A method is provided which introduces user plane caching over an interface between a first node in a radio access network and a second node in a core network. At the first node: receiving first uplink tunnel parameters relating to the second node, selecting first downlink tunnel parameters relating to the first node, sending the first uplink and downlink tunnel parameters to a cache node designated to the first node, receiving second uplink and downlink tunnel parameters relating to the cache node, and sending the second downlink tunnel parameters to the second node. A first tunnel is established between the first node and the cache node based on the second uplink tunnel parameters and the first downlink tunnel parameters, uplink user plane data is sent to the second node through the first and second tunnels via the cache node, and downlink user plane data is received from the second node.

FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a simplified illustration of the 3GPP network architecture. The Figure is derived from 3GPP TS 23.401 V9.1.0 (2009-06), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) access (Release 9). Unless otherwise stated, further references herein to "the standard" relate to TS 23.401, and unless otherwise stated any references herein to TS 23.401 relate to the above version of the standard.
In 3GPP networks, user packets travel through a significant portion of the access network encapsulated in a GTP-U tunnel. The GPRS Tunnelling Protocol (GTP) header of the incoming packet, especially one of its field, the Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) is used in combination with the tunnel endpoint's IP address to explicitly identify the bearer of the User Equipment (UE).
In SAE/LTE, the Serving Gateway (SGW) and the base station uses the TEID in the received packet's GTP header to forward the packet to the appropriate bearer. Based on the incoming TEID, the SGW selects a GTP or Proxy Mobile IP (PMIP) based tunnel leading to the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (PGW). Based on the incoming TEID, the Evolved NodeB (eNodeB) selects the appropriate radio bearer (leading to a specific UE). There are two alternative tunneling possibilities between the SGW and PGW, one is GTP tunneling similarly as between the Radio Base Station (RBS) and SGW and the other is using PMIP with Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) tunneling. (The latter is also based on per-UE tunnels, where the identifiers are different but the concept proposed here works similarly also in this case, so in the following we do not deal with PMIP tunnels).
In 3G networks, GTP is used between the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and the Radio Network Controller (RNC) as well as the SGSN and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). Based on the incoming TEID, the SGSN selects a GTP tunnel leading to the GGSN. Based on the incoming TEID, the RNC selects the appropriate radio bearer (leading to a specific UE through the appropriate NodeB). In converged 3GPP networks the traffic from 2G/3G access and SGW is also transported in GTP tunnels.
Lately, with the introduction of broadband mobile technologies and change of subscriber behaviour (shifting towards more high volume media download), coping with the increased traffic volume in the mobile radio access (RAN) has become a stringent problem. One possibility to off-load the access is to apply caches (or other local streaming servers) that would serve some parts of the requested content (media, web, etc). In this way, it is possible to achieve transport gain above the cache. Additional benefits of RAN caching is the possibility for QoS/QoE enhancement by reducing the transport delays and also reduced peering cost.
The reader is also referred to 3GPP TS 22.101 10.1.0 (2009-12), Service aspects; Service principles (Release 10), Section 4.3.5.
The present applicant has identified the following issues.
Below the cache there is no transport gain. Besides, transport cost is highest and transport bottleneck problems arise at low-RAN. Thus, the applicant has appreciated that it would be most advisable to move the caches and streaming servers as close to the RBSes as possible.
A standard architecture has not been developed for caching in the 3GPP RAN close to the RBS. One relevant activity is the offload architectures for selected traffic (e.g. Internet) towards a defined IP network close to the UE's point of attachment to the access network (see TS 23.401). The motivation for this requirement (together with the similar requirement for local IP access (LIPA) for the home (e)NodeB subsystem) is to decrease operator expenses, because in many cases it would be suboptimal to carry the traffic all way up to a central PGW, especially if that traffic may be offloaded locally at lower price to a local service network or to the Internet.
The technical solutions for achieving the selected IP traffic offload (SIPTO) have not been fully worked out yet, but technical alternatives are under discussion as set out in 3GPP TR 23.829 V0.4.0 (2010-01), Local IP Access and Selected IP Traffic Offload (Release 10). It has been decided that for Release 10 two main alternatives will be supported by the standard:                One based on selection of a closer PDN GW for specific types of traffic and        Another based on traffic breakout from the GTP tunnels.
The advantage of the first alternative is that traffic break-out (including break-out for caching purposes) may be achieved by architectural solutions that do not require significant changes to the current 3GPP architecture (the Gateway (GW) address for the closer GW is either suggested by the RAN node or is selected by enhanced DNS-based mechanisms). However, it is not obvious that designing small nodes with PDN GW functionality is economically feasible. Also, it may be a problem to provide secure network environment for these distributed GWs, whose functions (legal intercept, charging, policy enforcement) require such an environment.
Solutions for the latter method generally involve some kind of Network Address Translation (NAT) to be able to offload traffic from a tunnel below the IP point of presence.
Any type of caching solution involving traffic break-out from the GTP tunnels has to deal with the issue of getting the proper tunnel information for a given traffic flow. On one hand this includes receiving the information about new tunnels during attach, but also updating the tunnel information when this changes, e.g. during handovers, when the tunnel endpoints change. One straightforward solution for this problem is to interface to certain core network nodes (Mobility Management Entity—MME, SGW) to get the required information.
However, in practice the mobile operators purchase the core and RAN nodes through different tenders, thus it may happen that one vendor ships the RAN solutions while another vendor ships the Core Network (CN) solution. In such cases, proprietary interface to a CN node is not an option, so other methods are needed to handle tunnel information update that involves intercepting mobility signalling messages, or interfacing to RAN nodes.
A known caching solution (see US 2010/0034089) is based on a cache acting as a proxy both in the user and control plane, i.e., the cache emulates the respective protocols on either side of the interception point. The patent describes in details how the cache monitors the RANAP protocols to get user and bearer information for the case of a cache inserted between the RNC and SGSN in a 3G network. Mobility handling is also described for this case, based on intercepting the relocation request from the RNCs. However, this solution cannot be generalized for the LTE access unless some communication with some core network nodes (SGW or MME) is assumed.
Another issue when interfacing to RAN nodes only is to ensure that the cache is always 'on-path', i.e. the data traffic with subscriber requests reaches the cache. One solution to this that does not require any new function from the cache or mobile network side is to guarantee with proper transport network configuration that traffic from a set of downlink tunnel endpoints and a set of uplink tunnel endpoints goes through the same cache entity. In this respect, the phrase "downlink tunnel endpoint" is used herein to denote the endpoint (or head end) of a tunnel in a downlink direction towards the mobile node; for example the downlink tunnel may be from a core network node such as a SGW to a RBS, with the RBS in this case being the "downlink tunnel endpoint". Similarly, the phrase "uplink tunnel endpoint" is used herein to denote the endpoint (or head end) of a tunnel in an uplink direction away from the mobile node; for example the uplink tunnel may be from the RBS to a core network node such as a SGW, with core network node such as the SGW in this case being the "uplink tunnel endpoint".
A few alternative solutions to this issue exist:                Routing configuration, i.e. use IGP or BGP routing settings that guarantee that the traffic to and from a set of RBSes will pass a certain traffic redirect/cache entity. One example is shown in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings, where it is assumed that each cache is configured as a single OSPF area border router for a group of RBSes.        Policy-based routing, i.e. use special routing configuration in the network routers that ensures that traffic from and to a set of downlink tunnel endpoints will be routed through a selected cache entity.        Virtual Private Network (VPN)-based connectivity, i.e. use using some VPN-type of solutions between the cache and the upper tunnel endpoints, see FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings, that makes it possible that the downlink tunnel endpoint addresses are advertised through the cache. This assumes that some tunnel between a group of downlink tunnel endpoints and the cache is pre-configured.
A common problem of these solutions is that it may be very cumbersome to reconfigure the current transport and routing infrastructure in a real network environment to get the proper transport configuration. Also, basic operation and maintenance use cases (adding or removing nodes) may imply a full transport network reconfiguration.
Another problem arising is that since none of the RAN nodes is a mobility anchor, it may happen during mobility that the data path of a given terminal changes in a way that it will no longer reach neither the cache nor the RAN nodes the cache is interfacing with. This will require a database to store information about where to forward the packets of ongoing flows. The configuration of connectivity to such a database from any cache in the system may be cumbersome, too.
It is desirable to address the issues described above.

Caching over an interface between a radio access network and a core network


A combination of an inner crimp tube and a crimp sleeve provide a basis for securing a connection between respective first and second cables through which optical fibers extend and can be spliced together for signal transmission. The combination of the inner crimp tube and the crimp sleeve includes the inner crimp tube receiving at least one strength member from each respective cable, wherein the inner crimp tube is positioned along lengths of the strength members such that the strength members extend through the inner crimp tube. Loose ends of respective strength members fold back over opposite ends of the inner crimp tube to join strength members of each cable to a common structure. At least one crimp sleeve secures the respective loose ends of the strength members to the inner crimp tube.

