The copying system comprises a plurality of units in a stacked configuration, where each unit comprises two or several sheets of carbonless, repositionable self-adhesive paper. Image transfer upon writing pressure results in copies of the message made in a single unit but not on subsequent units in the stack. Image transfer is controlled by regulating the microcapsule size of the carbonless copying component on the first sheet in each unit and the basis weight of the last sheet of paper in each unit.

Efforts have been made to provide office supplies which can reduce the input time for a particular writing/copying task. Carbonless copying paper was developed to achieve this objective and has been used in business forms and multi-sheet note pads, for example. Since its introduction, carbonless copying paper has been modified to develop additional products for multi-copying tasks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,648, issued to Chao, describes a pressure sensitive copying paper with repositionable adhesive properties. The copying system includes a plurality of stacked sheets of paper which are temporarily attached to each other with a pressure sensitive adhesive. The pressure sensitive adhesive is applied onto the paper's surface as a mixture of adhesive and carbonless microcapsules. The problem with this configuration is that the manufacturer must make the carbonless paper rather than use pre-made carbonless paper from another manufacturer. This translates into additional materials and manufacturing costs and downstream product costs for the consumer.
Combining the concepts of repositionable adhesives and carbonless coatings into a commercially acceptable product is desirable.

Writing system of stacked carbonless repositionable self-adhesive paper


The present invention is directed to the use of glycosidase inhibitors for inhibiting the conversion of a pro-toxin to a toxin by a glycosidase enzyme. In particular, the present invention relates to the use of glycosidase inhibitors for the treatment of malaria, endotoxic shock or septic shock.

Since the severity of clinical manifestations of malaria correlates with the presence of tumour necrosis factor a (TNF.alpha.) in the circulation (13,8,15), components of parasitized erythrocytes which induce its production and cause hypoglycaemia (25,6,26) are customarily referred to as toxins (11). The TNF-inducing activity is associated with a phospholipid (3,1).
Endotoxins are responsible for initiation of septic shock which increases the number of fatalities in Gram-negative bacteremia. The mortality from septic shock is high despite advances in antibiotic therapy. Endotoxins are lipopolysaccharides (LPS) which are released from the bacteria and induce shock by stimulating the release of endogenous inflammatory mediators including tumour necrosis factor .alpha. (TNF.alpha.), interleukin 1.beta. (IL-1.beta.), IL-6, IL-8.gamma.-interferon, leukemia inhibitory factor, tissue factor, histamine and nitric oxide. These endogenous mediators act in concert and are either additive or synergistic in their effects. Therefore, therapies designed to inhibit the release or neutralise the activity of single components have shown only modest protection against lethality. LPS interacts with cells by complexing with endotoxin-binding protein and binding CD14, by a pertussis toxin-sensitive p73 receptor, via lectin receptors and by serum-independent hydrophobic mechanisms. The intracellular signalling mechanisms triggered by LPS are not fully elucidated. A therapy which prevents the release of endotoxin from bacteria or was able to neutralise the action of endotoxin before it bound to mammalian cell surfaces would be valuable. At present no effective medicament for either of the above conditions has been developed.


Disclosed is a drive unit, in particular for a closing unit, an injection unit, or an ejector of an injection molding machine. The drive unit comprises a double-acting force transmitting element provided with a small and a large piston unit which are disposed in a cylinder. The large piston unit is adapted to be pressurized by a great force both in input and in output directions. According to the invention, both the large piston unit with respect to the cylinder and the cylinder with respect to a movable element of the drive of the small piston unit are spring-prestressed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a drive unit, in particular for an injection unit or an ejector of an injection molding machine.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, one has provided injection molding machines with electric and hydraulic drives, wherein actuations at high speed are exerted by the electric drive with relatively low forces, while the hydraulic drive is particularly advantageous if high axial forces have to be applied with comparatively minor actuations.
In the case of a closing unit of a plastics injection molding machine, for instance, the drive unit moves a movable tool faceplate of the machine. In so doing, the drive unit has to fulfill two important, different objects. On the one hand, it is to move the tool faceplate as quickly as possible for closing and for opening the mould so as to keep the cycle time of the manufacturing of an injection-molded component as short as possible. On the other hand, it is to impact the tool faceplate with a high clamping force, so that the tool can be kept shut against the high inner pressure during injection molding. The drive unit therefore has to be configured such that it is adapted to perform actuations at high speed and to apply high forces with a comparatively minor stroke. Requirements of this kind are posed, except with a closing unit, also with the actuation of ejectors or the injection unit of an injection molding machine.
DE 101 21 024 A1 (cf. in particular FIGS. 26, 34) of the Applicant discloses a drive unit that is adapted to fulfill the afore-mentioned requirements. This drive unit comprises a hydraulic force transmitting element, the smaller piston unit of which is actuated via an electrically actuated stroke spindle device for closing a tool. This smaller piston unit may consist of one single smaller piston, or of a plurality of small pistons. These confine, along with a cylinder or interface and one or several large pistons of the force transmitting element, a pressure chamber, wherein, by the moving of the small piston unit into the pressure chamber, a high pressure can be generated, which acts, via the large active surface of the large pistons (power pistons) on the movable tool faceplate which may then be kept shut with high force. During the quick closing of the tool with comparatively low force, the interface is indirectly connected with a spindle nut of the spindle device, so that the piston unit with smaller diameter, the power piston, and the interface are jointly shifted by the spindle device. For applying the high force, the interface is fixed at the frame of the injection molding machine, so that the further closing movement of the tool is determined by the moving of the smaller piston unit into the pressure chamber and the corresponding axial movement of the large piston of the force transmitting element.
In one embodiment described in DE 101 21 024 A1 (FIG. 34), the coupling of the cylinder to the stroke spindle device is performed hydraulically. To this end, a chamber confined by a section of the small piston unit and the cylinder is impacted with pressure from a high pressure storage means, so that the pressure medium incorporated in the chamber acts like rigid pulling mechanics and the cylinder participates in the closing stroke of the stroke spindle device and thus of the small piston unit.
In an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 26 of DE 101 21 024 A1, the small piston unit is, during rapid motion, connected with the large piston via an electromagnetic coupling. This large piston is in turn centered with respect to the cylinder by a prestressed centering spring arrangement. The prestressing of this centering spring arrangement is chosen such that the axial shifting of the small piston unit is, during rapid motion, transferred to the large piston via the coupling, and from there via the centering spring arrangement to the cylinder so as to take it along.
In both known solutions the force transmitting element is designed to be double-acting, so that, for tearing open the tool, a high tear-open force acts on the tool via the force transmitting element as the small piston unit moves in opening direction. This movement of the small piston unit in opening direction is performed during the application of the tear-open force against the force of a prestressed pressure spring.
A disadvantage of the initially mentioned known construction (FIG. 34) is that, for applying the high pressure in the chamber during rapid motion, a comparatively complex circuitry with high pressure storage means and electrically controlled direction control valve is required, so that this circuitry variant is very expensive and also requires substantial construction space.
In the solution illustrated in FIG. 26 of DE 101 21 024 A1, the large piston has to be designed with a very large surface due to the integrated coupling, so that a compact solution cannot be realized with such a construction.


An incandescent lamp includes a lamp voltage conversion circuit within the lamp and connected to a lamp terminal, where the voltage conversion circuit converts a first line voltage at the lamp terminal to a second RMS load voltage usable by a light emitting element of the lamp. The voltage conversion circuit includes a triac phase-controlled dimming circuit, which in turn includes a hysteresis control network. The voltage conversion circuit may be an integrated circuit that is in the lamp base and connected between the lamp terminal and the light emitting element. The triac phase-controlled dimming circuit may be built for a specific line voltage.

The present invention is directed to a lamp with an integral voltage converter that converts line voltage to a voltage suitable for lamp operation.
Some lamps operate at a voltage lower than a line (or mains) voltage of, for example, 120V or 220V, and for such lamps a voltage converter that converts line voltage to a lower lamp operating voltage must be provided. The voltage converter may be provided in a fixture to which the lamp is connected or within the lamp itself. U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,631 is an example of the latter, in which a diode is provided in the lamp base for clipping the line voltage to reduce RMS load voltage at the light emitting element. U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,133 is another example of the latter, in which transformer circuits are provided in the lamp base for reducing the load voltage at the light emitting element.
Factors to be considered when designing a voltage converter that is to be located within the lamp include the sizes of the lamp and voltage converter, costs of materials and production, production of a potentially harmful DC load on a source of power for installations of multiple lamps, and the operating temperature of the lamp and an effect of the operating temperature on a structure and operation of the voltage converter.

Lamp with integral voltage converter having phase-controlled dimming circuit with hysteresis control for reducing RMS load voltage


A hydraulic tool comprises an action part arranged to act on a threaded connector for tightening and loosening the same, a drive part arranged to operate the action part so that the action part tightens or loosens a threaded connector, the drive part being formed as a hydraulically-operated drive, hose units arranged to supply a hydraulic working liquid to the drive, and a connector connecting the hose units with the drive, the connector including a first connector portion mounted on one of the parts turnably relative to the latter about a first axis, and a second connector portion mounted on the first connector portion turnably about a second axis which is inclined at an angle relative to the first axis.

