A device for amplifying a force includes a prime mover configured to receive a first force, and a secondary mover configured to generate a second force that is greater than the first force in response to the prime mover receiving the first force. The prime mover includes an output that, in response to the first force, rotates about a first axis through a power stroke defined by an angular displacement that is less than ninety degrees. The prime mover's output includes a first end that revolves about the first axis during the power stroke. The secondary mover includes an input, an output, and a body. The input includes a second end that is coupled with the first end of the prime mover's output, and that, as the first end of the prime mover's output revolves about the first axis through the power stroke, the second end of the secondary mover's input also revolves about the first axis and moves relative to the secondary mover's body. The secondary's mover's output is configured to apply the second force to an object. The secondary mover's body is pivotally anchored at a location such that as the first end of the prime mover's output revolves about the first axis through the power stroke, the body of the secondary mover pivots about a second axis that passes through the location. The position of the device's secondary mover relative to the first end of the prime mover's output is such that, as the first end approaches the end of the power stroke, the first end of the prime mover's output accelerates, without an additional force applied to the prime mover's output.

Devices that receive a force input and, in response, generate a force output that is greater than the force input are ubiquitous. For example, a block and pulley, and/or a lever and fulcrum, are often used by a person to lift things that weigh much more than a person could lift with just his arms and legs. With such devices, a human body by itself can move things that it otherwise would not be able to by providing the force input to the device and having the device apply a force output to the thing. Sometimes forces that a human body might be able to generate by itself require the force to be generated for a long period of time or repeatedly generated over and over. If a human body generated such forces by itself, the body would tire quickly and not be able to sustain the force through the required duration or sustain the force through a series of repetitions.
These force-amplifying devices, however, typically do not include a component that accelerates, without any additional force input, to generate an output force. With acceleration, one can use momentum to help generate the output force, and further increase the difference between the output force and the input force.
Thus, there is a need for a device that uses acceleration and momentum to generate an output force from an input force that is less than the output force.

Device for amplifying a force, and related systems and methods


Embodiments of methods for handling a service authorization request (SAR) from a mobile subscriber are disclosed. The SAR represents a request for access to a given prepaid mobile service. The method includes ascertaining, using suspect subscriber list, whether the SAR is associated a suspect subscriber in the suspect subscriber list. The method further includes authorizing, if the SAR is not associated with the suspect subscriber, the SAR without waiting until response-determinative processing is performed on the SAR.

Prepaid mobile services represent optional services that a mobile subscriber can access and pay for with a pre-established account. For example, a cellular telephone user or a wireless palm-top computer user may pre-establish an account with his service provider in order to pay for his subsequent access to voice and/or data services such as teleconferencing, music downloading, specialized web content accessing, etc.
In the prior art, a request for a prepaid mobile service (i.e., a mobile service that is charged based on usage against a pre-established account) must be approved in advance before the mobile subscriber is allowed to access the requested prepaid mobile service. For example, if a mobile subscriber requests to download a particular song that costs $2.00 into his cellular telephone, the request must be authorized in advance before the mobile subscriber is allowed to access the downloading site to download the requested song.
In the prior art, when a mobile subscriber sends a prepaid mobile service authorization request (SAR) to request access to a particular service, the SAR is fully processed before authorization is granted or denied. Full processing typically involves looking up the subscriber status (e.g., whether the subscriber has established a prepaid account), rating the service request (e.g., determining the cost associated with fulfilling the request), determining subscriber balance sufficiency (e.g., whether the balance in the subscriber's prepaid account is sufficient to pay for the requested service), and storing transaction data (e.g., to ensure that the subscriber's account is only charged once if the server happens to crash in the middle of service rendering).
It has been found, however, that the full processing of the SAR introduces a substantial delay between the time the SAR is issued by the subscriber and the time an authorization response (e.g., authorize or deny) is received. Although some of the aforementioned delay is due to the inherent latency through the data network and particularly through the voice network, a substantial portion of the delay is attributable to the requirement that the SAR be fully processed before an authorization response can be issued. In some cases, 4 seconds or more may pass before the mobile subscriber receives a response to the SAR, of which 1 to 2 seconds or more may be attributable to the full processing of the SAR.
Full processing of the SAR takes a non-trivial amount of time since each processing step may involve a different third-party application program and may also involve accessing a different specialized database. For example, looking up the subscriber status may involve accessing the subscriber repository management application, which may further involve accessing a subscriber database. As another example, rating the service request may involve accessing the service rating application, which may further involve accessing a service cost database. As yet another example, determining subscriber balance sufficiency may involve accessing the billing application, which may further involve accessing a billing database. Each of these processing steps may involve a latency in the range of 200 milliseconds to 1.5 seconds, for example.
For subscribers conditioned to expect an immediate response to a service request (such as the immediate response experienced when a service request is issued through a browser program on a desktop computer, for example), the lengthy delay between the time a SAR is sent and the time an authorization response is received may be deemed unacceptably long by some. Some of these subscribers may, as a response, choose not to bother with the prepaid mobile services in the future due to the perceived lengthy delay, thereby resulting in a loss of potential revenue for the providers of such prepaid services. Other subscribers may express their dissatisfaction by switching to other mobile service providers, particularly if they perceive, rightly or wrongly, that the delay is the fault of their current mobile service providers.
As a response to customer complaints, some mobile service providers have adopted a "hot billing" approach to processing SARs. When a "hot billing" mobile service provider receives any SAR, authorization is granted immediately, and the requesting subscriber may immediately begin using the requested service. Concurrently, the SAR is processed to obtain an authorization confirmation. If the authorization confirmation is a negative (e.g., if the requesting subscriber has an insufficient account balance to cover the requested service), the service that is already under way is terminated. On the other hand, if the authorization confirmation is positive, the subscriber is allowed to continue to use the service already authorized.
However, many types of service can be completed in the short time it takes to perform the full processing of the SAR. In other words, by the time a "negative" authorization confirmation is ascertained, the requested service may have been completed already. Because of this loophole in the hot billing approach, some dishonest subscribers have been able to fraudulently obtain certain services over and over without having to maintain an adequate account to pay for those services.
Furthermore, hot billing may also alienate some credit-worthy but honestly mistaken subscribers. For example, some otherwise honest and credit-worthy subscribers may, through a misunderstanding or because of an honest mistake, inadvertently request a service that costs more than the remaining balance in their prepaid account. Pursuant to hot billing, such a subscriber may experience an abrupt termination of a requested service after usage has begun. The abrupt termination may unduly annoy such a subscriber, causing that subscriber to be dissatisfied with and to possibly terminate his service with the mobile service provider. As a result, the mobile service provider may lose potential revenue and/or may lose an honest and credit-worthy subscriber, precisely the type of subscriber that most mobile service providers wish to acquire and retain.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A new and distinct Dracaena plant named ‘DRA201901’ which is characterized by an abundance of foliage born on an unbranched stem, glossy green foliage with broad yellow-green margins, foliage that is slightly to moderately spiraled and distally curled downward, coarsely undulate foliar margins, and the stability of these characteristics from generation to generation.

Parentage: 'DRA201901' is a spontaneous branch-plant mutation of a Dracaena fragrans '004027J' (not patented) which was discovered at a commercial greenhouse in Honselersdijk, the Netherlands in the summer of 2010. The mutation was initially noted for its abundant foliage with narrow yellow leaf margins. Said mutation was isolated for further evaluation to confirm the uniformity and stability of the unique characteristics first observed. Upon confirmation of the stability and uniformity of the characteristics, the new plant was selected for commercialization.
Asexual Reproduction: Asexual reproduction of 'DRA201901' is accomplished by way of rooting stem cuttings. Propagation was first performed in the summer of 2010 at the inventor's commercial greenhouse in Honselersdijk, the Netherlands. Through eight subsequent generations, the unique features of this cultivar have proven to be stable and true to type.


The invention is a car seat with a feature to hold an abdominal shield and/or shoulder straps out of the way while a child enters or exits the seat. A shield, integrally formed with the shoulder straps, has a male element located thereon. A female element, located on the seatback surface of the car seat, forms the other part of the holding feature.. To place a child into the seat, the shield and straps are pulled up and out of the body of the car seat. The shield is placed against the seatback surface of the car seat, such that the male element engages the female element. The shield and straps are thus held out of the way of an entering child. Once the child is suitably positioned in the car seat, the shield is pulled apart from the seatback surface of the car seat, disengaging the male element from the female element. The shield and straps may then be placed over the child's head and shoulders, and buckled in the normal manner.. To remove a child from the seat, The shield and straps are unbuckled and pulled from the child's head and shoulders in the normal manner. The shield is placed against the seatback surface of the car seat, such that the male element engages the female element. The shield and straps are thus held out of the way of an exiting child.