The art of electronic and fiber optic communications is replete with different kinds of connectors for numerous environments and specialized applications. Connector systems are already designed to resist extreme harsh mechanical and environmental conditions, including high vibration, mechanical and thermal shock, and fluid immersion. Also, these cables must continue to operate under extreme tension loading. It continues to be imperative, however, for new connector designs to maintain the integrity of the electrical cables and optical fibers being connected and to minimize damage in every way possible.
With so many different kinds of connectors available to system installation professionals, it is difficult to ensure that a proper cable intersects an appropriate mate with a convenient connector that also protects the underlying fibers. A problem exists in the field of electrical and fiber optic connectors in that the connectors remain limited in versatility and are not designed with sufficient weatherproof and hazard-proof bodies to protect the conductors therein.
The art of electrical and fiber optic cables also relies particularly on connector accessories that provide proper tensile strength and sturdiness for pulling optical fibers within cables. This is especially true when optical fibers are matched for splicing within a ferrule or other splicing mechanism. Cables that house optical fibers subject to splicing with orating optical fibers from adjoining cables are particularly vulnerable to flawed connection in harsh environments.
One of the problems associated with fiber optic splicing systems is providing a reliable connection point between the cables themselves. By connecting the cables in a sturdy and reliable way, the fiber optic splice is less vulnerable to separation due to outside forces. The cable connection absorbs the brunt of twists, turns, tensile forces, and other stresses so that the fiber optic splice remains intact. Thus, there is a need for an improved mechanism for connecting cables that shield underlying optical fibers, particularly when the optical fibers from the cables will be spliced together with mating optical fibers from adjoining cables. The connection point for the overall cables should provide a mechanism to ensure that the cable splice maintains its integrity regardless of outside forces in any direction on the cables themselves.


A system and method that detects a presence of a child in a car seat comprises a pad and a receiver. The pad comprises a communication element, a unique identifier, a power source, a switch configured to adapt a power state from “off” to “on” by means of a child closing the switch disposed between the pad's power source and the pad's communication element. The receiver comprises an analysis element storing the unique identifier of at least one pad and a communication element in communication with at least one pad when the pad is powered “on”. The receiver determines a presence state of a child in the car seat when the receiver is in communication with the powered pad. The receiver determines the presence state when the receiver loses communication with the pad. The receiver further generates notifications with the determined child's presence state in the car seat.

Every year, children are left in a car by their caregiver, causing injury and in some cases, death. "Mind on a daily task" is a reason for a caregiver unintentionally leaving a child alone in the car. This detrimental problem could be resolved by an invention that assists a caregiver without changing their daily routine while providing peace-of-mind that they will be reminded if they accidentally forget their child in the car. Consumer expectations for interactive, smart devices are growing every year. Devices of the past relied on being serviced and checked by the user.

System and method to detect the presence of a child in a car seat


Cognitive orthotics. More specifically, assistive ambulation systems and methods, including systems that can detect a person who uses an assistive ambulation device (such as a walker) and produce a signal in response to the detection, which signal is designed to encourage or motivate the person to use the device. They system may also stop the signal when the person engages the device and/or produce an additional signal or a different signal when the person engages the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cognitive orthotics and assisted ambulation, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to assistive ambulation systems and methods.
2. Description of Related Art
Examples of assistive ambulation systems and methods are shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,930,603; 6,745,786; and 7,901,368, and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0119920.

Systems and methods for assisted ambulation


A colorless transparent silicone lens produced by thermally curing a silicone resin composition comprising                (A) an organopolysiloxane having a resin structure comprising R1SiO1.5 unit, R22SiO unit, and R3aR4bSiO(4-a-b)/2 unit wherein R1, R2, and R3 are independently methyl group, ethyl group, propyl group, cyclohexyl group, or phenyl group, R4 is vinyl group or allyl group, a is 0, 1, or 2, b is 1 or 2, and a+b is 2 or 3, and wherein number of repetition of the R22SiO unit is 5 to 300,        (B) an organohydrogen polysiloxane having a resin structure comprising R1SiO1.5 unit, R22SiO unit, and R3cHdSiO(4-c-d)/2 unit wherein c is 0, 1, or 2, d is 1 or 2, and c+d is 2 or 3, and wherein number of repetition of the R22SiO unit is 5 to 300, the component, and        (C) a platinum group catalyst.

Lens used in LED light emitting device is mass-produced by mechanical molding such as injection molding. Such lens has been produced by a thermoplastic resin such as acrylic resin or polycarbonate resin. However, introduction of the LED light emitting device that operates at a higher power has raised the problem that the lens made of a thermoplastic resin is insufficient in resistance to heat and color change.
Recently, lead free solder is widely used. Lead free solder, however, melts at a temperature higher than the conventional solder, and typically, a temperature of 260° C. or higher is used for the soldering of the optical device to the substrate. When the soldering is conducted at such temperature, conventional thermoplastic lens experiences problems such as deformation and yellowing by the high temperature, and use of the lens becomes impossible.
In view of such situation, use of a silicone resin for the lens of LED and the like has been considered in many cases. However, in the case of a lens having a hollow structure, the lens formed from the conventional hard silicone lens material suffer from insufficiency in the impact strength while the lens formed from a soft rubber suffer from deformation which results in the loss of optical properties and stress on the interior LED chip, wire, and the like.
Such prior arts are JP-A 2000-231002 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,513 and JP-A 2004-221308.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Silicone lens and silicone resin composition for molding lens

Abstract: A silicone lens having excellent flexibility, transparency, and moldability as well as reduced surface tackiness is provided.


A heater to control an ink bubble, and an inkjet printhead having the heater. The heater has different resistances according to portions thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an inkjet printhead, and more particularly, to a heater which can control a shape of a bubble generated in an inkjet printhead to enhance capability of ink ejection, and an inkjet printhead including the heater.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet printhead is an apparatus that ejects minute ink droplets on desired positions of recording paper in order to print predetermined color images. Inkjet printers are classified into a shuttle type inkjet printer having a printhead being shuttled in a direction perpendicular to a transporting direction of a print medium to print an image, and a line printing type inkjet printer having a page-wide array printhead corresponding to a width of the print medium. The line printing inkjet printer has been developed for realizing high-speed printing. The array printhead has a plurality of inkjet printheads arranged in a predetermined configuration. In the line printing type inkjet printer, the array printhead is fixed while the print medium is transported during printing, thereby enabling the high-speed printing.
Inkjet printheads are categorized into two types according to an ink droplet ejection mechanism thereof. The first one is a thermal inkjet printhead that ejects ink droplets due to an expansion force of ink bubbles generated by thermal energy. The other one is a piezoelectric inkjet printhead that ejects ink droplets by a pressure applied to ink due to deformation of a piezoelectric body.
The ink droplet ejection mechanism of the thermal inkjet printhead is as follows. When a current flows through a heater made of a heating resistor, the heater is heated and ink near the heater in an ink chamber is instantaneously heated up to about 300° C. Accordingly, ink bubbles are generated by ink evaporation, and the generated bubbles are expanded to exert a pressure on the ink filled in the ink chamber. Thereafter, an ink droplet is ejected through a nozzle out of the ink chamber.
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view illustrating a conventional thermal inkjet printhead. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional inkjet printhead includes a substrate 10 on which a plurality of material layers are formed, a chamber layer 20 stacked on the substrate 10, and a nozzle layer 30 stacked on the chamber layer 20. An ink chamber 22 filled with ink to be ejected is formed in the chamber layer 20 and a nozzle 32 through which ink is ejected is formed in the nozzle layer 30. In addition, the substrate 10 has an ink feed hole 11 to supply ink to the ink chamber 22.
A typical silicon substrate is used as the substrate 10. An insulating layer 12 for insulation between a heater 13 and the substrate 10 is formed on the substrate 10. The insulating layer 12 is typically made of silicon oxide. The heater 13 is formed on the insulating layer 12 to heat the ink of the ink chamber 22 and generate a bubble. An electrode 14 is formed on the heater 13 to apply current to the heater 13.
A passivation layer 15 is formed on the heater 13 and the electrode 14 to protect the heater 13 and the electrode 14. The passivation layer 15 is typically made of silicon oxide or silicon nitride. An anti-cavitation layer 16 is formed on the passivation layer 15. The anti-cavitation layer 16 protects the heater 13 from a cavitation force generated when the bubbles vanish and is typically made of tantalum (Ta).
In the conventional inkjet printhead, the heater has a constant resistance in each portion and thus the amount of the heat generated in each portion of the heater 16 is the same. Accordingly, the conventional inkjet printhead including the heater 13 cannot control a shape of the bubble generated by the heater 13. Thus it is difficult to improve the capability of the ink ejection. Moreover, the bubble generated by the heater 13 is expanded to an ink inlet through which ink is flown to the ink chamber 22, and thus a back flow of the ink in the ink chamber 22, that is, ink flowing back to the ink inlet, may occur.

