This invention describes novel adjuvant compositions and formulations with excellent stability at refrigerated and room temperatures and up to and about 37° C. that can be produced at remarkably low costs. This invention describes novel vaccine compositions and formulations to treat and prevent urinary tract infections caused by gram-negative bacteria including Escherichia coli and multi-drug resistant E. coli. This invention also describes methods of administration of said novel vaccine compositions and formulations and methods of treatment to prevent and treat urinary tract infections caused by gram-negative bacteria including E. coli and multi-drug resistant E. coli.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention provides novel adjuvant compositions and formulations with excellent stability at refrigerated and room temperatures, and also up to about 37° C., that can be produced at remarkably low costs. These novel adjuvant compositions and formulations are used in vaccines and exhibit superior properties of enhancing immune responses to antigens while causing less severe injection site and systemic reactions. The invention also describes novel vaccine compositions and formulations to treat and prevent urinary tract infections caused by gram-negative bacteria including Escherichia coli and multi-drug resistant E. coli. The invention also provides methods of administration of said novel vaccine formulations and methods of treatment to prevent and treat urinary tract infections caused by gram-negative bacteria including E. coli and multi-drug resistant E. coli.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the United States (US) and other countries most populations are protected from numerous infectious diseases by the use of vaccines. Vaccines protect people from infectious diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis, influenza, and polio to name a few. Society relies on the protections afforded by vaccines, which have rendered most of these infectious diseases only a part of history for the citizens of the US. In fact, in the US, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) administer the Vaccines for Children program which provided free vaccinations for approximately 40 million children in 2010. Approximately 70% of these children are enrolled in Medicaid. To prevent outbreaks of disease and reduce the costs of treating these infectious diseases, the US has made vaccination a national priority independent of economic status. Low-cost vaccines are desperately required and these vaccines are a national priority now and in the foreseeable future.
Given the importance of vaccines, the need to continually develop new and improved vaccines to improve the health of our population is clear. Even more critical is the need to provide lower cost vaccines to assist with reducing the skyrocketing costs of the US healthcare system. A national priority is to lower the costs of the US healthcare system.
Contributing to these difficulties, even in the US, is compliance with vaccine storage requirements. A study conducted by the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and reported in 2012 (OEI-04-10-00430) found that providers participating in the Vaccines for Children Program of the CDC: 1.) exposed vaccines to temperatures outside their approved temperature ranges; 2.) stored vaccines in refrigerators and freezers at temperatures outside their approved temperature ranges; and 3.) had expired vaccines stored with non-expired vaccines.
Another issue with vaccines is that vaccines can have a short shelf life and are prone to expire prior to use.
In addition, the study described above conducted by the Office of the Inspector General found that 16 of 46 US healthcare providers of Vaccines for Children program had expired vaccines stored with unexpired vaccines. On average, these expired vaccines had been expired for about 6 months. For example, it was reported that as of Jul. 1, 2010 40 million unused doses of swine flu vaccine that cost about $260 million to produce had just expired and were being destroyed. Vaccine expirations result in significant economic losses each year in the US.
Adjuvants enhance the immune responses to antigens of vaccines. Of the 34 vaccines provided under the Vaccines for Children Program administered by the CDC in the US, 20 contain adjuvants. Of these 20 vaccines with adjuvants, 19 of these vaccines contain alum adjuvants and 1 vaccine contains monophosphoryl lipid A adsorbed to alum (GSK's MPL) as the adjuvant.
Despite industry wide attempts at developing new adjuvants, currently only alum and GSK's MPL are used in approved vaccines in the US. Numerous adjuvant development failures have occurred in the US, but the need for new and effective adjuvants remains high.
GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) Cervarix vaccine containing 3′-O-desacyl-4′-monophosphoryl lipid A adsorbed to alum (GSK's MPL) was licensed in the US for the prevention of cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus. Because the starting material to produce MPL is isolated from Salmonella minnesota, the final product is a dynamic, complex mixture of hexa-, penta-, and tetraacyl analogues; each of these analogues differ in biological activity. As a result, the mixture of 3′-O-desacyl-4′-monophosphoryl lipid A presents manufacturing, testing, and use challenges that greatly contribute to the expense and supply issues with the vaccine.
In addition to storage problems, vaccine injections are often painful to the recipient. Redness, swelling, itching and tenderness at injection sites may occur after administration of a vaccine. The Prescribing Information of GSK's Cervarix Vaccine containing MPL and alum adjuvants lists local adverse events that may include pain, redness, and swelling. Local pain that prevented activities of daily life was reported in approximately 8 percent of subjects receiving either GSK's Cervarix vaccine or the adjuvant alum alone. Systemic adverse reactions observed after administration of vaccines containing MPL and alum adjuvants include headache, fatigue, fever, rash, myalgia, arthralgia, urticaria, and gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or abdominal pain.
Furthermore, as described in the "Clinical Review of Human Papillomavirus Bivalent (Types 16 and 18) vaccine [GSK's Cervarix Vaccine], Recombinant, Biologics License Application Efficacy Supplement" four studies reported local adverse events including local pain preventing movement in approximately 16 percent of subjects. Swelling was also reported at greater than 50 mm in approximately 3 percent of subjects. The same four studies reported systemic severe adverse events in 2.4 to 7.8 percent for arthralgia, fatigue, gastrointestinal, headache, and myalgia.
The severity of the injection site reactions and systemic reactions are significant requiring medical treatment involving narcotic use, IV hydration, or other physician implemented treatments and loss of work from preventing daily activity due to diarrhea, myalgia, fatigue, headache, and vomiting.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices establishes recommendations for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. This strategy includes the need to "provide pandemic vaccine to all US citizens within 6 months of a pandemic declaration: pandemic vaccine (600 million doses) [National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza (November 2005) and HHS Pandemic Influenza Plan (November 2005)" and requires the use of adjuvants to attempt to move toward this seemingly unapproachable vaccination target. Since there is no approved adjuvant for a general flu vaccine in the US, the US national vaccine stockpile was without an alternative and purchased the MF59 adjuvant from Novartis for about $500 million. The MF59 adjuvant was recently discontinued in a clinical study of Fluad Paediatric due to "high vaccine reactogenicity observed in children 9 through 12 years of age, the protocol of study V7P29 was amended to exclude children less than 9 years of age." The evidence supports that during a national pandemic declaration a significant number of severe reactions will occur due to the use of the MF59 adjuvant and require additional medical care.
A synthetic analogue of monophosphoryl lipid A was introduced by Avanti Polar Lipids (Alabaster, Ala., USA) in around 2004 time period. Avanti Polar Lipids named this synthetic analogue phosphorylated hexaacyl disaccharide (PHAD), alternatively known as "GLA". PHAD supplied by Avanti Polar Lipids is provided as a single compound, shown in FIG. 1, of approximately 98% purity with a molecular weight of 1763 Daltons. PHAD's purity is in stark contrast to GSK's MPL isolated from Salmonella minnesota that, as described above, exists as a dynamic, complex mixture. Unlike GSK's MPL, PHAD's manufacturing process, supply, use, and stability can be closely monitored and controlled as a pure compound.
Whether or not a specific adjuvant or combination of adjuvants will enhance an immune response toward each specific antigen is unpredictable. For example, GSK's Cervarix vaccine contains both monophosphoryl lipid A and alum, because this combination is superior to alum alone (Giannini et al. Vaccine, 2006, 24, p. 5937-5949). A similar increase in efficacy was observed with a vaccine that used a recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen. (Vaccine, 1998, 16(7), p. 708-714). Another example demonstrating the variability of antigen—adjuvant combinations in producing an immune response for a specific antigen is shown in Table 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,885. These inventors demonstrated that the QS-21 adjuvant and, separately, the alum plus monophosphoryl lipid A adjuvant combination generated greater antibody responses to a 74 kD protein than alum or monophosphoryl lipid A alone. Furthermore, in 2009 Derek T. O'Hagan and Ennio De Gregorio of Novartis Vaccines published a review about the development of adjuvants. (Drug Discovery Today, 14(11/12), June 2009, p. 541-551) They reported that alum is a relatively weak adjuvant for certain proteins or antigens and new adjuvants are still required.
In 2004 the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) forewarned a pending crisis of increasing antibiotic resistant bacteria throughout the world with no new antibiotics on the horizon to combat this occurrence. In 2009 the IDSA identified that bacterial infections now occur that are resistant to all current antibiotics, and that the most alarming antibiotic resistant bacteria are gram-negative bacteria including E. coli. In 2010, the IDSA stated that despite efforts by many private, public, and government laboratories, research had not produced any new alternatives to treat antibiotic resistant bacteria and a global commitment was now required. IDSA's urgency is supported by scientists at GlaxoSmithKline who predicted it would be greater than ten to fifteen years prior to the launch of any new antibiotics for the treatment of gram-negative bacterial infections (Payne et al. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. 2007, 6, p. 29-40).
Their prediction was based upon the failure of 34 companies that attempted to develop new antibiotics. A consensus among the scientific community is emerging that the US urgently needs new treatments for bacterial infections. Adam L. Hersh and colleagues reported a survey with 562 infectious disease physicians responding across the US in the journal of Clinical Infectious Disease in 2012 (Hersh et al. CID. 2012. 54(11), 1677-8) that 63% of these physicians had treated patients with bacterial infections resistant to all known antibiotics within the last year. These data emphasize the need for new treatments for bacterial infections. The failure in the art to identify new therapeutic alternatives to prevent and treat gram-negative bacterial infections is well documented.
Moreover, at least five vaccines under development to prevent or treat Staphylococcus aureus infections have recently been discontinued. These include STAPHVAX, Veronate, Aurexis, Aurograb, and V710. The failure to identify new vaccines to prevent and treat bacterial infections is well documented.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most prevalent infectious diseases worldwide and the number one infectious disease suffered by women in the US. Symptoms of UTIs include dysuria (painful urination), urgency to urinate, and suprapubic pain. Acute uncomplicated UTIs occur in an estimated 7 to 11 million women in the US each year. Over half of all adult women will suffer from one or more UTIs in their lifetime with 25-44% of women experiencing a recurrent UTI. In fact, approximately 1,000,000 women and men in the US experience three or more UTI episodes per year. Moreover, recurrence often occurs within 30 to 90 days of infection despite appropriate antibiotic treatment and apparent clearance of the initial infection from the urine.
Despite recent progress in the epidemiology and pathogenesis of UTI, there have been no recent major improvements in our ability to actually prevent or treat these infections. The 25 to 44% of women with UTI who experience recurrent infections require additional treatment, additional costs, and in some cases extensive urological evaluation to prevent more severe complications from arising. Thus, safe and effective vaccines that have the potential to improve patient convenience and decrease costs are of considerable interest to patients, providers, and health care organizations. In the recurrent UTI population, antimicrobial resistance is of great concern since treatment options are diminishing. There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop new approaches to UTI prevention and treatment that depend less on the use of antimicrobials.
UTIs are most commonly caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), which can be responsible for up to 85% of community-acquired UTIs. A critical pathogenic cascade by which UPEC evade host defenses and rapidly expand in numbers in the urinary tract to cause disease has been uncovered. This work supports the clinical need for a UTI vaccine.
FimH plays a significant role in several stages of the pathogenesis cascade, which makes it a prime vaccine target. UPEC strains that lack the FimH adhesin are unable to effectively colonize the bladder. A vaccine against FimH will activate host defenses to recognize and clear UPEC at all stages of infection, even when protected in IBCs or intracellular reservoirs.
A FimCH vaccine with MF59 as the adjuvant containing squalene was jointly invented by scientists at MedImmune, Inc. and the laboratory of Professor Scott Hultgren (U.S. Pat. No. 6,500,434; incorporated herein in its entirety). The FimH protein and FimC protein exist as a non-covalent protein complex, FimCH. FimC stabilizes FimH and antibodies are produced against both proteins, however, only antibodies to FimH have been shown to reduce E. coli colonization of bladders in animals. The use of FimCH as an antigen in a vaccine is therefore limited by the requirement of an effective adjuvant.
The FimCH vaccine with the MF59 adjuvant containing squalene (an oil-in-water emulsion) elicited an immune response during Phase 1 clinical trials (United States Patent Application 20030138449; incorporated herein in its entirety.). Phase 2 clinical trials were conducted in two distinct populations again with the MF59 adjuvant containing squalene, but women did not produce relevant IgG titers to FimH in either of these trials. The development of MedImmune's FimCH vaccine with the MF59 adjuvant was discontinued because of these disappointing results. The MF59 adjuvant with squalene has a history of causing severe local injection site and systemic reactions when used with certain antigens. During these Phase 2 clinical trials, women experienced severe injection site reactions and severe systemic reactions. Because of this failure, a vaccine for the treatment or prevention of UTI does not exist in the US.
An ongoing need exists for a vaccine to prevent and treat UTI. The failure of MedImmune and others to develop a UTI vaccine evidences the difficulties of developing new vaccines for bacterial infections. MedImmune demonstrated that alum does not sufficiently enhance the immune response to FimCH. MedImmune had no clear alternatives of adjuvants to pair with the FimCH antigen.
Accordingly, there is an urgent need for vaccines, and adjuvants used to enhance the immune response to antigens in vaccines. There is a need for vaccines and adjuvants for vaccines that have extended stability without sacrificing efficacy. In particular, there is an urgent and widely recognized need in for more room temperature stable vaccines and adjuvants. In addition, it would be desirable to have vaccines, adjuvants and compositions that are stable at temperature above room temperature.
In addition there is a need for adjuvants and pharmaceutical compositions that produce less severe injection site and systemic reactions.
There is a need for new vaccines to prevent and treat bacterial infections, and for vaccines for the prevention and treatment of UTIs in particular.
It would be desirable to have vaccines, and adjuvants used to enhance the immune response of antigens in vaccines, with increased shelf-lives that can be produced in a cost effective manner. Such vaccines and adjuvants would significantly lower healthcare costs in the US, particularly if they can be stored at room temperature or greater without negatively affecting their stability.
It would be desirable to have adjuvants and vaccines that produce minimal injection site and systemic reactions. It would be desirable to have formulations with as few as excipients as possible.
It would be desirable to have a vaccine, and adjuvant for a vaccine that enhances the immune response treat bacterial infections. It would be desirable to have a vaccine, and adjuvant for a vaccine that enhances the immune response to Escherichia coli to patients with UTI.

