This invention discloses a roller brush used in swimming pool cleaner, including the roller body and the roller brush wrapped around the roller body. The inner side of roller brush in contact with the roller body outer surface. The roller body has a number of detent posts or grooves. The roller brush inner surface has a number of corresponding grooves or posts. Certain number of detent posts engages with grooves enable the roller brush and roller body positive interlock. For this reason, this roller brush invention allows positive and synchronize drive between roller body and roller brush, avoiding slipping drive. Moreover, this invention has simple construction, easy manufacture and assembly. This invention does not need to apply too much tension on the roller brush, reducing the flexible roller brush aging rate. It is therefore product life extended and maintenance cost lowered.

Presently swimming pool cleaning devices typically include a roller brush assembly, wheels and/or a track and/or a chain placed at the bottom of the body. Such a roller brush assembly, wheels and/or track and/or chain are driven by an internal motor, or jet propelled by water pump placed inside or outside the swimming pool cleaning device. The swimming pool cleaning device can therefore move around at the swimming pool floor to vacuum and to clean the pool.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,800 discloses a swimming pool cleaning device as shown in FIG. 1. The cleaning device has an outer shell (2). The outer shell has a roller (20) and wheel (11) at its bottom (2a). Roller (20) and wheel (11) are driven by a motor placed inside the outer shell (2). By means of the roller (20) mechanical action, could effectively pick up dirt and debris settled at the swimming floor through the intake port (5) located on the bottom (2a) of the outer shell (20). The roller (20) generally consists of a rigid roller body and a flexible roller brush wrapped around the roller body.
The roller used in existing swimming pool cleaning devices as shown by example in FIG. 2 includes a rigid roller body (21) and a flexible roller brush (21) wrapped around the rigid roller body (21). The rigid roller body (21) axle is connected to a motor placed inside the swimming pool cleaning device and driven by this motor. The roller brush (22) has an inner surface in contact with the roller body (21) outer surface. The roller brush (22) outer surface has a number of flexible brushes sticking out. Such brushes are used to increase friction and stir up the dirt and debris, which has settled on the swimming pool floor.
To handle the above mentioned existing problems, known cleaning devices have been designed to raise the floor clearance as illustrated in FIG. 3. By adding a skirt (300) at the intake port, dirt and debris is stirred as the swimming pool cleaning device moves. Typically, the skirt (300) is made from elastic material or makes a hinge such as an elastic axle between the skirt (300) and intake port to enable the skirt (300) to swing when it meets dirt segregated and stirs it up without affecting swimming pool cleaning device motion. The skirt has been proven to lower the effective floor clearance of the pool cleaning vehicle at the intake port. However, if the skirt (300) is effectively lowered too far, it will only push the dirt around instead of pulling it into the cleaning device. Normally, the roller brush (22) is a plastic sheet having a length equals to the circumference of the roller body (21). The roller body (21) circumference is wrapped by the roller brush (22), fixed by a number of connectors (24) along both ends of the roller brush (22), forms a roller (20). The roller brush (22) and the roller body (21) are initially tightly engaged. However, as sunlight and swimming pool chemicals make the roller brush (22) more relaxed, it will get looser and the gap between the roller body (21) and roller brush (22) will increase and the engagement will have a tendency to slip.
In order to avoid slippage, applicant herein discloses a design using a shorter roller brush (22) so that roller body (21) remains tightly wrapped by the roller brush (22), reducing the likelihood that the gap between roller brush (22) and roller body (21) will grow. By changing the design of prior brushes, Applicants herein seek to increase the roller brush life and make construction more efficient.


Described are GCF-8 inhibitors of the formula (I),

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates to pharmaceutically active compounds and methods for their use. In particular the disclosure relates to kinase inhibitors. In one aspect the compounds also inhibit the signaling of cytokines such as TGF-β1, Growth Differentiation Factor-8 (GDF-8) and other members of the TGF-βs, activins, inhibins, bone morphogenetic proteins and Mullerian-inhibiting substance, that signal through a family of transmembrane kinase receptors. The inhibitors are useful for treating inflammatory disorders, such as inflammatory or obstructive airway diseases, such as pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary fibrosis, liver fibrosis; and cancer. The inhibitors are particularly useful for diagnosing, preventing, or treating human or animal disorders in which an increase in muscle tissue would be therapeutically beneficial. Exemplary disorders include neuromuscular disorders (e.g., muscular dystrophy and muscle atrophy), congestive obstructive pulmonary disease, muscle wasting syndrome, sarcopenia, and cachexia; adipose tissue disorders (such as obesity); type 2 diabetes; and bone degenerative disease (such as osteoporosis).
2. Summary of the Related Art
Growth and Differentiation Factor-8 (GDF-8), also known as myostatin, and TGF-β1 are a members of the Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF-β) superfamily of structurally related growth factors, all of which possess physiologically important growth-regulatory and morphogenetic properties (Kingsley et al. (1994) Genes Dev., 8: 133-46; Hoodless et al. (1998) Curr. Topics Microbiol. Immunol., 228: 235-72). For example, activation of TGF-β1 signaling and expansion of extracellular matrix are early and persistent contributors to the development and progression of fibrotic disorders, such as involved in chronic renal disease and vascular disease. Border W. A., et al, N. Engl. J. Med., 1994; 331(19), 1286-92. GDF-8 is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, and there is considerable interest in identifying factors which regulate its biological activity. For example, GDF-8 is highly expressed in the developing and adult skeletal muscle. The GDF-8 null mutation in transgenic mice is characterized by a marked hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the skeletal muscle (McPherson et al. (1997) Nature, 387: 83-90). Similar increases in skeletal muscle mass are evident in naturally occurring mutations of GDF-8 in cattle (Ashmore et al. (1974) Growth, 38: 501 507; Swatland and Kieffer (1994) J. Anim. Sci., 38: 752-757; McPherron and Lee (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 94: 12457-12461; and Kambadur et al. (1997) Genome Res., 7: 910-915). Since GDF-8 is expressed in both developing and adult muscles, it is not clear whether it regulates muscle mass during development or in adults. Thus, the question of whether or not GDF-8 regulates muscle mass in adults is important from a scientific and therapeutic perspective. Recent studies have also shown that muscle wasting associated with HIV-infection in humans is accompanied by increases in GDF-8 protein expression (Gonzalez-Cadavid et al. (1998) PNAS, 95: 14938-43). In addition, GDF-8 can modulate the production of muscle-specific enzymes (e.g., creatine kinase) and modulate myoblast cell proliferation (WO 00/43781).
A number of human and animal disorders are associated with loss or functional impairment of muscle tissue, including muscular dystrophy, muscle atrophy, congestive obstructive pulmonary disease, muscle wasting syndrome, sarcopenia, and cachexia. To date, very few reliable or effective therapies exist for these disorders. However, the terrible symptoms associated with these disorders may be substantially reduced by employing therapies that increase the amount of muscle tissue in patients suffering from the disorders. While not curing the conditions, such therapies would significantly improve the quality of life for these patients and could ameliorate some of the effects of these diseases. Thus, there is a need in the art to identify new therapies that may contribute to an overall increase in muscle tissue in patients suffering from these disorders.
In addition to its growth-regulatory and morphogenetic properties in skeletal muscle, GDF-8 may also be involved in a number of other physiological processes, including glucose homeostasis in the development of type 2 diabetes and adipose tissue disorders, such as obesity. For example, GDF-8 modulates pre-adipocyte differentiation to adipocytes (Kim et al. (2001) BBRC, 281: 902-906).
There are also a number of conditions associated with a loss of bone, including osteoporosis, especially in the elderly and/or postmenopausal women. Currently available therapies for these conditions work by inhibiting bone resorption. A therapy that promotes new bone formation would be a desirable alternative to or addition to, these therapies.
Like TGF-β-1, -2, and -3, the GDF-8 protein is synthesized as a precursor protein consisting of an amino-terminal propeptide and a carboxy-terminal mature domain (McPherron and Lee, (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 94: 12457-12461). Before cleavage, the precursor GDF-8 protein forms a homodimer. The amino-terminal propeptide is then cleaved from the mature domain. The cleaved propeptide may remain noncovalently bound to the mature domain dimer, inactivating its biological activity (Miyazono et al. (1988) J. Biol. Chem., 263: 6407-6415; Wakefield et al. (1988) J. Biol. Chem., 263; 7646-7654; and Brown et al. (1990) Growth Factors, 3: 35-43). It is believed that two GDF-8 propeptides bind to the GDF-8 mature dimer (Thies et al. (2001) Growth Factors, 18: 251-259). Due to this inactivating property, the propeptide is known as the "latency-associated peptide" (LAP), and the complex of mature domain and propeptide is commonly referred to as the "small latent complex" (Gentry and Nash (1990) Biochemistry, 29: 6851-6857; Derynck et al. (1995) Nature, 316: 701-705; and Massague (1990) Ann. Rev. Cell Biol., 12: 597-641). Other proteins are also known to bind to GDF-8 or structurally related proteins and inhibit their biological activity. Such inhibitory proteins include follistatin, and potentially, follistatin-related proteins (Gamer et al. (1999) Dev. Biol., 208: 222-232). The mature domain is believed to be active as a homodimer when the propeptide is removed.
GDF-8 is highly conserved in sequence and in function across species. The amino acid sequence of murine and human GDF-8 is identical, as is the pattern of mRNA expression (McPherron et al. (1997) Nature 387: 83-90; Gonzalez-Cadavid et al. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95: 14938-14943). This conservation of sequence and function suggests that inhibition of GDF-8 in humans is likely to have a similar effect to inhibition of GDF-8 in mice.
GDF-8 is involved in the regulation of many critical biological processes. Due to its key function in these processes, GDF-8 may be a desirable target for therapeutic intervention.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,320,789, shows that GDF-8 antibodies in mouse models canincrease muscle strength (e.g., for treating sarcopenia). increase muscle mass and strength in dystrophic muscle (e.g., for treating Duchenne's muscular dystrophy), increase bone mass and bone density (e.g., for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis), augment bone healing (e.g., for treating an established muscle or bone degenerative disease (e.g., fracture repair and spine fusion, preventing the decline in bone mass, microarchitecture and strength associated with estrogen deficiency, increasing trabecular bone density), and are useful for treatment of metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, metabolic syndrome (e.g., syndrome X), insulin resistance induced by trauma (e.g., burns), and adipose tissue disorders (e.g., obesity).
In particular, therapeutic agents that inhibit the activity of GDF-8 may be used to treat human or animal disorders in which an increase in muscle tissue would be therapeutically beneficial, particularly muscle and adipose tissue disorders, bone degenerative diseases, neuromuscular disorders, and diabetes, as discussed above.

