conventional wafer holder 2 and a wafer 1.
The wafer holder 2 has a plurality of contact regions contacting the wafer 1. The contact regions include a plurality of annular regions.
More specifically, the wafer holder 2 contacts the wafer 1 via contact regions (circular contact regions) 52 to 57 (solid circle regions in FIG. 6A) in FIG. 6A.
By reducing the pressures in the gaps defined between the wafer 1 and a region between the contact regions 52 and 53, a region between the contact regions 54 and 55, and a region between the contact regions 56 and 57, the wafer 1 is vacuum-chucked to the wafer holder 2.
Although the wafer 1 is not vacuum-chucked to the wafer holder 2 in other regions, grooves (e.g., between the contact regions 53 and 54) are formed on such regions to reduce the contact area between the wafer 1 and the wafer holder 2.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6B, when foreign matter (foreign matter 58 in FIG. 6B) is attached between the contact regions of the wafer 1 and the wafer holder 2, the flatness of the wafer 1 is impaired. On the other hand, when foreign matter (foreign matter 59 in FIG. 6B) is attached between regions where the wafer 1 and the wafer holder 2 do not contact, it does not influence the flatness of the wafer 1.


A low-noise PNP transistor comprising a cutoff region laterally surrounding the emitter region in the surface portion of the transistor. The cutoff region has such a conductivity is to practically turn off the surface portion of the transistor, so that the transistor operates mainly in the bulk portion. The cutoff region is formed by an N.sup.+ -type enriched base region arranged between the emitter region and the collector region.

As known, in electronic devices, the term "noise" indicates a random fluctuation in currents or voltages at the device terminals, and may seriously limit the minimum signal level that can be handled by the device.
The noise in each device is due to various physical causes, some of which have been known for some time. Of particular interest are what are known as "flicker" noise (also indicated 1/f) and "burst" noise, the first of which exists in all and the second in a significant percentage of devices.
Flicker noise is commonly acknowledged to be caused by fluctuations in the number of carriers, due to entrapment of the carriers in surface layers of the device, i.e., due to tunneling at the semiconductor-oxide interface. According to accepted theory, the carriers in the semiconductor may communicate with trap levels at a given distance within the tunnel oxide layer, and remain trapped for some time prior to being re-emitted. In the case of transistors, in particular, flicker noise sources are located at the base-emitter junction.
Flicker noise is especially undesirable in the case of operational amplifier input transistors and audio preamplifiers.
Burst noise, on the other hand, is caused by a sharp variation in current between two or more constant values. Variation frequency may be very low (less than 1 Hz) or high (hundreds of hertz), in which case, burst noise may be confused with a high degree of flicker noise. This type of noise is generally attributed to the presence of defects, metal inclusions and precipitates in the space charge region of the junction; and the fluctuation in current depends on the extent, if any, to which the defect participates in conduction. The fact that burst noise is reduced by deficiency-reducing processes, such as gettering, would appear to bear out this theory.
As is known, for reducing flicker and burst noise it is necessary, for a given collector current I.sub.C, to reduce base current I.sub.B and intrinsic base resistance r.sub.bb ' (below emitter), so as to reduce input noise equivalent current I.sub.n (which is proportional to the square root of base current I.sub.B) and noise equivalent voltage e.sub.n (which is proportional to intrinsic base resistance). Solutions have been thus studied for reducing the base current (then increasing transistor gain) and the intrinsic base resistance. Such solutions however present low breakdown voltages, in particular a low collector-to-emitter, short-circuited base, breakdown voltage BV.sub.CES (measured with the emitter short-circuited to the base) due to punch-through.

Method for making a low-noise bipolar transistor


Disclosed is a method for determining the presence of Mycobacterium avium complex nucleic acids in a biological sample. In particular, the IS1245 gene of M. avium and the DT1 gene of M. intracellulare are detected, preferably following amplification. In addition, the method distinguishes between species of M. avium and M. intracellulare. Also described are oligonucleotides that can be used as primers to amplify target genes such as IS1245 and DT1 genes and as probes as well as kits containing the oligonucleotides.

Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) disease emerged early in the epidemic of AIDS as one of the common opportunistic infections afflicting human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. M. avium was well known to mycobacteriologists decades before AIDS and known to cause disease, albeit uncommon, in humans and animals. The interaction of MAC with the immune system is complex, and putative MAC virulence factors appear to have a direct effect on the components of cellular immunity, including the regulation of cytokine expression and function. (C. B. Inderlied, et al., Clin Microbiol Rev 6:266-310, 1993).
The genus Mycobacterium contains approximately 50 species. The best known and widest spread diseases caused by mycobacteria are leprosy, caused by M. leprae, and tuberculosis caused by M. tuberculosis. Most other mycobacteria normally occur only as environmental saprophytes. However, saprophytic mycobacterial species also cause opportunist diseases, which happens often, but not exclusively, in individuals suffering from suppressed immune systems, such as AIDS patients or individuals undergoing immuno-suppression therapy. The opportunist strains comprise the slow-growing species M. avium, and the closely related M. intracellulare and M. scrofulaceum (often together referred to as the MAIS complex), M. kansai, M. marinum and M. ulcerans, and the fast-growing species M. chelonae and M. fortuitum. Although quite rare in the Western world for several decades, the occurrence of opportunist mycobacterial diseases and tuberculosis has shown a significant increase with the incidence of AIDS.
M. avium and M. intracellulare are two species that together, form the MAC. Because of poor phenotypic differences, conventional culture and biochemical tests give little information to separate these two closely related and nearly indistinguishable species. Therefore the two are commonly referred to as MAC. These opportunistic pathogens are found in water, dust, soil and bird droppings which can enter the body through ingestion of food or water or inhalation through the lungs. Most people usually have small numbers of these bacteria growing in their gut or lungs, but do not have any symptoms. A weakened immune system allows the bacteria to attack the lining of the gut and multiply. From there, infection can disseminate by entering into the blood and spreading through the body. The symptoms of MAC can include weight loss, fevers, chills, night sweats, swollen glands, abdominal pains, diarrhea and overall weakness.
A rapid diagnosis of MAC infection has important clinical and therapeutic implications because of the heightened susceptibility in AIDS patients. Also, MAC infection is not confined and disseminates to a wide variety of organs. A sensitive clinical diagnosis to distinguish between M. avium, M. intracellulare and other mycobacterial species allows for more precise knowledge of which MAC components are involved in clinical infections and could give better insight into the relevance that these species have as human pathogens. The prognosis of pulmonary diseases may be worse when they are associated with M. avium than when they are associated with M. intracellulare. (S. Yamori, et al., Chest 102:89-90, 1992). Consequently, differential diagnosis of MAC infections or infections caused by other mycobacteria is important for patient management, antimicrobial treatment, and epidemiology. (J. Kulski, et al., Journal of Clinical Microbiology 34: 1985-91, 1996).
Earlier efforts aimed at differentiating among strains of MAC on a nucleic acid level largely failed due to remarkable internal heterogeneity of organisms within the complex suggesting that MAC probably contains several unknown taxonomic groups. (M. C. Menendez, et al., J Clinical Microbiology 39:4241-46, 2001). Wide genetic diversity existing among the members of MAC complicate species-specific identification. (T. Koivula, et al., Microbes and Infection 6:1320-25, 2004).
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been widely utilized to improve sensitivity of standard hybridization methods. Hybridization assays using self-quenching fluorescence probes with or without internal controls for detection of nucleic acid amplification products are known in the art, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,258,569; 6,030,787; 5,952,202; 5,876,930; 5,866,336; 5,736,333; 5,723,591; 5,691,146; and 5,538,848.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,529 describes a method which uses PCR targeting of the 16S rRNA to distinguish MAC organisms from other mycobacteria in test samples. Bruijnesteijn van Coppenraet, et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 42(6): 2644-50, 2004 report the detection of M. avium using Real-time PCR (Taqman® systems). Other methods for detecting mycobacterial nucleic acids that have been reported include Menendez et al., "Characterization of a Mycobacterium intracellulare Variant Strain by Molecular Techniques" J. Clin. Microbiol. 39:4241-46, 2001 and Koivula et al., "Genetic diversity in clinical isolates of Mycobacterium avium complex from Guinea-Bissau, West Africa" Microbes and Infection 6:1320-25, 2004.

