A multi-core fiber for an optical pumping device is provided. The multi-core fiber includes a plurality of optical fibers that are inserted into holes of an alignment member. The optical fibers and the alignment member are integrated by heating. The alignment member includes a material that has a lower softening temperature than a softening temperature of the optical fibers.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to optical amplification technology and optical oscillation technology, and in particular to an optical pumping device that is a combiner of pumping light and signal light, a multi-core fiber that is a component thereof and a manufacturing method thereof, an optical pumping device that uses the multi-core fiber, and a fiber laser and a fiber amplifier that use the optical pumping device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a related art optical pumping device, a pump combiner that uses a multi-hole capillary has been proposed (for example, refer to Non-Patent Document 1).
Also, as a combiner of pumping light and signal light, for example, the technology disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 7 has been proposed.    [Non-Patent Document 1] Tanaka, Tanigawa, Nakai, Sakai, Himeno, "Pump Combiner that utilizes capillary for designing flexibility" Proceedings of the IEICE General Conference, B-13-29, 2006.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H07-140346    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H06-67055    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H06-235841    [Patent Document 4] U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,979    [Patent Document 5] U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,372    [Patent Document 6] U.S. Pat. No. 7,016,573    [Patent Document 7] U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,021
However, there are the following problems in the related art mentioned above.
The multi-hole capillary (alignment member) that is disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 is substantially made from nearly pure silica similarly to the constituent material of the optical fibers to be inserted, and the softening temperature of the alignment member is not taken into account.
If the softening temperature of the optical fibers to be inserted and the softening temperature of the alignment member are the same, or the softening temperature of the alignment member is higher, the optical fibers become soft at nearly the same time as or earlier than the alignment member when fusion integrating by heating. This causes (A) deformation of the cross-sectional shape of the inserted fibers and (B) bending of the inserted fibers. Therefore, the following problems arise: (1) the numerical aperture (NA) of the fiber that guides the pumping light effectively increases, and the splice loss between a multi-core fiber and a bridge fiber or double-clad fiber downstream thereof increases, and (2) due to the inserted fibers becoming fusion integrated in a bent state, loss of the signal light and pumping light occurs (or increases) due to the bending. Accordingly, the multi-hole capillary made of silica that is disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 has the above problems (1) and (2).
In all the devices that are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 5, the alignment member is not a multi-hole structure.
The device disclosed in Patent Document 6 involves a system of bundling optical fibers in a single-hole capillary, but an alignment member having a multi-hole structure not disclosed. Also, in Patent Document 6, there is no disclosure with respect to the softening temperature of the material.
The device disclosed in Patent Document 7 was not designed by taking the softening temperature into account. Also, it is a structure that achieves coupling by elongating the capillary itself, and is not a multi-core fiber of a type that splices with a double-clad fiber that has a rare earth-doped core via a separately elongated bridge fiber.

Multi-core fiber for optical pumping device and manufacturing method thereof, optical pumping device, fiber laser and fiber amplifier


Fluid sampling device comprising a sampling cell (1) provided with a thermal control valve having a plug (21) made from a solid low-melting temperature material that is made permeable to the fluid by temporary heating. The device comprises an intermediate cell (6) with a central channel (7) provided with a plug made from the solid material, which communicates an inlet with a first end and an outlet with the opposite end, and suited to tightly fit into the inlet hole of the sampling cell, a device (12, 13) for connecting the two cells (1, 6) to each other and an element (14) associated with a seal (20) for connecting, at the inlet of intermediate cell (6), a linking tube (15) to a reactor (17) producing the fluid to be sampled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid sampling device comprising a thermal control valve.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Two prior art methods are known.
The first approach, is described for example by:
Ungerer P. et al, 1988, in Kinetic Modelling of Oil Cracking, Org. Geochem., 13,857-868, carries out pyrolyses of increasing duration. At the end of each of the successive experiments, the kinetics are stopped by means of an abrupt temperature drop. The conversion coefficients and the reaction rates are thus acquired at different times.
The second approach performs successive samplings during the progress of a single experiment. Considering the duration, of pyrolysis reactions, this approach has the advantage of reducing the total acquisition time. The entire kinetics can be obtained with a single handling whereas the number of experiments should be multiplied with the first technique. The method of operation through sampling also allows a determination that the reactive medium has always had the same (thermal and therefore reaction) history in time, which is not always the case when experiments are repeated. On the other hand, using successive samplings requires a greater reaction volume in order to make sure that the sum of the various aliquots extracted in the course of time will not lead to considerable changes in the operating conditions of the reaction system. The implementation difficulty of this approach at high pressures is due to the considerable dead volume inherent in conventional needle valves.
The fluid sampling device according to the invention, which comprises a sampling cell for collecting fluid, provided with an inlet hole, is characterized in that the sampling cell is insulated by a thermal control valve consisting of a plug made from a solid low-melting temperature material that is made permeable to the fluid by temporary heating.
The device of the invention lends itself to many applications where control of an evolutionary process or characterization of phase equilibria requires successive and distinct fluid samplings while reducing the effects of contamination due to dead volumes remaining in the sampling circuits.
The sampling device according to the invention can be used for example to take fluid samples within the scope of oil or fluid pyrolyses in closed reactors. In order to be representative of the evolution of natural basins, these reactions last for several days or even several weeks. The kinetics of such reactions can be obtained according to two approaches.
According to a preferred embodiment, the plug that seals the inlet hole is made from a stable melting temperature eutectic metal alloy such as Wood""s metal for example.
According to an embodiment, the device of the invention comprises an intermediate cell with a central channel provided with a plug made of the solid material, which communicates with an inlet with a first end and an outlet with the opposite end thereof, and is suited to tightly fit into the inlet hole of the sampling cell, a connection for connecting the sampling cell to the intermediate cell, an element associated with a seal for connecting, at the inlet of the intermediate cell, a fine linking tube to a reactor producing the fluid to be sampled.
According to an embodiment suited for fluid sampling under elevated pressure, the sampling cell is provided with a fine inlet channel, the section and the length of this inlet channel and those of the central channel of the intermediate cell are so selected that the plugs formed by cooling of the material are sealed against the fluid sampled.
The method for implementing the device according to the invention comprises: a sampling cell preparation step comprising transfer of a certain volume of the material in the liquid state into the cell, suction of the fluid contained in the cell, transfer of the volume of material into the inlet of the cell and cooling thereof so as to form a sealed plug; and
a sampling step comprising communicating the sampling cell with a vessel containing the fluid to be sampled, and temporary heating of the plug (which leads to the melting thereof) in order to make it permeable to the fluid.
According to an embodiment, the method further comprises a step of preparation of an intermediate cell in order to form therein a second solid plug made from the material, the sampling also comprising combined heating of the second plug in order to make it permeable to the fluid.
A capillary tube is preferably used to connect the reactor to the intermediate cell so as to minimize dead volumes.
Fluid ampoules are thus available for subsequent treatments. There is no constraint concerning the conservation thereof and this storage method allows high flexibility during later analyses. The consequence of certain sampling methods is the use of suited analysis techniques: in many fluid analysis cases, specific chromatography injectors have to be used. The sampling mode described hereafter requires no adjustment of existing sensing devices and all of the conventional devices can be used.
A valve of this type has many advantages in comparison with conventional valves used in laboratory devices:
The valve is economical while providing perfect sealing. The installation thereof is much simpler than that of a conventional valve. The installation simplicity thereof, combined with its low cost, makes it possible to manufacture sample ampoules that can optionally be expandable. A batch of ampoules containing fluid samples representative of successive times of a reaction spread over a relatively long period can be readily constituted and it is therefore possible to simplify the organization of the step of acquisition and processing of data relative to this reaction, which can last for a shorter time.
The characteristics of this type of valve are well reproducible, which facilitates comparisons between the successive fluid samples. It is also possible with this type of valve to reduce dead volumes to very little so that trails are negligible and the successive samples are entirely independent of one another.
Once the sampling is performed, the sampling cell can be removed, the intermediate cell with its solidified xe2x80x9cthermal valvexe2x80x9d tightly insulates the reaction chamber, and a new fluid recovery cell can be set for a new sampling operation.