1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the area of child car seats, specifically a car seat with a feature to hold an abdominal shield and/or shoulder straps out of the way while a child enters or exits the seat.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Child car seats that employ an abdominal shield or pad, integrally formed with the shoulder straps of the car seat, are known in the art. Some of the earliest examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,912,328 to Tanaka; 4,025,111 to Tanaka and Kuszynski; and 4,342,483 to Takada.
A major problem with these prior art car seats is that they have no feature to hold the abdominal shield and shoulder straps out of the way while a child enters or exits the seat. The shield and straps significantly interfere with the process of putting a child into, or removing the child from, the car seat.
Leaving the shield and straps in the body of the car seat, then pulling them out from between a child and the seat after the child is in position, is difficult and unwieldy. The process usually also twists and wrinkles the child's clothing. Pulling the shield and straps up and over the back of the seat, to get them out of the way, also does not work well--the shield and straps are often pulled back down, and back into the way, by the automatic retracting action of the straps.
Shield interference is not an issue in prior art devices wherein the shield operates separately from the shoulder straps, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,429,916 to Hyde, Smith, Carmichael, and Meader; and 5,607,203 to Sedlack. In these devices, the shield is generally bar-shaped, and may be swiveled or rotated out of the way to facilitate a child's entry or exit from the car seat. However, shoulder strap interference with an entering or exiting child remains a problem with these devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,012 to Parker, Golenz, Knoedler, and Harvey discloses a device wherein the shoulder straps are connected to a bar-shaped shield, such that when the shield is rotated out of the way, the straps are raised with it. However, the straps are permanently affixed to the shield, not releasably fastened; thus, this device does not allow separate operation of the shield and straps.
Similarly, shoulder strap interference is also an issue in prior art devices that do not employ a shield, but instead rely on shoulder straps alone to secure a child, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,033,622 to Boudreau and 5,082,325 to Sedlack.
To summarize, a car seat with a feature to hold the abdominal shield and/or shoulder straps out of the way while a child enters or exits would be a great improvement over prior art car seats.

Car seat with holder for shield and straps


A packing case is provided preferably manufactured from a material on which weakening lines can be formed, such as cardboard or plastic. The packaging case includes a straight side weakening line in a center of each of two opposite folding walls of the case. The side weakening lines are vertically arranged along an entire extension of the opposite folding walls. A straight bottom weakening line is formed in a center of the bottom of the packing case, the straight bottom weakening line joining the side weakening lines together. Symmetrical sets of angled bottom weakening lines are provided, each set being arranged at each end region of the bottom of the packing case adjacent to each opposite folding wall. The weakening lines from each set are arranged parallel to one another with their vertex at the central bottom weakening line and the legs of each set ending at the base of a respective one of the opposite folding walls.

The packing cases known in the state of the art are generally cases to be assembled by the user, right before they are used. The main advantage is that the unassembled case requires much less space than when assembled, which means a great saving in space at the warehouses where they are stored.
Therefore, these packing cases usually are cases which are initially shaped as a semi-rigid laminar piece, which at the moment of use is repeatedly folded until forming the case.
Generally, the known cases to be assembled require many and sometimes complicated assembly operations, which means added difficulties in the working process, causing an important loss of time.
This inconvenience has been approached by using several designs and starting blank patterns, although none of them has solved the problem of the immediate assembly of the case.
On the other hand, in the state of the art partially assembled folded cases are also known that are usually used with pallets and the same pallets, as well as wood frames, are used to make the assembly of the cases easier, as well as to provide stiffness to the same. Nevertheless, these cases do not solve the problem of a simple and fast assembly in any kind of case.


A cylinder head for an internal combustion engine is provided which include a valve spring boss having a central opening for accommodating a valve and having a contact area for retaining said valve. The contact area has a first portion and a second portion. The first portion being ring-shaped and delimited by the opening, and the second portion being radially protruding from the first portion.

It is known that internal combustion engines are provided with a cylinder head, which sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. Cylinder head are often realized in aluminum or other light metal alloys. In most engines, the cylinder head also provides space for the passages that feed air and fuel to the cylinder, and that allow the exhaust to escape. The cylinder head is also a place to mount the valves, spark plugs, and fuel injectors.
In particular, to mount valves and related valve springs, ensuring the closing of the valves, cylinder heads are also provided with bosses. According to a known design, bosses are part of the cylinder head casting and have a circular shape. The boss includes a central opening to allow the assembly of the valve. The boss also comprises an annular seat, around the central opening, for the assembly of a valve spring and a valve sealing element. Said valve spring is a compression spring, whose elastic force guarantees the closing of the valve, when the latter is not pushed by the cam of the camshaft in its opening phase. The valve spring transmits its elastic force, through the valve sealing element, to the boss seat, which accommodates the valve sealing element.
An investigation about the present cylinder head design, and in particular about the valve spring boss could be useful since engine manufacturers are generally struggling to obtain weight reductions wherever possible.
Therefore a need exists for a new design, defining a cylinder head lighter without any disadvantages for the function.

Engine cylinder head provided with light valve spring bosses


A method of authenticating a user includes: logging into a first system that includes a token-based authentication system (TBAS); creating, at the TBAS, a cookie based on a token from the TBAS; requesting access, by the user, to a second system that includes at least one windows-hosted web application (WHWA); and decoding and validating the token, thereby granting the user access to the second system based only on the user logging into the first system.

Single sign-on (SSO) authentication is currently used to allow users to enter sign-on credentials a single time, and then to subsequently gain authentication and/or access to multiple windows-based applications or host sites without having to re-enter their log-in credentials (for example, user name and password). Using single-sign on can save time and can reduce or eliminate the need for users to keep track of multiple passwords.
One drawback of single-sign on is that if a user loses the ability to access single sign-on, the user may lose access to several applications and web-based software. In addition, single sign-on may work only for windows-based applications and may not be accessible or applicable to other platform types (for example, non-windows-based applications). Currently, users logged into SAP applications, for example, cannot be verified from windows-hosted applications. For example, if a user logs into SAP payroll applications and the SAP system (or other non-windows based systems) tries to pull data from a windows hosted application, the program is unable to pull the SSO authentication credentials. Windows-hosted applications cannot tell the identity of the non-windows based user as the non-windows-based user has only logged into SAP, and not a windows-based application. Thus, the user has to log into the windows-hosted application manually, after having logged into the SAP application (or other non-windows based application) manually. The order in which the user logs in (that is, SAP application first or window-based application first) does not solve this problem as the SSO authentication credentials are not portable across platforms.

Single sign-on for token-based and web-based applications


Systems and methods for casing drilling riserless sections of a subsea bore may include casing drilling a section of a bore for a casing of the subsea bore to a predetermined depth. The method also may include, while casing drilling the section of the bore, obtaining information indicative of pore pressure and fracture pressure of a geological formation through which the section is casing drilled, and determining a pressure range based at least in part on the pore pressure, the fracture pressure, and a modification to mechanical properties of the geological formation due to the casing drilling of the section. The method further may include selecting, based at least in part on the pressure range and the predetermined depth, a pressure of the bore for casing drilling the section.

Continuing demand for hydrocarbons including oil and natural gas has led to production of offshore hydrocarbons, sometimes at locations having increased water depths. To produce hydrocarbons at increased water depths, platforms or marine vessels supporting oil rigs and well drilling equipment may be used. Advances in platform and marine vessel technology have increased the loads the platforms or marine vessels may safely use, and drilling strings, which may be generally formed of jointed steel pipe, are capable of drilling wells to increased water and formation depths.
In deepwater drilling, riserless drilling may be performed. In riserless drilling, no return conduit or riser is used between the wellbore and the drilling structure or marine vessel, for example, at the surface of the body of water in which the drilling is occurring. As a result, the drill cuttings, fluids and other by-products of the drilling process may be discharged to the seafloor and are typically swept away by currents.
In some current riserless drilling processes, a first casing, which may typically have a length ranging from about 250 feet to 350 feet below the mudline, may be lowered from the platform or marine vessel and "jetted" into place into the seafloor. According to current subsea drilling philosophy, the purpose of the first casing and corresponding first casing seat placement is to provide structural support for the weight of subsequent casing strings extending deeper into the geological formation and the wellhead, and/or to support the bending moment of a riser wellhead assembly and blow-out preventers, which may be eventually attached to the first casing. In addition, according to current practice, the casing seat for the first casing may often be set well above geological hazards to avoid drilling or wellbore problems sometimes created by geological hazards. As a result, under such practice the presence and depth locations of geological hazards may often be considered when selecting the depth locations of casing seats for subsequent casings. Applicant has recognized, however, that current practice may often result in the first casing being placed at too shallow of a depth in the geological formation to successfully achieve the intended purpose of the first casing of resolving unstable formations and geological drilling hazards, and further, may result in a relatively high number of casings, which may create undesirable drilling conditions and reduce hydrocarbon production from the well.
For example, the relatively shallow location of the depth of the first casing may result in not providing sufficient leak-off tolerance for drilling a next section of the wellbore in the geological formation. At relatively shallow depths, the geological formation may often be relatively soft. As a result, at the depth of the first casing, the geological formation may provide insufficient resistance for fracture resistance and leak-off. In addition, the ability of the first casing to support axial loads may be limited and may thus result in a structural failure hazard, for example, if there is insufficient soil-bearing strength for supporting the wellhead and additional deeper casings or supporting the bending load from a riser. Moreover, by terminating the first casing at a relatively shallow depth below the mudline, an increased number of additional casings may be required to reach the intended depth of the wellbore to provide the desired production of hydrocarbons. Further, under current practice, casing seats may be provided above most or all anticipated geological or drilling hazards, sometimes resulting in even more casing seats and corresponding casings. The relatively increased number of subsequent casings necessary to reach the intended depth of the wellbore may result in reducing the cross-sectional area of the deepest casings because each deeper casing necessarily has a smaller diameter than the casing located immediately above it. This may create sufficiently small annuli causing high drilling fluid friction preventing further drilling. This results in "wasting" casing diameters. As the casing diameters decrease, it becomes more difficult to drill the well and produce the hydrocarbons from the geological formation, potentially limiting the value of the well.
Accordingly, Applicant has recognized a need to provide improved subsea drilling systems and methods that may result in improved hydrocarbon production, for example, by improving the placement of casings and/or the reliability of wellbores, for example, in deepwater drilling and hydrocarbon production operations. The present disclosure may address one or more of the above-referenced drawbacks, as well as other possible drawbacks.