Quest Diagnostics Investments Incorporated


Intelligently loading legacy option ROMs in a computing system, including: generating, by a legacy option ROM manager, an inventory for the computing system, wherein the inventory for the computing system identifies one or more devices in the computing system; determining, by the legacy option ROM manager for each option ROM available for loading, whether a device supported by the option ROM is included in the inventory for the computing system; responsive to determining that the device supported by the option ROM is not included in the inventory for the computing system, preventing the option ROM from being loaded into an option ROM address space; and responsive to determining that the device supported by the option ROM is included in the inventory for the computing system, enabling the option ROM to be loaded into the option ROM address space.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for intelligently loading legacy option ROMs in a computing system.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern computing systems can operate in legacy mode in which the computing system behaves in a way different from its standard operation in order to support older software, data, or expected behavior. When operating in legacy mode, the computing system may not be able to initialize all devices within the computing system during startup as the result of operating limitations placed on the computing system when operating in legacy mode.

Intelligently controlling loading of legacy option ROMs in a computing system

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of forming a valve bag suitable for filling with, for example, powder, grain, cement, animal foodstuffs, via a chute tube inserted into the valve, including forming a combined web from two webs of material, including steps of forming the combined web into a plurality of bag sections, sealing the bag sections at one side such that a valve portion is defined, separating the two webs and moving them outwardly until the bag sections are turned inside, and sealing the two webs to form a valve bag having an strong, effective seal and a valve portion for filling.

Valve bags, such as for carrying powder, grain, cement, animal foodstuffs, etc., are widely known. A typical valve bag is formed of thick paper having a stitched top and a valve formed in the side of the bag. The valve is opened and impaled onto a chute tube through which material is conveyed into the bag. The bag is effectively self-sealing, as once it has been removed from the chute tube, the valve closes, therefore, preventing the contents of the bag from escaping through the valve.
Disadvantages of the bag described above are the lack of resistance to moisture, such as rain or humidity, and tendency to tear.
Plastic valve bags, and a method and apparatus for making them, are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,890,290 (Amplas) discloses a valve bag wherein a film web is formed into a continuous tube, and the tube is sealed internally by a device which is disposed within the tube of material.
The valve bag disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,890,290 is more resistant to moisture and damage such as tearing than a thick paper valve bag. However, the method of forming the bag is complex, and the required equipment is expensive. Therefore, it is only commercially viable to use this method of forming a valve bag for certain applications.
Valve bags are currently used for fairly large quantities of material, and not for small quantities of discrete parts such as nuts, bolts or spare parts. The use of current valve bags for such small quantities is not economical due to the cost of equipment. The use of paper valve bags could also lead to damage of the items by moisture, or the parts themselves could cause damage to a paper valve bag. Therefore, small quantities of discrete parts are usually packaged in bags which must be further sealed after the contents have been put into the bag.


Described herein are anti-cytomegalovirus peptides. In a preferred embodiment, the peptide is acetyl-[D-Arg].sub.9 -NH.sub.2. The use of these peptides, either per se or in combination with other anti-CMV compounds, is disclosed as an effective method for controlling CMV infection.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a member of the herpes virus family, other well-known members of which include herpes simplex virus, types I and II, Epstein-Barr virus and Varicella Zoster virus. Although these viruses are related taxonomically as double-stranded DNA viruses, each manifests in a clinically distinct manner. In the case of CMV, medical conditions arising from congenital infection include jaundice, respiratory distress and convulsive seizures which may result in mental retardation, neurologic disability or death. Infection in adults is frequently asymptomatic, but may manifest as mononucleosis, hepatitis, pneumonitis or retinitis, particularly in immunocompromised patients such as AIDS sufferers, chemotherapy patients and organ transplant patients undergoing tissue rejection therapy.
A variety of drugs have been developed to treat herpesvirus infection, including natural occurring proteins and synthetic nucleoside analogs. For example, the natural antiviral protein, interferon, has been used in the treatment of herpesvirus infections, as have the nucleoside analogs, cytosine-arabinoside, adenine arabinoside, iodoxyuridine and acyclovir, which is presently the treatment of choice for herpes simplex type I infection.
Unfortunately, drugs such as acyclovir that have proven effective to treat infection by certain herpesviruses are not sufficiently effective to treat CMV. And, drugs currently used to treat CMV infection, such as 9-[(1,3-dihydroxy-2-propoxy)methyl]guanine (ganciclovir, DHPG) and phosphonoformic acid (foscarnet), lack the acceptable side effect and safety profiles of the drugs approved for other treatment of other herpesviruses. Moreover, such drugs are ineffective to treat certain strains of CMV that have acquired drug resistance. Thus, despite recent advances in the development of anti-herpesvirus drugs, there remains a need for therapeutic agents effective to treat CMV infection.
In co-pending patent application WO92/07871 (published 14 May 1992), there are disclosed oligopeptides that are effective to control replication of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In co-pending patent application WO93/21941 (published 11 Nov. 1993), there is disclosed the discovery that these oligopeptides are also effective to prevent replication of certain viruses within the herpesvirus family, particularly the herpes simplex viruses. Further investigation of the anti-viral properties of these oligopeptides has now surprisingly revealed their ability to control replication of cytomegalovirus, including human CMV. It has now also been discovered that these oligopeptides act synergistically with current anti-CMV drugs, particularly ganciclovir, to control replication of CMV.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method useful to control CMV replication, and further to provide a method for controlling cytomegaloviral infection in a mammal.
It is another object of the present invention to provide pharmaceutical compositions and combinations useful to treat cytomegaloviral infection.