Fluid sampling device comprising a thermal control valve


Disclosed is a low-cost parallel lighting system for discharge lamps for a surface light source, which reduces nonuniform brightness and static noise, and fulfills a requirement that lamp currents of individual cold-cathode fluorescent lamps should be uniform and stabilized. In a surface light source system having multiple discharge lamps, there is a module which lights the discharge lamps in parallel and whose input terminal and electrodes on an opposite side to that side of the discharge lamps which is connected to the module are driven by voltage waveforms different in phase by 180 degrees from each other, wherein an input terminal of an opposite phase of the surface light source system is connected to an inverter circuit having outputs of opposite phases via a single shunt transformer in such a way as to cancel out magnetic fluxes generated by currents respectively flowing in windings of the shunt transformer, whereby the resonance frequency of the inverter circuit having outputs of opposite phases is matched to balance the outputs.

Recently, backlights for liquid crystal display are becoming larger and cold-cathode fluorescent lamps to be used for backlights are becoming longer.
Accordingly, the discharge voltage is becoming higher. So is the discharge impedance.
The EEFL requires a higher discharge voltage.
Because a large surface light source for a liquid crystal display television or the like requires that the brightness of the surface light source should be uniform, the surface light source is provided for each cold-cathode fluorescent lamp with a mechanism which detects the currents that flows in the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp and feeds the detection result to a control circuit to keep the lamp current constant, as shown in FIG. 12.
Many of the conventional discharge lamp lighting systems generally light discharge lamps by setting the electrode on one side of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp to a high voltage and driving the electrode at the other end with the GND (ground) level. Such a lighting scheme is called "single-side high voltage driving", and the drive method is advantageous in that the lamp current control is easy so that a lighting circuit is easy to configure.
As cold-cathode fluorescent lamps become longer, the discharge voltage of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamps gets higher and the impedance of discharge lamps gets higher, so that the difference in brightness between the high-voltage side and low-voltage side of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp stands out. Such a phenomenon is called "nonuniform brightness".
While the nonuniform brightness phenomenon does not distinctly occur on a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp alone, it apparently occurs when the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is placed closer to a proximity conductor, such as a reflector. (See Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H11-8087 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H11-27955.)
As single-side high voltage driving results in large nonuniform brightness, a so-called double-side high voltage driving system or a floating system is proposed to reduce nonuniform brightness by driving both ends of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp with high voltages of opposite phases, as shown in FIG. 13. Because the voltage to be applied to each electrode of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp becomes a half, this system is advantageous in driving an elongated cold-cathode fluorescent lamp or external electrode fluorescent lamp which require a high voltage.
As the voltage to be applied to each electrode becomes a half, a leak current which is the flow of the current due to a parasitic capacitance produced around a discharge lamp becomes smaller, making the brightness of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp more uniform.
In addition, the voltage to be applied to the windings of a step-up transformer becomes lower, increasing the safety of the step-up transformer.
It is said that double-side high voltage driving is suitable for driving elongated cold-cathode fluorescent lamps in a large surface light source.
As a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is driven with a high voltage, however, there is large static noise generated from the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp.
As the static noise affects the liquid crystal display, every other cold-cathode fluorescent lamps are alternately driven with outputs different in phase by 180 degrees to cancel out static noise generated from the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-352718.
FIG. 15 shows one example of the structure in which the secondary winding of a transformer takes a floating structure to provide outputs of opposite phases, which are connected to one ends of cold-cathode fluorescent lamps whose other ends are connected together so that the cold-cathode fluorescent lamps are driven in the form of parallel connection.
The lamp currents of individual fluorescent lamps are detected by current detection means CDT1 to CDT4 respectively, are feedback to voltage sources WS1 to WS4 to make the lamp currents uniform and stable.
As adjoining cold-cathode fluorescent lamps are driven with voltages different in phase by 180 degrees, therefore, static noise generated from the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is canceled, thus reducing the influence on the liquid crystal display.
FIG. 16 shows one example in which the above method is further modified. A transformer with a floating structure is provided for each cold-cathode fluorescent lamp, and every other cold-cathode fluorescent lamps are alternately driven with outputs different in phase by 180 degrees to cancel out static noise.
Further, as the wires of a high voltage are long according to the method illustrated in FIG. 16, the structure that is shown in FIG. 17 is taken where a leakage flux transformer is arranged on either side to make the high-voltage wires shorter.
While each of FIGS. 16 and 17 exemplarily shows an AC power source, in an inverter circuit for an actual large surface light source is provided with a lamp current control circuit as shown in FIG. 12 for each transformer. This makes the scale of the circuit huge.
A problem that the circuit scale of an inverter circuit in a large surface light source system becomes huge can be overcome by means of driving multiple cold-cathode fluorescent lamps used in a surface light source in parallel to thereby make the lamp currents of the individual discharge lamps uniform. The solution is proposed by the inventors of the present invention in U.S. Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-0155596-A1 (corresponding to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-00374) and illustrated in FIG. 18.
According to the single-side high voltage driving system, one electrode side of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp becomes a high voltage while the other electrode side is the GND (ground) level. When multiple cold-cathode fluorescent lamps are driven in parallel by the method illustrated in FIG. 18 and proposed in U.S. Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-0155596-A1, electrodes on one side of adjoining ones of multiple cold-cathode fluorescent lamps are in phase.
Such a single-side high voltage driving system has a problem of large nonuniform brightness. In addition, static noise generated from the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is large, which may influence the liquid crystal display.
To cut off static noise generated from a surface light source, therefore, it is necessary to insert a conductive film coated with ITO (Indium Trioxide) or so between the surface light source and the liquid crystal display panel.
Such nonuniform brightness occurs when a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is placed close to a reflector and is such that the high-voltage side is bright while the low-voltage side is dark. It is said that such nonuniform brightness is not avoidable in a large surface light source.
The nonuniform brightness increases when the impedance of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is high or when the parasitic capacitance around the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is large because the current flows to a nearby conductor via the parasitic capacitor. Even when the drive frequency of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp becomes higher, therefore, nonuniform brightness becomes greater.
It is often the case where the lamp current is made smaller to extend the service life of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp for a backlight for a liquid crystal display television. Reducing the lamp current also means an increase in the impedance of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp.
As an elongated cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is used in a large liquid crystal display television and originally has a high impedance, the impedance of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp becomes higher for the two reasons mentioned above, so that particularly, nonuniform brightness is likely to occur.
If a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is long, the outside diameter should be made larger to provide a strength. While a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp for a backlight (surface light source) for a notebook type personal computer is normally 1.8 mm to 2.7 mm in diameter, a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp in use for a backlight (surface light source) for a liquid crystal display television is about 3 mm to 5 mm in diameter. The increased outside diameter of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp means that the parasitic capacitance produced between the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp and the reflector becomes greater.
In a large surface light source, therefore, not only the impedance of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is high but also the parasitic capacitance is high, resulting in overlapped conditions of making nonuniform brightness likely to occur. In view of this, it is said to be difficult to drive a large liquid crystal display backlight having an elongated cold-cathode fluorescent lamp on a high frequency.
Because the nonuniform brightness phenomenon is such that a high-potential portion near the electrode of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp becomes bright while a low-potential portion becomes dark, nonuniform brightness occurs less in the double-side high voltage driving system than in the single-side high voltage driving system. (See Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H11-8087 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H11-27955.)
In the case of double-side high voltage driving, portions near the electrodes on both sides become bright while the center portion becomes dark. Nonuniform brightness in this case is considerably smaller than nonuniform brightness in the case of single-side high voltage driving. When double-side high voltage driving is employed, therefore, the drive frequency can be increased.
With double-side high voltage driving, an inverter circuit requires two outputs of opposite phases.
In the case of the structure where the outputs of the inverter circuit are provided with leakage flux transformers and are connected directly to electrodes on both sides of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp, the inverter circuit provides two outputs different in phase by 180 degrees. In this case, however, the two outputs of opposite phases of the inverter circuit should not necessarily become uniform.
With nonuniform outputs, the voltage applied to the electrode on one side of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp becomes greater, while the voltage applied to the electrode on the other side of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp becomes lower, making the loads on the outputs of the inverter circuit uneven. Such biasing of outputs is likely to occur when the power factor as seen from the primary side of the step-up transformer is improved and the copper loss is reduced by using the leakage flux transformer in the step-up transformer and causing resonation of the leakage inductance of the leakage flux transformer and the capacitive component of the secondary circuit.
The technique of achieving high efficiency of an inverter circuit using the resonance technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,405 by one of the inventors of the present invention. That is, biasing of outputs is hard to occur in a conventional inverter circuit which uses a non-leakage flux transformer having a low leakage inductance as the step-up transformer at the output stage and uses a ballast capacitor to stabilize the lamp current. The biasing of outputs is a particular phenomenon which occurs when a scheme of acquiring a high efficiency is performed by working out the invention in U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,405.
When an inverter circuit has two outputs whose output voltages differ in phase from each other by 180 degrees, a resonance circuit is constructed for each of the outputs of opposite phases as shown in FIG. 13. When the two resonance circuits are constructed not in association with each other, the resonance frequencies of the resonance circuits should not necessarily match with each other.
If the resonance frequencies of the resonance circuits do not match with each other, as shown in FIG. 14, the step-up ratios of the outputs of the inverter circuit differ even when the resonance circuits are driven with the same frequency, thus making the voltages to be applied to the electrodes of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp different from each other. As a result, the outputs of the inverter circuit are unbalanced.
The unbalance is originated from the difference in the resonance frequencies of the outputs of opposite phases caused by the difference in leakage inductances of the leakage flux transformers to be used at the outputs of the inverter circuit or the difference in capacitive components of the secondary circuit.
In an actual surface light source system, a current distributor module is connected to each electrode of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp or the size precisions of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp and the reflector which includes the effect as a proximity conductor vary, thus causing considerable unbalance of parasitic capacitances.
There are fluctuations in leakage inductances of the leakage flux transformers, which are the cause of making the resonance frequencies of the resonance circuits unmatched with each other.
When the resonance frequencies do not match with each other, the outputs become unbalance so that the electrodes on both sides of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp cannot be driven uniformly. As a result, excessive power concentration occurs on one output, leading to nonuniform heat generation of the inverter circuit.
To prevent the biasing of outputs, the resonance frequencies of the resonance circuits for the outputs of opposite phases should be made uniform.
The following will discuss the problem of the prior art from viewpoint of static noise.
To reduce static noise, it is effective to cancel static noise by driving adjoining cold-cathode fluorescent lamps with outputs of opposite phases. FIGS. 15 to 17 show examples of the structure. To drive cold-cathode fluorescent lamps in the mentioned manner, a single transformer having outputs of opposite phases is provided for every set of two cold-cathode fluorescent lamps which are driven in opposite phases.
In the example shown in FIG. 15, however, the electrodes on one side of adjoining cold-cathode fluorescent lamp become high potentials of opposite phases while the other electrodes are at the GND (ground) potential. In this case, the presence of the leak current flowing via a parasitic capacitor Csm produced between the adjoining cold-cathode fluorescent lamps on the high-voltage side makes nonuniform brightness worse than the single-side high voltage driving system in the case shown in FIG. 18. This undesirably requires that the backlight with such a structure should be driven with a relatively low frequency.
One solution to this problem is to realize double-side high voltage driving by driving a single cold-cathode fluorescent lamp with a single transformer as shown in FIG. 16.
Because multiple high-voltage lines run across in the casing of the surface light source according to the method, however, the parasitic capacitance becomes unbalanced.
In addition, the individual cold-cathode fluorescent lamps are alternately driven in opposite phases, thus requiring more transformers than the structure shown in FIG. 15.
The structure shown in FIG. 17 has a greater number of transformers to prevent high-voltage crossover lines so that the transformers are arranged on both sides of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamps to achieve double-side high voltage driving, and changes the phase of the drive voltage for every other cold-cathode fluorescent lamp to reduce static noise. The structure apparently needs a significant number of transformers and control circuits.
Although a switching circuit and a control circuit are not shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the actual inverter circuit system for a liquid crystal display television has additional circuits of detecting the lamp currents of the individual cold-cathode fluorescent lamps and controlling the respective cold-cathode fluorescent lamps, the inverter circuit has a very large scale.
None of the circuits shown in FIGS. 15 to 17 do not solve the problem of the outputs being unbalanced due to the deviation of the resonance frequency of the secondary circuit.
In view of the above, there has been demands for a low-cost surface light source system and an inverter circuit for multiple lamps, which reduces nonuniform brightness and static noise, and fulfills the requirement that lamp currents of individual cold-cathode fluorescent lamps should be uniform and stabilized.