Compositions of vaccines and adjuvants and methods for the treatment of urinary tract infections


Systems and methods for optimizing low profile SATCOM antenna panels affixed to a moving vehicle. An elongated SATCOM antenna panel has a narrow azimuth beam optionally having a typical width of no more than a 2-degree angle while the SATCOM antenna panel is maintained parallel to the motion trajectory of a carrying vehicle. An actuation unit rotates the SATCOM antenna panel about three orthogonal axes: a longitudinal axis (Roll rotation), a vertical axis (Yaw rotation) and a lateral axis (Elevation rotation). The actuation unit actuates the antenna panel so it is maintained aligned with the Earth's equatorial plane and the narrow azimuth beam optionally having a typical width of no more than 2-degree angle eliminates adjacent satellite illumination.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to mobile satellite communications (SATCOM) antenna systems and optimized methods for satellite communications, and more specifically, but not exclusively, to systems and methods for optimizing low profile elongated SATCOM antenna panels for Earth's equatorial plane operation.
As used herein, the term elongated refers to a longitudinally oriented antenna affixed parallel to a longitudinal axis of a carrying vehicle traveling in continuous trajectory defining a path causing the vehicle to travel forward on the longitudinal axis.
Geostationary satellite communication technologies provide a variety of services including broadband communications, audio/video distribution networks, maritime, terrestrial and aerial navigation, as well as support for civilian and military operations.
Military communication antennas are utilized by armed forces for both stationary and mobile satellite systems. In addition to conventional antennas, military antennas are also essential to tactical communications from distant, airborne, maritime and environmentally harsh locations. Some particular requirements of military communication antennas are low profile, high reliability, ruggedness, immunity to jamming, portability, etc. A predominant example of a military geostationary satellite system is the Military Strategic and Tactical Relay (MILSTAR).
As used herein, the term antenna refers to a device that transforms directed electromagnetic signals into electromagnetic waves propagating in free space. An antenna may be used for both reception and transmission of signals.
As used herein, the term geostationary or geosynchronous orbit (GSO) refers to a circular orbital path along and approximately 35,786 kilometers above the Earth's equator. Geostationary orbits lie on the Earth's equatorial plane.
Satellites orbiting at the same speed as the rotational speed of the Earth share a common latitude on the Earth's equatorial plane and are uniformly parked along the longitudinal axis in an orbital arc sometimes called the Clark belt. At such an orbit, the orbital period of a satellite is 1 day, i.e., equal to the rotational period of the Earth.
As used herein, the term communications satellite refers to a satellite that predominantly provides digital and/or radio and or television and/or phone coverage. Such a satellite is utilized as a relay station in orbit above the Earth, receiving amplifying, and forwarding signals carried on specific electromagnetic radio frequency band(s). The satellite remains above certain area(s) with specific footprint(s) on the Earth's surface as it revolves around the Earth in a geostationary orbit.
The design and development of SATCOM antenna systems (SAS) has been one of the areas in communications that has experienced significant growth in the past decades. Today, a range of SAS models exist, designed for ground, spacecraft, super-sonic, sub-sonic, maritime, helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms.
Such a SAS may be affixed to various locations on the body or fuselage of the vehicle, facilitating communications between the vehicle and a geostationary satellite.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary environment 900 of a geostationary satellite communicating with an elongated SATCOM antenna panel affixed to an aircraft. FIG. 2 is an environment 902 illustrating flight dynamics parameters and axes of rotation in a three-dimensional space adopting the alta-azimuth coordinate system. The figures describe an exemplary aircraft 300 in a three-dimensional space and three orthogonal axes of rotation 400 about the aircraft's center of mass: a longitudinal axis 402, a lateral axis 404 and a vertical axis 406.
As used herein, the axes are respectively referred to as a roll rotation, an elevation rotation and a yaw rotation (azimuth). Utilizing this convention, a roll rotation refers to as acting about the longitudinal axis; an elevation rotation is acting about the lateral axis and a yaw rotation is acting about the vertical axis.
With reference to FIG. 1, as is commonly known, a geostationary satellite 100 is orbiting Earth in an orbit plane 132 at an elevation of approximately 35,786 kilometers forming an angle 104, of θ degrees between planes 110 perpendicular to the surface of the Earth. Irrespective of the type of signal employed, the geostationary satellite 100 is a communications relay device, located in space to re-broadcast signals to a much larger area than is possible by, for instance, only a local area transmission.
The designed purpose of geostationary satellites dictates the frequency bands of operation, types of transmissions, power levels emitted and where their signal(s) are directed. Some regions on Earth, such as region 108 are unreachable by the geostationary satellite 100 due to the limiting angle 104 formed between the satellite and planes 110 perpendicular to the Earth's surface. Also depicted is an exemplary aircraft 300, affixed with a SAS 500 that may bi-directionally communicate with the geostationary satellite 100.
Any satellite position in a geostationary orbit is determined by two coordinates which stand for the satellite's horizontal and vertical locations. Referring to FIG. 2, the vertical coordinate is resolved by calculating an altitude angle 414 upwards from the nearest point on the horizon, and the horizontal coordinate is determined by calculating an azimuth angle 412 from due north eastwards along the horizon to that nearest point. As used herein, the abovementioned coordinate system is referred to as the alta-azimuth coordinate system and is commonly known in the arts as the astronomical and/or the horizon coordinate system.