The present invention relates generally to hydraulic tools and more particularly to hydraulically operated torque tools.
Hydraulically operated torque tools are known and widely used for tightening or loosening threaded connectors. A known hydraulically operated torque tool has an active part which engages and turns the threaded connector, and a drive part which drives the active part under the action of a working liquid. The drive part is usually formed as a cylinder-piston unit which is supplied with the hydraulic liquid from a source. Since during the operation the cylinder-piston unit performs a forward stroke and a reverse stroke, the working fluid must be supplied alternatingly to opposite chambers of the cylinder at opposite sides of the piston of the cylinder-piston unit. For this purpose the cylinder is usually provided with two passages having first ends which open into the chambers at opposite sides of the piston, and second ends connected by two hoses with a source of the working liquid. The connection of the second ends of the passages with the hoses is performed through swivel connectors. This swivel connector has two parts which are swivelable relative to one another so as to prevent mingling of the hoses during operation of the tool which very often resulted in mingling of the hoses in the older tools. While the swivel connector in accordance with this patent is better than the previously used swivel connectors, it does not completely eliminate the problem of hose interference with the operation during manipulations with the tool.


A first apparatus includes at least one scan chain. Each of the at least one scan chain includes scan cells coupled together. Each scan cell in the at least one scan chain includes a first type of scan cell when a reset state of the scan cell is a first state, and a second type of scan cell when the reset state of the scan cell is a second state. One or more scan chains of the at least one scan chain includes at least one of the first type of scan cell and at least one of the second type of scan cell. A second apparatus includes first and second sets of scan chains including flip-flops without both set and reset functionality. Each of the flip-flops in the first and second sets of scan chains has a reset state of a first state and a second state, respectively.

Field
The present disclosure relates generally to scan chains, and more particularly, to an asynchronous reset scheme for scan chains with asynchronous reset signals.
Background
To support a universal asynchronous reset (UAR) methodology, set/reset flip-flops are used in scan chains within a memory in a system on chip (SoC). In some implementations, set/reset flip-flops are 10% larger than non-set/non-reset flip-flops. The larger flip-flops affect the area, power consumption, and speed of operation of the SoC. Accordingly, apparatuses and methods are needed for using non-set/non-reset flip-flops in scan chains in association with asynchronous resets of the scan chains.

Reset scheme for scan chains with asynchronous reset signals


An atomizing device includes an atomizing sleeve, an air pipe received in the atomizing sleeve, an annular space being formed between the air pipe and the atomizing sleeve for containing a tobacco oil, an oil obstructing ring located at an end of the air pipe, the oil obstructing ring having an oil hole, an atomizing assembly positioned under the oil obstructing ring, a screw sleeve and an electrode respectively electrically connected to the atomizing assembly; and a flexible membrane having an inner wall attached to the electrode, and an outer wall in contact with an inner wall of the screw sleeve. The flexible membrane is capable of deformable to form an air space between the outer wall of the flexible membrane and the inner wall of the screw sleeve. An electronic cigarette using the atomizing device is also provided.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to atomizing devices, and particularly to an atomizing device and an electronic cigarette having the atomizing device.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic cigarettes are similar to conventional cigarettes in appearance and taste, but less harmful to human's health, such that electronic cigarettes are widely used for helping people to quit smoke. Atomizing devices are key components of electronic cigarettes. A typical atomizing device includes a tobacco oil reserving space and an atomizing assembly. The atomizing assembly has a porous body extending into the tobacco oil reserving space to get the tobacco oil, and the tobacco oil is also sealed by the porous body. However, by this configuration, the tobacco oil may leak out of the atomizing device.
What is needed, therefore, is an atomizing device and an electronic cigarette which can overcome the above shortcomings.

Atomizing device and electronic cigarette having same

SHENZHEN FIRST UNION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A prophylactic device providing the wearer with increased protection against slippage and ruptures. The device has a tubular body with an extra strength tip and a band. The band is elastic and has a ring that stretches to pass comfortably over a wearer's testicles. The band secures the prophylactic device to the wearer and prevents the device from slipping off of the wearer. Both the extra strength tip and the band are thicker than the tubular body and provide the wearer protection against ruptures.

A conventional condom comprises an elongate thin tubular sheath made of a resilient material. The sheath is closed on one end and open at the other end to provide for insertion of a penis. The condom is typically rolled into a relatively thin disc during manufacture thereof to provide for compact storage and to provide for ease of application of the condom. Conventional condoms are considered to be very effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies and transmission of venereal diseases. However, during coitus, a conventional condom is susceptible to slipping off. This slippage has the obvious disadvantage of potentially allowing leakage of semen or other bodily fluids. Further, a conventional condom, which tends to function best when the penis is fully erect, may slip with regards to a partially erect penis. This is particularly significant after ejaculation if the penis remains in the vagina. In that case, the penis may soften, and become smaller, thus allowing for possible slippage (i.e., the condom may slip off of the wearer).
A conventional condom is also susceptible to breaks or ruptures. Again, such occurrences have the obvious disadvantage of potentially allowing leakage of semen or other bodily fluids.
A search of the prior art shows that there a numerous patents relating to condoms. All of these patents disclose condoms constructed of conventional materials and thickness. Therefore, none provide the wearer protection against breaks or ruptures. Some of these patents disclose a condom equipped with retaining apparatus to secure the condom to the user. However, the retaining devices disclosed are straps that must be tied together or are otherwise discontinuous. These methods of keeping the condom attached to the wearer allow for the condom to become untied or otherwise unsecured and, thus, may allow for slippage. Consequently, there is a need for a condom that fits comfortably on the wearer and that will not break or accidentally slip off. A search of the prior art shows that no such condom is known.

Condom with anti-rupture means and securing means


A method of reducing nematode-fungal interaction in a plant by treating a propagation material thereof with a nematicidally effective amount of a nematicide, and a fungicidally effective amount of a fungicide before the material is planted or sown.

Certain mixtures of active ingredients for controlling pests are described in the literature. The biological properties of those known mixtures are not entirely satisfactory in the areas of nematode control, phytotoxicity, loading rates and environmental and worker exposure, for example. The protection of plant propagation materials (seed treatments) with pesticides are target applications which partially address the need for a reduction of environmental and worker exposure when used alone or in conjunction with foliar or in-furrow pesticide applications. However, there is also a need to make available other mixtures which reduce the need for older acutely toxic pesticides and to reduce loading rates. Among the older nematicides, the following may be mentioned: methyl bromide, metham sodium, ethoprop, carbofuran, aldicarb, fenamiphos and oxamyl. Further, interactions between nematode and fungal pathogens are recognized as causing damage in excess of the additive amount expected of the individual nematodes and fungal pathogens (Compendium of Cotton Disease, 2nd edn., edited by T L Kirkpatrick & C S Rothrock, The American Phytopathological Society, pp. 46–48). Accordingly, there is a need to provide pesticide compositions and methods for the protection of plant propagation materials, especially those compositions having improved biological properties, for example synergistic pesticidal properties, especially for controlling nematodes and fungal pathogens. That problem is solved according to the invention by the provision of the present pesticidal composition.

Pesticidal composition and method for fungal control


To minimize the space requirement inside a cassette and make cable retention force consistent and easy for fiber routing/rework, a cassette includes a cassette base molded to include a plurality of holders, a cassette cover to close the cassette base, and a plurality of blocks, respectively disposed into the holders, each of the blocks including one or more holes to accommodate one or more fiber cables. The fiber cables are fixed in the holes using a type of adhesive. In addition, bare fibers are placed inside the cassette to communicate respectively with the fiber cables.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to the area of optical systems and devices. In particular, the invention is related to an optic cassette with multi-furcated cable access.
2. The Background of Related Art
A typical fiber optic cassette is an integrated module that includes some optical components, such as PLC Splitter/Fused Couplers, DWDM devices and etc. Many such optical components often have bare fibers in input and output forms for ease of fiber routing inside the cassette. Depending on a specific application environment, many such cassettes also require that the fibers exiting the cassettes in furcated cable form. FIG. 1 depicts a typical fiber optic cassette 100 commonly used in the industry. The typical fiber optic cassette 100 is a typical structure of fixing furcated cables inside a cassette in such a way that the optical components inside are protected from possible external forces from the cables being pulled. The structure shown in FIG. 1 includes a base 102 supporting various components 104 and 110. The furcated cables 106 are disposed on one side of the cassette 102 and fixed onto the cassette directly using a type of epoxy 108. One of the issues with this approach is that it is hard to control how well the cables are fixed together with the cassette 100. Further, it is not easy to rework on the cables 106 if there is a need to change one of them.
Thus there is need for designs that at least overcome the above issues in addition to other benefits and advantages to be appreciated described herein.

Structured fiber optic cassette with multi-furcated cable access


Problems to be solved: to provide a coil device and a magnetic field generating device with reduced energy loss that are suitable for use in the thermotherapy method.