The invention relates to a functionalized polybutylene polymer which contains at least one unsaturated group in its molecule, said functionalized polybutylene being prepared by reacting (A) an anhydride-functional polybutylene with (B) an allyl-functional compound having at least one hydroxyl-containing group in its molecule.

Hydrocarbon polymers which contain reactive functional groups are known in the art. For example, Japanese (Kokai) 7-102017 to Kanegafuchi Chemical Industry discloses the preparation of various polymers having terminal unsaturation by reacting of the corresponding hydroxyl-terminated polymer with a compound selected from an allyl halide, an acrylic acid, an oxirane ring-containing compound having carbon-carbon double bonds or a compound containing an isocyanate group and carbon-carbon double bonds in its molecule. The starting polymer, which must contain at least 1.1 hydroxyl groups per molecule, can be prepared from by a chain scission of the hydrocarbon polymer chain by reaction with ozone followed by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride, for example. This method for producing the hydroxy-functional precursor polymer has a disadvantage in that the chain scission results in a reduction of polymer molecular weight, as observed in Reference Example 1 of the above mentioned Kanegafuchi publication. In such a procedure, the molecular weight distribution can also be broadened.
Further, polyisobutylenes which have 2-methyl-1-propenyl end groups of the formula --HC.dbd.C(CH.sub.3).sub.2 are available commercially. However, this type of unsaturation is not amenable to hydrosilation addition reactions with SiH-functional compounds such as silanes and siloxanes. These end groups are also hard to polymerize by free radicals. Thus, the low reactivity detracts from the utility of these commercial polyisobutylenes in certain applications where copolymerization or modification with silicon-containing species is desired.
There is therefore a need for polyisobutylene polymers and oligomers which contain unsaturated groups having improved reactivity with SiH-functional compounds and/or are more reactive in free radical systems.

Polybutylene containing reactive unsaturated functionality


A method may for updating system configuration data is provided. A configuration change request may be received from a remote user at a local baseboard management controller (BMC) via a network while a processor associated with the BMC is offline. The configuration change request may be stored in a request log. After the processor comes online, the configuration data may be updated based on the configuration change request stored in the request log. A copy of the updated configuration data from the chipset may be stored in a storage device coupled to the BMC such that the copy of the updated configuration data is accessible when the processor is offline. The copy of the updated system configuration may be provided to a subsequent remote user for a subsequent system configuration update.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
In some information handling systems, a basic integrated system (BIOS) may be used to ensure that all components are functional. Particularly, the BIOS may be responsible for establishing the association between device components (e.g., disk drives, video controllers, keyboard, mouse, etc.) and the operating system executed by the information handling system. The BIOS may also include data and instructions that enable the operating system to access the information handling system hardware. The system BIOS is stored in the information handling system's memory, typically in non-volatile memory such as flash memory, for example. During booting, the system BIOS first performs a Power On Self Test (POST), and then proceeds to load the operating system. Following successful loading of the operating system, the user will be able to take advantage of all features and functionality offered by or through the operating system.
In many occasions it is desirable to update the system BIOS. For example, the system BIOS may be updated to take advantage of new BIOS features that become available, or to enable the BIOS to support new system hardware. Updating the BIOS may also be necessary if problems with the system BIOS are detected.
Current techniques for remotely configuring BIOS settings include interactively using the BIOS Setup with console redirection or with a remote access controller. Alternatively, the information handling system may boot the operating system to a server that may allow BIOS configuration.
However, current techniques require that the information handling system processor be powered on and running a specific operating system or pre-operating system environment to be able to configure the BIOS setting. For configurations such as a multi-system cluster, powering all of the systems is typically time consuming and power consuming.