Optimization of low profile antenna(s) for equatorial operation


A system for automatically associating user-generated data to images, the system comprises a card reading device which receives and recognizes the user-generated data entered directly from manipulation of the terminal by a user. A camera captures an image and receives the data from the card reader device for associating a captured image and the data for forming a labeled image.

A digital camera typically includes either a removable PCMCIA card or internal memory for storing a plurality of captured images therein. A microphone is disposed on the camera for permitting a user to speak therein for inputting a variety of data, which is also stored in memory. These audio files are typically time stamped and are normally matched or associated with the most recently captured image after the audio file was recorded.
The captured digital images and the audio files are then downloaded into a computer workstation for further processing. In the case of the PCMCIA card, the card is inserted into a drive of the computer and, if internal memory is used, the camera is attached via a cable to the computer and the data is downloaded into the computer memory. The images may then be further processed or enhanced by any suitable software such as "ADOBE PHOTOSHOP" software. An operator at the computer workstation plays the audio files which are used to manually associate the user-generated data to a particular digital image on the computer workstation.
After processing, if any, the images in high resolution form are sent to a server or a printer for storage, and a low resolution form of the images is simultaneously sent to a customer storage device typically residing at a remote location. The customer inputs order information at the customer storage device and this data is then sent to the printer server for printing the images in the desired format as described in the customer order.
In the case of conventional photography, images are captured by a conventional camera, and the exposed film is removed and taken to a photofinisher for printing. A customer order form having a unique identification number is completed and given to the photofinisher for indicating the desired format in which the images are to be printed. The customer retains a portion of the order form with the identification number thereon for identifying the images upon picking up the order.
In the case of professional conventional photography, after capturing an image, a ticket that typically includes a unique identification number is given to the customer for matching the captured images to the particular customer. The customer later returns the ticket to the photographer once the images are printed for submitting an order. In some instances, the customer orders upon receiving the ticket and simply returns the ticket to the photographer once the images are printed in hardcopy form.
Although the presently known and utilized system and method for identifying images to a particular customer is satisfactory, it is not without drawbacks. In the case of digital photography, the operator input of the audio files is obviously time consuming and susceptible to input errors. As for conventional photography, pocket-sized tickets are inconvenient to store and are easily lost.
Consequently, a need exists for improvements in the system and method of identifying images to a particular customer.

Automated system and method for associating identification data with images


A method and system for supply chain product and process development collaboration. The supply chain is comprised of at least one project, each project having a part (or family of parts), a supplier of the part, and a customer. The system may include a data storage and retrieval device operably connected to a processor. The system's functions include collaboration tools and security based on the users' project roles. The method uses a methodology that ensures certain requirements are met prior to satisfying the methodology. The system and method of the present invention ensures that current, applicable methodologies are applied to a specific part and allows for collaboration between the customer and supplier during all phases of the project. Because all projects in a supply chain are present, a user can navigate throughout the supply chain. The supply chain's reporting functions permit determination of potential performance risks and the source thereof.

Many products are a complex combination of raw materials and/or components manufactured from a variety of sources. Supply chains (e.g., materials suppliers, component suppliers, assembly suppliers, integrators, and system suppliers) are commonly used to leverage multiple designs, processes and manufacturing specializations to deliver reliable and cost effective products to the global marketplace.
For example, in the automotive industry, a vehicle is comprised of major components (e.g., drive train, chassis, body, interior, etc.) produced by manufacturers with a high degree of expertise in integration. These major systems are, in turn, comprised of sub-systems, assemblies and components (e.g., gears, pistons, engine blocks, seats, etc.) produced by various manufacturers with expertise in transforming materials into parts. The materials (e.g., steel, magnesium, cloth, wire, glass, paint, etc.) are produced by manufacturers with expertise in the chemistry, metallurgy, and other material sciences required to achieve performance and manufacturing properties desired for the product.
A significant amount of the cost to produce any product is determined in the design phase. During the design phase of the product lifecycle, design engineers from multiple sources determine the specific construction of the product to meet desired specifications. Quality engineers define the measures and controls to be used to ensure product quality. Process and/or manufacturing engineers design the process flow, equipment, and measurement devices to be used in the manufacturing process to produce a sufficient quantity of high quality product to meet demand.
In many supply chains, these activities cross organizational boundaries between customer and suppliers. The supplier is commonly responsible for the design of the product and its reliability, performance, safety, and warranty cost. The customer commonly provides specifications, timing requirements, production volume targets, and oversight of the design and development processes.
FIG. 1A illustrates the advanced product quality planning ("APQP") process used in the automotive industry to control the design and development phase for part development. As used on this FIG. 1A, the steps indicated by the numerals in circles have the following meaning:                1. Receipt        2. Forward to Quality Control        3. Review for accuracy and content (forwarded to Quality Control, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Purchasing)        4. Approval by all appropriate departments        5. If in hard copy format at receipt, documents are scanned into electronic format        6. Reformat to meet standard format        7. Documents merged together        8. Copies made for departmental use        9. Storage in repository via hard copy warehouse, CD-ROM diskette, desktop hard drive, external database, or network server for example        10. SubmittalIn this embodiment, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is akin to the manufacturer of end product, such as an automobile. The Tier 1 party is the manufacturer of a major system, and the Tier 2 party contributes a component or material to the major system of the Tier 1 party.
A requirement of the industry standard known as QS-9000, APQP is mandated throughout the automotive industry as a standard method for communicating information, synchronizing activities, and approving parts for production and commerce in the supply chain. As a paper-based system, APQP is a very time consuming and labor intensive activity.
To assist in understanding the APQP process, below is a list of steps taken in the process and tasks involved in such steps. The following list of steps and tasks are excerpts taken from GM Global APQP, Advanced Product Quality Planning, General Motors Corporation, GM 1927, June 1999, and defines General Motors Corporation's global common APQP requirements necessary to develop and implement an APQP process for a product or service.

Method and system for supply chain product and process development collaboration


The present invention provides an assembly platform of a large tidal current energy generating device. The assembly platform is internally provided with at least one horizontal axis hydro-generator. The assembly platform includes supports, at least four fixed piles, at least two sleeving members and at least two force-bearing supports. The fixed piles are connected through the supports to form an installation space. The hydro-generator is installed inside the installation space, one end of each fixed pile is driven to be fixed to a seabed and the other end extends to be above a water surface. Ends of the at least two force-bearing supports are respectively mounted on the left and right sides of the horizontal axis hydro-generator along the water flow direction and the other ends are respectively provided with corresponding sleeving members so as to resist an impact force of a water flow on the horizontal axis hydro-generator.