Systems and methods for casing drilling subsea wells


A first storage system stores information relating to the updating of data stored in that system as a journal. More specifically, the journal is composed of a copy of data that was used for updating and update information such as a write command used during updating. Furthermore, the second storage system acquires the journal via a communication line between the first storage system and the second storage system. The second storage system holds a duplicate of the data held by the first storage system and updates the data corresponding to the data of the first storage system in the data update order of the first storage system by using the journal.

The present invention relates to a storage system, and more particularly to data replication among a plurality of storage systems. A technology relating to data replication among storage systems becomes important for providing uninterrupted service to customers even when failure occurs in a first storage system. The following patent specifications have disclosed a technology for replicating the information stored in a first storage system to a second and third storage system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,480 discloses a technology by which a first computer connected to a first storage system transfers data stored in a first storage system to a second computer via a communication link between a first computer and the second computer, and the second computer transfers the data to a second storage system connected to the second computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,002 discloses a technology by which a first storage system transfers data stored in a first storage system to a second storage system and the second storage system transfers the data to a third storage system. A computer is connected to the first storage system by a communication link, the first storage system is connected to the second storage system by a communication link, and the second storage system is connected to the third storage system by a communication link. The first storage system holds a first logical volume which is the replication object. The second storage system holds a second logical volume which is a duplicate of the first logical volume and a third logical volume which is a duplicate of the second logical volume. The third storage system holds a fourth logical volume which is a duplicate of the third logical volume. As described in the patent specification, the second storage system executes the process for data replication exclusively from the second logical volume to the third logical volume and the process for data replication from the third logical volume to the fourth logical volume.
With the technology disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,480, the first and second computers are used all the time. The first computer conducts the usual operations and the load of the data replication process on the first computer cannot be ignored. Another problem is extending the time for data reference and data update necessary for normal operation. Because the data for replication use a communication link between the first computer and the first storage system, this data transfer collides with the data transfer necessary for normal operation.
With the technology disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,002, a storage capacity twice as large as the quantity of the replicated data is required for the second and third storage systems. Furthermore, because a large quantity of the data is the object of replication, a long time is spent on the data replication process and the data of the third storage system becomes obsolete. As a result, a problem arises when the operation is restarted using the data of the third storage system: a long time is required to update the data of the third storage system and the time to restart the operation is extended. Furthermore, as described in this specification, after the first storage system has performed process of data updating in the first storage system and process of data advancement between the first storage system and the second storage system, the first storage system sends a data update completion report to the host computer. Therefore, a long time is spent on updating data from the computer, and the time spent on updating data increases with the distance between the first storage system and the second storage system. As a result, another problem associated with the technology disclosed in the '002 patent is that the distance between the storage systems cannot be increased significantly.


An apparatus for combining adjacent concrete slabs including a dowel, an end cap, and a side frame. The end cap has a hood defining a curved channel extending at least partially around a dowel receiving end. The side frame has at least one wire received in the curved channel. Also, an end cap having an integrally formed supporting portion including first and second wire supports for supporting substantially parallel side frame cross wires. Also, an end cap including first and second sleeves positioned along opposing tangents of the outer peripheral surface of the end cap for receiving differing portions of a side frame, and further including a resilient protrusion for receiving a further differing portion of the side frame.

The present disclosure relates to concrete construction, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to a dowel bar assembly for connecting adjacent concrete slabs.
The construction of concrete surfaces is commonly accomplished by forming a plurality of adjacent concrete slabs that are separated by expansion joints. In some applications, the concrete slabs may support heavy loads, such as loads exerted by equipment on aircraft runways, taxiways, and parking aprons. The heavy loads that are supported by an individual concrete slab can cause vertical movement of the slab with respect to adjacent slabs. To prevent this damaging movement, the load may be distributed through load bearing dowels that extend between adjacent slabs across expansion joints. These dowels are typically formed from a ductile material, such as steel or fiberglass, which transmits the load and provides additional reinforcing structure. Different techniques exist for installing such dowel bars into a concrete slab.
One of the typical methods for installing dowel bars is to create a dowel bar assembly or apparatus that includes wire side rails for supporting a dowel bar in place prior to the pouring of a concrete slab. Typically, a dowel bar assembly is positioned in an area where two concrete slabs will abut one another. An expansion member may be mounted on the dowel bar assembly, and commonly delineates the respective edges of the concrete slabs. A first concrete slab is then poured along one side of the expansion member, partially covering the dowel bar assembly. A second concrete slab is subsequently poured along a second side of the expansion member, covering the other side of the dowel bar assembly. Therefore the two concrete slabs are separated by an expansion joint and connected together by the dowel bars to help distribute heavy loads across both of the concrete slabs.
Joining the wire side rails to the dowel bar is usually time consuming and costly. The wire rails are usually made of steel and susceptible to corrosion. Often, the corrosion spreads from the wire rails to the dowel bar. Previously, attempts to control the corrosion were made by coating the dowel bar with epoxy. However, commonly the side frame is welded to the epoxy coated dowel bar, and such welds enable corrosion to enter into the dowel bar even with the epoxy coating since the weld areas are not coated. Therefore, one drawback to this method of forming concrete slabs is increased corrosion. In addition, another drawback is the time consuming and costly method of constructing the dowel bar assembly. Furthermore, if the assembly is constructed at a factory, transport and storage of the devices becomes difficult and costly as well.
Therefore, many needs remain in this area of technology.

Dowel bar assembly with snap fit side frames


This invention relates to canvanine analogs, their pharmaceutical compositions, and a method for treatment of cancer, particularly pancreatic cancer.