Abstract: and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, wherein n, R1, R2, R5, R6, X and Z are defined herein. Also provided are pharmaceutical compositions comprising the same. Such compounds and compositions are useful in methods for inhibiting GDF-8 in a cell and methods for treating a patient suffering from a disease or disorder, wherein the patient would therapeutically benefit from an increase in mass or strength of muscle tissue.


Improved processes are disclosed for the removal of hydrogen sulfide from feed streams by conversion of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide to elemental sulfur and water, e.g. Claus process. The feed stream of the present invention is divided into two split streams wherein one is incinerated to form sulfur dioxide in the presence of oxygen. The sulfur dioxide is then separated from the water, nitrogen and other impurities and combined with the other split stream to form a reactor feed which is passed to a sulfur reaction zone for conversion to elemental sulfur. Due to the rejection of water, nitrogen and other impurities from the reactor inlet stream, a higher concentration of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide can be achieved in the sulfur reaction zone. As a result, the processes of the present invention can be used to increase the throughput of existing Claus process plants and reduce the size of new Claus process plants.

Hydrogen sulfide is commonly present in the effluent streams from various processes in chemical plants, refineries and natural gas plants. Typically, the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in such streams ranges from about 20 to about 90 mole percent and occasionally up to 100 mole percent. Other components typically present in such streams include, for example, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbonyl sulfide, carbon disulfide, water, light hydrocarbons, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen.
It is often necessary to reduce the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the above effluent streams to meet current environmental regulations which limit the amount of sulfur compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, which can be emitted to the atmosphere. Typical acceptable levels range from about 10 to 100 ppm of hydrogen sulfide and from about 50 to 1000 ppm of sulfur dioxide.
A common method for reducing the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in process streams is to react hydrogen sulfide with sulfur dioxide to form elemental sulfur and water. This method is generally known in the industry as the Claus process. In the Claus process, hydrogen sulfide is reacted with oxygen, e.g. air, by carefully controlled combustion to form a combustion product having a molar ratio of about two-thirds hydrogen sulfide to one-third sulfur dioxide. During the combustion, some elemental sulfur is formed, which is removed from the combustion product by cooling. Unreacted hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide are passed to one or more catalytic reactors which typically comprise a cobalt-molybdenum catalyst on an alumina support for further conversion to elemental sulfur. A detailed description of the Claus process is provided, for example, by Sander, et al., "Sulfur, Sulfur Dioxide and Sulfuric Acid" The British Sulfur Corporation Ltd. (1984).
One problem associated with the Claus process is that the combustion forms water as a by-product. In addition, when air is used for combustion, the combustion product will comprise nitrogen. Thus, water and nitrogen then comprise a portion of the reactor feed along with feed impurities, e.g. carbon dioxide. These components are inerts in the reaction of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide to form elemental sulfur and water, and have the effect of reducing the concentration and hence, partial pressure of the hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide in the reactor feed. In fact, when air is used for combustion, 6 moles of nitrogen are introduced in the product per mole of sulfur dioxide formed. Thus, the dilution effect of the nitrogen is significant. As a result, the driving force for the reaction and the reaction rate are lower than a reactor feed without such inerts. Performing the combustion in the presence of pure oxygen or air enriched in oxygen, or increasing the total pressure during the reaction step, can increase the partial pressure of the reactants. However, the costs of providing pure oxygen or air enriched in oxygen can be prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, since the feed streams commonly treated by the Claus process are at essentially ambient pressure, increasing the total pressure requires compression of the feed stream which is often uneconomical. Another problem related to combustion is that the combustion step must be carefully controlled in order to achieve the appropriate concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide in the reactor feed.
The Claus process typically operates at reaction efficiencies, i.e. conversion to elemental sulfur, of about 95 to 98 percent. Accordingly, since the conversion is incomplete, the tail-gas often must be treated prior to being emitted to the atmosphere. One method of treating the tail-gas is by simple incineration of the hydrogen sulfide to form sulfur dioxide. However, this method is often unacceptable because the resulting sulfur dioxide concentration usually exceeds the acceptable environmental limits. Another method for reducing the concentration in the tail-gas is to hydrogenate the sulfur dioxide to hydrogen sulfide, recover the hydrogen sulfide, such as by absorption, and recycle the hydrogen sulfide to the feed-end of the Claus process. Another method is to incinerate the hydrogen sulfide in the presence of oxygen to form sulfur dioxide, recover the sulfur dioxide, such as by absorption, and recycle the sulfur dioxide to the feed-end of the Claus process. These options are known in the art and described, for example, by Sander, et al., supra, at pages 56 to 90.
Although the Claus process has been widely used commercially for the removal of hydrogen sulfide from feed streams, improved processes are desired which can reduce the concentrations of water and nitrogen and other impurities in the sulfur conversion reactors and eliminate the need for the carefully controlled combustion step to provide the desired concentrations of feed reactants. In addition, new processes are desired which can be used to increase the throughput of existing Claus process plants and reduce the size of new Claus process plants.

Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation


A vehicle seat assembly includes an aluminum lower seat frame with first and second side supports having a thickness of less than four mm throughout a substantial portion thereof. The seat back frame is pivotally connected to the lower seat frame and comprises a contoured structural reaction injection molded (SRIM) material. In an alternative embodiment, the back frame comprises a plurality of glass mat layers enclosed within a molded urethane material. Extra glass mat layers are provided in high stress concentration areas for added structural integrity.

In recent years, vehicle seat designs have become an important part of the overall vehicle design. Current vehicle seat designs require improved adjustability, functionality and comfort, which adds complexity to the design process. Universal seat back adjustment capability, for example, as well as lumbar support adjustment features have increased assembly costs and further complicate the design.
The desire for universal adjustment features, lumbar support features and improved comfort, as well as aesthetic appeal, heretofore has tended to inhibit current efforts in the industry to reduce weight for improved fuel economy. Vehicle seat designers, furthermore, now attempt to reduce weight of the seat assembly without increasing manufacturing costs.
Typically, steel or aluminum seat back frames are used in the design of a seat assembly. Such steel or aluminum seat back frames are not only heavy, but are also limited to certain structural design configurations because of their respective manufacturing processes. For example, aluminum alloy back frames typically comprise a bent tube, which is inherently limited to certain U-shapes.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a vehicle seat assembly with improved design flexibility, reduced weight, aesthetic appeal and reduced manufacturing costs, without loss of adjustability.


The present embodiments relate to an apparatus and method of integrating a semiconductor cell in a non-active area of a MOSFET on a semiconductor substrate. An active area of the MOSFET may include a regular MOSFET cell. The semiconductor cell which can have various structures is configured to function as trench MOS barrier Schottky (TMBS) diode. Depending on its structure the TMBS diode may be integrated in a termination region or a shield tie region or a gate finger neighboring region in the non-active area. The integrated TMBS diode as such can limit the body diode conduction and improve the conduction and switching efficiency in a circuit. Additionally, an integrated TMBS diode may improve the softness of reverse recovery of the MOSFET, reduce drain to source voltage overshoot and ringing due to softer recovery and/or shield bounce without wasting any active area of the semiconductor die of the MOSFET.