Ocean energy (including tidal current energy, wave energy, temperature difference energy, salinity gradient energy, ocean current energy and the like) is a clean and pollution-free renewable energy source featuring in rich reserve, wide distribution and extremely good development prospect and value. Nowadays, with increasingly short of energy sources and increasingly severe greenhouse effect, it is necessary for energy sources to be low-carbon, so that clean energy sources such as wind energy and ocean energy are a development direction of future energy sources. However, besides wind energy which is utilized maturely by a power generation device for these clean energy sources, utilization of ocean energy is still in a starting stage without universal and mature devices, so that the power generation power is lower compared with that of other energy sources. Most important, the manufacturing cost, the mounting cost or the maintenance cost of an existing ocean energy power generation apparatus are far higher than the cost of other energy source power generation, which becomes the largest obstacle that restrains commercial application and popularization of the ocean energy power generation apparatus.
At present, the single installed power of a wind power generation apparatus that generates power by using offshore wind power may reach 5 MW to the maximum extent. It is structured such that a tower is fixed to a seabed, and then a wind driven generator is fixed to the top end of the tower and is located above a sea level to collect wind power to generate electricity. The diameter of the lowest end of the tower is 6.242 m, the diameter of the uppermost end of the tower is 4.170 m, the tower diameter is averagely 5.206 m, and the whole tower is 96 m tall. In other words, in order to make the single installed power reach 5 MW, it is necessary to arrange a tower that is nearly 100 m tall, and the generator with the power may be carried when the maximum diameter is greater than 6 m. Such a tower is 439 tons heavy, and the cost and the mounting fee are high. As a result of the high cost, it may not be converted into true economic value. Even if it is to be applied on a large scale, it is further discouraged from the high cost.
By adopting wind power generation, the diameter of the whole impeller, even if 230 m, it just has the generating capacity of 12 MW, but the corresponding tower height needs to be 195 m (the lowest end of a blade is 30 m from the ground and the radius of the impeller is 165 m). However, if tidal current energy is utilized to generate electricity, the diameter of the blade is just 70 m, and the generating capacity of 30 MW may be reached theoretically. The height of a pile is just 40 m (the blade is 5 m from the ground, and the radius of the impeller is 35 m). Thus, compared with offshore wind power generation, tidal current energy generation reduces the height of the tower drum and lowers the cost, and the power generation efficiency by utilizing the tidal current energy is far higher than that of power generation by offshore wind energy.
A conventional tidal current energy power generation apparatus usually has two fixing modes: floating fixation, namely, it floats in the sea through a floating bed or is fixed to the seabed or both sides through steel ropes; and seabed fixation, namely, it is directly fixed to the seabed through a fixed pile. As floating fixation still generates electricity by utilizing wave energy, and compared with low generating capacity by tidal current energy at depth, the scale of the generator capable of suspending is very small, the economic value is small and it is gradually abandoned in actual use. The second seabed fixing mode is a fixing mode used by the existing tidal current energy power generation apparatus put into actual use.
At present, the maximum single installed power of a power generation module of the existing tidal current energy power generation apparatus put into use actually is 2 MW. Up to now, there are no successfully implemented cases with the single installed power exceeding 2 MW in the world. Limited by the scale of the single power generation unit, most tidal current energy power generation apparatuses are extremely high in cost and may not be put into commercial use truly, so that commercial value may not be generated. Specifically speaking, the conventional tidal current energy power generation apparatus is similar with an offshore wind power generation apparatus, and is directly fixed to seabed through a fixed pile, too. As seawater is huge in impact force, the fixed pile must have an enough large diameter to resist a moment. The piling cost is higher if the diameter of the fixed pile is greater. As tolerance of a fixed pile with a specific diameter has an upper limit value, it only can bear the horizontal axis hydro-generator within a certain scale correspondingly. Regardless of cost and technical angle, the fixed pile may not be amplified without limit, so that the installed power of the single horizontal axis hydro-generator may not be broken through.

Large tidal current energy generating device and assembly platform thereof

HANGZOU LHD INSTITUTE OF NEW ENERGY, LLC

ZHEJIANG ZHOUSHAN LHD ENERGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.

HANGZHOU LINDONG NEW ENERGY TECHNOLOGY INC.


An insulated accelerometer assembly is provided for attachment to a vibrated component. A base has a portion for engagement and connection with the vibrated component and to transmit vibration. An accelerometer senses vibration and is located at least partially within the base. A housing at least partially encloses the accelerometer and inhibits voltage discharge, corona damage, and voltage tracking on the accelerometer. The housing is made of an insulating material and has an interior for the accelerometer. The housing has a plurality of raised fins on the exterior. A mounting cap also inhibits voltage discharge, corona damage, and voltage tracking and secures the housing. The mounting cap is made of insulating material and has an exterior that includes a plurality of raised fins. A cable has an electrically conductive wire and has a shield to inhibit electrical noise.

Accelerometers are well-known and are usable to detect motion. Accelerometers output signals indicative of the force/motion and are operatively connected to components for receipt of the signals. In one specific example, accelerometers measure acceleration and/or reactionary forces in a vibrating system. Accelerometer use environments that also have high voltage may induce errors in signals proceeding along electrically conductive accelerometer connections. Fiber optic accelerometer connections do not have such issues of induced signal errors. Thus, it is known to provide a fiber optic accelerometer in a high voltage environment. However, fiber optic accelerometer connections can be costly.

Electronic stator end winding accelerometer sensor


One embodiment describes a computing system that includes a boot device. The boot device includes nonvolatile memory that stores startup routine instructions and a first pointer, in which the first pointer identifies a first one or more memory addresses in the nonvolatile memory where at least a portion of the startup routine instructions are stored, and a microcontroller that retrieves the startup routine instructions from the nonvolatile memory using the first pointer and determines whether the startup routine instructions are corrupted before executing any portion of the startup routine instructions. The computing system further includes a central processor communicatively coupled to the boot device, in which the central processor executes the startup routine instructions to initialize the computing system when the microcontroller determines that the startup routine instructions are not corrupted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to nonvolatile memory devices, and particularly, to self-measuring nonvolatile memory devices, for example using programmable pointers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when a computing system is powered on, the computing system executes a startup routine to initialize the computing system. Often, the startup routine instructions may be stored in nonvolatile memory, such as an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) chip. More specifically, the startup routine may be used to initialize the computing system by identifying, initializing, and/or testing connected components (e.g., devices). Additionally, the startup routine may be used to test and/or load instructions used to initialize the computing system, such as a boot loader used to load an operating system. For example, the startup routine may instruct the computing system to perform a cryptographic hash on code that will be subsequently executed and to determine whether the code has been undesirably modified (e.g., malicious, defective, or otherwise corrupted) based on the result of the cryptographic hash. In other words, the startup routine may be used to test subsequently executed instructions for possible corruption to improve the operational reliability of the computing system.
To further improve the operational reliability of the computing system, the startup routine instructions may also be tested for possible corruption before execution. More specifically, similar to the subsequently executed instructions, the startup routine instructions may be identified and a malware error-detection may be performed. However, unlike the subsequently executed instructions, the startup routine instructions may not be used to identify itself because the startup routine instructions are tested before they are executed.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to improve operational reliability of a computing system, for example, by enabling startup routine instructions to be identified for testing before execution.