L-Canavanine L-2-amino-4-(guanidinooxy)butyric acid!, a nonprotein amino acid found in certain leguminous plants.sup.37, is a structural analog of L-arginine in which the terminal methylene group is replaced by oxygen. L-Canavanine, a substrate for arginyl-tRNA-synthetase, is incorporated into newly synthesized protein in place of arginine to create structurally aberrant and dysfunctional proteins.sup.38. Available evidence supports the contention that an important biochemical basis for canavanine's insecticidal and antitumor activities is the formation of dysfunctional canavanine-containing proteins..sup.39,40
More than 26,000 people die each year in our country from pancreatic adenocarcinoma.sup.1. Death is the inevitable consequence to more than 90% of patients with this disease. It is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in men and the fifth most common for women.sup.2. Overall, it is the fourth most common carcinoma after those of the lung, colon and breast.sup.3. The incidence of this disease is linear with age to sixty but its occurrence increases markedly in the seventh or eighth decade of life.sup.4. There are several different histologies associated with cancer of the pancreas including small cell cancer, cystadenocarcinoma, islet cell tumors, lymphoma and carcinoid; however, 75-80% of the cases involve adenocarcinomas of ductal origin.sup.5. The only definitive risk factor in pancreatic cancer is cigarette smoking. A typical smoker accepts up to four times the risk of a nonsmoker.sup.6.
Located in the upper abdomen in the retroperitoneum, the pancreas is associated intimately with many major structures including the portal vein, stomach, duodenum, common bile duct and the superior mesenteric artery. As the tumor grows, the patient's symptoms result from tumor infiltration of surrounding structure causing pain, nausea, vomiting, weight loss and jaundice. The latter condition presents symptoms in no more than one half of the patients. Once tumor infiltration occurs other structures such as the portal vein become affected and this precludes curative resectioning of the pancreas.
Effective treatment of pancreas cancer must achieve two difficult goals: control of the primary tumor mass, both initially and subsequently, and treatment of the metastatic tumor cells. As a result of its insidious onset, the diagnosis of pancreas cancer is delayed frequently for several months. This delay has profound implications, since metastatic spread to the liver or lymph nodes has been observed at a time of diagnosis in 60% of patients, and this factor diminishes the prospect for long-term survival.sup.7. Also, there are no known specific markers of carcinoma of the pancreas and it is asymptomatic in its early stage.sup.8.
Conventional Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer
Currently, surgery is the primary and only curative therapy for pancreas cancer. However, only 15-25% of tumors are resectable at the time of diagnosis.sup.9 and regrettably only 10-20% of patients resected will survive more than two years.sup.10. With these less than satisfactory surgical results, present day therapy has evolved in two directions: palliation of symptoms and aggressive multimodality treatment regimes which combine surgery with chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Palliative therapy has become a major thrust of current treatment. Initial relief of symptoms has relied on surgery with surgical bypass of gastric outlet obstruction.sup.11 and operative bypass of biliary obstruction.sup.12. Subsequent symptomatic treatment has centered around endoscopic placement of biliary stents to bypass tumors blocking the biliary tract.sup.13 and/or percutaneous placement of bypass conduits.sup.14.
Aggressive multimodality therapy combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy with surgery has been the response of choice when surgery alone was not effective. Radiation has been the cornerstone of therapy for unresectable cancer of the pancreas and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy has been an important adduct to radiation treatment in these patients.sup.15. However, despite these valiant efforts, no patient survives five years.
A single, small randomized trial showed significant benefit from combined radiation and chemotherapy given two years after operation.sup.16. While this study was limited by an inadequate number of patients, nonetheless there was benefit to patients receiving multi-modality treatment.
Effective radiotherapy needs to maximize exposure of the affected tissues while sparing normal surrounding tissues. Interstitial therapy, where needles containing a radioactive source are embedded in the tumor, has become a valuable new approach. In this way, large doses of radiation can be delivered locally while sparing the surrounding normal structures.sup.17. Intraoperative radiotherapy, where the beam is placed directly onto the tumor during surgery while normal structures are moved safely away from the beam, is another specialized radiation technique. Again, this achieves effective irradiation of the tumor while limiting exposure to surrounding structures. Despite the obvious advantage of approaches predicated upon local control of the irradiation, patient survival is not significantly improved.sup.18,19.
The foundation of chemotherapy for carcinoma of the pancreas has employed 5-FU.sup.20. Here too, the prognosis is bleak; no better than 10-15% of patients treated with 5-FU will experience a significant reduction in tumor size; overall survival rates are not improved. The addition of other chemotherapeutic agents such as cis-platin or adriamycin has not dramatically improved disease management.sup.20). For this reason, attempts to augment the intrinsic activity of 5-FU have been undertaken. On one approach, 5-FU is converted to 4-fluorodeoxyuridine monophosphate (FdUMP) which binds covalently to thymidylate synthase (EC 188.8.131.52). This competitive inhibitor disrupts DNA replication by curtailing deoxyuridine monophosphate anabolism to deoxythymidine.
Reduced folates such as leucovorin are a necessary cofactor for FdUMP binding to thymidylate synthase.sup.21. Cancer cells depauperate in reduced folate are resistant to 5-FU chemotherapy, but that resistance can be circumvented by providing exogenous reduced folate.sup.22. While 5-FU plus leucovorin relative to 5-FU alone has proven efficacious in treating colon cancer, patients with pancreas cancer received no benefit by receiving these two drugs in combination.sup.23.
5-Fluorouracil can also be converted to 5-fluorouridine monophosphate which can be incorporated into mRNA thereby affecting protein translation. N-N- (phosphonacetyl) -L-aspartic acid (PALA) inhibits the transformation of aspartic acid to orotidine monophosphate which is converted subsequently to uridine monophosphate. The use of PALA provides a means of depleting essential uridine monophosphate. In the absence of uridine monophosphate, fluorouridine monophosphate is incorporated preferentially into mRNA which promotes cell death. Preliminary data from experiments employing high dose (2,600 mg/m.sup.2) 5-FU after pretreatment with PALA have been promising, as significant tumor reduction has been noted in 5 of 6 patients.sup.24. However, subsequent phase II data have been less positive.sup.25 with only one patient in 29 achieving any benefit. While new experimental efforts in treating pancreas cancer have been initiated, their limited success emphasizes the need for radically new approaches in the management of this devastating disease. The present invention provides an additional alternative for the treatment of cancers, particularly pancreatic cancer, by providing for a pharmaceutical composition comprising canavanine, and a method of treatment of cancer, particularly pancreatic cancer with canavanine.

Canavanine analogs and their use as chemotherapeutic agents

University of Kentucky Research Foundation


A method for speeding up JPEG quantization operations in image compression for discrete cosine transform encoding operations in JPEG image compression. The quantization calculations are performed to obtain descriptors for Huffman encoding. The quantization calculations utilize a modified quantization table which is derived from an original quantization table by inversing each element of the original quantization table and then mutiplying 2.sup.n and then rounding off. The matrix composed by discrete cosine transform coefficients multiplies the modified quantization table to derive a new matrix. Then, each element of the new matrix is right shifted n bits to derive quantized discrete cosine transform coefficients. Then, Huffman encoding is performed to accomplish discrete cosine transform encoding.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for speeding up JPEG quantization operations in image compression, and in particular to an improvement on the quantization table for reducing the time for quantization operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
JPEG is an abbreviation form of the organization named Joint Photographic Experts Group. The purpose of this organization is to develop a compression standard for multicolour/black-and-white images from the natural scenery and true world. The compression standard developed is named after this organization, JPEG.
The greatest bottleneck for JPEG compression operations is the mass division operations during quantization. The division operations consume lots of time. Therefore, the application fields for JPEG are quite limited. In traditional applications, for abbreviating operation time, a highly-priced high speed operation processor is necessary. Alternatively, extra hardware circuits are necessary to maintain image quality. And, either way will cause an increase in cost. Therefore, a new algorithm is necessary to replace division operations so that the operation time can be reduced.
JPEG discloses several compression modes for static image. The most commonly utilized is the baseline mode wherein an encoder is utilized to perform some steps to accomplish compression. Referring to FIG. 1, the flow chart of a compression algorithm for baseline mode is illustrated.
Through image conversion 432, three primary colours, red R, green G and blue B are linearly converted to a luminance component Y and two chrominance components C.sub.b and C.sub.r by matrix operations. Y represents the grayscale component for original image and C.sub.b and C.sub.r comprise the colour components for converting grayscale images to multicolour images.
The sampling points is then lessened 434. For speeding up the succeeding compression operations, several C.sub.b and C.sub.r sampling points are then fetched to derive an average value. The average value is then utilized to replace the foregoing several sampling points. Therefore the size for C.sub.b and C.sub.r is reduced since that the human eyes are more sensative to luminance than chrominance.
The block dividing 436 is then performed. The three components Y, C.sub.b and C.sub.r are all divided to blocks each composed by sixty-four (derived by eight multiplying eight) sampling points since that compression processing is performed by block.
The values in each block are of an unsigned number form. It is necessary to convert the unsigned number form to a signed number form. Such an operation is called level shift 438.
Then, through the operations and processing of a discrete cosine transform encoder module 440, a descriptor can be derived for each sampling point in a block. The description for such an operation will be detailedly described referring to FIG. 2 below.
Then, data is input to JPEG disorder encoder 442. The descriptors derived are utilized to generate a set of codes through Huffman encoding table 444. This set of codes are followed by the discrete cosine transform coefficients derived from quantized sampling points to accomplish encoding. After encoding each block, the front is affixed with a header and the end is affixed with a trailer. Therefore, the whole compression procedure is thus performed.
Referring to FIG. 2, a flow chart for a discrete cosine transform encoder module is illustrated. The flow chart illustrates that a level shifted block is converted to a descriptor through the module.
The level shifted block is then input to a discrete cosine transform encoder module 440. The discrete cosine transform coefficient S.sub.vu is derived through forward discrete cosine transform 224 first. The conversion formula for the forward discrete cosine transform 224 is ##EQU1## wherein S.sub.yx is a sampling point in a block, x=0.about.7, y=0.about.7, and,
S.sub.vu is a sampling point derived in a discrete cosine transformed block, v=0.about.7, u=0.about.7, ##EQU2##
After quantization processing 226, the discrete cosine transform coefficient quantized is derived. The quantized discrete cosine transform coefficient is divided to a direct current DC component and alternate current AC components. The difference between the direct current component of this block and the direct current component of the precedent block, DIFF, is the corresponding descriptor of the direct current component. The substractor 232 is utilized to perform the subtraction for obtaining the difference DIFF. The upperleft part of each block is a DC component, and the other sixty-three values are AC components
Referrring to FIG. 3, a well-known quantization method is illustrated. The matrix composed by discrete cosine transform coefficients is divided by the original quantization table. And, the matrix composed by quantized discrete cosine transform coefficients is derived.

Method for speeding up JPEG quantization operations in image compression


An apparatus and method for monitoring and storing a status of a rechargeable battery pack in which the battery pack status is monitored by a device while the battery pack is functionally connected to that device, and then periodically updated to a non-volatile memory in the battery pack. The non-volatile memory may be connected in power isolation from the rechargeable cells, thereby ensuring that the battery is not drained during long periods of storage. The battery pack may also have a latch, which has to be released in order to remove the battery pack from any device to which it can be functionally connected. Releasing the latch may cause the battery status to be written to the non-volatile memory, ensuring that the battery's memory has up-to-date battery status information, whenever the battery is removed from the device regardless of any scheduled data writes.