Insulated gate field effect transistors (IGFETs), such as metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), have been used in many power switching applications, such as dc-dc converters.
In a typical form, a MOSFET structure includes active and non-active areas. The active areas typically include a plurality of active cells formed by source regions, source terminals, gate regions, gate terminals, drain regions, drain terminals, body regions, shield regions, and other regions that are necessary for it to function as a transistor. The non-active areas typically include termination regions, shield tie regions, gate finger regions, also referred to as gate feed regions, gate finger neighboring regions, and other supporting connections necessary for the active cells. Any two neighboring active areas are separated by non-active areas.
In a typical MOSFET, a gate electrode provides turn-on and turn-off control with the application of an appropriate gate voltage. By way of example, in an n-type enhancement mode MOSFET, turn-on occurs when a conductive n-type inversion layer (i.e., channel region) is formed in a p-type body region in response to the application of a positive gate voltage, which exceeds an inherent threshold voltage. The inversion layer connects n-type source regions to n-type drain regions and allows for majority carrier conduction between these regions.
Due to their construction, MOSFETs have an intrinsic body diode between the source and the drain. For example, in an n-channel enhancement mode MOSFET, the body diode is formed between the p+ well of the source and the n− region of drain.
More particularly, the body diode conduction, or commutation, is from the source to the drain while the MOSFET is turned off and a forward bias Vsd is applied between the source and the drain. The body diode leakage is from the drain to the source while the MOSFET is in off state and a high voltage Vds is sustained between drain and source.
The intrinsic body diode is desirable when the MOSFET is used as a 'Sync FET' (or 'Low-side FET') in a DC-DC converter, as it eliminates the need for an external freewheeling diode. However, the body diode usually has a higher forward voltage (Vf) and a higher reverse recovery charge (Qrr) compared to the Schottky diode.
Past efforts to reduce the above mentioned drawbacks in trench MOSFETs include integrating a Schottky barrier diode at the bottom of the source trenches or opening up the bottom of source trenches into the p-epi or n-epi region below the source region which is an active area of the MOSFET. Specifically, a Schottky barrier diode is incorporated by depositing a metal layer on the walls and at the bottom of source contact trenches. This type of configuration creates an ohmic contact between the side walls of source trenches and the surrounding semiconductor region; and a Schottky contact between the bottom portion of the source trenches and the semiconductor region underneath the same, which is an active area of the semiconductor. The Schottky barrier diode formed in this way helps reduce diode conduction loss and reverse recovery loss, at the cost of active area loss.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have a MOSFET device configuration that has lower forward voltage (Vf) and a lower reverse recovery charge (Qrr) without having to waste any space in the active area.

Trench power MOSFET with integrated-schottky in non-active area


A two stage quick-release structure includes a first tubing member, a second tubing member, a first pivoting portion, a first buckling portion, an elastic hook and a safety fastener. When the user assembles the foldable bicycle for bicycling, the first tubing member is rotated to connect with the second tubing member via the first pivoting portion, so that the elastic hook correspondingly buckles with the first buckling portion to form a first stage buckle; then, the safety fastener is rotated to correspondingly buckle with the elastic hook so as to form a second stage buckle. The two stage buckle contributes the assembling of the foldable bicycle with ease and convenience. Furthermore, via the two stage buckle structures, the connection between the front bicycle frame body and the rear bicycle frame body are tightly secured.

Technical Field
The disclosure relates to a two stage quick-release structure, and particularly to a two stage quick-release structure for foldable bicycle.
Related Art
Foldable bicycles were invented for convenient storage and carrying. Commonly, a quick-release structure is assembled on the bicycle frame. Therefore, when the bicycle is not in use, the user can release the quick-release structure of the foldable bicycle quickly to fold and store the foldable bicycle; while when the foldable bicycle is in use, the user can assemble the foldable bicycle quickly without using additional tools.
Different kinds of quick-release structures are commercially available. Typically, two combining blocks are applied as the quick-release structure; one ends of the two combining blocks are connected via a pivoting shaft with the unconnected ends of the two combining blocks respectively having buckling members. The combining means of the buckling members can be different. As shown in FIG. 1, the buckling hook is applied as the buckling members. A first combining block 91 and a second combining block 92 are respectively soldered on the front bicycle frame body and the rear bicycle frame body, and the first combining block 91 is rotatable relative to the second combining block 92 via a pivoting shaft 93. The first combining block 91 has an engaging portion 94, and the second combining block 92 has a buckling handle 95 pivotally disposed thereon. The buckling handle 95 includes a buckling hook 951 and a protruding member 952. When the user assembles the foldable bicycle, firstly, the front bicycle frame body is rotated relative to the rear bicycle frame body via the pivoting shaft 93 so that the first combining block 91 is correspondingly combined with the second combining block 92. Then, the buckling hook 951 of the buckling handle 95 is hooked with the engaging portion 94 of the first combining block 91 and fastened with the bicycle frame on where the second combining block 92 is soldered (here, the second combining block 92 is soldered on the rear bicycle frame body). Thereafter, a safety fastener 96 on the rear bicycle frame body is rotated to buckle with the protruding member 952 of the buckling handle 95 so as to prevent from the buckling handle 95 loosing from the engaging portion 94 during bicycling. However, such combining means applies only one buckling hook to combine the bicycle frames, thus contributing to the issues of unsecure combining and ease of detaching during bicycling or after long term use.
Additionally, the first combining block 91 and the second combining block 92 are combined with the bicycle frames by means of soldering mostly, which will leave apparent welding marks; furthermore, since widths of the first and second combining blocks 91, 92 are larger than the diameter of the bicycle frame, the appearance of the foldable bicycle is not attractive.

Two stage quick-release structure for foldable bicycle


An improved thru-wall structure useful for apparatus for processing photosensitive material for separating adjacent chambers filled with processing fluids. The wall structure having first and second wall portions and a pair of sidewall portions which define a passage opening. A pair of parallel contacting rollers are placed into the opening. The rollers have a compliant sublayer which elastically deforms in an radial direction and a outer layer made from a material having a low coefficient of friction to allow the rollers to be easily rotatably driven and providing a fluid seal between the rollers. The rollers are placed within the sidewalls by engaging the roller ends into an opening provided in each sidewall which is slightly smaller than the diameter of the combined rollers so as to provide a tight liquid seal at the roller end-sidewall interface.

In the field of film processors, such as those for x-ray film, a sheet of photosensitive material typically undergoes a number of sequential processing steps; that is, at least one developing step, one fixing step, and a washing operation wherein the photosensitive material is brought into contact with a processing liquid (developer, fixer solution, etc.) to produce a desired chemical interaction with the film substrate or to wash chemical residue away from the substrate surface.
Because it is not desirable to intermix processing fluids of differing chemistries due to their generally antagonistic nature, it has been known to place quantities of different processing fluids in separate, discrete chambers positioned within a processing apparatus.
In processors of the prior art, a sheet of photosensitive material is passed through a series of open topped containers, each containing a quantity of processing fluid, by a series of rollers over a generally sinusoidal transport path into and out of each open topped container. A typical processor of this kind is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,837.
There are a number of disadvantages with a processor of this type. First, the lengthy transport path impedes the ability to realize a high processing throughput. Exposing a film substrate to atmospheric conditions between processing chambers is not conducive to processability because no chemical interaction takes place during exposure; in other words it is nonproductive, or "dead" time. In addition, the photosensitive material is more susceptible to scratching or marring due to the stresses induced as the material remains in substantial contact with the multiple sets of rollers that are required to traverse a serpentine transport path in a processor of this type.
A number of attempts have been made to deal with the problems described. Processing apparatus using more direct transport paths, extending directly through the walls of adjacent closed tank chambers containing processing liquid have been utilized. In processors of this type photosensitive material enters a chamber partially full of a processing liquid through an opening in the chamber wall, the opening being above the level of the processing liquid that is contained therein. The material is then brought into contact with the processing fluid by either pumping additional processing material into the chamber, thereby raising the level of liquid present in the chamber to contact the passing web, or by downwardly conveying the material to the level of processing liquid. Examples of processors of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,023,190 and 4,142,194.
Processors using methods such as those taught by the preceding examples require exposing the photosensitive material to atmospheric conditions for extended periods, prior to immersion into a processing solution, thereby also affecting the throughput of a processing apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,438 discloses a processor in which a continuous sheet of photosensitive material passes directly through an integrated wall structure positioned to separate adjacent closed containers that are filled with a processing fluid, the wall structure having a pair of parallel, contacting rollers which are rotatably driven and disposed therein. The wall structure is sized to receive the web of photosensitive material, and the rollers act as a transport means for moving the web from and through one processing station to the next adjacent station.
It can be seen that a processing apparatus having a through wall structure as described provides a means for the photosensitive material to traverse a direct transport path by way of rollers already incorporated within the wall structure, without the need for additional rollers or other transport means. However, the processors described require a rather complex sealing means, particularly at the interface where the roller end(s) are attached to either the chamber sidewall or the sidewall of the through-wall structure. To provide an effective seal at this interface is relatively difficult because the rollers must be allowed to rotate to allow the web of photosensitive material to pass therethrough, while also preventing the passage through the ends of processing liquid between adjacent chambers. In order to prevent significant leakage of processing liquid between adjacent chambers separated by a thru-wall structure as described requires that either the roller ends be very tightly manufactured (that is, toleranced on the order of thousandths of an inch) to adequately match the roller ends to the sidewall, or that gasketing or other sealing material be used between the sidewall and the roller end. Both of these measures are quite costly, either due to the preciseness of manufacture in the case of the former, or in terms of frictional effects due to wear of the roller ends against the sealing material requiring periodic changing of the rollers or gasketing. Such frequent replacement is particularly significant with high throughput processors because periodic maintenance is costly in terms of expense and downtime.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an improved thru-wall structure which adequately prevents significant cross-contamination between adjacent processing containers at the sidewall-roller interface which is more reliable, and which is easier to manufacture and maintain than current wall structures used for similar purposes.
There is also a need to provide a sealing means for processors having thru-wall web transports which simplifies the design of the rollers such that the length of the rollers is less significant in the forming of a relatively liquid tight seal, thereby reducing the tightness of tolerancing in the sidewall-roller end interface.


An endoprotease preparation, comprising an isolated endoprotease is disclosed. The endoprotease is a serine protease, shows immunochemical idenity to a protease derived from Fusarium oxysporum DSM 2672, hydrolyzes the oxidized beta-chain of bovine insulin at the peptide bonds Arg (22)-Gly (23) and Lys (29)-Ala(30), has optimum activity towards casein in the pH range of 8.5-11.0 with nearly constant activity in the pH range, has optimum activity at a temperature of about 45.degree. C., and has an isolectric point of about 9.0-10.0. The preferred microorganism that the enzyme is isolated from is Fusarium oxysporum DSM 2672.