Parallel lighting system for surface light source discharge lamps


Various embodiments manage energy generation in a power generation and distribution system. In one embodiment, a set of residual load data is obtained for a given period of time measured at one or more nodes within a power generation and distribution system. The set of residual load data encodes a set of power flow signals. The set of residual load data is analyzed. An amount of power contributed to the set of residual load data by at least one energy generator class is determined based on the analysis of the set of residual load data.

The present disclosure generally relates to power distribution networks, and more particularly relates to estimating and managing contributions of energy generators in residual load signals of an electric power transmission and distribution network.
The present disclosure generally relates to power distribution networks, and more particularly relates to estimating and managing contributions of energy generators in residual load signals of an electric power transmission and distribution network.
Power distribution networks are complex systems with many different kinds of devices and users. Electricity is produced within a power distribution network from non-renewable and renewable energy sources. Accurate knowledge of the different types of devices connected to the network is essential for utility operations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Real-time estimation of contributions from classes of energy generators in residual load signals


The present disclosure provides a layered structure including a first layer with a multiple of openings, a second layer, and a component including a multiple of columns with connecting segments therebetween, the connecting segments are disposed between the first layer and the second layer so that each of the columns extend at least partially through at least one of the multiple of openings.

Field
The present disclosure generally relates to yoga accessories and more specifically to yoga mats and yoga towels.
Description of the Related Art
Yoga has become one of the popular ways and techniques of maintaining physical as well as mental health and fitness. The art of yoga has gained momentum, especially in the past decade, across the world with millions of people adopting it. This has led to a surge in the demand for yoga accessories such as yoga mats, yoga towels, and the like that may utilize modern manufacturing and design processes to create products with desired comfort levels, thereby meeting the requirements of a yoga accessory user (hereinafter referred to as the user).
With an increasing demand, several kinds of yoga mats have been designed, manufactured, and marketed. The existing designs of mats involve single or multiple layer construction that feature a uniform top side manufactured with a single material. A limitation of such mats is that they are unable to provide sufficient traction in certain areas of the mats. This traction is required to provide grip to the user. Better traction may be necessary, especially in performing yoga techniques such as Vinayasa yoga, Bikram yoga, and the like since users tend to sweat more due to an increased room temperature or vigorous practice. The sweating on the mat may significantly reduce the performance of the user and may also increase the likelihood of injuries due to slipping. Additionally, the single material construction of the mats does not fully address the varying requirements of the user during various yoga postures on different locations of the mats.
Some existing mat designs provide cushioning and grip on a top surface of the mat. In one such design, the grip is introduced by including patterns of protrusions and/or depressions on the top surface of the mat. In another mat design, two different materials are used in different portions of the mat to introduce grip in the mat. In this case, some areas on the mat, such as regions where the user's hand and feet come in contact with the mat, have grip elements that are formed of a high-traction material, whereas the rest of the mat body is formed of a low traction material so that the traction and grip are introduced in specific areas of the mat.
Conventionally, yoga towels have been used along with the mats in heated environments. These towels may be placed on top of the mats at various locations to facilitate absorption of sweat and prevent slipping due to the presence of sweat on body parts such as hands and feet. The existing towels are typically made of micro fibers. Some existing designs of the towels provide cushioning and grip on their top surfaces.
None of the existing designs for the mats and towels provides secure grip and stability during yoga poses, and smooth and unobstructed movements between yoga poses in a single product. In addition, no existing design uses the difference in the compressibility of the grip regions and the rest of the mat or towel body. Similarly, none of the existing designs for a grip apparatus provide secure grip and stability when pressure is applied, and smooth and unobstructed movement when pressure is released.
In accordance with the foregoing, there is a need for yoga mats and towels that may offer the required traction and stability to a user without compromising smooth movements between yoga poses. Similarly, there is a need for a grip apparatus that may offer traction and stability when pressure is applied without compromising smooth, unobstructed movement when pressure is removed, such as when changing grip positions. In addition, there is a need for a grip apparatus that may also absorb perspiration and prevent moisture from reaching the object being gripped.

Layered structure including multiple columns


A method of detecting fractional channels in a telecommunications circuit. A non-idle data rate is measured for each channel in the telecommunications circuit. Channels having matching non-idle data rates are grouped into sets. Non-idle data rates are measured again for the channels within each set. In each set, any channels having non-matching non-idle data rates (with a small predetermined range of permissible variability) are eliminated. The measurement for each set is repeated multiple times. Each remaining set has channels that have substantially identical non-idle data rates over multiple time periods and each remaining set is assumed to constitute a fractional channel. Non-idle data rates are measured by counting non-idle octets over a fixed period of time, or by measuring throughput (non-idle octets per second) or by measuring utilization (throughput/capacity). In an alternative embodiment, idle flags or shifted idle flags for non-encrypted HDLC or SDLC protocols are used to identify provisional sets of channels. In still another embodiment, channels identified as voice channels are removed from provisional sets.