Self-measuring nonvolatile memory device systems and methods


The present invention provides for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery and a producing method therefor, in which a grooved portion provided in an upper portion of the outer casing of the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery protrudes toward the inner portion of the outer casing, a group of electrodes being housed in the outer casing, a positive electrode and a negative electrode being wound in a spiral manner while facing each other through a separator in the group of electrodes, and a sealing member is placed on the upper portion of the grooved portion through insulated packing to seal the opening of the outer casing in an airtight manner, and whereby a circular insulating plate 10 provided with an arced opening 12 and cut portions 13 and 14 is arranged between the upper portion of the group of electrodes and the lower surface of the grooved portion, the cut portions 13 and 14 extending from end portions 12a and 12b of the opening 12, and the inner peripheral side of the cut portions 13 and 14 of the circular insulating plate is raised from the outer peripheral side of the cut portions 13 and 14. Such insulating plate does not adversely affect the injection property of the electrolytic solution used in producing the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery as to provide it with excellent battery performance and excellent productivity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery and a producing method therefor. In the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery of the invention, a grooved portion is provided in the upper portion of the outer casing thereof to protrude toward the inner portion of the outer casing in which a group of electrodes is housed, while a positive electrode and a negative electrode facing each other through a separator in the group of electrodes are wound to form a spiral, and a sealing member is placed on the upper portion of the grooved portion by means of insulated packing to seal the opening of the outer casing in an airtight manner.
2. Description of Prior Art
Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, typified by light lithium secondary batteries with high energy density, have come to be used as a power source for portable information terminals such as portable telephones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), notebook personal computers, and digital cameras. A lithium secondary battery is typically produced by dissolving a negative electrode active material containing natural graphite, a binder, and the like in an organic solvent to form slurry or paste, and the slurry or paste is applied to a negative electrode core body made of copper foil or the like to produce a negative electrode. On the other hand, organic solvent, a carbon conductive material, and a positive electrode active material containing LiCoO2, LiNiO2, LiMnO2, LiMn2O4, and the like are mixed together to form slurry or paste, and the slurry or paste is applied to a positive electrode core body made of aluminum foil or the like to produce a positive electrode.
After the positive electrode and the negative electrode are superposed on each other while sandwiching a separator formed by a polyethylene fine porous film therebetween, the positive electrode, the negative electrode and the separator are wound together by a winding apparatus, and the outermost periphery thereof is secured with tape to form a spiral electrode group. Then, after the spiral electrode group is inserted into an outer casing, a negative electrode lead (negative electrode collector tab) connected to the negative electrode and a inner bottom surface of the outer casing are connected to each other, and a positive electrode lead (positive electrode collector tab) connected to the positive electrode and a positive electrode terminal are connected to each other. A nonaqueous electrolytic solution is then injected into the outer casing, which is sealed in an airtight manner to produce the lithium secondary battery. In the nonaqueous electrolytic solution, electrolytic salt is added to the organic solvent (for example, a mixture solvent containing ethylene carbonate (EC) and dietyl carbonate (DEC)).
In recent years, the demand for lithium secondary batteries with higher capacity has increased because of improvement in the performance of electronic instruments. For example, higher capacity can be achieved by improving the packing density of the electrode active material layer. Such method however adversely affects the ability of the nonaqueous electrolytic solution to penetrate the active material layer or be impregnated therein. In other words, the nonaqueous electrolytic solution does not spread widely in the electrode, which causes deterioration in battery characteristics.
The decrease in volume of the nonaqueous electrolytic solution to penetrate or impregnate the active material layer leads to decrease in productivity, as to worsen production yield of the battery. Further, in this kind of lithium secondary battery, disk-shaped circular insulating plates provided with a hole approximately in the center portion thereof are usually arranged at the upper and lower end faces of the group of electrodes. Because the hole occupies a relatively small area of the circular insulating plate, the entire upper end face of the group of electrodes is substantially covered by the circular insulating plate, which obstructs the movement of the nonaqueous electrolytic solution, thereby further diminishing the degree of penetration or impregnation of the active material layer by the nonaqueous electrolytic solution.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Nos. H9-283111 and H9-283112 proposed to address the above problems. Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. H9-283111 proposed that the impregnation property of the nonaqueous electrolytic solution can be improved by arranging in the upper portion of the group of electrodes housed in the outer casing an insulating plate having at least one cutout portion in an outer periphery thereof.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. H9-283112, the insulating plate, which has a center plane portion, an annular wall formed near the outer periphery of such center plane portion, and a collar portion formed in the outer periphery of the annular wall, is arranged in the upper portion of the group of electrodes housed in the outer casing. The center plane portion has a through-hole, through which the electrode lead is inserted in the middle of the center plane portion, and the center plane portion also has several through-holes in the periphery thereof. The collar portion has a number of through-holes, and the bottom surface of the collar portion is located on the side where the group of electrodes resides at the bottom surface of the center plane portion. The bottom surface of the annular wall is located in the same plane as the bottom surface of the center plane portion, or the bottom surface of the annular wall is located at the midpoint between a bottom surface portion of the collar portion and the bottom surface portion of the center plane portion. Pursuant to this structure, the time for infusing the nonaqueous electrolytic solution can be shortened.
However, using the means proposed in either Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. H9-283111 or No. H9-283112 does not bring about any improvement in the impregnation ability of the nonaqueous electrolytic solution, while actually causing diminution in battery characteristics and decrease in production yield. In the recent type of lithium secondary batteries, a center pin is arranged to be inserted in a hollow area formed in the central axis region of the spiral electrode group to prevent deformation of the hollow area due to charging and discharging and to ensure the passage of gas exhaust.
However, there was caused the problem that the center pin arranged to be inserted in the hollow portion formed in the central axis region of the spiral electrode group protrudes by pressing force from the spiral electrode group. To avoid this problem, the circular insulating plate, which has not been provided with a hole at the center thereof, is used. As shown in FIG. 5, in a circular insulating plate 30 with no hole, a portion 30a corresponding to the central axis region of the spiral electrode group is formed so as to cover the same, and a semicircular arced opening 32 is provided around the portion 30a.
When the portion 30a corresponding to the central axis region of the spiral electrode group is formed such as to cover the same, the upper portion of the center pin arranged to be inserted in the hollow area formed in the middle of the spiral electrode group is covered with the portion 30a of the circular insulating plate 30 corresponding to the central axis region of the spiral electrode group as shown in FIG. 6, so that the center pin will not protrude.
However, when the upper portion of the hollow area formed in the central axis region of the spiral electrode group is covered with the portion 30a of the circular insulating plate 30 corresponding to the central axis region of the spiral electrode group, a path for the nonaqueous electrolytic solution to penetrate the central axis region of the spiral electrode group cannot be ensured during injection of the nonaqueous electrolytic solution. Accordingly, the process of penetrating each electrode in the group of electrodes takes enormous time, and the injection property of the nonaqueous electrolyte solution deteriorates, which worsens production yield while at the same time causing productivity to be diminished in this kind of nonaqueous electrolytic solution battery.
In view of the foregoing, the invention has been conceived to provide a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery having excellent battery performance and excellent productivity and a producing method therefor with the use of a circular insulating plate which prevents the injection property of the nonaqueous electrolytic solution from being adversely affected.

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery and producing method thereof


Methods and systems for memory cache entry replacement with pinned cache entries. Data structures are maintained for tracking a state of entries of a memory cache. A first data structure includes identifiers for pinned entries of a memory cache. A second data structure includes identifiers for unpinned entries of the memory cache that have been accessed once. A third data structure includes identifiers for unpinned entries of the memory cache that have been accessed more than once. A request to pin an entry is received. A determination is made that an identifier associated with the entry to pin is included in the second data structure or the third data structure. The identifier associated with the pinned entry is added to the first data structure. A detection is made at a time period that one or more entries of the memory cache are to be removed from the memory cache in accordance with an eviction protocol. Identifiers of one or more unpinned entries with state data that satisfies an eviction criterion associated with the eviction protocol are selected from the second data structure and/or the third data structure. The one or more unpinned entries are removed from the memory cache while the pinned entry with corresponding state data is maintained in the memory cache.

A memory cache (simply referred to as a cache herein) may enable faster data retrieval than memory storage (i.e., residing on devices such as solid-state drives, flash memory devices, etc.) for the computing system. As the amount of space of a cache can be smaller than the amount of storage space, the computing system can implement memory management techniques to ensure that frequently and/or recently accessed data remains in the cache and infrequently and/or not recently accessed data is evicted from the cache. For example, a computing system can execute a data replacement protocol (e.g., a page replacement protocol, a chunk replacement protocol, etc.), to select an entry (e.g., a page) to remove from the cache (e.g., when the cache is full, etc.). In some systems, an entry that is the least recently accessed and/or the least frequently accessed is selected for removal. One or more entries can be pinned in the cache (e.g., by an application running on the computing system, by a user of the computing system, etc.). A pinned entry refers to a cache entry that is designated to remain in the cache even if the entry is a qualified candidate for eviction according to a data replacement algorithm.

Memory cache entry management with pinned cache entries


In forming a headrest for automotive seat, a three-dimensional trim cover assembly with an opening formed therein is subjected to a foaming process. The trim cover assembly has a pair of extensions formed in that opening and a foldable sealing portion defined in one of those two extensions. The foldable sealing portion is formed with a hole. In operation, both two extensions are turned over via the opening into the trim cover assembly, and during the foaming process, an injection nozzle is inserted through the opening and into the hole of foldable sealing portion. Then, a liquid base foaming material is injected from the injection nozzle into the trim cover assembly and cured therein, during which, the foldable sealing portion is folded about another of the two extension by a pressure applied thereto from the liquid base foaming material being cured, so as to close and seal the opening against leakage of the liquid base foaming material from that particular opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a headrest for use on an automotive seat, and in particular to the method based on a foaming process wherein a liquid base foaming material is injected and cured within a three-dimensional trim cover assembly to form the headrest.
2. Description of Prior Art
According to a typical known foaming process for producing a headrest, a three-dimensional trim cover assembly of a predetermined headrest shape is firstly provided by sewing together required separate cover sections, with an opening defined therein, then a generally U-shaped headrest frame having a pair of headrest stay portions is inserted through the opening into within the trim cover assembly, and thereafter, a liquid base foaming material is injected and cured in the trim cover assembly, so as to produce a foamed resultant headrest with the pair of headrest stay portions projecting therefrom.
This foaming process has encountered the problem that the liquid base foaming material is leaked through the opening to the outside of trim cover assembly, leaving an objectionable spot thereon. Conventionally, in an attempt to prevent the leakage of liquid base foaming material, typical solution is for example found in the Japanese Granted Patent Pub. No. 6-45149 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Pub. No. 7-31759, wherein a pair of extensions are formed in the portion of trim cover assembly corresponding to that opening such as to extend inwardly from the opening into within the trim cover assembly, and a flattened tubular film piece is fitted between the pair of extensions, so that an injection nozzle can be inserted through the flattened tubular piece into the inside of trim cover assembly, and, during the foaming process, the liquid base foaming material being injected from the nozzle is prevented by those two extensions and film from the opening in question.
However, such conventional method requires cutting off an externally exposed part of the film which projects outward from the opening, subsequent to the foaming process, thus resulting in a troublesome labor on the part of worker and also in the high likelihood of a cut, tear or undesired damage being given to the trim cover assembly when the worker cuts off the film.


The invention relates to a method for manufacturing nanostructured paper or board and a novel paper or board. The method comprises providing a liquid suspension of nanocellulose-containing material, forming a web from the suspension, and drying the web in order to form paper or board. According to the invention the water content of the suspension from which the web is formed is 50% or less by weight of liquids. By means of the invention, energy consumption of paper manufacturing can be significantly reduced.