Proteases are widely used as ingredients in commercial detergents to improve the detergency towards proteinaceous soiling. Further information on this may be found in the article "How Enzymes got into Detergents", vol. 12, Developments in Industrial Microbiology, a publication of the Society for Industrial Microbiology, American Institute of Biological Sciences, Washington, D.C. 1971, by Claus Dambmann, Poul Holm, Villy Jensen and Mogens Hilmer Nielsen, and in P.N. Christensen, K. Thomsen and S. Branner: "Development of Detergent Enzymes", paper presented on 9 October 1986 at the 2nd World Conference on Detergents held in Montreaux, Switzerland.
As indicated in said references, trypsin preparations were previously used in detergents, but since the 1960's alkaline Bacillus proteases have been used almost exclusively for this purpose, and in this period large efforts have been devoted to the development of microbial proteases with improved detergency. Detergents comprising alkaline Bacillus proteases are described e.g. in GB 1,342,784 and GB 1,356,130.
It is known that whereas pure trypsin is very specific hydrolyzing only a few peptide bonds in any given protein, the commonly used Bacillus proteases have a broad specificity and thus hydrolyze many bonds in a given substrate.
In the search for improved proteases it has been assumed that such a protease should have the broadest possible substrate specificity, i.e. it should be able to hydrolyze as many bonds as possible in the protein soiling.
Thus, M. Minagawa, Osaka Shiritsu Daigaku Seikatsu Kagaku-bu Kiyo, vol. 23, pp. 65-74 (1975) states on p. 68: "The type of protease adapted for use in the removal of protein stains must have a wide spectrum of substrate specificity capable of degrading the peptide bond, indiscriminately."

Endoprotease from Fusarium oxysporumDSM 2672 for use in detergents


The present invention provides a wire/pipe support device of a motorcycle that can possess a sufficient space for accommodating a wire/pipe without increasing the degree of forming of a vehicle body frame. A wire/pipe support device includes a groove-shaped engaging portion that is engaged with a main frame that constitutes a vehicle body frame of a motorcycle and has a lower surface thereof opened. A groove-shaped accommodating portion receives the wire/pipe thereon and has an upper surface thereof opened. The engaging portion is mounted on the vehicle body frame by engaging the engaging portion with the vehicle body frame from above. The wire/pipe is placed on the accommodating portion. The wire/pipe support device is pushed from above by a fuel tank directly or by way of a cushion member thus preventing the floating of the wire/pipe support device from the vehicle body frame and the rotation of the wire/pipe support device about the vehicle body frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire/pipe support device of a motorcycle that supports a wire/pipe arranged along a vehicle body frame.
2. Description of Background Art
In a motorcycle, a wire/pipe is arranged along a vehicle body frame. Usually, the wire/pipe is supported on the vehicle body flame by way of fixing members such as fasteners or clamping members. Since the wire/pipe is assembled to the vehicle body frame by way of the fixing members, the assembling operation takes time. In other words, the assembling operation is cumbersome. Furthermore, there may be a situation where the wire/pipe is observed from the outside.
Accordingly, in the assembling operation of a wire/pipe, there has been proposed a technique which does not take time and effort and can prevent the wire/pipe from being observed from the outside after assembling (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-68186).
FIG. 1 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-68186 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a main pipe for explaining a wire accommodating device of a motorcycle according to one embodiment of the invention described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-68186. In the main pipe that includes an outer wall 22a and an inner wall 22b, an accommodating portion 22c is formed in a portion of the inner wall 22b. A wire bundle 10 that is covered with a protective tube 11 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 22c. Due to such a constructions, it is possible to provide the wire accommodating device that can prevent wires or pipes from being observed from the outside of a vehicle. At the same time, it does not take time to assembling the wires or the like.
However, since the wires or the like pass through a space defined in the inside of a vehicle body frame, a cross-sectional area of the space that accommodates the wires or the like is limited. Furthermore, it is necessary to form an accommodating portion for the wires or the like in the vehicle body frame. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the degree of forming of the vehicle body frame by increasing the forming steps of the vehicle body frame. When the degree of forming is increased, there arises a drawback that a cost of the vehicle body frame is increased as well.


Method for the liquefaction of a hydrocarbon-rich gas stream containing aromatic and heavy hydrocarbons, in particular a natural gas stream, where, prior to the liquefaction, a separation of the aromatic and the heavy hydrocarbons, in particular the C.sub.5+ hydrocarbons, comprises. a) a fraction (9, 11, 14) containing heavy hydrocarbons is admixed to the hydrocarbon-rich gas stream (1) to be liquefied, PA1 b) this mixed fraction (1, 2) is supplied to a separator (D), PA1 c) a gas fraction (3) freed of aromatic and heavy hydrocarbons is withdrawn from separator (D) and liquefied (E2), and PA1 d) a liquid fraction (5) enriched with aromatic and heavy hydrocarbons is withdrawn from separator (D).

Prior to the liquefaction of a hydrocarbon-rich gas stream, those components which freeze-out during the liquefaction process and therefore lead to an alteration of the process must be removed, on principle, from the gas stream to be liquefied. In particular the component benzene must be standardised to contents of <1 ppm in the liquefied hydrocarbon-rich stream.
The separation of these undesirable components, namely the aromatic and the heavy hydrocarbons, can, on principle, be undertaken in two different ways. In the event that the hydrocarbon-rich gas stream to be liquefied has a comparatively high proportion of heavy hydrocarbons, it is, prior to the actual liquefaction process, fractionated into one fraction consisting of heavy and aromatic hydrocarbons, and another fraction consisting of lighter hydrocarbons. Subsequently only the fraction consisting of lighter hydrocarbons is subjected to liquefaction. This method however has the disadvantage that it is firstly too expensive and secondly requires an independent process unit, i.e. with its own cooling and heating cycles.
In the event that the hydrocarbon-rich gas stream has lower proportions of aromatic and heavy hydrocarbons, it is recommended that separation of the heavy and the aromatic hydrocarbons be by way of adsorption. To achieve this, the adsorber or adsorbers used for the requisite drying and, if required, removal of carbon dioxide from the hydrocarbon-rich gas stream are dimensioned to be correspondingly larger or, in addition, equipped with suitable adsorbents which are capable of adsorbing the aromatic and the heavy hydrocarbons from the gas stream to be liquefied. A disadvantage of this method is however that, on the one hand, the adsorber or adsorbers used would have to be dimensioned larger and, on the other hand, that the gas recovered during the regeneration of the charged adsorbers is loaded, to a large extent, with heavy and aromatic hydrocarbons.


After an ejector passes an ejection end position, a controller controls a second conveyor to convey a sheet in a sub-scanning direction. The ejection end position is a position at which ink ejection by the ejector ends before reaching a turn position. An ejection start position is a position at which ink ejection by the ejector starts after turning at the turn position. Based on positional relationship between the ejection end position and a standard position, the controller adjusts timing of conveyance of the sheet or shift the turn position from the standard position in a direction of reducing an overlap between a sheet conveyance period after the ejector passes the ejection end position and an ejector deceleration period before the ejector reaches the turn position. The standard position is a standard turn position of the ejector and is determined from the ejection end position and the ejection start position.

As an image forming system, an inkjet printer that forms an image on a sheet by ejecting ink is conventionally known. Normally, an inkjet printer forms an image on a sheet by reciprocating a carriage on which an inkjet head is mounted along a main scanning direction and by intermittently conveying the sheet in a sub-scanning direction. Ejection of ink is performed while conveying the carriage when the sheet is stopped.


An electrical insulation system includes a first insulation layer having a first polymer and a first filler in the form of nanoparticles, and a second insulation layer including a second polymer and a second filler in the form of either chromium oxide, Cr2O3, iron oxide, Fe2O3, or a mixture of chromium oxide and iron oxide. At least one of the insulation layers is in the form of a solid and flat sheet. An insulation system combining the first insulation layer with well dispersed nanoparticles and the second insulation layer filled with Cr2O3particles and/or Fe2O3 particles.

It is known to provide insulation material as a sheet material i.e. in the form of a thin sheet which is then wrapped around an object to be insulated. It is also known that the sheet material comprises nanoparticle filler within a polymer matrix. For example, an electrical conductor may conventionally be insulated by wrapping around it an insulating tape comprising a nanoparticle filler within a matrix of polyesterimide (PEI), after which the tape is heated up in order to melt an adhesive applied on it and to thereby glue the tape on the conductor. This conventional insulation system is well resistant against partial discharge, this resistance being based on the nanoparticles' ability to prevent the charged particles from penetrating the insulating tape.
It is further known e.g. from EP0356929 to protect underlying parts of an insulation system against corona discharge by providing the insulation system with an electrically conducting top layer. The top layer may comprise a chromium oxide (Cr2O3) filler in a polymer matrix. The Cr2O3filler increases the electrical conductivity on the surface of the insulation system, and this appears to mitigate the concentrated effect of a corona discharge. It is believed that the conductivity causes the effect of the corona discharge to be dissipated over a larger surface, thus reducing the detrimental effect of the same.
While the two aforementioned insulation systems, the nano-filled tape and the Cr2O3-filled top layer, both provide a satisfactory resistance against partial discharge, there is a constant desire to further improve this resistance in order to prolong the lifetime of the insulation system.
While some insulation systems are available in the form of a sheet material, there are no sheet materials available for putting together an advanced insulation system. For example, the Cr2O3-filled top layers are applied on the conductor in a complicated process during which the conductor passes multiple times through a coating bath, subsequent wiping dies or felts, and a heating device for curing the coating. This conventional coating process can therefore be implemented solely by highly specialized companies with corresponding equipment.