Digital transmission systems typically carry multiple time division multiplexed channels. For example, the T-1 (or T1) system commonly used in the United States and Canada can handle 24 simultaneous voice conversations (or data equivalents). The European counterpart (E-1 or E1) can carry 31 channels. Although digital telecommunications lines may be used for any digital data, the basic specifications originate from the requirements for digitized voice. Digitization of analog voice requires 8,000 samples per second to satisfy the Nyquist criteria of twice the highest voice frequency of 4,000 Hz. Coding each sample into 8-bits (called octets in the telecommunication industry) results in the fundamental digital voice channel rate of 64 kbps (thousand bits per second). As a result, for T1 and E1 digital telephone circuits, each channel has a bandwidth of 64 kbps, formatted as 8,000 octets per second.
Multiple channels can be concatenated together to form a single higher-rate channel referred to as a fractional T1 (or E1) channel. For example, two channels can be combined to make a single 128 kbps channel. In general, during troubleshooting or performance monitoring, which channels and how many channels are combined to make these fractional channels may not be known. There is a need for automatic determination of how many fractional channels exist on a circuit and which channels are combined into each fractional channel. There is also a need for identification of the type of traffic that is present on each fractional channel.

Automatic detection of a telecommunications fractional channel configuration


A seal for preventing leakage of fluid from between a first member and a second member has a seal body and a seal wear indicator. The second member is capable of moving toward and away from the first member. The seal body is adapted for engaged contact with the first and second members so as to prevent leakage of fluid as long as the seal has not worn beyond a specified depth. A seal wear indicator is positioned within the seal body at approximately the specified depth, such that when the seal has worn to the specified depth, a change in the optical conductor is detected, indicating that the seal needs replacement.

The present invention relates to seals which are positioned against a moving surface, and more particularly to seals which prevent fluid, e.g. lubricant, leakage or passage between two surfaces. More particularly, the present invention relates to a self-monitoring seal employing an optical device for indicating when the body of a seal has undergone excessive wear or deterioration.
Machinery often includes members which move with respect to each other. Bearings have long been used to facilitate such movement, particularly for members that move rotationally with respect to each other. Brass rings or sleeves have long been used to facilitate such movement where the members are reciprocating with respect to each other. Bearings and brass rings are used to aid in transmitting forces from one member to another and to reduce friction. Rolling elements are often used in bearings to reduce friction, such as in ball bearings. Bearings often contain lubricant to reduce the friction created within the bearing.
Leakage of fluid from between mechanical parts has long been a problem. Contamination of the bearings or seals with foreign material such as dirt has also long been a problem. Both loss of fluid and contamination lead to increased friction and wear within the structure, damaging the structure and perhaps damaging the machinery.
Seals composed of a soft polymeric material are used with bearings to prevent lubricant leakage and contamination. The polymeric material contacts a moving surface in the bearing and provides a seal. Friction between the polymeric material and the moving surface gradually wears the surface of the polymeric material away. If the polymeric material becomes too worn, it will no longer form a tight seal against the moving surface, and fluid leakage from the bearing and contamination of the bearing again become problems.
In other instances metal or polymeric seals are placed between the moving parts. This arrangement is particularly useful when the movement is a reciprocal movement. Non-limiting illustrations of a reciprocating seal include a piston and cylinder structure, hatches, air locks, doors, covers, lids and caps. With regard to such seals as found in hatches, air locks, doors, covers, lids and caps, the interfitting members can reciprocate with respect to each other, in the sense of opening and closing with regard to each other. However, when a seal is in fluid tight sealing relationship between such interfitting members, the seal may more properly be termed a static or stationary seal, since the interfitting members and the interposed seal are all stationary with regard to each other while the integrity of the sealing relationship is maintained. Sealing integrity or effectiveness can also be compromised by cracking, breaking, loss of flexibility or deterioration due to such conditions as repeated flexing, bending and/or compression, or length of contact with various fluids or container contents.
Various methods have been developed to prevent or detect leakage past a seal. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,023, one method involves monitoring the pressure of the fluid on the high pressure side of the seal, with a loss of pressure indicating leakage past the seal. Alternatively, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,611, the fluid pressure on the low pressure side of the seal may be monitored, with an increase in pressure indicating fluid leakage. A third method, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,133, uses colored fluid and visual monitoring of leakage past a seal. Still other methods involve manual maintenance procedures, wherein seals are inspected or replaced on a regular basis.
These various methods to prevent or detect leakage past a seal have not proven satisfactory due to a number of problems. A problem with monitoring fluid pressure is that it is only effective to detect leakage of the fluid. Often this is too late to prevent damage. It is desired that the seal be replaced before leakage has begun. Similarly, visual monitoring of fluid leakage can only indicate that leakage has begun, not that leakage is about to begin. A problem with manual inspection of a seal is that it requires an inspector who is not only trained but also diligent. Often seals are not inspected merely due to neglect or lack of diligence. Another problem with manual inspection is that it may require the machinery to be stopped during the inspection, which can be inconvenient. Scheduled seal replacement also has problems. Seals may wear more or less quickly depending on operating conditions, and scheduled seal replacement may occur too early (before the seal needs to be replaced) or too late (after the seal starts leaking).
An excellent solution to these problems has been provided by the inventions disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,448, issued Jul. 30, 1996, entitled SEAL WITH ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR WEAR INDICATOR and in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,235, issued Sep. 21, 1993, entitled SEAL WITH EMBEDDED WIRE. The present invention is an improvement on my earlier disclosed seals and is particularly adapted to work with reciprocating surfaces which require a seal there between. Illustrative of such reciprocating surfaces are the piston and cylinder, hatches, air locks, doors, covers, lids, caps, etc.

Self monitoring static seal with optical sensor


An adaptive integration activity management framework for on demand business process integration provides a mechanism to enable easy integration of legacy and new applications. The framework minimizes the effort need to integrate a new application into an existing business process environment such that the new activity is a “plug-in” into an action manager by implementing a standard adaptation layer. Activity integration is implemented in the principle of “on-demand” because it is invoked as required, so the communication and collaboration between partners become much more flexible.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to business software integration and, more particularly, to an adaptive integration activity management framework for on demand business process integration.
2. Background Description
The emergence of Web Service paves the way for easy integration of various applications from multiple platforms. An example of such business process integration is to use standard interface such as Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) to enable multiple monolithic applications to work together in a loosely coupled but controlled flow to achieve a business goal. However, several problems in business process integration area are observed. One of them is that such actual integration between applications still has to be pre-defined or hard-wired, thus preventing adaptation to new business process integration requirements later on. It is also observed that some of the goals for business process integration are to enable easy integration of legacy and new applications.
In current state-of-the-art application integration, there is no standard. Most of the application systems have been integrated in a dedicated, one-to-one type of scenario via application adaptor. That is, for each new application to be integrated, a dedicated adaptor is developed to enable integration. In addition, there is no reusability, i.e., for each new integration case, the same set of customization is repeated again for the one-of-a-kind integration. Obviously, this kind of approach is labor intensive and does not scale well.
We have identified the challenging issues for the current business process integration as follows:                Lack a uniform representation to capture detailed requirements of each application integration activity, such as method names, input and output parameter formats, etc. for the application to be integrated with.
Again, such integrations have been done in dedicated and hard-wired manner.                Lack adaptation in business process integration of a new application.
For each new integration activity, considerable amount of programming work has to be done on the middle-ware infrastructure to develop, test and incorporate the new adaptor, and then be able to invoke the new application.                Lack flexibility to support business process integration at a different granularity, i.e. all integrations are fixed and pre-defined for a specific purpose and integration environment.        Lack flexible mechanism to express the conditions between integration activities. For example, above a certain threshold, one integration activity, e.g. FTP (File Transfer Protocol), is to be invoked, otherwise, switch to the other activity, e.g. GridFTP.

Method and apparatus of adaptive integration activity management for business application integration

International Business Machines Corporation


An elongate and tubular body of a watercycle, featuring a fish, for recreation and for exercise in the water, includes two humps on its back serving as saddle for a rider. The seated rider gets wet up to about the waist. The watercycle and the rider are floated by a highly buoyant material located within the upper body of the watercycle. Forward movement is initiated by manipulating the pedals to get the propellers in the body turning.