The thermotherapy (hyperthermia) method is attracting attention as a method for cancer therapy. By this thermotherapy method, attention is focused upon the fact that a cancer cell or a cancerous tissue is more vulnerable to heat than a healthy cell. By heating the cancer-affected portion for example to 43 degree C. for a certain length of time, the cancer lesion can selectedly be necrotized. In this thermotherapy method, an aqueous sol of magnetic fluid such as a complex of dextran or its derivative and magnetic iron oxide is injected into the affected portion, to which a strong magnetic field is applied from outside to selectively heating the cancer lesion (see Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2002-360712).
In order to inductively heat the magnetic material having been injected into the affected portion of the patient, it is necessary to irradiate a strong magnetic flux from outside to the affected portion by using a magnetic field generating device. As a preferred magnetic field generating device for this inductive heating is used a device comprising a series resonant circuit of a coil as a magnetic field generating means and a resonant capacitor being connected to the secondary side of the transformer, in which a large current of high frequency is applied to the coil to generate a magnetic field. Since the intensity of the magnetic field generated by the coil decreases progressively with distance, it is preferable to place the source of the magnetic field as close as possible to the affected portion. For this reason, a bread-shaped coil is used as a coil for generating a magnetic field, whose current path is formed into a spiral shape in a same plane.
As an another preceding example is disclosed a device for heating the cancer-affected portion by irradiating a high-density magnetic flux, in which along the periphery of a solenoid coil are provided dual coils, so that magnetic flux density is enhanced with the outer coil (the reinforcement coil) (see Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-205040). Further, a technique for eliminating a skin effect in a bread-shaped spiral coil comprising entwisted conductive wires is disclosed, in which a conductive wire in the shape of a right-hand spiral and a conductive wire in the shape of a left-hand spiral are doubly arranged on the periphery thereof as coils (see Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-115368). In addition, as a technique for cooling a coil comprising a circular cylinder of an insulation material and a litz wire folded about the periphery of the circular cylinder is disclosed, in which a cold airstream is blown into the circular cylinder (see Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 1997-168494). Also, a technique of providing ferrite at the bottom of a coil to shield an electromagnetic wave is disclosed (see Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 1997-245949).

Coil device and magnetic field generating device

Abstract: Means for solving the problem: a coil device according to the present invention can be used in a magnetic field generating device for the thermotherapy method in which a magnetic flux is irradiated to the patient to selectively heat a specific portion of the patient. Said coil device is a bread-shaped coil device having a current path extending in the shape of a spiral in a substantially same plane, said current path comprising a hollow cylindrical member (10) of a nonmagnetic material inside which a space is formed and a plurality of conductive wires (11, 12) covered with an insulation material on the peripheries thereof. In the present invention, the current path comprising a plurality of conductive wires covered with an insulation material which are arranged in a circle, energy loss caused by the skin effect and energy loss caused by the line capacity can be reduced, making it possible to generate a strong magnetic field. Also, by using the hollow cylindrical member (10), it is possible to easily configure a current path in a predetermined diameter and to inhibit increase in temperature of the coil (3) to avoid fluctuation of the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit. With this, a magnetic field generating device that is suitable for use in thermotherapy, particularly cancer therapy, can be realized.


A method and apparatus of processing caller experiences is disclosed. One example method may include determining a call event type occurring during a call and assigning a weight to the call event type via a processing device. The method may also include calculating a caller experience metric value representing a caller's current call status responsive to determining the at least one call event type, the caller experience metric being a function of the current event type weight and a discounting variable that discounts a value of past events. The method may also provide comparing the caller experience metric to a predefined threshold value and determining whether to perform at least one of transferring the call to a live agent and switching from a current caller modality to a different caller modality.

Generally, in commercial user speech dialog systems, two of the main hurdles in terms of cost efficiency are the need to customize every interaction with the call processing system, and the need to provide a single call processing system that can accommodate the different types of users. For example, users could be novices or experienced, cooperative or distracted, and/or could be calling from a quiet environment versus a noisy environment, etc.
The varying needs that the users' require from the call system create problems for at least a percentage of the callers. No matter how well designed and fine-tuned a spoken dialog system is setup to perform, there will always be a percentage of callers that will have difficulties interacting with the call system and its corresponding automated features, and thus will be unsatisfied with the call experience. Generally, in dialog-based systems that automate call center functionality, the balance between automation rate and caller satisfaction is controlled by rules that determine when to transfer a call to a call center agent.
One common rule of thumb is after three consecutive errors detected in one dialog state or session, the caller is automatically transferred to a live agent. However, this approach has the drawback and disadvantage of not taking into account the caller experience up to the point of the dialog state where the errors begin happening. This default rule of thumb transfer rule does not take into account any other feature or event except for the specific error type that is occurring. In other words, the transfer decision is based on a single feature as opposed to utilizing multiple features for the decision making.
There have been several previous approaches to measure caller experience and/or to predict problematic calls. For example, the information of the first two to four dialog turns may be used to predict if a caller will experience difficulties later on, but this method does not apply to every possible dialog in a call processing system. In another example, the caller experience is automatically calculated for an entire call. However, the calculation is derived from application logs after a call is completed. In yet another example, a method is used to calculate, at each turn in the call processing system, whether the cost of transferring is less than the cost of keeping the caller in the system. These previous solutions to handling user calls are each limited in their capability to provide caller assistance and caller satisfaction.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus of processing speech dialog data of a user call


Disclosed herein are nucleotide sequences which encode a plurality of structural proteins, except the capsid, of an equine encephalitis virus, wherein the nucleotide sequence is codon-optimized for mammalian expression. The nucleotide sequences are codon-optimized for expression in humans. As disclosed herein, the nucleotide sequences confer protection against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV), and/or eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to nucleic acid molecules derived from equine encephalitis viruses and compositions and methods thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), and western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) are non-segmented, positive-sense RNA viruses of the genus Alphavirus in the family Togaviridae. See Griffin (2001) "Alphaviruses", p. 917-962, in FIELDS VIROLOGY, vol. 4. Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pa. Naturally transmitted by mosquitoes through rodent or bird hosts, VEEV, EEEV, and WEEV are highly pathogenic for equines and humans and have caused periodic epizootics throughout North, Central, and South America. See Tsai (1991) Infect Dis Clin North Am 5:73-102. Human infection with these New World alphaviruses typically results in an acute, incapacitating disease characterized by fever, headache, lymphopenia, myalgia, and malaise. See Bale (1993) Med Clin North Am 77:25-42. Severe neurological disease, including fatal encephalitis, can also result from VEEV, EEEV, and WEEV infection of humans. Although the human case-fatality rates are estimated to be low for VEEV (≦1%) and WEEV (8-15%), EEEV is the most severe of the arbovirus encephalitides with a human case-fatality rate estimated to be 30-70%. See Steele et al. (2007) "alphavirus Encephalitides" p. 241-270, in MEDICAL ASPECTS OF BIOLOGICAL WARFARE. BORDEN INSTITUTE (U.S. Army Walter Reed), Washington, D.C. However, numerous documented laboratory accidents and the results of animal studies have demonstrated that VEEV, EEEV, and WEEV are also highly infectious in aerosols, and infection with aerosolized virus could potentially result in higher mortality than that observed with natural infection. See Franz et al. (2001) Clin Lab Med 21:435-73; Hanson (1967) Science 158:1283-6; and Kortepeter et al. (2001) J Environ Health 63:21-4. In addition to producing incapacitating or lethal infections and being infectious in aerosols, these encephalitic alphaviruses are also easily grown to high titers in inexpensive and unsophisticated cell culture systems and are relatively stable. As a result, VEEV, EEEV, and WEEV represent significant potential biological defense threats and are classified as Category B priority biodefense agents by both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Although there are no licensed human vaccines for the encephalitic alphaviruses, live-attenuated and formalin-inactivated vaccines are currently being utilized under Investigational New Drug (IND) status to protect laboratory workers and other at-risk personnel. A live-attenuated vaccine for VEEV, TC-83, provides long-lasting immunity and protection from both subcutaneous and aerosol VEEV challenges; however, it causes adverse reactions in approximately 25% of recipients, and approximately 20% of recipients fail to develop a detectable neutralizing antibody response. See McKinney et al. (1963) Am J Trop Med Hyg 12:597-603; and Pittman et al. (1996) Vaccine 14:337-43. C-84 (formalin-inactivated TC-83 VEEV vaccine), and EEEV and WEEV formalin-inactivated vaccines are well tolerated, but they require frequent boosting to elicit detectable neutralizing antibody responses in humans and have provided poor protection against aerosol viral challenge in animal studies. See Cole et al. (1973) Appl Microbiol 25:262-5; Bartelloni et al. (1970) Am J Trop Med Hyg 19:123-6; and Bartelloni et al. (1971) Am J Trop Med Hyg 20:146-9. Due to the significant limitations associated with the existing live-attenuated and formalin-inactivated vaccines currently being utilized under IND status, the development of improved vaccines that can safely and effectively protect against encephalitic alphavirus infections in humans is needed.
Next-generation VEEV vaccines, including live-attenuated, inactivated, attenuated Sindbis/VEEV chimeric viruses, alphavirus replicons, and DNA vaccines, are all currently at various stages of development. See Paessler & Weaver (2009) Vaccine 27 Suppl 4:D80-5. Genetic vaccination with DNA plasmids expressing immunogenic proteins has numerous inherent advantages as a platform for the development of next-generation vaccines. Among the benefits of this method are that DNA vaccines can be rapidly and cost-effectively produced without the need to propagate a pathogen, do not require the inactivation of infectious organisms, avoid problems of preexisting or vector-induced immunity due to lack of a host immune response to the plasmid backbone, and have exhibited a favorable safety profile in numerous human clinical trials. See Dupuy & Schmaljohn (2009) Expert Rev Vaccines 8:1739-54.
In previous studies, mice vaccinated with a DNA vaccine expressing the structural proteins (C-E3-E2-6K-E1) of VEEV subtype IAB (strain Trinidad Donkey) by particle-mediated epidermal delivery (PMED) or "gene gun", in which plasmid DNA-coated gold particles are delivered intradermally in a ballistic manner, developed strong overall antibody responses against VEEV IAB. Unfortunately, the VEEV-neutralizing antibody responses were low, and only 80% protection against lethal aerosol challenge was observed. See Riemenschneider et al. (2003) Vaccine 21:4071-80. Cynomolgus macaques vaccinated with this VEEV DNA vaccine by PMED developed detectable levels of VEEV IAB-neutralizing antibodies, but only partial protection was observed upon aerosol challenge. See Dupuy et al. (2010) Vaccine 28:7345-50.
In other studies to develop a human vaccine for encephalitic alphaviruses, directed molecular evolution or "gene shuffling" of the envelope protein genes was used as an attempt to improve the neutralizing antibody response to VEEV, EEEV, and WEEV DNA vaccines. DNA vaccines expressing representative variants from a library in which the E2 envelope glycoprotein genes of five parent viruses (VEEV subtypes IAB and IE, Mucambo virus, EEEV (strain PE6), and WEEV (strain CBA87) were recombined and the E1 envelope glycoprotein gene of VEEV IAB was held constant elicited significantly increased neutralizing antibody titers to VEEV IAB compared to the wild-type parent VEEV DNA vaccine and provided improved protection against aerosol VEEV IAB challenge in mice. See Dupuy et al. (2009) Vaccine 27:4152-60. Unfortunately, in addition to the in vitro gene recombination being technically difficult and the screening of variants for improved immunogenicity being labor-intensive, the studies failed to result in variant envelope glycoprotein vaccines having improved immunogenicity against EEEV and WEEV as compared to the wild-type parent EEEV and WEEV DNA vaccines.
Therefore, a need still exists for safe and effective vaccines to protect against equine encephalitis viruses (EEVs) such as VEEV, EEEV, and WEEV.