Heater to control bubble and inkjet printhead having the heater


The present invention provides for a messaging system that automatically identifies a forest that corresponds to a particular recipient of a message, without using a common or unified directory that maps forests with recipients. In a network with multiple forests, each forest having multiple recipients, when a message is received at a message server with a destination address that does not uniquely identify a particular forest, the present invention provides for using a standard messaging protocol for querying each forest. The forests respond with status codes that indicate whether or not a recipient associated with the destination address corresponds to the forest being queried. If a status code indicates that the recipient corresponds to the particular forest, information may be stored and used to quarry that particular forest first, before querying other forests within the network.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention general relates to electronic messaging systems. More specifically, the present invention provides for automatically identifying a forest corresponding to a particular recipient, in a network that includes multiple forests, without the use of a common directory that maps recipients to forests.
2. Background and Related Art
Although computers were once isolated and had minimal or little interaction with other computers, computers today interact with a wide verity of other computers through Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), dial-up connections, and so forth. With the wide-spread growth of the Internet, connectivity between computers is becoming more important and has opened up many new applications and technologies. The growth of large-scale networks and the wide spread availability of low-cost personal computers has fundamentally changed the way that many people work, interact, communicate, and play.
Electronic communications among users of various computer systems have been known for many years. Many companies have developed internal electronic messaging systems that allow email communications between various computers connected to corporate LANs and/or other networks. Many companies have reengineered the processes and procedures to take maximum advantage of email communications in order to provide a convenient mechanism for exchanging information and documents, thus reducing the handling of paperwork and speeding the flow of information between and among employees of various departments. Traditionally, however, large-scale networks connecting various divisions over vast distances were extremely expensive. In addition, the large-scaled networks which did exist generally used proprietary protocols, which were difficult to interconnect with other networks.
With the growth and development of the Internet, however, the situation has changed dramatically. Today, a company may install a corporate LAN at sites separated by large geographic distances and "back bone" communications between sites over the Internet. In many ways, the Internet has become a standard with which any viable network must interact.
When sending a message, a client communicates with a message or mail server telling the server such information as the address of the sender, address of the recipient, as well as the body of the message. The message server then takes the "to" address, i.e., the recipient address, and identifies a domain name associated therewith. The sender's mail server then communicates with a Domain Name Server (DNS) for identifying the IP address for the recipient's server. The sender's server then use the one or more IP addresses received along with a standard protocol, e.g., Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), for establishing a connection between the two servers for communicating the electronic message.
Within a single network or organization there may be several domain names, which are arranged in a domain hierarchy. For instance, a group of domain names that have the same DNS, e.g., company.com (the parent domain), sales.company.com, and support.company.com (the child domains) are referred to as a tree. A forest is a set of domain trees that do not form a contiguous name space. All trees in a forest share a common schema, configuration, and global catalog.
A single organization or network may include a multitude of forests, each of which supports numerous recipients. Such is typically the case when companies merge, e.g., one company buys out the other. Each company has its own message forests, and then when the companies merge, they subsequently create a common messaging service. For example, company A with forest A.com merges with company B with forest B.com, and subsequently form company AB with domain AB.com, which includes both forests A.com and B.com.
In order to appropriately direct and identify a forest that corresponds to a particular recipient, typically a manual mapping or table generation is done for the multiple forests. Creating such unified or common directories, however, can be extremely tedious and costly. For instance, when companies merge and combine messaging systems with multiple forests that support hundreds of thousands of employees or recipients, the manual process to map a particular recipient to particular forest can take years to accomplish and is subject to human error.
In order to resolve the problems associated with creating a unified directory that maps recipients to a particular forest, recent developments have reconfigured systems in order to circulate messages throughout each forests. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a network 100 has multiple forests 110, 115, 120, which are configured in loop fashion. A message 105 is placed within the transport loop, wherein each forest can determine if one or more recipients associated with the message 105 reside within that particular forest. For instance, first forest 110 may receive message 105 and evaluate the contents to determine if it is destined for a recipient within its forest. If the first forest 110 does not recognize one or more recipient address associated with the message 105, the message 105 can be forwarded to second forest 115. Similarly, the second forest 115 will also evaluate the contents of the message 105, wherein if the second forest 115 does not identify all of the recipient addresses within message 105, the message 105 is then passed to third forest 120. This process is repeated until any particular forest within the network 100 takes full responsibility for message 105, or the message 105 is timed out.
Although such loop configuration solves the problems associated with creating unified directories for routing messages among multiple forests, there are several drawbacks associated with such system. For example, if a message enters the network, but is not fully accepted by any one forest, the message has the potential of looping many times before exceeding its hop count. Further, if there are a multitude of these messages looping in the system at anyone time, bandwidth problems may arise that slow the overall system. In addition, there exits several security issues, such as the potential for a forest to accept messages erroneously or maliciously.

Message delivery to multiple forests with no unified directory


Various methods are provided for an integrated micro array system (100) that allows fully automated sample processing and detection/quantification of nucleic acid and protein samples in a single analytical device, which may be configured to communicate data to a person other than the person operating the device. The integrated micro array system has a housing (110) in which robotics assembly (120) controls motion of automatic pipette (124) and second actuator (122) that control motion of the automatic actuator (123). Fluidics station (130) includes a plurality of multi-reagent packs (132). Sample station (140) comprises a plurality of sample vessels (142). Pipette tip storage area (150) and magazine holder (160) that includes a plurality of magazine (162). The system also comprise of a sample processing platform (170), a stringency station (181), and optical detector (180), and a data transfer device (190).

Recent advances in genomics and proteomics research made numerous nucleotide and peptide sequences available, necessitating high-throughput screening of samples for presence and/or quantity of genes and/or gene expression. While automation of individual steps (e.g., DNA isolation, protein fractionation, etc.) in high-throughput screening may be performed using relatively simple instrument configurations, integration of multiple and distinct steps in automated high-throughput screening remains problematic.
For example, sample analysis for detection and quantification of one or more analytes may be performed in nano-volumes on a single chip (see e.g., "Lab-on-a-chip" from Agilent or Caliper Technologies). Such multiple analyte detection can advantageously be performed in relatively short time using minimal amounts of sample. Moreover, all steps from handling of the sample after application of the sample to detection and analysis are performed within the same device. However, identification and quantification of the detected analyte using nanoelectrophoresis is typically restricted to the size of the analyte. Moreover, resolution of individual analytes becomes increasingly difficult as the size or charge difference between the analytes decreases. Consequently, such nanoelectrophoretic systems are generally limited to characterization of an analyte by its molecular weight.
Where high resolution of molecular weights of an analyte is particularly important, analysis of complex samples may be coupled with laser desorption—time of flight mass spectroscopic analysis (see e.g., Ciphergen Biosystems' LD-TOF multi-analyte desorption chips, or Sequenome chip). Here, components of a complex sample are immobilized on a carrier chip (e.g., chip with anion exchange resin or hydrophobic interaction resin) and subjected to size analysis after desorption according to their molecular properties in an analysis system. LD-TOF coupled analysis is typically highly sensitive and often requires only minimal sample preparation. Moreover, LD-TOF coupled analysis provides relatively high resolution among particular analytes. However, identification of particular analytes is still mostly limited to size determination.
Alternatively, and especially where the analyte is a DNA or RNA, various formats of automated modular PCR-based analysis are known in the art. For example, where a single sample is analyzed for presence or absence of a particular sequence, all or almost all of the reagents and sample may be introduced into an automated system from a single cartridge (see e.g., Cepheid's i-CORE system). On the other band, and especially where a relatively high number of samples are concurrently analyzed, a full robotic PCR station may be employed (see e.g., Orchid Biocomputer SNP Analysis system). Such systems typically provide an analysis procedure that integrates sample manipulation with nucleic acid amplification and product analysis. However, automated modular PCR-based analysis typically rely on amplification of target DNA to generate appreciable signals, thereby introducing significant complexity and numerous error-prone procedures. Moreover, while PCR based systems are frequently operated in a dedicated environment using dedicated equipment to prevent non-sample specific signals, problems associated with contamination via sample carry-over may still persist. Thus, automated modular PCR-based analysis tends to be highly expensive, and is generally limited to exclusive analysis of nucleic acids.
In still further examples, nucleic acid-containing samples can be analyzed by their hybridization characteristics with at least partially complementary and immobilized nucleic acids, thereby providing quantitative and qualitative information on a particular sample. Hybridization of a nucleic acid to corresponding solid-phase immobilized nucleic acids may be controlled by variation of temperature and/or ionic strength of the environment of the nucleic acid hybrid, and there are numerous systems known in the art.
For example, high density arrays of immobilized oligonucleotides on a silicon chip may be exposed to a sample containing nucleic acids that are complementary to at least some of the immobilized oligonucleotides (see e.g., Affymetrix' GeneChip system). In such systems, a processed sample (typically a labeled and biotinylated in-vitro transcript of a previously prepared cDNA) is provided to the chip in a fluidics station that further controls flow of reagents and hybridization temperature. After complementary labeled nucleic acids have hybridized to the corresponding nucleic acids on the chip, the chip is removed from the fluidics station and manually transferred to a scanner station in which the sample is analyzed via detection of the fluorescent labels. While such analytic devices typically allow a user to determine identity, presence, and/or quantity of a vast number of DNA/RNA analytes in a sample, substantial sample preparation (typically several hours to more than one day) and hybridization times (e.g., about 16 hours at 40° C.) are frequently necessary. Moreover, analytes detected and quantified using such systems tend to be limited to nucleic acids.
Alternatively, sample capture and hybridization may be controlled via electrostatic forces (see e.g., Nanogen's NanoChip system). In such systems, capture probes and hybridization conditions may be individually controlled, thereby allowing custom addressing of individual analyte pixels. However, due to the complexity of loading and reading procedures, the analytic process is split among at least two independent devices: Analytes are typically bound in a loader section, while a reader (i.e., array processor and scanner) will perform the readout of the sample.
In another system, detection may be performed using an electronic chip that provides a signal upon binding of a signaling oligonucleotide to an analyte oligonucleotide that is bound to a corresponding oligonucleotide that is immobilized on the chip (see e.g., Motorola's iSensor system). While electronic detection and quantification may provide at least some advantages, most of such systems are prone to non-specific false-positive and/or false-negative signals due to contamination. Moreover, analytes detected and quantified using such systems tend to be limited to nucleic acids.
Thus, although various systems for micro array systems are known in the art, numerous problems still remain. Among other things, while various systems may provide at least some automation, fluid handling and sample detection/quantification of analyte binding are typically operated in separate devices, thus requiring at least some user intervention after the sample is applied to the system. Furthermore, all or almost all of the known micro array systems are limited to analysis of either nucleic acids or peptides. Therefore, there is still a need for an improved methods and systems for automated analytic devices.