Systems and methods for configuring out-of-band bios settings


A centrifugal actuator is provided for a centrifugal clutch having an axially fixed base and an axially movable pulley flange. The actuator includes a drive arm having a camming surface and a bottom that is pivotably attached to the movable pulley flange, a mounting pin coupled to the fixed base, and an improved roller that rotates about the mounting pin. The roller includes an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve coupled to the outer sleeve. The outer sleeve is made of metal and has an outer surface that frictionally engages the camming surface of the drive arm. The inner sleeve is made of a plastics material and has an inner load-bearing surface that engages the mounting pin. The roller rotates about the mounting pin as the drive arm swings outwardly and inwardly.

The present invention relates to centrifugal clutch assemblies for use in recreational vehicles, and particularly to a roller for engaging a pivotable drive arm in a centrifugal clutch assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to rollers appended to a fixed base of a centrifugal clutch assembly having drive arms that pivot under the influence of centrifugal force to act against the rollers to actuate a variable-speed pulley included in the centrifugal clutch assembly.
Recreational vehicles such as golf carts, snowmobiles, and go-karts are typically provided with a centrifugal clutch assembly that includes a variable-speed pulley. The variable-speed pulley is connected to an engine shaft and typically includes a fixed pulley flange mounted on the engine shaft and a movable pulley flange that is able to slide back and forth along the longitudinal axis of the engine shaft. Typically, a drive belt lies in a V-shaped groove defined between the fixed and movable pulley flanges. When the pulley flanges are closer together, the drive belt is turned at a higher speed. When the flanges are further apart, the drive belt is turned at a lower speed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,111 to Hoff for a description of a centrifugal clutch with such a variable-speed pulley.
A variable-speed pulley of the type disclosed in the Hoff '111 patent typically is actuated to increase the speed of a drive belt coupled to the variable-speed pulley by a plurality of centrifugal drive arms mounted for pivotable movement on a circular movable pulley flange of the variable-speed pulley and arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation around the circumference of the circular movable pulley flange. Typically, such pivotable centrifugal drive arms swing outwardly away from the longitudinal axis of an engine drive shaft during rotation of the variable-speed pulley about the longitudinal axis of the engine shaft on which the variable-speed pulley is mounted. The drive arms act against rollers mounted for rotation on a base that is fixed to the engine shaft. The action of the drive arms against the rollers causes the movable pulley flange to move axially along the longitudinal axis of the engine shaft toward the fixed pulley flange.
A tip end of each centrifugal drive arm is configured to engage and "push off" against one of the rollers mounted on the fixed base during operation of the centrifugal clutch. This push-off action is sufficient to urge the movable pulley flange in a direction toward the fixed pulley flange while the drive belt lies in the V-shaped groove defined between the movable and fixed pulley flanges so as to narrow the width of the V-shaped groove and increase the speed of the drive belt. Thus, pivoting movement of the centrifugal drive arm against the rollers functions to "actuate" the centrifugal clutch so as to change the speed of a drive belt engaging the variable-speed pulley in the centrifugal clutch.
Typically, roller assemblies are mounted to a fixed base in spaced-apart relation and are arranged to oppose the pivotable drive arms. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,326,330 to Bostelmann; 4,483,686 to Kobayashi et al.; 3,961,539 to Tremblay et al.; 3,861,229 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,584 to Domaas; U.S. Pat. No. 27,858 to Laughlin; as well as Canadian Patent 985,931 and Japanese Patent No. 58-102,852 to Kobayashi all disclose clutches including rollers for use with pivotable drive arms. Rollers of this kind are well-known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,154,673 to Fukunaga et al.; 4,938,610 and 4,881,828 to Kato; as well as Japanese Patent No. 60-201,162 to Shimizu, French Patent No. 614,387 to Ballot, and a journal article in S. A. E. Journal (Transactions), vol. 41, no. 4, pp 480-81 all disclose rollers, some of which are for use in centrifugal clutches.
One type of design for a roller assembly is disclosed by Japanese Patent No. 60-201,162 to Shimizu. This type of roller assembly includes a ring-shaped member connected to the outer periphery of a bearing by press fitting two steel bearings to the inner peripheral side of the ring-shaped member. The bearings include an interior surface that is arranged to engage a pin extending along the longitudinal axis of the roller assembly.