Equine encephalitis virus vaccines and methods of using thereof

The United States of America as repesented by the Secretary of Army, on behalf of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infections Diseases


The present invention is directed to controlling pest infestation by inhibiting one or more biological functions in an invertebrate pest. The invention discloses methods and compositions for use in controlling pest infestation by feeding one or more different recombinant double stranded RNA molecules to the pest in order to achieve a reduction in pest infestation through suppression of gene expression. The invention is also directed to methods for making transgenic plants that express the double stranded RNA molecules, and to particular combinations of transgenic pesticidal agents for use in protecting plants from pest infestation.

The environment in which humans live is replete with pest infestation. Pests including insects, arachnids, crustaceans, fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, flatworms, roundworms, pinworms, hookworms, tapeworms, trypanosomes, schistosomes, botflies, fleas, ticks, mites, and lice and the like are pervasive in the human environment, and a multitude of means have been utilized for attempting to control infestations by these pests. Compositions for controlling infestations by microscopic pests such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses have been provided in the form of antibiotic compositions, antiviral compositions, and antifungal compositions. Compositions for controlling infestations by larger pests such as nematodes, flatworm, roundworms, pinworms, heartworms, tapeworms, trypanosomes, schistosomes, and the like have typically been in the form of chemical compositions which can either be applied to the surfaces of substrates on which pests are known to infest, or to be ingested by an infested animal in the form of pellets, powders, tablets, pastes, or capsules and the like. The present invention is directed to providing an improved means for controlling pest infestation compared to the compositions known in the art.
Commercial crops are often the targets of insect attack. Substantial progress has been made in the last a few decades towards developing more efficient methods and compositions for controlling insect infestations in plants. Chemical pesticides have been very effective in eradicating pest infestations. However, there are several disadvantages to using chemical pesticidal agents. Chemical pesticidal agents are not selective. Applications of chemical pesticides are intended to control invertebrate pests that are harmful to various crops and other plants. However, because of the lack of selectivity, the chemical pesticidal agents exert their effects on non-target fauna as well, often effectively sterilizing a field for a period of time over which the pesticidal agents have been applied. Chemical pesticidal agents persist in the environment and generally are slow to be metabolized, if at all. They accumulate in the food chain, and particularly in the higher predator species. Accumulations of these chemical pesticidal agents results in the development of resistance to the agents and in species higher up the evolutionary ladder, act as mutagens and/or carcinogens often causing irreversible and deleterious genetic modifications. Thus there has been a long felt need for environmentally friendly methods for controlling or eradicating insect infestation on or in plants, i.e., methods which are selective, environmentally inert, non-persistent, and biodegradable, and that fit well into pest resistance management schemes.
Compositions that include Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) bacteria have been commercially available and used as environmentally safe and acceptable insecticides for more than thirty years. The insecticidal effect of Bt bacteria arises as a result of proteins that are produced exclusively by these bacteria that do not persist in the environment, that are highly selective as to the target species affected, exert their effects only upon ingestion by a target pest, and have been shown to be harmless to plants and other non-targeted organisms, including humans. Transgenic plants containing one or more genes encoding insecticidal B.t. protein are also available in the art and are remarkably efficient in controlling insect pest infestation. A substantial result of the use of recombinant plants expressing Bt insecticidal proteins is a marked decrease in the amount of chemical pesticidal agents that are applied to the environment to control pest infestation in crop fields in areas in which such transgenic crops are used. The decrease in application of chemical pesticidal agents has resulted in cleaner soils and cleaner waters running off of the soils into the surrounding streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. In addition to these environmental benefits, there has been a noticeable increase in the numbers of beneficial insects in crop fields in which transgenic insect resistant crops are grown because of the decrease in the use of chemical insecticidal agents.
The adventitious use of recombinant plants expressing an insecticidal crystal protein toxin has strengthened the concern about the spontaneous development of resistance to the toxin in the target pest population. One means for delaying or eliminating the onset of resistance in the pest population is to combine the recombinant toxin with a second means for controlling the pests in which the second means exerts its effects through a different mode of action in comparison to the recombinant toxin. One means for deploying two or more toxins would be to incorporate a seed treatment containing some insecticidal composition that is effective at very low doses and which infuses into the soil or into the growing recombinant plant after sprouting. This means has been shown to be effective and economical, but has the disadvantage of subjecting the environment to a chemical pesticide that may accumulate in the food chain and that may persist in the environment. Another means would be to deploy a recombinant plant that expresses at least two different insecticidal toxins, each toxin being toxic to the same insect pest, and each toxin exerting its effects through a different mode of action. In the short term this second approach is cost effective and likely sufficient to delay the development of resistance in the pest population. However, there may be at least two disadvantages to this approach as well. One disadvantage is that any development of resistance to one of the insecticidal toxins deployed into the environment of the pest immediately increases the likelihood that resistance could develop sooner than anticipated to a second or even a third toxin. Also, there is a limited number of insecticidal crystal protein toxins that are toxic to the same insect pest that are available for use that, when combined with another insecticidal protein, would fall within the defined scope of exerting its effects through a different mode of action than toxins presently in use. Therefore, additional compositions and methods for controlling pest infestation are needed, and in particular, methods and compositions are needed for use in delaying or minimizing the development of resistance to present pest control agents.
Chemical pesticidal agents typically exert their effects by inhibiting one or more proteins within the target pest either by binding irreversibly to an active site within a particular protein, by inhibiting the protein from acting upon a naturally occurring substrate, or by poisoning a respiratory or chemical gradient pathway. Recombinant methods and compositions have typically targeted cell membrane systems by producing proteins that, upon ingestion by a pest, introduce pores that result in the loss of chemical or other gradients across disrupted cell membranes. Other than chemical compositions that directly exert their effects upon proteins involved in transcription or translation mechanisms, no method has been reported for controlling pest infestation by inhibiting in the target pest the production of essential proteins through RNA mediated interference by providing one or more double stranded RNA molecules in the diet of the pest.
Antisense methods and compositions have been reported in the art and are believed to exert their effects through the synthesis of a single-stranded RNA molecule that in theory hybridizes in vivo to a substantially complementary sense strand RNA molecule. It is believed that the antisense methods function in much the same way as double stranded RNA mediated interference methods are believed to function, except that the effectiveness of the antisense response is often substantially less than desirable, intermittent, or not evident at all. Furthermore, there has never been a report in which antisense was contemplated as a means for suppressing expression of a gene in a cell remote from the cell or biological system in which the antisense sequence was expressed. Antisense technology has only been applied as a means for achieving gene-specific interference of expression within the cell or biological system in which the antisense sequence is expressed. Antisense technology has been difficult to employ in many systems for three principle reasons. First, the antisense sequence expressed in the transformed cell is unstable. Second, the instability of the antisense sequence expressed in the transformed cell concomitantly creates difficulty in delivery of the sequence to a host, cell type, or biological system remote from the transgenic cell. Third, the difficulties encountered with instability and delivery of the antisense sequence create difficulties in attempting to provide a dose within the recombinant cell expressing the antisense sequence that can effectively modulate the level of expression of the target sense nucleotide sequence.
The phenomenon of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) induced silencing has been known for a number of years in plant systems. One form of dsRNA induced silencing is referred to as co-suppression and as virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) and is reviewed in Matzke et al. (Adv. Genet., 2002, 46:235-275). Co-suppression and VIGS effects in recombinant plant systems were observed but unexplained before dsRNA was identified in animal systems as the trigger for induction of the evolutionarily conserved mechanism of gene suppression. Guo et al. first observed that the use of sense RNA as a control was as effective as antisense RNA in specific silencing of a targeted gene in C. elegans (Guo et al., 1995, Cell 81:611-620). Fire et al. suspected that the single stranded RNA preparations used by Guo et al. were contaminated with dsRNA, and subsequently demonstrated that dsRNA was a much more potent trigger than single stranded RNA for achieving gene specific silencing. The observations by Fire et al. distinguished the physical attribute of double stranded RNA suppression from antisense suppression (Fire et al., 1998, Nature 391:806-811). It is believed that the post-transcriptional gene silencing effects observed in plants (Jorgensen, 1990, Trends Biotechnol. 8:340-344) and the quelling effect in fungi (Romano et al., 1992, Mol. Microbiol. 6:3343-3353; Bernstein et al., 2001, RNA 7:1509-1521) using single stranded RNA is a result of contamination of samples with double stranded RNA sequences (Dykxhoorn et al., 2003, Nature Reviews 4:457-467; Hannon et al., 2002, Nature 418:244-251). It is now clear, however, that double stranded RNA mediated inhibition of gene expression, co-suppression, and virus-induced gene silencing are triggered by dsRNA and operate by similar mechanisms (Stevenson, 2003, Nature Reviews 3:851-858; Bernstein et al., 2001, RNA 7:1509-1521).
The lack of understanding of the specific mechanisms involved in these phenomena has meant that there have been few improvements in technologies for modulating the level of gene expression within a cell, tissue, or organism, and in particular, a lack of developed technologies for delaying, repressing or otherwise reducing the expression of specific genes using recombinant DNA technology. Furthermore, as a consequence of the unpredictability of these approaches, no commercially viable means for modulating the level of expression of a specific gene in a eukaryotic or prokaryotic organism is available.
Double stranded RNA mediated inhibition of specific genes in various pests has been previously demonstrated. dsRNA mediated approaches to genetic control have been tested in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Tabara et al., 1998, Science 282:430-431). Tabara et. al. describe a method for delivery of dsRNA involved generating transgenic insects that express double stranded RNA molecules or injecting dsRNA solutions into the insect body or within the egg sac prior to or during embryonic development. Research investigators have previously demonstrated that double stranded RNA mediated gene suppression can be achieved in nematodes either by feeding or by soaking the nematodes in solutions containing double stranded or small interfering RNA molecules and by injection of the dsRNA molecules. Rajagopal et. al. described failed attempts to suppress an endogenous gene in larvae of the insect pest Spodoptera litura by feeding or by soaking neonate larvae in solutions containing dsRNA specific for the target gene, but was successful in suppression after larvae were injected with dsRNA into the hemolymph of 5th instar larvae using a microapplicator (J. Biol. Chem., 2002, 277:46849-46851). Similarly, Mesa et al. (US 2003/0150017) prophetically described a preferred locus for inhibition of the lepidopteran larvae Helicoverpa armigera using dsRNA delivered to the larvae by ingestion of a plant transformed to produce the dsRNA. It is believed that it would be impractical to provide dsRNA molecules in the diet of most invertebrate pest species or to inject compositions containing dsRNA into the bodies of invertebrate pests. The diet method of providing dsRNA molecules to invertebrate pests is impractical because RNA molecules, even stabilized double stranded RNA molecules, are in effect highly unstable in mildly alkaline or acidic environments such as those found in the digestive tracts of most invertebrate pests, and easily degraded by nucleases in the environment. Therefore it is unlikely that feeding dsRNA to a lepidopteran larvae having a digestive tract pH in the extreme alkaline range would result in the suppression of any gene within the cells of the larvae. It would also be impractical to formulate compositions containing dsRNA molecules, such as recombinant bacteria expressing such dsRNA molecules, as a food source for nematodes, that could be applied to broad expanses of soil to control invertebrate pest infestations of crop plants.
Therefore, there exists a need for improved methods of modulating gene expression by repressing, delaying or otherwise reducing gene expression within a particular invertebrate pest for the purpose of controlling pest infestation or to introduce novel phenotypic traits.