The invention is a tape guiding post including a tape engaging surface having a longitudinal contour with a compound radius of curvature. In the preferred embodiment, the longitudinal contour has a smoothly varying radius of curvature. The outer portions of the contour have a relatively large radius of curvature and blend smoothly into a central portion which is of a relatively small radius of curvature to allow for any desired bending of the tape in its easy direction. The combination minimizes both friction and stiction between the tape and the guide. The guide is also laterally contoured to accommodate droop at the edges of the tape, caused by low air pressure at the edges.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a post for guiding tape in a magnetic tape drive. More particularly, the invention is a guide post including a tape engaging surface having a longitudinal contour with a compound radius of curvature.
2. Description of the Related Art
Web and tape guiding apparatus are well known. Perhaps the most common use of such an apparatus is for guiding tapes in magnetic tape drives over a magnetic read/write head. Guiding of the tape over the head is critical to the writing of data to and the reading of data from the magnetic tape. A typical magnetic tape drive includes several elements in the tape path to ensure proper alignment and operation of the tape and head. For example, the tape path of the IBM 3480/3490 tape drives includes a supply reel inside a tape cartridge, a vibration decoupler, a cleaner blade, an arcuate supply side air bearing device, a magnetic read/write head, an arcuate storage side air bearing device, a tension transducer, a storage reel, and tape edge guides along the sides of the bearing surfaces. The tape edge guides are located along the arcuate bearing surfaces because the tape in such proximity can support a larger guiding force without collapsing than can a freely suspended tape. The tape edge guides physically align the lateral position (i.e. in the direction of the tape width) of the tape relative to the read/write head. Lateral positioning maintains proper alignment between the read/write elements of the head and the data tracks on the magnetic tape. The tape guides also support and guide the tape in its easy direction of bending (i.e. in the direction of tape travel).
Three basic types of guides are known for easy direction tape guiding. The first such guide is a fixed cylindrical post. The use of this type of guide is based on the theory that a hydrodynamic film of air forms between the tape and the post when the tape is in motion, thereby reducing friction and wear. However, practically sized posts fail to produce an air film of sufficient thickness to reduce friction and wear to a significant extent. Also, when the tape is stopped and rests on the post under tension it sticks to the post. Such "stiction" makes the initiation of tape movement difficult and may result in damage to the tape.
Another type of easy direction tape guide is a roller. As compared to posts, rollers reduce friction with a tape in motion and stiction with a tape at rest. However, rollers introduce another source of vibration into the tape path (which may disrupt the head-tape interface). Also, rollers store energy that must be positively controlled to maintain adequate closed loop tension control. Finally, rollers steer tape differently than do posts, and often require grooves or other geometries to prevent the tape from flying over them.
The third type of easy direction tape guide is an externally pressurized air bearing. Although an air bearing can dramatically reduce tape friction and stiction, it is more complex and expensive than a post or a roller. An air bearing is complex because it requires the space and parts for air to be provided under controlled pressure. An air bearing is expensive because of such complexity, and because a source of compressed air must be provided. Finally, more than one type of easy direction guide can be used in a tape path to form a variety of tape path configurations.
Examples of fixed cylindrical posts and/or rollers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,341,335, 3,360,174 3,276,651, 3,327,964, 4,144,991, 4,633,347, and 3,991,956. To the extent that these references disclose the guiding of flexible webs, the posts and/or rollers are used to drive web movement, control web tension, or provide lateral web guiding. In addition, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,095,733, 4,335,857, 3,393,849, 3,132,788, 4,913,328, and 4,084,683 disclose rollers having a lateral contour designed to guide a web laterally. Air bearings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,177, Garcia et al, Compliant Guide Assembly with High Wear Resistance Contact Pads, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol 29, No. Oct. 5, 1986, pp. 2126-27, and in the IBM 3480/3490 tape drives. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,575 discloses the use of a plastic lubricant on a tape guide to reduce friction. However, for the aforementioned reasons, these references fail to achieve a simple, low cost, low friction/stiction tape guide which accommodates changes in tape direction (i.e. easy direction bending).

International Business Machines Corporation


A receiver for detecting channel occupancy of a radio channel is provided. The receiver includes an oscillation circuit configured to generate an oscillation signal. The oscillation circuit is configured to alternate a frequency of the oscillation signal between at least two different frequency values. Further, the receiver includes a down-conversion circuit configured to generate, based on a received radio frequency signal and the oscillation signal, one of an in-phase component and a quadrature component of a baseband signal. The receiver additionally includes a processing circuit configured to calculate, based on the in-phase component or the quadrature component, a signal power of the radio frequency signal.

The unlicensed 5 GHz band is shared among radio communication devices and radar devices. In the 5 GHz band, Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) is mandatory for radio communication. The use of DFS-channels is permissible when there is minimal or no interference with radar signals. The regulations define two types of entities: master and slave. A master device must include radar detection capabilities. Such a device is required to comply with a set of detection abilities before it is granted to use a DFS-channel.
The regulatory requirement for the master device is to "listen" to a radio channel for a consequent minute in order to make a decision on the presence of radar signals in the radio channel. Only when no radar signals are detected, the transmission on a DFS-channel is allowed. Hence, battery-fed (mobile) devices may require very low power radar detection capabilities, which enables them to be "always-ON" (e.g. perform detection 100% of the time). Such an "always-ON" detection capabilities may allow a user to start an ad-hoc activity on a DFS-channel instantly (i.e. without the need to wait for one minute).
Hence, there may be a desire for a channel occupancy detection technique.

Receiver and a method for detecting channel occupancy of a radio channel


A method and system for managing concentration of debt, wherein a condition is associated with debt instruments, and the condition changes at least one parameter of the debt instrument in the event that an entity, such as an investor or group of investors acting in a concerted manner, accumulates a quantity of debt instruments in excess of a threshold level. The threshold level is typically a percentage of outstanding debt instruments. The parameter that is changed may be the maturity, the priority, the rate, or any other similar parameter associated with the value of the debt instrument. The effect of the change in the parameter is to reduce the value of the debt instrument. The change in the parameter may be permanent, or it may be temporary. The condition may be attached or associated with the debt instrument before issue, or it may be attached or associated after the debt instrument has issued. Holders of debt instruments in excess of the threshold may be grandfathered, if the condition is attached to the debt instrument after issue.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to investment instruments, and more particularly to methods to control the concentration of debt instruments by individuals or groups acting in concert.
2. Description of the Related Art
Almost all American corporations have protected themselves against unwanted stock accumulations by adopting a shareholders rights plan, commonly called a Poison Pill. The Poison Pill can be adopted by the Board without shareholder approval and limits stock accumulations. Indeed, the Poison Pill was developed to avoid the requirement of shareholder approval to thwart the veto of large stockholders, including institutional investors. By its design, the Poison Pill limits liquidity of accumulators and large holders since blocks cannot be sold that exceed the pill's designated percentage limitations. Investors have all adjusted to the Poison Pill and most shareholders are now comfortable that it is a fixture in the corporate landscape, a necessary corporate device protective of public shareholders, although institutional investors from time to time seek redemption of certain corporate Poison Pills.
Equity shareholders, however, still remain unprotected against accumulation of company debt that trades publicly. When a corporation's fortunes sag or the economy is in a down cycle where corporate debt in many industry segments trades at substantial discounts, accumulators of debt have a powerful say in the future of the corporate enterprise and the value of the equity. Indeed debt accumulators can control the debt structure of a corporation, extract enormous premiums from the equity when covenants have to be amended and can block beneficial reorganizations. Accumulations occur at all levels of the debt structure, including bank debt and other senior public instruments, not only junk bonds. In good times, debt accumulations don't matter (and there is little economic incentive to accumulate) but in hard times accumulators of debt at a discount determine the fate of the enterprise and the value of the equity.
Corporate debt markets and debt accumulators are largely unregulated compared to the regulatory scope of the Williams Act for equity accumulators. For most purposes, debt markets are a wild west. There are no brakes on debt accumulations nor is public reporting required. Accordingly, companies have no advance notice of large accumulations. In some markets, investors can accumulate debt with impunity and become bolder as debt prices sag.
What is needed is a remedy for new issuances of debt securities and remedies for currently traded debt securities, depending on the capital structure of the corporation, that can be adopted by the Board, like a Poison Pill.

System and method for managing concentration of corporate debt


A solid oxide fuel cell having a multichannel electrode architecture and method for preparing the same, the method including forming a first carbon laden composition, including a first thermoplastic binder, into a rod, applying a first zirconia laden composition, including a second thermoplastic binder, onto the rod to form a composite feed rod, extruding the composite feed rod to form a controlled geometry filament, bundling the extruded composite feed rod to form a multicellular feed rod, extruding the multicellular feed rod to form a multicellular rod, cutting the multicellular rod into multicellular discs, applying a zirconia laden material to one surface of a multicellular discs to form a multicellular structure, and heating processing the multicellular structure. The fuel cell is completed by adding anode and cathode materials to the multicellular structure.