There is inherent variability associated with the magnitude of the inner diameters of any group of ring-shaped members as the result of factors related to the production of ring-shaped members, and there is inherent variability associated with the magnitude of the outer diameters of any group of bearings as the result of factors related to the production of bearings. The variability of the inner diameters of the ring-shaped members and the variability of the outer diameters of the bearings can cause the fit of some bearings in some ring-shaped members to be too tight and other bearings in other ring-shaped members to be too loose. Both of these unfavorable tolerance combinations, typically referred to as "unfavorable tolerance stack-ups", can result in scrap or premature failure of the roller during use.
What is needed is a roller assembly for use in opposing a pivotable drive arm in a variable-speed centrifugal clutch, the roller assembly being easy to assemble, inexpensive to produce, and including a minimum number of parts. Vehicle manufacturers would appreciate a roller that is configured to minimize unfavorable tolerance stack-up problems of the type that can affect roller sleeves and bearings in conventional rollers, thereby minimizing scrap and wear of the roller and its companion centrifugal drive arm.
According to the present invention, a centrifugal actuator is provided for a centrifugal clutch having an axially fixed base and an axially movable pulley flange. The actuator acts between the fixed base and the movable pulley flange. The actuator includes a drive arm having a camming surface and a bottom that is pivotably attached to the movable pulley flange, a mounting pin coupled to the fixed base, and an improved roller that rotates about the mounting pin and that has an outer surface that engages the drive arm.
The roller includes a cylindrical outer sleeve having a side wall formed to include an outer drive arm-engaging surface engaging the camming surface of the drive arm. The side wall of the outer sleeve defines an interior region. A cylindrical inner sleeve is received by the interior region. The cylindrical inner sleeve includes a side wall having an outer surface coupled to the cylindrical outer sleeve and an inner load-bearing surface engaging the mounting pin.
In preferred embodiments, the roller in accordance with the present invention is mounted to a base that is fixed to an engine drive shaft. The centrifugal clutch includes three circumferentially spaced-apart actuators and each actuator includes a pivotable drive arm having a camming surface. The camming surface of each drive arm engages one of the rollers.
The drive arms are mounted on a movable pulley flange that can slide axially along the engine drive shaft relative to a fixed pulley flange and that can rotate about the engine drive shaft. Centrifugal force created by rotation of the movable pulley flange at a speed in excess of a certain speed causes each drive arm to swing radially outwardly from a static inward position to an outward position. As the rotational speed of the movable pulley flange increases, the drive arms push off against the rollers and swing outwardly causing the movable pulley flange to slide along the engine drive shaft from a lowest-speed position far from fixed pulley flange to a highest-speed position near the fixed pulley flange.
Each roller in accordance with the present invention includes an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve coupled to the outer sleeve. The inner sleeve of the roller includes an interior load-bearing surface defining a cylindrical interior region of the roller. Each outer sleeve includes a drive-arm engaging surface that frictionally engages the camming surface of the drive arm so that the roller rotates as the drive arm swings outwardly and inwardly. The load-bearing surface of each roller engages a mounting pin connected to the base fixed to the engine drive shaft and slides around the mounting pin as the roller rotates relative to the mounting pin.
Also in preferred embodiments, the outer sleeve is a cylindrical steel sleeve and the inner sleeve is made from a plastics material. The steel sleeve provides a wear-resistant drive arm-engaging surface that also distributes the load resulting from engagement between the drive arm-engaging surface and the drive arm across the length of the roller. The drive arm-engaging surface of the outer steel sleeve cooperates with the tip of the drive arm to provide enough friction therebetween to ensure that the roller rotates in response to pivoting movement of the drive arm.
The inner sleeve of each roller is preferably injection molded directly onto its companion outer sleeve. Injection molding the inner sleeve onto the outer sleeve involves fewer manufacturing steps than producing a separate inner sleeve and subsequently inserting the separate inner sleeve into the interior region of the outer sleeve.
In addition, a member in the injection mold establishes the size and shape of the interior bearing surface of the inner sleeve that engages the pin, so that the bearing surface in each roller is of a consistent size and shape regardless of the size or shape of the interior surface of the cylindrical outer sleeve. As a result, the variability of the inner diameters of the inner sleeves among a group of rollers is minimized when the inner sleeves are formed from an injection molded plastics material.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