Compositions and methods for control of insect infestations in plants


A water purifier includes a quick connect connector in a port that receives a tube that carries the water. The tube is received along the axis of the port in a first reference direction along the axis. The connector is assembled by inserting, in sequence, a support ring, an O-ring, and a plug into the port along the axis, but in a direction opposite the first direction. The plug is held in place by adhesive or conventional welding. To complete the assembly, a collet is inserted into the port along the axis and in the first direction. A tube is then connected to the water purifier by urging the tube through the collet, along the axis, and in the first direction. The tube is gripped by the collet, supported by the support ring, sealed by the O-ring, and stopped against the plug.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to water purification and to systems for fluidtight connections in fluid processing systems.
2. Background
The incorporated parent application provides an introduction to problems solved by the present invention. In addition, consider conventional fluid processing systems having an emphasis on sealed vessels and ultra-pure processes. Conventional fluid processing systems include, for example, water purification systems manufactured for high volume applications such as commercial carbonated beverage dispensers and residential ice making systems.
In such systems, reducing the labor element of equipment manufacturing costs is critical to market penetration and retention. Without a reliable water purifier having simpler parts and involving simpler manufacturing methods, the cost of water purification will remain high. As a consequence, more widespread use of reliable water purification will remain unnecessarily restricted in important markets that affect personal care, national health and safety, and economic development in countries throughout the world. Additional restrictions in related markets will persist for fluid processing equipment, of which water purification systems are but one example.
In view of the problems described above and related problems that consequently become apparent to those skilled in the applicable arts, the need remains in fluid processing for reliable fluidtight connections.


A video signal generator produces a video signal which contains an endoscope image sensed by an image sensor and a character image comprising an ID code, etc. The video signal generator is connected to an image processing unit via a communication circuit, through which information indicating an arrangement for respective signal areas of the endoscope image and the character image contained in the video signal is transmitted. Based on the information received by the communication circuit, the image processing unit performs different processing for each image area of the endoscope image and the character image contained in the video signal.

Field of the Invention and Description of the Related Art
The present invention relates to an endoscope image processing system that even when an endoscope image area and a character image area to be displayed on a monitor using video signals are changed, image processing can be performed in such a manner as adapted for each area.
Recently, there have been widely employed endoscopes (referred to also as scopes or fiber scopes) which enable an operator to observe body organs or the like by inserting an elongate insert section into the body cavity, and also to perform various medical treatments by using appliances inserted through an appliance channel at need.
Various types of electronic scopes having image sensing means, which comprises a solid state image sensor such as a charge coupled device (abbreviated as CCD) and are built therein, are also used. These electronic scopes have such advantages as a higher degree of resolution than fiber scopes, easy recording and reproduction of images, as well as easy image processing including enlargement of images and comparison of two image screens, for example. In view of the above, there is further employed an apparatus of the type that a TV camera is mounted at an eyepiece of a fiber scope to realize nearly comparable functions to those of an electronic scope (the apparatus being referred to as TV camera integrated scopes).
An endoscope image outputted for visual display from image sensing means of an electronics type scope given by the above electronic scope or TV camera integrated scope is converted into a video signal added with character information such as letters (or a character image) for indicating information needed to identify the endoscope image, the video signal being recorded in a large capacity recording device such as a hard disk unit or magneto-optical disk unit.
Because the number of pixels used in the image sensing means of the electronics type scope is less than resolution with which a monitor can display and the display screen of a monitor is horizontally long in general cases, an area where no endoscope image is displayed occurs at the end of the image screen in the horizontal direction. Usually, a video signal containing an endoscope image and character information added thereto is created so as to display letter information in such an area where no endoscope image is displayed.
A method of recording the video signal containing an endoscope image and character information added thereto is mainly divided into analog type and digital type. The digital type method is superior to the analog type method in a point of maintaining image quality. When recording data by the digital type method, however, since an extremely large amount of data must be handled, it is usual to carry out processing called coding compression, followed by storing the reduced amount of data in a recording device.
In an attempt to perform the coding compression, there occurs a considerable difference in the time required for calculations and the data amount after calculations between the case of compressing one pixel as a multi-value image like a color image represented by 24 bits, for example, and the case of compressing one pixel as a two-value image like a monochromatic image (or character information) represented by 1 bit. When using the digital type method to record image information for a screen in which a colored endoscope image is present only in a particular area and monochromatic letters are displayed in the remaining area, like a monitor screen of an endoscope device, it is therefore effective to divide the entire screen area into twos and process data in different manners of compression corresponding to the respective areas.
One easily conceivable method for division into two areas is practiced by specifying the construction of an input screen in advance at the side of an image processing unit and dividing the screen into a multi-value (three or more-value) image area and a two-value image area in accordance with the specifications. Another conceivable method is effected by an operator who designates a way of division into two areas through area designating means, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-112378.
With the former method of specifying the construction of an input screen, however, some of endoscope devices display a color image in a larger area than others. This implies that when the image processing unit sets the boundary between a color area and a monochromatic area, the boundary must be set in match with the maximum area for a color image available among a variety of endoscope devices.
Accordingly, the former method suffers from a disadvantage of requiring longer time for compression calculations and data transfer than necessary and increasing an amount of data in the case where such images of endoscope deices as having a small color image area, i.e., a small endoscope area, in the screen.
On the other hand, the latter method of dividing the screen into two areas by the area designating means has a problem of enlarging a burden imposed on the operator because a mouse, tablet or the like is required as the area designating means and the operator has to carefully input each image area.