This water ride includes a float and propellers disposed within an elongate, tubular body. It is slow-moving and is ideal for use in the backyard swimming pool and on the beach, or water park where there is a big crowd a times. A rider manipulates the pedals to get the watercycle to move forward.
Commonly used small water rides are assorted figures crafted from foam, and inflatable rubber or plastic material in many forms. These above mentioned water rides have no means of propulsion and it is necessary that younger kids be assisted by elders or parents. Many times kids would use their hands to paddle, or legs to propel themselves.
One advantage with this unique watercycle is that the propellers are well shielded within the body and this makes it very safe for swimmers in the vicinity.
Another advantage is that it is relatively slow-moving and this makes it safe even in a crowd of bathers.
Still another advantage is that the float portion of the watercycle is likewise within the body and this makes it more resistant to deterioration, which may be caused by weather and abrasion from rough handling.


A power screwdriver is disclosed having a drive which is coupled via a clutch, disengaging as a function of torque, to a tool drive shaft for driving a tool. The screwdriver comprises an electronic control unit for controlling the drive, and a sensor which is coupled to the electronic control unit in order to switch off the drive when the clutch responds. The electronic control unit is designed for activating the drive with a certain output, preferably with a reduced output, for a limited time after switch-off.

The invention relates to a power screwdriver having a drive which is coupled via a clutch, releasing as a function of torque, to a tool drive shaft for driving a tool, having an electronic control unit for controlling the drive, and having a sensor which is coupled to the electronic control unit in order to switch off the drive when the clutch releases.
Such screwdrivers have been known for quite some time and are used in particular in order to tighten screwed connections with a precise torque. A typical application is found in assembly in the automobile industry when numerous screwed connections are to be tightened as precisely as possible.
Even though the known screwdrivers are sufficient for most applications, demands are nonetheless often made by the users for even more precise adherence to the tightening torque of a screwed connection. Furthermore, it is to be taken into account in this case that, depending on the respective starting parameters, tightening torques may occur which possibly deviate from a predetermined desired value to a more or less great extent even at the same settings.


A bathtub cushion for configured to be disposed within a bathtub at least partially filled with a liquid for providing comfort and support to a user superposed thereon. The bathtub cushion includes a plurality of integrated sections with at least one of the sections being non-buoyant to substantially inhibit the section from floating. The sections further include three layers with one layer being comprised of a non-buoyant gel. The bathtub cushion further includes a plurality of suction cups for releasably securing the bathtub cushion within a bathtub. Additionally provided is a lumbar support pad for supporting the lumbar region of a user superposed on the bathtub cushion.

Whether it is for therapeutic or hygienic reasons, millions of individuals engage in utilizing a bathtub on a daily basis. Most bathtubs are shaped to receive a user therein either in a sitting position or in a partially extended prone position. Regardless of the design, one problem that exists with all bathtubs is that they are manufactured from a durable rigid material such as fiberglass or cast iron. While these materials function to provide increased durability for the bathtub, it also provides a rigid surface that is uncomfortable for the user to engage with for any period of time. Additionally, most common bathtubs are not ergonomically designed to properly support various portions of the individual's body that is disposed therein. Individuals that attempt to assume a prone-like position in the bathtub usually have portions of their body that are forced away from the bathtub walls which creates additional discomfort.
Many products have been manufactured to support the head and neck area only of an individual disposed within a bathtub. Unfortunately, these products fail to address in providing comfort for the lower portions of the user's body. In addition, these current devices can increase the angle of the lower portion of the user's body with respect to the bathtub walls resulting in increased discomfort for other portions of the user's body such as the lower back or buttocks. Furthermore, these devices are commonly filled with air or foam making them buoyant and therefore difficult for a user to utilize to provide comfort for the portions of their body that are submerged under the water in the bathtub. The buoyancy of the existing devices creates difficulty in maintaining the positional stability of the device when a user is attempting to provide comfort for any part of the body that is submerged under the water contained within the bathtub.
Accordingly, there is a need for a cushioning device that can provide comfort for a plurality of portions of a user's body engaged therewith that has at least one portion that is non-buoyant in order to provide a stable method of providing comfort for the portions of the user's body that are submerged under the water in the bathtub.


A household apparatus that combines the function of a bookmark and a highlighter/marker is provided. The apparatus has enclosed an inkwell that includes a volume of ink. The apparatus has thin shape that allows it to serve as a bookmark, while at the same time, has a marker portion that is covered by a cover when it is not in use.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a bookmark and, more particularly, the invention relates to a bookmark combined with a highlighter/marker.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,693, issued to Burkett, discloses a bookmark that is combined with a highlighter pen to provide convenience while reading.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,558, issued to Diep, discloses a bookmark that is combined with a highlighter pen to provide convenience while reading.
U.S. Pat. No. D452,270, issued to Mershon, discloses an ornamental design for a combination pen and bookmark device.


In a protective coating formulation requiring the use of polyamine molecules, oleic acid is used as a very effective additive to remove any excess polyamines. The carboxyl groups of the oleic acid molecules react with the amine groups of the polyamines to form a harmless amide molecule. The oleic acid thus removes excess pollutants from the final coating. In addition, the oleic acid reduces the viscosity of the coating before curing, making it easier to apply to surfaces, and decreases the curing time necessary. However, the addition of oleic acid does not affect the beneficial characteristics of the coating in any way.

There is a pervasive and continuing need for protecting metals from corrosive chemical action, such as in metal pipes, stacks, chimneys, bridges, chemical plant machinery, ship hulls, and containers for aggressive chemicals, to name just a few. In addition to having a high resistance to chemical action, an ideal coating has other properties, specifically: the raw materials required to produce the coating are commercially available, inexpensive, and non-hazardous, the coating has a low viscosity before curing, the hardening process of the coating is quick and does not release pollutants, and the final coating does not contain unnecessary substances.
The most widespread anticorrosive coatings possessing many of the above properties are polyurethanes and epoxide resins (see for example, Coating Systems: A guidance Manual For Field Surveyors, American Bureau of Shipping and Affiliated Companies, 1995). These coatings have good chemical resistance to many substances, have adhesion to metals that is satisfactory for many purposes, and have good mechanical properties. Neither polyurethanes nor epoxide resins, however, satisfy all the criteria for an ideal coating for metal.
As is known from rubber chemistry (Encyclopedia of Polymer Science & Technology, John Wiley & Sons, N.Y., vol 12, p.161, 1970), solid ebonite, commonly known as hard rubber, is a polymer material with sulfur content used for vulcanization. Ebonite, like elastomeric or flexible rubber, is made from a combination of sulfur with polydienes (unsaturated rubbers containing double bonds). Solid ebonite is a hard, non-flexible, plastic-like material possessed of unique chemical resistance to aggressive substances such as acids, alkalis, salt solutions, oil, and gasoline. In addition, solid ebonite has good mechanical properties. In spite of these advantages, however, solid rubbers have a high viscosity and can not be easily applied to metal surfaces, they release toxic fumes during vulcanization, and they require a long time to harden.
A liquid ebonite formulation for coating metals was developed by Ju. N. Pushkarev, V. I. Anosoff, and A. L. Labutin, and described in their article "A vulcanization and the properties of ebonite coatings made on the base of liquid CiS-1.4-polybutadiene", Caoutchouc and Rezina, N3, 1979 (Russian). The formulation is prepared by mixing the components as shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Compound Mass Parts ______________________________________ Liquid polydiene rubber with hydroxyls 100 or without functional groups Sulfur 40 diphenylguanidine (accelerator) 3 Zinc Oxide (activator) 5 Cab-O-Sil (thixotropy agent) 5 white spirit (thinner; used sometimes) 5-10 ______________________________________
The curing processes of liquid ebonite has presented problems in the past. During the process volatile and toxic products are released, including hydrogen sulfide. Moreover, the release of gases during curing produces microcavities which reduce the strength and protective properties of the coating.

Oleic acid as an additive for a protective coating


A flight management system is modified so that it can deal with an unpredicted current event happening to an airplane based on non-standard maneuvers that have been carried out previously by other airplanes in similar circumstances. This allows the flight management system to adaptively or dynamically respond to a variety of flight path changes rather than rely solely on a set of fixed responses to predictable events during a flight. Specifically, the flight management system is configured to provide procedural recommendations to a flight crew in real time based on collaboratively filtered historical data such that the flight crew can make smarter choices while operating airplanes.