A fuel cell utilizes the energy produced by a chemical reaction to supply a voltage that can be used to power other devices. This direct conversion process increases the efficiency of power generation by removing mechanical steps required by, for example, traditional turbine plants. Additionally, the combination of higher efficiency and electrochemical processes results in an environmentally favorable product. Fuel cells generate significantly less NOx and negligible quantities of carbon dioxide compared to internal combustion engines. A fuel cell powered vehicle, for example, may generate one ten-thousandth the quantity of NOx and non-detectable quantities of CO.
The solid oxide fuel cell ("SOFC")possesses three basic parts: An anode that produces electrons, a cathode that consumes electrons, and an electrolyte that conducts ions but prevents electrons from passing. Using hydrogen gas as the fuel passed to the anode and oxygen gas as the oxidant passed to the cathode, a current of oxygen anion charge carriers is produced according to the following reactions:    at the anode: 2H2+2O2−→2H2O+4e−    at the cathode: O2+4e−→2O2−    for the cell: 2H2+O2→2H2O+heat
A conventional SOFC utilizes a ZrO2 based ceramic for an electrolyte. The anode is conventionally fabricated from a NiO—ZrO2 composite. Lanthanum manganate (LaMnO3) based materials may be used for the cathode material.
During operation, internal losses may be experienced within the SOFC that reduce the efficiency and potential. These losses may be minimized in the electrolyte simply by making it thinner. However, the act of reducing the thickness of the electrolyte may require either the anode or the cathode to be the load bearing structure. The cathode may be the more stable of the two electrodes. The anode may experience dimensional changes during the reduction of the NiO material of ˜40 vol %.
A single cell may be thermodynamically limited by the nature of the overall reaction and the concentration of oxygen on either side of the electrolyte. A single cell may produce about one volt depending on the type of gas being oxidized. Cells may be combined in parallel (to increase current) and series (to increase voltage) to create stacks. The solid-state nature of a SOFC allows easier fabrication of stacks compared to other systems, such as those containing liquid electrolytes.
In order to supply oxygen efficiently to the electrode/electrolyte interface, the electrodes may be constructed to be highly porous, however, this porosity may reduce the mechanical tolerance of the structure. Therefore, SOFCs may be constructed in a variety of geometries. A planar cell, such as a flat plate construction may have a self supporting anode, cathode, or electrolyte sheet onto which the other components are mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,822 issued to Yoshida describes a SOFC including an anode made of porous sintered zirconia/magnesia/nickel on which a zirconia/yttria electrolyte element is superimposed. SOFCs with this type of geometry conventionally utilize a thick support electrode to support a thin electrolyte layer. For example, the Yoshida patent describes an anode plate on the order of 4 mm thick, which suffers reduced strength when sintered, and onto which an electrolyte layer on the order of 44 micrometers thick is ultimately applied. Mechanical tests have shown that an electrode with a thickness at least greater than 100 micrometers is necessary to support an electrolyte with a thickness at most less than 20 micrometers.
Another conventional SOFC construction is the tubular geometry, which is formed by fabricating the cathode, electrolyte, and anode in concentric cylindrical layers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,605, issued to Gillett et al., describes a fuel stack chamber configuration, where many fuel cells may be commonly supported and connected for use in large scale power generating devices. These tubular SOFCs include self supporting electrodes on the order of 1 to 3 mm thick, between which an electrolyte on the order of 0.001 to 0.1 mm thick is placed.

Method of preparing a solid oxide fuel cell


A hand-held ergonomically configured apparatus for manipulating an electronic control signal in a computer, where a mounting element supports an upright support element operably secured to the mounting element and a wrist support for supporting a wrist is positioned on the mounting element. The wrist support is configured to conform to a human wrist for support and comfort. An elongated element adapted for grasping by hand includes a top horizontal surface, a bottom surface, a front wall, a rear wall, an outwardly curved rear surface, and a front surface having a curved grip adapted to be held by a human hand. The elongated element has an aperture on the bottom surface adapted for securing the upright support element therein and a pair of input control buttons are positioned on the front wall and mounted in relation to the curved grip of the front surface so as to allow operation of the pair of input control buttons by an index finger tip and a middle finger tip. A joystick is mounted on the top horizontal surface of the elongated element for controlling a moveable graphic element on a display screen of a computer corresponding to movement or orientation of the joystick in an x-dimension, a y-dimension, and a z-dimension.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to methods and apparatuses for providing a control interface between a human body and a machine, and more particularly to a hand-held control device for controlling and manipulating an electronic control signal to a computer or other electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various cursor positioning and pointing apparatuses have been proposed and implemented to effect the movement of a cursor on a computer display or other machine. The development of such cursors and pointing apparatuses include trackball, joystick, light pens, touch screens, touch tablets, and mouse type apparatuses. However, most prior apparatuses are significantly limited in that they are isometric in nature, requiring the user to manipulate an object on a resting surface or by a rolling type mechanism. None allow the user to simply move his or her hand in space to position the cursor. For example, mouse type devices require the user to interrupt his or her typing rhythm, look for and grasp the mouse, move it on a clear area of deskspace so as to move the cursor on the screen, and then return to typing. This considerably slows the user's data input and interaction with the graphical interfaces common in computer systems. Use of such prior devices frequently lead to shoulder and arm fatigue and because of the requirements for a rolling or resting surface type movement for the use of such devices may led to serious discomfort and injuries such as carpel tunnel syndrome.
Although a large variety of cursor and related positioning apparatuses have been developed, such significant problems and limitations with prior apparatus significantly limit their application and user performance. In general, all known prior attempts to solve such problems have been problematic, and share the limitations of lack of sensitivity, discomfort and injury to the use, losing one's place on the keyboard, interruptions of the user's typing and input rhythm, and significant stresses on the user due to the unnatural positioning of the shoulders, arm, wrist, and hands while using such devices.
Attempts to solve such problems have met with only limited success. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,128 issued to Grisham discloses a thumb-controlled, hand-held joystick for video game play, not cursor control, where a manipulandum is contained in a portable housing unit and the joystick extends a short distance form an upper rear surface of the device. Other examples include, U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,147 issued to Lear showing a circularly configured computer mouse, U.S. Design Pat. No. 331,044 issued to Tse for a grip-like configured joystick, U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,798 issued to Hamling for an ergonomic computer mouse/trackball, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,733 issued to Lo for a computer mouse device with an upright primary finger-supporting surface. While such devices provide varying degrees of increased comfort to the user, none solve the significant problems with such devices as enumerated above. Such limitations have undoubtedly been a reason these devices have not received widespread acceptance.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide an ergonomic computer cursor control apparatus and mount for controlling a moveable graphic element's movement, speed, and position on the computer or machine display in response to the movement of a users thumb or fingers holding the apparatus allowing for the tracking of two or more degrees of motion or orientation of the human hand moved in proximity to the keyboard. This provides a highly sensitive apparatus whereby a user may reliably select single pixels with a high degree of comfort, accuracy, and repeatability. As the apparatus and mount are ergonomically configured and supported, the stresses and inherent discomforts of all prior devices is eliminated.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Ergonomic computer cursor control apparatus and mount


A sun shield for vehicles includes a net member which is made of a plurality of interwoven threads and which has a plurality of openings formed among the threads. The threads are interwoven to form at least two layers of overlapped projection portions on the front face of the net member. The projection portions form parallel eaves which are inclined toward a direction with respect to a plane defined by the net member in order to partially shield the openings. Two mounting strips which are made of a plastic cling material with static characteristics are secured to the rear face of the net member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sun shield for vehicles, more particularly to a sun shield which has a good shielding effect, yet retaining a good visibility.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, sun shields for vehicles are comprised of a shielding body which can block the sun's rays and a mounting member adapted to adhere the shielding body to windows. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional sun shield (A) is comprised of a nylon net (A1) and mounting strips (B1) adhered to the opposite side edge of the nylon net (A1). The mounting strips (B1) are made of a plastic cling material and secured to the nylon net (A1) by means of adhesive material or a hot pressing method. The mounting strips (B1) adhere to a glass window of the vehicle by static.
In order to obtain a better shielding effect, the size of the openings in the nylon net is preferably small. However, if the openings of the nylon net are too small, the visibility through the nylon net will be adversely affected. Therefore, there is a need for a sun shield which can provide both a good shielding effect and visibility.

2F, No. 2, Alley 97, Lane 226, Sec. 3, Tong-Men Rd.


A camping trailer adapted for towing behind a motor vehicle comprising a body divided into a sleeping portion, a kitchen portion, and a bathroom portion, wherein the bathroom portion is substantially located over a forward “A” shaped towing frame of the trailer.

Traveling holidays by car and caravan have been a popular activity almost from the inception of the private motor vehicle. Camper trailers have traditionally offered advantages of lower cost and weight for easier towing, but at the price of comfort.
Particularly in more recent times the increased popularity of four wheel drive vehicles and the desire to explore the less accessible parts of a country has led to the need for easily towable yet comfortable trailer-based accommodation with provisions for shower and toilet, not normally available in remote areas. The desire to be able to negotiate rough terrain has placed considerable design constraints on the camper trailer making it difficult to encompass within a small package the desirable features of maneuverability and reasonable accommodation. Frequently, such camper trailers require considerable manipulation to prepare for camping and in many cases cannot readily be used for short roadside stops.
It is an object of the present invention to address or ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages or to offer a useful alternative.


A diagnostic system for a large, multiple processor data processing system. Diagnostic access between dual diagnostic intelligent consoles and each processor is provided through a diagnostic network of communication links and switching nodes which are independent of normal data processing system communication channels. The diagnostic network consists of two embedded three structure communication networks providing two different diagnostic communication paths to each processor within the data processing system.