For more than 200 years the conventional papermaking process is based on a filtration process of aqueous suspensions of woodfibers. Due to the large flocculation tendency, which can cause optical inhomogenities in the final paper structure, typically low consistencies of about 0.5-2% (by weight) woodfibers are used in paper furnishes. A large part of the production energy is consumed by the drying process, as water forms typically about 50% (by weight) of the wet web structure after filtration and pressing, and has to be evaporated in the drying section of the process.
Paper-like products have also been manufactured from non-cellulosic raw materials (e.g. ViaStone or FiberStone). Such products may consist of 80% calcium carbonate and 20% synthetic polymer resin, for example. By such materials, water consumption can be reduced or even avoided.
In certain applications, woodfibers have been replaced with nanocellulose as the raw material. This enables opportunities for new products, and new papermaking processes.
Henriksson et al, Cellulose Nanopaper Structures of High Toughness, Biomacromolecules, 2008, 9 (6), 1579-1585 discloses a porous paper comprising a network of cellulose nanofibrils. The preparation of the paper starts from nanofibril-water suspension, where the water is removed so that a cellulose nanofibril network is formed. First, a 0.2% (by weight) stirred water suspension is vacuum filtrated in a filter funnel. The wet films obtained is dried under heat and pressure. Porosity of the product was increased by exchanging the water as a solvent for methanol, ethanol or acetone before drying.
US 2007/0207692 discloses a nonwoven transparent or semitransparent highly porous fabric containing microfibrillated cellulose. The fabric can be obtained by a similar process as in the abovementioned article of Henriksson et al. by forming a web from aqueous suspension of microfibrillated cellulose, exchanging the water solvent for organic solvent and drying. According to the examples, the consistency of the aqueous suspension is 0.1% (by weight) before web-forming. Both the abovementioned methods utilize nanocellulose fibers that are smaller in size than the cellulose fibers (wood fibers) used in conventional paper making. Sheets manufactured from nanocellulose fibers are reported to have high toughness and strength. However, due to their transparency and/or porosity they are not very suitable as such for printing purposes, for example.
In addition, there is a need for more efficient methods of manufacturing paper, paperboard or the like products from nanocellulose.

Method of manufacturing paper and products obtained by the method


Method and apparatus for preventing collapse of a structure due to an earthquake by using a construction with a water chamber whose outside contacts a receiving area, provided to the earth""s surface, and balance cables each connected to a plurality of weights and variable weights lighter than a predetermined weight. The water chamber is separated from the receiving area and raised form the earth""s surface by draining off the water in the water chamber during an earthquake, and returns to its original position by increasing the weight of the water chamber once the earthquake completely stops.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method of and an apparatus for preventing a structure from collapsing by earthquake shocks and torsional moment during an earthquake. More particularly, it relates to a method of an apparatus for preventing a structure from being wrecked by making them be raised and separated from the surface of the ground (for example, the present invention is actuated at the 7th degree on the seismic scale in case that the structure is designed to withstand lateral seismic stresses of 8th degree) when there is a great earthquake enough to demolish structures such as houses and multi-storied buildings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Structures including buildings, bridges, towers, fortresses, etc. are built on the ground from the underground, and they are designed and built strongly enough to withstand external shocks or seismic stresses of a given degree as well as their own load or loads of various things that are placed on them.
However, the conventional structures may be easily wrecked by a very strong earthquake whose intensity is higher than their own resistance against the earthquake. The earthquake is a series of suddenly generated elastic waves in the earth caused by movement of the earth""s crust, the structures built perpendicularly on the surface of the ground receive torsional moment when the earthquake shock gets to the surface of the ground. When an earthquake with such a moment exceeding the limit of the earthquake proof architecture, the structures become wrecked.
There are many earthquake zones in the earth, and the areas near these earthquake zones have had a loss of lives and property damage by the collapse of structures due to the occurrence of earthquakes. In order to obviate the above problems, the present inventor developed a method of and an apparatus for preventing collapse of structures due to earthquakes and filed a Korea patent application for this invention (Korean patent application No. 97-22349). According to this application No. 97-22349, a structure is designed to go down to a guard construction, built under the ground, during an earthquake, and cannot provide protection to the structure and lives in the structure against the earthquake.
In the application No. 97-22349, a structure cannot go down to its guard construction until water is supplied to its water chamber when an earthquake is generated. Thus, if the water supply system is damaged by the earthquake, the above invention cannot achieve the object of preventing the collapse of a structure due to an earthquake, and since its weights, provided to the underground guard construction, are directly connected to the structure via balance cables, the earthquake shocks may be delivered to the structure through its balance cables.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method of and an apparatus for preventing the collapse of a structure due to an earthquake that substantially obviate the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of and an apparatus for preventing the collapse of a structure due to an earthquake by making the structure be moved up and separated from the surface of the ground not to receive torsional moment when there is a great earthquake of a given intensity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of and an apparatus for preventing the collapse of a structure via earthquake-proof means not to deliver earthquake shocks to the structure through the balance cables connected to weights.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of and an apparatus for obviating the collapse of a structure due to an earthquake and for precluding loss of lives and property damage.
In order to obtain the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, there is disclosed a method of preventing collapse of a structure due to an earthquake by using a construction with a water chamber whose outside contacts a receiving area, provided to the earth""s surface, and balance cables each connected to a plurality of weights and variable weights a little lighter than the total weight of the structure""s own weight, variable weight of things and people within the structure, and the weight of the water in the water chamber. The structure with the water chamber is separated from the receiving area and raised form the earth""s surface by draining off the water in the water chamber during an earthquake, and returns to its original position by increasing the weight of the water chamber once the earthquake completely stops.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for preventing collapse due to an earthquake, includes a receiving area provided to the earth""s surface where a structure is to be built; a plurality of balancing chambers equidistantly provided on all sides of the receiving area; a water chamber built under the structure and having an outside closely contacting the receiving area; a balance weight provided to the bottom of the water chamber and serving as a center of gravity; sand provided around the balance weight to distribute vibrations; and an earthquake-proof means installed on the upper part of the water chamber in order to prevent seismic waves from being delivered to the structure through balance cables.

Method of and apparatus for preventing structure from collapsing due to earthquake


A vehicle is described that can efficiently cool or heat a group of components, in view of appropriate operating temperature ranges of respective components configuring a fuel cell power supply system, while realizing saving of a mounting space in the vehicle and cost of the vehicle. The vehicle mounted with a fuel cell power supply system includes at least a fuel cell, and an accumulating unit includes a capacitor and a secondary battery connected to the fuel cell. A motor serves as a power source for the vehicle to which output sections of the fuel cell and the accumulating unit are connected. A PDU provided between the output sections and the motor. A component group of the power supply system, including the fuel cell, the accumulating unit, and the PDU, is cooled by a cooling medium which flows inside the vehicle, in order from one having a lowest heating generation amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle mounted with a fuel cell power supply system comprising a fuel cell, a capacitor, and a secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as the vehicle mounted with this type of fuel cell power supply system, there is known a vehicle in which, as shown in FIG. 2 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-186200, fuel cells are arranged to be aggregated in an area below a front seat and accumulating means (secondary batteries) are arranged to be aggregated in an area below a rear seat.
In such a conventional vehicle, rated temperature (upper limit operating temperature) of the fuel cells and rated temperature of the accumulating means are different (e.g., equal to or lower than 60° C. for the secondary batteries and about 80° C. for the fuel cells). Therefore, water cooling is performed for the fuel cells and air cooling is performed for the accumulating means.
However, in the conventional vehicle, the fuel cells and accumulating means are individually cooled by using independent cooling mechanisms. Therefore, there are problems that a mounting space for the cooling mechanisms in the vehicle is large and cost for the cooling mechanisms is high.
As described above, the components configuring the fuel cell power supply system have appropriate operating temperature ranges different from each other. When cooling or heating mechanisms for temperature adjustment are provided for the respective components, a space and cost for the temperature adjusting mechanisms increase.