The technology disclosed herein generally relates to flight management systems for aircraft and, more particularly, relates to techniques for generating recommendations in a flight management system.
In modern commercial aircraft, a flight crew makes flight plan entries and modifications through a flight management system (FMS) comprising one or more flight management computers (FMCs) and, typically, left and right control display units (CDUs). The FMCs and CDUs are linked by redundant data buses. These CDUs are positioned to be accessed by the pilots for purposes of flight plan data entries into the CDUs and then to the FMCs for implementation of a desired flight plan.
A flight management system installed in the flight deck of a modern aircraft performs various flight critical functions such as navigation, guidance, flight planning, datalink and performance. For the performance function, the flight management system has various internal algorithms that utilize aerodynamic and propulsion performance data stored in an aero/engine database to compute predicted flight profile and the associated trip prediction parameters such as estimated time of arrival and predicted fuel consumption quantity. However, there are certain flight phases whose trip predictions are not accurately represented by the flight management system due to different real-life scenarios.
Many airlines are using machine learning and big data analytics to better understand true aerodynamic and propulsion characteristics of airplanes and to gain additional performance efficiency, thereby decreasing operating costs. While these technologies have primarily been focused on analyzing airplane behaviors, there is also a need to better understand different operational procedures taken by flight crews due to real-time third-party influences such as air traffic control. Such outside influences can interrupt predetermined flight profiles and cannot be modeled with current FMCs. This may result in use of a procedure that is inefficient operationally.
It would be advantageous to provide a flight management system that is configured to provide guidance when a pilot confronts different real-life scenarios which are not accounted for by static pre-defined logic models and pre-computed data.

Avionics flight management recommender system


Techniques for optimizing decision making apparatus by instrumenting the apparatus and running it on test data which has the characteristics of the data upon which the decision making apparatus is to be used. The information provided by the instruments is then used to reorder the application of the criteria used by the decision making apparatus to the data. The techniques are applied in rule-based system which employs a decision network to evaluate the rules. The decision network is instrumented and the rule-based system is run on the test data. The results returned by the instrumentation are used to determine how to rearrange condition elements in the rules so that the flow of data through the decision network is minimized. The condition elements are then rearranged in that fashion and the modified rule-based system is employed on real data.

The invention relates to data processing generally and more specifically to data processing involving decisions based on the values of data.
1. Field of the Invention
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many data processing operations involve making decisions about data items based on a list of criteria concerning the data items. For example, a system which sorted blocks according to color and weight might want to sort out blocks which were black and had a weight between 1 and 3 pounds. There are thus three criteria by which a block will be selected:
Is its color black? PA1 Does it weigh less than 1 pound? PA1 Does it weigh more than 3 pounds?
How long it takes to sort a given block will depend on how the criteria are ordered. For example, if a block is white, only the first criterion need be applied; if it is black, but weighs less than 1 pound, the first two must be applied; if it is black and weighs more than 1 pound, all three must be applied.
It is also clear from the foregoing example that the most efficient ordering of the criteria will depend on the characteristics of the blocks being sorted. For example, if almost all of them are black and weigh less than 1 pound, the criteria should be ordered with "Does it weigh less than 1 pound" first. If, on the other hand, very few of the blocks are black but almost all of them weigh between 1 and three pounds, the criteria should be ordered with "Is its color black?" first.
In many cases, data processing systems apply long lists of criteria to data. When this is so, the performance of the data processing system depends crucially on the efficient ordering of the criteria. In the prior art, such orderings have been produced by skilled programmers with detailed knowledge both of the system which is applying the criteria and of the data to which the criteria have been applied. There are two difficulties with this procedure: it takes time and effort on the part of the skilled people, and the analysis must be redone each time the data the system is dealing with changes. What is lacking, and what is supplied by the present invention, is an automatic technique for ordering the criteria applied to data according to the nature of the data being processed.

Methods and apparatus for optimizing decision making


A screed post assembly which may be easily and quickly interfaced to a Nelson stud extending upwardly from a horizontal support beam used in the construction of a building framework. The screed post serves as a support for a screed support system which is used to conduct a leveling operation for a concrete pour during the formation of a composite deck. The screed post assembly is also adapted to be extendable over a rebar member and used in the assembly of a protection device which covers the top, exposed ends of a plurality of linearly aligned, upwardly extending rebar members.

As is well known in the construction industry, many multi-story buildings are fabricated having composite decks. A composite deck is generally formed by the integrated combination of concrete and structural steel. An integral part of modern composite decks is a structural component known as a Nelson stud. Typically, Nelson studs comprise elongate members which are welded to horizontally disposed structural steel beams in a manner wherein the Nelson studs are generally in linear alignment upon and extend vertically upward from the top, horizontal surface of the structural beams to which they are attached. The Nelson studs are usually welded to the structural beams after a layer of corrugated sheet metal decking has been placed across the top surfaces of the beams. In this respect, the lower end of each Nelson stud is abutted against the upper surface of the metal decking in a position approximately above the longitudinal axis of the beam. Since the metal decking has a relatively thin cross-section, the welding procedure is operable to form an integral connection between the Nelson stud, metal decking and top surface of the beam. Concrete is then poured upon the upper surface of the corrugated sheet metal decking in a manner such that the concrete completely surrounds the exposed portions of each of the Nelson studs. The interconnection of the structural steel beams, the corrugated sheet metal decking, the Nelson studs and the concrete pour serve to form the composite deck.
In composite deck construction, a certain concrete thickness is specified for the concrete poured upon the metal decking. As can be appreciated, the concrete thickness throughout the entire surface area of the composite deck must be uniform, thereby necessitating that the pour be leveled in a manner achieving such uniform thickness. The leveling device used to level concrete pours is referred to as a screed. In composite deck construction, the screed extends between and is attached to a pair of screed rails. The screed rails are connected to adjacent, parallel support beams in a manner wherein each screed rail is generally parallel to the support beam to which it is attached. Each screed rail is connected to its respective support beam by at least two screed post assemblies, the screed rail extending between the screed post assemblies. The screed is then drawn along the length of the screed rails to level the surface of the pour.
Screed post assemblies as currently known, generally comprise a screed pad having a screed post extending upwardly therefrom. Such screed post assemblies, however, are not well suited for use in conjunction with the construction of composite decks. In this respect, prior art screed post assemblies require that the screed pad be attached to the corrugated sheet metal decking by means of screws and/or adhesives. Once the screed pad is anchored to the metal decking, the screed post is threadably connected to the screed pad and the screed rail is pinch bolted to the screed post. The screed post height must then be established typically by optical leveling procedures and subsequently the screed post is then interfaced to the screed rail and subsequently drawn over the surface of the concrete pour.
As can be appreciated, the use of the aforementioned screed support system, though serving to level the concrete pour, requires a great deal of labor and time to implement. Additionally, use of the aforementioned screed support system also requires that special procedures be implemented to insure that the screed is disposed in a level orientation in relation to the support beams. Such procedures include the use of an optical measuring device which is both costly, time consuming and difficult. Thus, there exists a need in the art for an improved screed support system which may be easily installed and used during the construction of composite decks.
As is also well known in the construction industry, many buildings are fabricated having concrete or masonry walls. Due to the utilization of these materials it is generally necessary to construct such walls with internal support members to provide structural rigidity thereto. Such structural support is typically achieved by building the concrete or masonry walls over elongate rebar members which typically are linearly aligned within and extend vertically upwardly from a support structure such as the wall foundation. The rebar members are usually fabricated from cylindrical steel stock having a diameter of one inch or less. In normal construction practice, the rebar members are inserted into the foundation pour in the aforementioned orientation. As will be recognized, until the building walls are fabricated around the rebar members, substantial portions of the members including the top ends thereof remain exposed. As can be appreciated, the exposed top ends of the rebar members create a significant hazard to construction workers working on the building in areas above the rebar members. In this respect, it is not uncommon for accidents to occur wherein a construction worker falls upon one or more of the exposed rebar members and is impaled thereon.
In recognition of this hazard, various prior art devices have been developed to serve as impalement guards for rebar members during building construction. Though these devices are generally suitable for covering the exposed top ends of the rebar members, the devices possess certain inherent deficiencies which detract from their overall utility. Foremost of these deficiencies is the amount of time needed to interface the devices to the exposed top ends of the rebar members. The present invention, also overcomes the deficiencies associated with currently known rebar fall protectors.


A calf bottle is characterized by an improved neck design which prevents deposits and microbes from collecting therein. The bottle is in the form of a hollow container having top, side and bottom walls which define a chamber for receiving formula for feeding calves. The top wall includes a neck portion having a central opening and an annular lip surrounding the opening for receiving a removable nipple. The inner wall of the neck portion has a cylindrical configuration of constant diameter.

In the course of rearing calves, they are often fed a formula via a bottle. The bottle includes a removable nipple configured to resemble a cow teat to deliver a controlled amount of formula to the calf as the calf sucks on the bottle. The bottle is re-usable and washed before being re-filled with formula or another nutritional supplement.