The ability to detect processor or subsystem faults within a multiple processor data processing system is essential to prevent the corruption of data or the malfunction of other components within the data processing system. Several fault diagnostic methods for use in multiple processor data processing systems are known in the art. Fault detection systems are described, for example, in "Decentralized Processing Method and System", Mori et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,055, issued Dec. 2, 1986; "Remote Maintenance System for a Digital Communication Network", Kawano et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,638, issued Sep. 26, 1989; and "Fault Diagnostic Distributed Processing Method and System", Mori et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,165, issued Oct. 3, 1989.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,627,055 and 4,872,165 each disclose distributed processing systems including a plurality of subsystems connected into a loop transmission system. Each subsystem has diagnostic means for identifying faults in other subsystems and on the network by placing messages onto the loop and monitoring the return to the messages. One disadvantage of the described system is that diagnostic operations interfere with other network operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,638 shows a digital communication network comprising a central toll center (TC) and several local switching offices (LOs), each LO being connected directly to the toll center by digital transmission lines. A central maintenance and operation center (CMOC) located at the toll center diagnoses alarm signals received from the LOs and sends maintenance signals for repairing identified faults to the LOs. Communication between the CMOC and the LOs can be accommodated by a system of dedicated data lines, by a sharing of the digital transmission lines which connect the LOs with the TC, or through the use of both the digital transmission lines and dedicated data lines. Diagnostic systems utilizing the digital transmission lines to communicate with the LOs are disadvantaged in that non-diagnostic communicates between the TC and LOs may be impaired during diagnostic operations.The system shown which utilizes a dedicated network of data lines for diagnostic communications does not provide redundant diagnostic communication paths as provided in the system employing both digital transmission lines and dedicated data lines or in the loop systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,627,055 and 4,872,165.
A diagnostic system in which diagnostic access to individual processors within a multiple processor system is provided though a redundant network of communication links independent of normal communication channels has been proposed to obviate the above-described problems.

Centralized diagnostic system for loosely coupled processors


A laser oscillator which is capable of preventing damage caused by light reflected from a workpiece and a decrease in productivity resulting therefrom. Between a rear mirror and an output mirror within the laser oscillator is arranged a bending mirror. The bending mirror has a coating formed on the surface thereof, which reflects S-polarized light sufficiently but has a low reflectance with respect to P-polarized light. A laser beam is amplified between the rear mirror and the output mirror, and emitted through the output mirror. The laser beam output at this time is formed by S-polarized light. The S-polarized light is converted to a circularly polarized light by a zero-shifting mirror and a quarter wavelength mirror. The laser beam converted to the circularly-polarized light turns in a perpendicular direction at a mirror and is converged onto a workpiece by a condenser lens. Part of the laser beam irradiated onto the workpiece is reflected therefrom and returns along the same path that the emitted laser beam travelled. This reflected light input via the output mirror is formed by P-polarized light. The P-polarized light received back into the laser oscillator is attenuated when reflected from the bending mirror.

Laser beam machining is a method of vaporizing or melting a workpiece by irradiating onto very small portions of the same a high-density-energy laser beam which is obtained by generating an extremely coherent, monochromatic light and then converging the light by a condenser lens. The laser beam is excellent in controllability, which enables the laser beam machining to be employed in cutting complicated shapes, very small articles with high accuracy, and so forth, under the control of a numerical control unit.
A laser beam machine for carrying out such laser beam machining suffers from a significant problem to be solved, i.e. a problem of dealing with light reflected from a workpiece. This problem is very serious especially in cutting or welding highly reflecting materials, such as aluminum and copper. Another problem is marks made by the reflected light when the machining head is moved with the shutter open for high-speed machining.
A low-loss optical resonator is formed between the workpiece and the rear mirror within a laser oscillator, which instantly amplifies the laser power of the light reflected back from the workpiece into the laser oscillator, to an extremely high level. Consequently, various kinds of mirrors arranged within the laser oscillator are damaged, which degrades the reliability of the laser beam machine.
There are two conventional methods of preventing such damage of reflecting mirrors caused by reflected light.
A first method controls input electric power such that the laser power in the laser oscillator is kept at a constant level through a fast power feedback.
A second method detects the reflected light outside the laser oscillator and interrupts the laser oscillation when the reflected light is detected in a large quantity.
Whichever of the above methods may be employed, it is required to interrupt machining when the reflected light arises. In the first method, while the total laser power inside the laser oscillator is kept at a constant level, the power of the laser beam generated by the oscillator itself is reduced by the quantity of the reflected light. A laser beam suitably used for machining is one generated by the oscillator itself. Therefore, a decrease in the power of this laser beam leads to changes in machining conditions. To avoid the changes, it is required to interrupt machining. The second method, which stops laser oscillation, necessarily interrupts machining as well.
Furthermore, both the above methods require a very expensive laser detector. And even if such a high-priced laser detector is used, it is impossible to prevent marks from being made by faint reflected light.


Methods, systems and apparatuses for RFID readers forming a reader network are described. In an aspect of the present invention, a plurality of RFID readers are configured to interrogate tags. Furthermore, the readers are configured to communicate with one another by transferring a token, represented by a signal. Possession of the token enables the reader to access a RF communications medium. Readers can be arranged in a ring configuration, and interconnected via wired links. A secondary token may circulate in the ring in addition to the primary token, to ensure redundancy in the system. A reader waits for a predetermined time interval before accessing the RF communications medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for communications among networked RFID readers to achieve efficient tag interrogations.
2. Background Art
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are electronic devices that may be affixed to items whose presence is to be detected and/or monitored.
The presence of an RFID tag, and therefore the presence of the item to which the tag is affixed, may be checked and monitored by devices known as "readers." Readers typically have one or more antennas transmitting radio frequency signals to which tags respond. Once a reader receives signals back from the tags, the reader passes that information in digital form to a host computer, which decodes and processes the information.
With the maturation of RFID technology, efficient communication between tags and readers has become a key enabler in supply chain management especially in manufacturing, shipping, and retail industries, as well as in building security installations, healthcare facilities, libraries, airports etc.
In some environments, multiple readers may be present. It may be advantageous for a particular group of RFID tags to be interrogated by more than one reader. Various RFID communication protocols enable this functionality. For example, the emerging standardized RFID communication protocol known as Gen 2, allows for RFID tags to be commanded into a number of possible "states," allowing several readers to interrogate the same tag population.
However, when multiple readers simultaneously send out interrogation signals to an overlapping group of tags, this may cause interference between the interrogation signals. As a result, there may be signal conflict and/or signal degradation, resulting in loss of information. The signal degradation is especially prominent when readers are confined to a fixed frequency or a narrow band of frequency, and have limited number of allowed communication channels.
Thus, what is needed are more efficient and reliable ways for multiple RFID readers to efficiently communicate with RFID tags without unwanted interference.


A mobile system and process for manufacturing and delivering concrete admixture finished products comprises: providing in separate transport tanks mounted on a vehicular frame at least two raw admixture materials (components); and blending together said at least two concrete admixture raw materials to provide a finished admixture product, whereby a finished admixture product is provided at a customer site, such as at a customer's mixing plant. Preferred processes and systems of the invention employ pump means for feeding admixture raw materials from the transport tanks to a blender, metering means for measuring the amount or rate of raw materials fed into the blender, and quality control units for monitoring physical characteristics of the finished product being delivered. Quality control units, such as devices for measuring certain physical properties such as total solids, specific gravity, pH, viscosity, volume, or other properties, may be employed to monitor, control, and track the nature of finished admixture product as they are made and/or dispensed, and even of the individual raw material components being processed in the system.

As known in the art, an "admixture" is a material other than hydraulic cement, water, and aggregates used as an ingredient of concrete or mortar and added to the batch immediately before and during its mixing. Admixtures are used for modifying one or more properties of the concrete in such a way as to make it more suitable for a particular purpose or for economy.
Some of the major reasons for using admixtures are (1) to achieve certain structural improvements in the resulting cured concrete; (2) to improve the quality of concrete through the successive stages of mixing, transporting, placing, and curing during adverse weather or traffic conditions; (3) to overcome certain emergencies during concreting operations; and (4) to reduce the cost of concrete construction. In some instances, the desired result can only be achieved by the use of an admixture. In addition, using an admixture allows the use of less expensive construction methods or designs and thereby offsets the costs of the admixture.
Typically, admixtures are sold as a "finished product" or "finished admixture product" which is shipped in a tanker truck that may have a number of compartments containing other finished admixture products. The terms "finished product" and "finished admixture product" mean that the admixture is comprised of a "raw material" component, such as lignin, corn syrup, an amine, etc. which is either mixed with water and/or another raw material.

Mobile admixture product manufacturing and delivery process and system


A separating device (3) for separating particles from an intake air (2) of an internal combustion engine, comprising two cyclone cells (5, 6) which are designed to cause two raw air streams (7, 8) containing the intake air (2) to rotate oppositely and a discharge device (49) which is designed to guide an exhaust air stream (35, 36) containing the particles tangentially away from a respective cyclone cell (5, 6) and to combine the exhaust air streams (35, 36) to a common exhaust air stream (53).

Cyclone cells, which are also referred to as cyclone, cyclone filter, cyclone separator or centrifugal separator, serve to separate solid or liquid particles contained in fluids. A fluid flowing into a cyclone cell is guided in such a way that centrifugal forces accelerate the particles that are to be separated from the fluid in outward direction and feed them to a discharge device. For generating the centrifugal forces, usually guide apparatus are used which comprise guide vanes that generate a swirl flow within a housing of the cyclone cell.
Such cyclone cells are used in particular as pre-separators in air filtration for intake air of internal combustion engines for road vehicles, construction machines or agricultural vehicles.