Endoscope image processing system with means for discriminating between endoscope image area and character image area


A thermal inkjet printhead 100 of the present invention includes a heating element 110, an ink chamber, control circuitry 108, an ink reservoir, and a memory array 106. The control circuitry 108 causes the heating element to generate thermal energy thereby causing ink within the ink chamber to generate bubbles of ink, which are then expelled through a nozzle. The ink reservoir replenishes used ink in the ink chamber. The memory array 106 stores and provides the identification parameters for the thermal inkjet printhead 100. The identification parameters are typically provided during initialization of the printer and include color(s) of ink (e.g., black, green, red, blue), a number of nozzles on the thermal inkjet printhead, an addressing frequency, nozzle spacing, heating architecture, and the like. The identification parameters can include other information such as a unique serial identification number for the thermal inkjet printhead, manufacturer serial number, lot number, date of manufacture, compatible printers, ink capacity, ink remaining, re-ordering information for replacement ink cartridges, and the like.

Thermal inkjet technology is a relatively common method of inkjet printing. Thermal inkjet technology continues to progress in terms of print quality for text and graphics and offers significant performance verses cost as compared with other types of print technology. Thermal inkjet technology has a number of advantages including small drop sizes, high printhead operating frequency, system reliability and controlled ink drop placement.
Thermal inkjet technology includes thermal inkjet printers that employ inkjet cartridges to print bubbles or drops of ink onto a printable medium, such as paper. The inkjet cartridges employed in thermal inkjet printers include thermal inkjet printheads that use heat to generate ink vapor bubbles, ejecting small drops of ink through nozzles and placing them precisely on a surface to form text or images.
The thermal inkjet printheads are fabricated in/on a semiconductor material on which components, including heating elements, ink reservoirs, channels, and nozzles. The heating elements, typically a thin film resistor, and the ink reservoirs are formed in or on a semiconductor substrate. Channels are formed on the semiconductor substrate in order to connect the heating elements to the ink reservoirs. Nozzles are formed on the heating elements through which droplets of ink can be ejected. A single inkjet printhead can include one or more sets of nozzles, heating elements, and ink reservoirs for a particular color of ink. Multiple sets can be employed to permit multiple colors to be printed.
During operation, the heating elements superheat a small amount of ink within its chambers thereby forming gas or thermal bubbles, which are ejected through the nozzles and onto a printing source (e.g., paper). The heating elements are driven by drive circuitry that passes pulses of current through the heating elements.
Thermal inkjet printheads and the inkjet cartridges comprising them are generally specific to a particular printer or group of printers. Varied printers have different printing capabilities, requirements, printing commands, and the like that limit the number of cartridges employable in a given printer. As a result, inkjet cartridges are often made for a specific printer or group of related printers and are designed to work with only the specific printer or group of related printers.
One problem that can occur is when a non-compatible print cartridge is employed by a printer. Undesired consequences, such as poor printing, incorrect colors, and even printer damage can result.

Inkjet printhead incorporating a memory array


Devices, methods, and mold apparatuses for forming devices facilitate consumption of a plurality of liquids by a user, such as a first liquid followed by a second liquid. In some cases, the first liquid is a relatively harsh liquid and the second liquid is a relatively mild liquid.

While many persons enjoy the psychoactive effect produced by the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and often relate its use to times of relaxation, socialization, and celebration, few truly enjoy the flavor and taste profiles of their shared intoxicating constituent—ethanol. Consequently, and since the advent of distilled beverages, creative minds have developed numerous concoctions and unique methods of consumption to disguise the undesirable flavor and taste of ethyl alcohol.
Distilled beverages are prepared in a number of ways, including neat or straight, straight up, on the rocks, blended or frozen, with a simple mixer, as an ingredient of a cocktail or shooter, with water, with water poured over sugar, or the like. Depending on the type of liquor, mixer, or both, these drinks are also served in various forms of glassware, including pint glasses, goblet glasses, snifter glasses, cocktail glasses, margarita glasses, highball glasses, rocks glasses, Irish coffee glasses, shot glasses, shooter glasses or the like.
In recent years, many alcoholic beverage connoisseurs have adopted a method of drinking distilled beverages that includes consuming a shot of liquor from a shot glass, bottle, or other beverage container followed by a relatively mild beverage, such as a carbonated soft drink, alcoholic beverage, fruit juice, "energy" drink, or the like, from a different beverage container. This relatively mild beverage is typically, and appropriately, referred to as a "chaser." This method is used to wash out the mouth and soothe the throat.
Recent developments have attempted to mimic this practice via a single-unit drinking device. However, these devices typically only keep the distilled liquor and relatively mild beverage separated prior to tilting the device. That is, upon tilting the device, the compartmented liquids begin to mix prior to entering the user's mouth, which is essentially the same as consuming a poorly mixed drink. In other cases, a shot glass containing liquor is dropped into another partially-filled beverage container prior to consumption, which not only creates a mess, but also requires an additional step in preparing a mixed drink.

Devices and methods for consuming a plurality of liquids and mold apparatuses for forming such devices


In an automatic transmission including a gear unit with a second brake connected in series with a one-way clutch and a first brake that is not connected with a one-way clutch, the second brake and the first brake are controlled by linear solenoid valves individually. A vehicle load is detected, and when the vehicle is in a high load state, at first the second brake performs an engagement control, then after input rotation to the gear unit is synchronized with output rotation of the gear unit, the first brake performs an engagement control. When the vehicle is in a low load state, at first the first brake performs an engagement control, then after input rotation to the gear unit is synchronized with output rotation of the gear unit, the second brake performs an engagement control.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an automatic transmission mounted on a vehicle. More specifically, it relates to a shift control device for the automatic transmission having a frictional engagement element connected via a one-way clutch and a frictional engagement element for a coasting state.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, an automatic transmission has a frictional engagement element connected with a one-way clutch in series. When the frictional engagement element is released and the automatic transmission performs a down shift, the one-way clutch is synchronistically engaged automatically. During a coasting state, power can not be transmitted from the wheels to the engine because of interposition of the one-way clutch. Therefore, the automatic transmission also has a frictional engagement element which is not connected with a one-way clutch during the coasting state in order to enable engine braking. The frictional engagement element that is not connected in series with a one-way clutch is arranged in parallel with the frictional engagement element connected in series with a one-way clutch.
A conventional shift control device having the aforementioned two frictional engagement elements in parallel with each other is disclosed in Japanese published patent application laid-open No. 219949/88. FIG. 10(a) indicates the control of that device applied to the embodiment of the invention. A second frictional engagement element connected in series with a one-way clutch is made to be B2. A first frictional engagement element for a coasting state is made to be B1. Hydraulic pressures of the hydraulic servos for B2 and BI are made to be PB2 and PB1 individually, and adjusting signals for PB2 and PB1 are made to be PB2C and PB1C individually. After piston stroke control in the hydraulic servos is performed to bring the functional engagement element to a state just before a torque is transmitted, the hydraulic pressure PB2 for the hydraulic servo connected to the second frictional engagement element B2 is increased to perform engagement control. Then the hydraulic pressure PB1 for the first frictional engagement element B1 for a coasting state is controlled to an engaging state. At that time, an input rotation speed N.sub.T is detected, the oil pressure for the second frictional engagement element B2 is controlled, and shift end, that is a synchronized rotation speed after the shift, is detected.
In the aforementioned shift control, in the case of a high load state, for example in the case of power on, the hydraulic pressure PB2 for the second frictional engagement element can be controlled properly with a feedback control based on the input rotation speed N.sub.T as shown in FIG. 10(a). But in the case of a low load state, for example in the case of power off, it is difficult to control a low torque properly because a rate of an increase of a torque capacity against an increase of the hydraulic pressure PB2 is large. That is because the hydraulic pressure PB2 has a large capacity in order to be able to activate a vehicle driving state. Therefore, the input rotation speed N.sub.T is decreased too much resulting in a large deviation from the synchronized rotation speed because the second frictional engagement element is connected via the one-way clutch. When the frictional engagement element for the coasting state is engaged and the input rotation speed N.sub.T becomes the synchronized rotation speed, a shift shock is caused.