The present invention relates to a process for the biocatalyst-mediated enantioselective conversion of enantiomeric mixtures of hydrophobic esters using a biphasic solvent system. More particularly, the present invention relates to the enzyme-mediated enantioselective synthesis of anti-viral compounds, such as 2-hydroxymethyl-5-(5-fluorocytosin-1-yl)-1,3-oxathiolane (FTC) and its analogues, in a non-homogenous reaction system.

Serious obstacles to commercially viable processes for the enzymatic resolution of enantiomeric mixtures of hydrophobic esters exist. For example, when using an enzymatic conversion process in the presence of an organic solvent, the rate of enzyme inactivation is very high relative to the same process performed in an aqueous solvent. A confounding problem is that solvents which are less destructive to the catalyst are often less able to solubilize the more hydrophobic substrates. Ideally, many processes would be more efficient if they were performed in more hydrophobic solvents, such as non-miscible organic solvents. One goal of the present invention is to provide a non-homogenous system, which allows higher concentrations of hydrophobic substrates to be converted to product, while simultaneously consuming less catalyst.
The above-cited obstacles must be overcome in order to reduce the cost of producing enantiomeric drugs anti-viral drugs. Such drugs are vital towards winning the struggle to conquering emerging viral diseases. For example, even today, the rate of HIV infection continues at a staggering pace, with 16,000 new infections per day worldwide [Balter, M. Science 280, 1863-1864 (1998)]. There are areas of sub-Saharan Africa where at least 25% of the population are infected, for example in Botswana and Zimbabwe. The cost of anti-viral drugs, however, is currently far beyond the reach of most such victims of HIV infection.
Nucleoside analogues, such as 3′-thiaribofuranonsyl-βL-cytosine ("3-TC"), 3′-azido-3′-deoxythymidine (AZT) [Blair E., Darby, G., Gough, E., Littler, D., Rowlands, D., Tisdale, M. Antiviral Therapy, BIOS Scientific Publishers Limited, 1998], (−)-2′,3′-dideoxy-5-fluoro-3′-thiacytidine ("FTC") and 2′,3′-dideoxy-3′-thiacytidine are important antiviral agents [Liotta, D. C. 216th ACS National Meeting, Medicinal Chemistry Abstract, Boston, Mass., Aug. 2327, 1998; Hoong, L. K., Strange, L. E., Liotta, D. C., Koszalka, G. W., Burns, C. L., and Schinazi, R. F., J. Org. Chem. 1992, 57, 5563-5565]. 3-TC has been marketed as both an anti-HIV and an anti-HBV drug and FTC is under clinical trial for evaluation as an anti-viral drug [Liotta, D. C., Schinazi, R. F., and Choi, W.-B., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,210,085, 5,700,937 and 5,814,639]. Since it is the (−) enantiomer of both (−)-FTC and (−)-2′,3′-dideoxy-3′-thiacytidine, which exhibits the most potent anti-viral activity and the least toxicity, as compared to the corresponding (+)-isomers, there is a pressing need for efficient cost-effective methods of preparation of both the (−)-FTC and (−)-2′,3′-dideoxy-3′-thiacytidine isomers to expand treatment options of patients throughout the world [Liotta, D. C. 216th ACS National Meeting, Medicinal Chemistry Abstract, Boston, Mass., Aug. 23-27, 1998, Hoong, L. K., Strange, L. E., Liotta, D. C., Koszalka, G. W., Burns, C. L., and Schinazi, R. F., J. Org. Chem. 1992, 57, 5563-5565].
Many hydrolase enzymes have been used for the resolution of FTC esters [Hoong, L. K., Strange, L. E., Liotta, D. C., Koszalka, G. W., Burns, C. L., and Schinazi, R. F., J. Org. Chem. 1992, 57, 5563-5565]. Impediments remain, however, to developing practical enzyme mediated chemical processes for the production of FTC and similar compounds. First, the solubility of many FTC esters in aqueous media is too low to achieve economically viable production of resolved product. One possible solution has been to add a water miscible co-organic solvent to increase the concentration of the ester in solution. An example is the use of solutions of acetonitrile and water [Hoong, L. K., Strange, L. E., Liotta, D. C., Koszalka, G. W., Burns, C. L., and Schinazi, R. F., J. Org. Chem. 1992, 57, 5563-5565; Liotta et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,727]. Although the use of a water miscible organic solvent and water solution increases the concentration of substrate in solution, it has the unfortunate effect of drastically lowering the enzyme catalyzed conversion and enzyme stability. This problem is especially pronounced, where the substrate is not completely dissolved, but is also present as an undissolved solid suspension (high concentration of substrate loading). Similar results were obtained in our laboratory. When water miscible organic solvents, such as isopropanol, dimethylformamide (DMF), 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), methanol, acetonitrile, ethanol, 1-propanol were used as co-solvent for the resolution, the maximal substrate concentration loading was 3%. The presence of undissolved substrate decreased the enantioselectivity when the substrate concentration was beyond 3%. Furthermore, use of a water miscible organic solvent and water solution, at concentrations of water miscible organic co-solvents of greater than 20%, had a pronounced negative impact on enzyme activity, especially for porcine liver esterase (PLE).
The present invention specifically addresses several obstacles in the art that had the effect of making enzymatic resolution of enantiomeric mixtures uneconomical. First, it was thought that enzymatic conversion should be performed under homogenous conditions, because biphasic systems result in poor reproducibility [See Liotta et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,827,727, 5,892,025, 5,914,331]. One potential advantage for the use of non-homogenous systems would be in enhanced solubilization of the substrate. Presumably, in a non-homogenous system, a higher concentration of many hydrophobic substrates could be accommodated. Prior to the present invention, it was believed that alcohol solvents should be avoided, because these solvents denature enzymes [Liotta et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,827,727, 5,892,025, 5,914,331]. The present invention is an advance over the art because it specifically provides for the use of alcohol solvents which form non-homogenous systems with water. In addition, the use of non-homogenous solvent systems provides increased solubilization of more hydrophobic substrates than could be accommodated previously in the art. Furthermore, the present invention discloses a process which requires less enzyme per unit of product.
Additional improvements achieved via the present invention permit the use of several alcohol solvents in an enzymatic process. In addition, the present invention provides an alternative process mode, wherein enzyme and organic solvent requirements are further reduced by the addition of surfactants. Finally, the present invention is directed to providing a more efficient enzymatic process which maintains the enantioselectivity at a high level.

Non-homogeneous systems for the resolution of enantiomeric mixtures


Rotational motions between a displacement-measuring probe and an optical test surface define a spherical or near spherical datum surface against which measurements of the probe are taken. The probe has a measurement axis that is maintained substantially normal to the optical test surface during the course of measurement.

1. Field of the Invention
Within the field of metrology, the invention contemplates the measurement of spherical and near-spherical optical surfaces with surface scanning based instruments.
2. Description of Related Art
The manufacture of precision optical surfaces requires high accuracy measurements of surface form. Generally, both reflective and refractive precision optical surfaces have a spherical form. However, many modern optical systems such as those used for micro-lithography applications include aspheric optical surfaces that depart somewhat from the spherical form to provide higher order optical manipulations.
A number of systems have been developed for measuring such near-spherical optical surfaces to required precision. These include both optical and non-optical systems. The optical systems typically use interferometric techniques, which include comparing a reference wavefront having the nominal shape of an optical test surface with a similarly shaped interrogating wavefront that is reflected from the optical test surface. The interrogating wavefront acquires characteristics of the optical test surface, which are revealed within interference patterns formed with the reference wavefront. Difficulties arise with accurately producing the two wavefronts and with arranging the interrogating wavefront to approach the optical test surface at normal incidence. The measurement of aspheric test surfaces using spherical reference and interrogating wavefronts is limited by issues of fringe density, resulting from a mismatch between the local shapes of the incident interrogating wavefront and the optical test surface. Such issues as aliasing and loss of contrast at a detector can result. Additional optical elements can be used to better match the reference and test wavefronts to the aspheric test surface. However, achieving the required accuracy for these null elements can be problematic. The accuracy is limited because the performance of the null elements is inferred rather than actually measured.
Two-wavelength interferometry has also been used to resolve ambiguities arising from high fringe densities. However, these techniques generally sacrifice resolution for range. Wavefront stitching can be used to measure larger areas by assembling limited zones of measurement over an optical test surface, for example, extended shapes such as hyper-hemispheres typically require the test surfaces to be illuminated from different positions to obtain partially overlapping interferograms of the surface, which must then be stitched together to form a map of the entire surface. These procedures are time consuming, computationally intensive, and subject to positioning errors.
Point-by-point profilometry is also used for measuring optical test surfaces by tracking probe displacements across the surfaces. Two problems compromise this approach. First, the fidelity of datum surfaces traced by the mechanical motions is subject to error. Second, probe performance degrades as the probe deviates from a normal orientation to the test surface.