Drive arm-engaging roller for centrifugal clutch


Techniques for parallel processing of directory searches are provided. A directory search is received on a multicore or multiprocessor architecture machine. At least two threads processing on different cores or processors of the machine handle different aspects of the directory search. A first thread identifies matches in the directory for the search and serially populates the matches to search results. The second thread serially and in parallel grabs the matches in the search results and filters some out and modifies other ones of them to complete processing on the search. The search results are then returned to an initial requester making the initial search.

Devices are becoming increasingly more powerful and smaller. In fact, many single devices now have multiple processors or multiple cores. Each processor or core capable, within a single device, of independently and concurrently processing instructions and data from that which is being processed by other processors or cores of that single device.
However, even if a single device is capable of processing multiple instructions concurrently on different processors or cores, if the software is not capable of being executed in parallel then this excess computing capacity is lost or grossly underutilized. Thus, software processes must be modified to take advantage of the newly developing computing capabilities.
Many software vendors have taken advantage of this situation by developing software that is multi-threaded. This means duplicate instances of a software module or service can concurrently and independently execute within a single device on multiple processors or cores. In some cases, the independent processing is coordinated by a software driver or manager to decompose a set of data for processing by multiple threaded software instances; the driver then assembles the results to present a single view of the processed data to a user.
One area that has not been addressed in any significant detail is that of directory services. In fact, most operating system or lower level user or application-support services have not been significantly enhanced to perform efficiently on multiple processors or cores within a single device.
In the case of directory services, search performance of a directory is a major criterion used to evaluate a particular directory vis-à-vis another directory. Search performance is mostly evaluated in terms of transactions per second using a multithreaded client. Though this technique is fine for directories with heavy load due to many clients executing the search at the same time; yet, most of the time the search operation is so fast that in real-world scenarios there is no need or desire on the part of the industry to process the searches in parallel or even detect the need for improvement. But, there are other situations that large enterprises regularly encounter where many searches and clients are involved and having parallel processing capability would prove useful. In fact, even with fast searches there is a lot of room for improvement that can be made for directory users.
Consequently, there is a need for improved techniques for directory search processing that utilizes multicore and multiprocessor architectures.


To efficiently control charging and regenerative control for a secondary battery. A charge control device, including: a calculation unit (voltage sensor (11), current sensor (12), and control unit (10)) that calculates a state of charge of the secondary battery; a detection unit (vehicle state detection unit (20)) that detects a traveling state of the vehicle; and a control unit (control unit (10)) that, when it is detected that the vehicle is decelerating, sets a voltage generated by an alternator higher than the terminal voltage of the secondary battery in order to regeneratively charge the secondary battery, that, when it is detected that that the vehicle is not decelerating, sets the voltage generated by the alternator lower than the terminal voltage of the secondary battery when a state of charge is greater than a prescribed second threshold value, and that sets the voltage generated by the alternator higher than the terminal voltage of the secondary battery when the state of charge is less than a prescribed first threshold value. The second threshold value is greater than the first threshold value, and the first threshold value and the second threshold value are set within a low SOC region.

In vehicles such as automobiles, engine power drives an alternator (a generator) to generate electric power that is used to charge a secondary battery. The electric power stored in the secondary battery is then used to drive various loads (such as an electric power steering system).
In recent years, technologies for using the alternator to convert the kinetic energy of the vehicle to electrical energy as the vehicle is decelerating and storing the resulting electric power in the secondary battery have been proposed.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which the voltage of the alternator is set to high as the vehicle is decelerating in order to regeneratively store electric power in the secondary battery. Moreover, Patent Document 2 discloses a technology in which the charge current is used to estimate the amount of charge (SOC) of the secondary battery and the secondary battery is regeneratively charged on the basis of that estimation. Patent Documents 3 and 4 disclose technologies in which two electric power storage devices are used to perform regenerative charging efficiently.

Charge control device and charge control method