Shift control device for automatic transmission


An X-Y digitizer system is described for embedding within a host device, such as a tablet PC, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant or the like. The digitizer is configurable so that it can detect and track the position of different types of position indicator. The digitizer also includes novel digitizer windings and novel excitation circuitry for energizing the windings.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to digitizer systems and to parts thereof. The invention has particular relevance to inductive digitizers for use with portable electronic equipment such as a tablet PC, PDA or mobile telephone.
2. Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,553 describes an inductive digitizer system having loop coils arrayed in X and Y directions. The digitizer includes an excitation circuit for applying an energizing signal to a selected loop coil for energizing a resonant stylus. Once energized, the resonant stylus emits a response magnetic field which couples back into the loop coils. Processing electronics of the digitizer then process the signals from the loop coils to determine a measurement of the X-Y position of the stylus over the digitizer.
The system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,553 has a number of problems. One problem is that there are a large number of coil crossovers required at the edge of the sensor board. For best accuracy and resolution, the coils should approach the edge of the sensor board as closely as possible. This means that when the loop coils are formed from conductors on printed circuit boards, the PCB geometries (line widths, gaps and via sizes) must be small, yielding an expensive product. The alternative is for these geometries to be large, at the expense of accuracy. Further, in view of the large number of crossovers, there are a relatively large number of connections between the layers of the printed circuit board. Since each connection has a finite chance of failure at manufacture, the manufacturing process must yield high reliability for each such connection, thereby again increasing manufacturing costs.
A further problem with the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,553 is that typically it draws a relatively high current from its supply, for a given noise level, due to inefficiencies in coil layout and the way in which the coils are energized to energize the resonant stylus.
An aim of the present invention is to address at least one of these problems and to provide an alternative digitizer system or to provide alternative components for use in such a digitizer system.
In the exemplary embodiment described below, a new digitizing system is described having a new arrangement of windings for energizing and sensing the position of a resonant stylus above a working surface thereof. The digitizing system also includes novel excitation and multiplexing circuitry that is used to select a winding to be energized for energizing the resonant stylus. The digitizing system also includes novel processing circuitry that is used to control the operation of the digitizer so that it can operate with different types of stylus.


A rotorcraft vibration isolation system includes a plurality of liquid inertia vibration elimination (LIVE) units mounted on a first rotorcraft surface, an accumulator mounted on a second rotorcraft surface at a location that is remote from locations of the plurality of LIVE units, and a fluid passage to connect the accumulator to the plurality of LIVE units in parallel. The fluid passage has sufficient length to traverse between the location of the accumulator and each location of each LIVE unit. During rotorcraft operation, the second rotorcraft surface experiences lesser periodic vibration than the first rotorcraft surface.

Different rotorcraft surfaces experience different levels of vibration. For example, a transmission of a rotorcraft experiences periodic vibration due to the rotation of the rotor, while a fuselage of the rotorcraft experiences relatively lesser vibration. A vibration isolation system is used in rotorcrafts such as helicopters and tiltrotors to dampen or isolate vibrations between two surfaces of the rotorcraft. For example, a vibration isolation system dampens or isolates periodic vibration of the transmission. A vibration isolation system sometimes includes an isolator on the rotorcraft transmission and an accumulator attached to the isolator. An isolator, for example, a liquid inertia vibration elimination (LIVE) unit, reduces or cancels transmissibility of vibration from one surface of a rotorcraft to another surface of the rotorcraft.


A method and apparatus for fast, efficient, low noise power supply have been disclosed. In one implementation a switching power supply and a linear regulator provide efficiency and rapid response.

A fast response and efficient power supply is needed for many electronic devices. For example, if the RF (Radio Frequency) Power Amplifier in a mobile phone is powered directly from a battery, the battery supply voltage may be too high, resulting in excess power dissipation in the power amplifier. This presents a technical problem for which a technical solution using a technical means is needed.

Method and apparatus for fast, efficient, low noise power supply using multiple regulators


A cutting tool (22) includes a plurality of pivoted blades (36) for swinging outwardly to an expanded radial position for first cutting the walls of multiple casing strings (10, 11), and then removing a predetermined length of the casing strings (10, 11) simultaneously in a cutting action. Pivoted blades (36) have cutting elements (66) of a similar size and shape positioned about upper, lower sides (62) of the blades (36) engage the upper annular cut ends of the casing strings (10, 11) in a cutting action without tripping or removal from the bore hole.

This invention relates generally to a cutting or milling tool and method for cutting or milling fixed multiple casing strings downhole, and more particularly to such a cutting tool and method having cutting blades swinging radially outwardly from the cutting tool for cutting the casing strings.
Heretofore, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,668 dated Dec. 19, 1989, cutting tools for cutting well casing or casing strings have been provided utilizing swinging blades for first cutting the inner periphery of a string of well casing and then cutting a section of the cut casing string from its annular cut end for removing a desired length or longitudinal section of casing as might be required for removing a damaged section or to provide a window for diagonal drilling, for example. Swinging blades heretofore as shown in the aforementioned patent have had separate cutting inserts or discs mounted on their outer ends and upper sides for cutting a single string of casing.
Normally, and especially for wells of a substantial depth, casing strings of different diameters are utilized with the lowermost casing string being of the widest diameter. For example, an outer lower casing of around 133/8 inches in diameter with an inner upper casing of around 95/8 inches in diameter may be utilized with overlapping end portions providing an annulus filled with concrete for securing the two casing strings together in a sealed relation. Thus, in the event the removed casing sections include a so-called cemented joint, it is necessary to remove two separate casing strings at the joint as well as concrete in the annulus between the strings.
In the event the inner casing is removed first in one cutting operation, and then the outer casing is removed in a separate cutting operation a different blade or tool is utilized which requires a tripping or removal of the tool from the bore hole. If the same cutting tool is used for both cutting operations, it is difficult to stabilize the cutting tool during cutting of the outer string as the tool body which fits within the inner casing is spaced laterally a substantial distance from the inner periphery of the outer casing. While special blades utilizing a tang or projecting lug on the lower end of each blade for riding along the inner periphery of the outer casing may be used for stabilization of the tool during the cutting operation, such an arrangement requires removal of the cutting tool from the bore hole after cutting of the inner casing for attachment of the special blades and subsequent running in of the tool. Such a "tripping" of the cutting tool is costly and time consuming.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,439 shows a cutting tool for cutting multiple casing strings simultaneously without having to remove the cutting tool from the well bore and with the cutting tool centered by the small diameter casing being cut. However, this cutting tool removes a section or length of casing by engaging and cutting the lower annular cut end of the casing and the cutting surface of the blade is along its upper side only.
For cutting multiple casing strings simultaneously, the cutting blades must first cut through the walls of the multiple casing strings in series, and then a section or length of the multiple casing strings is cut away simultaneously. Thus, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,439, the cutting surface on the extending end of the pivoted blade has been utilized for cutting through the casing walls in series and then the cutting surface along the upper side of the blade has been utilized for cutting away the lower annular cut ends of multiple casing strings simultaneously during upward movement of the cutting tool.


A thermal distillation system comprises heating means and cooling means arranged to heat and cool, respectively, treatable liquid in a liquid circuit having a first section between a heating means output and cooling means input, and a second section between an a cooling means output and heating means input, and further comprises distillation stages, each including an evaporator on the first section and a condenser on the second section in heat exchange relationship with liquid in the second section, a carrier gas circuit, on which the evaporator and condenser are arranged, and an output for outputting liquid extracted, wherein the stages are arranged such that their evaporators are disposed along the first section in a direction from the heating means to the cooling means and their condensers are disposed in corresponding order along the second section in a direction from the heating means to the cooling means.

Almost invariably, industrial manufacturing processes produce waste liquid streams. This is particularly the case for industries such as those involved in power, mineral, paper, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, food processing, and electronic component manufacture, just to name a few. Most of the waste liquid streams emanating from such processes are waste water streams which are characterised by a range of impurities (and concentrations thereof) which are particular to the specific manufacturing process. For instance, the production of potable water through filtration based desalination of sea water produces a waste water stream which is characterised by having a high concentration of various salts.
Traditionally, a popular way of treating waste water streams has been to separate the solid impurities from the water by evaporation. This is typically achieved on an industrial scale by discharging the waste water stream into large evaporation ponds. The major disadvantages of doing so, however, come from the fact this process is extremely slow, allowing for the possibility that toxic impurities may leach into the soil and/or enter a subterranean water table. Also, when new industrial scale plants are designed, it is often quite difficult to accommodate space for suitably sized evaporation ponds to meet the demands of the industrial process.
Many countries around the world have implemented strict guidelines as to the processing of waste water streams in line with environmental concerns. One measure taken has been the implementation of zero liquid discharge (ZLD) policies to eliminate or at least minimise the liquid waste streams and if possible to recover the liquid (most often water) for reuse or safe disposal.
The technologies currently associated with ZLD include the treatment of the waste water by reverse osmosis, flocculation/coagulation, resin based separation technology, and distillation as well as combinations of these technologies. One of the main issues for implementing many ZLD technologies involves the added capital expenditure and increase in the plant footprint. In relation to capital expenditure, it will be appreciated that any ZLD system would require an additional energy source which in turn may impinge on the environmental benefits of including such systems into existing industrial plants.
The present invention seeks to overcome some of the shortcomings of the known ZLD systems and processes.