Integrated micro array system and methods therefor


In one embodiment, a method includes receiving at a network device, resource information comprising attributes for compute and storage resources in a network, identifying a need for provisioning a virtual element, and selecting one of the compute and storage resources for use in provisioning the virtual element. Selection of the compute or storage resource includes analyzing the resource information for the compute resources and the storage resources in the network. An apparatus is also disclosed.

Cloud computing enables network access to a shared pool of configurable resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimum management effort. Compute and storage are the primary resources in a cloud computing environment. With the advent of virtual machines and virtual storage, a method for optimal provisioning of compute and storage elements has become increasingly important and also introduces a number of challenges.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Compute and storage provisioning in a cloud environment


A centralized connections unit for power and data. This device simplifies computer setup and networking by offering advanced cable management while simultaneously providing a power source with battery power backup. The unit contains everything needed to connect the computer, Internet, and peripheral devices from one portable location. Moreover, its sleek design with minimal exposed cabling makes computer setup less intrusive. The basic model includes one ‘box’ that encases all of the contents. To provide a power source to the computer and its devices, a retractable reel inside the box holds a solitary power extension cable. Cables are bundled together and encased in tubing to form the ‘arms’ of the box. A main tower arm (or artery) that connects to the computer's tower, and the desktop arm connects the computer monitors and other peripheral devices. These arms include virtually all types of cables to accommodate all different types of computers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to self contained power and signal distribution system for computers and the like and particularly to self contained power and signal distribution system for computers and the like that are portable and can be daisy-chained.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Today, computers and other electronic equipment use electric power, and various communications lines such as telephone lines, high-speed data connections (e.g. DSL, USB and other types of systems). Computers also connect to various peripherals such as monitors, printers, scanners, personal digital assistants (PDA), keyboards and mice. Today, these connections are made using a variety of cables that often create a mess. Even with wire control ties, running many cables to the various components can be a time consuming and cumbersome problem. When multiplied by several computers (say in a new office, for example), the time spent in routing and installing all of the various cables and power can be enormous.
Power, or course, should be conditioned using at least a surge suppressor and at best an uninterruptible power supply. However, these are expensive, large and sometimes complex units to install.
The problem becomes even more complex when one is setting up a number of computers in a remote location such as a trade show or convention. In this situation, the user can only hope that there are adequate power and communications ports available.

Self contained power and signal distribution system for computers and the like


A physical quantity detection circuit (12) is used for a physical quantity sensor (10) that outputs a sensor signal according to a physical quantity given externally. A sampling phase adjustment circuit (100) adjusts the phase of a sampling clock (CKa). An analog-to-digital converter circuit (104) converts the sensor signal (Ssnc) to a digital sensor signal (Dsnc) in synchronization with the sampling clock (CKsp) phase-adjusted by the sampling phase adjustment circuit. A detection circuit (107) detects the physical quantity based on the digital sensor signal (Dsnc) from the analog-to-digital converter circuit.

The technique disclosed herein relates to a physical quantity detection circuit used for a physical quantity sensor that detects a physical quantity given externally and to a physical quantity sensor device provided with the same, and more particularly, to a technique of adjusting the phase relationship between a sensor signal and a detection signal.
Conventionally, physical quantity sensor devices capable of detecting a physical quantity (e.g., an angular velocity, an acceleration, etc.) are used in a variety of technical fields such as detection of shake of a digital camera, attitude control of a mobile unit (e.g., an aircraft, an automobile, a robot, a vessel, etc.), and guidance of a missile and a spacecraft. In general, a physical quantity sensor device includes: a physical quantity sensor that outputs a sensor signal according to a physical quantity given externally; and a physical quantity detection circuit that detects a physical quantity signal (signal corresponding to the physical quantity) from the sensor signal using a detection signal (signal having a frequency corresponding to the frequency of the sensor signal).
In recent years, with the progress of the circuit nanotechnology, more and more physical quantity detection circuits are being implemented using digital circuits. Japanese Patent Gazette No. 2728300 (Patent Document 1) discloses a signal processing circuit for a biaxial angular velocity/acceleration sensor, which is composed of digital circuits. In this signal processing circuit, while an analog-to-digital converter circuit converts a sensor signal from the sensor to a digital sensor signal, a sine wave signal generation circuit generates a digital sine wave signal, and a digital multiplier circuit multiplies the digital sensor signal by the digital sine wave signal. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, the analog-to-digital converter circuit samples a sensor signal in synchronization with a sampling clock (i.e., every sampling period) and converts sampled analog values (amplitude values) A0, A1, A2, . . . of the sensor signal to digital values P0, P1, P2, . . . .
In a physical quantity detection circuit, whether it is an analog circuit or a digital circuit, it is important to adjust the phase relationship between a sensor signal and a detection signal so that these signals can be synchronous with each other. Such a phase adjustment technique is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-14916 (Patent Document 2). A vibration gyro disclosed in Patent Document 2 is provided with a phase correction circuit including a temperature-sensitive element (element having a predetermined temperature characteristic), to correct a phase shift of the detection signal caused by a temperature change.

Physical quantity detection circuit and physical quantity sensor device


A power management system for a worldwide multiple satellite system having satellites positioned latitudinally in a polar orbiting constellation, each satellite having a plurality of antenna beams, each beam having a given area of coverage or "cell," the total sum of the cells for each satellite forming a larger coverage for the entire satellite, the satellites each comprising solar cells and batteries wherein the energy within the batteries is generated by the solar cells and must be efficiently managed. The system comprises an earth based control station which programs each of the satellites within the constellation to supply power to the antenna beams of each satellite at predetermined times to avoid overlapping coverage. Each satellite comprises a voltage regulated linear power amplifier to supply only the power needed for the demand within each of the antenna's cells.

This invention relates, in general, to power management, and more specifically, to power management for multiple satellite systems.
Satellites are becoming important links for communication between stations at different locations throughout the world, particularly for mobile communication stations. For a satellite system to give worldwide coverage, a network or constellation of satellites having polar orbits is desirable. Such a satellite system requires low orbits to allow connection with low power mobile stations.
Each satellite within such a satellite constellation is comprised of many directional antenna cells. Combined, these cells create an umbrella of coverage by the satellite. As the satellites in the constellation orbit within the constellation toward the poles, the umbrella of coverage of the satellites begin to overlap. The closer to the poles the satellites get, the greater the overlap. Cells from one satellite will overlap cells from another satellite resulting in redundancy of coverage. When such an overlap occurs, cells from a satellite having an area of coverage directly beneath the satellite are easier to operate than cells covering the same area from a satellite at a distant angle from the coverage area.
As the satellites within the constellation orbit the earth, they are frequently shadowed from the sun by the earth. Since the power to operate the satellites is generated by solar panels, storage cells, or batteries, are required to store energy for use during "dark" periods or high power demands. In a worst case scenario, any given satellite within the constellation would be shadowed by the earth for approximately 35% of the satellite's orbit. At best, each satellite will be in full view of the sun throughout the satellite's orbit 30% of the time. Each satellite evolves through an annual cycle having a fairly equal distribution of best/worst cases.
In order to efficiently utilize the power of the overlapping satellites allowing storage for "dark" periods as well as for high power demand periods, a power management system is required.