Rechargable batteries are used extensively to power portable electronic devices such as portable or cellular phones and laptop computers. When using a device powered by a rechargeable battery, it is desirable to know how much usable charge remains in the battery. As the capacity of a rechargeable battery diminishes with each recharging cycle, accurately predicting the remaining charge requires knowing how many times the battery has been recharged. Nickel cadmium (NiCd), and to a lesser extent nickel metal hydride (NiMH), rechargeable batteries also suffer from "voltage depression", an affect in which the battery voltage drops unusually quickly if they are recharged before being fully discharged. For optimum recharging of NiCd and NiMH batteries, it is, therefore, desirable to know the life-time charge history of the battery, particularly the state of discharge it reached during use.
To meet these battery monitoring needs, a number of smart, rechargeable batteries have become available that incorporate memory and circuitry for calculating, storing and reporting a charge status and history of the battery. Such smart, rechargeable batteries are described in, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,230 to Dunstan, entitled "Smart Battery Providing Progammable Remaining Capacity and Run-time Alarms Based on Battery Specific Characteristics", the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Certain Land Mobile Radio (LMR) portable radio applications, however, have battery monitoring requirements that go beyond what is provided by current smart rechargeable battery technology. For instance, emergency and rescue services require that any status storing and reporting technology added to rechargeable batteries used to power their LMR portable radios must have no detrimental effect on the battery. This means that the status storing technology must provide data retention for as long as five years, without drawing any power from the rechargeable battery during that time, under a wide range of environmental conditions. In addition, the status storage technology must allow for sudden and rapid removal from charging devices and equipment without loss of status data or any other significant information.
Attempting to meet these stringent requirements results in conflicting technology needs. For instance, the issue of avoiding data loss (or having unacceptably out of date data) when a battery pack is removed from a device may be avoided by reporting battery status to the memory on a regular, quasi-continuous, schedule (about once every 30 s). In a typical 9 hour battery recharge this would result in about 1000 memory erase/write cycles. The problem with this solution is that, to meet the low cost, long term storage requirements, the most suitable memory is an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) device, but EEPROMs have a finite number of erase/write cycles (typically 50,000) before they fail. (The erase function degrades an oxide barrier on the silicon and eventually leads to failure of the EEPROM). This finite number of erase/writes of the EEPROM would limit the total number of battery charge-discharge cycles to an unacceptably low 50 cycles, if the battery status was updated on a quasi-continuous schedule.
To meet the stringent battery monitoring requirements of industrial and professional users, what is needed is a method that allows EEPROM-like memories to be used for recording battery status in which the EEPROM data write cycle occurs at a relatively slow rate (once every 10 minutes or longer), yet is assured of having up to the second status data, even in the event of sudden and rapid removal of the battery from the status reporting device.

Battery with non-volatile memory for LMR portable radio applications


In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for manufacturing an array of interferometric modulators. Each interferometric modulator comprises first and second optical layers which when the interferometric modulator is in an undriven state are spaced by a gap of one size, and when the interferometric modulator is in a driven state are spaced by a gap of another size, the size of the gap determining an optical response of the interferometric modulator. The method comprises fabricating interferometric modulators of a first type characterized by the size of the gap between its first and second optical layers when in the undriven state; fabricating interferometric modulators of a second type characterized by the size of the gap between its first and second optical layers when in the undriven state; and fabricating modulators of a third type characterized by the size of the gap between its first and second optical layers when in the undriven state, wherein fabricating the interferometric modulators of the first, second, and third types comprises using a sequence of deposition and patterning steps of not more than 9 masking steps to deposit and pattern layers of material on a substrate.

1. Field
This invention relates generally to fabrication processes for interferometric modulator arrays and more specifically to methods for manufacturing an array of interferometric modulators.
2. Description of the Related Art
An interferometric modulator is a class of MEM (micro-electromechanical) systems devices which have been described and documented in a variety of patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,835,255, 5,986,796, 6,040,937, 6,055,090, 6,574,033 (application Ser. No. 10/084,893), U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,792 (application Ser. No. 09/974,544), U.S. Pat. No. 6,867,896 (application Ser. No. 09/966,843), and U.S. Pat. No. 7,067,846 (application Ser. No. 10/878,282), and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0072070 (application Ser. No. 10/082,397), herein incorporated by reference. One of the key attributes of these devices is the fact that they are fabricated monolithically using semiconductor-like fabrication processes. Specifically, these devices are manufactured in a sequence of steps which combine film deposition, photolithography, and etching using a variety of techniques. Costs in manufacturing processes of this sort are driven in large part by the number of steps in the sequence. Thus, a reduction in the number of masking steps in the overall manufacturing process will help to reduce manufacturing costs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for manufacturing an array of interferometeric modulators


A defoamer emulsion, based on organofunctionally modified polysiloxanes, is obtained by mixing one or several more closely defined organofunctionally modified siloxanes and, optionally, finely divided silica, and emulsifying the mixture by means of a low-shear stirrer with water which contains a hydrophilic, organofunctionally modified polysiloxane.

The use of methylpolysiloxanes for defoaming liquids is one of the first areas in which these products were used. There exists a large number of publications and patents wherein the mode of action of the siloxanes is described, and advice is given for selecting suitable siloxanes and the forms in which they are prepared.
It was already recognized earlier that the use of mixtures of different polysiloxanes can be advantageous. For this purpose, a large number of different organofunctionally-modified polysiloxanes have also been developed. A typical organofunctional group, which modifies the properties of the polysiloxanes, is the polyether group with oxyethylene and/or oxypropylene units. In the course of further development, polysiloxanes, with combinations of polyether groups of different hydrophilicity, were used for the modification. Finely divided, mostly pyrogenic silica, which is optionally used in the hydrophobized form, is an important component of such defoamer emulsions based on polysiloxanes.
From the large number of Offenlegungsschriften and patents relating to defoamers based on polysiloxanes, the following publications are cited as examples:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,347 relates to a preparation, which consists essentially of:
1. 50 to 98.9% by weight of a basic oil, which is a polyoxypropylene or a polyoxypropylene-polyoxyethylene polymer with a molecular weight of 500 to 6,000, or a siloxane glycol polymer of the general formulae
(a) (R.sub.a Si(OSiMe.sub.2).sub.n (OSiMeG).sub.b OSiMe.sub.2 G).sub.4-a, PA1 (b) (R.sub.a Si(OSiMe.sub.2).sub.n (OSiMeG).sub.r OSiMe.sub.3).sub.4-a, PA1 (c) GMe.sub.2 Si(OSiMe.sub.2).sub.n (OSiMeG).sub.b OSiMe.sub.2 G), or PA1 (d) Me.sub.3 Si(OSiMe.sub.2).sub.n (OSiMeG).sub.r OSiMe.sub.3 PA1 R is a hydrocarbon with 1 to 10 carbon atoms, free of olefinic double bonds, PA1 Me is a methyl group, PA1 G is a group having the formula --D(OR').sub.m A, in which D is an alkylene group with 1 to 30 carbon atoms and R' is an alkylene group with 2 to 10 carbon atoms, m has a value of at least 1 and A is a capping group, PA1 a has a value of 0 or 1, PA1 n has a value of at least 12, PA1 b has a value of 0 to 50, and PA1 c has a value of 1 to 50; PA1 5 to 10 parts by weight of silica and 0 to 20 parts by weight of a siloxane resin, which consists essentially of the units SiO.sub.2 and (CH.sub.3).sub.3 SiO.sub.1/2 in the ratio of 1:0.4 to 1:1.2; and PA1 i) a polydimethylpolysiloxane-polyether copolymer, in which the molecular weight of the polysiloxane is at least 2,000, and the polyoxypropylene polymer has a molecular weight of at least 800, or a polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene copolymer with a molecular weight of 1,500, the polyether being linked over an SiC bond to a silicon atom of the siloxane, or PA1 ii) a polydimethylpolysiloxane-polyether polymer, which is obtained by heating a mixture of a methyl-hydrogenpolysiloxane having a molecular weight of at least 1,500, and a polyoxypropylene glycol having a molecular weight of at least 800, or a polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene glycol having a molecular weight of at least 1,500. PA1 a) a liquid or organopolysiloxane with at least one hydroxyl and hydrocarbon group, PA1 b) a silicone resin or a compound producing a silicone resin, PA1 c) a finely divided filler, and PA1 d) a catalyst for the reaction between a) and c), the secondary defoaming ingredient being a mixture of a liquid methylpolysiloxane, at least one nonionic silicone surfactant, a first organic dispersant and a second dispersant, based on a nonionic difunctional block copolymer with terminal primary hydroxyl groups. PA1 R.sup.2 is a hydrogen group or an alkyl group with 1 to 8 carbon atoms, PA1 Z is a divalent group having the formula --O--, --(CH.sub.2).sub.p --O-- or --CH.sub.2 --CH(CH.sub.3)--CH.sub.2 --O-- with p=2 or 3, PA1 n has an average numerical value of 2.7 to 4.0, PA1 m has an average numerical value of 5 to 130, PA1 R.sup.2 and Z have the meanings already given, PA1 q has an average numerical value of 2.0 to 2.7, PA1 r has an average numerical value of 5 to 120, PA1 g has an average numerical value of 4 to 200, PA1 h has an average numerical value of 0 to 100, and PA1 j has an average numerical value of 0 to 50; and PA1 x=2.6 to 30, preferably 2.8 to 3.0; PA1 y=8 to 80, preferably 20 to 60; PA1 w=7 to 50, preferably 13 to 30; and PA1 z=1.5 to 0, preferably 1.5 to 5.
wherein
2. 1 to 40% by weight of a defoamer, which is obtained essentially from 88 to 95 parts by weight of a liquid polydimethylsiloxane with a viscosity of at least 20 cSt at 25.degree. C.,
3. 0.1 to 10% by weight of a dispersant, which disperses component 2 in component 1 and is a siloxane copolymer, which either is
The published European patent application 0 354 016 relates to a textile detergent which contains raw detergents, builders and at least one material for controlling the foam, with the distinguishing feature that a dispersable preparation of a silicone defoamer is contained in the detergent and consists of a non-aqueous emulsion of a primary and a secondary defoamer, the primary defoaming ingredient being a mixture of:
Finally, reference is made to the published European patent application 0 427 263, in which a silicone-based defoamer preparation is described, which contains (i) a polydiorgano-siloxane, (ii) silica, and (iii) 4 to 2500 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the sum of components (i) and (ii) of a modified silicone oil, the molecule of which has at least one functional organic group which is linked to a silicon atom, as well as at least one epoxy, amino, amide, carboxyl, alkoxyl or hydroxyl group, and at least one optionally substituted polyoxyalkylene group which is linked to a silicon atom.
Even though these known defoamers can be used advantageously to prevent or eliminate foam in aqueous systems, unfulfilled or inadequately fulfilled requirements, nevertheless, remain.
One of these requirements is to prepare defoamer emulsions which are as concentrated and stable as possible and can be diluted by the user to the desired concentration, while retaining the stability of the emulsions. This is possible with simple stirring equipment without requiring expensive stirring technology or special precautions. At the same time, the diluted emulsions must satisfy high stability requirements and should exhibit high stability particularly when subjected to temperature changes and to shaking. It is, therefore, an object of the invention to solve this technical problem.