A tensioner comprising a piston slidably received within a piston bore of the housing having a plurality of grooves formed on an outer circumference, the piston forming a first pressure chamber with the piston bore. The tensioner uses a mechanism to remove a sliding pawl or expandable clip from engaging the grooves on the piston, such that the piston can move towards the housing and reduce chain load when fluid pressure is reduced in the first pressure chamber during engine shutdown, but not so much as to leave the chain uncontrolled during engine restart. The mechanism may for example be a fluid biased spool piston which engages the expandable clip or a pawl piston that engages a sliding pawl.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of tensioners. More particularly, the invention pertains to a chain or belt tensioner with a ratchet that deactivates.
2. Description of Related Art
In chain and belt tensioners, pistons are urged from their housings by a spring or a spring plus hydraulic pressure. Check valves are added to tensioners between the pressurized fluid source and the fluid chamber formed in the bore between the housing and the piston, to prevent backflow of the hydraulic fluid out of the fluid chamber. The rate of leakage through the clearance between the piston and the bore allows the retraction of the piston as makeup fluid subsides or ceases. As the rate of leakage increases, the resistance to retraction of the piston lessens and as the rate of leakage decreases, the resistance to retraction of the piston increases. When chain load spikes or a loss of fluid pressure is present, retraction of the plunger occurs and if the retraction of the plunger is excessive, loss of chain control, loss of engine time or other undesirable effects occur. Therefore, limiting the amount of piston retraction is desirable.
The common practice of tuning a tensioner to a system by changing the fluid leak rate occasionally results in a desired normal state piston retraction, which exceeds what is desired during startup or engine operation and shutdown. Tuning a tensioner to properly control system dynamics may also result in excessive piston extension or pump-up that may cause high chain loading or piston binding. This often results in a tensioner tune that is less than optimal in order to prevent the piston from extending beyond the allowable limit.

Chain or belt tensioner with a ratchet that deactivates


An image forming method for forming an image by exposing a photothermographic material to a laser beam, the laser beam being a laser diode beam having a peak light-emission intensity at a wavelength of 350 nm to 450 nm. The photothermographic material comprises at least a non-photosensitive silver salt, a photosensitive silver halide, a binder and a reducing agent, wherein a silver iodide content of the photosensitive silver halide is 40% by mole or more. The image forming method comprises the steps of:                A) conveying the photothermographic material; and        B) exposing the photothermographic material to the laser beam by scanning it in a main scanning direction while conveying the photothermographic material, wherein an angle between a plane extending in a normal direction of the photothermographic material including a straight line representing the main scanning direction and a plane extending in an incidence direction of the laser beam including a straight line representing the main scanning direction is 0° to 15°.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming method using a photothermographic material, particularly to an image forming method by exposing a photothermographic material including a silver halide emulsion having a high silver iodide content to light with an wavelength of 350 nm to 450 nm. The invention also relates to an image forming method for a photothermographic material which provides improvements with respect to uneven image density in a sub-scanning direction by suppressing generation of interference fringes.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the medical imaging field and the graphic arts field, there has been, in recent years, a strong desire for a dry photographic process from the viewpoints of environmental conservation and space-saving. Further the development of digitization has resulted in the rapid development of systems in which image information is captured and stored into a computer. If necessary, the image information is processed by the computer which outputs the image information through communication to a location where the image formation is needed. At the site, the image information is further output onto a photosensitive material using a laser-image setter or a laser-imager, followed by development thereof to form an image on the photosensitive material. It is required that the photosensitive material be able to record an image under exposure to laser with a high intensity, and that a clear black-tone image with a high resolution and sharpness can be formed. While various kinds of hard copy systems using a pigment and a dye such as an ink-jet printer or electrophotography have been distributed as a general image forming system using such a digital recording imaging material, images in the digital recording imaging material obtained by such a general image forming system are insufficient in terms of image qualities required for medical images. To facilitate diagnosis, image qualities such as sharpness, granularity, gradation, tone and high recording speed (sensitivity) are required. However, digital recording imaging material has not reached a level at which it can replace medical silver salt film processed by conventional wet development.
A thermographic system using an organic silver salt is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,152,904 and 3,457,075; and D. Klosterboer, "Thermally Processed Silver Systems", in "Imaging Processes and Materials" coedited by J. Sturge, V. Walworth and A. Shepp, Neblette 8th Ed., Chapter 9, pp. 279–291, 1989, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Generally, a photothermographic material, in particular, comprises an image forming layer in which a photosensitive silver halide, a reducing agent, a reducible silver salt (for example, an organic silver salt) and if necessary, a toner controlling a color tone of diveloped silver are dispersed in a binder matrix.
A black-toned silver image is formed by heating a photothermographic material to a high temperature (for example, 80° C. or higher) after imagewise exposure to cause an oxidation-reduction reaction between the silver halide or the reducible silver salt (functioning as an oxidizing agent) and the reducing agent. The oxidation-reduction reaction is accelerated by a catalytic action of a latent image generated on the silver halide by exposure. As a result, a black-toned silver image is formed in an exposed region. Such a photothermographic material is disclosed in the literature including for examples U.S. Pat. No. 2,910,377 and Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 43-4924. Fuji medical dry imager FM-DP L is an example of a practical medical image forming system that has been marketed.
Since such a photothermographic system using an organic silver salt has no fixing step and the photosensitive material contains all chemicals necessary for image forming, there has been an intrinsic problem in raw preservability, that is, "increase in fog", in which an unexposed portion is blackened during storage from manufacture of a photosensitive material until the material is actually put into use, and another intrinsic problem of "print-out". In "print-out", an image after thermal development is exposed to illumination of weak light such as room light, and an unexposed portion is gradually blackened.
As means for reducing fogging and print-out, a method in which silver iodide formed through conversion of an organic silver salt is used is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,488, EP No. 0922995, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other photosensitive materials using silver iodide are disclosed in WO Nos. 97-48014 and 97-48015; U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,705; JP-A No. 8-297345; and Japanese Patent No. 2785129.
While such a photothermographic material using a silver halide with a high silver iodide content is a remarkable material in its ability for preventing the generation of fogging and print out, there has been a problem in that the photothermographic material is generally low in sensitivity.
On the one hand, exposure light sources preferably used in recent years have been red to infrared laser diodes having a peak laser beam wavelength of 600 nm to 900 nm. A peculiar problem of interference fringe patterns appearing in a formed image in the image forming method by scanning the red to infrared laser diode beam should be solved. The interference fringe of this sort is thought to arise from interference between light incident onto the surface of an image forming layer and transmission light, which is not absorbed in the image forming layer of the photothermographic material, and is reflected multiple times in the image forming layer including a support. Conventionally, a dye and pigment have been added in the image forming layer for absorbing the scattered light, and a light scattering pigment has been added, in order to prevent the interference fringes from being generated. However, these pigments and dyes may unfavorably color the layer, and turbidity of the layer may be increased.
On the other hand, an incidence angle of the laser beam may be tilted in order to prevent the interference fringes from being generated. However, the tilt angle of the laser beam should be larger for improving the interference fringe.
It is not preferable to largely increase the incidence angle of the laser beam due to the problem of ghosts, which appear due to surface reflection of the laser beam, as well as the problem of blurring of the image.
Since the laser beam can only be tilted within a limited range, the effect of improving the interference fringe has inevitably been restricted. Consequently, improvements have relied on addition of the dyes.
With respect to the blue laser diode as well, it is a crucial problem to prevent the interference fringe from being generated. Accordingly, being able to use a silver halide emulsion with a high content of silver iodide, which has a characteristic light absorption in the wavelength region of the blue laser diode, is an important issue for meeting future demands and is ardently desired.

Image forming method using photothermographic material


A storage system erases blocks of memory prior to writing data to the blocks. Instead of erasing the blocks at the time the write operations are executed, the storage system pre-erases the blocks, which can improve performance. However, because program failure errors can occur if the blocks sit empty for a relatively-long period of time prior to programming, the storage system pre-erases the blocks upon a prediction that a host will send sequential write commands to the storage system that will use the blocks. Additionally or alternatively, the storage system can pre-erase a block upon determining that the number of write commands in a command queue in the storage system is above a threshold that represents a number of write commands needed to fill the block with data.

Storage systems can be used to store data from a host. In some storage systems, a block of memory is erased prior to writing data to the block. Typically, the block is erased as part of the write operation, just before the data is written. This is because program failure errors can occur if a block remains empty for some period of time prior to programming. This is especially true in memories that store multiple (e.g., four or more) bits per cell.

Storage system and method for prediction-based pre-erase of blocks to improve sequential performance