Measurement of form of spherical and near-spherical optical surfaces


By altering amino acid sequence, the present inventors succeeded in providing constant regions that can confer antibodies with favorable properties, particularly as pharmaceuticals. The variants of the constant regions provided by the present invention will remarkably reduce heterogeneity when applied to antibody production. That is, homogeneity of antibodies can be maintained at a high level by introducing the alterations provided by the present invention into the antibody heavy chain constant regions. More specifically, decrease in homogeneity caused by —SS— bond linkage differences in the heavy chains of antibody molecules can be prevented. Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, pharmacokinetics of antibodies can be improved and decrease in homogeneity caused by deletion of the C terminus in the antibody constant region can be ameliorated.

Antibodies are drawing attention as pharmaceuticals as they are highly stable in plasma (blood) and have few side effects. Of these, a number of IgG-type antibody pharmaceuticals are available on the market and many antibody pharmaceuticals are currently under development (Non-patent Documents 1 and 2).
Almost all antibody pharmaceuticals currently available on the market are of the IgG1 subclass. IgG1 type antibodies are expected be useful as anti-cancer antibody pharmaceuticals since they can bind to Fcγ receptor and exert ADCC activity. However, when it comes to antibody pharmaceuticals intended for neutralizing biological activity of an antigen, the binding of the Fc domain to Fcγ receptor, which is important for effector functions such as ADCC, can cause unnecessary side effects, and thus it is preferable to eliminate such binding activity (Non-patent Document 3). Furthermore, since Fcγ receptor is expressed on antigen-presenting cells, molecules that bind to Fcγ receptor tend to be presented as antigens. It has been reported that immunogenicity is and can be enhanced by linking a protein or peptide to the Fc domain of IgG1 (Non-patent Document 4 and Patent Document 1). Interaction between the antibody Fc domain and Fcγ receptor is thought to be a cause of the serious side effects encountered in phase-I clinical trials of TGN1412 (Non-patent Document 5). Thus, binding to Fcγ receptor is considered unfavorable in antibody pharmaceuticals intended for neutralizing the biological activity of an antigen from the perspective of side effects and immunogenicity.
A method for impairing the binding to Fcγ receptor is to alter the subtype of the IgG antibody from IgG1 to IgG2 or IgG4; however, this method cannot completely inhibit the binding (Non-patent Document 6). One of the methods reported for completely inhibiting the binding to Fcγ receptor is to artificially alter the Fc domain. For example, the effector functions of anti-CD3 antibodies and anti-CD4 antibodies cause side effects. Thus, amino acids that are not present in the wild type sequence were introduced into the Fcγ-receptor-binding domain of Fc (Non-patent Documents 3 and 7), and clinical trials are currently being conducted to assess anti-CD3 antibodies and anti-CD4 antibodies that have a mutated Fc domain and do not bind to Fcγ receptor (Non-patent Documents 5 and 8). Alternatively, Fcγ receptor-nonbinding antibodies can be prepared by altering the Fcγ R-binding sites of IgG1 (positions 233, 234, 235, 236, 327, 330, and 331 in the EU numbering; hereafter abbreviated as position X (EU numbering)) to an IgG2 or IgG4 sequence (Non-patent Document 9 and Patent Document 2). However, these molecules contain new non-native peptide sequences of nine to twelve amino acids, which may have a potential to become a T-cell epitope peptide and thus pose an immunogenicity risk. There is no previous report on Fcγ receptor-nonbinding antibodies that have overcome these problems.
Meanwhile, physicochemical properties of antibody proteins, in particular, homogeneity and stability, are very crucial in the development of antibody pharmaceuticals. For the IgG2 subtype, heterogeneity caused by disulfide bonds in the hinge region has been reported (Non-patent Documents 10, 16, 17, and 18 and Patent Document 3). It is not easy to manufacture them as a pharmaceutical in a large scale while maintaining differences of desired product/related substance-related heterogeneity between productions. Thus, single substances are desirable as much as possible for antibody molecules developed as pharmaceuticals. In the present invention, differences in heterogeneity among productions can be understood, for example, as differences in heterogeneity among production lots. Heterogeneity in the production lots can be evaluated quantitatively by determining the diversity of molecular weight and structure of the produced antibody molecules.
IgG2 and IgG4 are unstable under acidic conditions. IgG type antibodies are in general exposed to acidic conditions in the purification process using Protein A and the virus inactivation process. Thus, attention is needed regarding the stability of IgG2 and IgG4 during these processes, and it is preferable that antibody molecules developed as pharmaceuticals are also stable under acidic conditions. Natural IgG2 and IgG4, and Fcγ receptor-nonbinding antibodies derived from IgG2 or IgG4 (Non-patent Documents 6 and 7 and Patent Document 2) have such problems. It is desirable to solve these problems when developing antibodies into pharmaceuticals.
IgG1-type antibodies are relatively stable under acidic conditions, and the degree of heterogeneity caused by disulfide bonds in the hinge region is also lower in this type of antibodies. However, IgG1-type antibodies are reported to undergo non-enzymatic peptide bond cleavage in the hinge region in solutions when they are stored as formulations, and as a result, Fab fragments are generated as impurities (Non-patent Document 11). It is desirable to overcome the generation of impurities when developing antibodies into pharmaceuticals.
Furthermore, for heterogeneity of the C-terminal sequence of an antibody, deletion of C-terminal amino acid lysine residue, and amidation of the C-terminal amino group due to deletion of both of the two C-terminal amino acids, glycine and lysine, have been reported (Non-patent Document 12). It is preferable to eliminate such heterogeneity when developing antibodies into pharmaceuticals.
The constant region of an antibody pharmaceutical aimed at neutralizing an antigen preferably has a sequence that overcomes all the problems described above. However, a constant region that meets all the requirements has not been reported.
A preferred form of antibody pharmaceutical administration in chronic autoimmune diseases and such is thought to be subcutaneous formulation. Low-cost, convenient antibody pharmaceuticals that can be administered subcutaneously at longer intervals can be provided by increasing the half-life of an antibody in the plasma to prolong its therapeutic effect and thereby reduce the amount of protein administered, and by conferring the antibody with high stability so that high concentration formulations can be prepared.
In general, subcutaneous formulations need to be high-concentration formulations. From the perspective of stability and such, the concentration limit of IgG-type antibody formulations is generally thought to be about 100 mg/ml (Non-patent Document 13). Thus, it was a challenge to secure stability at high concentrations. However, there has been no report published on the improvement of the stability of IgG at high concentrations by introducing amino acid substitutions into its constant region. A method for prolonging the antibody half-life in plasma has been reported and it substitutes amino acids in the constant region (Non-patent Documents 14 and 15); however, introduction of non-native sequences into the constant region is unpreferable from the perspective of immunogenicity risk.
As described above, when the purpose of an antibody pharmaceutical is to neutralize an antigen, it is preferable that all of the problems described above have been overcome with regard to its constant-region sequence. However, a constant region that meets all the requirements has not been reported. Thus, there is a demand for antibody constant regions that have overcome the problems described above.
Documents of related prior arts for the present invention are described below.


A dynamic bone fixation element for securing an elongated fixation element such as, a longitudinal rod or bone plate, to a patient's bone, preferably a vertebra. The dynamic bone fixation element preferably includes a bone fixation element and a flexible element for connecting the bone fixation element to the elongated fixation element. The flexible element preferably permits the elongated fixation element to move with respect to the bone fixation element and hence with respect to the bone affixed thereto. The flexible element preferably permits extension and/or compression of the elongated fixation element with respect to the bone fixation element and polyaxially movement of the elongated fixation element with respect to the bone fixation element. The flexible element is preferably in the form of a spring or a spring-like flexible element.

Millions of people suffer from back pain, frequently as a result of spinal compression or stenosis. Treatment of this condition is frequently accomplished by procedures such as spinal fusion which may involve the use of one or more intervertebral spacers and a rigid fixation system such as a bone plate or longitudinal rod in order to fuse, fix and/or stabilize the spine at one or more levels. In some patients, bone quality is often compromised and the resulting stresses from the use of a rigid fixation system may shear the bone. The use of a dynamic stabilization system may reduce the amount of associated stress and thus better protect the patient's bone.
One aspect of dynamic stabilization systems is to provide the greatest preservation of normal spinal motion and function while eliminating as much pain as possible.