Defoamer emulsion based on organofunctionally modified polysiloxanes


A conveyor system including bobbin-type members which can pivot or rotate about a central longitudinal "bobbin axis" to allow selective discharge of packages conveyed by conveying belts mounted within the bobbin members. The bobbin-type members included integral conveyor(s) positioned generally within substantially cylindrical "shells" which are covered with friction-engaging materials. Rotation of the bobbin members causes the cylindrical surface of the bobbin members to engage the packages and discharge them sidewardly. The bobbin members may include an "eccentric" motion if so desired.

Modern high volume package delivery systems often include package conveying systems that accept packages from one or more loading stations, and transport the packages to a variety of output destinations such as chutes, bins, and subsequent conveyor systems.
One of the most conventional types of conveyors is a belt conveyor, which includes the use of an endless flexible belt which passes over at least two cylindrical rollers, one of which is a drive roller. Packages are placed atop the upwardly-directed "working" surface of the belt conveyor, and are transported in a generally straight direction from end of the conveyor to the other. Another type of conveyor is a "roller" conveyor which con include powered or idling rollers which contact, support, and in certain instances propel the bottom of the package along its path.
Some conveying systems include diversion features which allow for the discharge of objects from a conveying surface at selected stations located along the path of the conveying surface. Some package diverting systems utilize a pusher element mounted relative to a conveying surface which when actuated ejects an adjacently placed package laterally across the conveyor surface to the desired discharge station. Some package diverting systems include the use of diversion elements which lie along the conveyor and provide the diversion forces against the bottom surfaces of the package.
A modular diverter shoe and slat construction disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,510 to Cotter describes a modular diverter shoe for use in a slat conveyor. A diverter shoe is mounted to each slat so that the shoe may glide across the slat. The movement of the diverter shoe is affected by a guide pin and coaxial bearing which engages a network of guide tracks located beneath the conveying surface. When a package is to be diverted, a diverting switch is actuated to switch the guide pins for the diverter shoe adjacent to the package onto a diagonal track, which causes the diverter shoe to move across the slat and eject the package.
Another apparatus for sorting objects is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,260 to Canziani. In that system, a conveyor belt is described in which each conveyor element has a slit. The pusher elements are slidably inserted into the slits and each pusher element is connected to a drive element that extends beneath the conveyor surface. The drive element is attached to rollers and interacts with a series of cams or guide rails located beneath the conveyor. The cams include an electro-pneumatic two-position end portion. In one position, the cam engages the drive element rollers and slides the pusher element. In a second position, the rollers do not engage the guide rails.
The prior art also discloses the use of cradling- or conveying-type apparatuses having limited tilting ranges. Upon the tilting of the apparatuses, item are sidewardly ejected.
Example of "cradling" types of prior art are shown in Soviet Reference Nos. 1320-141-A and 1421-640-A. As can be seen, these references generally show the use of a conveyor section which pivots about an axis parallel to the conveying axis in order to eject items sidewardly from their conveying path. These "cradling" configurations tend to maintain the logs in a desired "cradled" position until the cradle is titled so much that the logs roll out of the cradle under the influence of gravity.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,549,499 to Parker discloses the use of a foot actuated lever 8 for controlling the raising of elevating rollers 10 into a conveying path. The rollers 10 when raised above the normal conveying plane and into contact with a package, cause the package to tilt and roll off the rollers 10 and sidewardly off the conveyor under the influence of gravity.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,348,678 to Flowers discloses the use of a conveyor section which is tiltable to either side by the use of a pair of linearly-actuating fluid cylinders.
The amount of "down time" a conveying system or sorting system is shut down for repairs and/or maintenance significantly impacts operating efficiency. Thus, reliability and ease of repair are major requirements. Reliability can be increased and down time reduced by constructing package conveying and sorting systems where mechanical assemblies may be quickly and easily removed and replaced without the use of tools. Such construction may be accomplished by use of detachable mechanical assemblies such as package diverters or by mounting mechanical assemblies on modular conveying systems such that the failed mechanical assemblies or the conveyor sections housing the failed assemblies may be quickly removed and replaced. Furthermore, because of the increased speeds required of modern package handling systems, reduction of noise levels is also a major requirement.
Although the prior art may include advantages, disadvantages likewise exist. The prior art does not include a rotatable member including an integral conveyor, which can be used to quickly and reliably discharge items such as parcel to either side of a conveyor path. The prior art also lacks the allowance for quick and easy replacement of critical moving parts within the apparatus which tend to first wear out or otherwise require servicing, therefore reducing the amount of "down time" involved.

High speed bobbin-type sorter for parcels


A method of planning the movement of plural trains through a rail network using a database of dynamic planning attributes reflecting the current conditions of the train and rail network.

The present invention relates to the scheduling of movement of plural units through a complex movement defining system, and in the embodiment disclosed, to the scheduling of the movement of freight trains over a railroad system, and specifically to the managing the dynamic properties of the plan.
Systems and methods for scheduling the movement of trains over a rail network have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,154,735, 5,794,172, and 5,623,413, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
As disclosed in the referenced patents and applications, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, railroads consist of three primary components (1) a rail infrastructure, including track, switches, a communications system and a control system; (2) rolling stock, including locomotives and cars; and, (3) personnel (or crew) that operate and maintain the railway. Generally, each of these components are employed by the use of a high level schedule which assigns people, locomotives, and cars to the various sections of track and allows them to move over that track in a manner that avoids collisions and permits the railway system to deliver goods to various destinations.
As disclosed in the referenced patents and applications, a precision control system includes the use of an optimizing scheduler that will schedule all aspects of the rail system, taking into account the laws of physics, the policies of the railroad, the work rules of the personnel, the actual contractual terms of the contracts to the various customers and any boundary conditions or constraints which govern the possible solution or schedule such as passenger traffic, hours of operation of some of the facilities, track maintenance, work rules, etc. The combination of boundary conditions together with a figure of merit for each activity will result in a schedule which maximizes some figure of merit such as overall system cost.
As disclosed in the referenced patents and applications, and upon determining a schedule, a movement plan may be created using the very fine grain structure necessary to actually control the movement of the train. Such fine grain structure may include assignment of personnel by name as well as the assignment of specific locomotives by number, and may include the determination of the precise time or distance over time for the movement of the trains across the rail network and all the details of train handling, power levels, curves, grades, track topography, wind and weather conditions. This movement plan may be used to guide the manual dispatching of trains and controlling of track forces, or provided to the locomotives so that it can be implemented by the engineer or automatically by switchable actuation on the locomotive.
The planning system is hierarchical in nature in which the problem is abstracted to a relatively high level for the initial optimization process, and then the resulting course solution is mapped to a less abstract lower level for further optimization. Statistical processing is used at all levels to minimize the total computational load, making the overall process computationally feasible to implement. An expert system is used as a manager over these processes, and the expert system is also the tool by which various boundary conditions and constraints for the solution set are established. The use of an expert system in this capacity permits the user to supply the rules to be placed in the solution process.
Currently, a dispatcher's view of the controlled railroad territory can be considered myopic. Dispatcher's view and processes information only within their own control territories and have little or no insight into the operation of adjoining territories, or the railroad network as a whole. Current dispatch systems simply implement controls as a result of the individual dispatcher's decisions on small portions of the railroad network and the dispatchers are expected to resolve conflicts between movements of objects on the track (e.g. trains, maintenance vehicles, survey vehicles, etc.) and the available track resource limitations (e.g. limited number of tracks, tracks out of service, consideration of safety of maintenance crews near active tracks) as they occur, with little advanced insight or warning.
A train schedule is an approximate strategic forecast for a train provided by a customer for the desired movements of trains. The train schedule may be made days, weeks or months in advance. The actual train behavior is a function of many factors, such as (a) work to be performed along the route, (b) consist-based constraints (e.g., height, width, weight, speed, hazmat and routing restrictions), (c) re-crew requirements, and (d) the physics of the train and locomotive consist. These factors vary from day to day and for the same train along its route.
The movement plan for trains cannot be accurate in the absence of this information, which is available to the railroad, but is generally not available in sufficient detail for the movement planner. If the movement planner is not provided with the needed information, including dynamic variation in time and route, train movement will be planned and auto routed in a manner inconsistent with the then-current conditions. For example, if a block is placed in front of a train and the movement planner has not received this information, the movement plan may route the train to a location it cannot advance out of.
Typically, prior art movement planners calculate movement plans from static train schedules and fixed train priorities. Train characteristics are not forecast at all points along the planned route; instead the plan is typically based on default characteristics, characteristics applicable at the current location of the train, or characteristics assumed upon terminal departures. Line of the road and terminal attributes are treated as constant throughout the planning process to simply the complexity of the scheduling problem, and due to a lack of coordination in data collection from the railroad, dispatcher and filed sensors.
The present disclosure provides a database of train characteristics derived from the railroad's management information systems, field sensors and dispatch input to provide an improved movement plan that reflects the most current characteristics of the train and attributes of the line or road.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the embodiments.