Power management system for a worldwide multiple satellite communications system


Search and filtering of documents with different metadata schemata is enabled using a single index that supports a single schema through decorated namespaces. Each metadata schema submitted to a system is assigned a unique identifier and property names associated with the schema are prefixed with the unique identifier. A single-valued, decorated property is used to indicate whether a submitted document is part of a registered schema in the system. The single-valued properties are converted to a search index table that enables resource-optimized searching and filtering of documents eliminating documents of other schemata by simply checking the association property.

Document search in digital libraries, the Internet, and organizational intranets is best served by a combination of metadata processing and content searching. Searchers often rely on content if metadata is absent, erroneous, or incomplete. Metadata-based searches have their own unique challenges. For example, large legacy collections combined with budgets insufficient to permit complete and consistent tagging may mean that metadata associated with the documents of such collections is often limited or non-existent. Furthermore, the wide variety of document types and processing approaches result in non-standardized ways of using metadata to assign properties to documents. Not only may different content generators use different types of properties, but they may use completely different properties (e.g. author, expiration date, version, and so on). On the other extreme end of the spectrum, some or all of the documents may be catalog records consisting entirely of metadata (e.g. in museums, libraries, or repositories).
Often for reasons of economy or practicality, a service platform that provides customers with the service of searching sets of documents that have been annotated with metadata properties may not be able to dictate what schema of metadata the customer should use. In order for the service platform to support multiple customers with a reasonably sized physical implementation, it is desired for the service to be able to combine documents from different customers, and thus with different metadata schemata, in a single search-engine index without loss of data.

Searching a document based on a customer defined metadata schemata


The present invention relates to a heat-dissipating device and a method for manufacturing the same. The heat-dissipating device includes a base and a first heat-dissipating fin. The outer periphery of the base has a trough. The first heat-dissipating fin has a first heat-dissipating portion, a first end and a second end. The first end and the second end are disposed in the trough. By a machining process, both ends of the first heat-dissipating fin are pressed into the trough of the base at a high speed, so that the base can be combined with the first heat-dissipating fin rapidly. In this way, the manufacture cost is reduced and the heat-dissipating efficiency is increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat-dissipating device and a method for manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a heat-dissipating device which can be assembled rapidly with reduced labor hours and manufacture cost, and also relates to a method for manufacturing such a heat-dissipating device.
2. Description of Prior Art
Conventional cylindrical heat sink includes a cylindrical body and a plurality of fins connected to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body. In prior art, the fins are connected to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body by the following methods:
(1) One prior art discloses a method for joining fins of a cylindrical heat sink and a device for implementing the method. The method includes steps of: providing a mold driven by a power source to generate stepping rotations; providing a cylindrical body positioned on the mold, the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body being provided with a plurality of troughs; providing a fin set comprising a plurality of fins, the fin set being assembled on one end of the mold, the intermittent rotation of the cylindrical body causing the troughs to be aligned with the fins, an inserting device being used to push the fins to be inserted into the troughs of the cylindrical body respectively; the fins are tightly joined with the troughs of the cylindrical body and positioned on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body to thereby form a heat sink.
(2) Another prior art discloses a joining method for a heat sink. The heat sink includes a heat-conducting base and a fin set. One surface of the heat-conductive base is provided with a plurality of troughs and grooves formed between adjacent two of the troughs. The fin set has a plurality of fins. The method includes steps of: providing a forming die, the forming die having an internal space and a pressing end; pressing the forming die and the heat sink, so that the heat sink is inserted into the internal space of the forming die and the central axis of the pressing end is pressed into the groove to deform the troughs, the deformed troughs pressing the fins to join together. The above-mentioned pressing process is advantageous over the punching and riveting process used in the conventional heat sink by reducing the breakage of punch pins or forming dies, increasing the yield of products, having improved precision and quality. Further, the pressing process can be used to form various shapes of heat sinks.
According to the above-mentioned methods, a fin is first inserted into a trough, and a forming die is used to press the grooves on both sides of the trough to thereby deform the trough, so that the deformed trough can press the fin to tightly join together. However, such a pressing process has the following problems.
(1) The outer surface of the cylindrical body has to be provided with the troughs and the grooves in such a manner that the troughs and the grooves are spaced from each other. As a result, the number of the troughs on the outer surface of the cylindrical body is limited, which also limits the number of the fins fitted into the troughs.
(2) The conventional pressing process has more steps, and it takes more time to finish the final products.
Therefore, it becomes an important issue for the present Inventor to solve the problems and drawbacks of prior art.

Heat-dissipating device and method for manufacturing the same


A power transformer/reactor immersed in oil including a transformer/reactor core and windings accommodated in a tank including a tank base plate and tank walls. A foundation supports the tank. An elongated continuous band forming a closed frame is arranged between the base plate and the foundation. An outer periphery of the base plate extends outside an inner periphery of the frame and thereby encloses an air volume within the frame, the base plate and foundation. The tank support reduces sound emitted from the transformer/reactor.

It is well-known that the magnetic core is a source of sound in an electrical power transformer or reactor. Energization of the electrical windings surrounding a magnetic core results in alternating magnetization of the core, and the core laminations cyclically expand and contract due to the phenomena of magnetostriction when magnetized and demagnetized by the current flowing in the transformer windings. The magnetic core thus acts as a source of 100 Hz or twice the operating frequency of the transformer/reactor vibrations and harmonics thereof. The vibrations generated by the magnetic core together with the weight of the core and core assembly may force the rigid base structure beneath a transformer/reactor casing into vibration. The casing sidewalls are rigidly connected to the base structure and may be driven into vibration by the stiff base members and propagate noise.
In oil immersed power transformers or reactors, to which the present invention relates, the transformer/reactor core and core assembly is placed in a transformer/reactor tank, and the vibrations are propagating by the tank base and the oil to the tank walls causing noise.
The transformer/reactor tank of oil immersed power transformers/reactors is according to prior art are supported on a concrete foundation by supporting means. The present invention seeks to provide an improved transformer/reactor tank support reducing the sound level emitted from the transformer/reactor.


Computer-readable media, computer systems, and computing devices method of facilitating presentation of actions and providers associated with entities. The method includes determining a query intent of a received query. Entity sets having an entity that matches the determined query intent are recognized. Each entity set includes an entity, an action, and a provider. Actions and/or providers associated with the entity that matches the determined query intent are identified. The actions and/or the corresponding providers associated with the entity are provided for integration with a representation of the associated entity on a search results page.

Many of the searches that users perform are increasingly being used to accomplish tasks, such as, for example, making a dinner reservation, viewing an online movie, buying a book, booking a trip, etc. The traditional practice of performing a task often results in the user having to find a website that supports the task and, thereafter, find the task within the website. Search engines can assist users with finding a website(s) to perform a task. Upon navigating to the website, however, the user still must navigate the website (which has a user interface that is different from other websites) and/or re-enter information previously entered into the search query to complete the desired task. Further, because many tasks can be performed in association with various entities (e.g., people, places, and things) and various providers, the user may spend an unnecessary amount of time finding desired information and may be required to do a fair amount of guess-work to determine where to obtain the information. This results in a poor user experience, longer task-completion time, and less successful search sessions.

Presenting actions and providers associated with entities


The present invention relates to a foamlike mineral building and structural material based on a substantially uniformly foamed alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix encompassing an open and/or closed porous structure. In addition, the present invention relates to a method of producing a foamlike mineral building and structural material comprising the following steps: adjusting the water content of the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate starting material to a specific value, and foaming the pretreated alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate material, and to an apparatus for carrying out the method which comprises: a conditioner for adjusting the water content of the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate starting material and a heating means for the foaming step.