Vehicle mounted with fuel cell power supply system


A method of computing an energy loss generated in a viscoelastic material, including analyzing a dynamic behavior of a to-be-analyzed object composed of the viscoelastic material by a numerical analysis method; and computing the energy loss of the object momently when the object makes the dynamic behavior by a viscous component of the object. The energy loss computed by the energy loss computing method is visualized by a golf ball-hitting simulation to momently evaluate the energy loss generated in the golf ball.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for computing an energy loss generated in a viscoelastic material and a method of evaluating an energy loss of a golf ball by using the method of computing the energy loss generated in the viscoelastic material. More particularly, the present invention is intended to compute the energy loss generated in the viscoelastic material during its dynamic deformation behavior at regular intervals to improve analysis accuracy of the dynamic deformation of the viscoelastic material. In particular, the present invention is intended to evaluate the energy loss generated inside the golf ball when it is hit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A viscoelastic material represented by a macromolecular material such as rubber or elastomer is widely applied to various products such as tires, balls used in sport, rolls for printing machines.
To save cost and time required to make a trial manufacture, simulation is made in various industrial fields to develop various products composed of the viscoelastic material. For example, to estimate the restitution performance of a golf ball, the present applicant proposed a method of simulating actual hitting tests by an analysis using a finite element method, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-55034.
To improve the restitution performance of the golf ball, in one proposal, attention is given to an energy loss generated inside the golf ball when it is hit. More specifically, when a hitting object impacts (collides with) the golf ball, the golf ball deforms and separates from the hitting object, thus generating a repulsion. It is known that the restitution coefficient of the golf ball at this time is greatly affected by the energy loss generated inside the golf ball in the collision between the hitting object and the golf ball. Investigations are made to compute the energy loss generated in an to-be-analyzed object (hereinafter referred to as to-be-analyzed object) such as the golf ball composed of the viscoelastic material by simulations.
More specifically, in the process where the viscoelastic material is subjected to a stress, generates a strain, and returns to its original state, there is a relationship (stress-strain curve) between the stress and the strain, as shown in FIG. 14. The curve of FIG. 14 indicating the relationship between the stress and the strain goes momently from a point O to a point A where the absolute value of the strain is maximum and returns to the point O. At that time, a difference (a portion shown with vertical lines) is generated between a work amount done while the curve goes from the point O to the point A and a work amount done while the curve returns from the point O to the point A. By using the value of the difference (area shown with vertical lines) between the above-described two work amounts, it is possible to find the energy loss generated in the viscoelastic material.
To find a difference L between the two work amounts, computations are performed to determine a sum total L1 (work amount indicated with vertical lines of FIG. 15A) of the work amount done during the movement of the stress-strain curve from the point O to the point A and a sum total L2 (work amount indicated with vertical lines of FIG. 15B) of the work amount done during the movement of the stress-strain curve from the point A to the point O.
The difference L (area shown with vertical lines in FIG. 14) between the two work amounts is computed by using the sum total L1 of the work amount done during the movement of the stress-strain curve from the point O to the point A and the sum total L2 of the work amount done during the movement of the stress-strain curve from the point A to the point O. The energy loss can be computed by the product of the value of the work amount difference L and the volume of each element in its initial configuration. As described above, in the conventional art, the energy loss is computed by using the area (loop area) in the stress-strain curve, called hysteresis loss, showing the relationship between the stress and the strain.
However, the above-described method computes the energy loss of a to-be-analyzed object at the time of termination of the dynamic deformation behavior thereof when the to-be-analyzed object almost converges its deformed state converges and returns to its original state. The energy loss of the to-be-analyzed object in the entire stages of its deformation behavior is sufficient for estimating the restitution performance of the golf ball. However, the energy loss computed momently during its deformation behavior can be utilized to evaluate a player's feeling when the player hits the golf ball in addition to the evaluation of the restitution performance.
In the case where the viscoelastic material does not return to its original state from its deformed state, the strain does not return to zero and the loop does not have a closed state in the above-described stress-strain curve. In this case, the above-described method of computing the energy loss by using the area of the loop is incapable of computing the energy loss. The above-described method is incapable of computing the energy loss unless an analysis finishes, thus being incapable of evaluating the energy loss in the course of the deformation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of computing energy loss generated in viscoelastic material and method for evaluating energy loss of golf ball by using method of computing energy loss


In one embodiment of the present application, a knitting method is disclosed for a knitting fabric capable of eliminating the need of stitch transfer during knitting and easily knitting even a thick and less stretchable knitting fabric. Three types of stitching including knits marked with “O,” tacks marked with “V,” and missings marked with “-” are knitted repeatedly in a course direction and a wale direction. The thickness of the clothing fabric of a knitted product is 1.5 times that by plain knitting or thicker which is equal to a thickness obtained by rib knitting. The elongation of the knitted product in the course direction is approximately 1.5 times that by the other methods which is approximately half an elongation obtained by plain knitting which is approximately three times that by the other methods. The elongation of the knitted product in the wale direction is approximately 1.7 to 1.8 times that obtained by the other methods which is equal to an elongation obtained by plain knitting. Since the three types of stitches including the knits, tacks, and missings may be repeatedly knitted in each course for knitting the knitting fabric, the stitch transfer is not required during the knitting, and the thick and laterally less stretchable knitting fabric can be easily knitted.

Conventionally, in weft knitting, a basic knitted fabric is knitted in plain knitting in which knitting is performed to form knit stitches. Plain knitting is also referred to as plain stitch. For example, a flat-type flat knitting machine is provided with needle beds that are opposed to each other, and using knitting needles of the mutually opposed needle beds, a knitted fabric in so-called rib knitting or rib stitch can be knitted. Using rib knitting, a knitted fabric can be knitted that is thicker than in plain knitting, in a structure in interlock, milano rib, or the like. In rib knitting, basically, knitting is performed alternately using knitting needles of mutually opposed needle beds for each stitch in the course direction, and a groove and a streak in the wale direction are alternately formed. Interlock provides a structure in which two basic rib knitted fabrics are relatively shifted in the course direction and thus a groove line on one fabric is filled with a streak line on the other fabric, so that the surface becomes smooth. Interlock is also referred to as smooth, double rib, or the like. In milano rib, a knitted fabric for two-course knitting is knitted in which continuously after a course of basic rib knitting, a course of plain knitting is knitted on each of the mutually opposed needle beds.
Even in a plain knitted structure, a thick knitted fabric can be knitted, for example, in moss stitch knitting in which knit and tuck are combined. The applicant has disclosed a thick, less stretched or contracted, and firm knitted fabric knitted by combining plain knitting and transfer knitting (see Japanese Examined Patent Publication JP-B2 7-37699 (1995), for example).
Basically, sewing is not necessary when a knitted product that is to be worn on the human body is knitted, for example, as a tubular knitted fabric having a shape corresponding to wearing portions such as the upper body, the lower body, the arms and the legs. A tubular knitted fabric can be knitted even in a flat-type flat knitting machine, by performing plain knitting on each of mutually opposed needle beds. However, there is a limitation on knitting a structure in rib knitting in order to make at least a part of the knitted fabric thick. An ordinary flat-type flat knitting machine has two front and back needle beds that are opposed to each other, and thus in order to knit a tubular knitted fabric including a rib knitted structure, for example, drawn-off knitting is performed in which odd-numbered knitting needles and even-numbered knitting needles on each needle bed are respectively allocated to the front side and the back side of the tubular knitted fabric. In drawn-off knitting, a knitted fabric feels coarser than the actual gauge number.
As a flat knitting machine, a machine with a larger number of needle beds also has been realized, and examples thereof include a four-bed machine with four needle beds in total in which two beds are provided in each of the front and back portions. With such a flat knitting machine, a tubular knitted fabric including a rib knitted structure can be easily knitted. However, a four-bed machine has a complicated mechanical structure, and thus such a machine is limited.
A structure in moss stitch knitting is inferior in thickness to a rib knitted structure. However, for a rib knitted structure, transferring is necessary in the course of knitting both in the case of performing drawn-off knitting and in the case of using a four-bed machine. Thus, a rib knitted structure requires a complicated knitting process and takes effort. The knitted fabric in JP-B2 7-37699 has a similar problem because transferring is necessary.

Fabric knitting method and knitted product


The disclosure provides for a container system and method for the cryopreservation and resuspension of a body fluid. The container system may include a cryopreservation container comprising the body fluid in a cryopreservation liquid, a resuspension container comprising a resuspension solution, a connection tube sterilely connecting the cryopreservation container and the resuspension container, and at least one shut-off element actively associated with the connection tube.

Blood products and other body fluids or biologicals may be cryopreserved for long term storage. The preparation of the product for freezing may be in a manner to prevent contamination of the product, for example with aseptic handling and filling operations or through the use of sterile connection devices. After the product is thawed through any variety of means, e.g. water bath, the product must be prepared for administration/transfusion which may require dilution, washing, centrifugation, filtration, resuspension or similar steps that require accessing the product storage container. These processes may breach the closed system of the storage container, and therefore subject the product to potential contamination.
This presents an increased risk to the product and the patient, and limits the time interval between preparation and administration/transfusion to 4-6 hours depending on the regulatory jurisdiction. These operations could be performed in a validated aseptic handling environment (i.e., clean room). However, many locations of final use do not have the validated facilities and trained personnel to aseptically process in a controlled environment (e.g., some hospitals, rural health care settings, home settings, remote emergency care, or austere environments such as military deployment zone). Functionally closed operations may be facilitated by the use of sterile tube welding. But, some freezing storage systems are not conducive to a device design/material selection that will permit compatibility to approved sterile connection devices.
For example, conventional resuspension operations necessitate breaching the storage container may result in a 4-6 hour expiry time for the thawed cells, such as cryopreserved platelets (CPP). This can result in waste of valuable product if the product is not administered to the patient within that time window.
Accordingly, there remains a need in developing a system and method for freezing, resuspending body fluids in a closed system such that the contents of the system remain sterile through thawing, resuspension, and storage until used by a patient.