Method and apparatus for planning the movement of trains using dynamic analysis


A method of analyzing soil using a modular sensor device. The modular sensor device including a sensor bus head, a sensor bus terminus, and a sensor rod in a stacked arrangement. The sensor rod disposed between the sensor bus head and the sensor bus terminus. The method including setting on an output pin of the sensor bus. The method further including, subsequent to setting the output pin of the sensor bus, detecting a transition on an input pin of the sensor rod, the output pin of the sensor bus and the input pin of the sensor rod being part of a daisy chain. The method further including, in response to detecting the transition at the input pin of the sensor rod, enabling bidirectional communication between the sensor rod and the sensor bus head over a communication bus electrically coupling the sensor bus head to the sensor rod.

Soil and water analysis for research, advisory services, formulation of recommendations, and designing appropriate soil management and water management practices is employed for various applications. Soil and water analysis may be conducted for estimating the availability of plant nutrients, geotechnical and ecological investigations, analyzing chemical composition of soil, determining soil moisture content, and measurement of various parameters in water bodies (e.g., pH, dissolved oxygen, oxidation-reduction potential, conductivity or salinity, temperature, turbidity, and dissolved ions such as fluoride, carbide, nitrates, lead, iodine, etc.).
Soil study is often conducted for analyzing soil composition for agronomic purposes. For many years, soil analysis has been used as an aid in assessing soil fertility and plant nutrient management. The soil analysis reports may provide information to set nutrient application targets, which are used to calculate manure and fertilizer application rates. Regular analysis from field sampling allows monitoring and detection of changes in the soil parameters over time, such as nutrients, pH, and salinity. Soil testing, in particular, is also important in monitoring the various types of land degradation and the choice of measures for land improvement. Development of effective and efficient analytical services of soil, water, plant, and fertilizers is thus important for increasing and sustaining land productivity, as well as crop and food production.
A variety of sensors, such as electromagnetic, optical, mechanical, electrochemical, airflow, and acoustic sensors, are conventionally available that can measure various parameters in soil and water. For instance, soil moisture sensors measure the volumetric water content in soil. Certain sensor probes measure temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity. Metal probes may measure the concentration of various elements, such as nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, etc., in the soil and water.
Since one sensor can typically measure only one parameter, it is difficult to measure more than a single parameter at a time. Moreover, if two or more sensors are used to measure two different parameters, the quantity of the parameters at different levels cannot be ascertained. Accordingly, an improved sensor architecture and device that can analyze different parameters at varying depth may be beneficial.
Additionally, conventional sensors are designed as part of a single, non-stackable unit. Adding/removing sensors typically involves adding/removing chips from a socketed interface. Accordingly, an improved sensor architecture and bus system to accommodate the sensor architecture may be beneficial.

Modular sensor architecture for soil and water analysis at various depths from the surface


A venous access device is generally discussed herein with particular discussions extended to port access device having a protective clip. The port access device includes a needle hub having a needle extending therefrom and a catheter hub having a catheter tube extending therefrom with the needle positioned inside the tube in a ready to use position. A tip protector is positioned inside a clip housing, which is positioned in between the catheter hub and the needle hub.

Venous access to a patient's venous system may be accomplished using a peripheral intravenous catheter (PIC) in some instances and a central venous catheter (CVC) in other instances, which are well known in the health care industry. For long term venous access, a subcutaneous implantable port (sometimes referred to only as "port") is preferred. An implantable port generally comprises an injection port housing, typically made from an exotic metal such as titanium, and a catheter implanted under the skin with a catheter connected.
To access a patient's venous system, a Huber needle is typically used to puncture through the injection port housing, and obviously through the skin. Once completed, the injection port housing reseals itself. It is not uncommon to be able to access the injection port housing hundreds of times before having to replace it. It is also not uncommon to leave a Huber needle in the injection port housing for extended time periods, in the order of several days, without increased complications. However, the longer the needle remains in the port, the more difficult it is to remove. It is well documented that this resistance to removal causes a rebound affect when the needle is withdrawn from the port thus resulting in possible needle sticks to the clinician. In addition, the rigid needle remains in a layer of tissue directly above the port resulting in discomfort to the patient.
More recently, the use of a polymer, such as a polyurethane catheter, to access the injection port housing is preferred as it increases the intervals between having to remove the device from the injection port housing, and hence the number of punctures through the same housing for venous access. It would be desirable to use a plastic catheter over a needle for port access. That way, the needle can be withdrawn immediately after insertion leaving only the plastic catheter in place. The flexible (or semi-rigid) catheter would provide more comfort to the patient and be easier to remove. It would also be desirable to provide a safety shield to protect the needle point after removal to prevent inadvertent sticks.


A system for providing safe, effective ear-piercing is provided. A hinged hoop earring is provided for use in a stud gun system. The hinged hoop earring can be used in an earring cartridge which fits in a cradle of a stud gun for piercing. A vertically stackable packing box maintains a sterile environment in which the earring cartridge with a hinged hoop earring may be transported and stored. The stud gun can be loaded and unloaded using the packing box in such a way that the operator need not touch the cartridge during either loading or unloading.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ear-piercing devices and, more particularly, to an ear-piercing cartridge and stud gun system with a stackable packing box for the cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ear piercing, an increasingly commonplace fashion statement, is rapidly becoming a routine procedures, often performed by laypersons without medical experience or training. Today a number of manually operated devices that allow for the safe, hygienic, user-friendly piercing of ears are available. Examples of such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,343 issued to Reil on Mar. 5, 1996, Application Ser. No. 292,249 filed Aug. 18, 1994, U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,170 issued to Reil on Aug. 11, 1998, Application Ser. No. 754,411 filed Nov. 21, 1996, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,774 ("the '774 patent") issued to Reil on Feb. 9, 1999, Application Ser. No. 008,763 filed Jan. 19, 1998, all of which are incorporated herein by this reference.
The various ear-piercing systems that exist today essentially comprise a stud (also called an earring or a piercing earring) with a post (also called a pin or a piercing pin) and a nut (sometimes called a clasp or an earring clasp) that are mounted in an earring cartridge. During the ear piercing process, the ear is placed between the post and the nut and the cartridge is squeezed, either manually or by placing it in a stud gun, which causes the post to pierce the ear and engage the nut.
From a fashion standpoint, one of the most desirable earring designs is in the form of a hoop but, heretofore, hoop earrings have not been commonly used with ear-piercing systems. By and large, the studs in use today have designs that are symmetrical about the post. A primitive hoop earring ear-piercing system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,471 ("the '471 patent") but the disclosed design is not a fully closeable hoop thereby creating an unsightly design. The stud post (or piercing pin) is engaged by the nut (or clasp), leaving the hoop open. This is because the stud post is rigidly attached to the hoop of the stud, which implies that the hoop cannot be rotated to engage the piercing pin. Further, the open end of the hoop is not adapted to engage the piercing pin (or stud). Apart from its untoward appearance, the design disclosed in the '471 patent also poses a danger of scratching and injury to the wearer because of the open end of the hoop. Therefore, there exists a need today for a hoop earring that is fully closeable.
Additionally, the existing designs for earring nuts (or clasps) are such that the open end of the stud post sticks out of the nut after the stud post is engaged by the nut. This presents a potential for injury to the wearer of the earring because the open end of the stud post can scratch the wearer's neck behind the ear. Therefore, there is a need for an improved earring nut that will remove this potential for injury.
Further, the existing ear-piercing cartridges suffer from a number of drawbacks. To illustrate these drawbacks, consider the '774 patent, which represents the state-of-the-art in earpiercing design. The '774 patent describes an ear-piercing apparatus that is comprised of an earring cartridge which holds an earring stud and an earring nut in two opposed jaws, i.e., an earring jaw and a nut jaw. The stud is held within a stud post holder assembly (also called "pierced-ear earring cartridge" in the Reil '774 patent), which is a module that disassembles into two pieces. One of these pieces has a frangible and breakable tab at its rear.
Although, the '774 patent describes a simple, easy to use ear-piercing system, when it is used to pierce an ear, the two pieces of the stud post holder assembly may stay attached to the stud and, therefore, sometimes require manual removal from the earring. Even when the two pieces come off the stud, they fall out of the assembly, sometimes into the ear or onto the body of the subject whose ears are being pierced and at other times onto the floor.
Moreover, the reliance of the '774 patent on the frangible tab has design limitations. First, the breaking of the tab causes an unwanted noise that is often a source of distress or concern for the customer. Second, the use of the frangible tab leads to only discrete control over the ear-piercing process. In the invention of the '774 patent, when the earring assembly is squeezed, either holding it in a hand or mounted in an ear-piercing gun, the presence of the frangible tab implies that once the earring assembly is squeezed to the point of breaking the tab, the ear is pierced automatically. Thus, it prevents continuous control of the exact location and timing of the ear-piercing process. Because of the lack of continuous control over the location and timing of the ear-piercing process, the technician who is piercing the ear has to use guesswork to line the stud post with the desired piercing area. This causes him to sometimes miss the exact spot that he wanted to pierce.
Additionally, the ear-piercing system of the '774 patent and its predecessors have not been designed for use with the novel hinged hoop earrings described above.
Finally, the '774 patent discloses a sterilizable blister pack for storing and transporting the earring cartridge. While such a packing is a convenient, effective sterilizable packing for the cartridge, it does not provide rigid, vertical stackable storage for earring cartridges.