The present invention relates to a foamlike mineral building and structural material produced from an alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix, a method of producing the mineral foam as well as an apparatus for carrying out the method according to the present invention.
Various mineral foams are already known. A glass foam granulate is, for example, known, which is produced from glass powder having added thereto an expanding agent which releases a propellant at high temperatures. Glass foam granulates are used for many purposes, e.g. as light-weight aggregate for mortars and plasters. They are, however, many times heavier than plastic foams and because of the higher thermal conduction they are suitable to be used as an insulating material only to a limited extent.
Furthermore, it has already been suggested to use, in addition to glass powder also other substances, such as crushed rocks, silt and clay as raw materials for mineral foams. The resultant products are dimensionally stable up to 1000xc2x0 C. and pressure resistant, but they are not suitable to be used as insulating materials either.
Water glass is known as a raw material in the field of civil engineering, e.g. also as an accompanying raw material for the production of mineral foams. In the case of the known mineral foams, it is common practice to add water glass, e.g. for improving the opening up of the raw materials. Water glass is here, however, added and used as an auxiliary agent which does not contribute much to the characteristic and the quality of the mineral foam. Water glass loses its reactivity at the high expanding temperatures of 700xc2x0 C.-1200xc2x0 C. which have been necessary up to now.
Furthermore, water glass is used as a binding agent. Water glass does, however, not act as a foaming agent in these cases.
It is already known to use water glass as a foaming agent for fire-retarding plates, fire-retarding fillers and fire-retarding paints. The water-glass property of expanding in case of fire spontaneously and in an uncontrolled manner under the influence of high temperatures is here utilized for these industrial fire-precaution products.
The water content of known fire-precaution products is between 20% by weight and 40% by weight in relation to the total recipe, including fillers.
The use of commercially available alkali silicates having a water content of more than 40% by weight results, due to the high water content, in explosive, uncontrolled foaming in response to the energy input from outside which will normally take place. As a result, large-pored and non-homogeneous products are formed in which the smaller water vapour bubbles combine and form larger bubbles. The foams formed from the molecular water in the case of fire by the above-mentioned fire-precaution products have, as is generally known, no compressive strength and are already destroyed when subjected to minimal external influences. They are only suitable for short-time fire protection.
Altough alkali silicates, such as sodium, potassium or ammonium silicates, are used in a broad range of industrial applications as binding agents, adhesive agents, detergents, etc., it has up to now been impossible to produce from a water-glass raw material industrial foams of uniformly good quality, e.g. for the purpose of thermal insulation, light-weight construction and other applications.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved building and structural material for high-quality industrial products for the first time.
This object is achieved by a foamlike mineral building and structural material based on a substantially uniformly foamed alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix encompassing an open and/or closed porous structure.
Preferred embodiments of the foam according to the present invention are described in subclaims 2 to 13.
The present invention additionally provides a method of producing foamlike mineral building and structural materials, said method comprising the following steps,
adjusting the water content of an alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate starting material to a specific value, and
foaming the pretreated alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate material.
The method according to the present invention permits the production of high-quality and uniformly fine-pored foams with an alkali-silicate matrix, which have a very low thermal conductivity and a good compressive strength. The present invention permits in particular the use of commercially available raw materials, e.g. water glass, i.e. materials which, up to now, have not been suitable to be used as starting materials for mineral building and structural materials. Since commercially available products can be used as raw materials, the method according to the present invention is also advantageous with regard to the costs entailed.
The adjustment of the water content according to the present invention is preferably achieved by drying the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix material. It proved to be particularly advantageous when the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix material has, after the drying step, a water content of less than 20% by weight, but more than 5% by weight, in relation to the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix material. Particularly good results are achieved with a residual water content of 15% by weight to 10% by weight.
Drying can be carried out in two different ways according to the present invention. One way is drying and foaming in one process in two temperature stages, the main raw material component being a slightly or non-predehydrated alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix and the removal of water taking place in the first stage of the process by energy input at temperatures of up to 110xc2x0 C., preferably, however, at temperatures between 80xc2x0 C. and 90xc2x0 C. The slightly or non-predehydrated alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix is here, prior to the drying step, a highly viscous, aqueous solution whose consistency may vary between still flowable and already solidified and which can also serve as an enveloping material for the dissolved water and, if desired, for additive substances.
The other way is the production by applying temperature and pressure to an alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix bed which is used as raw material in the form of a dried or a calcined powder or a granular material. An addition of water and/or an aqueous solution and/or an aqueous suspension and/or an alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate liquid may here be expedient under certain circumstances so as to be able to produce a matrix having precisely the consistency desired. The semifinished product produced in both ways is a highly viscous, from pasty to solidified, compact solution having the desired water content in the range between 20% by weight and 5% by weight.
Furthermore, it turned out that the drying step can be carried out in an advantageous manner making use of microwaves at temperatures of up to 100xc2x0 C., preferably at temperatures between 80xc2x0 C. and 90xc2x0 C.
The use of microwave heating permits the intensity and the duration of the energy input to be dosed in a very simple manner and to guarantee simultaneously a careful treatment of the starting material.
Microwave heating can subsequently also be used for foaming the pretreated starting material according to the present invention.
According to the present invention, a mineral foam can be produced from the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix starting material, the volume of said mineral foam being, according to requirements, 10 to 30 times as large as the initial volume. Depending on the intensity and the duration of energy input, a product will be obtained, which is either closed-pored to a large extent when energy is supplied carefully or open-pored and highly disperse when the energy input is of a more intensive nature.
It follows that the method according to the present invention permits the production of both close-pored and open-pored products for the first time, and, in addition, it is possible to produce both kinds of products with different bulk densities in the same foaming system by changing the process parameters only slightly.
The open-pored foam produced according to the present invention comprises up to 97% open pores and consists of a large number of amorphous and crystalline, irregularly arranged hollow microspheres, hollow spherical microshells, microplates and/or microrods. This results in a high air diffusibility, which is of interest in the case of insulating materials and, especially, in the case of sound absorption materials.
According to a further aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for carrying out the method according to the present invention, said apparatus comprising: a conditioner for adjusting the water content of the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate starting material and a heating means for the foaming step.
The foam produced according to the present invention is, on the one hand, a material for building and structural applications in the case of which a very long service life is desired or necessary. On the other hand, it is also a packaging material, like plastic foams, for which a short service life suffices and in the case of which a long-lasting chemical resistance would be disadvantageous and even ecologially precarious.
The present invention offers the following solutions for the two different requirements which have to be fulfilled by the material:
In the case of products which have to satisfy long service life requirements non-stabilized water glass fails to fulfil the requirements in question. Due to the hygroscopic properties of the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix material, the foam produced in this way would not be resistant to atmoshpheric moisture in the long run without an additional treatment. When a long service life is desired, the foam is therefore durably stabilized by adding up to 20% by weight of calcium or zinc or magnesium or ammonium or aluminium hydroxide or oxide or natrium compounds or silica or alumina gels or sols according to a further feature of the present invention.
The thus stabilized foamxe2x80x94no matter whether it is of the open-pore or of the closed-pore typexe2x80x94is an ideal insulating material because it combines excellent properties. It combines the respective good properties of the known plastic foams (thermal insulation, bulk density) with the good properties of glass and plastic foams (incombustibility, open pores, ecology) without showing the disadvantages of these foams.
The resultant mineral foam has the following properties, among others:
When a short service life of the products in question is desired, especially for packages, the hygroscopic properties of the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix material are utilized for ecological recycling according to the present invention. Used packages are dissolved in hot water or by means of vapour and converted into an alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix according to the present invention; if necessary, they are reduced in size previously. The previous packaging material is in this way reduced to a volume corresponding to a small percentage of its foam volume and can be made available to the packaging material manufacturer as a raw material in an expedient manner according to the present invention. Since the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix is destroyed neither when the package is being produced nor when it is being dissolved, this recycling process can be repeated as often as desired.
If the material according to the present invention is intended to be used as a packaging material, a ratio of SiO2 to the alkali or ammonium component of less than 2.5 has proved to be particularly advantageous in the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix.
For producing highly stabilized materials, a ratio of SiO2 to the alkali or ammonium component of more than 2 proved to be particularly advantageous in the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix.
The properties of the mineral building and structural materials produced in accordance with the present invention can be varied and improved by adding additive substances, in particular reinforcing fibres. The compressive strength, for example, can be increased up to 10 times by adding 5% by weight of glass fibres or of SiO2 fibres.
The reasons for the good properties of the foamlike mineral building and structural material according to the present invention, which, taken together, surprise the person skilled in the art, can be explained as follows:
as far as thermal insulation and strength are concerned, a low bulk density in combination with very uniformly distributed microcaverns or micropores are optimal. Up to now, it has not been possible to produce such mineral foams by the hitherto known technologies, since solids, such a oxides, carbonates, carbon, SiC, etc., are used as expanding agents when the mineral foams are being expanded. The expanding agents have a grain size in the range of from 5-63 microns and at the expanding temperatures employed, which are between 600xc2x0 C. and 1200xc2x0 C., depending on the mixture of substances used, they release substantial amounts of a hot propellant at a single location and produce correspondingly large pores at the location in question. Large pores are, however, undesirable for good insulating properties.
The hitherto unachieved ideal of mineral foam technology aims at dispersing the structural matrix as well as the foaming agent as finely as possible already in the starting material. According to the present invention, this is achieved by a molecular distribution, i.e. by a solution of all the relevant reaction partners. In addition, this is achieved by adjusting the control of the foaming process in such a way that the molecular distribution of the resultant propellant bubbles is preserved as long as possible and reappears in the product in the form of fine pores. It is impossible to produce an equivalent product from mixtures of solids.
By means of the present invention, this optimum in the field of mineral foam technology could be realized for the first time. This is also proved by the fact that a foam with very fine pores and with an extremely low bulk density could be formed, here with water vapour as a propellant, in the field of foaming technology for the first time.
In the case of known methods for producing mineral foams energy is supplied from outside. Depending on the grain size and the grain distribution of the expanding agent in the raw material, small to medium-sized propellant bubbles are formed, which are held in position by the continuous matrix consisting of the molten mineral which has a honeylike consistency. If the molten mineral is, however, locally super-heated, this will simultaneously cause an increase in the partial gas pressure and a reduction of the viscosity of the molten material at the same location. The result is that gas bubbles are mobilized and that small bubbles combine and form large bubbles which will deteriorate the quality of the product.
When the known methods are used, local superheating of the molten material cannot be avoided, since the heat acts from outside on the molten material, which, in turn, already acts as an insulating material by forming a foam at the same location, said insulating material conducting only little heat inwards. The result in the case of this technology is an unavoidable formation of large pores by the so-called xe2x80x9cboiling upxe2x80x9d of the molten material. Large pores are, however, undesirable.
According to the present invention, energy is supplied to the alkali-silicate matrix by applying the microwave technology by means of which the above-described disadvantages of the former technology have been eliminated completely.
Making use of this part of the invention, precisely dosed amounts of energy can simultaneously be supplied to each individual water molecule of the matrix when mineral foams are being produced.
Since part of the solution water had already been removed from the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix according to the present invention before the expanding process was started, the amount of water vapour developing within the molten material as a result of the effectively controllable energy input by the microwave unit will not exceed the amount aimed-at for the foaming process and desired for the respective quality of the product. An undesired combination of water vapour bubbles does not take place.
The method according to the present invention offers the additional advantage that, for the first time in the field of mineral-foam production technology, the transport of energy takes place from the expanding agent to the solid and not vice versa, as in the case of the prior art. As a result, the expanding agent will liquefy the solid matrix according to the present invention, and the solid matrix need not cause the expanding agent to react by transferring energy thereto. Making use of the present invention, the energy transport paths will, in addition, be shorter by order of magnitude in comparison with the prior art. Whereas only distances in the range of half the distance between the water molecules have to be overcome for completely heating the matrix when the present invention is used, the energy transport paths which have to be overcome e.g. in the conventional production of foam glass blocks may be as large as 20 cm. This is one of the reasons for the very short process times of the method according to the present invention, another reason being the following physical connection: solution water, microwave heating, trapped water vapour and the matrix cooperate thus forming an efficient theremodynamic system after the heat-pipe principle, which is characterized by very high heat-transport and heat-transfer values. According to the present invention, the heat-transport paths as well as the heat transfers are of such a nature that the physically optimal energy transfer is realized. This permits a temperature gradient in the microsystem which tends towards zero, whereby an optimum reaction time and foam quality will be achieved.
Whereas, when water glass is used as a foaming agent, the foams originating from the molecularly distributed water in the case of fire will exist only a short period of time and finally collapse, as has already been described, the concept according to the present invention starts from the assumption that, during the foaming, the concentration of the water vapour bubbles on the one hand and of the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix on the other must be within the range specified according to the present invention so as to overcome this physical/chemical obstacle and so as to guarantee the formation of a fine-pored, strong, stable foam. Commercially available raw materials do not fulfil this requirement, since, on the one hand, the alkali-silicate glass (broken glass) is free from water and therefore not reactive and, on the other hand, the commercially available alkali-silicate solution (water glass) contains an excessive amount of water for the foam-forming process according to the present invention.
The present invention shows how an alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix fulfilling, for the first time, the preconditions for producing the foam according to the present invention can be produced on the basis of commercially available raw materials by mixing and by partial dehydration.
In this connection, it additionally turned out that it does not suffice to adjust the water content of the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix within specific limits, but that a very careful temperature input is necessary as well, so as to prevent a locally concentrated formation and/or excessive heating of water-vapour bubbles which would cause damage to the foam structure that is temperature sensitive with respect to the viscosity of the matrix.
According to the present invention, the formation of a foam can, in certain cases, even be effected, in the case of conventional heat supply, by means of radiation heat transfer, convection heat transfer or contact heat transfer, provided that the heat supply is controlled such that certain temperatures cannot be exceeded in the foam. This can especially be achieved in the case of products having little mass and/or small wall thicknesses, especially when fine-grained granulates are used.
A substantial concept representing a further development according to the present invention is, as has already been described, the use of microwaves as an energy carrier. Foam bodies having a comparatively large size can never be heated optimally by conventional heating because, due to the foam formation which begins at the surface of the product, the flow of heat into the interior of the product is limited to such an extent that local heating or temporal overexposure of the layers located close to the surface cannot be avoided.
Hence, foaming is preferably caused by the influence of microwaves on the existing percentage of dissolved water in the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix. It turned out that this matrix couples more easily and more rapidly than other water-containing accompanying components of the recipe, such as gypsum and other additive substances containing water of crystallization. Hence, the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix can be foamed, without water-containing accompanying components being dehydrated and decomposed, respectively, at the same time. When microwave heating is used, the expanding effect begins, suprisingly enough, first at the centre of the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix. This offers the great advantage that the water-vapour bubbles formed in situ remain captured by the matrix surrounding them and have no chance of combining or escaping.
By means of a suitable adjustment of the water content and by precisely dosing the energy input in the alkali-silicate and/or ammonium-silicate matrix with the aid of microwaves, it is even possible to keep the surface temperatures of the foam so low that even softening of the surface will be avoided. This permits e.g. an agglomeration-free and agglutination-free production of bulk materials (granulates) in the form of a heap as well as of shaped parts in molds. In both cases, which are referred to by way of example, the normally employed separating agents can be dispensed with completely. This is a further substantial improvement in comparison with known methods.
The above-described foaming according to the present invention is carried out so carefully that even organic fibres, which have been incorporated into the matrix or applied to the surface thereof as a reinforcing material, are not or only to an insignificant extent thermally damaged. The method according to the present invention even permits the production of sandwich products making use of temperature-sensitive components, such as paper, plastic materials, textiles, etc. because said method permits low foam temperatures with short exposure times. This is a result that is surprising to the person skilled in the art, said result offering him product-design possibilities which have necessitated up to now the use of plastics technology or bonding techniques in a second working cycle.
When higher surface temperatures are desired in the production of foam products, microwave heating and external heat supply may also be used in combination. By purposefully combining the energy flows, it is possible to produce any desired temperature profile across the width of the cross-section of the foam body during the foaming process. It is also possible to obtain an integral foam with higher density/strength at the surface and lower density/strength in the interior thereof by cooling the surfaces and the moulds, respectively. Up to now, it has only been possible to realize these interesting products by means of plastic foams.
By selecting the temperature control, especially by controlling the energy input, in particular in continuous production plants for granulates and for strand-shaped material, it is also possible to influence the temporal temperature development in the product. It turned out that the use of microwaves permits a very good control of the foaming process. It is also possible to establish an optimum connection between the filler (e.g. fibers), solids (such as sandwich panels) etc. and the foam matrix. The improvement of the compressive strength and of other mechanical properties which has been determined in the case of fiber-reinforced foams proves this effect.
In addition, the foaming temperatures according to the present invention are within the range of the polymerization temperatures of thermosetting plastics and elastomers. It is an additional feature of the present invention that thermosetting plastics and polymers are inserted in an unpolymerized condition, e.g. in the form of resin-impregnated semifinished fabrics or in the form of resin-impregnated paper, surrounded by foam in situ and cured or polymerized.
In the following, the present invention will be explained in detail making reference to the drawing, in which