A family of novel feline bitter taste receptors, referred to as feline TAS2R (fTAS2R), are disclosed herein. Isolated polynucleotides encoding the novel feline bitter taste receptors and chimeric polypeptides are also disclosed, as are expression vectors and host cells for expression of the novel feline bitter taste receptors. Methods of identifying compounds that bind to the novel feline bitter taste receptors and modulate their activity are disclosed.

The taste system provides sensory information about the chemical composition of the external world. Mammals are believed to have at least five basic taste modalities: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami. Each taste modality is thought to be mediated by a distinct protein receptor or receptors that are expressed in taste receptor cells found on the surface of the tongue. The taste receptors that recognize bitter, sweet, and umami taste stimuli belong to the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily. Subtle differences in a receptor may alter which ligands bind and what signal is generated once the receptor is stimulated.
Various members of the GPCR superfamily mediate many other physiological functions, such as endocrine function, exocrine function, heart rate, lipolysis, and carbohydrate metabolism. The biochemical analysis and molecular cloning of a number of such receptors has revealed many basic principles regarding the domain structure and function of these receptors.
The ability of mammals to taste the five primary modalities is thought to be largely similar, however due to diet and environmental differences, taste receptors have evolved to be somewhat different across mammalian species. For example, the gene encoding the TAS1R2 protein, a component of the receptor for sweet compounds, has mutated to a nonfunctional pseudogene in felines and several other obligate carnivores, while aquatic mammals such as dolphin have lost most functional taste receptors.
The bitter taste modality is usually described as disagreeable. Many natural and synthetic toxins have been characterized as bitter tastants. As a result, it is hypothesized that bitter taste perception has evolved as a means to discourage the consumption of toxic compounds often found in plants. Estimates for the number of bitter tasting compounds are in the tens of thousands. However, only 550 compounds have been identified thus far as bitter tastants for humans. Compounds that block bitter taste perception have also been identified, for example p-(dipropylsulfamoyl)benzoic acid (probenecid) which acts on a subset of TAS2Rs.
The perception of bitter taste is mediated by TAS2R proteins, a family of monomeric G protein-coupled receptors, embedded in the surface of taste cells.
Research has shown that molecular diversity in the TAS2Rs of humans and other primates leads to functional differences in individuals' bitter taste perception (Imai et al., 2012, Biol Lett. 8(4): 652-656; Li et al., 2011, Human biology 83: 363-377). The exposure to the specific flora of a geographic region is thought to be a major driving force of selection on TAS2Rs.
Humans encode about 26 functional TAS2Rs, allowing for the detection of an enormous number of compounds. A subset of human TAS2Rs (hTAS2Rs) are currently believed to be promiscuous, i.e., activated by multiple ligands belonging to several chemical classes, while other hTAS2Rs bind ligands of only particular chemical classes. Additionally, several hTAS2Rs are orphan receptors, with no compounds identified as yet that stimulate them.
Signal transduction of bitter stimuli is accomplished via the α-subunit of gustducin. This G protein subunit activates a taste phosphodiesterase and decreases cyclic nucleotide levels. Further steps in the transduction pathway are still unknown. The βγ-subunit of gustducin also mediates taste by activating IP3 (inositol triphosphate) and DAG (diglyceride). These second messengers may open gated ion channels or may cause release of internal calcium. Though all TAS2Rs are located in gustducin-containing cells, knockout of gustducin does not completely abolish sensitivity to bitter compounds, suggesting a redundant mechanism for bitter tasting.
hTAS2R38 is the most extensively studied bitter taste receptor. Early in the twentieth century a dichotomy in the perception of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), a bitter tasting compound, was observed in a sample of people. Most people could taste PTC, but about 25% could not. Researchers noticed the taster/non-taster phenotype had a degree of heritability. Later it was determined that the difference in phenotype between the two groups could be ascribed to a difference in genotype, more specifically single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at three positions within the hTAS2R38 DNA.
Other species display a TAS2R repertoire much different from that of humans. For example, the mouse has 34 full-length TAS2Rs encoded in its genome, while the chicken has only 3 (Go, et al. Genetics. 2005 May; 170(1):313-26). Although some compounds can be detected by multiple TAS2Rs, it is almost certain that differences in TAS2R repertoire across species result in differences in bitter taste perception.
The feline genome has been sequenced with minimal coverage. (Mullikin et al. BMC Genomics 2010 11: 406; Pontius et al., Genome Research 2007 17: 1675-1689). As a result, major gaps exist in the feline genome sequence and only slightly over 2000 feline genes have been annotated to date. As a comparison, the human genome has about 25,000 genes annotated. The sequences prior to a gap in the genomic assembly are of poor quality, so in addition to information that is missing, a large portion of the data present is of poor quality. Consequently, there is much to be discovered within feline genomics and in determining the molecular basis of feline taste perception. Not a single feline TAS2R (fTAS2R) has been annotated in the feline genome or investigated biochemically to our knowledge. Additionally, with many feline breeds originating in a particular geographic region and therefore being exposed to unique flora, breed specific TAS2R differences may exist.
There is therefore a need in the art for the identification and characterization of the feline TAS2R bitter receptors in order to understand the taste profile of felines and its modulation.

Feline bitter taste receptors and methods


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for monitoring and discovering process executions in a distributed computer system. A central system receives process data items that have been collected by an agent, identifies a process instance with which each process data item is associated, groups the process data items that are associated with a first process instance into a first group, and generates a reconstruction of the first process instance based on the process data items in the first group. The central system can further use the reconstructed first process instance to model a process. Additionally, the central system can further use the reconstructed first process instance to monitor a process instance.

The present invention relates to data processing by digital computer, and more particularly to discovering and monitoring process executions.
Companies and organizations typically use one or more processes that are performed, either in whole or in part, in a system of computers. Such processes typically consist of one or more discrete tasks directed to producing one or more results. The system of computers can consist of multiple computers, each with one or more components. A component may be a software component, such as an application program, or a hardware component, such as a barcode scanner or a radio frequency identification receiver. A component in the system may have one or more interfaces for exchanging information with other components and computers. Further, the system of computers may be a distributed system, in which at least one computer is located in an area physically removed from another computer, such as a different room, building, city, or country. For example, a company may use a computer in a warehouse and a computer in an office building to perform different portions of one process.
Executing a process using components that operate on a distributed computer system can provide substantial benefits, such as the ability to share computing resources. However, it can also make discovering information about and monitoring a process execution difficult or even impossible.

Discovering and monitoring process executions


The combat communication system is used for "identification friend or foe", firing simulation during practice, and/or combat aiming for live night shooting. Each participant wears a harness comprising light detectors and control units, as well as a laser assembly mounted to a weapon. For firing simulation or identification, a participant aims his weapon at a potential target and sends a laser signal. When the target is another participant wearing a harness, his harness answers via a radio, ultrasonic or light signal. The carrier frequency of the response signal can be determined and transmitted by the querying unit over the laser beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an arrangement and a method for combat communication.
Such communication between soldiers in training and combat is of outmost importance. In particular, one way or two way communication is required for the operation of IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) and combat simulation systems.
2. Description of Related Art
A related communication system for combat simulation consists e.g. of laser emitters mounted on fire arms, which trigger light detectors on potential targets. The detectors triggered by the laser show the effects of a projectile from he respective fire arm.
In a known IFF system described in the European patent application EP 254 197 a laser signal and a radio signal are simultaneously sent to a potential target. Upon receiving these two signals, the target generates a response radio signal confirming its identity.
In other systems disclosed in the German patent applications DE 2 215 295 and DE 2 215 463 a modulated laser signal is used for querying a potential target, which then answers by radio or laser beam. A similar system is also used for animal identification and disclosed in the European patent application EP 108 643.
These known systems are difficult to operate and prone to undesired interferences between simultaneous communication operations.


Precision digital chronography based on detected changes in state of a processor is described. The changes in state may be detected by another processor and an averaged time interval generated. A signal corresponding to the averaged time interval may be communicated to a distributed database and propagated to remote systems. Devices associated with the remote systems may adjust or set a device clock in accordance with the averaged time interval.

Precision wireless network timing is crucial for network operation. For example, in time division duplex wireless communication networks the precision timing signal is used to, amongst other things, orchestrate when the user device transmits and the base station listens, and when the base station transmits and the user device listens. Loss of timing signals may lead to rapid network degradation and ultimately service termination. Generally speaking, current precision timing is handled by the global positioning system (GPS) or other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) (such as GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, and so on). GNSS's broadcast radio signals providing the satellites location and a time. Those skilled in the art will understand the processes such systems utilize to determine the time. However, GNSS systems are subject to compromise (such as hacking or hijacking), natural interference (such as solar flares), and artificial interference (such as jamming or anti-GPS devices, governmental control of signal).
In the event of a temporary loss of timing signal, current systems may be able to operate for several hours before network degradation ensues, potentially resulting in service termination. However, as wireless networks, user devices, and the internet of things becomes more prevalent, precision network timing becomes more crucial. Further, the 5th generation of wireless communication networks (5G) will place much higher demands on precision timing networks that may turn the loss of signal operational window from hours to minutes. Accordingly, there is a technologic need for a reliable, trusted, highly precise, terrestrial timing signal.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.