Ear piercing systems with hinged hoop earrings


A spectroscopic analyzing method and apparatus for a wafer surface and gas phase elements in a reaction chamber. A beam of radiant energy is introduced from a light incident apparatus to the reaction chamber through a window on a wall of the reaction chamber at a predetermined, but variable, angle of incidence. The angle of incidence is set by adjusting optical elements in the light incident apparatus and an angle of the window. At one angle of incidence, the beam of radiant energy is caused to interact with gas-phase elements in the reaction chamber for spectroscopic analysis. At another angle of incidence, the beam of radiant energy is caused to interact with the wafer surface for spectroscopic analysis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general field of spectroscopic analysis, and more particularly, to the analysis of gas-phase materials and the surface of a wafer sample contained in a reaction chamber where beams of radiant energy are passed through the reaction chamber and caused to interact with the wafer sample or gas phase materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
The increased integration of semiconductor elements into electronic devices has prompted an increased need for lithography processes that are capable of achieving high aspect ratios and fine etching patterns. As a result, plasma etching processes for achieving high step difference, formation of fine patterns, and high anisotropic etching have gained in importance. In particular, processes for fabricating very large scale integrated devices, such as 256M DRAM's (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or more, require etching techniques that achieve high etching selectivity with respect to an underlying film, that minimize damage caused by plasma, and are capable of finely adjusting a pattern.
New plasma sources and new etching gases have been proposed in an effort to realize such an etching technique. In addition, research into ensuring optimal etching conditions through examination of etching reactions and appropriate control thereof is on-going.
Examination of the etching reactions involves in-situ analysis techniques for directly analyzing the wafer surface composition during a wafer etch process, observing behavior of adsorbing species, and analyzing the wafer surface chemical structure. However, current in-situ analysis techniques are ineffective because of the complexity of plasma and plasma disturbance, interference of surface discharge electrons caused by the plasma, and variation of energies.
Recent analysis techniques, including optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and laser induced fluorescence (LIF), have been proposed but these techniques can only analyze gas-phase plasma species. As such, there is a need for an analysis technique capable of directly analyzing the surface of a wafer as well as gas phase species during etching process.

Method and apparatus for selective spectroscopic analysis of a wafer surface and gas phase elements in a reaction chamber


The present invention provides a new stock control system that can grasp the stock status of objects to be controlled and is excellent in convenience. The stock control system of the present invention includes a shelf 10; a marker 11; an image acquisition unit 12; a storage unit; an analysis unit; and an alert unit. The shelf 10 is a shelf on which an object to be controlled 20 is placed. The marker 11 is disposed in the shelf 10 at a position where it is shielded from the image acquisition unit 12 due to the placed object to be controlled 20. The image acquisition unit 12 acquires an image of the marker 11. The storage unit updates and stores on-time stock information of the object to be controlled 20 placed on the shelf 10 based on sales information of the object to be controlled 20. The analysis unit analyzes, upon acquisition of the image of the marker 11 by the image acquisition unit 12, the on-time stock information in the storage unit. The alert unit outputs an alert according to an analysis result of the analysis unit.

A stock control apparatus for automatically recognizing and controlling the stock status of pamphlets in a pamphlet display shelf has been proposed (Patent Literature 1). In this stock control apparatus, objects to be controlled (the pamphlets) are placed on a mark. If the mark is not recognized from the image obtained by an image pickup unit, it is determined that they still have the objects to be controlled, i.e., the stock of the objects to be controlled is sufficient, and if the mark is not recognized, it is determined that they do not have the objects to be controlled, i.e., the objects to be controlled are out of stock.

Stock control system, stock control method, program, and recording medium


It has been found that Toll-like receptor 1 and Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) physically interact. Antibodies that specifically bind to TLR2 and selectively inhibit induction of cytokines are also described. The invention relates to specific antibodies that selectively bind to TLR2, and to methods of identifying compounds that selectively interfere with signaling through TLR1/TLR2 complexes.

The Toll-like receptor (TLR) family of proteins is an integral part of the human innate immune system (Medzhitov et al., 2000, Cytokine Growth Factor Rev., 11:219-232; Akira et al., 2001, Nat. Immunol., 2:675-680). The function of the innate immune system is thought to be the recognition of invading pathogens, the activation of inflammation to control pathogen spread and the subsequent activation of an adaptive immune response specifically directed to the elimination of the pathogen.
TLR2 recognizes a variety of microbial molecules (Lien, 1999, J. Biol. Chem., 274:33419-33425; Yoshimura et al., 1999, J. Immunol., 163:1-5; Underhill et al., 1999, Nature, 401:811-815; Brightbill et al., 1999, Science, 285:732-736; Aliprantis et al., 1999, Science, 285:736-739; Means et al., 1999, J. Immunol., 163:6748-6755). For example, the TLR2 receptor participates in the recognition of Gram positive bacteria, peptidoglycan, lipopeptides, and zymosan from yeast cell walls. Also, Leptospiral LPS (lipopolysaccharide) exerts its activity in a TLR2-dependent manner (Werts et al., 2001, Nat. Immunol. 2:346-352). TLR2 is involved in recognition of viable M. tuberculosis as well as recognition of lipoarabinomannan from rapidly growing mycobacteria (Means et al., 1999, J. Immunol., 163:6748-6755; Means, et al., 1999, J. Immunol., 163:3920-3927). Numerous additional ligands are recognized via TLR2 (reviewed in Lien et al., 2002, Crit. Care Med., 30:S1-11). In studies of TLR1 and TLR2 knockout mice, the receptors were shown to cooperate in recognition of B. burgdorferi outer surface protein A lipoprotein OspA (Alexopoulou et al., 2002, Nat. Med., 8:878-884). Knockout studies have also suggested that TLR1 and TLR2 cooperate in the recognition of 19 kDa mycobacterial lipopeptide and several synthetic triacylated lipopeptides (Takeuchi et al., 2002, J. Immunol., 169:10-14).

Selective inhibition of toll-like receptor-2


A structure includes a substrate having a surface and a first transistor disposed in a first region supported by the surface of the substrate. The first transistor has a channel formed in a first compound (Group III-V) semiconductor having a first energy bandgap. The structure further includes a second transistor disposed in a second region supported by the substrate. The second transistor has a channel formed in a second compound (Group III-V) semiconductor having a second energy bandgap that is larger than the first energy bandgap. In one embodiment the first compound semiconductor is a layer that overlies a first portion of the surface of the substrate and the substrate is the second compound semiconductor. In another embodiment the second compound semiconductor is provided as a second layer that overlies a second portion of the surface of the substrate. Methods to form the structure are also disclosed.

In a semiconductor the energy bandgap or simply bandgap generally refers to the energy difference (in electron volts (eV)) between the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band. In conventional integrated circuits with compound semiconductor channels, e.g. Group III-V semiconductor channels, a small bandgap is typically preferred in order to provide higher electron and hole mobility and to allow for the formation of a quantum well. However, a typical integrated circuit also requires the presence of at least some lower current leakage transistors (i.e., lower than the typical current leakage found in the high electron or hole mobility transistor devices) as well as transistors having a higher breakdown voltage than that typically associated with small bandgap devices. The low current leakage transistors can be used in, for example, memory circuits, while the higher breakdown voltage transistors can be used in devices such as I/O FETs. A problem is presented in that the small bandgap semiconductor devices are not preferred for such uses as they typically exhibit high transistor leakage current and also exhibit a low breakdown voltage.

Compound semiconductor integrated circuit and method to fabricate same