Foamlike mineral building and structural material as well as a method of producing a mineral foam and an apparatus for carrying out this method


New enzymes having esterase activity and their use for processes for kinetic resolution of butinolesters.

Directed evolution has emerged in the past decade as the most powerful method to improve biocatalysts.[1] For instance, the enantioselectivity of a D-hydantoinase could be reversed leading to a substantially improved process for the synthesis of optically pure L-amino acids.[2]
Reetz and Jaeger were able to increase the enantioselectivity of a lipase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa towards a chiral carboxylic acid (2-methyl decanoate) first from E=1.1 (wildtype) to E=11.[3] Using a combination of a broad range of molecular biology methods they were finally able to identify a variant with practically useful selectivity (E=51).[4] Similarly, we were able to increase the enantioselectivity of an esterase from Ps. fluorescens (PFE) towards 3-phenylbutyric acid from E=3.5 to E=12 by combining error-prone PCR with saturation mutagenesis.[5]
Successful directed evolution experiments strongly depend on several aspects: The identification of desired variants exhibiting an increased enantioselectivity strongly depends on the high-throughput screening method used, as the selectivity determined using a surrogate substrate (i.e. a p-nitrophenyl ester) can differ significantly from the true substrate (i.e. a methyl ester) which can lead to false positive variants. In addition, it is assumed that the random introduction of mutations does not significantly affect other properties of the biocatalyst and its production in the microbial host. Another aspect is the location of productive mutations. Directed evolution experiments often lead to variants, in which effective mutations were far from the active site region, although they affected substrate specificity or enantioselectivity and the question whether closer mutations are better has been already addressed in literature.[6]
The hydrolase-catalyzed resolution of the acetate of 1a is very challenging, as this secondary alcohol has only small differences in the size of its substituents. In accordance to the 'Kazlauskas rule'[7] it is converted by lipases or esterases only with low to modest E-values.
The (R)-alcohol can be used for the synthesis of (−)-akolactone A, a cyclotoxic butanolide[8], pancrastatin, an antitumor alkaloid[9], chiral cyclopropane-based ligands[10] and for the large-scale production of (R)-enzyl 4-hydroxyl-2-pentynoate.[11] Both pure enantiomers of 1a were employed in the preparation of enantio- and diastereomerically pure allylboronic ester by Johnson rearrangement, leading to enantiopure homoallyl alcohols.[12] Other examples include the synthesis of 3-bromo-pyrrolines from α-amino allenes[13], optically active bicyclic ligands used for the synthesis of HIV protease inhibitors[14] or key intermediates of αvβ3 antagonist (osteoporosis).[15] One example for an application of the (S)-alcohol is the preparation of chiral cyclic carbonates.[16]
Previously, we investigated >100 hydrolases for the kinetic resolution of 1b[17] and the best enzyme was the esterase from Pseudomonas fluorescens (PFE) recombinantly expressed in E. coli.[18] (SEQ ID NO:1). But detailed analysis of the reaction time course revealed, that the enantioselectivity considerably dropped during the hydrolysis of the acetate (Table 1) and complete conversion was observed leading to racemic alcohol 1a. A similar effect was described in a patent for an esterase from Pseudomonas glumae.[19] In the hydrolysis of the corresponding butyrate, the initial value was E ˜30, but then dropped too at higher conversion making a high yield resolution impractical. Only Nakamura and coworkers reported acceptable enantioselectivity, but the small-scale resolution suffered considerably from the use of large amounts of lipase Amano AH and very long reaction times (2 d).[20] The alternative asymmetric enzymatic reduction of the ketone is hampered by the very low enantiomeric excess as shown for a NADPH-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus brevis affording the (R)-alcohol with 60% ee or a NADH-dependent Candida parapsilosis carbonyl reductase yielding the (S)-alcohol with 49% ee.[21] In addition, the 3-butyn-2-one is rather unstable with high risk for thermal decomposition restricting the large-scale reduction, even if a highly selective reductase is available.

Esterases and their use for processes for kinetic resolution of butinolesters


An image generating method performed by a computer, includes extracting data corresponding to a first coded image from first image data including the first coded image; generating a second coded image corresponding to the extracted data, wherein a size of a configuration element included in the second coded image is an integral multiple of a dot size of the first image data; and generating second image data indicating an image including an image indicated by the first image data and the generated second coded image.

Document data, which is generated by various application programs (regardless of whether the data is raster data or vector data), is converted by a printer driver into print data corresponding to the printer that is the output destination. When the original document data before conversion is in a data format without the concept of resolution, or when the resolution of the document data before conversion is different from the resolution of the printer that is the output destination, the contents of the print data after conversion may include errors with respect to the contents of the print data before conversion. That is to say, the result obtained by outputting the document data onto paper (hereinafter, "paper document") may include errors with respect to the contents of the original document data before conversion.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-272667
When the document data includes a barcode or a two-dimensional code (hereinafter, "barcode, etc."), the above-described errors may also occur in the barcode, etc.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for describing an example of errors at the time of printing a barcode. In FIG. 1, the rectangles B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, and B6 indicate black lines (bars) of a barcode. An input coordinate system is the coordinate system of the barcode included in the document data. An output coordinate system is the coordinate system corresponding to the resolution of the printer that is the output destination. Each grid in the lattice in FIG. 1 expresses one dot in the output coordinate system.
In the input coordinate system, both the left and right sides of the rectangle B2, the right side of the rectangle B4, and both sides of the rectangle B6 do not match the separator lines of the dots. This kind of situation occurs, for example, when the input coordinate system is in units of inches, or when the resolution of the input coordinate system is different from the resolution of the output coordinate system. In this case, the printer driver corrects the width of each rectangle so as to match the output coordinate system. For example, the rectangle B2 and the rectangle B6 are expanded in directions of both sides and corrected to be three dots. Furthermore, the rectangle B4 is contracted in the right direction and corrected to be three dots. By making such mechanical corrections, the barcode after being printed will have errors with respect to the barcode included in the document data.
Furthermore, FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing an example of errors at the time of printing a two-dimensional code. In FIG. 2 also, according to the same principle as that described with reference to FIG. 1, errors may occur between the two-dimensional code in the input coordinate system and the two-dimensional code in the output coordinate system.
The errors illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 may affect the operation of reading the barcode, etc. printed on a paper document after being output. That is to say, it may not be possible to correctly read the proper value expressed by the barcode, etc.

Image generating method, information processing method, and information processing device


A method for preparing a test gas stream for a gas analyzer in which test gas is drawn from a test gas stream by a test gas probe, conducted through a test gas tube to a condensate separator, and then analyzed in the gas analyzer for certain components such as NO.sub.2 and SO.sub.2 for example, with the average flow rate of the test gas stream in the test gas tube being set to a value of at least 1.5 m/s.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for preparing a test gas stream for a gas analyzer, and more particularly to a method for preparing a test gas stream for a gas analyzer in which a test gas is drawn out of an exhaust stream by a test gas probe, fed through a test gas tube to a condensate separator, and then analyzed by a gas analyzer.
2. Description of the Related Art
To analyze flue gases from a furnace or exhaust from an engine such as a gas engine, a test gas stream is tapped off the main exhaust stream by a test gas probe and conducted through a test gas tube to a condensate separator prior to analysis in the gas analyzer. Analysis of the gas is then performed either directly or with the interposition of another, longer lead, located downstream from the condensate separator. Gas analysis requires that the test gas be prepared, especially to remove the moisture contained in the gas.
During the transport of the test gas from the probe to the condensate separator, there is the danger that, because of the effects of cooling, the condensate will precipitate prematurely on the inside wall of the test gas tube, and consequently more test gas will come in contact with the liquid condensate. When this happens, gas components such as NO.sub.2 and SO.sub.2 may become partially bonded in the condensate thereby causing the concentration of these components to change as the gas flows through the test gas tube. This variation can affect the value of these gas components measured by the analyzer and the resulting accuracy of the analyzer, since the measured concentration may differ from the concentration actually present in the exhaust of the flue gas.
To avoid such measurement errors, it is known, for example from German Patent Application 42 16 404 A1, to heat the test gas tube. By heating the test gas tube, the test gas may be maintained at a temperature above the dew point as it flows through the device to prevent premature precipitation of the condensate.
In these devices, condensate separation takes place completely in the condensate separator located downstream from the test gas tube. By limiting the condensation region, it is possible to ensure that the condensate can precipitate rapidly along a short distance in the gas flow path so that the period of time during which the test gas comes in contact with the liquid condensate is limited. Components such as NO.sub.2 and SO.sub.2 are thus given only limited opportunity to bond with the condensate so that minimal distortion of the measurement results occurs.
Although this type of gas preparation has proven successful in theory, there are problems in practice, particularly in that a relatively large amount of energy must be expended to heat the test gas tube, especially since the tube may extend over a relatively long distance. In addition, the condensate separator located downstream must be subjected to considerable cooling because the test gas must be cooled in the condensate chamber to a temperature below the dew point. Since cooling to avoid measurement error is intended to take place over a distance that is as short as possible, the cooling power that must be provided is very high. This high energy consumption is particularly problematic in portable and mobile gas analyzers designed for use by chimney sweeps and furnace technicians, since portable gas analyzers typically run on batteries. The duration during which the gas analyzer can be operated is therefore very limited and spare batteries must be carried if the measuring tasks that occur during a conventional workday are to be performed.
Attempts to overcome this problem have previously been directed toward reducing the amount of energy required to heat the test gas tube. These efforts have typically involved providing the test gas tube with an insulating jacket to minimize heat loss to the environment. Unfortunately, providing an insulating jacket of this nature results in test gas tubes which are relatively heavy and awkward to handle.