Closed and sterile container devices for cryopreservation and resuspension of body fluids


The present invention relates to a flat display screen anode of the type including an active area having phosphor elements, the active area being surrounded with at least one track in a material having a secondary emission coefficient lower than or equal to one.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flat display screens, and more particularly to so-called cathodoluminescence screens, the anode of which carries luminescent elements separated from one another by insulating areas, and likely to be excited by electron bombarding. This electron bombarding requires the biasing of the luminescent elements and can come from microtips, from layers with a low extraction potential or from a thermo-ionic source.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
To simplify the present description, only microtip screens will be considered hereafter, but it should be noted that the present invention relates generally to the various above-mentioned types of screens and the like.
FIG. 1 shows the structure of a flat color microtip display screen.
Such a microtip screen is essentially comprised of a cathode 1 with microtips 2 and of a grid 3 provided with holes 4 corresponding to the locations of microtips 2. Cathode 1 is placed facing a cathodoluminescent anode 5, a glass substrate 6 of which constitutes the screen surface.
The operating principle and a specific embodiment of a microtip screen are described, in particular, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,116 of the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique.
Cathode 1 is organized in columns and is comprised, on a glass substrate 10, of cathode conductors organized in meshes from a conductive layer. The microtips 2 are implemented on a resistive layer 11 deposited on the cathode conductors and are arranged within the meshes defined by the cathode conductors. FIG. 1 partially shows the inside of a mesh and the cathode conductors do not appear on the drawing. Cathode 1 is associated with grid 3 organized in lines. The intersection of a line of grid 3 and of a column of cathode 1 defines a pixel.
This device uses the electric field which is created between cathode 1 and grid 3 to extract electrons from microtips 2. These electrons are then attracted by phosphor elements 7 of anode 5 if the latter are adequately biased. In the case of a color screen, anode 5 is provided with alternate bands of phosphor elements 7r, 7g, 7b, each corresponding to a color (Red, Green, Blue). The bands are parallel to the columns of the cathode and are separated from one another by an insulator 8, generally silicon oxide (SiO.sub.2). The phosphor elements 7 are deposited on electrodes 9, comprised of corresponding bands of a transparent conductive layer such as indium and tin oxide (ITO). The sets of red, green, blue bands are alternately biased with respect to cathode 1, so that electrons extracted from the microtips 2 of a pixel of the cathode/grid are alternately directed towards the phosphor elements 7 facing each of the colors.
The control for selecting the phosphor 7 (phosphor 7g in FIG. 1) which is to be bombarded by the electrons from the microtips of cathode 1 imposes to control, selectively, the biasing of phosphor elements 7 of anode 5, color per color.
Generally, the rows of grid 3 are sequentially biased at a potential of around 80 volts, while the bands of phosphor elements (for example 7g in FIG. 1) to be excited are biased under a voltage of around 400 volts via the ITO band on which the phosphor elements are deposited. The ITO bands, carrying the other bands of phosphor elements (for example, 7r and 7b in FIG. 1), are at a low or zero potential. The columns of cathode 1 are brought to respective potentials between a maximum emission potential and a no emission potential (for example, respectively 0 and 30 volts). The brightness of a color component of each of the pixels in a line is thus determined.
The choice of the values of the biasing potentials is linked with the features of the phosphor elements and of microtips 2. Conventionally, below a voltage difference of 50 volts between the cathode and the grid, there is no electronic emission, and the maximum emission used corresponds to a voltage difference of 80 volts.
A space 12 between substrates 6 and 10 is generally defined by means of spacers (not shown) regularly distributed on the entire surface of the screen between grid 3 and anode 5. Substrates 6 and 10 are assembled together by means of a peripheral sealing, for example, by means of a cord of fusible glass constituting, once hardened, a rigid peripheral joint.
In the case of a color screen, the tracks for connecting bands 9 by sets of bands carrying phosphor elements of a same color require the forming, on substrate 6, of a piling of insulating and conductive layers, since three sets of alternate bands have to be interconnected.
In the case of a monochrome screen, the anode of which is comprised of a plane of phosphor elements of a same color, only one connection track is needed and this track can be directly deposited on substrate 6.
A disadvantage of conventional screens is that they have a low lifetime, that is, after a relatively short operating time (of around a hundred hours), destructive phenomena due to the forming of sparks at the screen circumference occur.
The origin of this phenomenon is not well understood. It was generally thought to be due to the small space between electrodes (of around 0.2 mm) with respect to the high voltage difference between the anode and the cathode. In order to overcome, among others, this phenomenon, it had been provided to increase the distance between electrodes for a given anode/cathode voltage. However, this solution results in the occurrence of other problems (spacers, focusing . . . ) and only delays the occurrence of destructive phenomena at the screen circumference.

Flat display screen anode with protection ring for collecting secondary electrons


A feed aerosol comprising detectable particles is injected into a mix-enhancing swirler. Diluting gas is also injected into the mix-enhancing swirler and mixed with the feed aerosol in a swirling motion to form an aerosol with a particle concentration no greater than 1,000 particles per liter. The aerosol is then injected into a mixing chamber, where the aerosol is mixed and dried; the inner diameter of the mixing chamber is at least twice as great as that of the swirl chamber. The aerosol is then emitted through a flow straightener that removes swirl from the flow of the aerosol and passed through a delivery conduit, where the particles are detected and counted; and the particle count is compared with a target count. The respective flows of feed aerosol and diluting gas can then be increased or decreased based on a comparison of the particle count with the target count.

Using existing methods, particle sensors for measuring the contents of aerosols are tested in a test chamber, where the chamber is filled with a known particle concentration. The readings from the particle sensor can then be compared with the known particle concentration in the chamber to evaluate the accuracy of the particle sensor. This evaluation typically requires exposure of the external surfaces of the particle sensor to the test aerosol, and the particle sensor, therefore, becomes contaminated. Sensor testing can typically only be conducted in the laboratory because of the complexity of the test setup. Additionally, testing typically is unreliable at low particle concentration levels; and the establishment of a stable, low particle concentration is very difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, testing at low concentration levels may be necessary to test sensor limits of detection, which can be important for detecting harmful biological organisms or other toxic items, where detection at very low concentrations levels may be important.

Aerosol generation for stable, low-concentration delivery

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


A code is added as a marking to a document and encodes an identifier that maps to a copy of the document stored in a database. Database copies of stored documents are preferably digitally signed. Using a device such as a smart phone, a user may extract the document identifier from the marking on a purported authentic version of the document and retrieve a copy of the document from the corresponding location in the database. The user can then visually compare the purported authentic version of the document with the retrieved database copy.

A policeman on the street looking at a driving license, an inspector looking at a business permit, an admissions officer looking at a diploma or grade transcript, a security guard looking at an ID badge, a potential buyer looking at a land title, and countless others who are presented with "original" or "official" documents must often ask themselves: "How do I know this document is authentic and unaltered?" This issue of document authentication has existed at least since ancient Mesopotamians rolled engraved cylinders onto clay tablets. Ever since, European monarchs, Asian emperors, popes and officials have been pressing signet rings into melted wax or rolling jade yinzhang onto parchments and scrolls. Indeed, in many cultures throughout history, possession of the official document seal was itself seen as proof of legitimacy and ruling power. Even today, there is often a requirement for notarization or obtaining an apostille for many types of documents. Now that documents may be created, altered, and copied with only a few keystrokes and clicks of a mouse, the question of provable authenticity is as important as ever.
One disadvantage of existing document verification schemes is that they are often inconvenient at best, frequently impractical, and sometimes expensive. For example, it may not always be convenient to have to find a notarius publicus for domestic legalization of a document, or to submit the document to the appropriate Foreign Ministry agency responsible for overseeing apostilles according to the Hague Apostille Convention. At a less international level, it may be impractical to have to return to one's university to get a certified copy of past diplomas or grade transcripts. In some circumstances, it may in practice be nearly impossible to verify the authenticity of a presented document—the police officer, for example, will in general have no reasonable way to check that driving licenses presented at a routine traffic stop do not have fake photographs or altered birthdates. Other expensive methods of prevention of physical documents forgery include special printers, papers, holograms, watermarking, etc., such as are used to create passports and paper money. These methods make it more difficult or expensive to forge, but still do not offer instant or even convenient verification of the source of the document without correspondingly specialized technology and training.
Even the supposedly high-tech world of inventions and patents still sometimes functions in the era of ribbons, seals, and embossing tools: patent applicants who file applications in their home countries normally are required to get physical, officially certified "priority documents" from their respective national patent offices and send these to foreign firms for submission to foreign patent authorities in order to establish the right of priority.
Another disadvantage is that the use of physical seals still does not rule out the possibility of alterations or outright counterfeiting. This is especially true where official documents are easily forged, officials may be bought off or at least difficult to contact for confirmation, or of questionable reliability themselves. In the United States, for example, there are often minimal requirements to become a "notary public", who may often be in a distant state. On the other side of the globe, even now it is common for Chinese businesses to have their official seal, which they use to "chop" company documents. Such seals, however, are often made in small shops and can be easily reproduced. Of course, with the advent of high-resolution color laser printers, the ease of creating fully believable counterfeits of official documents and even seals has increased dramatically. These circumstances simply raise the question of trust to a higher level, that is: "How can I trust that this official seal proves authenticity of this document?"
Still another drawback of many existing document verification systems is that they presuppose immediate access to technology that may simply not be available in many real-life situations—despite the seeming ubiquity of portable computers, they are not always available. For example, a policeman on foot may want to be able to check that the photo on an ID document actually corresponds to the person the ID document supposedly belongs to.
What is needed is therefore some system and method for verifying documents that is convenient, easily accessible, and more trustworthy and believable than existing solutions.

System and method for field-verifiable record authentication